Shannon and I may be the only two creatives who had never been to Michaels so this week we grabbed our cameras, hopped on the subway and headed out for a creative adventure – a craft store artist’s date!
One of the delights at a store like Michaels is colour! Oooh, the colours. What a feast for the eyes! These rows upon rows of ribbon were an absolute joy for a monochromatic colour-scheme loving girl like me!
There was so much to look at, from jewellery to cake decorating, from knitting to painting, from boas to unicorns! As our grandma would say, “What could be bad?” And one thing I’ve learned is that if you get intimidated by art stores and craft stores, a great place to start is the kids section! Crayons and construction paper invite everyone in!
After exploring just about every nook and cranny, I decided on a few treasures to bring home.
Here’s my small Michaels haul. I’m delighted with all that I’ve added to my creative toolkit.
I love this bone folder from Martha Stewart Crafts. It felt like a supreme indulgence because I had just bought myself one last week! In the Inner Alchemy Circle, Mindy used one for her collaged cards and I thought, how could I not have one of those! I collage all the time and the bone folder is such a great way to secure adhesion and get nice, smooth, flat images. I bought the only one available at my local art store and it was totally fine but this looked beautiful to me. I hmm’d and hawed and eventually decided to go for it! I’ll often err on the side of “Yes!” if it’s an item that will likely become a long-term part of my home or studio. Besides, this indulgence allowed me to gift the one I had just bought and that’s a good thing too!
My big investment of the day was a Martha Stewart corner rounder (which is *so* much more expensive in Toronto than on Martha’s website!) I just love the way this turns ordinary index cards into tarot-like creations. The rounded edges give such a wonderful finish. I should share that I learned rather quickly not to use the rounder on anything where I’d adhered ribbon. Ack! That almost put an end to this product pronto!
When I put this picture up on Facebook and asked people to guess what I was up to, there were some pretty hilarious answers, including home dentistry! But the knitters in the house know that I am about to embark on a cable adventure! In fact, I’m re-starting my journey into knitting. I tried it years ago but let it go when I found it just too taxing on my body. Inspired by the Creativebug Afghan Knit-Along, I’ve decided to gently try again. Because, ahem, when you barely know how to purl, it’s time to take on cables! LOL! (So far so good! I’ll be sharing my progress on stART: Creating as We Go)
And hey, it wouldn’t have been an adventure if we didn’t also get a little silly!
Is Michaels one of your favourite creative haunts? Where do you go for artist dates?
Yay!!! So happy for you both! I am so glad you went together and explored and yes, they have EVERYTHING! So a person with lots of different hobbies (ahem, like us Ridler sisters) can get totally overwhelmed. OMG, those are knitting needles? OK, thanks for telling me, I thought they were for crocheting and couldn’t wrap my mind around it. I love those corner punches and yes, you finally got your bone folder thingy Jamie. Craft on!
It was such a joy to share going to Michaels together, and I loved that we looked at pretty much each and every aisle! So many colours, and a million designs and delights. And yarn! Woohoo to yarn YAY for adventures! :)
Congrats on your first of what is sure to be many adventures to Michaels! I can do some serious damage to my budget in that store because I usually want almost everything. I’ve had to learn to pace myself and just purchase what I may need for any given project so I don’t have to rent a storage unit to keep everything in. It’s just all so pretty!
OMG Michaels is my FAVORITE!!! I can (and have) spent hours (and too much money) there! So glad you got a chance to visit and sister sharing is the best! Congrats!
What fun! I think I might need a trip to Michael’s to find some of those glasses. And a corner rounder, because when I saw yours I realized that I really need another one. I had one, and I misplaced it several years (yes, *years*!) ago. I haven’t let myself buy a new one because I keep being so sure the old one will turn up. But I, too, love the special look ordinary card stock gets with rounded corners. Thank you for reminding me and making me realize I can get a new one even though somewhere around here I already have one. :)
This store looks really cool!