We had another fun crop on Saturday. (I took the camera, but got so involved in the fun that I forgot to take pictures...)
About 8 or 9 years ago I started holding monthly crops for some friends from church - they are now called the "Thursday" group. Over the years I started to get requests from other customers for a crop night and the "Friday" group was born....
For a long time I did the two crops back to back. I figured that way I only had to clean the stamp room once a month. But then I got called to work with our youth at church and that one week a month hit me hard because it made 3 big nights in a row... so I kept the church group on the first Thursday of the month and moved the Friday group to the second Friday of the month.
Everyone was happy. I was sane.... it was good.... until I stopped using paper tablecloths and switched to cloth covered with plastic. I thought it was beautiful. The room always looked clean. I could throw away the scratch paper and have clean tables in seconds. I thought my customers would LOVE it. They all did....except for Jean.
Jean loved to see what the Thursday group had stamped. She loved to see the color combinations they used, their writing, their scraps. It was her only connection to the other class. So I did what any teacher would do. I no longer threw away the scratch paper at Jean's spot. Every month she'd come check out what Heather (from Thursday) had stamped. She'd read the little notes where Heather practiced her journaling or tested the spelling of a word. It made her happy...
Heather moved to Utah so now a variety of people sit in that chair. Jean still checks out what they stamp and sometimes she'll ask me "who sat here on Thursday?"
Well I had a pretty big turnout on Saturday. Everyone who RSVP'd showed up and we even had a couple of bonus people come. As they filtered in throughout the day the tables started to fill up, new friends were made and there were fun conversations all over the room. Suddenly I realized I hadn't introduced the last two guests that arrived to the girls at their table. By the time I checked on them they had done it themselves and realized that one side of the table was the Thursday group and the other side was the Friday group. They've heard about each other for years.... and now they finally met. Jean had fun getting to know them and sharing her passion for seeing their artwork each month. They laughed and they giggled and now the Thursday girls are planning to leave little notes for Jean every month.....
And that....is why I love my job. I have the best customers in the world. They are creative, talented, kind, funny, accomodating, loyal..... and just plain fun. I love seeing the friendships that have grown over the years. As they scrapbook they share stories about their families and their adventures. They ask for advice. They help each other create beautiful layouts that celebrate the lives of those they love.....and sometimes....they reach out and leave notes for a fellow scrapper.....that follows along behind them.....
1 comment:
Hi Stamp Til Dawn, I read your post which I find interesting and very informative! I was also looking for related info which I found
Some at stamps
It's not exactly what I was looking for but it was nonetheless interesting to read.
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