Creative Memories Scrap Retreat

It was my last chance to have a little weekend getaway before the baby comes. Don't worry; it was only 25 minutes from my house. :)

One of my friends is a Creative Memories consultant, so I guess she's technically MY CM consultant ... but she's still my friend. :) I have gone to her house on occasion for her crop nights. When she first invited me, I asked if it was okay that I didn't really use very many CM products. She said sure, so I figured a night of scrapping was okay ... even if most everybody else was using only CM products.

She told us about this weekend crop here at Camp Tyler. I had never been to a scrapbook retreat, and since this was the least expensive one I'd ever heard of, I figured I should go! This would also give me a great chance to make a few pages ahead of time for Kalleigh's baby book, so that all I'll have to do is slap down a few pictures and call it done.

I learned quickly that most people come with at least one other friend to these types of things, so I found myself sitting alone for the first couple of hours. Honestly, it wasn't that bad ... it meant I didn't have to make shallow conversation with people who were distracting my from my scrapping! But, after a while someone else from my consultant's clientele showed up and sat my me. The great thing is that she isn't much of a talker, either, so we got along great and got a lot of scrapping done!

For several of my layouts I either inked or sanded some of my edges of my photo mats or the background paper itself. I noticed that people kept staring over in my direction and then whispering to each other. They had these puzzled looks on their faces--a bit concerned. Finally someone came over and said, "I just have to know what you're doing." I told her that I was inking my edges. "So, what does that do, exactly?" she asked. I said, "It just makes the paper seem to pop off the page a little more ... see?" And I showed her a before and after example. "Oh, wow! I've never heard of that!" she said, and went back to tell her buddies. Now I've been inking and sanding for a couple of years now, and I thought that anyone who scrapped close to a page a week would be very familiar with that technique. It's SO common on my favorite website, apeekintoyesterday.com, and probably over-used. Anyway, everyone at this retreat just seemed so amazed with this "new idea." Later the next day, I was sanding another edge, and another lady came over an said, "Okay, I just have to see this. They were all talking about it over there," where she came from, I guess. So, I showed her, and afterwards she said, "Oh, wow!" and looked a little embarrassed, as if I had just showed her something naughty!

Another time during weekend, another one of the consultants came over and said, "Wow, these are pretty pages! But I don't really see any Creative Memories products." I assured her that I had used my CM paper trimmer, CM scissors and CM pen, all of which I couldn't do without. Admittedly, none of the cardstock or patterned paper or rub-ons or ribbon were CM, which is all you see, besides the pictures, on a LO, so her concern was valid. :) Then she asked how long it took me to make that particular page. It had taken me about 1 1/2 hours, and she was floored. She said that she would never spend that much time on one page, which is one reason she used CM exclusively. I told her that I enjoyed the process and the results of spending that much time on a page. She went on to say that since she was a CM consultant, she would never use THOSE products ... but they were pretty!

These people are so weird!! It's like a cult! They are dedicated to scrapping in this CM world no matter how much better other scrap products are. And I'm not sure why they are so devoted! A recurring phrase I heard regarding their products was, "The products are getting so much better than they were!" "Why use products that are just "okay" or "getting better," but not great? I don't get it. They don't sell any stamps or rub-ons or ribbons or eyelets or brads or photo corners or chipboard ... all of which I LOVE to put on layouts, and their paper and stickers are just so "cutesy." Just not my style, I guess. It's like they're martyrs for their CM cause ... they know it's not as good as other products, but they wouldn't cheat--ever--even if it means their pages won't ever be as good as they could be.

I had one lady who looked at my pages, which btw looked so incredibly different from anyone else's there, and said, "I'd love to make pages like that, but I can't seem to break out the CM world." SEE??!! They get you roped in, and you can't get out!

Another person looked at one of my layouts and asked if I had done some stamping on the paper. I explained that it was just a decorative rub-on. "A what?" she asked. So, I showed her what a rub-on is. "Oh, wow!" came that same slightly embarrassed response again.

I felt kind of bad, in a way. It's like I was exposing this very naive world to a whole new world of evil scrapbooking. Most of them had never even been to either of the two scrapbook stores in town, for they would never get caught in there! It was absolutely hilarious.

To defend the CM world, all of their products are the best quality you can find. I love my big CM scrap bag and my scissors, paper trimmer and pen. I'll continue to buy these things from CM. Plus, their biggest message is to put your memories on paper, which is priceless, no matter how "cutesy" it looks. :) Sorry if I offended any die-hard CM folks.

All in all, I had a fabulous time. How bad can it be to scrap for two days in a row?! Plus I won a "side-kick;" a cup holder and scrap catcher that you clip to the table--it's great! I got 14 pages done, half of which were new pages for Kalleigh's book, since I doubt I'll have much time for scrapping after she gets here. I'll be posting some of these layouts on "Peek," so I'll put a link to them here in the next couple of days.

I really love to scrap. I love that when I'm gone, my kids or grandkids will be able to go back and know who I was and how much I loved each of them by what I've done in these scrapbooks. I may not do it forever, but it's certainly a part of who I am now. It's also my creative outlet since I couldn't draw if my life depended on it!