Review: Myrtle Beach Scrapbooking Stores

Happy Happy Happy Happy Happy Happy Happy Happy Happy Happy Happy Happy Happy

This, my friends, is how I feel when I go to a new scrapbook store. Or heck, even when I go to one of my favorites I visit all the time. I just know I love to shop for art supplies and scrappy stuff. :) So, when I ended up in Myrtle Beach, hanging with the inlaws, I had to check out the places where the locals scrap.

Snooping around online, I found two scrapbooking/stamping stores in the Myrtle Beach area. Scrapbooks By the Sea and Artful Legacy. Now, if you're one of those people who thinks a fifteen minute drive is a painfully distant journey, you're not going to get to either of these stores. However, if you have the attitude that a vacation is an adventure, and you enjoy checking out the scenery beyond the beach, hop in the car and enjoy the ride.

I intended to visit Scrapbooks by the Sea first, but got terribly lost because I forgot to note that they aren't in Myrtle Beach proper when I popped the address into mapquest. Oops. And yeah, I now know that there's a map right there on their website that would have made things much easier, but in my excitement to get shopping, I overlooked it completely. Finally after leading Scott (who was driving--I never learned how and now due to my heavy pain meds (see my other blog, Handiscrapped) I would probably get a DWI or the like if I tried.) up and down all sorts of confusing streets, I called the store and they politely explained my error (extra congeniality points for not guffawing at my lostness), and finally we were moving in the right direction.

We got what I would later learn was about halfway there, when I caught a glimpse of Artful Legacy and nearly crawled out the car window before Scott could even finish the U-turn to get there. Stepping into the store I was greeted with a welcome blast of air conditioning and my first glimpse at a sparkling wonderland of stamps and papers, tiny little metal embellishments, and friendly service. I could feel my bank card bleeping away dollars before I'd even had a close-up look at the inventory.

One thing I absolutely adore when travelling is finding local treasures you simply can't get anywhere else. These things are by far the best souveneirs, far surpassing any plastic dome with Santa on a surfboard being snowed upon. So I nearly swallowed my tongue when I was told that the aisles and aisles of wood-mounted stamps I was parousing were exclusive to Artful Legacy, made by their own artists! No freakin' way! I had hit the motherlode!

The thing that really stands out about Artful Legacy's home-grown stamps is the variety of artistic styles they feature. I don't know who chooses their art, but they do a fantastic job of creating a line of products that run the gamut when it comes to appealing to stampers of all types. They have ones that appeal to the "cutesy" crowd (I chose the dog saying, above, but they also had tons of doodled designs as well), the sassy girls (I can't recall the sayings offhand, but you know the type--chocolate and hot flashes dominate. :)), country/genteel (florals, scenery, etc.), Christian religious stamps, and my favorite--the artsy altered look kind. If I had unlimited funds, I would have picked up even more of those in this last category. It made me wish they had an online catalog so I could order more, but on the other hand, perhaps their rarity makes them all the more wonderful. They aren't designs you see over and over, and there's something great about associating these stamps with the memory of actually being on location, so I can remember my travels each time I stamp with them.
Correction: They do appear to have their stamps available online, though at the moment it's a little confusing to work with. It may be an in-progress kind of thing, but it's there if you'd like to take a look.

Oh, and I need to clarify for the anti-wood mount crowd--their designs are also available unmounted or sticky mounted. I apologize for not knowing the technical term for the type that are opaque but still will stick to a block. They're not acrylics, but they still stick. If you know the proper name for these, please leave a comment and let me know.

Speaking of unmounted stamps, I had to pick up this set of dog stamps. If you're into dogs and stamping, you likely already know that there is an overabundance of poodle images and vaguely beagle-y dogs, and very few that feature other breeds and mixes. So I had to have this set. Yeah, I know it has a poodle toom, but look! A German shepherd dog, a spaniel, an Italian Greyhound (I know you're totally envious, Laura (mom to Stella, the spunkiest of IG's). Crop with me and *maybe* I'll let you play with these! :)), a tiny terrier, a French bulldog, etc. One question I have is why the dog walker has no head. I'm guessing it's based on a story written by Washington Irving's dog, but if you know differently, please comment and let me know!

I know I'm rambling, but if you're ever in the Myrtle Beach area, do check out Artful Legacy. I dumped out my entire bag of purchases for the photo below (minus the album I altered which you saw at the beginning of this entry. Check out all the cool hard-to-find altering tools I can't wait to dig into. I'm not even sure, exactly, what to do with the sparkle powder, but I'm going to have fun figuring it out. :) I was so excited to find Doodlebug flocking! I haven't seen it anywhere else yet, and WOW do those colors just spring out at you. Prices were reasonable, and you can't see them in the pic (oops! I forgot to add them to the pile) but I also got a fabulous deal on some of my favorite (and usually *so* pricey) magazines from their clearance table--Somerset Studios magazines and the like...you know what I'm talking about. Beautiful magazines, incredible art, but running about $14.95 an issue it's hard to justify picking them up. Half price makes me go wild! :)

The envelope above is filled with tiny charms from their salad bar-style charm display where you can pick and choose them individually. I couldn't resist the little bag of old watch pieces either, which has got me thinking about taking a hammer to a few old timepieces I have laying around here. Hmm...perhaps another entry?

The only thing that gave me pause at all was the "See you in church" entry every Sunday on their store hours calendar and a few other bible-y statements, and this is only because I have been run down by conversionists at scrapbooking events in the past. I certainly enjoy a good discussion on the topic of religion and I know a lot of mighty fine Christians, but I get a little twist of fear in my stomach when I think I may be walking into a Jack Chick style rumpus room. I was only there for an hour or so, but honestly I don't think anyone need worry. Everyone was wonderful, kind, and helpful, and I didn't feel assailed-upon at any time. I didn't catch any sort of intolerant vibe, merely a gentle open-ness about their own beliefs.

Moving on...I didn't make it to Scrapbooks by the Sea until a few days later because after all that shopping at Artful Legacy, I was a bit worn out. So, here we go on excursion two:

Scrapbooks by the Sea turned out to be considerably further away than we thought it was. It's definitely a jaunt from Myrtle Beach (I'd guess 45 min-1 hr?) but if you're near Pawleys Island, you may want to take a look.

Located in a cute little shopping center, the store definitely has a breezy, beachy feel. The front door is open much of the time and driving up to see the proprietor sitting out front, enjoying the afternoon, is decidedly picturesque.

The store itself is, well, tiny and had the feel of visiting a close friend's crop room, which is not a bad thing, certainly. The front of the store is mostly beach-related scrapbooking stuff for the tourists. They have, what I am guessing is every single beach related scrapbook paper available, and lots of pre-made die cut paper piecings directly related to the area. If you're doing a family album about your vacation, and you took pics at all the regular tourist spots (Broadway at the Beach, pirate museums, etc.) they have all the headers and papers you could possibly desire. If you're looking for much beyond that...it's likely not there.

I did pick up a couple of neat items I hadn't seen before (looooove that template!) but unless you're looking specifically for beach themed items, or you happen to be staying nearby, I'm not sure you'd really want to drive as far as we did. Don't get me wrong, this is in no way a bad store, it's just set up primarly for the locals, and that's important too. From the time I spent sniffing around the place, I caught that special orders are really the way to go when you're shopping there and that they host a ton of cool events if you're in the area long enough to check them out. The crop room is HUGE for such a small store, so I'm guessing that if you live around there, you will love to hang out for classes and crops.

If you do decide to visit Scrapbooks by the Sea, there are a couple of other things to check out nearby. I was totally thrilled to find that the shopping center is adjacent to Haunted Trail:

Though despite my dramatic expression, we didn't encounter anything otherworldy. Perhaps it's scarier at night?

Across the street is a fabulous dog store that pet lovers *must* drop by.
Puparazzi / 10729-B Ocean Hwy / 843-235-8822
Unfortunately they don't seem to have a website, but they do have a fantastic selection of dog-themed art, home decor items, dog toys, cool games and crafts (they had a scrapbook kit that was very cute, but that was it--I do, however, kind of regret not picking up one of the dog themed paint by number kits. So retro!), and cute clothes for dogs and people. It may sound odd (okay, it definitely sounds odd), but the night before we visited Puparazzi, I had been lamenting the absence of matching dog/human pajama sets. Lo and behold, what do I find at Puparazzi, but the very same! I totally freaked out and of course bought a pair for me and for Revco. Yes, he actually likes wearing pajamas and such. Little dogs with very short hair get chilly easily. He's sitting by the cooling fan of my laptop as I write this, enjoying the hot air (there's a joke about this blog in there somewhere). I did not get any for Usagi, not because I'm neglecting her, but she simply hates dog clothes of any kind unless it is snowing or extremely cold out. Then she will wear a jacket only while outside, and will immediately try rubbing it off on the couch the second she gets indoors. I managed to get Scott to get the matching boxers, which he only submitted to because of the weirdness of bringing up the topic of dog pajamas then finding some purely by serendipity the next day. My arguement was that if anyone breaks into our bedroom with the intention of slaughtering us all, they will be so overcome by the cuteness of us all that they won't be able to kill us. Useful, eh?