To Answer Ellie's Question: What is a Crop?

I've been using the term "crop" in my blog for awhile. I've never paused to explain what exactly a crop is.

The word "crop" in scrapbooking can mean two different things. To "crop" a picture is to alter a picture by cutting it out, cutting the corners into shapes or designing it in a decorative fashion. Just like photo editing programs alter pics on the computer, it's hand editing a picture instead of "cropping" it digitally.

Then Creative Memories, I think, came out with a term based on the premise, "Crop 'Till you Drop." I've heard this term used throughout scrapbooking in general. I am not sure why they ended up getting called "a crop," instead of, say, "scrapbooking workshops," or something, but here's what we do at a "crop:"

We bring our current album making projects, photos, etc. Often the person who is in charge of the event brings their cropping tools to share with the group. Some people, like my friend, Sheila, brings all of her own tools as well. So, since I hate toting all that extra stuff, I always sit by her and use her tools.

There are tables and chairs set up everywhere to chose from. Sometimes seats are assigned, sometimes it's first come first served. Everyone sits down and works on their books.

With the 12 hour crops, there are breaks for food and games. There are often hourly prizes and little give-a-ways for getting a certain number of pages completed. There are freebies just for coming. There are sometimes areas set up for photo ops. New products are shown and passed around. Often the mood of the crop depends on how large the crop and how many participating consultants there are.

My upline, Sandy, has informal monthly crops at her house that aren't filled with hoop-la and all that. Those are just bring your stuff and work and get a hot meal that night type of thing. They are still fun because I love to socialize with my friends, but they generally only last four hours at max.

So, that is basically what takes place at a crop. There is a lot of encouragement on getting albums done, and lots of new people to meet at the bigger events. It's just group scrapbooking, basically.

Hope that makes sense, Ellie.