Scrappigators Country Store

We've been busier than we can be between vending at Crop Classix Cape May two weekends ago, Becky & Clare's Day Crop last weekend, and preparing for the opening of our "country store" yesterday. Getting ready involved moving an overly-filled classroom upstairs and resetting everything for "retail." We anticpated having more stock, but were pleasantly surprised by our sales at two prior events.

These photos represent two of the four walls in our former living room minus carpet. We have lots of changes we want to make in the future depending upon the reception we get in the months ahead. We are only opened one weekend a month -- the first Thursday (noon to 6PM), Friday (10AM-6PM), and Saturday (10AM - 4PM). We hope this small effort will lead to bigger and better things for our Delaware customers. We are focused on selling product that you don't normally find in the big box craft stores.


Three people stopped by on our first day, which is great since we're relying on word of mouth and social networking. Two of the three drove up from the beach to see what we had to offer. Of course, one had a $50 gift certificate to Dover Downs and a gift card for Applebys, so we were the perfect excuse for her to make the drive to Dover. The other heard about Bylers (about 4 or 5 miles from our home) and made us the reason to drive up on Thursday. The third was Tina who came to rescue Melissa's 4-year-old. She wanted him to help her bake cookies. When I first told her about our new venture, she asked if we had enough stock. After a quick walkaround, she said, "yes, you do have enough stock."
We're quite proud of our inventory. We're not carrying a lot of paper, but we do have a good array of cardstock along with Melissa Frances' "First Avenue" collection and several Graphic 45 paper pads. Of course, we also have Mosaic Moments papers since this is one of our featured projects at retreats and day crops.

We're also expanding our Copic services. We have pens (a growing inventory), refills, and nibs. We're also offering a refill and pen-cleaning services.

We also have an active dollar bins (the little green bins) which Melissa keeps full one way or another. Here, our friend Elaine is checking out the offerings.

We're particularly proud of our "checkout" counter which we created with a table that has telescoping legs. It's a perfect fit. What we hope to see more of are smiling customers at the counter like Pat, one of our downstate friends.

Some of our other products include but are not limited to: Scraponizers, Paper Cut, quilling products, Herma Dotto Repositionable Adhesive, Zutter, our own Accessories, ETC product line and more.

All it all, it was a very good day. We hope to have many more which will support our sense that 2012 is going to be a very good year. We're tickled to say that we're off to a great start!

So Many Smashes, So Little Time

I couldn't help it. I saw the blue one and knew I had to have it along with the black, orange, yellow and pink. Then I figured it out. I used my Brother P-Touch to create labels for each. So my Pink (Pretty Style) Smash is now labeled "Family & Friend Smash 2012. My Blue "Retro Style" is labeled "Our Pets Smash 2012). My Yellow Smash is "Scrappigators Smash 2012." My Orange Simple Style" is now my "Steampunk Smash 2012" where I'll record and store great ideas and play with my steampunk papers and stamps. My Black Mod Style Smash will be my "Ministry Smash 2012." My Red Doodle Smash is "My First Smash 2012." Since we're moving my craftroom upstairs so we can run our Scrappigators Country Store downstairs, I'll find plenty of odds and ends to drop our scrapping pages. This photo above is in my Doodle "First Smash" book. I am totally into this bird. Doesn't it look great? I think 2012 is going to be a "Smashing" Great Year.

Smashing Progress Report

This is a page-in-progress that will, I am confident, that will receive more snips, scraps and bits over the days and weeks ahead. These are students from Michaels in Rehoboth. These photos were left over from another project and were a perfect fit for my Smash. There's also a little paperweaving practice swatch that didn't make the trash bin.

Post Christmas Smashing Post

 

One of the best things about the Christmas holidays is the January recovery time. Still trying to clean of my craft table where I found most of the pieces above. The heart is a 6" Cricut Plantin Schoolbook cartridge that I cut to try paper weaving. The Santa on the heart is a misting excercise. Since my last entry, I have purchased four more books to fill. I also have eight out of ten pages finished for Michaels in Rehoboth. I'm having a Smashing Good Time.

Go Light Your World Smash Page

 

 My Smash journey continues. Our ministry drama outreach partnered with a local homeless shelter, Dover Interfaith Mission for Housing, to present a mime during the morning service at Trinity Wesleyan Church on Sunday, December 4th. After the presentation, the pastor stood and said, "well, that's the sermon! There's nothing left to be said. We'll now light the second advent  candle. . . " The twelve homeless men who participated in the mime were quite moved. They accomplished something special. They were seen as something other than worthless because they're homeless. My Smash page elements includes a December Diecut ticket from my Cricut Art Philosphy cartridge (I can order that for you if you're interested), a list ticket from the K&Company Entertainment Smash pad, scanned images of the church program cover and a reference scrap highlighting our place in the service. The photos were provided by a Trinity Wesleyan church member (Susan W.).

Where's My Hat?

Women today don't wear hats so much. My favorite is a black painter's style cap I put on when I've had a particularly bad hair day. It has also come in handy on particularly cold days. Somehow, you fell warmer with a hat on your head.

I'm still working on clearing off my craft table. That's where I found this scrap of Graphic 45 Romantique paper touting crown hats. I immediately put it on "page 2" in my Doodle Smash book. It seemed obvious that this would be my "hat" page. The vintage photo of a woman in a hat is actually Daisey Linda Belvin Boniville. I think she might have been my maternal grandmother's sister-in-law. I think we wear hats differently today than women did a century ago.

I couldn't resist adding a Cat-in-the-hat hat to my collection and a penquin's hat which I colored with my Spica glitter pens. I also colored existing doodles with my Spicas. I also found some hat quotes I liked and added to the page. The rest of the hats came from the Victorian Tea Lady in Milford, Delaware.

I wonder what will happen to page 3.

First Smash, First Page

 



My craft table is an absolute mess, so what more perfect a treasure trove could I find to mine for the first page of my new Red Doodle Smash that arrived shortly before lunch today? You see the evidence of my labors above. The die cut is a just like one I used on my daughter's First Turkey layout. The distressed flower is a Sizzix die cut. The butterfly is part of my effort to create other additional projects from the Martha Stewart Glittering Techniques class I teach at Michaels in Dover and Rehoboth. The blue and green flowers and the nutcracker are practice pieces for my Copic Christmas classes. I used my Copic Spica Glitter Pens to doodle flowers and I tucked my reminder list written on the back of a Redner's Grocery Receipt for items to take to my daughter's Thanksgiving Dinner into an empty hotel key envelope that held our key card while we were on vacation two years ago. How it ended up on my craft table is a mystery to me, but it now has a home in my Smash-ing Junk Journal. Now all I have to figure out is how to write on the slightly lumpy page two. Lumpy writing aside, I've experienced great victory in getting past first-page-itis and in overcoming my intense desire to create a design map. I wonder what's going to happen on the next page.