My best stamping girlfriend Laura and I spent the weekend on our favorite Chicago stamp store road trip. We've done it several times and each time we continue to perfect the experience.
This time we left early enough to add Scrapaganza! 2176 west Kimberly Road in Davenport, Iowa to our agenda. This is a very fun little store filled with paper, inks, punches, fun rubber stamps & great staff (Sorry, I realized after I got home that I had the flash turned off on my small digital camera, so a lot of the indoor shots were too blurry to post).
After that we headed to our next destination, Ottawa, Illinois ... a charming little city that sits where the Fox River meets the Illinois. They are currently having a sesquicentennial Shindig celebrating the 150th Anniversary of the Lincoln-Douglas Debates.
Of course, in our usual fashion, we added a little twist to the trip. We were so busy talking, that somehow we missed our turn on Highway 80 and failed to realize we were on the wrong highway until we arrived in Peoria ... only a little 150 mile detour :^).
We just laughed and laughed at our error and bought an error ... we realized it was a story we'd still be laughing at when we were old and gray. And if we'd never gotten lost, we wouldn't have discovered the adorable little town of Utica, Illinois.
We had supper at our favorite Ottawa Restaurant - The Row House at 728 Columbus Street. It was a gorgeous evening for dining outside on the patio. We also made a group of new friends who included us in their 50th birthday celebration. They gave us their phone numbers, so we can call them up the next time we come through Ottawa.
Another new stop that we added to our trip on Saturday morning was the Milano Baking Company in Joliet, Illinois ... yum, yum, yum.
The employees were so helpful and fun. We got delicious bear claws with almond paste filling and several more cookies for the road. We loved that the backs of the employee shirts says "the best buns in town" (they sell them for customers, but were currently sold out).
Next stop was Stamp Thyme in Lockport, Illinois, which opens at 10am on Saturday. They have a large and diverse stamping inventory and will order and ship anything you want to have. We loved looking at all of the new stamps from Outlines and other companies.
It is definitely worth the stop if you are in the Chicago area.
Our next store was Stampology at 5031 N. Harlem Avenue. I love that they make all of the card samples in their store and will gladly let you take photographs of all of them. It's a tiny space, but it is packed with wonderful papers and stamps. I can't wait to try this fun washi paper quilting technique.
Next door to Stampology, we always have lunch at Nottoli's Italian grocery store ... fabulous subs and pasta salad. We take our coolers so we can load up on wonderful meals-to-go.
Next stop to continue to fill our coolers was Trader Joe's ... maybe some day they'll come to Iowa. The one on our route is in Park Ridge, Illinois.
Our final stop is The Cottage Stamper in St. Charles, Illinois. They carry the entire A Muse line and this time had lots of fun new stamps from Magenta. They manage to get lots of fabulous product into their cozy little cottage.
I hope you enjoyed taking our fun stamping road trip with us ... sorry we forgot to take pictures of our Peoria detour :^)
Now it's time to use all of my new goodies and make some cards.
Sounds like you guys had a wonderful time! I can soooo relate to the 150 mile detour...I am FAMOUS for my ability to get lost, take wrong turns...
Posted by: Jenna Franklin | June 29, 2008 at 10:37 AM
WOW sounds like you guys had a blast. You had to be in stampers haven with all the fun places. Can't wait to see more samples of the stamps you bought.
Posted by: StampinCathy | June 29, 2008 at 12:59 PM
What a fabulous idea - a stamping road trip! My best friend and I have been talking lately about how it's time we do another 'girls only' trip and maybe I've just found the perfect bit of inspiration! Thanks for sharing....M
Posted by: maria fiscella | June 29, 2008 at 02:47 PM
Stef....I wish I would have known about your road trip...I would have met you at Stampology! Well, I have a new store for your next trip, Craft Fancy in Arlington Heights. I was there on Sunday doing a JustRite demo. Add it to your list and email me next time!
Posted by: denise bryant (imchatty) | June 29, 2008 at 06:35 PM
Next time you go you should stop at Cottage Corner in Davenport also. It is a cute little stamping/scrapping store. www.cottagecorner.net
I think one big reason I love it is because I can walk there from my house. :)
Posted by: Vanessa | June 30, 2008 at 04:29 PM
thanks so much for sharing your trip! I LOVED looking at all the neat stuff you saw!
Posted by: dougnat | June 30, 2008 at 09:07 PM
OH, I'm soooo jealous!!! I've spent the last full week home with my 4 year old while she recovers from her tonsillectomy... I wish I had something fun like that to do!!! LOL!!! Maybe I'll drag my mom on a scrappin tour of Kansas soon!!!
Hope all is well with you and your family!
Posted by: Summer | July 01, 2008 at 01:32 PM
Thank you for popping by my blog, so lovely of you to leave a message. I have enjoyed sharing your stamping road trip. It seemed so much fun, could not think of anything nicer to do. I love your blog. Linda x
Posted by: Linda | July 02, 2008 at 11:16 PM
oh my oh my oh my!!!!!!! color me JEALOUS, girlfriend! ;)
(except...come to think of it...if ANYBODY deserves a fabulous, fun-filled, carefree roadtrip just now...it is YOU! so i totally take it back!!!)
Posted by: llauren | July 04, 2008 at 11:26 AM
Oh this sounds like SO MUCH FUN!! What a great idea for a wonderful vacation. Love it.
Posted by: Susan (rainy) | July 30, 2008 at 02:00 AM