Christmas Card Day

Every year a group of us gals get together to make Christmas cards for friends and family.  It happens about a month before Christmas and it includes food, lots of laughs and a whole bunch of creative ideas floating around.  It's actually a time where us "Scrappers" or in most of our cases "Back Scrappers"* get to utilize some of the techniques and tools from the previous ScrapFest**.  This year was a slightly smaller crowd; just my mom, Jennifer and I.

An extra bonus to Christmas Card Day is I get to bust out my cocoa maker.  I got my cocoa maker 4 years ago and I love, love, love it!

This awesome machine not only mixes and heats your cocoa/hot chocolate, it keeps it heated and mixed all throughout the duration of your event.  You can use milk or water.  You can put in powders or syrups.  The directions included recipes which had some of the coffee variety and I believe some cider recipes too.  This machine is very portable.  I will warn you, it is not the easiest to clean.  I find a baby bottle brush and some heavy duty dish washing soap works the best.  I like this product so much that I bought it for 3 other people over the years.   I bought mine at JcPenneys.  I found others at Bed, Bath and Beyond.  Here's the Amazon link for more information.  http://www.amazon.com/Back-Basics-CM300BR-Cocoa-Latte-Hot-Drink/dp/B0002TUVQM/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1321813123&sr=8-1


My mom made her yummy peanut butter Fritos.

A perfect blend of salty and sweet, this treat will be sure to alleviate any PMS.

Mom also made her Mexican layer dip, something that Jennifer and I love.  Jennifer brought some delicious chocolate chip cookies that her daughter made.  And no small gathering would be complete without the presence of Tastefully Simple, in the form of beer bread and Artichoke & Spinach warm dip.

I didn't get all of my card making done, but here are some cards that I completed.

I added just a hint of Stickles for the lines of the reindeer body.  

This time I colored in the body of the reindeer.  

This one is my favorite.  I really loved the snowman and the use of the Creative Memories oval cutter.  And I wanted to use non-traditional Christmas colors so I'm pretty pleased with the outcome.

A close up of the cute snowman and the "snow".  

In order to save time and paper, I tend to do a couple of cards that are similar to one another. 

I love penguins!

This is how you know I made it!

I really enjoyed making my cards this year and look forward to finishing up here at home.  I'm not so great at thinking outside of the box when it comes to creativity and these annual events really help me in technique.  

To see some of Jennifer's work from the day, click here:  http://goodenoughforjen.blogspot.com/2011/11/creativity-was-exploding-out-my-head.html

Thanks for reading.  Do you have any annual card making traditions?  I would love to hear about and would be happy to look at your cards.  

~Jules 

*A "Back Scrapper" is a term used for someone who is not current in their scrapbooking events. It is a term often uttered by scrapbook snobs who have too much time on their hands.   Example:  "Jean's grandson graduated last Spring and she started doing his scrapbook a month before the ceremony.  What a back scrapper!"

**ScrapFest is an annual 3 day event held at the Mall of America in Bloomington, MN where scrapbookers from across the nation gather to learn new techniques, use new tools and do over 30 make and takes.  The event also offers crops and workshops at an additional cost.  The next one will be held September 14-16, 2012.