Hotel Options for the Gulf Coast Crop-n-Shop Weekend!!

To check out more information on our
Gulf Coast Crop-n-Shop Weekend, CLICK HERE!

FOR VENDOR INFORMATION, PLEASE CLICK HERE!

This is a list of a few of the hotels/condos near the Emerald Coast Convention Center. There are a ton more!! If you are interested, we have a hotel guide at Scraphappy that you are more than welcome to stop by and check out!

The Ramada Plaza Beach Resort and Four Points by Sheraton are directly across the street from the ECCC.

Four Points by Sheraton
Rooms starting at $150/night
www.starwoodhotels.com/fourpoints/destinfwb

Ramada Plaza Beach Resort
Rooms starting at $159/night
www.ramadafwb.com

Emerald Coast Inn & Suites
Rooms starting at $80/night
www.emeraldcoastinn.com

Destin West Beach & Bay Resort
To check out different villas, please visit:
www.destinwest.com

Waterscape Condominiums
Condos starting at $170/night
http://www.wyndhamvacationrentals.com/vacation-rentals/florida/northwest-florida/fort-walton-beach/complex/waterscape-condominiums

Hampton Inn on the Gulf
Rooms starting at $143/night
http://hamptoninn3.hilton.com/en/hotels/florida/hampton-inn-ft-walton-beach-FWBHHHX/index.html

Sea Spray Condominiums
To check out different available condos, please visit:
www.seaspraycondos.com

Best Western Beachfront
Rooms starting at $135/night
www.bestwesternfwb.com

Suffering for My Art!

As I nursed my slightly singed thumb at card class last month, my mind ran to all the different kinds of injuries suffered for the sake of our art. Knowing that misery loves company, this blog was born. Tools of torture or creative necessities? You decide…

Hot glue gun – fingerprints may have been permanently altered

Xacto knife sliced thumb – paid particular attention not to smudge blood on newly created book pages

Glitter everywhere (including the eyes)

 

Paint brush cleaned in your coffee cup (do not try this at home!)

 

Beads swallowed by pet (hopefully not by you), stepped on with bare feet or fingers pinched with jewelry tools

 A Bead headed pin / Styrofoam creation turned out great - loss of feeling in finger tips only lasted for a short while

Sewing needles found with fingers, toes and the occasional tuchus

A wide assortment of cuts; pretty paper turned on me, newly sharpened scissors slipped, overly industrial paper trimmers, etc.
Fumes and burns from hot encaustic wax and spray sealants
Tiny glass slivers from glass cutting mosaic scraps
Slight skull injury from sliding the piercing tool behind ear (missed again)

So remember to carefully pack your basic tool kit; scissors, glue stick, black ink pad, bone folder, several band aids, Excedrin for eye strain headaches, etc…  Instead of scaring me, reading this reminds me of some great projects. So be careful... but if you feel that creating is vital to your existence and a little pain is worth it, you might be an artist!

 

A Sunshine Christmas Mini

Using the Lawn Fawn "Sweet Christmas"- clear stamp set on Miss Caroline paper gave this cottage a weathered beach look.  I then drew a palm tree on white card stock and used Tim Holtz distress markers with a water color brush to create the palm tree. To give the palm tree the look of lights wrapped around it a Gelly Roll Clear Star pen was used.

For the cover I used a 12 x 12 thin acrylic sheet. 

This page was added to the front of the album using washi tape.

 We R Memory Keepers - "Waves", was used to create the pocket for tags or keepsakes.

On three side of this Polaroid tape was place to create a pocket.  A tag was made using Lawn Fawns "Sweet Christmas" clear stamp set and then colored with Tim Holtz distress markers.

In this photo a white Polaroid was used then stamped with Lawn Fawns" Sweet Christmas". It was then colored with Tim Holtz distress markers. A few touches were added with the Gelly Roll pen. Bakers Twine was added around the Polaroid.  *Using the washi tape was fun! 

Supplies:

-We R Memory Keeper - DOWN THE BOARDWALK - Coastlines - Waves 

-12 x 12 - Thin acrylic sheet - *These sheets can be embossed 

-6 x 6 My Minds Eye - miss caroline

-6 x 6 Authentique - Festive

-Fundamentals - tags

-white cardstock

-Lawn Fawn - Sweet Christmas

-We R Memory Keepers - clear stamps - Seashells

-Rangers - Archival Ink - black

-bakers twine

-Tom Holtz - Distress Markers

-Gelly Roll - clear star

-American Crafts - Paper trimmer - tape

Stop by Scraphappy to see the finished mini and pick up your scrapping supplies.

And as always, Christy or Stephanie are happy to help you with any scrapping questions.

Merry Christmas!

Folded Tag Project

I saw an adorable fold out tag in a friend’s shop and was intrigued with its possibilities.  Hers presented a summer beach theme and used a wide assortment of embellishments.  Ideas swirled…

General instructions are: cut a 4” strip across the bottom, score and fold every 2” alternating “mountains and valleys” so that you end up with an accordion fold. Trim out the top corners to achieve the tag shape. By trimming the first one, you can use the scrap as a guide for the other corners to give you some uniformity.

I needed 12x12 sheet of decorative paper as the base. As Christmas was rolling around, I headed to Scraphappy for some paper inspiration. The 2 sided Playground offered me a bright red and a pretty aqua. On the aqua side, the trees added more fun colors. Jillibean’s penguin paper was the just the thing to coordinate with the pretty aqua. I trimmed out some of the penguins and trees. I even found a leftover snowflake brad that was perfect for a red panel and a bow that was languishing in the drawer forgotten from some long ago project.

Having two great colors on the paper gave me the chance to work with a very traditional theme in red and a really fun contemporary theme on the aqua side. Tim Holtz’ vintage Christmas paper added a special feel to accent the red side. This was the perfect backdrop for more one of a kind embellishments left from other projects.

Some green die cut Christmas trees (3 in olive for the red side and 3 in lime for the aqua side) offered the perfect spot to add a cheerful message along the top. Since I didn’t have the alphabet style that I wanted, I drew the letters for JOY on the trees with a little bottle of red accent paint.

Then I wanted to see what could be done with a totally different theme. Since I already had some birthday pictures laid out for a page, these became part of the playful monkey birthday fold tag. I found coordinating papers in the pink scrap drawer (yes, there is a drawer for each color). By cutting them a bit smaller than the tag, you still get a peek at the smiling monkeys in the background.

This is a fun project and can be sent to someone special. What a great use of those fun little odds and ends that seem to be left over. Dig into your scraps and doodads and enjoy!

Happy December Daily!

                                   
How many of you have heard of December Daily? If you haven't, it's an album concept created by Ali Edwards (www.aliedwards.com) to document your Christmas season. Over the last few years, her idea has spread, and people all over the world are now recording their memories in December. The best part of December Daily? It can be WHATEVER you want it to be. You can make it a journal. You can make a layout (or several layouts). You can make a minibook. You can make a special Christmas album. You can just take a picture. Or write a blog post. Whatever YOU want. It's all up to you.

I decided this year to use a Simple Stories Sn@p album as my base. Christy has ordered some for the store, but if they're not in yet, that's OK! Pick another album you like. 6x6 albums are great for taking a 6x6 paperpad and just slipping the papers into the page protectors. Or cut a 12x12 paper into 4 squares and slip them in. Embellish as desired, and you've got your album prepped pretty quickly! Or choose one of the awesome acrylic albums ScrapHappy has in stock! Play with inks. Play with paint. Learn a new technique. Or keep it simple. Whatever YOU want!

Over Thanksgiving, I prepped my album. I used an 8x8 patterned paper pad from October Afternoon and cut all the papers apart to set up my base pages. I also precut and inked some white cardstock cards in the various pocket sizes to use for my journalling. Now all I have to do during December is to take pictures, print them, stick them in my album, and write some quick journalling (if I feel like it). I can embellish each day if I want to, but if I don't, then it's still All Good. My Christmas is being recorded.

I know it's already December 4, but it's not too late to start a December Daily project of your own. Drop by the store. Pick out an album and some special Christmas paper (And YES! The Christmas paper has arrived at ScrapHappy! Echo Park! Fancy Pants! And More!) . Turn on 25 Days of Christmas, and cut and prep your way to making your holiday even more special. And if you want to see the rest of my December Daily pages as the month progresses, follow me on Instagram: cdpeck. I'll be uploading my pages on an almost-daily basis (I'm aiming for daily, but Life does get in the way sometimes...).

And now, without further ado, my December Daily: First up, my completed pages for December 1-3:

 And here's a sample of the pages still to come, with my prep work complete:

Using the 'B' Side

Hello, World!

I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving weekend, and I hope you all had some time to play with your scrappy supplies and toys! Christy asked me to use these Graphic45 papers this month, and sadly (for me), they were a little too 'busy' for the pictures I had printed to scrap.

So what do you do when your patterned paper isn't exactly what you had in mind? Flip them over. Many manufacturers these days are printing their papers double-sided: a bold, larger focal point on the front, and a smaller, more subtle, coordinating pattern on the back. These 'B-sides' often make perfect backgrounds and embellishments when used as bits and pieces.

And now, without further ado... this month's layouts, using these papers as both backgrounds and as embellishments. Enjoy!

 Supplies:
- patterned paper - Graphic45, Scenic Route
- cardstock - Bazzill
- washi tape
- die cutter - Silhouette
- punches - EK Success
- decorative brads
- letter stickers - Prima, American Crafts, Cosmo Cricket Tiny Type
- metal embellishments - Making Memories (old - from my stash)
- spray ink

Let The Good Times Be Remembered

Let The Good Times Be Remembered in this Mini Album made with the Simple Stories "Take a Hike" Paper and Stickers

Making albums can be a major project, and the albums can also take up some major space in our homes when finally completed.  That would be time and space that some of us don’t have.  But there's a perfect solution to this problem - mini albums!

The mini album pictured below is simply created with one 12 x 12 sheet, some scraps, hemp string, and rosette made from the Tim Holtz Alterations Die.  Oh, and of course let's not forget about the stickers.  The Simple Stories "Take a Hike" stickers add that special extra something in no time at all and with no extra work on your part.

When finished, you can put your beautiful mini album in your purse to take with you and show your friends.  Then, simply store it in a photo box with all of your other treasured minis.

To make the small wreath below, I used The Simple Stories "Harvest Lane" paper and stickers, along with Tim Holtz Rosette Die.

It was so much fun working with the Simple Stories paper and stickers.  And, using the Tim Holtz Rosette Die made it easy to make this wreath in no time, with the rosettes folding very nicely.

Supplies:

Simple Stories "Harvest Lane"paper, and stickers

Tim Holtz Alterations Die, paper, and scissors

Glossy accents (for glue)

Hot glue gun

American Crafts - paper trimmer

Hemp string

Let the Good Times Be Remembered by stopping by Scraphappy to pick up your scrapping supplies and to see the finished mini album and wreath.  Christy and Stephanie are always happy to help you with any scrapping questions.

Wood Mounted or Clear?

So the ongoing debate of wood mounted stamps or clear continues. I love the look and feel of the wood mounted stamps, such great wood grains and easy generally to grip. But the storage decisions have to be continually addressed. Back when I had a couple of dozen stamps (bwahaha, sad I know) there was no problem. One drawer of a rolling cart was perfect and left other drawers for all of my ink and paper (again, I know but that addiction and storage options are for others to blog).

As time goes on and the collection grows, I moved to plastic shoe boxes. These were great. You can see what’s in the box, align the different shaped stamps to fit a lot into the box and even label the boxes once that solution grew. Then there were more rolling drawers, a great desk with drawers on both sides that are just the right size for stamps. The kitchen table art area grows into a home studio. And yet still, space becomes limited.

Then clear stamps arrived on the scene with much suspicion but they were so easy to store. As this caught on, I saw a nice alternative. The clear stamps are easy to store and come in a growing variety. Of course, I needed both clear stamps and wood mounted stamps.

EZ Mount Cling comes on the scene so I can now mount my really affordable sheets of rubber image.  All I need are a few acrylic blocks to be able to stamp them. I bought this pre-sticky product and began the task of removing some of the wooden mounted images and putting them on cling. Voila, easier storage!

So we arrive at the dilemma. What do I do with the wood blocks? It seems wasteful to toss them and you just know there will be some way to creatively use them later on. Earlier this year, I saw a new solution at Scraphappy.

 

 

I can decorate the little wood blocks and make a whole new line of fun. Pulling the bag of already denuded blocks out, I began the task of cleaning them up and determining size options.

My mother is tricky person to shop for but as she is a quilter, I could see the potential for a pretty little set of blocks with buttons and flowers. Choosing some varying sizes of blocks, I did a light sanding to be sure any lumps of foam were removed. Sorting through a nice assortment of paper scraps offered a lot of color and pattern choices. (What a great way to work on that paper addiction as the same time). I dug into my collection of leftover embellishments from other projects and the fun began. I rubbed a little Distress Ink around the edges to give the blocks some character and built up the interest. The result was a sweet little Mother’s Day gift.

If you are trying to find the next phase of sorting and stamp storage, give this a try. I am planning little holiday gifts, and some birthday gifts, and …

Harvest Lane

I am in LOVE with the new Simple Stories paper line, Harvest Lane. The colors, phrases, alphabet, etc are so pretty. Great paper for many occasions! Here is a mini album and a wall hanging using said paper line.

This wall hanging is made out of a 12x12 clear acrylic panel, and 4 atc sized acrylic panels. This would look so cute hanging in your home for fall, or any season, with family photos on the large and small panels. It is so easy to customize to match anyone's home decor, making it a perfect Christmas gift!! Purchase the acrylic for less than $9!!

 

The second project is a "Gratitude" mini album. This album will be taught as a class on November 16th at 6 pm, and we also have kits for it available in store!! This book is 22 pages, plus two mini pages!!! It's huge!

I used a 6" acrylic tabbed album for this, along with several pieces of chipboard to add pages.

There are lots of spaces for photos,  journaling, and places to count some of your blessings.

 The colors in the Harvest Lane are soooo pretty!!

This would be a perfect book for a gift, or to document your Thanksgiving,

or for all occasion family photos. This would also be fun to work on over Thanksgiving break!

Come by to check it out!!

 

Sketch Contest

Ladies! We need your help again! We had a sketch contest and can't decide on a winner (we know, they're all awesome.) Please help us out and vote for your favorite!!

HALLOWEEN " Popcorn Mini Pouch"

As I was making up Halloween goodies to send to my family, I couldn't help but think to myself, "This would be a great idea to share in my post this month."  So, here goes:

Using assorted paper lines, I created two mini book/card albums, a card, and a pouch to hold a popcorn mini bag and one of the mini books.

The stickers by Simple Stories - Take a Hike - I had actually originally bought these for another project.  Yet when I saw the sticker that says, "Shh... did you hear that?", the first thing that came to mind was telling ghost stories while camping, and I knew I should use these stickers for my Halloween goodies.

Using one 12 x 12 sheet by Fancy Pants Designs - Oct 31 paper, I made the pouch, added the stickers by Simple Stories, and stamped and cut out the ghost, bat, and moon using Lawn Fawn - Happy Haunting.  I then added an eyelet, hemp string, and a bottom to hold it closed.

On the first mini, I made a pocket using the fence.  I then added a Tag and Polaroid that I stamped.  It can be colored, or you can just place your favorite photo over the stamped image.

In my previous Be SPOOKTACULAR post, I mentioned that the mini card album would be a nice activity for a children's party at this time of year by just using the stamps and then leaving it for the children to color.

Using this idea and placing your favorite photo in the Polaroid, along with your thoughts of the night would make a great memory keepsake for years to come.

Supplies:

Tim Holtz - Kraft resist - Halloween Haunts, distressing tool

My Minds Eye - blackbird

Fancy Pants Designs - Oct 31

Simple Stories - Take a Hike - cardstock stickers

Assorted cardstock

Lawn Fawn - Happy Haunting

Ranger Archival Ink - Jet Black

Hemp string

Twine

Bling

Brads

Embossing Powder & Ink

Gelly Roll Pen - clear star

American Crafts paper trimmer, adhesive

Glossy accents

Make sure to head to Scraphappy to see this and many more fun creations.  Christy or Stephanie are happy to answer any questions you may have.  In the meantime, happy Halloween and happy crafting!!

Acrylic Mini Album Class

Buttons, Buttons, Buttons

Often I see really cute buttons in the store. But since I don’t sew anymore, what can justify their purchase? Sometimes just one or two buttons add the right touch to a card or page. Other times the buttons make the page, like the buttons on this pink and turquoise page. These two photos lacked any real spunk but I wanted to memorialize the moment of Jas and her Aunt Jen. The array of multi-colored buttons filled the empty space. Some have colorful twine running through the holes, some are left empty and some have no visible holes. The variety of shapes, shades and types makes this a really great page.

 

The swimming alligator card didn’t look finished even with the fun scrap. The buttons were the perfect touch and brought out the color from the paper. This one has the orange and white twine used as a tiny bow instead of running through the buttons. I tend to like a set of 3, either all the same size and color or a variety of sizes, shapes and color. There’s no real rule. What appeals to you for each project may vary.                     

 

      

These adorable little fish buttons are the perfect color highlight to this Jillibean papers. By hanging them from colorful twine to simulate fishing line, they add a punch of fun and color while giving the page a theme.  This page is on display at Scraphappy if you want a closer look.

           

I had a blank spot on this card and the buttons were the perfect filler. These buttons have a tiny hole in the top for little brads to offer the appearance that the buttons are hanging. Too cute! The little round buttons have letters inscribed and are used to highlight the theme of the card, “sew”.

The little pumpkin button on this fall card was just the thing to offer a punch of color and spotlight the pumpkin stand. It adds extra fun to an otherwise “nice” page. Two small scraps of paper, some fall stickers, a colored stamped, image and the button = a really special card.

 

Next time you see buttons in an interesting color or shape, put your imagination to work and add them to your project. It will be cute as a button.

 

 

Using Up Your Leftovers

When you scrapbook, what do you do with your leftovers? Do you put them away? Do you slide them to the side of your desk to think about later? Do you add them to a pile? Or even better, do you actually use those little bits and pieces? If you were to see my desk, you would know that I am an infrequent scrap cleaner. I tend to push my leftovers into a pile and stack them up until I can't stand it anymore and decide to do something with them. Often, this means that I will compile these pieces into layouts and combinations I never would have planned for if I had thought ahead. So what do I do? I go to Scraphappy, pick up 2 or 3 pieces of patterned paper, some letter stickers (especially Thickers...I am on a serious Thickers kick lately), and combine that with what's on my desk to make some layouts. And the Bonus? My desk gets cleaned off without any effort!

For my first layout, I used Studio Calico and Lilly Bee papers that I already had, combined with the teal thickers and butterflies that I got at Scraphappy. The leftovers? The Amy Tangerine stickers and teal woodgrain washi tape.

This next layout uses some new Shoreline papers as a background, combined with leftover Amy Tangerine stickers, an Amy Tangerine pocket, Shoreline sunburst scraps, and Heidi Swapp banner pieces cut off from a previous project. The hexagons are from a Studio Calico stamp set and are attached with some brads I found in my drawer.

The only new item on this final layout is the background paper and the teal letter 'P.' Everything else on this page was leftover. The light blue strip of Shoreline with the hot pink splatters? Leftover from the Baby Turtles layout. The My Mind's Eye transparency? Scavenged from my Valentine's Day memo board. The Heidi Swapp disco heart? The last of a package from this past spring.

So what have we learned today? Use your stash! Use those bits and pieces of scraps. Use pieces from different manufacturers and product lines to make your own combos. Need some patterned papers, letters, or cardstock to pull it all together? Head on in to Scraphappy and buy what you need! It's all there!

Can't Resist this Resist Paper!!

We just got in all of this awesome Bazzill Resist and Embossed cardstock, so we thought we would show you a quick little sample using some of it! It is seriously soo cool, and such an easy and fun way to make a page, card, or project extra special.

Here is what the cardstock looks like to start with:

You can see that it is all white, and has glossy, or resist, patterns! We have lots of different patterns in stock like stripes, polka dots, leaves, etc. You could use anything you have to color your paper, including markers, paint, ink, spray mists, or stains. In this layout, I used Tim Holtz's Distress Stain in Broken China. I covered the entire page in the stain, doing a section at a time, and wiping with a paper towel as I went so that the resist area didnt stain. Here is what it looked like after I stained it:

It would also be pretty to use multiple colors to color your paper.

This totally made me think of water, so I decided to make a

quick water layout with the newly-blue paper!!

A photo mat, a title, and some simple embellishments kept the beautiful glossy background the highlight of the design of this layout! You could always add another photo to the left, but I wanted to leave it open for now to show you the pretty pattern. :)

I am thinking some of the other patterns would make beautiful holiday cards!!!

Come in and check it out!