A few months ago, I attended my first scrapbook "crop." I knew nothing about scrapbooking previously, beyond a visit to a camera store in Pickerington, Ohio, that had an astounding selection of scrapbooking products and tools and few people in the store buying or advising. There was little warmth there, and that made all the "stuff" seem very commercial to me. Also, a bit expensive.
Now, I see things differently. A friend named Janis invited me to a dinner with her needlework club (Athens Friends and Newcomers). There, I met Margaret, who invited me to the evening book club of the same main group. The book club met in the home of a woman named Jan Weckman (who I later found went to Kent State about the same time I was there). As the book club disbanded, we passed the door of a spacious craft room located off the foyer. I asked if I could see the room: two rooms, with big tables, comfortable chairs, a large-screen TV hooked up to a computer, all manner of tools and punches and stamps and binders and paper!
"What is this?" I asked, all Janice-in-Wonderland. "This is where I hold scrapbooking workshops," Jan replied (or something to that effect, I felt like I'd found the end of the new-crafty-person-in-town rainbow and, one-two-three, I'd signed up for the next class.
It was a Saturday morning at 10 a.m. and went until 4 p.m. The reasonable price included a healthful lunch as well. I took along the scrapbook I had been working on (with no exposure to other scrapbooks or "crops"). And purchased a few products Jan had in her studio from Creative Memories (with all the tools she had available, only the most basic of supplies were needed, and everything CM offers is acid-free and will keep your family photos safe for generations).
It was a great way to spend a rainy summer Saturday, and the eight women there were friendly and interesting. It was easy to start conversations because everyone had their family photographs with them and there were scenes of a child here, a vacation there, a holiday as well. The second crop I attended at Jan's house had a few of the same women, and a few I hadn't met yet. The third crop, earlier today, the same. I saw some women I knew and the others were scrapbooking friends-to-be. We swapped the information we had about the recent tornados that hit Athens and Meigs Counties (about 38 hours earlier), and I marveled that more information had not been available in this age of instant news (but the newspaper's building had been seriously damaged and our other paper in town only publishes twice a week).
Afterward, I couldn't help but think of my grandmother, Helen Greene. She made beautiful quilts, all pieced by hand and quilted by hand by the women in her church group. I wondered how their conversations compared to those in crops today: children, husbands, school activities, work, books read, recipes tried, movies, illness. But also there are periods of silence. Jan has quiet jazz playing in the background and fresh brewed coffee. How blessed I feel to have found Jan and her workshops.
Since Jan sells Creative Memories products, I am using those products now (previously I had bought materials at Wal-Mart). I also purchased CM's "Storybook Creator" and am learning how to do the digital scrapbooking. Since I've worked in Photoshop for years (creating book covers), it was pretty easy for me to pick up, but even without that background I think it would be fairly easy. After an hour or so, anyone with some digital photos (or print photos scanned in) should be happily creating a digital scrapbook page. (See my first effort in the image above.)
I spent some time searching for scrapbooking information online and perhaps these links will be of interest to you too. If I've left anything out (and I'm sure I have, this is not an exhaustive list, who has that kind of time...), let us all know in the comments field. Or, join Appalachian Morning on Facebook, and leave a comment there.
CATEGORIES BELOW:
- General Information
- Videos
- Scrapbooking Supplies & Tools
- Workspace
- Digital Scrapbooking
- Instructors / Crops / Conventions
- Scrapbooking Magazines
- Books on Scrapbooking (and Card Making)
ONE--GENERAL INFORMATION:
CREATING KEEPSAKES
MEMORY MAKERS MAGAZINE
CREATIVE MEMORIES
SIMPLE SCRAPBOOKS
SCRAPBOOKS, ETC. (A BETTER HOMES & GARDENS SITE)
SCRAPBOOK.COM
A GREAT VIDEO ON TAKING PHOTOS FROM BOXES TO SCRAPBOOK
SCRAPBOOK FLAIR
TWO--VIDEOS:
MY ASSISTANT, TYLER WINSTON, HAS SET UP A YOUTUBE CHANNEL WITH FAVORITE VIDEOS RELATED TO SCRAPBOOKING!
ALL CREATIVE MEMORIES VIDEOS
STAMPINGTON & COMPANY'S YOUTUBE CHANNEL
THREE--SCRAPBOOKING SUPPLIES & TOOLS:
CRICUT MACHINE
SILHOUETTE SD
VIDEO ON 4 FAVORITE TOOLS
CREATIVE MEMORIES
YOU CAN FIND MANY SCRAPBOOKING SUPPLIES FOR SALE ON EBAY.
IDEAS: CHARITY CROPS; MASQUERADE CROPS; TIPS & TECHNIQUES CROPS
YAHOO SHOPPING LISTS SCRAPBOOKING SUPPLIES
TRAVEL SCRAPPIN': "QUALITY SCRAPBOOKING SUPPLIES FOR ALL YOUR TRAVEL ADVENTURES"
QUIRKS OF ART
STUFF4SCRAPBOOKING
FOUR--WORKSPACE:
FIVE--DIGITAL SCRAPBOOKING
CREATIVE MEMORIES: DIGITAL SCRAPBOOKING IDEAS
DIGITAL SCRAPBOOKING SOFTWARE REVIEWS (TOP 10)
CREATIVE MEMORIES: DIGITAL SOLUTIONS (ON YOUTUBE)
MEMORY MIXER (ON YOUTUBE)
MY MEMORIES SUITE
MAC SCRAP
SCRAP GIRLS
SIX--INSTRUCTORS / CROPS / CONVENTIONS:
GREAT AMERICAN SCRAPBOOK CONVENTIONS
U.S. SCRAPBOOK STORE LOCATOR
CREATIVE MEMORIES "FIND A CONSULTANT"
MY SCRAPBOOKING TEACHER, JAN WECKMAN, AND LINKS TO PURCHASE PRODUCTS (CREATIVE MEMORIES)
PROJECT CENTER AT CREATIVE MEMORIES
WHAT IS A "CROP"?
HOSTING A CROP
PREPARING TO ATTEND A CROP
OUR CROPS PLUS
MICHELLE VOKE'S BLOG HAS A LIST OF CROPS IN PA, MD, VA (AUG '10 - APRIL '11)
INTERVIEW WITH ALI EDWARDS
REAL WOMEN SCRAP TV
Creating Keepsakes Conventions - Scrapbooking conventions held throughout the United States.
Memories ScrapbooKing Expo - Shows in Ohio, Florida, and New Jersey.
Scrapbooks Megameet - Scrapbooking conventions in the Great Lakes area.
Scrapbook Tour -Midwest
Scrapbook Portal Events - US and Canada.
Crop All Day - North Texas and Oklahoma.
Get Croppin' - mid-Atlantic area
Crop a Lot Retreats - East Coast
Croptopia Getaways - Northeast (cruises, too)
SEVEN--SCRAPBOOKING MAGAZINES:
EIGHT--BOOKS ON SCRAPBOOKING (AND CARD MAKING ALSO):
2 comments:
I like to visit this nice post.Here also purchased the CM's story book creator, I learned how to do a digital collage. Since I work in Photoshop for many years, it is very easy, I picked up, but even without such a background, I think it would be pretty easy.
Midwest Scrapbook
This is really good post to read about scrap-booking and I like it very much. you have really good hobby. I am just started of doing this thing and it seems easy to do but still I am learning new things as well.
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