So last weekend Mom and I found ourselves out doing a bit of shopping. It started out innocently enough- I'd read on the 2Peas message board that the new Amy Tan date roller stamp by American Crafts had been spotted in JoAnn stores. I have a serious weakness for date stamps, which I try to justify by telling myself that they're really not that expensive and that I do use one of them on every layout.
The thing is, when I found the date stamp, it was hanging on a rack with this...
...and all of this (plus a few more things from Amy's first collection with American Crafts). I'd held off on buying the Sketchbook collection when it first came out since I was designing for Scrapbook Circle at the time and they included a ton of it in their March kit. When I spotted it at JoAnn, though, and found that it was 30% off, I picked up just a few more pieces...plus, of course, the date stamp! Just a note- the papers in the pad are single-sided.
Just a warning- not every JoAnn store is carrying this collection. My own local store doesn't have it, so I had to hunt it down at a store near Nashville, TN. It was sort of like the great Basic Grey Serendipity and Shine On hunt that I embarked on earlier this spring- it turned out that only certain stores were carrying those lines, and on a trip to visit my parents one weekend Darren was kind enough to stop off at that very same store for me, and then he was the one who found it on an endcap! I can't say for sure that all the stores that carried the Basic Grey exclusives will also have the Amy Tan Sketchbook stuff, but it's worth a shot, and you can find that list of stores here on Basic Grey's site.
I would have been happy enough with just the Amy Tan items, but then I rounded a corner and ran smack into the Sizzix display, where everything was 40% off. That was on Friday, and I'm not sure that sale is still going on (I promised, I posted as fast as I could!!), but you can always use coupons!
The two sets of embossing folders I picked up have great, versatile designs, and I was super happy about the peacock one! I've been kind into peacock feather motifs lately.
And I'm all kinds of excited about this foliage die! I've been wanting something that would easily cut out leaf sprays to tuck into layers on my layouts since I scrap photos of flowers so often. This is the kind of thing that I could cut on my Silhouette, of course, but the design is so small and intricate that I think it would drive me crazy trying to peel it off the mat without tearing it. Since I see myself using this one a lot (I've already used it on a layout, actually!), I didn't mind picking up an actual die for it.
With the damage done at JoAnn, I decided we should also hop over to Hobby Lobby. Now, I haven't been in a Hobby Lobby in a while because for the longest time I would go in and there was nothing new. Nothing. This time, though? There were lots of new pretties to look at! Crate Paper has three paper pads there featuring the Story Teller, Random, and Farmhouse (not pictured because I still need to go back and pick it up) collections. These papers are the same cardstock weight you're accustomed to in premium papers, but they're single-sided instead of double.
Dear Lizzy Neapolitan was also represented in the same format- perhaps this is something new from the American Crafts family of brands? Though I doubt we'll ever see this from Studio Calico since their partnership with AC is just production and distribution, instead of an outright acquisition like Crate Paper and Pebbles.
My Mind's Eye has several new paper pads at Hobby Lobby, as well. Some are the heavy-weight pads with 48+ sheets featuring glitter and premium prints, but the ones that really caught my eye were the 180 sheet value packs of lighter-weight papers (I know the cover says it's cardstock, but, no, it's really not). To be honest? I don't mind the light weight papers one bit- I find that it all looks pretty much the same once I've got it on a layout and in a page protector in an album. :)
This Bramble Rose collection from My Mind's Eye simply had to come home with me (though I didn't buy it when shopping with Mom- Darren went with me to our local Hobby Lobby after I got home and even used a coupon for me). The prints in this stack remind me very much of Miss Caroline, though it's most definitely not based on the same designs. I did a quick search, and this doesn't appear to be one of MME's older collections that's been reprinted for a big box store, so maybe we're seeing a few new designs trickle out this way, too?
I love the mix of the florals right into the woodgrain pattern, and there are tons of different chevron prints, as well!
This next 180 sheet stack is something a bit more familiar- Lost & Found Two (the original Lost & Found is also available in the same format, but that's been in the store for a while now).
Again, these are thinner papers, but those who didn't like the glitter prints in the original line might like the fact that there's not a speck of glitter in sight here! I pulled out one of the few sheets that I bought from Lost & Found Two for a side-by-side comparison, and I have to say that I actually like it more without the glitter, too, so I'm glad that I didn't buy it all when it first came out!
Hobby Lobby has much, much more than just new Crate Paper, My Mind's Eye, and American Crafts in stock now! What's pictured above is what came home with me, but they also have some older Cosmo Cricket lines (Circa 1938 and Salt Air) in paper pad format, Pink Paislee Spring Jubilee and Prairie Hill collection packs, lots of new Fancy Pants (I even spotted the brand-new-at-Summer-CHA Hopscotch in the mix!), newer Bo Bunny, Teresa Collins' Halloween collection, This & That by Echo Park, and so much more. I know I'm forgetting some, but, trust me, there's a lot that's new and exciting in the store!
I've also had a good find or two at Michaels lately (I went while I was on travel last week), including French General by Jolee's Boutique on clearance at 75% off. They also have several paper pads branded under their Recollections line that look a tad bit...familiar. :) My Mind's Eye has licensed the Miss Caroline collection to them (I've held off on buying it, though, hoping that it'll also come out in the 180 sheet format), and American Crafts has licensed Amy Tan's Sketchbook line. You'll find both pads under different names in stores, but many of the patterns are the same- they even added some fun vellum prints and sticker sheets to Sketchbook!
I did pick up this beauty while I was there- it's named Mosaic Memories under the Recollections brand, but the prints are My Mind's Eye's Stella and Rose collection! I was so happy to find this since I didn't pick up many of the original papers when they first came out.
So, what about you guys? Any exciting big box store scores lately? For someone like me that doesn't have much of a local store to go to, these were really fun finds!