When the cats away, we will..... shop.

Ohhh I have so much to share with you....its been a month since my last blog post!!
I used to post every day and now that hubby and I are both retired it seems I should have more time...but it goes by more quickly, lol.

I will do an update post or posts later on, but lets start with today.
My honey and I are on a little getaway!!!
Every once in a while we like to head to the border for a little R&R and some shopping 😏

Here we are!!!!

At first he wouldn't let me get a photo of us together, so I was trying to make it look like I was picking his nose....I never once claimed to be mature, lol.

We went to 5 Guys for lunch and then Red Lobster for supper.
Just a little phone etiquette.....please turn off your ringers during dinner.
It is a bit infuriating to hear someone's cell phone go off every 3 seconds (I'm not even kidding..a party of 3 and I don't think any of them looked up from their phone the whole meal) during dinner.
I love themed rings, my friend has one and I will call her when she is over just to hear my theme (which by the way is the music from Walking Dead), but hearing a themed ring isn't any less irritating  than a ring during a meal out.
Off my soap box for now, lol.

First stop was to Hobby Lobby 💗
We don't have a Hobby Lobby at home, so it is always a treat when I get to shop at one.
We also picked up some Christmas wrapping paper.

I ran into JoAnns while Wayne went to Best Buy.
The Joanns here is a smaller store, but I always seem to find something.

I then went into a Dollar Tree.
What I love about these stores is everything really is ONE dollar.

Ashley asked me to pick up the alphabet puzzle from the Walmart here....I found it!!!
As well as something extra for Sawyer and Dawson.

Micheals was next!
I found these really cool keys, they are really heavy.

Wayne picked up a container for Kristy as she has taken up that Diamond Art and has baggies of those diamonds, so thought this would be easier for her to organize them in.

Target always has such cute clothes for little ones.

We also ran into Office Depot as I wanted some of these Job ticket clear pockets..I like them for storing my 8.5x11 cardstock.
Wayne and I love these Pilot G2 gel pens so purchased 3 boxes, teehee.
And I was happy to see these sticker books by Vicki Boutin and Heidi Swapp at the front entrance.

I was very excited to see the new Recollections planners at Michaels today!!!
I am torn on which one to get.

I love both of these covers!!
I am a more drawn to the bold colours so my eye went straight to the Every Moment Matters cover.
But the Enjoy the Simple Life is so soft and pretty.
Ohhh such a dilemma.

So I opened each planner to the weeks (as the month pages are the same).
So to make it even harder, each of these planners has a different weekly layout.
My planner I use now, has the same layout as the bold planner....but then looking at the soft planner I think I could merge my creative planner and my life planner into this one, so I would only need one (but do I only want one, teehee).
Sooooo I was thinking if I got tired of the soft planner cover I could change it up with my planner cover I have now, as it doesn't have the date on the front.
Why do I make things so difficult, lol.

So that is our trip so far and I will share with you again what we do tomorrow :)

Hope you all are having a creative day

Tracy 💗💗💗

Day 2 of Crafty Shopping

I thought I would let you marvel over day 1's crafty shopping for a day or so before posting day 2, lol.
Actually I was tired when we got home and The Walking Dead was on, so was watching TV, teehee.

Ok onto Day 2.
Now that I found the Brother Scan N Cut mat, I could really concentrate on my shopping, lol.
1st stop was to Target.
I needed another set of banners (which there was only 1 left) and found a few other items in their dollar spot.
Some of these may or may not be gifts for a few friends ;)

Not crafty shopping, but found this cute set of PJ's for my grandson Sawyer.
Sawyer's daddy likes spider man....would have been fun if I could have found a set for him as well, they could have matched, teehee.

Wayne picked up this shirt for Sawyer as he liked the saying...he also liked the colour.

Back to the crafty shopping.
I thought I was going to leave Michaels empty handed.
That was until Wayne found some lonely Halloween supplies for 80% off.
First thing he noticed was the Tim Holtz stamps....he loves the TH's stuff, plus I think he is proud that he knows a popular craft designer who he met in person, lol.
Nothing here was more then $3.00!!
Sorry Lesli, I bought more washi tape, but they were so cheap!

Then we went to the Dollar Tree.
I love the Dollar Tree as everything there is actually a Dollar!!
Our Dollarama, very little is actually a dollar.
I picked up a few books and for a dollar, I don't feel as bad if they are not a great read and donate them later.
I forgot my earbuds at home and wanted to edit a video or 2 (which I didn't get to) and if they only lasted a night, I was good with that.....actually I was impressed with the sound the produced.

What we thought was going to be our last stop for the evening was to Walmart to get one of these letter boards as we don't have these in our Walmart.
It was Ashley that told me about these, so I texted her to see if she wanted another one...she said yes as she could have fun with it in her office (as today was her first day back to work after having Sawyer).

Before leaving the store, I thought I had better look at them to make sure everything was in them and that nothing was broken.
Turned out, out of all 5 boards in stock, only one wasn't broken.
I figured I could add some trim to the least damaged one...if Walmart would give me a discount.
They would give me .10c off.
.10c !!!! That is it.
She then told me that they will need to take them off of the shelves and discard them.
So I said to her...so you would rather throw them out, then give me a better discount?!?
She said she didn't have the authority to mark it down anymore than that...and walked away.
I just shook my head and bought the only one that wasn't damaged.

We then went back to the hotel to chill for the night.
That was until I got a craving for Taco John's Potato Oles!!
I had some the day we got into town and I asked for less or no spice on them and got the cheese dip.
You know you are obsessed with a food when you have a dream of eating it, lol.
I decided to get a planner, so off to Michael's we went again.
I had 3 that I liked, but picked this one as I like the sentiment on the front, as I seem to always make a fresh start..over and over again, teehee.
As I was walking down the aisle I noticed these stamps with the matching dies, they were under $3.00 each...nice deal.

Onto My Day:
Today was Ashley's 1st day back to work since having Sawyer.
Here in Canada you get a year off with maternity pay....Ashley took an extra week off.
She didn't want to go back and I don't blame her, who would.
But I helped by telling her that on the days her husband has to work, I will look after Sawyer.
So today was one of those days.
We enjoyed breakfast together, then headed to the clinic as Heather had an ear infection and I told her yesterday that I would go with her.
Sawyer and I snuggled, played and had a great day together.
I have to say, I needed a bit of a nap when he went home...how can a one year old out last me...oh right he got in an afternoon nap, lol.

I hope you all have a very creative day.
Tomorrow is going to be a home day for me (I will have a lot more of those now that Ashley is back at work as I would visit her at least 3 days a week or she and Sawyer would visit me)
I still haven't put away all of my Halloween decor from my crop!!!

Tracy :)

Day 1 of Crafty Shopping

Wayne and I decided to go on a little get away to Duluth MN at the spur of the moment :)
So I picked up some American money, printed off some Michael's, Hobby Lobby and Joanns coupons and off we went :)
My main goal was to find a Brother Scan & Cut mat.
I was gifted a Brother Scan & Cut machine but I couldn't get it to scan an image...it would only cut the shapes that were programmed into the machine.
After weeks of asking questions on different forums, we all came to the conclusion that the mat I had (12x24) would not scan...the older machines couldn't scan on that size mat.

So our first stop once we got to Duluth, was Michael's.
I had read that some Michael's stores carry this product....but nope:(
But I did pick up this dotted journal as I heard it takes different types of mediums and I want to get back into my daily journaling and was hoping I could use this as my fauxbonichi in the new year.
I also picked up an R89 Copic marker, as when I used mine, the tip was dried up.
I changed the tip, but it was empty....I know I could purchase a refill, but I would need to order it and I plan on doing some colouring for Christmas tags and I need this colour :)

Next stop was Hobby Lobby.
I was so hoping I would find the Brother Scan & Cut mat here.
Sadly another disappointment :(
But I did find some stickers in the clearance area.
Yes that is all that I had found here....but my focus was on getting this mat, so I wasn't really looking for anything other then the mat...I was a bit obsessed.

Last crafty store was JoAnns.
Every store had a type of Cricut, but no Brothers!!!
I found this small hexagon punch I was looking for, but not Scan & Cut.
As I was paying for the punch I look behind the teller and in the locked cage what do I see....A Brother Scan N Cut machine....my heart starts to beat a little faster.
I ask the teller if they have the mats for the machine...which she responds "We don't carry anything by Brother"...huh?
I tell her it is behind her in the cage.
She then phones someone and then informs me it is in the sewing area!!!
I can not tell you how happy I was when I saw them there!!!!
Mission completed!

Wayne has a few stores he likes to check out when we come here.
There isn't a Cabela"s here and now there is no longer a Gander Mountain, so we went to Menards.
I seem to always find something there as well.
I saw this Family frame...isn't so sweet.

I always have work gloves in my jeep, but these ones are insulated, so they will keep my fingers warm this winter and they are just so pretty :)

I ran into the Dollar Tree to look for some books I might like.
I didn't find any books, but I picked up these cute dimensional stickers for some little kid cards as well as this calendar.
I have this exact one for myself, then my daughter Ashley commented on how much she liked it, so I picked her up this one.

Then it was time for dinner.
We always go to Red Lobster and I always get the Shrimp Trio.
But the last few times, the pasta was either crispy, the sauce in the pasta was watery and one time my shrimp was raw.
So I decided to change it up.
I love shrimp, but not a fan of most other types of sea food.
But Wayne convinced me to get this dish.
I loved the shrimp, the garlic potatoes and I kind of liked the lobster.
I didn't love the crab...I had a bit of it, but gave the rest to Wayne.

Before coming back to the hotel, we stopped off at Target to pick up some pop (soda for you Southerners, teehee).
You all know you can't go into Target without looking through their dollar spot area.
I picked up these wood pieces...I couldn't make them for the prices they were selling them at.

I also picked up this fun music note banner.
I think I may need to pick up another one if I want to decorate it up with a festive word.
I also picked up these gift tags....I love the ones with the wooden snowflakes.

That is the end of my shopping for today.
Tomorrow will be more fun for me as I won't be on a mission to find that mat, lol.

I hope you all have a very Creative day :)

Tracy :)

Shopping Trip Haul

Sorry I have been absent...but I've been cuddling the cutest baby boy I have ever seen ;)

So with that, I will share with you my crafty purchases from the 1st day on my little snowy trip.
1st stop Hobby Lobby (well first fun stop as I don't consider Gander Mnt or Menards my top crafty shops ;)
Wayne convinced me I needed a brayer...even though he didn't know what it was used for.
He just liked the name as my maiden name is Bray, lol.

Then Barnes and Nobel...I love books and note books.
I have these ones already....but one can not have to many cute inspiring note books ;)

Then we were off to Michaels...where by the way I lost the heel of my boot, lol.
Lots of planner goodies for my new planners :)
One planner I ordered at Crop & Create from Scrapbook & Cards Today.
The second planner I picked up from Michaels a couple of weeks ago with a 50% off coupon...it is the new Recollections planner they hacked from Erin Condren.
Not only did I give Wayne a 50% off coupon, but the teller at Michaels and I were talking and she had been to my city before, so she let me use a second 50% off coupon :)

I always stop off at the Dollar Tree when we go over the border to the US.
Here are my purchases from there.

Last stop of the evening was to Target.
No more Targets here in Canada, so it is always fun to shop there.
Here are the dollar spot items I picked up.
I love the plaid washi and the Do Not Open washi to cute :)

I may have gone a bit crazy on baby clothes and items.
How cute is that plaid hat!!!
It will match the plaid bush jacket I bought him when I went with Sharon.

Are you surprised as I am that I didn't purchase any paper!!!
I will share with you Day 2 of my crafty goodies in another post :)

I hope you all have a very creative day :)
Tracy :)

I love an Adventure

I am off on another adventure.
I love summer :)

Every year my SIL/friend Sharon and I go away for a little getaway.
Look how light I packed.
The black rolling tote is my crafty supplies (as we plan one day to craft away), the bag with the pink on it is my clothes (and maybe I snuck some extra crafty supplies in there as well) and lastly, the bag with blue on it is my lap top and some journals...I always need to make lists.
I think I packed pretty light for 4 days away.

1st stop on our way to our destination was to Michaels.
So with coupons in hand we scoured the store for some good deals.
Everything was on sale except the glue, which I used my coupon on :)
I was looking for a new trimmer as most of my measurements have rubbed off.
Sadly the price was the same as at home, so I would be paying way more here when adding the exchange rate and even if I used my coupon.
I'm thinking I'll wait until I get home to pick that up.

Michael's had their "Hot Buys" going on.
I need paper like I need more washi tape...but seriously for the price (even with the exchange) it was well worth it.

Next Stop...Hobby Lobby.
I have been looking for the Warm Grey in the Spectrum Noir markers.
I have tried checking them out on line, but they are always out of stock.
I have seen in the past that Hobby Lobby carries these markers, but not the Warm Grey's.
But no worries...I found a few other items to make me smile ;)

The off to Target to pick up some Coca-Cola and some munchies, as I need to keep nourished while shopping ;)
Oh look, some washi tape, teehee.
I also may have picked up some cute things for my soon to be grand baby :)

Last store before going to to Red Lobster for supper was Barnes and Noble.....who says you can have to many pretty journals :)

The back on the road for our drive to Hinckley.
More crafty goodies to share soon.
I hope you all have a very creative Day.

Tracy :)