You cannot understand the pressure Crafty Girl and I feel coming to the scrapbooking retreat each year. Yes, it is supposed to be relaxing fun. But something happened by year two that added a layer of stress to the whole experience...a winning streak.
We have won prizes in the photo layout contest every year. This is the fourth year we've been coming. There is a contest Friday and Saturday nights. Once you start a streak...well, you don't want to break it. Admittedly, we haven't even touched the prizes that we won in years past. But, the pride of winning really just gives us a major creative boost. We have literally made moving wheels on our pages, added sound, and this year lights are a possibility. We spend half a day working on a single layout. Sometimes it is a page we don't even really need for our books, but we know it is just a great idea. We can't help ourselves. We are sick with the scrapbooking fever.
Aided by a fruity cocktail...Crafty Cat was very relieved to continue the streak Friday night. My layout of a beautiful garden in China took first place. I'm a bit mortified about one thing. I have been working on my China book for the past 3 1/2 years. You all know how much work we put into scrapbooks for other people. This is the only album I've ever made for myself and I rarely have time to work on it. So, I bring it to the retreat each year and get a couple of layouts done. I'm sure these judges think I have some sort of weird obsession with China. But, these layout have handed me 1st place wins for 3 years. First, the Great Wall, then a handmade rickshaw, and finally...the garden tribute this year. I'm not past working on it next year with those results. More to come.
