NATCHEZ — Grab your poodle skirt and paper, and get ready for a crop hop.

Scrap-n on the River, the annual scrapbooking convention hosted by local resident Pam Frank is just around the corner, July 22-24. This year’s 1950s-themed “Cropping around the Clock” is sure to be fun-filled organizer and founder Frank said.

“We are laughing and cutting up the entire time,” Frank said. “It is just good clean fun that is free from the stress from normal hectic lives.”

The convention is in its sixth year and Frank said she expects approximately 200 women to fill the Natchez Convention Center with laughter and suitcase after suitcase full of scrapbooking materials.

The convention begins at 3 p.m. on Thursday, and continues until midnight, when Frank said she practically has to push people out the door.

Scrapping resumes Friday from 9 a.m. to midnight and Saturday from 9 a.m. until midnight.

“Groups of girl friends and families will meet here for a girls weekend getaway,” Frank said. “Then it is just like a slumber party you could have when you were a teenager. We giggle, laugh, play games and cut up the whole time.”

Registration is $110 for three days or $50 each day. A $5 shopping pass is available for those interested in browsing what the scrapbooking vendors have to offer.

“The shopping pass is good for someone who is local and maybe just got started scrapping, because they can come and shop and see what this is all about,” Frank said. “If they decide they want to stay, we will take the $5 off of their registration.”

Frank started the event in 2005 after traveling to other areas to attend scrapbooking conventions.

“I wanted to bring these people together in Natchez,” she said.

Frank said many of the women that attend Scrap-n on the River travel to several similar conventions each year, but attendees say the one in Natchez has a more personal feel. Frank says that is because of the hard work she and her family put into the event to make sure everyone is pleased.

“My mom, my niece, my son and myself — those are the four people that put this together each year,” she said. “We are putting it together and then we are there to make sure it is right. If someone has a complaint, we address it right then. People like that hospitality.”

Thursday is dedicated to setting up and getting comfortable, and classes begin on Friday.

This year there will be a class on decorating fleur-de-lis on Friday that Frank thinks will be a big hit with her local scrappers.

The convention culminates in a Saturday night pajama party when the scrapbooking queen for 2010 will be named and the winners from the scrapbook layout contest will be announced.

During the entire event, scrapbookers are encouraged to submit layouts for inclusion in a scrapbooking idea book.

Frank said she hopes to compile pages into a book that can serve as a reference for beginning scrapbookers or experienced scrappers who are looking for inspiration.

The pages will be photographed and a detailed description of what materials were used and how the page was put together will be included.

“Many women say they don’t have a creative bone in their body, so they can just look at this book and get ideas about what they can do,” she said. “I’m hoping it is humongous.”

There will be a steak dinner to benefit the Jerry D. Roberts scholarship fund that is given each year in honor of Frank’s brother. Dinners are $20 each.

For more information on the convention, contact Frank at 601-445-9003 or 601-597-4705 or by e-mail at natzscrapbooking@bellsouth.net.