How I spend an hour out of my day....

After last week and all stress that surrounded my daily life, I decided to hit Archivers for a little retail therapy yesterday!! Yeah, I could go for a walk, but.. there's no goodies at the end of that rainbow.. Hey, I walked up and down the store, that's exercise right? There is something so soothing about going into a scrapbook store, wandering the aisles with a girlfriend. Caressing all the goodies, Oohing and Ahhing all the new papers, stamps, chipboard, what ever. Quietly discussing the potential contained in each and every element we look at. (OK, nothing screams quiet about me. But, I can be contained.. I don't make a scene everywhere I go... it's just a minor commotion.) As always, I head straight for the HOT SPOT upon entering the store. Much to my surprise, what do they have? INQUE Boutique stamps! A small assortment of Christmas and misc. stamps for $1.99. Also in the HS, Stampendous has a selection of clear acrylic stamps. Smaller than the Mike's stamps, but equally cute. All in all a really good bargain. Of course I stocked up on "dollar" stamps, to the grand tune of about $45! How is it that bargains cost so much? Then where do I head? You have to ask? The Acrylic section! Because the dollar stamps just don't completely satisfy my insatiable hunger for stamps these days! Hero Arts has new flourishes! A D O R A B L E !!! (I did that hokey pokey dance with those. In my basket out of my basket in my basket.) I wondered around with them, until I stumbled upon the full sized INQUE Boutique stamps! All I can say is CUTE!!! And actually reasonable in price! So, out with the flourishes, in went the IB- Note It stamp. And only $3.99. Cheap Cheap Cheap!! I wont even go into the paper selections I made. Let's say, that flourishy office/ledger/ cute scalloped-funky cut border paper is still all the rage! And Crate Paper designs are sooo yummy! The texture is so divine it's just fine! Next, I like to head back to the work room. I like to "SPY" on the girls back there. I'm not an out of the house cropper. I tend to scrap alone. I have NEVER lugged my stuff out. Another words, I have house supplies.. no feral paper here! Watching the croppers work is a bit of a case study for me. Curious girls back there. I'm sure a nice collection of standard scrapbookers. Some sit, some stand. Some Like the CM look, with the die cut shapes and little doll people. Others a bit more CKish in style. A few bring in their entire stash, while the bulk of them only a small tote. Not to bash those ladies.. but none of them can hold a tombow to the talent you girls display here on a daily basis! I'm rather curious though... how do they show so much self constraint? To only crop at the store? To only buy the stuff they need at the time they need it? That's so foreign to me. Yes.. I understand WHY they do it. I'm just impressed that they CAN do that. To have the entire store open to their disposal, and to only walk back to their table with one piece of paper. WOW that's a feat! I do have one confession though, no it's rather a statement to those ladies that crop in the Archivers work room. Here goes... "Ladies in the backroom..... I love watching you so diligently work. But, a word from the bit more creative....There is more out in the store other than those oval templates you are all so scrapbent on using. Perhaps use photos larger than 4x6! Look at the examples on the wall! Break out.. use a square photo! Layer some paper. It's ok. Your page wont explode!! I know patterned paper is a bit tricky to use. But, there are more patterns than polka dots and checks. Try them. Or hey... how about a little rub-on here and there? Put it on TOP of a photo! It's ok, you can still jog your memory with the picture!" I promise, the skills you used in geometry class can be used other places than on your layout! Try a curve. Oh, and most importantly.... set down the deco scissors. Those are for accents, not to cut every piece of paper you have on your page!" Now, I'm not saying I'm an expert on scrapbooking.... I'm no Erin Lincoln . But, someone needs to be in that work room, offering loving advice when a layout is about to go horribly wrong. You know those layouts. Heck I've done a layout like that once or twice or a million times before. I just hate watching some of those gals spend good money on paper only to have it under utilized. Spend the big bucks on the paper, but then use it right! Alright.. enough said about that. So... that said. I'm done. Scrap therapy. If you can't make layouts, buy supplies it does wonders for your nerves and stress! Oh, and one last question. Why are supplies purchased at the store more enjoyable than the supplies you buy on line? Is it the immediate satisfaction or is it the hands on sensation? Or perhaps some of you like it the other way. The anticipation... the sounds of the UPS truck? What gets you going?