Monday Mugshots Collaboration Dec 15th

First and foremost:
Please keep Glenda in your thoughts and love! She has been called away to take care of some scary medical/family stuff, and I know could use them.
Second of all: 
This is the LAST MONTH of this year!! Only one more prompt to go!! We hope that you will join us in the coming year for another round of art journaling and creative prompts!

If you're new here, you can take a moment to see how the prompts work this year by clicking HERE. Shooters can share their pictures from this prompt on Facebook 12.16

Ready?
PROMPT: Mistletoe or Humbug?
SHOOTERS: Shoot your mug with your most sentimental Christmas Decoration OR with a list of reasons you "HATE CHRISTMAS!!"
BOOKERS: Use Polkadots, Green, Red and Robin's Egg Blue paints. GO HERE for some inspiration!

RACHEL

I love Christmas, although this year, I haven't had the time to get any decorations out. We had a cold snap that nearly sent me into Humbug mode, with broken pipes and bad water pumps, but on the first day, we had so much fun playing in the snow as a family. We made some snow cones using real snow, and I took a picture of it for this prompt. All in all, we're a Mistletoe family.

SUSAN
When I moved to California I wasn't able to keep much of my family's holiday decorations. We had TONS! But the ones that were most important to me were the Christmas decorations. Many were ones my sister & I had collected decorating our tree when we lived together. And many more were ours from when we were kids, along with a sprinkling of ones when my mom had been a kid. When my sister & I were little we always got a new ornament every year. A lot of times with our names & often the year inscribed as well. In 1980 I was big into collecting mice (cute little figurines, not real ones) & so my mom got me this little sled decorated with a Christmas mouse. I love the memories that are attached to these decorations.

AMY

When I was shooting this photo I was focused on capturing the solitude and lonely feeling of our yet-to-be-decorated Christmas tree on our porch, and totally spaced incorporating my mug! Christmas is a very complex time for me. I LOVED Christmas growing up. We always had a gorgeously decorated tree, my Mom always made sure I had presents and I had family to spend it with. That all changed though. Years later my Mom passed away close to Christmas. My Mom was the glue that held "family" together and when she passed it seemed like I lost much of my family with it. So, for me, Christmas holds some of the best AND worst memories. Fast forward another 18 years or so, and you find my husband, our fur children and I moving to Idaho (for me the 1st time I have ever lived away from the area I grew up in and had lived 38 years of my life in). This was a year ago. 10 days before Christmas. This picture, I feel, captures the complexity of Christmas for me. This year Christmas presents will be slim as $ is tight BUT, like this currently bare tree, my hubby and I will make the best of it, and make it as beautiful as we can.

YOUR TURN!! 

The rules

1. Use all or just part of the prompts.
2. MAKE THEM YOURS. These prompts are IDEAS. They are not set in stone. I encourage you to stretch yourself. If you find a prompt doesn't speak to you, think on it. Find a way to MAKE it speak to you, and go with that. 
3. You do NOT have to be a coffee drinker to play along! Tea, Water, Beer or the Hard Stuff. WE DON'T CARE!! Make the prompts work for you and your mug. (or lack there of)
4. There is NO right or wrong.
5. Share your feedback positively. ABSOLUTELY no judging of what others share. (If I find that people aren't following this rule, I will remove links left by that person.)
6. This is a place for you to explore! It doesn't matter if you've just gotten here in the middle of the year, or if you've gotten "behind" and don't create every day. It doesn't matter if you don't create at ALL... (although we'd love it if you do)  
7. Add your link to what you book or shoot in the comments here for easy visiting and sharing!! Be sure to add a DIRECT LINK. (you can get this most times by clicking on the title of your post, and then copying the URL.) General links to websites will be deleted (because they make it hard for people to follow behind and find the post pertaining to this prompt) ALSO, links leading to posts that do not make it clear how they are related to the prompts will be removed. 
8. If you would like to "officially" sign up to be listed in our participants list, visit the sign up page, by clicking on GOT BADGE at the top of the page. (this is one area where direct links are not needed! 

~rachel
All images and content on this blog is copyright to Rachel Whetzel and Guest Hosts. Please give credit when sharing your art that is inspired here! Thank you so much!!