26 September 2007

2 Peas Blogging Challenge: Scrapping with Others


Today's 2Peas Blogging Challenge is this: How often do you meet with friends to scrap? Do you wish it could be more?

My answers? Never and no.

This challenge caught my eye right away, as I've been meaning to blog about this very topic. Sad as it may be, I cannot scrap with others.


I'm not anti-social by any means, but I somehow become completely befuddled when it comes to scrapbooking with other people. This is kind of bizarre coming from someone who actually teaches scrapbooking classes. But truthfully, you might as well ask me to use the restroom with someone else in the stall. That's how pathetically intimidated I am when it comes to cropping with friends...or strangers, for that matter.

Don't get me wrong: I am completely in favor of the idea of crops, and I always recommend to students in my classes that they attend a crop to meet new people and be inspired. I actually envy people who go to crops and enjoy themselves. But, alas, that's not me. For me, scrapbooking is a really private thing.

In fact, the only way I can attend a crop is to take something mundane to work on, such as sorting or labeling photos. I have gone to crops and spent three days beforehand actually "pre-doing" everything, so all that's left to do at the crop is to glue it down. By the time I do all that work, it hardly makes going to the crop worth the time.

The other reason I don't scrapbook with friends is that I really prefer to work in my own space. I am completely dependent on my computer and printer for scrapbooking, and going to a place without them would be akin to roughing it in a tent without my curling iron.

So, dear scrapping friends, please don't take offense: I love scrapbooking, and I love you.

I just don't love you together.



9 comments:

Teresa Loop said...

Totally, completely agree with what you said about solo scrapping. Enjoy your time!

Stephanie said...

I am the same way. I have to have my space to have my creative mojo!

Maureen said...

Hah! I crop nearly every Thursday night at our LSS with my daughter. It's our night out together ... but the best part is that 99% of the time we are the only ones there. Which is great. We have the run of the place and don't have to worry about noise or watch our stuff. So I can see where you're coming from...

Anonymous said...

So, if you have to be in your space, does that mean that Sharon and I can come to your house and crop? We don't even have to sit in the same room with you - we can sit in your newly-remodeled kitchen!

Anonymous said...

Oh, that would be fun to crop in your newly remodeled kitchen. I'll even take the laundry room. However, I would have to pre-do all my stuff that I brought. I love my space also. Even cropping on my kitchen table has become hard now that I have my own room. I'm a solo scrapper. When my friend Janis comes, she gets a ton of stuff done and I do one LO.

toners said...

Great post! I'm a lone scrapper too although I recently made friends through a CJ group with one lady who lives an hour from me; we're going to a crop this weekend. We'll see how that goes! Ha!

Lynn said...

Janet, Again thank you for all your wonderful toughts and prayers for DJ. He is doing everything he can to get better quickly. Things are looking up.
I can relate to this. I feel the same way most of the time. Like I said, I don't get much done when I go to crops because I'm too busy looking at what others are doing or helping them decide. I'm lucky if I get 4 pages done at a 6 hour crop! Now, to be fair... the same thing applies here at home. I get in a rut and can't decide what to do sometimes and it takes forever.

Noelia said...

I can understand why you feel this way. I've only attended a couple of crops and only with my close friends but I do it purely for social reasons. I never get anything done during the crop lol!

Jill said...

Funny - with friends is the only time I *ever* get any scrapping done!