I drove the sixty/seventy miles to St.Cloud on Friday to visit the one store that I wish was nearer to my home, Crafts Direct. You might already be familiar with it as they've an online store as well. The place literally carries everything imaginable in relation to crafting, including every single scrapbook manufacturer release that I can think of, and that's saying quite a bit. So, if you're ever in the area of St.Cloud, make it a point to stop by and explore the aisles upon aisles of their offerings - I promise, you won't regret it..and you'll probably exit the place with not just one bag full of scrapbook wares, but more like two or three. And them two or three doesn't take into consideration the other 3/4's of the store, so maybe bring an extra bag if you're a regular user of earth-friendly, reusable totes. Never hurts to be prepared....
The remainder of this post is image heavy, so if you're cruising along via a slow connection, you might want to step away for a second or two to allow the images to load. I apologize for the delay if anyone out there experiences a lagging upload..I hope you enjoy the photos though. I had a great time capturing them during my journey at both Crafts Direct and Gruber's Quilt Shop. I also hunted down two new items you'll want to take a peek at before leaving. They're intriguing to say the least...
This is about mid-center of the aisle set-up, if you turn around, there's another fifteen/twenty aisles the other direction. Laugh. I refer to it as the Target of Crafting.
Paper anyone? :) Every manufacturer under the sun.
I'm crazy about buttons, though more than usual, it's the vintage type that I gravitate towards, but when confronted with this many buttons, I'm bound to find one or two that I like, including these adorable buttons from Doodlebug. I've been collecting them slowly but surely the last couple of months.
Normally, I'm not a big twine person, but the packaging and colors of My Mind's Eye's latest twine is undeniably cute and actually, not all of them are shown here. I took home Pink & Yellow :)
The end displays typically cater to new collections. The peaches and yellows of this new We R' Memory Keeper's collection caught my attention while turning the corner near the stamp section of the store. It's a refreshing color combo, don't you think?
Doodlebug's white interior albums almost convert me from my usual American Craft albums, but I'm waiting and hoping they'll come down from their current price point. This 8" x 8" almost landed in my basket..almost. I would of grabbed it had I not forgotten about the coupon I was carrying in my purse. Oh well. :P
I've been looking for these locally since I first heard about them from Lolly Chessie and CHA last Summer. Not sure if you've seen them in person or not, but their pretty slick in terms of creating your own "pearl cabochons" whether on flowers or borders or anything else that benefit from an elegant dot or two. The key with this product is that it forms an immediate smooth, impeccable appearance after application. Squeeze the bottle just a little bit and out from it's tip exits a small amount of paint that'll form either a dot or line - no noticeable bumps or points. It's fabulous stuff!
Tucked amongst the tubes of paint was a clear, transparent gel I hadn't been aware of until now. It gives off the appearance raindrops or "water" drops and keeps it's dimension as such even after it dries. Above is a small demonstration of the gel in action - what do you think?
Roaming the store again, I ran into a couple of supply items fit for flower making and altered goods - the above circles are of actual semi-transparent netting. I thought they'd be great for creating spiral flowers or adding to a layout as either a backdrop or layers within the confines of varied pattern papers.
These scallop magnet boards would look adorable hosting magazine cut-outs and other pieces of inspiration near a desk or on a wall as part of a larger display. Attach wiring as needed if hanging..they were pretty cheap too!
Tiny distressed black frames - $1 - $1.99 each!! How cute are they - perfect for a card or mini album cover!
I recently painted a large size letter for Ethan's room with bird's nest blue and it almost looks like the real deal, but without the needless price tag. Crafts Direct had an full aisle of letters of display - I was loving the small alphas!
Another unknown item I hadn't seen before - Goosebumps from Tsukineko! It's my first time trying it out here - it dries entirely clear and is "bumpy"! Can't wait to give this stuff a go in the future!
The craze over at Studio Calico for the circle series stamp reminded me so much of this QuicKutz embossing folder. It's a full 12" in length - I've a couple of ideas for it already and a full Summer to try them out! Yeah!!
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A quick stop at Grubers was a major must for me before leaving St.Cloud - Moda's "It's a Hoot" fabric collection was fave on my list of finds. It shouts "COLOR"!
Moda's 42 Square Fabric Stack was a no brainer for me - I'll use it on a layout or album at some point. I might even quilt with it - we'll see. :)
And a quick misc. fat quarter pile reminded me how lucky we are as scrapbookers that pattern paper is still well affordable when compared to cotton. I love that one can visit a scrapbook store and enjoy unlimited patterns without having to bring it to the cutting table to be trimmed. :)
Again, I apologize for the heavy number images directed with this post - I hope you at least were able to see them to some degree. I had a great deal of difficulty cutting down the number of images I wanted to share, but that being said, it should give you a general idea of the kind of adventure I partook in on Friday. Totally worth the gas and mileage! Couldn't of asked for a better day vaca....
Have a lovely weekend you guys - I'll return in a day or two with a new layout/project :)
