Packing for a Crop

Hi, everyone! Welcome back to Life on the {Scrap}beach!

I've gotten a couple questions about packing for crops, so I thought I would do a post about how I get ready to scrap away from home. Also, I'll be going on vacation this month and I'm taking some scrapping stuff with me, so I'll need to do this myself fairly soon. I'm hoping posting about it will help me to brush up on my process! :D Usually I can pack for a crop in about thirty minutes {don't hate me!} but I think it will take a bit longer to pack cropping supplies for my vacation since I'll be away from my stuff for longer than just one night.

As you surely know by now, page kits are the backbone of my scrapbooking. {If that comes as a surprise to you, you should probably read this post before going any further.} Before I started using page kits, my scrapbooking was very disorganized. It took me forever to choose the perfect cardstock, the perfect patterned paper, the perfect embellishments, etc. So much time was spent on sifting through my stash that hardly any scrapbooking got done and it was almost impossible to choose what to take to a crop. Since I have started using page kits, I really only have one decision to make per layout: which kit do I like best for these photos?

So, when I'm packing for a crop, I choose my photos, then choose my page kits and put them into my tote. Then I add some generic stamps {like flourishes, journaling spots & maybe an alphabet}, my stamp blocks, my travel box of Colorbox cat's eye queues {I have all of them ~ it gives me a nice variety of ink colors in a relatively small amount of space}, my favorite punches, some baby wipes and a pad of post-it notes. Then I grab my tool bag off my desk, and I'm done.

The post-it notes are very important because they provide me with peace of mind ~ I don't have to worry about packing the right things. If I need something from home to complete a layout, I just write on the post-it note what is missing and how I planned to use it. Then I stick the post-it note to the page protector. When I get home, I just finish off any layouts with post-its and they're ready to go into albums!

And that's it! That's all the packing and preparation that I do. I know it might seem complicated when you factor in actually making the kits, but I think it's a definite timesaver. For me, making a kit is kind of like shopping, and since I really load up my kits, I don't have to do that very often.

I hope this helps you when you're packing for your next crop! If nothing else, slipping a pad of post-it notes into your tote can be really helpful. That way if you have an "aha!" moment at the crop you won't forget it by the time you get home!

Kathryn
Life's a beach. Scrapbook it.