Thursday, December 24, 2015

INSPIRATION A to Z (Y - Yuletide)

This post is the twenty-fifth in a blog series where I’m exploring various aspects of INSPIRATION. When I chose INSPIRATION as my word for this year, my first thoughts were about finding, acting on and (in some cases) limiting INSPIRATION. I also knew I wanted this word to motivate me not only in my scrapbooking and crafting but also in my physical, spiritual and intellectual goals. During my FUN year last year, I published a two-week series entitled Where Does My Inspiration Come From?, which looked at the many different sources of INSPIRATION specifically for scrapbook layouts. However, in this series, I’ll be sharing a word for each letter of the alphabet (from A to Z) that relates to INSPIRATION along with my random and in-depth thoughts on that word and the various ways it relates to INSPIRATION in our lives.

Y is for Yuletide

Yuletide is defined as "the Christmas season." This season is also referred to as the festive season, the holiday season, or the season of giving. It's a favorite season for many of us. During the Yuletide, there's an abundance of INSPIRATION for decorations, gifts, get-togethers, handmade crafts, holiday meals, etc.

One of my favorite Yuletide crafts is creating Christmas cards. This year I used several pieces of patterned paper as the INSPIRATION and starting point for my cards. The papers were either designed to cut apart into 3x4 cards or had square & rectangular Yuletide graphics that were easy to cut apart. I gathered card bases, some washi tape, and lots of scraps to complete the cards.



Each card is simply layers of papers beneath the focal sentiment or picture.


Even though I had duplicates of some of the pictures and 3x4 cards, each Christmas card is unique because I was using scraps to complete them.


The colors in some of the pictures provided INSPIRATION for using non-traditional colors for some of the cards.



Of course, it's always exciting to receive Christmas cards, too! Our first ones arrived early in the season, and more have continued to come in each day.


I also took time to do some Bible Journaling during this Yuletide. During one of the classes I taught earlier this month, I read the picture storybook The Tale of Three Trees and used that story as INSPIRATION for my journaling page.


In the midst of all this INSPIRATION, I hope we'll all take time to pause and remember the real reason for the season - the birth of our Savior, Jesus Christ. I gave each of my December Bible Journaling class participants a stamped image, and I love how they used them in their Bibles to commemorate this blessed event.


In summary, Yuletide is filled with INSPIRATION for activities and celebrations, but the real INSPIRATION for celebrating Yuletide is the birth of Jesus!

What is your favorite Yuletide
activity? Please share your thoughts on Yuletide and INSPIRATION in the comments. 

Click HERE to see all my INSPIRATION A-Z posts, or click a letter below to see individual posts.

A(Art)   B(Baking)   C(Creativity)   D(Drawing)
E(Experiences)   F(Finishing)   G(Goals)   H(Hiking)
I(Immersion)   J(Journaling)   K(Knowledge)
L(Learning)   M(Movement)   N(Nurturing) 
O(Organization)   P(Planning)   Q(Quiet)   R(Reading)
S(Style)   T(Teaching)   U(Upcycle)   V(Vacation)
W(Work)   X(Xciting)   Y(Yuletide)   Z(Zzzzzs)

 Merry Christmas Y'all!

2 comments:

  1. Sending warmest good wishes, and saying thank-you for all the inspiration this year ...

    ReplyDelete
  2. I've enjoyed reading through your A-Z of Inspiration. These cards are lovely - well done on getting so many created.

    ReplyDelete

Thanks so much for your comment - it's like a ray of sunshine in my day!