Crafting When We Travel

As we wrap up July here at Crafty Neighbor, we are still focusing on crafting when we travel. I love taking my crafts with me when I travel, and I’ve been known to take crochet, embroidery, and, of course, scrapbooking along on my trips. Packing projects like embroidery and crochet are pretty straight-forward; you just need needles or hooks, thread or yarn, some scissors, and a pattern. But traveling with paper-crafting supplies can be a bit more challenging, especially if you are someone like me who likes to take everything I own. I have been known to completely fill my SUV with supplies when I head out to a retreat, but I’m trying to learn to bring less so I can get more done.

I recently went on an over-night canoe trip with my family, and my daughter and I both wanted to take our craft supplies along so we could document our trip. Since we have such limited space in our canoes (and not a lot of time for documenting), we restricted our supplies to travelers notebooks and a simple set of drawing/journaling tools. 

 

For this minimalist kit, I included three pens: a Tombow Mono Twin, and two Tombow brush pens, a hard tip and a soft tip. I also brought several pencils of varying hardness, including a .9 mm mechanical pencil, 4H and B graphite pencils, 3 black charcoal pencils (4B, 5B, and 6B), a white charcoal pencil, and a white 2B colored pencil. I also threw in a pencil sharpener, a Tombow Mono eraser, and a couple of bulldog clips to hold the notebooks open/closed as necessary. Since we were in canoes, we stored them in water-proof zipper bags. The idea behind this kind of kit is to do more drawing and journaling. I can still leave room for photos, but I will add those later. Mainly I just want to get the stories into the book before I forget them.

 

For other kinds of travel, I will often add other supplies to my kits. A cruise to the Bahamas for an Aggie Mom’s fundraiser in 2016 allowed me to bring my dual-tipped Stampin’ Up markers (which I am slowly replacing with Tombow markers), scissors, glue pens, Wink of Stella brushes, a white Uniball Signo pen, Tombow Mono adhesive, a Xyron adhesive eraser, a corner rounder punch, a small blender sponge (for use with the markers), Scor-Tape and red line tape, a 6”x6” paper pad, StazOn ink, and a very small assortment of stamps (numbers, letters, weather, travel). In the end, I wound up with a lot of things I never used, so for later trips, I went back to a more minimalist approach with just a few items.

 

My travel kits have evolved a lot since then. The addition of an HP Sprocket photo printer has allowed me to add photos on the spot to my cruise scrapbooks. And since the printer runs on a USB charge, there was no need for electricity. Washi tape allows me to tape ephemera and memorabilia into the album without gluing it down. And the pens, markers, and pencils change according to whatever is my favorite at the time.

 

When I traveled to Las Vegas last summer with my daughter’s bachelorette party, we both took along craft supplies for documenting in our traveler’s notebooks. My kit this time included stickers, an assortment of diecuts, a Tim Holtz Tiny Attacher, a date stamp, alpha-numeric stickers, a small assortment of patterned papers, the usual pens and scissors, Versa Fine black ink, a black Uniball Signo pen, plus my watercolor pencils and my Canon Selphy printer (great for photos up to 4”x6”). What got left behind? All those colored markers, most of the stamps, the Wink of Stella, and the blender sponge. This kit fit in my suitcase with my other belongings, and has become my standard go-to kit for traveling.

 

Sometimes, when I am going to be crafting only for one day, I will bring a single project to work on. For instance, one year at our Think Pink crop, I brought my Christmas cards to work on. The supplies for this were very limited: cardstock, scissors, paper trimmer, adhesive, Score-Pal, ink, and a stamp. I’ve also been known to bring my planner and a few stickers, or a bullet journal and pens. I’ve also brought mini albums I made in a class and finally took the time to add photos and journaling.

 

Learning to take smaller kits and one-off projects has helped me get more done when I do travel. When I bring too many supplies, I find that I actually get less done because I spend more time setting up my crafts and choosing supplies and less time actually crafting. Plus it’s a nice change not to lug all those supplies around in a second suitcase or tote bag. 

 

You can read more about taking crafts with you when you travel in our August newsletter, which will go out on the 1^st. Brandi is going to share her travel kit, and I’ll have a new blog article about documenting your travels on the go. Be sure to subscribe to the newsletter at http://eepurl.com/TZULf, and you can subscribe to this newsletter using the links on the left.

COVID-Safe Craft Getaways

What’s the one thing you miss most while we’re going through this pandemic? Is it movie theaters? House parties? Vacations? Happy hour with friends from the office? For me, I think I would probably have to answer, “retreats.”

Not so many years ago, it seemed like a new scrapbooking retreat was opening up every month or so. They were everywhere, and they were always booked solid. For some of us, packing up our craft supplies and spending a weekend with our closest friends out in the country somewhere is one of the best stress relievers out there. After all, a retreat usually involves some good food, a fun hobby, and lots of laughs, not to mention no chores. When I finally caught on to this special sojourn, I couldn’t get enough. I was going on a retreat five or six times a year – more if you count the annual scrapbooking cruises and convention weekends. Going on a retreat was probably my favorite thing to do, and a great escape from the stress and anxiety of work, home, and family. 

Going on retreats (including conventions and cruises) has pretty much been put on hold since March of 2020. We are all spending a lot more time at home, which has brought it’s own kind of stress and anxiety along with even more need to get away from it all. And while some retreat centers have been open with limited capacity, many of us do not feel comfortable spending a weekend in close quarters with a bunch of strangers. Some people have been taking advantage of lowered capacity and going anyway, what is a high-risk, unvaccinated individual like me to do?

Last November, after a few particularly stressful weeks as a caregiver for my mother, I turned to my friends with a desperate plea, “Please go away with me somewhere!” and that was how our “safe” retreats began. We wanted to limit our retreat to just four crafty friends who we knew had been very carefully social distancing and self-isolating throughout the pandemic. Realizing that we couldn’t control how many people came to a retreat unless we rented the whole place, we started looking for other options for a weekend stay. Enter Airbnb, VRBO, and a host of other vacation rental options.

We started out wearing facemasks at our first retreat, but they didn't last long.

Our first Airbnb rental was about two hours away, and was an approximate midway point between us. We looked for a location that had a large living room or den that would accommodate four folding tables without too much furniture rearranging. We had a great time on that trip, and learned some valuable lessons for the next trip.

As of this writing, I am actually sitting at our second Airbnb retreat.  This time we chose a location closer to home, a quaint 19^th century farmhouse far enough out in the country to feel isolated, but close enough to go buy ice if we needed it. We planned for the problems we encountered the last time, but this rental came with its own set of issues. We haven’t let that stop us from having a great time and enjoying this crucial respite from the daily grind.

If you are longing for the days when you escaped to a crafty retreat with your friends, think about hosting a private getaway on your own. Here are some things to keep in mind:

• Keep the size of your group small to increase your chances of finding a space that will accommodate you – no more than 4-5 crafters.
• Make sure you are renting the whole house, not just a room; some listings can be misleading.  READ THE FINE PRINT!
• Look for a rental that has an open floor plan with minimal furniture to ensure you have room for tables. Keep in mind that photos can be misleading. Rooms are rarely as large as they look in the photos!
• Contact the owner to clarify any questions you might have and to verify availability. Some owners do not update availability of the rental, especially if it is listed on multiple websites.
• Pay close attention to lighting; one ceiling fan or a few table lamps may not be sufficient. Plan to bring your own lighting if necessary
• Look for existing chairs or prepare to bring your own chairs. Avoid using rolling chairs on hardwood floors, as it will damage them; bring a rug or floor mat if you must use a rolling chair.
• Bring extension cords and power strips for your lighting and electronic devices
• Don’t forget a small trashcan and cup-holder. These are often provided at a retreat but won’t be available at a rental facility.
• Pay close attention to the kitchen facilities. Some rentals have “apartment” refrigerators or no stove. Plan your meals accordingly.
• Don’t be afraid to contact the owner to clarify amenities at the facility like: room dimensions, coffee pots, kitchen accoutrements, power outlet locations, local recommendations, parking accommodations, handicap accessibility, etc.
• Think about bringing things like Ziploc bags, Tupperware, cutting boards, foil/plastic wrap, etc. You’ll need a way to pack up your leftovers. Don’t forget ice!
• Pack light. You may not have room for all your scrapbook supplies.  Plan your projects well.
• Don’t use paints, glitter or other messy craft supplies indoors. Don’t craft on the owner’s furniture without protective coverings. Be sure to clean up any accidents and sweep/vacuum your craft area.
• Return all furniture to its original location.

Obviously, you can’t plan for everything, but if you ask lots of questions and keep in mind the accommodations that might not be available, you can avoid some of the pitfalls. If you plan well, you, too, can get away for a COVID-safe retreat with your besties. 

Words Have Power

 Howdy, crafty neighbors! This month in our newsletter, Brandi Reyna will be introducing the Crafty Neighbor Craft of the Month (CotM for short?) a new theme that will be featured across all our Crafty Neighbor media from the newsletter to Facebook, blog, and Instagram. I hope you’ll enjoy this new segment; we think it will be a great way to help us dig deeper into our various crafts and widen our skills and knowledge in some unique ways.

Our topic this month is The Power of Words: Planning and Goal Setting. Back in 2012, I wrote several blog articles about using power words as part of my 365 art journaling project. (I’ve linked those articles below.) My use of power words has evolved in the last nine years, but my belief in the power of words has stayed the same. In her novel, A Handmaid’s Tale, Margaret Atwood wrote,

 “A word after a word after a word is power.”

And even Mother Theresa proclaims,

 “Kind words can be short and easy to speak,
but their echoes are truly endless.”

The idea of a power word is not a new one.  My son’s high school orchestra used power words in a unity circle before every concert.  Each student would share his or her word and the idea was that in unity, all these powerful words come together to make a whole, cohesive orchestra. 

Blogger Christine Kane uses power words in a different way.  She contends that your power words give you intent.  Each year, instead of making New Years resolutions, she does a lot of soul searching and comes up with her Word of the Year.  The word becomes her touchstone to stay focused on what’s important and to remind her of her goals. You can read more about it in that link above, and she even offers a free worksheet to help you find the right word for you.

Since 2012, I have been choosing an annual that has helped me change and grow and learn a lot about myself in the process. In 2013, I used my word as the foundation of my 365 art journaling project mentioned above, and I continued to work in that art journal using various words over the years. For the last three years, I have been doing so through a process designed by Ali Edwards called One Little Word. One Little Word is an online workshop with monthly prompts that guide you through exploring your word. I posted flip-through videos on my YouTube channel that illustrate two of the albums I created as part of One Little Word. This year, I’m working in a journal rather than a pocket album, which is providing a different experience in the creative aspect, but is just as effective at facilitating the process of growing in my word. In fact, I’ve worked many of the prompts exactly the same as in previous years, but in a flatter bullet journal style, which has really challenged my creativity. You can see most of my 2021 project on my Instagram and Facebook feeds. 

Here are a couple of examples of some of the work I’ve been doing:

My 2021 vision board.

A page in my OLW journal.

A page in my OLW journal.

A page in my OLW journal.

This year, I have also committed to exploring Lara Casey’s Cultivate What Matters Power Sheets goal planner. It’s yet another way to set some intentions and build on what you are doing with your power word. In fact, part of the prep work that goes into Power Sheets is a step that helps you find the right word. Power sheets can be started any time and there is even an undated, 6-month planner if you want to give it a try without a full-on commitment. Christine Kane’s worksheet is free, but both One Little Word and Power Sheets are paid products. These are all great places to start, but you can also do what I did when I first started – just find a word and find some projects that speak to you and let you express and explore that word. I’d be interested to see where it takes you.

 

A page in my Power Sheets workbook.

 

For more information:

• Crafty Neighbor 365 Project:  https://craftyneighbor.blogspot.com/p/365-challenge.html
• Crafty Neighbor YouTube:  http://www.youtube.com/CindyMCraftyNeighbor
• Crafty Neighbor Instagram:  https://www.instagram.com/craftyneighbor/
• Crafty Neighbor Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/CraftyNeighbor/
• Amazon Affiliate Link:  Stock Up on Your Supplies

*As an Amazon Affiliate, I earn from qualifying purchases.

What's in Yours?

Hubby and I are huge science nerds.  We grew up in the age of moon landings, Star Trek, and Space Invaders, so it’s no secret that we are also fans of NASA. Today, Mark stumbled across a fun article relating to the Artemis program, NASA’s current program to send the first woman (and the next man) to the moon. The mission itself is pretty exciting, but one of the things that particularly caught our eye was the “What’s in Your #NASAMoonKit?” promotion.

Astronauts who travel to the International Space Station are very limited on what personal items they can bring with them into space.  Each astronaut is allowed a “personal preference kit” that takes up a maximum volume of 5” x 8” x 2”.  For the record, that’s smaller than this Creative Memories paper trimmer.

What would you put in your personal preference kit?  NASA invites you to think about what you would take to the moon and share what you would put in your #NASAMoonKit on social media. Take a picture or video and post it with the hashtag #NASAMoonKit on Instagram, Twitter, or Facebook. If they like it, NASA might share your kit on their own social media accounts or their Green Run broadcast.  Oh, and don't forget to tag @CraftyNeighbor and #craftyneighbor. I’ll be posting mine to Instagram and Facebook sometime in the next few days!

For all the rules, check the official “What’s in Your #NASAMoonKit?” website. 

 

 

2019 December Daily

 I just spent the weekend in my old hometown working on getting my mom’s belongings moved into storage. I can’t remember if I posted about it (pretty sure I did), but Mom has been living with us since January. She has dementia, and her care occupies a lot of my time. I’m not quite sure how we did it, but my daughter, Christen, and I somehow managed to pull off a really nice wedding with tons of handmade decorations, bouquets, and more. And all of it while we were under lockdown and social distancing orders due to COVID-19. I’ve been trying to get around to posting more of those projects, but it just hasn’t happened yet. So all this to say that I finally found a solution, and I’m hoping there will be more posts on here soon, and that they will be more regular in frequency!

One of the projects I’ve been meaning to get around to posting is my 2019 December Daily project. This was the first time I’ve participated in the popular challenge hosted by Ali Edwards, and I have to say I had the besttime! I finished my album in January, and I even recorded a flip-through video, but then I never could find the time to edit it. Now the 2020 December Daily project is fast approaching and it seems like everyone is posting their flip-throughs as part of the #donebydecember challenge created by Ali’s design team. The idea was to prompt everyone to actually finish their projects, and it guilted me into finally editing this video while traveling home.

 

 

Sorry for the lighting…it’s a work in progress! Here’s some still photos of some of the projects:

 

 

I hope you enjoyed my little flip-through and I hope you’ll come back for more crafty projects here on my blog and on my YouTube channel. Until then, I’d love to hear about some of your unfinished projects. Tell us about it in the comments below!

My Month in Quarantine (Part 3)

Happy National Scrapbook Day to all my crafty friends and followers!  I hope you are finding ways to be both crafty and social (in a safe way) today! I am currently enjoying a virtual retreat with some of my friends using Zoom, so I'm in my PJs, and snacking on a little taco dip and veggies.

A day or two ago, I mentioned a project I've been working on during this coronavirus lockdown.  So today I wanted to give you a little peak. On one of our wedding work days, Christen and I were talking about COVID-19 and what an unprecedented time in history this was (this was before the order to stay home). Not unlike the Spanish Flu epidemic in the early 20th century, this time in our lives was something that people of the future would not understand unless we spelled it out for them -- you just can't grasp the scope of something like this from a textbook or a few photos. So we decided that it was important to keep a COVID journal to document our lives during this time.  We are, of course, documenters and storytellers...that's why we scrapbook, right?

So in discussing this with one of our friends, we decided we needed to make a challenge of it.  We needed to come up with daily prompts a la Layout-a-Day, that would keep us all motivated and inspired to tell our stories.  I'm a little bit embarrassed to admit that I went back to an old Layout-a-Day list from the days when it was owned by Lain Ehman, and I repurposed that old list (with a few changes, of course) to be used for what we called our Stay-at-Home Challenge. For the entire month of April we had daily prompts (via automated emails) that led us through creating a journal of our time in "quarantine". The experience has been fun, creative, inspiring, and even a bit enlightening as we explore the many aspects of this pandemic and its affect on our daily lives. 

We all worked in different formats, including pocket pages, traditional scrapbooking, traveler's notebooks, and even Happy Planners.  I decided on a travelers notebook, and since this little challenge was something of a last-minute affair, I didn't have time to order one online, so I made my own.  (I may do a post about that soon!) I love the traveler's notebook because it's basically a blank slate, and it's just the right size for either journaling or photos. I've actually already filled one notebook (we started on April 1) and am well into my second (I ordered the others online).  There are so many stories to tell, I'm sure I'll have several of the books filled by the time this is all over.

When we started this project, we quickly found that there are a number of crafty celebs and others who are doing similar projects.  I've been following Layle Koncar and Heidi Swapp on Instagram and via blog.  They both have some great pages that are very inspiring.  And, most recently, Christen stumbled across The Isolation Journals created by Suleika Jaouad. This article is a great read and shares how the whole thing got started and why archiving these stories is important.

The point of all this is to share with you what we're doing, and I'm really excited about these journals. You can see most of what I've done so far on my Instagram and Facebook pages (linked here).  I'll leave you with a couple of pages below. Until next time, keep crafting!

Cindy Murray

Crafty Neighbor

2019 Scrapbook Expo!

Hey Neighbors!  A couple of weeks ago, I shared with you our day-trip to Mesquite, Texas for the Stamp, Scrap, and Art Tour.  My neice, Ashley, and I had a great time, and I bought a few supplies to get ready for some big things coming this February.  

First, we have Layout-a-Day, better known as LOAD 219, which started on February 1^st(more about that tomorrow!).  The other thing coming up is Scrapbook Expo in Irving, Texas.  Now you may remember Scrapbook Expo as the big event held at the Gaylord Texan Hotel in Grapevine.  I always thought it was poor planning to host a scrapbooking event at that over-priced monstrosity, and it provedto be a bad decision last year when the Gaylord abruptly dumpedthe Expo reservation in favor of a client with deeper pockets who wanted the same date.  This forced the Expo to move to the Irving Convention Center (with only 2 weeks notice, btw), which turned out not to be such a bad thing after all.

As a whole, we actually wound up preferring the Irving location to the Gaylord.  The concessions were better, the classrooms were better, and everythingwas cheaper.  Our only real complaint was the parking and the distance of the hotel. At the Gaylord, we were guests at the hotel and only had to pay one parking fee for each car, which we parked right outside the door, and we could walk to our rooms.  In Irving, our hotel was down the street (although it was verynice), and we had to shuttle back and forth.  We also had to pay for parking every day if we wanted to have a car with us at the convention center, and it wasn’t as convenient to keep our food/coolers in the car for easy access.  But we did like the new venue, so we let the organizers know, and they blessed us with relocation to Irving again for 2019.

I’m super excited about Expo this year.  With the addition of two new hotels right across the street, we will again be walking distance from our rooms, and that means we don’t have to pay those stupid parking fees, and we can cross the street to get lunch, assuming we don’t decide to eat at the concession stand or one of the many food trucks that came by last year. We booked the hotel package with the Texican Court, and we’re really excited about trying out this nifty, Texas-themed hotel with a retro vibe.  Now I just need to figure out what I’m going to bring, and how I’m going to get it there!

I had already pretty much decided that I wanted to work on some of my travel albums during these crops. I have several “travelers journals” in progress that use the same supplies.  That was the easy decision.  Now I’ve just got to figure out what supplies I can’t live without, and what is the best way to get them there.  I haven’t posted about it much, because I wanted to wait for the big reveal, but I’ve been reorganizing my craft room.  The new set up is both more and less portable at the same time, depending on how much stuff I want to bring.  

Obviously, for a long weekend retreat like the one I’ll be doing in April, I’ll want to bring more stuff, and that’s okay because I’ve moved a lot of it to bins and totes that I can just throw into my car as they are (or with a bungee cord or two to hold them closed).  But for this shorter crop, where I don’t really need allof the supplies in these bins, I have the quandary of deciding whether to unload the needed supplies into another tote, take the bins as they are, or unload things from the bins and fill the space with other things I need. And I haven’t decided if it’s a good or a bad thing that this event is coming up in just 8 days or so.  Yes, I am anxious to go, but I really am anxious about getting all my work caught up, getting packed, etc.  And oh, did I mention that the day after I come home from this event, I’ll be flying out to California for a weeklong travel agent training? Hmmm…maybe I should get up and start packing!

What do you think? Are you going to Scrapbook Expo? How do you decide what supplies you will take to a long crop? Any other special things you like to do to prepare? Share your ideas in the comments!

Think Pink Crop for a Cure!

If you’ve been reading this blog, you probably know that my name is Cindy Murray, and most people know me as the owner and organizer of Crafty Neighbor, a Texas-based scrap and craft events company.  We are best known for our craft cruises, retreats, scrapbook garage sales, and, of course, our annual “Think Pink Crop for the Cure.”  What most people don’t know about me is that I am now a 1-year breast cancer survivor, and I would like to share my story with you.

In 2008, my company hosted our first ever fundraiser crop to help Pam Wilemon, a local scrapbook instructor who had recently been diagnosed with breast cancer.  Pam had lost her job, had no insurance, and had a lot of medical bills to pay.  So we hosted “Pam’s Pals Crop” to help her out.  The response was tremendous, so we did it again in 2009 while she was still undergoing treatment.  Eventually, Pam got better, so we decided to focus our giving to the Susan G. Komen 3-Day for the Cure in which Pam and several of our Crafty Neighbor instructors and organizers were walking.  We hosted a 3-Day walk team every year, sometimes walking, sometimes volunteering for the 3-Day Crew, but always involved in some way.  We have continued this tradition year after year because we feel the cause is so very important and our message of hope needs to be shared with all women. 

Then, last year, it happened to me – I was diagnosed with breast cancer.

The American Cancer Society estimates that about 1 in every 8 women will develop invasive breast cancer of some type.  About 1 in 35 women will die from it – that's one every 69 seconds. 

Friends and family have commented on how ironic it is that I had breast cancer after I’ve been such a staunch supporter of this cause, but I look at those statistics and I know that it was bound to happen to me or to someone I love.  This disease is pervasive, and it’s not going to go away until we MAKE it go away.  We must fund the research to find better treatment that doesn’t involve disfiguring our bodies, and hopefully some day we will be able to prevent it entirely.  We must continue to encourage women to get annual mammograms, and we must insist that insurance companies pay for screening.

This is where you come in.  I can’t do this alone.

On August 19, 2017, Crafty Neighbor will be hosting our annual Think Pink Crop for the Cure at the Girl Scouts of Northeast Texas Council, JoAnn Fogg Service Center, at 6001 Summerside Drive, Dallas, Texas 75252. All proceeds from this event will be donated to the Susan G. Komen 3-Day for the Cure, a non-profit 501(c)3 organization.

We would love to have you join us!  Registration will remain open through Monday, August 14.  You can sign up online at CraftyNeighbor.com.  The event costs $50, but includes lunch, dinner, and lots of prizes and surprises throughout the day. 

If you’d like more information about the 3-Day or simply want to make a cash donation, please visit our team page at:  http://www.the3day.org/goto/walkerstexasrangers

Two Simple Layouts

I never did post the last two layouts from LOAD 512, so here they are.  They are very plain pages because by this point in the challenge, I was pretty much worn out!  But simple is sort of what Lain was going for with this challege, which is obvious from the prompt she gave us for Day 30:

30. Simple Simon : cardstock, photo, letter stickers, one embellishment

Everything on this page is made from cardstock.  I chose a stamp (the large medallion in the background) as my "embellishment".  My title is made of die-cuts that I turned into stickers with my Xyron Sticker Maker.  The small medallion is made of cardstock as well.  I can tell you this isn't my favorite page.  It needs something, but I'm not sure what.  It is very plain.  I keep thinking I might go back and add something to it.

31. Found photo

Day 31 allowed for a little more wiggle room, but quite honestly, I couldn't think of a darned thing that this page needed, so I just left it as it was -- clean and simple.  The found photo is a postcard of a Norman Rockwell painting titled, "The Scoutmaster", which he created in 1956.  The type-written story attached to the layout was written by one of my husband's Boy Scouts as a school assignment.

Well, that finally wraps up LOAD 512, just in time for LOAD 213 to start!  I promise...I will try to post those layouts in a much more timely manner!

Manic Monday

Well, here it is Monday already, I have a ton to do, and I barely got anything done over the weekend.  I was really hoping with all the crops I attended, that I would at least finish a few scrapbook pages, but noooooo…the best I could do was start two different layouts and tinker with a little of this and a little of that.  I should have known my plans would be thwarted from the get-go.

It all started on Monday with an impromptu trip out of town on business at a local scrapbooking store…a scrapbook store that just happened to be hosting a garage sale this week.  So of course, I had to look.  I found a Scrap Rack for $50 and I grabbed it.  I had been eye-balling the Scrap Rack storage system for quite some time now, but it has never been at a price I could afford.  So when I saw it for $50, of course I had to have it!

I also happened to have company in town all week -- a dear friend I hadn't seen in close to 15 years.  She stayed with me through Thursday, and we spent our time chatting away with her sewing while I was preparing embellishment kits and flyers for 75 participants of the Croppin’ for Cops benefit. In the mean time, I’m also fielding calls and emails about the cruise, Pam’s Pals, and our garage sale next weekend.  So I really didn’t have time to pack for my crops, much less load up the Scrap Rack.  I wound up just shoving everything into some totes and rolling them out the door.

At the first crop on Saturday night (Dallas Crafters Marathon), after spending and hour and a half on the phone with business, I started unpacking my stuff only to find that I left my tool caddy at home.  I did not have a single pair of scissors, no adhesive, no nothing!  I was not about to drive all the way home to get it, especially since I was already an hour late getting there before I had the phone calls.  It was 9:30 and the crop ended at midnight.  So I dug out some of the parts for the Scrap Rack and spent my time sorting through my supplies and visiting with the other crafters and croppers.

I was late to my Saturday crop, too.  This one was the Croppin’ for Cops event to benefit the Dallas Assist the Officer Foundation.  This is a great organization that helps police officers that have been injured or have an illness or other tragic event.  I believe there were around 75 croppers and they raised about $5000. 

While I was there, I started working on my smash book a little.  It took me a long time to unload and set up my supplies, so I didn’t get much done before it was time for lunch.  After lunch, I started to work on my cruise album that’s been in progress since 2007, but I realized I left some of my completed pages at home and needed to have them on hand to see where I left off.  (What is it with me and leaving supplies behind?)  Luckily, I thought to bring the supplies to work on my Pam’s Pals pages, so I started one of those in time for dinner.  After dinner, I worked on it some more, but was interrupted by the prize drawings (I won a scarf vest made by our very own Pam Wilemon via her JWay Desinz – it will be perfect for wearing on the cruise in September!). Needless to say, I did not get much of anything else done, either, and I didn’t even finish the one scrapbook layout that I started because I couldn’t find a bag of flowers that I know I had the night before.

Sunday was no different.  I just left all my supplies in the car over-night and went back to the Dallas Crafters Marathon on Sunday.  I was tempted just to stay home because I knew I wouldn’t get much work done, but I needed to deliver some flyers to the organizers so they could take them to Grapevine for the Heirloom Stamp Convention on July 14 and 15^th.  I spent most of my time chatting with other crafters and working on one cruise layout that I also didn’t finish.  I had a great time.

All in all, it was a very productive weekend.  How can I say that, you might ask, considering that I did not finish even one scrapbook page.  My answer is simple – because crafting groups and scrapbook crops are not just about getting massive quantities of scrapbooking done in one sitting.  It’s about networking with other crafters, learning from each other, sharing ideas, promoting our individual businesses, and just finding out what crafters want and expect from such an event.  It’s also about visiting with friends and just relaxing and having fun so that the playful and creative side of all of us has the freedom to come out and play.  I needed a weekend like that.  And I can’t imagine a better group of ladies with whom to share it. 

In the process of my non-productive crop weekend, I learned how to set-up and use my ScrapRack from a friend, I booked two cabins for our scrapbooking cruise (and talked to two more ladies about joining us), I discussed booking a Cricut workshop here at the Crafty Neighbor Studios, and met the owner of Priceless Memories retreat (a recent sponsor of our National Scrapbook Day crop).  On Saturday, I watched our crafty friend Pam make the cutest scrapbook out of a plastic placemat, picked up some great organization tips from the Croppin’ for Cops event, and met a ton of scrapbookers.  Our Pam’s Pals donations solicitor, Deb Watkins, demonstrated the Sizzix Eclipse machine with some Tim Holtz dies and stamps.  On Sunday, I met more fellow scrapbookers and signed up more croppers for Pam’s Pals.

So yeah, I think it was a productive weekend.  Who cares if I now have to work twice as hard to get these scrapbook pages done?  Sometimes going to a crop is less about getting pages done and more about having a good time with fellow scrapbookers and leaving all our worries at home.  And if I really want to get some pages done, maybe I just need to go back to the Layout A Day method – I was really making some progress then.  

Speaking of LOAD, here’s two more layouts for you to enjoy:

Day 27:  Sketchy Sunday

This LOAD challenge fell on the Sunday before Memorial Day – traditionally, a house party for the Murray family.  I knew I wouldn’t have time to work on my layout later, so I actually did a really quick on early in the morning.  It’s a very simple page, but again, not every page has to be a work of art.  And since it was Sketchy Sunday, I of course, had to work from (and alter) a sketch.

Day 28:  Manic Monday

Lain’s challenge for today was speed.  She prompted us to grab the first picture that caught our imagination, flip through a magazine or gallery for the first layout design that caught our eye, and quickly choose paper and embellishments to go with it.  My photo was one I took on my cell phone of my husband and son running through our local park.  I have long wanted to do a page about them running together.  My inspiration came from fellow LOAD-ster, “SassyScrapper2010”, and I chose to do banners across the top because they are so popular right now and I’ve been dying to do some!  I made the banners using the Stampin’ Up punch of that design; it is very easy to work with, and I have used it over and over again in different combinations. I believe the paper is from the Cosmo Cricket “Boyfriend” collection.  I really didn’t put too much thought into this page at all, but I think it turned out great.  Oh, and hubby pointed out that I’ve already used this picture once – on the Day 8 layout “This is My Life”, which also features (you guessed it) banners!

Here's my layout:

And here's the layout that inspired me (posted with permission):

One final word about my productive/non-productive weekend…if you have read this blog for any length of time at all, you have probably made a guess about my crafting and business philosophy:

• Any time spent crafting is a good time.  
• Crafting with others is always preferrable to crafting alone.
• We learn from each other, and if you only craft at home you are missing out on valuable sources of knowledge and inspirattion.
• Local scrapbook stores and organizations are the best sources of product knowledge and expert advice.
• The scrapbooking industry is going to fail unless we all work together to support it.  

Along those lines, later this week, we will look at competition and cooperatives, and what I think the scrapbooking industry needs to do to survive.

Pete and Repeat

There’s no such thing as too much of a good thing.  Anything worth doing is worth doing to excess, right?  When it comes to page layouts, I think so!

I’ve mentioned before that I like to repeat layouts.  Sometimes I just don’t want to think too hard; I want to get the page done and move on to the next project.  And if something worked once, chances are it will work again, and again, and again.

I didn’t intend to repeat the same page layout three days in a row, but when I got to Day 24 of LOAD, I made what I thought was a really cute page.  And then when I sat down to work on Day 25, I was really busy, so I just made a few changes and copied it.  So then, when I sat down to work on Day 26, can you believe what the prompt for the day was?  You guessed it – Scraplift Yourself!

Here they are…three not-so-identical triplets.  As you can see, they are alike in many ways, but each page still has a personality of its own.

Day 24:  Overheard conversation

Lain challenged us to use snippets of over-heard conversations for this page, so I chose to concentrate on my daughter’s first words.  I wanted to keep the page simple, but cute.

Day 25:  Taste

I got really busy on Day 25, so when Lain prompted us to use the sense of “Taste” for our layouts, I was at a loss until I ran across some pictures of my son making a mess while eating.  And rather than waste even more time trying to come up with something original, I just opted to repeat the previous day’s page in a mirror image.  The two layouts will wind up in two separate books, so it really doesn’t matter that they are the same.

Day 26:  Scraplift Yourself

Imagine my surprise (and laughter, too), when I discovered that Lain’s prompt for Day 26 was to scraplift the previous day’s page.  Uhm…hey, Lain…I already did that!  Never-the-less, I had fun creating this page in triplicate, and I doubt it will be the last time I copy myself (although it probably won’t be on the very next day!)

Garage Sale

If you are in the Dallas area next weekend, stop by our Scrapbook Garage Sale at 6001 Summerside Drive, Dallas, inside the Joann Fogg Girl Scout Service Center.  We have about 20 sellers who are anxious for you to come see all their old scrapbooking supplies, tools, and embellishments.  Unfortunately, we do not have any space for more sellers, but there will be lots of good deals, and you do not want to miss out!  For more information, please visit our website.  The sale runs from 10:00 AM until 3:00PM.  Please use the entrance at the rear of the building.

Scrapbooking Cruise

Yep, I know…I sound like a broken record.  But did you know that we still have space on our 2012 scrapbooking cruise and time is running out to get in on this great deal!  We had some cancellations last week, so we now have 6 cabins we need to fill.  Give us a call or email before July 1 and we will make you a very sweet deal!  Payment plans are available, and you will not find another scrapbooking cruise at this low, low price!

Breast Cancer Crop

For those of you who aren’t familiar with Pam’s Pals, it is our annual breast cancer benefit crop.  In the past, we have given the proceeds to breast cancer patient, Pam Wilemon, but now that she is celebrating FIVE YEARS of survival, we want to help others be survivors, too!  All profits are donated to breast cancer charities.  So come out and help us celebrate by helping us raise money to save more lives!

See pictures from our 2011 crop here: http://www.craftyneighbor.com/images/retreats/pp2011/index.htm