My First Experience at a Scrapbook Event (Crop)

Hello there Scrappers! I know some of you have heard of these "crops" or "retreats" but to those that are not familiar with those it is where ladies get together and scrapbook all day even several days. I had never heard of these until my friend at work told me about them and I was not too sure about how I would like attending one.  I went to my first one in Michigan on February 21, it was from 9 am to midnight! What was so great about this was it was a fundraising event. Scrapbook for a cause sounds good to me! 

I had never packed for a crop before so I did a few preplanned pages which ladies said that would help but still ended up packing up my entire scrapbook room anyways. Here is a picture of what I packed.

One of those totes is just adhesive! I am going to try and post the video that I did showing how I packed and what I packed. An important thing to remember when going to one of these is to not forget your pictures! My friend got there and started to unpack and well she forgot her pictures! Her pictures! But thankfully she lived close by and went back home to get them. This happens more than you think it would. Just think there are ladies that travel long distances to these crops or retreats so going back home would not be an option.

When I first arrived I was greeted by a young boy pulling a wagon asking if I needed help unloading my car. There were also a few young boys and men there to help us ladies unload our vehicles which I thought was amazing! I told the young boy that I had a lot, he said "that's okay my mom brought a lot too!". Once inside the building I got to my assigned table and started to unpack setting everything up.

During the day they did drawings, silent auctions and even had vendors there for us to shop at. They served us lunch and dinner with snacks in between. They had music playing in the background and you could even bring your MP3 players in if you wanted to listen to your own music. Several ladies had laptops at their stations for their cutting machines. My friend and I would walk around looking at other layouts ladies were working on and how they placed everything on their pages to possibly help give us some new ideas for our own pages. A few of the vendors there were selling scrapbook supplies and they would do demonstrations, one even let ladies go up and use the Sizzix dies she brought.

I am so glad I went! It was so nice to be in a room full of other ladies that had the same passion as me. Ladies there were so nice and welcoming I even made a few new friends. I hope to return in October when they host another event! Here are a few pictures from the event to show those that have not gone to one. To those that have been to crops or retreats please comment giving tips to anyone that has not yet been to a crop or retreat. Thanks and have a splendid crafty time Scrappers!