Getting into the Holiday Spirit?

Ok, with it now being December, it's alright to start thinking about the Christmas Holidays. I know a lot of people would agree that the stores are trying to get us to spend before Halloween is unreal [well, unless you're one of the few that have their shopping done and gifts wrapped by Labor Day]. I am *not* one of those people that enjoy going to the mall and/or shopping just for shopping's sake. Do people really think that's fun?] [Well, it's only fun if we're talking book stores or craft stores; anything else, it's just another chore to me.]

But now, it's kind of nice seeing the christmas lights on in the neighborhood [I've already seen more lights up in my neighborhood this winter than I ever have since I was a kid]. Granted, some of the displays in people's front yards are kind of tacky, but some people must like them! And now when I hear any Christmas tunes playing on the radio, I won't automatically turn the radio off. There's at least one station in the metro-Detroit area that starting playing Christmas music in early November--so there was no way I was going to listen to that over and over and over again before Thanksgiving. But now I can start thinking about getting out my holiday cd's and select my favorites and burn them on a new cd.

I'm not saying that I'm a big fan of the winter holidays; for many years, I haven't been. But since they keep showing up every year, perhaps I need to start changing my attitude a little bit. I don't expect any major Christmas miracles or anything like that but perhaps I can find ways to have a little bit of fun without spending the money that I don't have to spend.

So there IS a project that I'm working on right now that I hope will get me in the right frame of mind. In one of my first blog entries, I mentioned Artist Trading Cards [ATCs]. These are similar to the sports trading cards but ATCs are made by hand [as individual pieces of art, on a 2.5"x3.5" 'canvas' of sorts] and are meant to be traded, not sold. There are multiple on-line trading groups with people to swap with [sometimes as part of an organized swap with a particular theme, or on an individual swap basis], as well as many local groups around the world that meet and trade in person.

So there are a couple on-line groups that I've been with since early summer. With each of these 2 groups, I'm creating some Christmas as well as some Winter-themed ATCs and am doing some individual trades with others in these groups. One can post a particular interest to the group and see who else wants to swap; I posted this week and I already have about 12 cards ready to mailed off tomorrow [and am waiting for addresses on a few more]. So I should start getting some ATCs back in the mail within the next week or two and I'm really looking forward to it!

I've also participated in a couple swaps where a host will pick a particular theme and asks for interested participants to send in X number of cards that somehow represent that theme. Then, when all the cards are received by him/her by a set date, she will then send you back X number of different cards on that theme. I have been really impressed by some of the creativity that people have. Some cards have been rather elaborate, others have been simple, and just about all of them have been great additions to my collection. I've been involved with trading off and on for several years now and I just love browsing through my collection book [using those 9-pocket pages that sports card enthusiasts keep their cards in, and putting them into a binder].

So, with tomorrow being another day in December, I hope to get a few more of these holiday cards created. And find more people to play/trade with. Maybe this WILL really get me into the holiday mood. It's fun, creative, and doesn't have to cost too much. I can go for that! [Anyone reading this want to do any trading? Even if you don't know how yet, it's fun and easy to learn; I'll work with you! It's addicting, too. :-) ]