Today I went to my first real "crop". I've heard the term scrap crop for years now and it had always conjured up images of papercrafters in one communal area sharing ideas, inspiration, and papercrafting tools. Seemed like heaven on earth to me...well, maybe not quite as good as chocolate, but I think you get what I'm trying to say.
So, today, I went to one and I'm thankful for the day! It was hosted by a new friend of mine "Kristina Wallace". She lives in Durham, ON and I actually met her after I had posted a scrapbook paper punch for sale on the Owen Sound Super Swap (via Facebook). We physically met for about 5 minutes when she picked up the punch at my workplace but we had a good "scrappers vibe" between us so we "friended" one another on FB...which eventually led to us both being on Pinterest and pinning one anothers favorites regularly.
Over time, it has become obvious that we both like a lot of the same things and although we really don't know each other, she invited me to her "Beat the Heat" crop in Durham. I instantly accepted the invite and was pretty sure that I could find someone to go with me. However, no one locally was able to go on such a gorgeous day....well that certainly weeds out the not so die-hard scrappers huh?
I had no idea what to pack....I started to pack last night but just couldn't do it. The manbeast thought I should sleep on it. Would have been a great idea except I got next to no sleep. I like to be prepared for my day the night before as I am absolutely NOT a morning person. Anyhow, I laid awake for hours, playing on Pinterest and googling "what to take to a crop".
With not much more insight, I finally went to sleep.
The crop was to start in Durham (about 45 minutes away) at 9am. I awoke at 830 with no bags packed and needing a shower....
Jumped in the shower - still thinking what to pack. Raced to the cave and threw everything to do with farming that I could find in the bag (thinking I would work on the annual tractor show pages that I am 3 years behind on.
Dilemma #1 - where are the photos of 2009, 2010 and last year?? Found them all except 2010 which didn't get printed and are on the PC that is in limbo (crashed).
Added a bunch of stamps, punches, adhesive and paper to my bag.
Dilemma # 2 - how much is too much? - well when the bag is full and too heavy to lift sillygirl!
Manbeast had made a pasta salad for me to take....so here comes bag #2.
Jump in the Jeep and remember that I needed ribbon, buttons, embellishments, scoreboard, and on and on...here comes bag #3.
Made it to Durham in just over half an hour - walked in unsure if I'd recognize Kristina but we caught eyes - it wasn't crowded , six or seven other women. I found my spot and got at it.
What a fabulous vibe. Kristina was sharing her Creative Memories tools and also had brought a huge inventory to purchase from. Others would look at your work as it evolved...
Kristina had a morning "door prize" which I won because I was able to produce the photo of "someone wearing sunglasses" almost instantly. I won an awesome Creative Memories accordian file for holding 4x6 photos or stickers. Yayyy me!!
Suddenly it was lunch and we all sat together (somewhat in the quiet due to not knowing one another :) and shared a delicious potluck lunch before getting back at it.
The afternoon flew by and suddenly we were packing up. One woman got 17 pages done!! Yes, I said SEVENTEEN. I think the average was probably 4-6.
I um, got 2 done. Yes, I said TWO!! However, they were on the theme from which I packed everything and they were overdue to be done since 2009 - so tres accomplishment!!
I met another new friend named Amanda who is also a CTMH rep. She taught me how to make two cards in less than ten minutes! Yayyy for Amanda as I need things one step at a time....
So what did I pack?
- cutting mat for under my work (used non-stop)
- papertrimmer (used non-stop)
- ICE cold water (yayy me)
- 4 different kinds of adhesive - gluepen, pop dots, Fabric-Tac liquid glue, and glue dots. Used them all but not the refills that I also packed.
- Lots n lots of cardstock in solid neutral tones (used 4 sheets total)
- My entire collection of "farm" embellies, stickers and paper. (used a lot of it and would have used it all if I had done more than 2 pages - haha)
- Hemp twine (used about 32")
- CTMH inks (12 colors) - used 4
- CTMH stamp sets (took 3) but only wound up using the pennant alphas because I didn't do cards
- Ongoing theme 12x12 album to colour match (brought home finished pages in it)
- Photo mounts (used a tonne)
- Sponge to ink edges (wouldn't go anywhere without it)
- Baby wipes (hands get mucky - used a half dozen)
- My entire "tool caddy" which holds my Cropodile (not used), scissors (used), paperpiercer (used) and all my glue and ruler (used).
- A few random punches - only really used and didn't need them because the hostess had a table full!
Overkill? Maybe considering the lack of productivity, however, you just never know what you're gonna need!!
So what did I learn?
- That I adore ppl that papercraft
- That I need not stress about what to pack
- That I need not stress about the "vibe" - scrappers are fabulous folk!
- Share ideas - you come home motivated to keep working.
- Be open to all styles - some ppl don't stamp and that's cool. Some ppl don't mat their photos and that's cool too.
- GO TO SLEEP the night before so you can get there on time!!
I'll post a photo later of what I managed to get done...or you can go to my FB fan page "PaperLushus" and see it there later tonight!
Til the next time...
I love reading your blogs! I'm glad that at the end of that stress, you enjoyed your day! Now that you have that under your belt, it will be much easier next time of what to pack. I find I think about what I want to work on many days before a crop so that when I pack, I know better what I need (and we all pack way too much, cause if you don't, that's when you'll want something you didn't pack, hehe). Hope to see you at a crop soon!
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