Upcoming Events that you DON'T want to miss!!

Wednesday, June 27, 2012

Join us for our Grand Re-Opening Party!!!

Join us on Saturday, June 30th anytime between the hours of 2pm-6pm for our Grand Re-Opening Party in our NEW HOME!!

We will have refreshments and fun Make-n-Takes!
Anyone who attends will be entered into a drawing to win some great prizes!
..There will also be a few more ways you can accumulate tickets while attending the party. :)

We want to thank all of you for supporting us throughout our recent moves! We wouldn't be here without all of our awesomely crafty customers!! Let's Celebrate!

See you Saturday!!

Sunday, June 24, 2012

What Do I Do With That?

Hello, World!
     You know those products that you see online or in the store that you absolutely LOVE and that you must have NOW?!! So you buy them. And then you get them home and think, "OK. This is awesome, but what do I do with it?" Well, these die-cut states from Studio Calico fit that description for me. I saw them at CHA and counted the days until ScrapHappy carried them. I'm a traveller. I'm a scrapbooker. You would think this would be easy, right? Sadly, it wasn't. I looked at them and pondered them for ages. I placed them on layouts (without adhesive, of course). I took them off those same layouts. I moved them around...and around...and around...and still they called to me. Until I had a serious BAM! moment, and I realized I didn't have to use them for layouts. I could use them all together as a map puzzle!
     First, I had my Kid arrange them on cardstock (I still had hopes of making this a layout, but alas, they wouldn't all fit right on a 12x12 piece of cardstock). Then I decided to use a cork background and put my 'puzzle' in a frame - and you know what? It worked perfectly! After adhering the states to the cork, I added rhinestone stars to each state - bigger stars for where I've lived, and smaller stars for where I've visited. I then enclosed my puzzle background in the frame and added a title to the exterior of the glass with Thickers and Kaiser Craft letter stickers.


Saturday, June 23, 2012

Simple Stories Summer Fresh in the store!

I'm so excited about Simple Stories new line "Summer Fresh".  Many of their lines have become my favorites as soon as they were released, but this one is my favorite.  It brings to mind the simple life of summer filled with picnics, bike rides, pool time and family.  I've loved coming up with many new ideas using Summer Fresh papers!
One thing I've wanted to try is the "sunburst" cards that are popular now.  Oh how pretty Summer Fresh looks!  Bursting with color and flowers, it will be sure to brighten someone's birthday!
This little pocket full of posies will remind a special friend that you are thinking just of them. 
Another card I made with the sunburst technique features a window sticker from the Summer Fresh line through which you can see many of the beautiful papers featured in the store.


This card using Summer Fresh reminds us all that summer is the time to slow down and enjoy the simple things, like a trip to the new Scraphappy location!  I love the new store, it's so cozy and welcoming.

Wednesday, June 20, 2012

Sweet & Sassy!

Today I have two layouts to share, using the same collection, with just a little different twist on each of the pages.  Every year there is at least one or two collections that come out at CHA, that make me think, "I must have all of this one!".  The Neapolitan line from Dear Lizzy was one of those lines this year!  The colors and patterns are really amazing and from the chipboard embellishments/titles to the vellum/ruffled papers, you really can't go wrong with this one.  The colors in this line are a little more on the pastel side, but have a tad more saturation than your normal pastels.  Just enough to umph them up!

Since I had a lot of the papers from this line and Christy let me play with some of the chipboard shapes and the garland titles, I wanted to create two layouts with the same products, but with a little different look and feel on each.

For my first layout, "For the Love of Dance", I chose to keep the look softer and cleaner...sweet if you will.  




These photos of our daughter were taken after her dress rehearsal and they were two of my favorites from the day.  I really wanted the focus to be on the photos.  Pairing the black and white photos with the soft colors in this line, really make them pop on my page.  I also didn't want to over-embellish or have a lot of 3D elements on my page.  There are several papers in this line that are really great for fussy cutting.  I cut several elements from one of these papers and used them to create a free form grid around my photos.  And I even created a little pocket for my journaling, with one of the fussy cut pieces.  I mixed in some die cut words and Thickers with the garland title and then finished off the page by adding several of the chipboard shapes.  I also thought it would be cute to add two little clouds that were fussy cut from the vellum paper.  One of the quickest ways to adhere vellum is by stapling.  It adds a little more texture to your page and just a touch of whimsy!

On this second page, I got a little more messy.  Christy, pretty much has Scrapbook heaven in the store right now, because it is packed with so many American Crafts products!!  One of which, being the completely awesome Mister Huey's Circle Mask from Studio Calico.  I actually bought this for myself and knew I had to try it on this layout.




I placed the mask on my paper, where it would be positioned mostly behind my main photo.  Then I used some of the Tattered Angels Glimmer Mist ( Polka Dot Pink) over the mask and my page.  Once the mist dried, I added my photos and the title.  I used another Mister Huey's Mask in a different way for the title.  I took the large ampersand and traced it and then cut it out.  I outlined the ampersand with a fine point brown Zig pen and placed it behind the garland title.  To finish off the title, I used a mix of Thickers and sticker letters.  I also used more of the vellum paper on this layout, and used it as a strip across the top of my page.  And to give it a little more dimension, I added one of the clouds from the chipboard pack.

I hope you have enjoyed my little post on using collections in two different ways.  So don't worry about losing control and buying too much of one line...there are lots of great ways to get layouts from the same products, but have a totally different look and feel to those layouts!  And Christy has everything you need in the store, to create the looks I shared on my layouts today!

Products Used:

Patterned Paper, Chipboard Shapes, Garland Titles, Letter Stickers:  Dear Lizzy/American Crafts; Thickers:  American Crafts; Mister Huey's Mask:  Studio Calico; Spray Mist:  Tattered Angels; Baker's Twine:  The Twinery

Friday, June 15, 2012

Ever wonder about those little Artist Trading Cards...

There are only a few rules, trading cards are a standard size 2 1/2 x 3 1/2”, always traded – not sold.
So a theme is set, your creative juices start to flow and you create a little piece of art.

If you are a scrapbooker, think of it as a miniature scrapbook; for card makers – tiny card fronts. You can step outside your normal art forms and try paints, wax (encaustics), digital art. You can stamp, collage, paint, anything. Sometimes I like to just make ATCs for the fun of it. You are only limited by your imagination.
On the back of the cards, put your name, the theme and number of the individual card as seen in the set, the total number in the scurrent theme and the date. There are a variety of stamps available for the information used on the back of the cards.

Themes that I have enjoyed encompass holidays and seasons, a color,  a letter of the alphabet, anything! The variety of ways a theme is seen is so much fun and the diversity of art forms will expand your creativity.
The ones below were from the themes: Tea, Baskets, Cup of Tea,  and Coffee. You can keep them in an album and visit them at any time for inspiration.
To start, find some friends who share your love of art in any possible form. Set a theme and a deadline, get started!

Thursday, June 7, 2012

DIY Smashbooks

Hello, Scraphappy Fans!

How many of you know what a 'Smashbook' is? It's this really cool premade album filled with patterned papers that you can take your pictures and everyday-bits-of-life (aka ephemera) and just 'smash' them (or glue them) into. You can make it as organized or random as you want. You can fill it from beginning-to-end. Or you can open to a random page and stick stuff in wherever it makes you happy. The only problem with a premade book like this is that you have no control over what the actual papers are. What you buy is what you get, so I'm going to show you how to make your own. Now you can pick the papers and patterns YOU want inside your book.

First step: Pick your papers. I chose the new summery, tropical-themed papers from Graphic45. Now I don't know about you, but I always think these papers are beautiful to look at, but when it comes to actually USING them, my mind goes blank. Fortunately for me (and now you, since I'm going to share), at CHA the Graphic45 people demo'd how to use their papers in a DIY Smashbook!
In the center of the previous photo, you can see some blue rectangles. Those are clear acrylic sheets that I decided to use for my covers. There's several sizes available at the store, and they are all quite inexpensive. To use the acrylic, just peal off the blue protective film and decorate however you choose. I wanted the edges of my cover to stand out, so I mixed some spray mist with white acrylic paint and painted the edges.
Next, I trimmed my papers to fit in my book. I used several sizes, including some pieces that I die-cut into scallops to add some fun variety.
There are many ways you can bind your book - jump rings, ribbon, etc. I wanted to play with a toy I received for Christmas: a book-binding machine. There's a similar machine in the store that you can use whenever you want. Just buy the binding, itself, and have fun playing!
Follow the directions on the machine to bind your book, then add pictures, embellishments, and journalling to truly make the book 'yours.' Here's a look at my finished book and some of the interior pages:


Supplies:
- patterned paper - Graphic45
- clear acrylic
- white acrylic paint
- letter stickers - October Afternoon
- black washi tape
- Cinch binding machine and spiral binding
- Smooch spray mist
- Instax photos
- die-cutter - Big Shot
- scallop die - Spellbinders

Friday, June 1, 2012

New Heidi Swapp - Some Layouts to Share

I went to Scraphappy last week and was delighted to find the new Heidi Swapp line had come in. I immediately 'claimed' some of the papers and embellishments as mine to play with. Here is what I came up with: The first is what you're used to seeing from me. The second...well, let's just say I've been hanging around a certain other Design Team member/friend a lot lately, and she's rubbed off on me ;)

Supplies:
- patterned paper - Heidi Swapp, My Mind's Eye
- letter stickers - Heidi Swapp (neon), Sassafrass (blue)
- banners, word stickers, epoxy embellishments, label stickers - Heidi Swapp
- date stamp
- Stickles
- brads