YouTube Tuesday – Seasons Greetings Two Ways (Part One) & Elf Hunt Clue #3

Good day Clarity family, Simon here with a festive YouTube Tuesday for you.

December is finally here! Advent is underway and the smell of sprouts will soon be wafting through homes and assaulting the senses of minors for years to come. (Can you tell I’m not a sprouts fan? More of a broccoli guy myself).

But anyway, enough of actual food, more on food for thought as is the norm here at Clarity Matters. This week, I want to talk about traditions.

Everyone has traditions. Customs that have been passed down for years, from generation to generation. Advent calendars, stockings, mince pies and sherry for Saint Nick and his reindeer, you know what I mean. Those warming and cherished traditions that fill homes with the spirit of Christmas. But also those traditions that are specific to you and your family.

Making a gingerbread house every year, watching the Christmas lights turn on in your local town, even decorating your Christmas tree. We used to have a tradition when I was a child, where we decorate the tree with 4 specific ornaments that were at the top of the tree; a pair of matching elves in tinsel rings, a little Scandinavian doll and of course the star atop the peak, which was always the last part of the decoration and would always done by my mother (even when I could reach the top of the tree and she needed a step up).

One Christmas tradition, especially for you Crafting wizzes out there, might be sending Christmas cards to friends and relatives. Groovi-ed, Die-cut or Stencilled they’re made with love and well received. And now, for those last minute, down to the wire card makers, Clarity have some picturesque Two Way Overlay stamps for all types of cards.

Sarah Brennan
Debbie McMullin
Dee Paramour

For the traditional and the contemporary crafter and Christmas reveller, these Christmas Baubles depict both well-known scenes from the nativity and some wintry landscapes that will make you want to use them over and over again.

So this week, Barbara has put together a project for you to follow along to, to make your own Christmas card with an inky edge.

Also, whats YouTube Tuesday without a bit for special offer tradition, eh? So this week, if you buy all three stamp sets, you pay for just two! Plus we have the designer paper pads, card toppers and our sticker collections with a 20% discount.

Oh, come on, as the well-known, curly-haired, septuagenarian says “It’s Chriiiiiiiisstmaaaaaaaas!!!”

Click the names of each product to find them on our website.

And who knows, these stamps could become your new Christmas tradition. Tell us your traditions down in the comments section, we’d love to hear them.

Lastly, here is your Elf Hunt Clue for the day –

Best of luck, and happy hunting!

Now I must dash, I’ve just seen Jordan attacking his advent calendar, he’s just finished day 18 and I fear I’ll have to clean up days 3-17. Wish me luck!

Clarity Matters. It really does.

Simon

8 thoughts on “YouTube Tuesday – Seasons Greetings Two Ways (Part One) & Elf Hunt Clue #3

  • 3rd December 2019 at 9:43 am
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    Jordan! Leave that advent calendar alone! Simon, thanks for an interesting post. The last few years I have started a new tradition, replacing mince pies with warm Ecclefechan tarts from Walkers – harder to get but delicious. Worth trying… I have all the family Christmas tree decorations from before the war, so it is good to introduce new traditions to go with them. Let’s face it we haven’t been sending Christmas cards for that long and I can’t be the only child who had one present and a stocking with coal and an orange.

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  • 3rd December 2019 at 3:09 pm
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    Our Christmas traditions were what a lot of people of my generation had. We always had a few silver sixpences in the Christmas pudding, which we’d have after lunch on Christmas day, we would always have clotted cream on it and in later years a dash of Baileys. An apple, orange or tangerine and some nuts in our stocking and a chocolate or sugar mouse, maybe a pack of cards, Snap or Old Maid, some crayons and a small colouring book or a Solitaire game. We would have tgecstockin in our bedroom and open any presents downstairs after breakfast. After our Capon with all the trimmings lunch we would go in the afternoon to visit my grandparents where we would have tea with all my cousins and Aunts and Uncles. All the men would go to the local pub for a drink and when they came back it was party time. Mostly singing around the piano, the children would take turns to do a party piece, a song, rhyme or poem. On Boxing day we would visit my other Grandparents. This brings back lovely memories.

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  • 3rd December 2019 at 4:47 pm
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    Since the kids have moved away we don’t really have traditions on the day , but , the Saturday before Christmas everyone who can gathers round mum and dad’s for the ‘present swap’ as my niece calls it . gets a bit crowded as the family extends, now with mum and dad’s great grandchildren , love it though. Excellent blog once again well done.

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  • 3rd December 2019 at 6:57 pm
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    For over twenty years we celebrate Christmas day a few days before the 25th, usually the weekend before. I started this when my firstborn left home (he was the first to leave). The parents of his future wife had already split up so Nikki was split two ways already. I didn’t fancy only seeing Bruce once every three years so I moved Christmas! We exchange our presents and we used to have Christmas dinner until the family grew and I didn’t have room to sit the ever-growing family. Now we go to Bruce and his new wife, Sara, (Nikki died from a brain tumour over five years ago). It works well, in my opinion. It means all my children and families can spend the 25th however they like. I have had my Christmas.

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    • 5th December 2019 at 4:13 pm
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      Just catching up and finally got round to watching the video, great demos as always, very tempted to get these 🙂

      Reply
  • 4th December 2019 at 1:39 am
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    Every year at Thanksgiving (I’m in the US) my family decide when Christmas is going to be that year. We find the day that the most people are available and have Christmas then. Sometimes it’s before, sometimes after, but what’s important is being together. We have a large family, so everyone brings food and cheer and a good time is had by all.

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  • 4th December 2019 at 4:41 am
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    Great idea, Roz. We had to move Christmas a lot when my brother divorced as we never knew when the children would be available. No one has got the birth of Jesus closer than between October and April so the 25th just coincides with when the Romans celebrated Saturnalia, as good a date as any. Sorry to hear of Nikki’s death. I am so glad you made life easier for her. I hope Bruce is happy with Sarah.

    Great demo from Barbara on the YouTube.

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    • 4th December 2019 at 9:51 am
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      Hello Ali
      Thank you for your kind thoughts. Yes, Bruce is very happy with Sara. After eight long years of Nikki’s illness he deserves a happy future. As you say, December 25th is a manufactured birthday decided upon by early Christians to make it more appealing to the ‘Heathens’.x

      Reply

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