I live really close to Pigeon Forge, what the name of the company? Sounds like it would be fun.
It is a ton of fun. It is not run by any company. There is a Yahoo Croup for Scrapbookers in TN and this crop has been organized by 2 of the members for the last 10+ years. It has been open to members of the group and their friends. We actually have some very talented Scrapbookers that attend/ have attended--some are well known in the scrapbook industry. My brush with SB celebrity is that Rebecca Sower is good friends with one of the organizers and sometimes comes for a day or so. Rebecca has worked with several companies and has had her own lines of paper and embellishments. Several other have worked with some of the big companies in the industry--I even had an idea of mine scraplifted by one of the organizers and featured on a Scrapbooking TV show! We used to get TONS of freebies. They would have boxes and boxes of papers and embellishments that they companies would give them. In fact I would say that at least 1/2 of my patterned paper has come from these. I am not sure if that is still happening. I haven't been in several years and I am not sure any of them are still workign with the companies.
When the crop first started we had a waiting list a mile long. But for some reason attendance has dropped of drastically and this year there are only about 20 going instead of the max of about 75-100. But the activity on the Yahoogroup has also gone way down. I suspect that it is because when the group started there weren't a whole lot of resources for Scrapbookers online. Two Peas and many of those other sites hadn't started so this was our only way of connecting and networking with others. But now that message boards like this are so popular, the need for the smaller yahoogroup has dwindled greatly. This is why the organizers are saying they may not do it again next year. It really is more fun when the numbers are a bit bigger. We would have lots of demos and games.
One thing that is so wonderful is the cost. It is $150 for the entire thing--Thursday at 3pm until Sunday at 1:00. That includes all meals during that time. Everyone brings snacks to share, we do swaps and gift exchange games and it is in the mountains where the view is spectacular! The only downside is that it is at a Youth Camp, so the accomodations are not 4 star. In fact I am not sure they are even 1 star! We sleep in the bunk houses the kids use--bunk beds, thin mattresses and about 20 women to a room at the max. The shower stalls are barely big enough for my plus size self to squeeze into.
But you know that is actually part of the fun. We all have jobs assigned to help out and everyone pitches in to help with cooking and cleaning and we just laugh and have a great time. I think at my max I have gotten about 10 pages done during a 3 day crop becuase there is just too much other stuff to do!
Maybe if I can get enough interest from other in the area we can get people from here to join in next year and we can keep it going. I used to live 2 hours away and it was a great drive but I moved and now have to fly back. I used to bring the entire back of my mini van FULL of stuff, but now I am limited to what I can put in one suitcase (under 50 pounds!) and my carry on.
I will talk to the organizers and see if they want to try to get some more interest for next year. They make absolutely zero profit--the cost just covers the use of the camp and the food and supplies. So they only do this for the absolute fun we have of getting together every year.
Turned out to be one of those solid perfumes in a metal case
(like a lipstick)
I have been scrapping quite a bit! I have a full scrapbook room with a TV and my laptop set up. My first Disney album is almost done.
