On Friday, Cyndie (from Reis's PIeces of Paper) and I headed off on a Chicago Stamp Store adventure. We started our journey at Stamp Thyme in Lockport, Illinois.
I looked at the opening time wrong and thought they opened at 10 instead of 11am (they've cut back their hours quite a bit and the building is listed for sale), so we were too early ... which gave us just enough time to head over to Joliet for a stop at Milano Bakery for some amazing Italian cookies.
I picked-up some Dreamwaver die cuts and coordinating stencils because I want to try some Zentangling with them (here's a Video showing how)
It was this cute little owl who came home with me.
Next we drove north to Craft Fancy in Arlington Heights, Illinois. She has an awesome collection of papers and stamps, as well as what seemed to be the entire collection of Memory Box and Poppy Stamps Die cuts.
The store had a very comfortable feel with lots of room to move around, lots of samples, and a wide variety of companies and products. I loved this wreath made of Hexagons (so many possibilities).
I also want to try this paper scrap strip technique.
Our final stop was at the Product Performers Warehouse. They normally only sell to Wholesalers, but they were open from 1-4 pm on Friday, so we got to wander through the warehouse and shop. Seriously ... I've never seen so much stuff in one place. If you like what you see on their website, make sure you recommend them to your local stamp store.
Everyone was so friendly and helpful ... and I just might have brought home quite a few new things. There were so many die cuts I don't think we could have looked at them all if we'd been there the entire 3 hours. I picked-up several from this Spellbinders Inspire line that were new to me.
I also got some new Ken Oliver Color Burst that I can't wait to play with then I get back home.
Other that the two-hour crawl through rush hour traffic at the end of our journey, it was a perfect day.
what a great idea Stephanie! I haven't been to Chicago since my store owner CHA days! I know Marilyn that owns Stamp Thyme and I was in her store several years ago. It'd be fun to see her again and it makes me wonder about the other gals that used to own stores there! TFS! I always enjoy your trip posts! :D
Posted by: Pam Sparks | July 18, 2015 at 10:27 AM
soooooooooo so so so soooooooo very jealous! (& HOW did i not get that was cyndie when i saw the pic on IG??!?! duh, lauren!) plus... i just got some color burst too! i think we need to add that to our list of art camp ideas. (tho the thought of you having to bring that inside luggage is kind of already making me squirm... maybe i'll grab a few more colors so we have a range, lol!)
Posted by: lauren | July 23, 2015 at 08:42 AM