Save the Date...

27 October 2012... Crop for a Cause 2012... more details much closer to the event :)

Final De-Brief... HUGE POST!

Well ladies, thanks once again for all your support last weekend. Today I finally feel like I have recovered from last weekend's big event!

Firstly, I have a few 'house-keeping' issues to get out of the way...

* I have some lost property that someone may want to claim... a pair of navy micro fleece gloves were left on a counter in the kitchen, and one of the ladies at the table nearest the bra clothesline might find she is missing a plastic piece from her Creative Memories personal trimmer - the paper guard that the guillotine runs beside?

* I have two of the decorated bras in my possession - perhaps the owners want them back?

* During the Hot Chocolate Holder Make & Take, I left on the table for your use my own flourish clear stamps. Sometime during the Make & Take, some of them went walkies, accidentally I am sure. As I use them frequently, could you ladies please check your bags and let me know if you find any? They have been peeled off the acetate sheet and not replaced, but I would really like them back please.

I did the banking today, and thanks to some last minute sales of NZBCF product (pens, nail files etc) to RSM Law staff, I have a new total for you...

$1,707.96 !!!

Largely due to YOU ladies, thank you! Erin Boyle, Community Fundraising Co-Ordinator for the New Zealand Breast Cancer Foundation is VERY pleased with us!

All in all I felt that the event went really well. To be honest I was that busy while it was running, I didn't have time to notice if there were too many issues, but I haven't received any complaints - nothing but compliments, so I guess that says it all. In fact, I have been asked countless times when next year's event is taking place. Seriously guys? Wow! After some serious thought, I think every other year is enough... it is hard to obtain the support of sponsors, and to be honest, not entirely fair to ask them every year to contribute in the same way. So ladies, keep an ear to the ground in 2012. NZBCF has two months of the year that they fundraise - May (to tie in with Mother's Day), and October (when they have their street appeal). So, it will either be May 2012 or October 2012. I think!

Now, of course, I am going to take this one last opportunity to thank the MANY sponsors we had that helped make the event possible. They were the people/firms/businesses that donated products and services that many of you were fortunate enough to take home with you at the end of the day. So bear with me while I cover the list, one more time...

* RSM Law - for arranging the donation from a Charitable Trust to cover the $265 venue hire, and also for providing pens and key rings for the goodie bags

* Timaru Sewing Centre - Linda Butler very generously donated a $90 jelly-roll of Basic Grey Sultry fabric, as well as substantially discounting co-ordinating fabric and thread, (and putting up with my endless questions!), in order for me to make the Friendship Bag and Autographed Tote Bag that were raffled off.

* Embellish It - Rachel Forrester not only brought her ENTIRE shop so that you could shop/browse at your leisure all day, she donated a set of 10 Distress Inks as a raffle prize, and spent several hours with Jo making the chocolate boobs on sticks that were in your goodie bags, and the 'Boobie Prize' for the Best Decorated Bra competition.

* Deb McRobie from Stampin Up! made herself available for the day, ran a Make & Take, donated stamp sets that were amongst the spot prizes given out on the day, as well as sourcing the giant $500 basket of Stampin Up! goodies as a raffle prize.

* Deb also had a hand in two other sponsors helping us out... her brother is a Goodman Fielder rep, and he arranged donation of Scone and Muffin Mix, that Pak'n Save (where Deb works) let him bake, in their bakery, into the HUGE pile of scones and muffins that we had for afternoon tea.

* Brigitte Kempf from Creative Memories, and her fellow demonstrator Jo Armstrong made themselves available for the day, ran a Make & Take, and donated a lovely Ideas Book as a raffle prize. Brigitte also arranged for Creative Memories to provide the Pink Goodie Bags that you all received.

* Tarisota - Tamar Bostock from Tarisota (in Australia) donated two raffle prizes - one month's free access to their brand new Style Studio, worth $60 Australian each, as well as $5 discount vouchers for ALL ladies who attended - these were in your goodie bags. The discount code, if you have trouble reading it, is Beck2010.

* Kaisercraft - Stephen and Carolyn Kaiser donated a set of pink alphabet stickers for every attendee (in your goodie bags), as well as a couple of wooden words to be used as spot prizes.

* Becky Fleck from Pagemaps designed and donated a sketch especially for our event, which was used for the layout competition during the day.

* Cadbury donated all the lovely Roses chocolates that were in cute little cupcake cases in your goodie bags. The cupcake cases were donated by Porters Giftware.

* Hirepool Timaru loaned us 17 extra trestle tables for the event free of charge.

* Melissa from Pink Cat Studio donated two $US10 vouchers for their digital stamp store.

* Lindsay from Cosmo Cricket donated twenty-four fabulous black chipboard boxes (blanks for you to decorate) and two paper pad sets that were given out as spot prizes.

* Michele from Memories Forever donated two fabulous raffle prizes - Imaginesce albums, papers, stickers, rub-ons and stamps, in a boy theme, and a girl theme.

* Brandlines donated the mini marshmallows, and Howard Smith from Timaru New World donated the Jarrah Chocolatte Sachets used in the Hot Chocolate Holder Make & Take.

* Acquisitions kindly donated five $10 vouchers that were used for raffle prizes.

* The Front Store donated a battery powered personal engraver as a raffle prize (great for labelling your scrapbooking tools!)

* Dowells Office Products donated a heap of goodies that were split up as used in the spot prize bags

* Keith at Paper Plus kindly let me leave a supply of tickets with them for sale.

* Whitcoulls donated two pink journals, used as spot prizes.

* Barkers donated a huge basket of goodies that lucky little Connie won on the night!

* Mars New Zealand sent me the Dark Chocolate Bounty Bars, and Nestle New Zealand supplied enough boxes of the Nescafe Cafe Menu coffees so that you all got to take a box home in your goodie bag.

* Ian Wooffindin at Copyfast very kindly printed the tickets for us for FREE.

* Couplands donated the bread for the club sandwiches.

* Ballantynes donated a figurine and fragrance samples for a raffle prize.

* Grant Lester at BOC supplied the helium for the balloons FREE.

* Scrapbook Studio kindly sent us one of their monthly kits, valued at $80, used as a raffle prize.

* Whittakers sent us chocolate bars that were included in the spot prizes.

* Triumph New Zealand generously donated a voucher for a set of lingerie to the Best Decorated Bra winner

* Spotlight sent us several prizes to be given out on the day - a beading set, a canvas, two t-shirt transfers

* JBS Mercantile (Jenni Bowlin Studio) donated a lovely pack of papers and embellishments from their new line

* Dee Street Pharmacy provided two sets of Dr Lewinns product to be raffled off.

* Theresa Cochrane from Serenity Nail Salon donated four vouchers worth a total of $195 that were raffled off.

* Eve Wallace donated a beautiful pair of lambskin gloves as a raffle prize

* Maree Winter from Headworkz Hair & Beauty donated three spot prizes and a De Lorenzo giftset as a raffle prize

* Tony from Sanzi Imports donated a Pink Cuttlebug and several embossing folders to be raffled off - this was VERY popular!

* Kathryn Fraser from Green Thistle House donated a beautiful handmade pink and silver necklace as a spot prize.

* And last, but not least, Alpine Gold donated all the tasty Benger juice that we each got a bottle of. Yum!

I have some personal thank-yous to make as well...

Nic Howard sent me down all the supplies for the Pink Paislee Make & Take, Rachel Tucker sent me a box of assorted papers that were put to use in the Make & Takes, and Trina McClune sent me a big box of Fiskars/Heidi Grace product to be used as spot prizes. None of these ladies wanted to be acknowledged in any way - tough luck!

I couldn't have made all the sandwiches the night before without the help of Mum, Gem and Nic B. And the kitchen was manned (should that be womanned?!) on the day with the help of Mum, Nan, Sally Betts and Jo List. I couldn't have done it without them. Mum, Nan and Helen also provided some of the delicious baking that you ate for morning and afternoon tea.

Thanks also to those who arrived early and left late in order to help setting up and packing down. Without YOUR help at the end of the day, I would have been there until midnight!

Right, nuff said.

Finally, I have some photos to share with you... although I am sure that there are more out there that you could email me to add to my collection?

Setting up and starting the day

The Pink Ribbon cake

Morning Tea

Crop in progress

Mum, Me and Nanny. Three generations.

Nanny's mother died of Breast Cancer in her fifties, part of the reason why I do this.

Jo and Mum in the kitchen, hard at work

Me, Janie Annear, Best Decorated Bra winner Steph Fraser, Boobie Prize (runner-up) winner Dianne. (in my haste, I omitted to grab this lovely lady's surname, sorry - can anyone help me out?)

The gorgeous table centres provided by Christina

from LaDeDa Wedding and Special Event Hire, FREE of charge.

Hot Chocolate Holder Make & Take in progress

The wonderful entries in the Best Decorated Bra competition:

The crop room, in several shots, to give you an idea of how the WHOLE room looked...

The raffles table!

Oh, and the lucky winners of the two most sought-after raffle prizes?

Daphne McBride from Temuka took home the Cuttlebug and Embossing Folders (sorry Jayne), and Lynne Hamilton from Oamaru won the Autographed Tote Bag, which was lucky, cos Nic Howard was SURE she was going to win it with the tickets she bought!

Right. Don't forget to send me your photos - email them to dazbeck@xtra.co.nz along with feedback that I can pass on to our fabulous sponsors with my thank you cards (hugs to Lelia, Gina, Michelle and Ingrid for helping me to make 44 of those).

That's it. Done deal. See you in 2012?

Becks xxx

A Very Quick Post...

Well ladies, I am just going to do a little post tonight. I wanted to thank you all again for coming and helping to make yesterday such a success. I have a grand total for you...

$1,669.46

I have yet to even LOOK at my camera to post any photos. I crawled out of bed at 10am (after falling into bed at 11pm last night), went to have morning tea with my Nanny (who some of you met yesterday), and spent the rest of the day helping my sister-in-law to move house. We got home at half six tonight, and I haven't even unpacked all my gear from the Crop yet. Oh well, tomorrow's another day. Just as well! I might go to work for a rest :)

I have a favour to ask please... email me your photos from yesterday, ok? I didn't get a lot of time to wander round and see how things were going, so let me see it in your photos please!

Right, time to put my feet up for a bit before I go to bed.

Thanks again ladies, your support is very much appreciated.

Beck x

Days to go: 1

Tickets remaining: 1

Days to go: 2

Tickets remaining: 2

Days to go: 3

Tickets remaining: 3

Well, my lovely Mum helped me prepare 70 goodie bags last night (thanks Ma!), which took us a couple of hours... Lucky time flies when you're having fun :) Only three more days and they'll be in your hot little hands!

Ok, I have been asked by some ladies how much of their own gear they need to bring. Well, bring the lot, if you want! We are going to be using the rear entrance to the lounge, this is opposite the netball courts, just past the entrance to the gym. There is a lift there so that you don't have to lug large piles of gear upstairs. If you want to minimise what you bring, make sure that at the very least you bring some scissors, a paper trimmer and some adhesive, so that you can do the Make and Takes on the day. I say bring plenty - better to have too much to do, than not enough, I reckon. Although there is always talking and/or eating to be done I suppose!

And just a reminder, there will be several raffles running on the day at $2 per ticket, as well as the autographed tote raffle, at $4 per ticket or three tickets for $10. Also some NZBCF product available for purchase - pens, ribbons, wristbands, nail file sets, all around the $3 or $4 mark.

Now as you know, lunch is not provided, BUT I have it on good authority that the tuck shop for the Hockey Turf has good cheap meals. This Saturday they will be doing Macaroni Cheese for $4 per serving, and they have all the usual tuck shop food as well - pies, lollies etc. So, if you get peckish, but don't want to go far, that might be a good option for you. There is also a Four-Square just up the road from the Stadium that has lunch options available. Otherwise, Pizza Hut, Dominos and Punjab Indian takeaways deliver, or you can pop down to 'Cholesterol Corner' on Evans Street (SH1) and get McDonalds, KFC, Chinese or Fish'n Chips. That enough choice for you? I hope so! Obviously, the same sort of options apply for tea.

Well, that's it from me for today... see you soon!

It's getting closer....

Days to go: 4

Tickets remaining: 4

I have had a lot of people let me know how much they are looking forward to Saturday... FANTASTIC I say, me too! Now, as well as the long-term addicts like myself, there are some ladies coming who are newer to the papercraft world. So I have a favour to ask girls... can you please bring along your albums, and share? One of the most enjoyable things for a scrapbooker or cardmaker is to see what other people do, and how they do it, so bring along your work and share it with us. Thanks!

See you real soon :)

Becky.

Ta-da!

Mmm... what does this mess on my dining room floor mean?

It means that I have finished the tote bag! It's a really good BIG size, perfect for carting around scrapbooking/card-making gear:

In this photo it is full of a huge pile of 12x12" papers, and there is still room for more. Oh but sorry ladies, the papers don't come with the bag, they're MINE!

Bring your wallets on Saturday, it'll be raffled off on the day :)

I've been keeping a little secret...

Yep, it's true. I have been working on a little something something to be raffled off next week. Something special.

I have been sending fabric squares all around the place (USA, UK, Australia and NZ) getting autographs of some of the 'who's who' of the scrapbooking and papercrafting world.

Today I am going to turn them into a tote bag that one of YOU lucky ladies could win. Here's a peek...

I am sure you will have heard of these two, Tim Holtz and Becky Higgins?

I'm SO excited about this. By tonight it will be complete (hopefully!)

One more week til D-Day!!! :D

Days to go: 7
Tickets remaining: 6

AND... I have been busy baking up a storm... nothing quite like the smell of home baking! :)

Days to go: 9
Tickets remaining: 7

Days to go: 10

Tickets remaining: 8

Another sneak peek, and an announcement...

Ok ladies, not long to go now! There are only 9 tickets left (and counting). I have another sneak peek for you, this time it's the Make and Take being run by Brigitte from Creative Memories...

Now, as with the Stampin Up! Make and Take, we are asking for a $2 donation in order to do this one. This just helps them cover the costs of the materials that they need to supply you with. $2 is a small price to pay to make a cute Accordian Fold Mini Tag book... who wouldn't want to learn a new technique?!

And I have some more exciting news... the team at Sanzi Imports have DONATED a Pink Cuttlebug machine and some embossing folders - they have suggested we have a play with them on the day, and raffle them off at the end of the crop, so that's what we're going to do! Raffle tickets for the Cuttlebug (and embossing folders) will be $2 each, so bring your spare change ladies!

Now, if there is anyone out there who isn't coming for the day, but would like the chance to buy a raffle ticket, this can be arranged. As well as this Cuttlebug raffle, there will be at least three other ones too - with prizes like Dr Lewinns products, a Barkers gift basket, Acquisitions vouchers, De Lorenzo gift set... the list goes on! I will also have some NZBCF product for sale - pens, ribbons, and cute little nail file sets.

Visitors are welcome to call in on the day, browse Rachel's Embellish It shop and take a look at our creations, although there is a catch - a gold coin donation at the door please!

Right, that's enough from me tonight...

The Countdown is on!

Yes, it's nearly here... this time in two weeks the South Canterbury Finance Lounge at the SBS Events Centre will be all prettied up and ready to go!

Number of tickets remaining available for sale? 10. That's right, only 10. If you are thinking about coming, don't leave it too long to get your ticket, you might just miss out! If you want to internet bank your ticket money, just flick me an email and I will sort you out :)

I have had a lot of people ask if they have to stay for the WHOLE day. Of course not, not if you don't want to! Some ladies are going to pop away to watch kids at sport, others are only coming until late afternoon as they have other things on at night to go to. You may come and go as you please.

Whenever you do arrive, you will need to write your name, address, and phone number on the back of your ticket, and pop it in the Spot Prize bucket. Once you have done that, you no longer need to be in the room to win a prize. If your name is drawn out, we'll get your prize to you, no problem!

Right, so here's how the day should pan out:

9.00am - Doors open! Sign in, get seated, make name tag.

9.30am - Welcome/Introduction - meet Rachel, Debbie and Brigitte.

9.55am - Spot Prizes, Round 1

10.00am - Make and Take 1 - Simple Memo Holder (runs for 30 minutes)

10.30am - MORNING TEA

11.00am - Make and Take 2 - Flirty Purse Card (runs for 1 hour)

11.55am - Spot Prizes, Round 2

12.00pm - Free time (crafting/lunch)

1.00pm - Make and Take 3 - Creative Memories (runs for 1 hour)

1.55pm - Spot Prizes, Round 3

2.00pm - Make and Take 4 - Stampin Up! (runs for 1 hour)

2.55pm - Spot Prizes, Round 4

3.00pm - AFTERNOON TEA

3.30pm - Janie Annear to judge Best Decorated Bra contest, prizes awarded

4.00pm - Make and Take 5 - Hot Chocolate Holder (runs for 1 hour)

4.55pm - Spot Prizes, Round 5

5.00pm - Demo/Talk - Creative Memories StoryBook albums (30 mins)

5.30pm - Free time (crafting/dinner)

7.00pm - Make and Take 6 - Ranger Distress Inks (runs for 1 hour)

7.55pm - Spot Prizes, Round 6

8.00pm - Raffle winners announced, then free time

9.00pm - Time to go home :(

As you can see, each Make and Take will run for 1 hour (with the exception of one very simple one). This gives everyone plenty of time to head over to the Make and Take tables and take part in turn. You may do as many or as few Make and Takes as you like, it's entirely up to you!

Spend the rest of your day creating, talking, eating... Bring along your own crafting supplies (or purchase from some of the fab product available from Embellish It on the day), and get creative!

So that's it from me for now. If you haven't got a ticket, GET ONE! Oh, and don't forget to get those bras decorated over the next two weeks!

Update and a Sneak Peek...

Ok - "what's happening?" I hear you ask...

Well... ticket sales are going well. If you want to be able to come along and take part on the day, you'd best get your ticket soon! You can pop into Paper Plus on Stafford Street, or flick me an email and I can send you bank account details for payment. Some people have asked if the ticket numbers indicate where you have to sit on the day... not at all. On the day, it's simply a case of first in, best dressed - you pick where you want to sit when you arrive.

Now, I have a little Stampin Up! sneak peek for you from Deb McRobie...

She will have the materials there on the day to make this really cute card using some of the product from their Autumn-Winter mini catalogue. We do ask that if you would like to do this make & take, that you bring along $2 to cover the cost of materials for Deb. A small price to pay for a handmade card though, isn't it! It just helps to keep the crop costs down, and ensure that we raise HEAPS of money for the New Zealand Breast Cancer Foundation, which is the whole point! Rest assured ladies, there are plenty of make & takes to do on the day. I have at least 4 others sorted for you.

And I have had some AWESOME raffle prizes donated, so bring along some small change for them... Now, I can't say too much yet, but I might have heard a whisper about Barkers products and Dr Lewinns Skincare... mmm

Seriously - why would you want to miss out?!