If you were following me on Twitter a couple of weekends ago, you mostly likely saw my layout-by-layout report on the progress of my scrapbooking time in my hotel room while I was in Boston on a business trip. I completed a total of 13 pages (10 layouts since there were a few 2-page spreads in the mix) over the course of the weekend. I also worked 10 more pages (8 layouts) to the point that I only need to add a few finishing touches from the stash that I didn't take with me. Not bad for working with a limited number of supplies!!
Speaking of supplies, the photo above shows everything that I brought with me for this trip (scrapbooking-wise). I normally wouldn't pack quite so much, but since it was a two week trip and I knew I'd have a weekend free I decided to go a bit overboard on purpose.
Two of the plastic boxes were stuffed to the brim with page kits. Some of the kits were actually packed several years ago (circa 2008) during a time when I scrapped more at crops than at home, and some of them (based on the course material in May Flaum's Creative Retreat class) were packed the week before I left. If you want a closer look at how I pack page kits, I recommend checking out this post.
One box was full of nothing but tools- my tape gun, some refills, a ruler, a couple of basic shape and border punches, and some decorative tapes. I ended up not using everything that was in the box, but I didn't find that I was missing anything. Also, my paper trimmer and craft knife set didn't fit into the box, so they were loose in my suitcase.
Another box contained items to work on my Bahamas cruise album and another mini-album I have in progress. Unfortunately I never got the chance to work on either of them.
My hotel room contained a decently large table that turned out to be a great size for spreading out a few tools, opening my MacBook, and working on a one- or two-page layout without feeling crowded.
I've scrapbooked in hotel rooms (or on travel in general) many, many times before, but it's been so long that it seemed new to me again this time around. I definitely noted a few things to be aware of for my next trip:
- Make a packing list (I did this) and then check and double-check it before you leave the house (I didn't do this). I ended up taking all the supplies necessary to work on the cruise album that I prepped last fall...except for the photos! Duh, Melissa!!
- Glimmer Mist? Totally usable in a hotel room!! I spritzed mine while holding the paper over the bathroom sink.
- I didn't realize how spoiled I've been about paper cutters since purchasing my very precise Rotatrim
. My Cutterpede
started to drive me nuts by the end of the trip!
- Some of the older photos that I wanted to scrap had been shot on film. I've become so accustomed to digital that it didn't even occur to me to check that I had duplicate prints or that the negatives had been successfully scanned before I left (you can read about my negative scare here), so I was left with the choice of either risking it by scrapping them and hoping that things worked out when I got back home or having duplicates made on the go. In the end I went with the latter choice, driving 15 minutes to Target (it was near where I wanted to have lunch, anyway) to use their scan and print kiosk. Less than $4 later I had reprints that I could use without worry- totally worth it!
- I discovered a big difference between the page kits I packed several years ago and the ones I packed the week before my trip. The newer kits were much more complete, and I had included several extras (sets of letters, journaling spots, etc.) in case I needed to make a design change on the fly. This turned out to be a huge help, and I've determined that it's better to pack too much in an individual page kit (at least those items have a purpose) than to just pack a bunch of random stuff and hope it all works out in the end. The older kits, on the other hand, had too little in them in the way of embellishments, producing the majority of the unfinished pages that I brought back with me.