Recently Yvette Farrell, the leader of my scrapbooking group, launched Croppin’ Hearts, a business that organizes scrapbooking events for non-profit organizations. Her first event is a two-day workshop/crop fundraiser for Susan G. Komen for the Cure, an organization dedicated to finding a cure for breast cancer.

Yvette asked me whether the Memory Makers forum had a calendar for posting events. Yes, I said, and looked into how she could make her post. That’s when I realized that our calendar is a far-too-little-used asset for the Memory Makers community.

To find the calendar, go the Memory Makers Forum (you’ll see a link on our home page) and then click "Calendar"  near the top of the page. Click on “Scrap Events” and you’ll get the current month's calendar. You can move to past or coming months by clicking “Previous” or “Forward” at the top of the calendar grid. Click on the event, and you get details. If you move forward to October, you’ll see the Susan G. Komen – iCreate for the Cure and the Heart and Soul Memories Retreat. Unfortunately, at the time of the posting of this blog entry, there are other no postings between now and October.

I had to ask myself why, and I concluded that people simply aren’t aware of the calendar—or don’t know how to get an event posted. If you know of a scrapbooking event that accommodates 25 or more people,  send an e-mail to mmtech@fwpubs.com. with the words "calendar listing" in the subject line. For a list of what to include in your e-mail, check out a forum thread under FAQs entitled How do I post an event on the calendar?

I know there’s a lot going on in the scrapbooking world between now and October. Give your event a little free publicity—and check the calendar frequently for events occurring in your area.

In a few hours the entry period for the 2008 Memory Makers Masters Contest will close. Packages with a July 31-deadline postmark will continue to pour in for a few days and the preliminary judging will soon start. To the left you see Sara with this morning’s contest arrivals. Sara is the one you can thank for opening and organizing your contest entries.

I’ve been answering contest questions on the forum, so I know what a combination of excitement, stress, triumph, self-doubt, and satisfaction entering the contest entails. Yesterday I heard from a woman who was told by her local printing/photocopying  store that she couldn’t photocopy her layouts because of the supply manufacturers’ copyrights. (Photocopying or scanning four of the five layouts entries is a contest requirement, and yes, she was able to copy the layouts and no, the scrapbook suppliers won’t come after us for copyright infringement.) I’ve read about people who sent out their contest entries and then wondered if a layout they produced a few days later might have been a better choice. Then there were people who didn’t realize they needed model releases for everyone in their photos and had only a few days to contact people in far-flung places. In the midst of it all, forum members were boosting each other’s morale, holding each other’s virtual hands and offering advice.

Now the entrants can sit back, stress free and wait for the winners to be announced publicly by August 22. Stress free? Waiting isn’t always stress free, is it? I propose we help by swapping our best contest stories on the forum. Tell us the funny, frustrating and incredible things that happened as you were entering a scrapbooking contest, past or present, Memory Makers or not. (Just avoid lambasting other companies or organizations. That’s not what this is about.) Maybe you’d also like to post a layout about your experience. Let’s all get together and tell a few stories to help the 2008 Memory Makers Masters while away the time.

Holly

Am I no longer young, and still not half-perfect? Let me
   keep my mind on what matters,
which is my work,
which is mostly standing still and learning to be astonished.

Find what inspires you this weekend and take the time to be creative.

Peace and love,
 Patty