This is one girl who's hot to crop!

I love crops. I like crafting with other people around, the paper and glue version of the ol' stitch-n-bitch. I love sharing my toys and playing with other people's supplies to get a feel for them and decide if I really want to purchase one or not. I love swapping ideas and having lots of people around to give out hints when I can't quite figure out how to get one thing to stick to another and whatnot.
Crops can be tough for the chronically painful. You sit in a sometimes-unforgiving chair for hours on end. The crop machine can be set too high for the wheelchair-bound, there's no place to park your cane while you use it, and the arm may require your full bodyweight to pop out one weensy mailing tag. A crop set in a store has some added obstacles, with all those seductive aisles of magic metallic powders, sheets and sheets of paper, and inks...let's not forget the inks...
No matter what, you're probably going to return home in more pain than when you left, but I've found a few tricks that help minimize the punishment on flimsily constructed bodies like mine.

• Try to sit near an outlet. If you mention you want to be near one when you make your reservation, it will help a lot. This way, you can bring along a heating pad which can help a ton when the third hour rolls around. If you can't get an outlet or you don't go for heat...
• Be prepared. Bring along some of those instant cold snap-packs. They fit easily in your purse and are there when you need one. They aren't funny smelling like icy-hot, a substance I personally deplore. They also make instant hot stick on patches that can be handy provided you don't squirm around too much. I haven't had much luck keeping them stuck to me but they'll do if there's no other option or you don't like being tethered to the wall. If you get desperate for a cold-pack, see if you can swipe some ice from the cooler or buy a soda from a machine. It won't stay cold as long, but it'll do in a pinch.
• Space out your die cutting if you are using a manual cutter. I always feel worse when I die cut for 30 minutes solid, than when I split it up into short intervals. Know when to stop, too. If you start feeling the burn...you probably aren't doing yourself any favors, no matter what Richard Simmons tells all those unhandi-peeps.
• Bring a friend who really likes you. Don't be a pest, but most of my pals don't mind making a few die cuts for me, squeezing a punch I can't get to work, or bending over to help me pick up my cane when I drop it. Friends are great when it comes to grabbing stuff from low shelves. And if they're hot, you can enjoy the view, too, naughty girl!
• Always pack your pillbox in case you need a pain pill or muscle relaxer. It sounds obvious, but it's also easy to forget when you are packing up your stuff.
• Don't be afraid to leave early if necessary. You got to hang out and have a good time for a while right? There is no shame in quitting while you're ahead. You don't have to try to make it through the whole thing. If you got a few good hours out of the crop, that's a whole lot better than being stuck in the house all day.

I'd love to hear suggestions from others...leave a comment here and I'll add my favorites to the list. Don't be shy...I'll draw a name at random to receive a Stampin' Up page kit I put together myself (yeah, I'm a demonstrator--how'd you guess?) as a RAK! Make sure to leave your email or Fiskateer number so I can reach you if you win!

Hello, my name is Veronica and I am HandiScrapped.

Hi there. That's me. The one with the tattoos. I've been thinking about starting a blog about how things are now that my spine is crumbling. Or, rather, the disks are. Whatever the details, it has really put a crimp in my plans to not be in pain all the time for the rest of my life. As everyone likes to point out to people who have crappy stuff happen to them, "it could be worse" and it's true. I walk with a cane most of the time if I'm out of the house, or sometimes I need a wheelchair, mostly if I have to walk or stand a lot, like at museums or if I'm shopping a while. Sitting hurts, too, but hey, everything does now. And I can sit faster than I can walk (provided someone is pushing me or I'm rockin' the electric power) and I can sit longer than I can walk or stand before the pain puts me completely out of commission, both of which make the whole trip a lot more fun for everyone else involved.

The other thing I wanted to blog about is paper crafting or "scrapbooking" if you will. (Ah ha! Now the name is beginning to make sense, right?) I've always been artsy, but it's only relatively recently that I have become craftsy. I started really getting into altered books, ATC's and scrapbooking when the pain got really out of control about 3 years ago. It gave me something to do when I was stuck propped up on pillows on the couch. Sure, I'm a writer, but you can't work all the time.

So, smash the two topics together and here you are. I plan to keep the two topics pretty fluid. If you listen to me talk about the stuff going on in my life, I'll give you helpful this 'n that about scrapbooking for the unusually abled. Tips, tricks, reviews of products good and bad.

As the time stamp likely told you, it's pushing 4:30 in the a.m. and I should probably slip into a hot bath, and then something more comfortable. Lately, the pain gets a lot worse after I've slept so I'm really paranoid about sleeping. I'm a bit of a vampire anyway, but I'm hitting new highs here. I don't want to do this. I don't want to sleep. I don't want to stay awake. I just don't want to hurt.