Scrap Camp - Handmade by Suzanne

The may camp was fun.

Rochelle and I left Perth on Friday afternoon. We stopped at her house so she could pick up her things and drop off her hubby. I played with the new kitten, who is very energetic. We got to camp around 19:30. Suzanne had saved a plate of food for each of us for dinner.

I got through a lot more layouts this time, a whopping 7 compared to last camp's measly 3. I have to say, I really liked being able to just take with me the patterned paper I wanted to work with, and then buying the appropriate coloured card stock when I was there. Waiting for my bag of stuff to go through the shop also gave me time for the creative juices to flow.

Being autumn, it was freezing at Pinjarra. We felt well-prepared with hot water bottles, rugs (take your own! Never believe someone who says they've got enough for you) and various extremity-covering devices (beanies, socks, gloves).

As one would expect on a camp, the beds were a tad uncomfortable. My mattress was so saggy I was sleeping below the frame, and Rochelle's was so hard it felt like a plank of wood. This made the going slow the next morning, but tasty hot food and the promise of a relaxing day ahead got us up nicely. Saturday was a lovely day outside, although I did not see most of it. The scenery was lovely, and some people took advantage of it; there was a group having a wedding at the village at the same time as the camp.
This camp also involved a competition layout. As there were a few day-scrappers, the competition was held on Saturday. It was a sketch that we had to design from. I partook in it, and made a layout based around my partner and a steam-powered clock we found in Vancouver, Canada.

Layout for competition

This was to echo the flowers on the clock in the photograph;
the metallic clockwork was made using UTEE in Rochelle's Melting Pot.

Close up of the other embellishments

To keep me going, I had a nap on Saturday afternoon. I am still unwell from a mystery virus, but recovering slowly. Rochelle and I stayed until the competition had been voted on and the winner was announced, then headed to her place to sleep. We chose the half hour drive with comfortable mattresses and pleasant showers over being able to walk back to the scrapping area; a good choice, I feel.

Sunday showed the importance of a good night's sleep before scrapping. Instead of the 2 layouts I'd completed the night before, I completed 5 layouts in less time on Sunday. I also got the hang of making my own pretty background papers from card stock, using sprays, ink pads and stencils.

All in all, I think I enjoyed this camp more, which I feel was a mix of a cosier venue and no concerns about having to organise my own meals. But probably mostly sleeping at Rochelle's house.

Scrap camp - Away in WA

In April we went away on our first full scrapbooking camp. It was lots of fun and very tiring. If you go on one, prepared to eat and sleep poorly.

Rochelle and I were very excited. My luggage was extremely heavy and difficult to carry from work to Perth Train Station; as we were taking Rochelle's car, she had packed it to the roof with the entire contents of her scrap room.

The camp was run by Scrap Away in WA. We camped at Lake Leschenaultia, and food and bedding were not provided. We slept in a dorm room on bunk beds, one bunk bed to a person. I highly recommend taking something to block out nighttime sounds, or just don't sleep until 2am. Or maybe it was 4am, I was too tired to read the time properly. There was also plenty of fridge and pantry space for food.

We had groups from two shops attend. These were Scraptique and Tomorrow's Memories. Scraptique set up a stall, and we could buy papers and a large assortment of stickers, embellishments and so forth. Made with Memories were showcasing their new line of silicone moulds. With these you can press in clay or pour in wax or UTEE, and pop out your own embellishments. Rochelle was extremely impressed, and a new toy was added to the collection- the moulds and a Melting pot. I am letting her test it before I buy one, but the effects I saw on another blog a while ago now make more sense, and looked very good.

There were several competitions during the camp, mostly raffles which cost $2 per entry. There were also two competitions for a scrapbooked page. One involved taking a layout and putting your own twist on it; the other was a challenge to use at least 4 items from the goodie bag we were given at the start of camp.

These are the layouts I completed at camp:

Layouts completed at Camp

The following is the one I completed for the competition involving using a "sketch", or pre-drawn layout. Please excuse that it is sideways, blogger rotates it every time I upload it.

Competition Layout

I found the camp fun, and I feel much more prepared for the next one this weekend.