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feeling more at home

Aw, @Cath_ :happyhug

I hung out here with no CT's for awhile. In fact,
Tree City said:
No one has a siggy that says "NOT a CT member for anyone :neener"
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my siggy used to say "Creating for my family" :whistle:giggle

I love chatting in the forum, and I'm glad so many people are here to chat with. I love looking in the gallery, and I love seeing everyone's pages. :heartslub
 
I'm not a CT for anyone anymore either. I became a designer, so I stepped down from my CT groups. I miss being on a CT though. It helps motivate me to scrap.

Speaking of, I am way way behind on my challenge layouts already this month.
 
@Cath_ I've been at the 'pad for 4 years. Never had a Pride of the 'Pad, never been a guest Polly. When you were featured on the blog recently, I wondered if I ever had. I checked, my name was mentioned one time in 2012 for winning a Polly Challenge, meaning I'd scrapped a page with a Polly's favorite products. I'd say you win that one, but we're not competing. We're here because we love the same art expression.
I've been on a CT for 2 people, both template/kit designers. There was a 2 year break in between the two. It hurt for a long time. At some point I just had to stop beating myself up. I like my pages & that's all that matters. When my kids see pages about themselves & relive memories, that's the good stuff. The truth is some day, I'll be gone. I want people to know who I was & how much I loved my family. I started scrapping during chemo many years ago. I got so into it because it made me happy & was fun. Don't take the fun out of it for yourself. Keep the joy! We are a family here and it's a wonderful place.
 
I did ct in 2010-11. There are acouple layouts out there, I wish there wasn't. I like it here, if something is going on the blog, i am told aday ahead of time.
 
I have really enjoyed reading everyone's sharing in this thread.

In the past I have been on numerous CTs. The last one was for an Aussie Digital store which was the first ever digital forum I joined way back in 2008 and I was only a CT right near the end of that site... it closed down ( not because of me... I did not do it :no2 )
Over my various times of being on CTs I came to realise I prefer to not have the pressure... to have to find the photo to suit the kit... I much prefer to find the kit to suit the photo.

I joined up here last month.... I think I have early dementia as I cannot remember what or who brought me here... maybe I mentioned it in my introduction. But whatever or whoever, I am so glad I came. This month is a fairly busy month away from the computer so I hope by later in the month I will make the time to create some challenge pages. I do like the themes etc of this month's challenges.
Also I do like the activity happening continuously on this forum... makes it all more welcoming and encouraging to be active here.
 
AnneofAlamo said:
but over the past 8 years, I have become very very very choosy where I CT.
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I hear that! There are pros and cons to CT work. Finding a balance for you, whatever that balance may be, is super important. I'm so gosh darn happy to be on Val's CT. And if I were even to think about applying to another designer's CT, it would be here at TLP, my digi home. :grouphug

And @jesskab had a great point: we need to remember why we scrap (or for whom we scrap). If a CT fits your scrapping style and encourages/motivates you to scrap (like Anne said she needs that "push" to actually get pages scrapped), then that's great. If not, then isn't it better to shop as you please and scrap as you please? :stash
 
WOW!! Feelin' the LOVE!!!:heartslub:heartslub:heartslub
I just finished a one month guest Polly spot here, and it blew me away! I mean, the love, the support, the friendship!!! I have SOOOOO much respect for all you Pollys now!!! BUT---that being said, I still just want to hang out, scrap when I want to, do the challenges and have NO pressure!! I have years of CTing under my belt and I just don't want the pressure anymore, although, like I said, I have the highest respect for ALL CT members.
 
i have to say... I had one CT, not at this store, for several months before getting more. I am missing those days. As others have said, there are so many pros and cons to CT work. It is about finding balance. For me... the more CTs I am on, the more it is like work... and the more it is like work, the less satisfaction I get from it. The hardest part about leaving a creative team, however, is feeling like you're saying goodbye to friends (which is silly, because they are all digital friends I scrap with anyway!). I have been struggling for quite awhile with this!
 
I really like it here. Lots to talk about, challenges to scrap (or not - as the mood strikes me), lots of friendly people, etc. I like that there is no pressure to compete with each other or to scrap a certain way; everyone is supportive. And don't forget all the cool designers with a variety of styles for all of us. That is another plus for me!

I scrap (and print books) for my family. Otherwise, all those digital pictures would just stay locked up on my computer.
 
I have mixed feelings about creative teams. As others have mentioned, it can easily seem that everyone is on a team, and it is often promoted as an important goal. When a scrapper says they wish they could be on teams, many people will chip in with lots of tips - keep trying, take better pictures, figure out why your layouts aren't good enough and then make them better, some day you will make it if you keep at it! People say there are pro and cons to being on teams, but I think there is still a pervasive belief that being on a team is still "better" than not being on one; it is a goal that we're all secretly working toward. If you were offered a spot, would you really turn it down?

It is refreshing to hear scrappers speaking up and saying they are not on teams, and perhaps don't even want to be.

It is a social hobby, and it is ripe with rewards: GSOs, likes and comments, creative teams. The social aspect takes it a bit further than just rewarding, but validating as well. Yes, you can make pages for yourself and for your family, you can complete albums and feel accomplished and feel like you are providing a gift to your family. Your personal satisfaction can be enough reward. But it is still a community, and if you aren't validated by the currency of the community, then I think people will feel like something is missing.
 
Tree City said:
Cath, I agree with others, like Mary, who pointed out that you notice CT members simply because they post in the gallery more--or their siggy says "CT member for ____" (or "CTM for ____ and ____ and ____ and _____"). No one has a siggy that says "NOT a CT member for anyone :neener"
Not only that, but there are a LOT of people who "lurk" here, or who simply shop without ever checking out the forums. So your subject pool is skewed. :)
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yes.
this. :heartlub
I have said this many times, I used to buy a lot here but never came to post, then I came in when Paula was guesting in 2013 for a month. She didn;t stay at the time, but I stayed as Pink Reptile Designs was/is here, I had followed Mirjam around since 2010 as a customer, I love her designes and ..well not only I loved all designers and there were really good deals, but I loved the way the community treated us when we came with a guest designer. I wasn't in any CTs in here...but loved every minute and started to feel at home....later on I started applying for the teams.... but I was here for a good whiloe until I did get in CTs here... you tend to see the CT people more because we post a lot more and tend to be more active....

AnneofAlamo said:
oh Sara!!! you are pure joy to my heart! @Tree City
I am a CT. just here at the Pad. Over the past 8 years or so, I have been on 100s of teams. I don't play video games or computer games, I CT....lol, I look at each release as a game.
I can choose to play...
download and make a page within a certain amount of time...the release date!lol
I have over the past 8 years spent a good sum of money, and I have probably scrapped 4 pages out of those purchases! lol
so I Neeeeeeeeeeeeeeeed the pressure! bhahhahahaha

but over the past 8 years, I have become very very very choosy where I CT. I am exclusively and my heart belongs to the Pad. If I was not a Polly, I would be here and only here, because I adore this place, there is pure respect for the owners and from the owners, to the designers to the Polly and the creating peeps are honored and held so high...sniff sniff
I love this place and so hope everyone can feel that it is a home away from home (no dishes, or vacuuming)
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same here.
I quit almost all my non Pad Cts , and to me the scrapping under pressure is a pain relief therapy so I love every minute of it....

KatrinaHunt13 said:
I will admit I joined because of being on a CT. BUT I was really worried because I am a paper scrapper, now doing hybrid because of it and loving it! But I love the forums here and it actually reminds me of how paper scrapping was when I started out and was a member at Two Peas. I have even found some of the Two Peas girls here! @janedee !! And I love hanging out.

But I am also a lot like @AnneofAlamo and I do like the challenge of CT's (or design teams as we call them in the paper world!). And I also like the team atmosphere. I love the energy that comes from creating with other people and the same products. And stretching out of my normal creating area.

I am not on as many teams as I have been and I am liking it that way. I am really really REALLY wanting to do more hybrid and one of my teams ends this month. So when that obligation is filled then I can dive into hybrid more.

Hope everyone doesn't mind the hybrid girl hanging out creating pages just because AND for challenges!!!
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not only "we don't mind" but we LOVE YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!! I have such a huge respect & admiration for those of you who do hybrid so amazingly well, plus I love your presence in the forums and gallery, I'm so glad you are loving the community!!!!!

Also, I have to add..... sometimes, we don't advertise and talk about a place or designer because we are CT.....
My love for the Pad and the way I scrapped and invited people and treated people was the very same before the CTs....
We CT for a designer or place because we love the whole thing..... I remember when there was the Lilypad CT call on August 2014 (and I remember because I ended up in the A&E /ER that night LOL) I applied and was invited for a guest spot. When I posted on facebook about how excited and happy I was that I was invited to be a guest Polly, Kim aka @scrapsandsass comment was: oh I thought you were a Polly?
I think you will find that the love for the place, the people, the designers, is independent of being CT or not..... this is a place that has some magic I had not found in years.... and is all of us who make it... CT or not, the love, the support, the joking and making someone feel like we are the most important person in the world... I felt that all along since the beginning of 2013 when I arrived.... to this very day :heartlub
Like Anne, I don't do games or anything else, I'm bed bound most of the time and rarely watch TV unless Sarita wants to watch something, so my CTing keeps my head away from pain and stress.....
and
@Cath_ you know you are so so very loved here!!!!! regardless of CTing, this is a family and you are most definitely part of this family!!! :heartlub:heartlub:heartlub:heartlub:heartlub
 
Tiff said:
The social aspect takes it a bit further than just rewarding, but validating as well. Yes, you can make pages for yourself and for your family, you can complete albums and feel accomplished and feel like you are providing a gift to your family. Your personal satisfaction can be enough reward. But it is still a community, and if you aren't validated by the currency of the community, then I think people will feel like something is missing.
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This is so true! I haven't felt this way here, because the community has it's own rewards (aside from all the challenges which I LOVE) but I am also a papercrafter (more cardmaking than scrapbooking) and the social side of that (blogging and facebook) is all geared to being on a DT (design team) and that was my goal for quite a while. Papercrafting is soo much more expensive than digiscrapping, being on DT can literally save £100s. I found myself working so hard at my hobby, spending time and money trying to take better pictures for my blog, endless facebook posting and commenting on other blogs, it just wasn't fun anymore. I did get a guest spot on a DT last year, and was published in a magazine (as a guest expert LOL). But TBH it was an anti-climax and I ended up wondering why I bothered. All the free products I received being on a DT and winning a couple of competitions were great, but not really the sort of stuff I would have chosen.

I think you're right @Tiff it was all about getting validation from the community, and I really lost the fun element of my hobby. I haven't been active in the papercrafting community since September last year and I'm only just getting my mojo back! The community is so huge no-one even noticed I was gone LOL!! At least here it's really cosy and we all are getting to know eachother.

Sorry for rambling on, Tiff's post touched a nerve! Not how I feel here, but how I felt last year :) :) I think I just wanted to be noticed!!
 
TLP became my home way after I started purchasing supplies here back in 2012. I don't think I fully started hanging out here until mid-2014. Then I realized that it was becoming my home, and it weighed on me that I wanted to spend more time here, while I was CTing elsewhere.

I finally bit the bullet and left all my non-TLP CT's in late 2014/early 2015 (except for SWL/Liz :)). I had one CT when I started getting heavily involved here, and it was for Amber (doing ad-work, descriptions, sliders). As I stayed and hung out, got more involved, bought a heck of a lot of goodies, and my scrapping blossomed since I was happier. I had to be happy to scrap. :) Plus, CT work motivates me to scrap as well with deadlines/schedules. I pinch myself that I was so lucky from MOC 2016. My Polly spot is not taken for granted.

Sometimes finding the right combination of factors - CT work, no CT Work, Scrapping Home and Community, Challenges and so much more are different for every person. CT or no CT does not define you, your scrapping or necessarily make a person happy. It all boils down to scrapping our memories, being artistic, creative expression - happily - how we accomplish that is different for every person.

I hope all of you have found a scrapping home, wonderful products, a community that is open, supportive, and creatively inspiring as I have here at TLP!
 
jk703 said:
TLP became my home way after I started purchasing supplies here back in 2012. I don't think I fully started hanging out here until mid-2014. Then I realized that it was becoming my home, and it weighed on me that I wanted to spend more time here, while I was CTing elsewhere.

I finally bit the bullet and left all my non-TLP CT's in late 2014/early 2015 (except for SWL/Liz :)). I had one CT when I started getting heavily involved here, and it was for Amber (doing ad-work, descriptions, sliders). As I stayed and hung out, got more involved, bought a heck of a lot of goodies, and my scrapping blossomed since I was happier. I had to be happy to scrap. :) Plus, CT work motivates me to scrap as well with deadlines/schedules. I pinch myself that I was so lucky from MOC 2016. My Polly spot is not taken for granted.

Sometimes finding the right combination of factors - CT work, no CT Work, Scrapping Home and Community, Challenges and so much more are different for every person. CT or no CT does not define you, your scrapping or necessarily make a person happy. It all boils down to scrapping our memories, being artistic, creative expression - happily - how we accomplish that is different for every person.

I hope all of you have found a scrapping home, wonderful products, a community that is open, supportive, and creatively inspiring as I have here at TLP!
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This!!! I have to be happy to scrap! When I am not I don't like what I create or I cannot create at all! And balance and finding the fit is key!

I realized my team limit/project limit quite quickly and I pretty much stick to it. I have to especially since I work full time. Scrapping is my fin and escape!!!

And honesty I was feeling a little stuck in the paper wold when I saw @Scrapping with Liz post about paper scrappers. Once I started playing with her templates I started loving to create again. And going hybrid has just been a joy!!!!

I also think a lot of it has to do with finding a community just to hang out again!!!
 
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