Preparing for a Crop

[TPCShauna]

I LOVE going to crops but I don't ever get much done. I know that is because it takes me a long time to do individual layouts but it is also due to searching through my stuff to find just the right paper/accent for a page.

I've seen many talk about putting together "page kits" in preparation for crops and I think I'd like to try this. Unfortunately, I have NO IDEA where to start to do this as I typically try several different embellies on a page before I come up with my final product. I can get my paper and pics together but that is rarely what takes so long.

What do y'all do to prepare? Also, if you are one of the productive crop attendees, how do you get so much done?

 

[Faerie]

I got 12 pages done last week - 6 events. I don't do anything ahead other than print/crop my photos. I just kind of go with the flow.

 

[BernardandMissBianca]

I kit.

I sort the pics by layout, find a sketch, pull papers, then do embellies. This time at Lisa's I am solely working on travel stuff and Epcot so I just grabbed my whole binders with the travel and Epcot things. I usually throw a few pieces in with each kit but I'm not that organized this month so we'll see how it goes. Once I see the sketch I usually get an idea of the elements I want to use, but for some reason I can't wrap my brain around it yet.

How is your stuff organized?

 

[MazdaUK]

This is NOT an enabler, but I've jsut got the CM Power Layout box. I'm not doing exactly like they say, but I have found that laying out and cropping the photos is helpful - having several albums on the go otherise it take me ages to decide which pics go where and I often end up with 2 of one pic - NO MORE (so saving money too ) With the pics sorted adn papers which might (or not) go I have room for all embellishments - well, all related to the theme - which I can decide as I go.

 

[Juliegirl1]

My embellishments and theme specific paper are all grouped together in the Iris scrapbook cases. I have one for Family and Kids, Disney, Outdoors, Holidays (one specifically for Christmas since I have a lot of stuff), School, Sports and Animals. Within each case I have large page planner envelopes divided further - for example in my Animals case I have Zoo, Wild Animals and Pets.

When I am going to a crop I know that I will be working on my Zoo pictures and my Disney trip, for instance. I grab the Disney case and out of the Animal case I take the Zoo envelope. Then I grab a few sheets of each color that I think I will need of solid cardstock. All of my printed paper and embellishments are already in the case and I am ready to go. It has really simplified my packing for crops without actually making page kits.

I also keep a small plastic case with solid colored brads, buttons and eyelets and pull out the ribbon I think I might use for the page. Sometimes I will be at a crop and know that I have ribbon to match but forgot it at home. I'll just do the page minus the ribbon and use a sticky to write what I need to finish the page at home.

Good luck!

 

[rlovew]

I have only gone to crops twice and both times i was working on specific projects and had my embellishments set for those projects.

When I kit things up to work on them when I have time at the house- I generally put a few different embellishments with each set of pictures so when i actually lay out the page I can make a choice. If I am working on a speific subject (Pirate and Porincess Party) or whatever else than I have all of the embellishments from the area with me to choose from.

Rebecca

 

[believen]

I'm trying the "kits" but maybe I put too much thought into it. It was taking me so long, I felt like I could have made the pages. So, I'm loading up the kits-that took me all evening to make- to go to a crop tonight and I'll see how it goes! I'm hoping it will keep me from just organizing and looking through pictures to decide what to do. If it does, it was well worth the time!

 

[BernardandMissBianca]

Sometimes it seems like it takes forever but I do mine in stages. I don't get a ton of free time so I will do my pics for 15 minutes then pull papers later, etc.

I have seen people do like 2 pages in 8 hours because they start from the very beginning, getting pics out of a box, sort them, riffle through their stacks of paper and so on. My only chance to scrap is at crops so I try to be as organized as possible.

 

[TPCShauna]

Honestly, I'm kind of working on the organization thing. I have been in denial that I don't really have that much stuff. rotfl2 so I like to pretend that all of my stuff fits in my two scrapbooking totes and a 12-drawer rolling cart.

Well, the reality is that I have two full scrapbooking totes, a 12-drawer rolling cart, a Cricut with multiple cartridges and tool case, a crate full of swap items, a tabletop tool bag, two piles of paper stacks, two large power sort boxes (one with memorabilia and one with pictures), a large bag of just my Disney embellishments (I'm a good shopper ), a bag for on-going swap/special projects and a pile of albums in progress. All of these things are placed where I can fit them. I would really like to make a scrapping area for myself in our spare bedroom but DH likes me to scrap in the living room with him. He says he would never see me if I had my own room.

Anyway, my embellies live in drawers in the rolling cart. My ribbon is in 2 large Ziploc bags and is about to explode into a third. My fiber is one large zippie. Eyelets/brads are one drawer, "other" embellies (read: everything that is not a sticker) is in another. Stickers are divided by category, stacked and rubber banded in two drawers. Everything Disney is in a tote bag. Paper is sorted by cardstock color, Misc. Printed Paper Scraps, Misc. Printed Paper, and Disney paper. I have a couple of "everyday" paper stacks, a Fall Stack and a Christmas stack that I only take out when using those things. All other PP is in one container that I sort through when I need stuff.

When I pack for a crop, I take two medium size bags and stuff ALL of my embellies into them, then try to fit all of my paper into my big rolling bag along with my cartridges. I stuff the rest into my CM shoulder bag (including my Cricut) and then carry my Power Layout box, my Disney bag if I'm working on that, and my tabletop tool bag. Then, while I'm there, I only get like 4 pages done and feel like a failure. I don't scrap chronologically so I just stick my pages back in my Power Layout box and then transfer them to my Iris case when I get home. It takes me an hour to pack up to go, 30 minutes to unpack at the crop and 30 to put everything back. Worst of all, it's exhausting.

 

[TPCShauna]

Mazda - I have and use my Power Layout box but not in the way it was intended. I use it for pages in progress and to transport completed pages. I will occasionally use it to put page elements together pending the layout process but it is rare. I don't think I will ever be able to do the whole Power Layout process as it is intended and taught but I should do a better of job of at least trying to use it in that manner. I also stopped cropping pics before doing the actual page as I kept regretting cropping decisions later.

Juliegirl1 - I really like your method. I've tried binders and the organizational process is too overwhelming for me. I LOVE the Iris cases. What brand are the paper planner envelopes that you use? Do you put all themed embellies in an envelope? Like for Zoo, you put all paper, stickers, brads, ribbon in one folder? How much stuff do they hold? How do you organize colors and every day stuff?

rlovew - I think I might try your method of putting a few different kinds of embellies with the kit. I'm always afraid of needing something I've left but it's just not practical to pack it all up.

believen - Let us know how it goes. I'm curious about your return on investment. BTW, I grew up in Ft. Worth and went to UTA for a while. Howdy!

BAMB - I don't do 2 in 8 hours but I might as well be that bad. For a 5/6 hour crop, I might only finish 6 pages. You just described my "process" (in the loosest sense of the word).

So, I've been really good about doing lots of generic swaps lately to get some general, non-Disney items. Now I have tons like color page kits, general cute pieces, etc. and I have no idea how to organize them. What do y'all do with something like a color page kit?

 

[New England Eeyore]

I go to crops fairly regularly now and when I have the time, I prefer to kit ahead of time, but sometimes I just don't. When I was working on my Disney album, it wasn't the end of the world if I didn't kit because all my Disney paper fit in one Iris box and I could grab the appropriate Ziploc bags for each park. Having said that, when I did kit, and it was just assembly at the crop, I got a TON done. Yes, I did feel at times getting the kits together that I was just one step away from finishing, but when you stack a whole bunch together it makes it easier to justify.

Now that I'm done with the Disney and back to "regular-life" it's much harder to pack because I just have WAY too much stuff. I can't possibly bring all my paper - so at the very least I really need to choose all my background papers at home. For embellishments, I have things at home stored by theme, but it's not exactly stored in stuff that's easy to travel with so I bring some crazy kinds of bags and containers with me sometimes (ie throw the entire contents of a 12x12 Sterilite drawer into a canvas tote bag - not the best example of organization!) Inevitably there's something I wish I brought but I didn't. Lately what I've been doing is taking a quick survey through my stuff at home, tossing anything I might use for the photos I'm bringing into a container, then when I get there forcing myself to use whatever I've got. I don't let myself think about what I might have left at home as long as I have something to work with.

 

[rlovew]

I have my color page kits in one box with them grouped by colors- when I have a layout that i don't have the right embellishments to go with the pictures i pull out the colors that might go and see if a kit would work. I have only used a couple of them since getting them back. I used them as I was finishing up my Pirate and princess Party album. I had more parade pictures I wanted to use than I had elments from the swap so I used the color page kits that matched the colors in the pictures.

Now that I have used them once I think I will be more likely to pull them out again to use- they made the page go so fast.

That being said- I never save things to use in case it would be better on another page- if it works with what I am doing than I use it., I have never just held onto something that would work- unless I had another purpose already picked out for it and the pictures already taken.

Rebecca

 

[AlexWyattMommy]

I don't go to crops very often.
The ones I did go that weren't club specific, I was making swap elements, so kitting those up was pretty simple.
I was going to go to one tonight, but didn't make it (DH had a late meeting, so I'll go next week.)
I did have one project kitted. I put in the album, the papers I liked (I had patterned paper from a set & one solid to match), put in my ribbon & embellishments & my typed up journaling thoughts.
Since I stayed home, I did that project tonight. Five hours and did the whole 16 page 8x8 album with 23 pictures & about 8 journaling boxes. Good thing I was home, because I forgot to include some embellishments that were here.
Having most of the stuff already together really helped.

 

[BernardandMissBianca]

Shauna I'm going to pick apart your post so bear with me, I don't want to mess up your method, just trying to see if I can help you get organized. Blue is you, red is me.


so I like to pretend that all of my stuff fits in my two scrapbooking totes and a 12-drawer rolling cart. we are obsessed so let's be honest here. I swear all my stuff fits in 2 bags, but I am taking 4 to Lisa's tomorrow. LOL How did that happen?!?!?

Well, the reality is that I have two full scrapbooking totes contents?

a 12-drawer rolling cart - my embellies live in drawers in the rolling cart organized how? What size are the drawers?

a Cricut with multiple cartridges and tool case are they stored in anything? Just and FYI but the carts in the boxes fit perfectly inside photo boxes, 7 to a box.

a crate full of swap items - organized how? An open crate?

a tabletop tool bag - very good!

two piles of paper stacks not with your regular paper?

two large power sort boxes (one with memorabilia and one with pictures) good

a large bag of just my Disney embellishments sorted how? Mine are divided by park and by land inside said park. Characters are in alphabetical order.

a bag for on-going swap/special projects can these fit in the 12 drawer cart with the drawers labeled by project?

and a pile of albums in progress you need a bookcase in the extra bedroom for these

I would really like to make a scrapping area for myself in our spare bedroom but DH likes me to scrap in the living room with him. if you get some kits together then you could scrap in the living room with him, you could have your tool bag and the pages you are working on. But use the spare room to store everything.

My ribbon is in 2 large Ziploc bags and is about to explode into a third. My fiber is one large zippie. First thing you need to do is divide the ribbon and fiber into groups by color, I put mine in smaller ziplocs at first. Then I would suggest wooden spools and a thread rack (or several ) from Joanns, those can be hung on the wall in the spare room. Or bead boxes with the ribbon and fiber wound onto embroidery floss spools, I think DMC makes plastic ones. I do the wooden spools on the thread rack. this is what I used to have. But I like the spools better.

Eyelets/brads are one drawer again bead containers or a nut and bolt organizer would work well, depending on how much you have, most of these can be hung on the wall or set on a bookcase. Like this one, I got mine at target in the tool dept. The drawers can be divided in 1/2 and there is another one that has small drawers too.

"other" embellies (read: everything that is not a sticker) is in another. not sure how to address this since I don't know what "other" is.

Stickers are divided by category, stacked and rubber banded in two drawers. have you looked into the sticker binders?

Everything Disney is in a tote bag. very good!! My Disney stuff would never fit inside a tote bag, a sea bag maybe, but not a tote bag. LOL

Paper is sorted by cardstock color, Misc. Printed Paper Scraps, Misc. Printed Paper, and Disney paper. I have a couple of "everyday" paper stacks, a Fall Stack and a Christmas stack that I only take out when using those things. All other PP is in one container that I sort through when I need stuff. What kind of storage are you using for the paper? I personally really like the cropper hoppers, I have 7.

When I pack for a crop, I take two medium size bags and stuff ALL of my embellies into them, then try to fit all of my paper into my big rolling bag along with my cartridges. I stuff the rest into my CM shoulder bag (including my Cricut) and then carry my Power Layout box, my Disney bag if I'm working on that, and my tabletop tool bag. Then, while I'm there, I only get like 4 pages done and feel like a failure. you are not a failure!! We just need to increase your productivity.

I don't scrap chronologically so I just stick my pages back in my Power Layout box and then transfer them to my Iris case when I get home. It takes me an hour to pack up to go, 30 minutes to unpack at the crop and 30 to put everything back. Worst of all, it's exhausting. I have the big Iris rolling cart that Joanns has, I love it!!! I took the wheels off because it stays put but I would never give mine up.

I think you are just taking too much stuff and are overwhelmed by how much you have when you get to your crop. You need to get a little more prep work in before hand so you take only what you need.

I hope I helped, at least a little bit. Or just tell me to butt out. LOL

 

[BernardandMissBianca]

Oh and the most important thing to carry is a notebook! That way if you do forget something you can jot a note down and either pack it for the next time or put it on when you get home.

 

[TPCShauna]

NEE - I think I'm going to have to try to at least pick out my patterned paper before hand. I have to take my cardstock with me but not carrying huge masses of PP will make a difference. I kind of do the drawer in a bag thing also.

rlovew - I need to be better about not saving things for later. All of my pages are special so I should use whatever whenever. I don't know why I have a hierarchy system. Thanks for sharing your method for sorting your page kits.

AWM - I am amazed that you could finish that whole album in that amount of time. I could SO never do that. I also find that it's easy to kit swap items and I get tons of those done when I take them to crops. I try really hard to only work on pages at crops though since I usually have more room than I do at home. I scrap on a round table at home so it can be hard to lay out 2 12x12 pages next to each other. It's much easier to do swap stuff.

 

[TPCShauna]

Thanks for taking the time to break down my post BAMB!!! I appreciate your assistance and am going to try to provide as much info as possible.

Tote contents - Both are Creative Memories. One is the large, old rolling kind. The main compartment is full of paper. I have all of my sorted cardstock, my generic paper stacks and my (not-so-sorted) PP groups. All of my CM kit type things are in the back. I use the side pockets to transport Cricut carts and the front carries Cricut mats, tool kit, cords (including my bug's designated extension cord) and some punches. When I pack for a crop, I fill my CM Memory Mate (I think that's what they are) cases with embellies and shove them on top. I can sometimes fit one album in here as well and I might be able to get my Power Layout box as well.

The smaller tote is the old CM shoulder bag. It has my trimmers, cutting mats, small decofile that I use for stickers and Cricut cutting size templates for various carts, CM page layout templates, Xyron X and a few other small odds and ends. When I crop, I put the ribbon and Prima bags in here along with the Cricut. Pockets hold pics in the small CM picture sorters, my personal trimmer and some punches.

Both bags are so heavy that I can't pick them up.

Here's the cart I have:

Drawer dimensions are: 2-3/4'' Dx11-3/4''Wx15-1/4''L - In other words, not useful for paper at all which is what I bought it for in the first place. Now it is divided in the following manner:
1 - items that I use as hostess gifts, items in the Pass It Forward thread, swap duplicates, glue dots and extra adhesive.
2 - punches and decorative edged scissors
3 - Brads, eyelets and tools to use these
4 - Primas and all other types of embellishments not including stickers
5 - Inks, stamps and embossing supplies
6 - Ribbon and fiber
7 - Stickers and small, decorative page elements like slide frames. Items are rubber banded by "Generic" and "Holiday"
8 - Stickers and small, decorative page elements like slide frames. Items are rubber banded by "Food" and "Travel"
9 - Thank you cards
10 - Misc. large packages of things like raffia, feathers, etc. that I use as decorative elements.

My Cricut carts aren't stored in anything. They are in a pile on top of the rolling cart.

The swap crate is a collapsible, plastic crate that is about the size of a bankers' box. It has an open top. Swaps are organized in bags by park or theme. This is kind of working except that I can't figure out what to do with my more generic items like page kits.

my tabletop tool bag. Bought it at Walmart for $10 and it was the best purchase I've EVER made. I used to use the Memory Mate cases and I love this so much more since things stay in place. ALL of my tools, adhesives and CM cutting templates are in here.

The paper stacks are the DCWV kind so they are giant stacks that I keep in a stack. I just discovered these late last year (I know, where have I been?) so they are new for me. Do y'all divide these after you buy them or do you just leave them in the stacks? They are in a separate pile because they won't fit with the rest of my paper.

Disney embellies - Store-bought stickers are in a rubber-bound stack. Swap items are divided by park in Ziploc bags. I tried to do the binder thing that you showed but it was too overwhelming for me.

Bag for swaps/projects - No, the projects won't fit in the drawers. I use the 12" CM Decofile and then use 2 gallon zippies to sort the projects. This is how I organize swaps/projects that I'm working on and it is very effective for me.

I think I am going to talk about DH about setting up the work space in the room so that I can organize everything and kit to work in the living room and at crops. My problem with my embellies is that they aren't portable without packing and unpacking them at crops/home.

I have my ribbon on those little card things you showed. I've looked for the boxes you showed as well but haven't been successful. Maybe I should try someplace like Joann's to find that.

Other embellies include: Primas, buttons, plain slide frames, metal embellies, chipboard, bling, bottle caps, embellished paper clips, etc.

What sticker binders?

When I say everything Disney is in a tote bag, that is all of my Disney Jolee's and stickers, die cuts and whatever park I'm working on at the moment. All of the rest of the swap items sit in the swap crate I mentioned above. Mind you that none of my Disney paper is in this bag.

Paper Sorting - I have these plastic 12x12 envelope things that I bought at Mike's. They are expandable and have that string closure thing that you wrap in figure outs. I have them labeled by color for cardstock - Red/Pink, Purple/Green, Orange/Red, Blue, Neutrals/Metallics, Misc. PP, Misc. PP Scraps, Disney. I keep my cardstock scraps with their color and I use them often. I've never really looked at Cropper Hoppers but I certainly can.

'K. I didn't know that Iris made a cart. I think I need to do some organizational tool shopping.

I don't carry a notebook but I do use acid/lignen free post-its to make notes on pages of things I need to do.

I agree with you on the advance prep. I'm going to try it a bit before heading out for tomorrow's crop. It won't be much but I'll see if I can make somewhat of an improvement in my productivity.

I really appreciate your tips. We are re-organizing the garage at the moment but my scrap stuff is next. I'll have to look for some of these things. Thanks so much for your time and help!

 

[believen]

Howdy Shauna! My future son-in-law is an accounting major at UTA. I've lived here forever, actually always within a mile of the house where I grew up.
On to the scrapping-
I kitted Is that how you would say it? 10 single page layouts and 10 double page layouts-each with photos, papers, and embellishments, some with a sketch.
I took a rolling cart full of paper, a tote full of embellishments and paper cutter, and my tabletop tool holder.My kits were in a plastic 12x12 project holder. My friend has a cricut and tons of other toys, so we just bring our carts. My photos were all random everyday life, so I left my Disney and holiday stuff at home. (I normally would have taken one more tote.)
This is a loud, chatty, hilarious group of girls, and I work better in quiet. We started at 6:30 and I left at 1:00. We also stopped to eat.
I finished 28 pages!!!!!!!!!!! and 3 extra's.
So, it was well worth the extra time and I think I'll do even better next time.
I only got in my paper cart once, except for the extra pages, and I had forgotten to add embellishments for 2 layouts, and I changed my mind on one layout, I just couldnt get it to look right.
I totally forgot inks, so I borrowed those.
I think BAMB's idea for the notebook is great. Next time, I may try to just take the Tote and my tools. I wasn't as stressed trying to figure out where to start, because it was ready to go.
Thanks to everyone for all the great ideas!

 

[MazdaUK]

I LOVE colour swap page kits - especially when I've got a big stack of pics (eg vacation) and I want to churn our pages without cutting out a load of paper. I keep them in a separate small box (which once had 7x7 paper in) which keeps them safe and accesible. If you look back on the scrapping with swapped items threads you'll see a lot of my pages with colout kits (I've even used pink ones - quite a feat with 2 boys!). They're great if I don't have a specific embellishment to use (like a sticker) or if I want to use a particular paper but don't want to wallpaper it. And they bring a page together really quickly - no WAY would I ever cut photo mats for pages as I went along, and certainly not double mount and embellish I use them flexibly - soemtimes I use the photo mat as a journal box, and put a cropped photo on the journal box and/or tag. Soemtimes the eyelets or whatever don't make an appearance but go into the general stash - no biggy! I've also split some kits - don't feel you have to pack everything on

 

[AlexWyattMommy]

Thanks Shauna. It really helped that I knew what I was going to do and I had already put the pictures in the with page they would be on so as to not forget when I got there. Well, here.