Crafty Purchases from France

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Hi there,
I’m back, did you miss me?

We had a great holiday. Although we were only away for 5 days, it was perfect, not too long not too short. The weather couldn’t have been better, with the hottest day being 38 degrees Celcius, which I think is the hottest I have ever experienced. We must have spent at least 40 – 50 euros in total on just cold refreshing drinks, and I have a new found love for ice tea! YUM.

In preparation for our trip, I did some research to see if there were any crafty shops that I could go to in Lyon. Any dedicated crafter would do the same really!

There was of course ‘Loisirs et Creation‘, which is a chain art & craft store, which has a good selection of general crafty products, but only a small selection of scrapping supplies. Based within Part Dieu shopping centre, Loisirs et Creation is definitely conveniently located, although the shop could have done with a little extra air conditioning this week! Craig thought this wasn’t too much of a flaw because it meant that I wouldn’t stay too long in the shop, and hence the theory was I wouldn’t spend as much as I could have done if it was a comfortable temperature! Sneaky husband!

I was quite content that I found this craft store, that was of course until I went to investigate another store nearby called ‘ Le Temple du Scrap‘.

All I can say is ‘OHH LA LA”!! What a treasure trove. First you walk in and see a massive stand about four metres long displaying four rows of scrapbook paper, each overlapping the other by all but an inch. There must have been hundreds and hundreds. Not only that, the other side of the stand had twice as many! There were stamps along the back wall and some stickers hanging up high. Then I noticed a passageway into another section of the shop which had everything I could imagine. There were hundreds of clear stamps, every make of ink pad, prima flowers, Tim Holtz ideology line, punches, tools galore. I seriously couldn’t contain myself! Poor Craig tried to restrain me from jumping up and down clapping my hands with excitement, but he was too hot and sweaty that he couldn’t step away from the fan at the cash desk – much to the shop assistants amusement! The best thing was that he didn’t understand a word she was saying when she was making fun of him. hee hee!

Le temple du Scrap is seriously awesome, so if you are ever in Lyon – or indeed Paris, as they have some stores there too – then you definitely need to go, and you better speak to your bank manager beforehand about an overdraft first because you might get easily carried away. Not only do Temple du Scrap have a HUGE range of products, even those which have just been released at CHA, but they also have workshops. I spied briefly through a doorway and saw the biggest, whitest, awesomest craft cropping space ever, I really wish I had been able to go to a workshop there!

I spent a few Euros at ‘Loisirs et Creation’ but I could have spent A LOT of money at ‘Le Temple du Scrap’, but convinced myself that I should only buy things that I know I can’t get from my local craft shop or usual online stores. So here they are: My crafty purchases from Lyon. Enjoy!

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1. Set of 6 Journaling clear stamps: ‘tampons maniak’. I’ve never heard of this company before, nor were there any other items from this company in the store that I could see, but I liked the versatility of these journaling stamps. €10.00 at Temple du Scrap.

2. 10 felt shapes – Birdies and Owls, from Toga. Such cuteness, too good to resist. €1.90. Loisirs et Creation.

3. A selection of dies. Made by Toga also, these dies are very similar in size to the Quickutz 2×2 dies, and work a treat in my Cuttlebug. I can’t wait to make some hinges out of some Grunge Paper. Hinges, €13.50 at Temple du Scrap; heart in circle, €5.20 at Loisirs et creation.

4. Pad of 20 journaling blocks. These are by Toga too, and have a great rustic feel with the grungy browns and teal colours and cute label designs. Gonna be great for Autumn layouts. €4.95, Loisirs et Creation

5. 24 Colourful Journaling stickers, by Toga too. (I reckon I quite like this Toga company), €3.95 at Temple du Scrap

6. Set of six Butterfly Clear stamps, by Gaia. These are going to be awesome for collage work, and I thought they were pretty good value at €6.95 at Temple du Scrap, so I bought another set…

7. Set of six hearts Clear Stamps, by Gaia. €6.95 at Temple du Scrap

8. Wooden Pencil pot. I haven’t decided if I am going to paint this, or decopatch it, or alter it in another way, but for €1.45 at Loisirs et Creation, I couldn’t not buy it. Cute huh?

9. Animals clear stamp set by Artemio. Twenty-one stamps in total, including domestic pets, woodland creatures and some zoo animals too, this cute set stole my heart. I’ve already used it to make a few cards which I will share with you this week. €10 in Temple du Scrap, total bargain!

Oh, one more thing…please don’t count up the total as I really don’t want to know how much money I spent! eeeeeek!

Off to play with my new toys now…..Yipppeeeeee!
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