Gift Card Tag

 Need something quick and easy for the last minute (hate to shop) shopper like me…yes I have been know to get to the stores early on Christmas Eve morning with both my girls and be done by  lunch time (you can get some really good deals). But then you have to go home and wrap for three hours…Oh wait what if I just hit the gift card department and make it easy and fast.

  Well that’s what I wanted to share with you….What I did with the gift cards when I got home.

  I started with Movers and Shapers dies from Sizzix – tag and bookplates and cut one tag out of Coredinations “Whitewash” collection. Place in an embossing folder and run thru the Big Shot. I then use the sanding grip the lightly sand just the top off the raised parts of the tag. This works great with this paper because it is one color on the front and has a different color core.

Next, cut a slit in the tag.



Shown here on a plain tag

Now cut another tag from decorative paper to place on the back of the first tag. Place your glue only at the top and along the side and bottom so that you create a pocket for the gift card.
  I brushed the edges of the tag with Distress Ink-Iced Spruce and punched a hole at the top. Next I cut a 6 inch 3D paper rose with  My Minds Eye "Be Merry" paper and my Silhouette. You can also cut by hand. Gently roll the edges of the spiral shape with your fingers. Now roll the spiral shape inward starting with the "tail" part on the outside. It is easier if you use a toothpick to start the rolling process.
Roll as tight, now let go and watch in un-roll some and begin to look like a rose. Place a small bit of glue to hold it together (hot glue or "Aleene"s Fast Grab Tacky Glue)

I embellished with some greenery scrapes and netting. Oh and be sure to add some Stickles (life is better with a little sparkle).


shown here with the gift card in the pocket

 Scraphappy has a great Gift Card department and you can get all the supplies you need to make you're own gift tags. Just have fun (and use some of that scrapbooking stuff that you already have)!
Happy Scrapbooking!!  Linda

Products used:
Coredinations "whitewash" collection
My Minds Eye "Be Merry"
Distress Inks, Barn Door and Iced Spruce
Stickles
Sizix Flourish embossing plate
Big Shot

Mix It Up...with Patterns!

Have you noticed all of the great patterns you can find in Scrapbook papers?  There are some fun trends out there right now...who knew that Scrapbooking would resemble fashion, with all of the fun, new trends that come out??!!  Christy has some adorable papers in the store right now from Jillibean Soup's Christmas Eve Chowder line.  It has a variety of patterns from stripes, flowers, text paper, and houndstooth (all of which I included on the following layout) and there are also, cute little penguins, stars, Christmas trees, and skiers.  If you are intimidated by mixing a lot of patterns, take the approach I did on this layout.  Choose a solid background (white is always a great choice, but you could also choose a color that coordinates with your patterned paper) and then add in the patterned paper in small doses.  I used my patterned paper on this layout to create a banner, a scalloped border at the top and bottom of the page, and a ground for my journaling block.  So you get a lot of variety on your page, but the patterns don't overwhelm or fight with one another.

 

Products Used:

Paper:  Jillibean Soup & DCWV
Letter Stickers:  Jillibean Soup, My Little Shoebox, & October Afternoon
Embroidery Floss:  Janlynn
Brads:  The Paper Studio & Bazzill
Baker's Twine:  The Twinery
Pen:  Zig
Font:  CK Going Places
Punches:  Marvy & Martha Stewart
Pearls:  Kaiser Craft
Stick Pins:  Little Yellow Bicycle
Edgers:  Provo Craft
Other:  Wire
 

Traditional or Contemporary?

How would you describe your Christmas style?  Me?  I think I would probably be 50/50.  I love the old fashioned Christmas papers, but there is just something really fun about the contemporary bright colors and patterns, too!!  So, why not have both?  You certainly have a great selection to choose from in the store!

If you are a more traditional kind of gal, there are some amazing papers from Simple Stories.  Their 25 Days of Christmas collection would be a perfect choice for you!  There are also some yummy Fancy Pants Designs papers that have the old, timey Santa.  Who wouldn't love those??!!  Just to get an idea of what you can do with these papers, here is a layout I created using the 25 Days of Christmas collection (and a few other bits & pieces from the store).

Now, let's say you're more of a Contemporary Christmas crafter!!  Well, you're in for a treat too!  There are some completely adorable papers from Jillibean Soup that are right up your alley.  I haven't used any for a layout yet (definitely planning to, though), but played with some on my December Daily and I absolutely loved them!!  And how about a little challenge??!!  Why don't you talk a walk through the store and look for papers and embellishments that aren't necessarily Christmas-themed and get creative by using those on your layouts.  I did just this exact thing with some of the beautiful My Mind's Eye papers.  Take a look at this layout:

How fun is that??!!  Not technically Christmas-themed papers, but I think it works!  And here's a little tip...pick your papers and then find one or two Christmas-themed items to add to your page to tie it all together, like I did with the Cosmo Cricket Jolly by Golly chipboard alphas.


I hope I have inspired you to get creative and crafty with your Christmas and holiday layouts!  Remember, the #1 rule in Scrapbooking is JUST HAVE FUN!!

Did you know you can now Shop ONLINE?!:)

Guess WHAT?! Scraphappy just opened on online store!! You can now shop for some of our goodies in your jammies! We have added some of our kits and a few other items so far, much more to come. There are videos on our You Tube channel showing the projects that the kits make. Then, you can purchase the kit at our website, scraphappypensacola.com. Thanks for sharing this with your out of town friends!! If there is something you would like to see on the store site, let us know!


Visit Scraphappy's New Online Store!

A Christmas Shadow Box

Hello Crafters!

It's officially December now! Is everyone ready for Christmas? I know I am. The tree is up. The lights are on. The stockings are hung. The presents are (not) bought and (not) wrapped - which means that it's time to play, right? Today we are making a quick and easy home decor project that is great for showcasing your ever-growing collection of Christmas photos. I've actually made 2 of these so far. My mom saw the one I made for the store and asked me to make her one, too. Which brings me to the next idea - these make AMAZING Christmas presents for grandparents. Just use a 4x6 photo of their favorite grandchildren with Santa, wrap it up, and Voila! Santa pictures on Gramma's desk at work for her friends to oooh and aaah over! Perfect! (And it only takes 30-45 minutes to make! Quick, easy, and fun!)

First, gather your supplies: a 7 Gypsies shadow box ($9.95 at the store - comes in black or white!), poinsettia flowers (25 in a pack for less than $2! My kind of embellishment!), some Christmasy patterned papers (I used some from Theresa Collins, My Mind's Eye Lost and Found Christmas, and Basic Grey), black cardstock, label stickers from My Mind's Eye (I think I've used some of these on just about every project I've done the last few months - I'm in loooove), a big, pretty brad, bakers twine (5 yards for $1!), Tim Holtz Distress Stains in Forest Moss and Antique Linen, and some Distress Stickles. (You can see some 7 Gypsies tags in the photo below, but I ended up not using them.)

Now comes the 'hardest' (lol - j/k) part of this project - trimming. You need to measure the little squares on the side of the shadow box and cut 3 squares of patterned paper to size (I think they were just under 2 inches square, but I'm not positive).

Punch out the 'December 25th' element from the Theresa Collins Christmas paper. It is very white. I wanted more of a vintage look on this project, so I used my Anique Linen distress stain to color over the white. My label is now ivory! Perfect!

I also decided that I didn't want the white dots on the Theresa Collins paper to be white. I tried the Antique Linen first, but then decided I wanted it to be green. Forest Moss worked perfectly. You can see the difference between the original white, the Antique Linen, and the Forest Moss in the next picture, so you can pick whichever look you prefer.

Next, apply a thin layer of Distress Stickles to the poinsettia petals with your finger. Distress Stickles work best with a light touch. They are designed to appear like glittery, glass flecks of color on your element. If you want a thicker look, let your first layer dry, then apply an additional layer, instead of making your first layer thick. While the Stickles dry, layer your 'December 25th' punched circle onto some black cardstock (I die-cut mine into a snowflake shape for a bit of variety) and then onto a larger punched circle of patterned paper. Poke the brad through your flowers, attach it to your tag, then tie some baker's twine around it.

Now matte a few label stickers on cardstock or patterned paper. Place about 1/3-1/2 of a label on each of your patterned paper squares and adhere into your shadow box. If you want to add chipboard monograms or other decorations to your squares, be sure to do it BEFORE you adhere them into the shadow box (Trust me. It just works better this way. Learn from my mistakes :)

Glue on your 'December 25th' tag element to the edges of the shadow box using Diamond Glaze or another clear, liquid glue.

Lastly, adhere your photo into the box to complete your project.

And now I would like to remind you that ScrapHappy's 3 Year Anniversary party is coming up next weekend, on December 10. We'll have a photo booth, make-and-takes of Tim Holtz's 12 Tags of Christmas, sales, and a birthday cake. Come shop and play with us as we spend the day crafting together! I look forward to meeting you!
- Cori

In A Funk?

Do you ever get in a scrappy/crafty funk? A place where you just don't feel like you'll ever pick up a piece of paper again? That place where you know those pictures and supplies are haunting you, calling your name in the middle of the night? Yeah, I've been there. For two long, lonely months, I was there.

I tried a lot of different things to get out of it. I hung out at Scraphappy, I cruised all the usual spots on the internet, blogs, etsy, supply stores. I looked at sketches and layouts, cards and altered stuff. I even BOUGHT more supplies from Christy, thinking something, anything would pull me out of it. I just wasn't feeling inspired.

I even had projects planned, things I KNEW I WANTED TO CREATE. I just couldn't make myself do them. I didn't WANT to go in the art room. I didn't even want to look in there. At one point I just closed the door and didn't even think about it.

My friends were worried. They tried intervention. They invited me to crops. They took classes with me. I was just going through the motions. One friend even suggested maybe I was depressed. But I didn't feel that bad. The rest of my life was pretty good, I just couldn't create.

Then one day I was cruising my usual four or five blogs that I read EVERYDAY and I came across this in Tammy Tutterow's blog. "WOW!" I remember thinking, that is really cool! I LOVE THAT TECHNIQUE!!! I think I can do that!!!! So it stayed in the back of my mind for a few days. I knew I had most of the supplies, I knew I would probably have time to do it during Thanksgiving weekend. So after I put off and put off, I knew IT WAS TIME!

I started off by finishing some cards I'd started in Nikki's Christmas Card class. Which, btw, if you haven't taken one of her classes at Scraphappy, you NEED to. So in between cooking chicken dumplin's and cuddling with my granddaughter, I finished those cards!!! BIG SIGH of relief! Because trust me, those babies were the elephant in my craft room.
After Miss Amalia went home and we had supper, I put on my Brave Girl boots and trudged in to the art room. I WAS GOING TO DO THIS!!! I debossed, I inked, I dried, I slathered Rock Candy Crackle paint til I was covered with it. AND I CREATED!!!! IT FELT GOOD!!! OH WHAT FUN!!!
In the process, I discovered a new technique with lots of possibilities. I found a new product I love, love, love! Perfect Pearls Biscotti Mist! If you don't have it, go to Scraphappy and get some! Oh what shimmer!!!
The pictures do not do this technique justice. Check out Tammy's Blog and give it a try!!! You'll be glad you did!
Here's my first tag.

And my second. In both I used supplies from Scraphappy, Tags, Tim Holtz Distress Stains in Faded Jeans and Picket Fence, Distress Inkpads Evergreen Bough and Chipped Sapphire, Perfect Pearls Biscotti Mist, Poinsettia Flowers and some leaves, buttons and gems I had. I also flipped the tag over and inked the "embossed" side, to give it a two sided effect. Think of the debossing possibilites and get out of a FUNK!

EZMount!!

Are you running out of space and looking to convert some old woodblock stamps into easy-to-store cling stamps? Or do you have some unmounted rubber stamps you're looking to use?
We highly recommend EZMount Static Cling Mounting Cushion! It is SOO EZ!!!!

Don't believe me? Check it out in the video below! :)

We sell EZMount here at Scraphappy.. only $4.50/sheet!

p.s.

EZMount sticks wonderfully to acrylic for easy storage!

Stop by Scraphappy to pick up your EZMount & let us bind an acrylic book together for you!

Happy Stamping!

Paper Place Setting!

Happy Thanksgiving Everyone! I can't believe it's already here. I can't seem to get in the Christmas spirit until I've had my fried turkey and sweet potato casserole for Turkey Day! As promised, I am going to show you pictures of the paper place setting I made for the Thanksgiving table at Scraphappy. We really had some great settings; everyone had a different idea and it's really fun to see what everyone creates. For mine, I used the My Mind's Eye papers called Lost and Found 2. I love that paper with all the glittery accents on it. Even though it's not traditional Thanksgiving or Christmas colors, I think it really lends itself to a holiday feel. I started my place setting by making a placemat. I used 2 pieces of paper and just cut and glued them together when I felt I had the right size. Underneath the flower and ribbon, I used a couple of the leftover strips to accent. Then I put the ribbon over the strips of paper. I used two different sizes of ribbon in burgundy and gold. I also punched the edge of the sides with punch. You could use any edge punch for decoration. Here's the placemat put together.

In my last post, I showed you how to make the flowers I used on the placemat. I also used my Tim Holtz distress inks to ink the edges of the flower and the placemat. I cut the leaves by hand and crimped them. Leaves and flowers are a great way to use your scraps! Here's a closeup of the flower.

For the remaining part of my place setting, I made a multi-purpose silver caddy and place card. I started with a empty vegetable can that I cleaned and dried. I covered the outside of the can with paper and cut a circle out of coordinating paper for the bottom. I glued the circle to the bottom of the can and crimped it with my hands to bend it around the edge. The top edge of the can is finished with a ribbon.

I repeated the flowers I used on the placemat and placed one at the top and three around the bottom edge of the can. I also cut very small strips of paper and curled them around a pencil for the paper curls around the flower. Once again, I cut and crimped some leaves by hand. Don't forget to ink all of this with your Tim Holtz distress inks. Can I tell you how much I love those inks???

Next I cut initials out for the place card. I used a Cricut cartridge from Scraphappy for the font. Just to give it a little more interest, I used dimensionals under the initials to make them stand out. Here is the finished product!

You can cover anything with paper and make it look special. The silver caddy could be a pencil holder for your desk or a marker holder for your child's art table. I think this place setting could also be for anytime you want to have a special table for your guests. Have fun making it your own!

I hope you all have a wonderful Thanksgiving and remember all the special things in your life. Enjoy your turkey and visit your favorite store (Scraphappy!) after you're finished eating and need to walk off the calories!

Vicky

Thanksgiving Scribble Scrabble Placemat

Ok. So I told you guys that I would post my placemat once I had it done, and now here it is! It's actually already in the shop on the Thanksgiving table with all the other fun, beautiful table settings from the other Design Team members - so if you want to go see it in real life, then you know where to find it :)

And now, on to our project of the day - our Thanksgiving placemat (which can also double as the foundation of a scrapbook page - which is my ultimate plan)... First, gather your supplies. For this placemat, you'll need a sheet of cardstock, as well as multiple coordinating strips of patterned paper. Scraps work especially well for this. And my favorite part - those strips of paper on the bottom of your patterned paper that have the paper title, company, and SKU numbers? Many companies are now making one side of that strip usable, and lucky for us, the Scribble Scrabble line is one of those papers with a usable strip!

Take your spiffy Tim Holtz ruler with all the holes in it (If you don't already have one, you NEED this ruler. It makes measuring equal spaces for brads so very easy. Let Christy know if you want one! They're wonderful!!!)...Anyhow, where was I? Oh yeah, mark some dots on your base paper at equal distances. I marked mine about every inch across the entire width of the paper.

Now take your trimmer and cut lines across the base paper, starting at each dot that you've marked. Make sure you leave about an inch on both ends so that you have a good support for your weaving.

Next, cut several strips from your other patterned papers. Depending on the look you want, you can either cut them the same width, or vary the widths. It's all up to you.

And now it's Back to School Time. Remember Weaving 101 in elementary school? We're going to have a refresher course. Weave one strip at a time through your base paper. Over. Under. Over. Under. Over. Under.

As you finish weaving a strip, smoosh it to the edge next to the previous strip. The closer you smoosh a strip to its neighbor, the tighter your weave will be. If you want a loose weave, just don't smoosh the strips too tightly.

 And here's the backside. See the SKU and company codes on the strips? Love when I get to use every inch of my patterned papers.

After you finish weaving all your strips and smooshing them together, use some adhesive to tack the loose ends down. Next, trim off about 1/4 inch from each side and mount on your cardstock.

And here's the full place setting! Blessings can. Name card. Napkin ring. And placemat. Remember that you can find the whole collection, as well as the gorgeous patterned papers and stickers, in the store.

Happy Crafting!

- Cori

It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas!

Can you believe that Christmas is a little over a month away??  Are you ready??  If you're like me, probably not!!  :)  I always have grand dreams of all of the crafty goodness I am going to get done during the Christmas season and usually if I make it through my Christmas cards, I am happy.  Well, this year I decided to get a head start on Christmas and get my December Daily album ready for all of the great pictures I'm planning to take!  What's a December Daily you ask?  Basically, it's a pre-made album for each day in December (mine only goes up to December 25, but you can do the whole month if you want to) and you can take a photo or photos each day and add them to your album.  It's a really fun idea that was originally started by Ali Edwards and once you are done, you have a great little mini to document all of the fun Christmas festivities!

I was able to create this album with 99% of supplies from ScrapHappy.  I decided to go a little different route with this one and mix papers from the Simple Stories 25 Days of Christmas line and Jillibean Soup's Christmas Eve Chowder line.  I thought it would be fun to mix in a little bit of the traditional Christmas look, with a little of the more contemporary and I love the way it turned out!  For the front and back covers of my album, I got some of the 8x6 acrylic sheets from the store.  These are great to decorate, and help protect the pages in your album.  The binder rings are also available in the store and I just used my Crop-a-Dile to punch through the acrylic and add the rings.  To create the base for my pages, I took some old cardstock and cut it to 8x6 pages and then cut and added my patterned paper to the front and back.  Once I had the bases, I added the numbers for each day and then started decorating.  Here is my finished product:

I hope you enjoyed seeing how I used some of the great products from the store!  Stop by and pick up some of your favorites and go ahead and knock out that December Daily!  There is no formula or directions, just have fun and start creating!!

Products Used:

Papers:  Simple Stories, Jillibean Soup, Tim Holtz, Teresa Collins
Clips:  Basic Grey
Stick Pins: Little Yellow Bicycle
Buttons:  My Mind's Eye
Chipboard Buttons:  Jenni Bowlin
Pearl Accents:  KaiserCraft
Letter Stickers:  My Little Shoebox & Doodlebug Design Inc.
Other:  Ribbon & Poinsettia Flowers