I didn’t have anything special to talk about, so I thought I would comment on a few scrapbooky things that I enjoy. Any males reading have permission to skip over this entry!

I’ve done a bit of scrapbooking, and one thing I’ve started to notice is that the smaller stores, albeit more expensive generally have better quality materials, and better selection. Usually at places like Hobby Lobby and WalMart, you get a few of the names known throughout Scrapbook Land, but not really the selection. And you get several of the cheap, ripoff types. (Sandylion, anyone? Some of their stuff is fine, but in the general view of things, they should probably stick to making stickers for kids. Personally, I love their fuzzy collections in kiddie stickers.)

Two scrapbooking stores that I like are Two Much Fun, all the way in New Minas, Nova Scotia, and Novel Approach, here in Friendswood, TX. While the one in Friendswood is bigger, there’s a certain charm about Two Much Fun that I like. Not to mention, I have a coupon card going on there that I’m filling up! But both places have knowledgeable staff who are obviously scrappers, and they have online schedules of classes available. I have yet to take a class, but I really should do it, I think it would be lots of fun. They’re offering a Christmas card class this Saturday, and I’m thinking about maybe going! (Everybody knows about my newfound love of cardmaking!)

I’ve also bought things from Scrapbook.com, which I would recommend. They had a decent catalogue (they had what I wanted and couldn’t find in stores, but only in black, white and silver), and the delivery was fast and I even got a coupon to save money on my next order (on pretty pink paper no less)! The newsletter that they send you once you give them an email address is actually helpful, telling you about sales and showing layouts for ideas. I got a few coupon codes for sales with it too.

Two scrapbook stuff designers that I really like are Jolee’s Boutique and Doodlebug Designs. The Jolee’s site is pretty crummy though, but at least you can save the stuff you like to a printable list to take with you. However, the layouts and ideas on the Doodlebug site are really nice, it’s inspring me to start using eyelets, which I never really got into. There’s just so many ways to be creative with scrapbooking, it’s almost as though you could never get bored with it.

I only wish it wasn’t such an expensive hobby! But I guess for the amount of time it takes to complete a project it’s not really all that expensive. I would estimate about 200$ for a well done, 4-5 month project. And pretty much that means working on it every spare second of the day. But it’s something that I enjoy, very much, and I hope to be able to do several more projects. So if you are on my card mailing list, don’t be expecting a store bought card while I’m in this phase! :D