Randi's Review	Robin's Review	Penny's Review	Renee's Review	Lynnise's Review

Review by Randi

Cropperware was a new company at Summer CHA - and one of my personal top picks! Their first product is an ingenious little item that makes one exclaim, "WOW! Why didn't I think of that?" The "Page in Progress box" is a 12 1/2" x 12 1/2" cardboard box. The cover is pleasant shades of blues/browns/tans in a retro style. The inside of the box is magnetized. There are guide areas marked for 12" x 12", 8 1/2" x 11", 8" x8", and 6" x 6" layouts --handy!

The best thing about the box are the fifteen HEFTY magnets used to hold the layout and its embellishments in place! In today's busy world, who among us has the time to actually finish in the same sitting every layout we begin? I find myself snatching moments whenever I can. Since I have a dedicated scrapping area, this COULD mean that my layouts stay pretty much as left them on my desk. The reality however is that small children and pet cats don't respect my scrapping area, and they have their own ideas as to how my layout should be arranged. Sometimes that means it is rearranged all over the floor. Ugh! I love how one can work on a page within the P.i.P. box then stick everything down with the magnets. When the opportunity strikes to work on it once again, everything is just where you left it!

As you can see in the photo, I have everything from chipboard to metal embellishments on this layout in progress, and they are securely attached. I carried it around and even shook it and nothing came loose. The instruction sheet cautions one to handle the magnets carefully so they do not chip. I am assuming what would chip is the silver finish on them. I'm not the most careful, and I consider my tools to be just that, tools, so I expect my magnets may be chipped soon. Perhaps in the future these hefty guys could have a different finish that would be as strong as their hold?

The P.i.P. box is also great for crops on the go. I recently tucked mine into a bag when I went to babysit my grandsons. I was SURE to have plenty of interruptions there, and the layout could be transported back home with whatever I managed to accomplish during the day. I love the possibilities of the increased scrapping time that this box offers! As the holidays quickly approach and we all start thinking of what to get our scrapping buddies, this would be a wonderful gift for a friend (or yourself!) Recommended highly.

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Review by Robin

I have been scrapping for almost 6 years now. I started when my older daughter was a few months old. We lived in a small 2 bedroom apartment then. I didn't have a scrapping room, heck I didn't even have a scrapping area at that time. I had everything in a box and a bag. I would scrap on our kitchen table and when I was done for the night, I would put it all away. This went on for awhile. The worst problem I would have is if I was in the middle of a layout and the baby got fussy or I was too tired to scrap anymore, or maybe I just had scrappers block. My husband kept saying that he needed to invent something for me to be able to keep my layouts in place. Well fast forward 5 plus years, he never invented anything. Luckily for me someone did. Enter CropperWare, they have made a box called Pages in Progress (P.i.P. Box) Box. This box does just what I was looking for.

CropperWare (originally known as Outside the Box, Co.) is a start up company that launched the Pages in Progress Box this past summer at the CHA in Chicago. The owner Mary Petto has a diverse background in marketing and advertising.

I received my Pages in Progress Box. It was wrapped in plastic. It is a 12 1/2" x 12 1/2" and 3/4" wide. From the outside it looks like an ordinary cardboard box with a cute retro design. Open it up and you have super strength magnets and a box to hold your pages until you are ready to adhere them. It comes with 15 small magnets that are very strong. The bottom of the box has guidelines for 12" x 12", 8 1/2" x 11", 8" x 8" and 6" x 6" paper. The P.i.P Box also comes with instructions for use along with some photos about how to use it. There is also a small piece of white paper with a Magnet Handling caution or tip. I didn't see this at first and I suggest that CropperWare might want to make this a different color than the instruction sheet to make it stand out more.

The instruction sheet and the magnet handling sheet both tell you how fragile the magnets are. Believe them. I played with my P.i.P Box for awhile before reading the instructions and I had already chipped one of the magnets before then. Other than that this box is really strong and the magnets, while they may be fragile are very strong magnets.

Here is a picture of me holding the P.i.P. Box upside down, I had just shaken it. There are all sorts of embellishments, photos and papers that the magnets are holding down.

Here is a picture of me holding the P.i.P. Box on its side, There is a 3-D thick plastic embellishments, a button and a thick acrylic sign being held down by the magnets.

I brought my Pages in Progress to a crop. I brought a half finished layout home and put magnets on lumpy 3D pieces as well as a metal embellishment. They did not move. And believe me I did try to move them. I took the box, put it into my tote sideways. When I got home, I shook it, held it upside down and shook it again. When I opened it up, everything was exactly like I laid it at the crop. I was impressed. A few days later I put another layout into the box and put magnets on it. I had my 6 year old shake it around. Nothing moved. It is also a great way to see what your page will look like before you put adhesive on it.

I think this is a great product for people that go to crops or don't have a dedicated scrapping area. If you have a dedicated scrapbook area and don't go to crops you can use it when you have scrappers block or are unsure of a layout. In your P.i.P. Box you can lay out all of your photos, paper and embellishments and set it in another area until you are ready to work on it.

I was very impressed with how powerful the magnets were in the Pages in Progress Box. The box is very sturdy and the magnets can hold thick embellishments. This is a great product and I give it 2 thumbs up. I will definitely be using my P.i.P. Box when I go to crops. With a company name like CropperWare, it looks like they will be creating new and exciting tools for scrappers, I can't wait to see what they come up with.

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Review by Penny

Cropperware LLC has created a product that goes to the heart of every scrapbooker’s needs--a way to capture your creative inspiration without losing it. The Page in Progress Box (or P.i.P. Box) does just that.

The P.i.P. Box measures approximately 12.5 inches square and just less than one inch deep. When you remove the cover of the box you will discover its magnetic base with convenient grid lines for popular paper sizes. Fifteen small cylinder-shaped magnets are included.

If you are a regular drive-by scrapper, this product is a must have. When the creative mood comes, simply place your page elements inside the P.i.P. Box and “stick” them down with the magnets. This process works with you from the planning stages of a page until you are ready to secure your elements. No more worries about answering that unexpected phone call or needing to leave a crop mid-project. The box is made of sturdy cardboard that will transport your projects safely and the magnets hold each element securely (even three dimensional ones).

The ability to easily move each page element until you are ready for adhesive makes each page feel like a fun and creative journey. Once the P.i.P. Box becomes your creative springboard, you will never scrapbook the same way again.

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Review by Renee

I was a little intrigued when I was asked to review the Cropperware Page in Progress box. As a rule, I am usually not a tool person. By that I mean that I typically don't run right out to purchase every new tool that comes on the market. However, I am a 10 minute scrapper and often scrap a layout over the course of several days in 10 minute intervals whenever I get a breather during the evening. The possibility of leaving my project in progress out with children nearby, without it getting messed up sounded wonderful to me. With that in mind, I gave it a try.

I opened my Cropperware Page in Progress box on a typical school night as I helped my youngest with homework. The bottom portion of the box contained a magnetic surface embedded inside, with grid lines for 12" x 12", 8 ½" x 11", 8" x 8" and 6" x 6" pages. In addition, it contained 15 very powerful magnets and an instruction sheet. I started the thinking process of creating a layout by moving cardstock, and layers of patterned paper around in the box. When I was pleased with an arrangement, I used the magnets to hold the arrangement in place. The magnets were extremely strong and the papers never moved, even when I purposely shook the box. Before stopping for dinner, I pulled out a few embellishments of varying weights, including metals, chipboards, ribbons and flowers. I used additional weights to hold the embellishments into place as well. The magnets held all embellishments in place regardless of the thickness of the objects. I was very impressed by the fact that I could layer silk, chipboard and plastic flowers together into one flower embellishment and hold it down with only one magnet.

Once I had a pleasing arrangement, I stopped to cook dinner. I followed the box instructions and placed the lid on the box. I did not move it out of the way and it subsequently got shifted around considerably as the children finished up their work. When I returned to my layout, all elements were exactly where I left them, including the layered flower embellishment. I was very impressed with the strength of the magnets and the ease of use of the page in progress box.

As a ten minute scrapper, the Cropperware Page in Progress box is a huge time saver. It allowed me to confidently lay out papers and embellishments one night, move them around the next and adhere on yet another night, without losing my page design inadvertently when the papers shift. The only thing that I suggest is that users carefully read all instructions on the instruction sheet. I did not, and missed the portion that indicated that the magnets were fragile, suggesting instead that the magnets be lifted and separated one at a time by hand. I allowed my magnets to clamp together initially and one magnet did chip. Even so, it is still just as strong as the other magnets and continues to hold papers and embellishments just as well as the unchipped magnets.

I highly recommend the Cropperware Page in Progress box for busy croppers on the go. Not only is it useful for cropping away from home, but it is equally as useful for those of us who are ten minute scrappers. Be sure to add this new tool to your tool repertoire.

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Review by Lynnise

A few months ago my family went on a hike and I was able to capture some beautiful photos that I just couldn’t wait to get home to scrap. I knew I wouldn’t be able to sneak in but a few moments before I had to start cooking supper, but I ran downstairs to get started none the less. The layout was shaping up nicely, but, of course, I had to stop. For some strange reason my family wanted to be fed. A little while after supper, while I was washing the dishes, I heard that all to familiar cry from the basement, “Mom! Mom! You better get down here!” I ran downstairs assuming that I would find the usual crying child from a wrestling match gone wrong. Much to my dismay; however, the only person that would be doing any crying was me. My two year old had decided to fling my layout across the basement floor so he could draw a pretty picture for mommy. Because nothing was attached, he had plenty of “scrap paper” to choose from. Now, I’m all for freestyle layouts, but that’s not the look I was going for! He and I spent the next 2 minutes picking up the mess while I fought the urge to do unto him as he did unto my layout. Why do I share this glimpse into my crazy life with you? So, you’ll understand just exactly why I immediately fell in love with the Page in Progress Box from Cropperware.

The Page in Progress box is a simple yet ingenious product; one of those products that make you think to yourself, “now why didn’t I think of that?” As the product name suggests, the box is used to store and protect your uncompleted layouts or pages in progress. It’s a 12 ½”x12 ½”x1” paperboard box with a magnetic base. It is very similar in construction to a puzzle or board game box. It has an attractively designed lid in a subtle retro pattern using muted blue, and neutral tones.

Title: Outside of the Box

There are guides on the base for a 6”, 8”, or 12” square layout as well as one for 8 ½”x11”. The box comes standard with 15 magnets. These magnets are ultra strong and able to securely keep several layers of papers and even 3 dimensional objects firmly in place. Unfortunately, the box is only designed to hold single page layouts, so unless you are doing 6” layouts, two page spreads will require a second box.

Title: Inside of the box

There are several ways to use the box. When you come to a point while creating your layout that you need to take a break, simply transfer the layout to the box. Use the magnets to secure any unattached pieces of your layout to the base. When you return to complete your layout everything will be exactly as you left it. You could also create the layout directly in the box or use the guides and photo mats to test placement before you actually begin your layout. The box is perfect for scrapbookers that transport their partially finished layouts to and from a crop.

Title: The box with a page in progress

I tested the boxes ability to actually hold my layout pieces in place by creating a layout directly in the box, putting the lid on, and packing it in my Mimi shoulder tote. I told my son to take it for a test drive by carrying it out to the car and treating it just like his gym bag. He hit it against the wall repeatedly, dropped it on the ground from shoulder height to open the van door, and threw it into the van. I thanked him for the marvelous job he did beating the daylights out of my scrapbooking bag, and headed back inside to see how the box and layout held up. The box took the beating pretty well with only a small amount of damage to one corner. The layout inside was perfectly in tact. Even the magnet that held a thick rhinestone flower, silk flower, and two layers of paper was exactly where I had placed it. While the box did take some abuse packed inside a bag, it would not hold up to being stepped on or crushed. Repeated storage of the box in a tightly fitted pocket of a scrapbooking bag would likely be damaging to the boxes corners as well.

The Page in Progress box isn’t limited to storage and protection. I found the product to be ideal for several teaching applications. Because the box base is magnetic, it can easily be used with magnetic letters and numbers as an aid in teaching preschoolers. I added strip magnets to prefab chipboard letters and instantly turned the box into a game for my son. Just be sure to put the base inside the lid to make it sturdier for playtime.

Title: The box used as a preschool teaching aid

Cropperware has hit on a pretty clever idea to keep your layouts safe in transit and from clumsy spouses, rowdy children and nosy pets. I highly recommend it for scrappers on the go. If only someone had introduced me to this product before my son’s artistic debut!

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