Photos From PHOTO SCRAPS!!

Yesterday Marvelous Marvic and I took a road trip to PHOTO SCRAPS in Sykesville, MD. Rumor had  it that they had nice little store with quality products and some great bargains!

Rumor was right! The store isn't huge but the inventory is super high quality and the staff is friendly and very accommodating. They recently relocated to their present location so there was a big selection of merchandise marked down by 75%!

A sign displayed inside Photo Scraps encourages you to take photos of the many beautiful samples of cards, pages and class projects displayed around the store... so I did!

 As always with local scrapbook stores, we found items that were new to us. I had heard of but had never seen PEERLESS WATERCOLORS, an artist's watercolor line first developed in 1885. Originally intended for tinting of photos and engravings, the pigments are conveniently packaged as ultra concentrated dry colors deposited on the pages of a small booklet. To use the colors you simply touch your damp brush to the pigment in the booklet and rehydrate the color. This gorgeous "Happy For You" card was made using these beautifully intense colors. Peerless Watercolors are a new item in the latest AMuse Studio catalog, so I'll be ordering them from my AMuse consultant, Tyuana Bailey. Gotta spread the happy around!


There were so many lovely samples and many of our favorite companies were represented. Prima, Graphic 45, Inky Antics, Tim Holtz, Spellbinders, Dreamweavers, Petaloo, Riley & Company and many many more!

There is a spacious area at the rear of the store where they offer a variety of page and card make and takes for a small fee. I made this adorable flip-flop card! Isn't it cute? Shopping was the reason for the visit, and that was fab too! We bought a wide variety of papers and embellishments for pennies on the dollar!

 

And... some regular priced items that were irresistible!

So, if you get the chance, head on over to Photo Scraps, 1213 Liberty Road, Eldersburg MD 21784.

(Take note - the store technically is in Sykesville, but the address is Eldersburg. If your GPS doesn't recognize one town, try the other one! :)

Good Afternoon!

It's a beautiful day! Yesterday's Christmas Card open house was lots of fun. Cards were made, food was eaten, a good time was had by all (I think!). We eat, we craft, we craft, we eat. I served some mixed melon from my favorite local farm (more on that later) and baked cookies. Several of the Peeps asked for the recipe for my favorite Chocolate Snickerdoodles, so here it is:

                                             Chocolate Snickerdoodles

1/2 c. butter

1/2 c. margarine or butter flavor Crisco

2 c. sugar

2 eggs

1 tsp. vanilla

2/3 c. cocoa powder

2 c. all purpose flour

1/2 tsp. baking soda

1/2 tsp. cream of tartar

1/4 c. sugar (I use a mixture of granulated and crystal sugars)

2 tsp. ground cinnamon

Cream the softened butter and margarine. Add the 2c. sugar, eggs, and vanilla. Beat until combined. Stir in the flour, cocoa, baking soda and cream of tartar. Chill at least 1 hour. Combine the 1/4 c. sugar and cinnamon in a small dish. Roll dough into small balls, roll in the cinnamon/sugar mixture and place 2" apart on ungreased cookie sheets. Bake in a preheated oven at 375 degrees for 9-11 minutes until edges of the cookies are set. Cool. Store in an airtight container.

Post Number ONE!

Welcome to my blog! It is still a work in progress but I'm gonna give my best shot at putting a little bit of "me" on the page! You might see things I'm working on, things I'm interested in, and of course, things that happen here in Peeptopia! 

So, the latest thing that's happening is Christmas in July! It's the first of four Christmas Card Workshops that I'm hosting. The goal is to TRY to get our Christmas cards finished before December 1st. Time will tell if we succeed! Every year I say, "I'll have those cards addressed and stamped by Thanksgiving!!" and ummm...no. I usually choose a design that's amazingly artistic, carefully handcrafted... and I run out of time because the creation of the cards takes way too long. This year will be different!!!! (I hope!)

 Tomorrow, The PP's (Participating Peeps) will make 12 cards, four each of these three designs:

I left the designs fairly simple so that each Peep could elect to either complete the cards and send them as they are, or add additional embellishments to express their own tastes. I hope they like them!

To reinforce the Christmas theme, I spent some time this week getting holiday treats and surprises ready.  I have a very special giveaway prepared and we'll have cookies of course. Since temperatures are supposed to reach 90 degrees, we may have to skip the hot chocolate!

 Now to dig out those "Hollyday Hits" CDs...

 Tomorrow is also the first chance the Peeps will have to get their hands on the new Close To My Heart Annual Inspirations Idea Book so there will be coupons and plenty of brand-new papers, stamps and goodies to look though. That's always fun!

To get YOUR look at the new products, check back here after August 1 when the online catalog goes live! I'll post a link!

Until next time...