December 2012 Editor's Letter

Ah, December!  The month I look forward to and stress over more than any other!  I love all of the traditions and I love all the time I can spend with my family.  I love Christmas music, as long as it isn't played before Thanksgiving (please, allow me to enjoy one holiday before the next one starts!).  I love finding the perfect present for each of my loved ones.  I love taking pictures of happy or surprised faces, glittering ornaments, twinkling lights, freshly baked cookies, and Christmas Eve pajamas.  But all of that takes advance planning and preparation, and I have to make sure I start early.

Our articles this month should help with some of that advance planning and preparation.  We have articles on using your scrapbook supplies to make gift tags, gift bags, cards, card displays, gifts and Christmas decorations.  Start (or continue) the tradition of a homemade advent calendar.  Celebrate St. Nicholas Day and write letters to Santa.  Do you know what Boxing Day is?  We have an article about that too!  December 15 is National Cupcake Day, so we have an article featuring cupcake embellishments.  (I may have to finally visit one of those famous cupcake bakeries that day!)  After Christmas, we'll feature articles about New Year's.

Of course we also have an article on Hanukkah for our Jewish friends, which I learned from myself.  I'd like to introduce you to our resident expert on Jewish holidays, Rachel Myerson.

Hi! I’ve been at Scrapjazz with the user-name boysmom since 2005, so many of you may already know me, but for those of you who don’t I’d like to say hello and let you know a little about myself. I live in suburban New Jersey with my husband of 15 years and our 2 fun and athletic sons, who are now 9 and 11 years old. As the boys have both developed a love for soccer, I am now the definition of “soccer-mom” traveling to 3 or 4 games every week. Luckily I love watching them play and the game photos give me lots to scrap about. We also love to run – the boys run track and the whole family runs in community races. I used to consider myself somewhat fast, but now I am officially the slowest runner in my family.

I have always loved to travel and now my family travels with me. We love to explore exotic islands, and foreign countries, seeing the world one adventure at a time. Here is a photo of our family on an island in Tonga, a beautiful nation in the South Pacific. Of course, we also love to explore the United States too. One of my life goals is to visit all 50 states (I only need 4 more but they are tough ones).

I “officially” started scrapbooking after the birth of my first son when I got invited to one of those Mommy parties. However, I had been making photo-albums with captions and decorations for years before that, so the hobby came naturally to me. I really enjoy scrapbooking and the online community that enhances it. I love being able to share my thoughts and insights with everyone here at Scrapjazz and hope that my articles inspire you.

Wishing you a heartwarming December, filled with cookies, happy loved ones, and terrific traditions!

Karina