And so, at 8am, June and I left Sandy, Utah and headed the car north, to pick up our friend Hilary. From Hilary's house, complete with a scrapbook room that any scrapper would die for, we hit Hobby Lobby since it opened at 9am. Searching for the sale items which included stickers, spare-parts, and albums - all at 50% off, Hilary added more albums to her her current library. I managed to spend about $35. Ahhhh... it felt good. I was purchasing things I needed.. button brads, stickers to be used on wedding cards, birthday cards, and gems. Can never have enough bling.
The swipe of the debt card and entry of the PIN and begun.
From there we hit Joann's. And there, I got a new 12" cutter. Now you may say, "But Kathy Jo, you already have a cutter don't you. Because if you didn't, how the heck have you been cutting all this paper?" Well.. let me say.. it's like trading in a car. I had an older model, the one from 10 years ago, and it worked and it cut - BUT , this newer mold! The number are in black instead of embedded in plastic. Instead of acting like Helen Keller and trying to read the 5.5" mark, these are EASY to read. And it has pretty blue flowers on it. Very fashionable. And both June and Hilary had one. If your fiends have one - you GOT to have it. And it was 30% off.!
Got that and the replacement blades, and some items from the dollar bin. Spent about $30.00
Continuing north we went to SEI warehouse. There in a little industrial park, across the parking lot from the railroad tracks is SEI. And there, not only do they discount their regular, new for the season, items, theyhave 10 cent paper and a wall of dollar bins! Now we are talking. As much as I like to buy scrapbook stuff, if I can get it really cheap all the better. With most papers running anywhere from $80 - 1.70, to find it for a dime is a dream! And, it's good stuff - not just the left over ugly papers. So I ended up spending.. you guessed it $35.
I'm seeing a pattern here...
Having driven to what now seemed like the Canadian border, through beautiful mountains and valley so low that you can't get radio reception, we headed back south, in the direction of home to pick up our friends Laurel and Debbie.
Next stop - Ben Franklin. Yes, in a time where every " 5 and Dime" store has gone away, this Ben Franklin still exists, AND we had a coupon! Again, the dollar bins are the most attractive and I picked up some inks - in particular a chalk ink in white. Usually you can only get this in a pigment ink that doesn't dry well - this is chalk and should dry instantly. I'm hoping. And another $10 of the cutest stamps I've seen. And yes, some of these stamps had a Christmas theme - which I SWORE , I would not buy any more Christmas items. But with a stamp that read, "Santa - define good" and "be your elf", I thought they'd be so cute on tags.
Got 20 yards of ribbon for $1.50 and other such bargains.
Laurel met us there, and I should have checked out before she arrived, because she managed to find an additional 3 stamps that I just had to have.
Note: Better to shop alone - you buy less. Shopping with friends becomes "gathering" and you help each other put things in their baskets.
From "Fem Franklin" which is what the girls call it, we headed to Heartland, the only independent store we hit. By this time it's 4:30 and we haven't eaten all day. Nothing since breakfast at 8am. Dizzy from hunger we checked out the aisles. The lack of food took over the appetite for shopping and I only spent $8 on birthday ribbon and couple sheets of paper.
A quick drive through McDonalds will help in all situations.. and from their it was to Roberts. It's just like Michaels and what's with all the male names on craft stores? Roberts at one time was a "giant" and eliminated so many independent stores. Now, their aisle are spread thin and they had nothing but last years paper.
You may say, "so what if it's last years paper? Does it get old?" No. But if it's last years it means I've already seen it and bought it, or didn't like it anyway. So that means I already have it or don't want it. Poor selection at best. No where near the items they had in the early years (2002-2006). I would think they are looking to close. I've seen this behavior before in multiple stores that have shut their doors.
Still spent $18. All on clearance items - thickers, gems, and a couple of stickers.
And that was it. A quick day. But I seem to be satisfied. Now I just want to go home and use my new cutter and make some more cards and scrapbooks. I think I'm set until Christmas.
Dear Santa, all I want for Christmas is .....
Umm yeah. I'll never forgive you and Hilary for buying the LAST two white chalks. Bummer for me! But oh that was a fun shopping therapy day for me! Loved it!
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