What Should I Bring?

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Crop Classix events are designed for scrappers, card makers and crafters to come together with others who share their passion, and work uninterrupted by phone calls, children, work pressures, household chores and the like! You will complete more pages and projects than you would ever be able to do at home! We chat, create, share ideas, eat, snack, and nap.  The cropping room is open 24/7 during the time of the retreat, so work as long as you wish.

What Should I Pack for a Cropping Retreat?  This is a common question. How can you know what to bring and what to leave home? You do NOT want to pack everything you own. It is best to stay focused and organized. You want to travel as light as possible. Here are some guidelines that may help.

To get the maximum benefit of your time away from home, we strongly encourage scrappers to pre-plan, and pack accordingly. There is some expense involved in attending a cropping retreat, so you want to use your time the best that you can. The time it takes to think about my pages and projects before you go will pay dividends later in many more finished pages!

Plan Ahead

You may bring a bin, tote or an XL bag to crops. What you use to carry your supplies is not as important as how you PLAN what goes into your supply tote or bag. Bring or pack only what you think you will really use.

• Keep it simple. Pack your bag with your favorite tools like your paper trimmer, cutters, and adhesive, as well as any special items you need for specific layouts to be done that day. Make page kits or follow a “power layout” system. Place the photos, paper, embellishments, stickers and journaling ideas together for each layout in its own page protector in a binder or between two pieces of cardstock or cardboard.  You can also use a box to stack page kits in it or use an accordion file folder. Again, the container you choose is not as important as the actual process of PLANNING AHEAD.
  
• Be Realistic: Take only as many page kits as you think you can realistically get done at the cropping event.  Estimate your regular pace for a layout and plan accordingly. Toss in an extra one or two additional kits than you think you’ll finish but be reasonable.
  
• Streamline Your Tool Kit: Most scrappers have many more tools and goodies than will fit in a tote. You’ll have to pick and choose what to take along. Keep certain tools in your bag all the time. You can pack others only if you will be doing a layout that will need them. If you are traveling with other cropping friends and feel comfortable sharing some tools, make plans to share the load, deciding who can bring what tools.

Suggested List of Supplies

• Dress casual and comfortable. An overshirt or sweatshirt is a good idea. 
  
• Drink Caddy – this is a must! There are no open drinks allowed in the cropping room without a drink caddy.
  
• Seat sack – these are apron type seat covers with pockets. You can keep your favorite tools within while keeping your workspace free to spread out. 
  
• Pre-planned page kits with paper, embellishments and necessary tools.
  
• Personal tools – trimmer, cutters, adhesive, scissors, ruler, eyelet setter and matte, journaling pens and pencils.
  
• Extra paper. It is handy to store paper in an accordion file folder arranged by color.  Scraps can be stashed in the front of each section. 
  
• Scrap box.
  
• Favorite Idea books.
  
• Qtips – for chalking or glueing. 
  
• Baby wipes- to clean up those chalked, inked, gluey fingers.
  
• Plastic bags in a variety of sizes to store scraps, die cuts, make it and take it items, etc.
  
• Snacks for yourself and/or to share with fellow scrappers.
  

Crop Classix Equipment Inventory

One of the advantages of a larger cropping retreat is the access to a vast amount of tools and equipment.  Crop Classix offers 10-12 simple-to-operate die cutting machines and more than 1,000 die cuts including 20 different alphabets (click here for our list of equipment at each event). You’ll also find paper trimmers, cutting templates, paper punches, decorative scissors, heat guns, embossing tools, idea books, templates and more.  Bring your own paper (or visit our vendors to purchase paper) and you can create your own supply of die cuts to use at the crop or to take home for future projects. Computers loaded with different fonts, and with access to the Internet for fonts and clip art will also be available throughout the event. 

Vendors

At each Crop Classix event, there are a number of vendors on hand with a variety of scrapping supplies. They provide the opportunity to shop for supplies throughout the event.  Many of the vendors offer around the clock shopping with a tab “honor system.” You can pay as you go, or opt to run a tab and settle up at the end of your stay.  Independent consultants from some of your favorite companies will be at your service.  If you forget something, chances are they will have it.