Getting creative

by Samantha Sinclair

White County News

Melanie Rosdahl’s dreams came true a year ago when she opened Scrappy Shak in Sautee Nacoochee.

Her crafting journey began in 2009 when a friend was going to Ukraine and she wanted give her a special scrapbook to mark the occasion.

Her dream became to open a store and share her love of crafting with others, and her vision was to bring together fine arts and crafting.

“We’re really a store that fuses the art of crafting with fine art,” Rosdahl said. “We’ve been teaching fine artists to use crafting and crafters to use fine art.”

Her business started in her basement in August 2020 as she couldn’t open a brick and mortar store during the pandemic.

“We were super successful,” Rosdahl said.

Then, she realized it wasn’t her dream and found a new home for her business.

She said there are only a few independent craft stores like hers remaining, and people come from Atlanta and even North Carolina to shop in her store.

Soon her store will be expanding into the spaces next door, adding classrooms and a gallery to support the Frederick R. Killmon Foundation. She and her husband, Roger, started the foundation in memory of his best friend who was killed in Vietnam with the goal of awarding scholarships to students who participate in JROTC or plan to go into a military or healthcare career.

She said there’s something calming about crafting — all the stuff going on around you just goes away — and even plans to have free crafting classes for veterans.

“I believe doing something with our hands is so therapeutic,” she said.

She said now is the time to start Christmas crafts — in fact, many seasoned crafters start purchasing supplies for Christmas crafts in the fall.

She said there’s something special about giving hand-crafted items at Christmas.

“I think giving a hand-crafted item as a gift is so much more important than giving something store-bought,” she said.

She said Christmas cards are the easiest Christmas crafts to do for starters, and had several tips to help Christmas crafters.

• Glitter can be a mess, she said, but there ways to get the glitter look without the glitter mess. One way is with a quality glitter glue product. Another way is using a good quality glitter cardstock paper, noting the higher the quality, the less likely it will rub off. She also likes using foam cutouts that are sticky on both sides, and rubbing foil on one side to get the shiny look without the mess.
• A good glue and the right glue is essential to craft projects. “Using a good glue is really important if you want your project to stay together,” Rosdahl said. She noted a good paper glue is needed for paper crafting, not the basic school glue.
• The right paper is also essential. “Using the right paper in all crafts is super important,” Rosdahl said. She said don’t use construction paper for crafts as it will disintegrate. A good quality cardstock paper — she recommended 110 pounds — should be used for the base of cards, and a lighter cardstock — about 65 pounds weight — should be used for layering pieces. She said a smooth paper is best for the base.
• Crafting can also be a good activity to keep kids busy during the holidays. She said card crafting kits can be great for kids as they can sit down at a table, and a kit can be opened and all the pieces laid out on the table. “They can pick and choose how to make their cards,” she said. Another good craft for kids is making ornaments. Parents or caregivers can purchase ornament shapes already cut out or they can create their own shapes for kids to color or decorate. Rosdahl added that Christmas coloring pages can be downloaded from websites and printed for children to color — she said the art makes great gifts for grandparents.

Rosdahl thanked everyone for helping her dreams come true.