Sunday 14 April 2013

My first ever crop!!

After the fantastic Bloggers weekend at the beginning of March I was determined to find somewhere local where I could meet up with like minded people and craft.  I had previously looked into the idea of attending a crop but to be honest I felt a bit inadequate as an inexperienced scrapper and definitely wasn't brave enough to meet up with complete strangers!!

But the time had come to get involved and seek out fellow paper crafters who would be happy to share their space (and possibly ideas and stash!) with  me.  I contacted one crop via UKS and 2 via their websites but only had one reply via UKS followed up by a reminder when the next crop was (yesterday!) so I decided to go along.

I thought I would be ok as I consider crafters to be among the nicest people I have ever met and you know what, I was right!  I met up with a wonderful bunch of girls who were really welcoming and friendly and despite the fact that they had all known each other for years, and I was the odd newbie I felt at home almost straight away (I think the bowls of mini eggs on each table definitely helped lol!)

Here is a shot of most of us minus the photographer and another scrapper who came after this pic was taken


I even managed to make a couple of scrapbooking pages from start to finish, a process that can often take me days (I am definitely a slow scrapper!)
The first is for this weeks challenge on UKS  I went for a B&W photo of the everyday with bright coloured papers and lots of journalling.  It is a lot brighter in real life as the grpah style paper in the background is a fairly bright green!


The second layout is yet another from the Harry Potter Studio Tour.  THis is for the UKS monthly challenge which was taking the third letter of your user name and searching under that letter in the members gallery to find inspiration.  I used my teamie Roxy52's page found here and took inspiration from the 2 photos, embellishment placement and large rectangle patterned papers.

DS and I are posing in a pretend fireplace to look as though we have just travelled via the Floo Network!


So for me a hugely successful first time crop and I don't think I upset anyone too much as they are letting me come back for the next one in May and I can't wait!!

Julie Kirk in collaboration with Jennie Bowlin Studios asked us to share ......  this is definitely one good thing that blogging has done for me..... allowed me to get to know some people virtually, feel confident enough to meet up with them in real life, helped me discover and feel competent in the hobby that I am now really enjoying and love and ultimately meant that I could walk into a room of complete strangers this weekend who I know share the same passion as I do (so I am definitely a braver person too!!)

17 comments:

  1. yay! what a great blogging share! i feel the same way! blogging has opened up a whole world of great people to interact with and enjoy! glad you had a great night and turned out some lovely pages!

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  2. Even though I get to craft quite a lot anyway ... I still love attending my local monthly crop for all the aspects you've mentioned: the friendliness, the new horizons; the actually-getting-something-done; the chocolate ...

    And I did exactly what you did - turned up to an established crop on my own, without knowing anyone. That was about 6 or so years ago now ... and they've never been able to get rid of me since!

    Julie :-)

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  3. Yay I'm glad you've found a friendly local crop. And that you managed two great pages.

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  4. good to hear you have found a crop - look forward to seeing many more wonderful pages x

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  5. So pleased to hear you enjoyed your crop!! Your layouts are lovely!

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  6. Sounds like you've found a lovely crop....wish there was one near me.

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  7. Glad you found a crop and you enjoyed your day...great layouts!
    Alison xx

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  8. I love crops. I used to go once or twice a month. Now it's more like once or twice a year!
    Rinda

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  9. It was lovely to meet you and glad you enjoyed yourself ... just call me crop photographer extradoninaire lol.

    I saw the first layout come together and sorry I had to leave to miss the second one, but it's just as gorgeous.

    I've started following your blog now, so really there is NO getting away from me x

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  10. Good for you Ruth, glad you enjoyed yourself.

    I hate walking into a room where I don't know anyone, but with crafters it is so different

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  11. Cropping is the best! thanks for visiting me, jenx uks wear crafts

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  12. YAY well done Ruth ... you are getting braver and truly you need to have a bit (no a LOT) more belief in your scrapping abilities!! You make great pages and are brilliant company - I just wish we lived closer together - we'd love you at our crop (with or without the mini-eggs).

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  13. Hello again! Just to let you know you won the mystery prize onmy UKScrappers blog-hop post! Can you get in touch [there's a link to my email on my blog] letting me know the address you'd like me to send your prize to?

    p.s: it's still a surprise ... I haven't decided what to send yet!

    Julie :-)

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  14. So pleased you have a group to connect with, and looking forward to many more happy accounts of enjoyable and productive days! I really like both your pages but that top one, with its lovely colours and use of white space just nudges ahead. :)

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  15. Great photo Sandra, i knew we let you come along for a reason!!

    It was so wonderful to have you at our crop Ruth and so pleased you had a lovely day. Looking forward to the next one already, just over 2 weeks to go.

    I love your layouts too and who knows you may get to meet the other crazy Potter fan too.

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  16. Its fantastic when you find a good crop isnt it. crafters are the best. Trust Sandra to be taking the photo rather than being in it lol

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  17. Lovely photo - glad you got to go along and have fun.

    I miss my regular monthly crop, might consider running or joining another but don't have time.

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