NE FL Scrapbooking Shop Hop

I've spent the last two days shopping at 10 different scrapbook stores and let me tell ya... it's exhausting! LOL The local indepenent scrap stores in northeast Florida got together and organized a Shop Hop. You purchased a "passport" for $5 and had from Wednesday thru Saturday to visit all 10 stores, getting your passport stamped at each stop. Shop Hoppers also got a 15% discount on their total purchase at every store. Cool, huh? Your passport got turned in at your last stop and they'll be drawing for the grand prize - a $50 gift certificate from every store. Whoo hoo! Second and third prizes are gift baskets. In addition to those, each individual store is having drawings for prizes and gift baskets so that's pretty cool. Several stores gave away goodies bags or had refreshments laid out for the Shop Hoppers. Some really went all out.

My sister and I took off work Friday so we could have two days for the Shop Hop... I just wouldn't have wanted to cram it all into one day. We were both exhausted as it was. Some stores were definitely better than others, but it was still fun to get out and see them all and check out what everyone had. The store in Gainesville was pretty great. I could see myself going back don there now and then. One of the stores in Palatka was pretty good the other had next to nothing. The store in Starke was pretty lame. I totally admit that I tend to be a "name brand scrapper" but her selection was so generic. I spent a whopping $5 in that store - a page kit for the Shop Hop that they had put together. Terri and I agreed that while we really liked a couple of the stores that we'd never been to before, none of them matched what we have right here closest to us. The three stores that I shop regularly - Pictures In Time, Scrap N Stuff, and Scrapbooks. Awesome stores - all of them.

So, now for the fun stuff... here's what I bought:

3 Bugs in a Rug papers from the Jovial line
Chip Chatter - Hip/fuschia
Junkitz papers from the Shabby Chic line
Junkitz papers from the Flower-ful line
Wild Asparagus paper
StazOn ink in cotton white
StazOn cleaner
Heidi Swapp credit card slides
Autumn Leaves/Rhonna Farrer papers
Autumn Leaves/Rhonna Farrer rub-on's - Enchanted
KI Memories papers - My Girl collection
a few sheets of Bazzill
a Shop Hop board book kit (my single most expensive purchase - $30)
8x8 Chester (MAMBI) page kit (I am *addicted* to the Chester line)
Scrappy Glue by Magic Scraps (have heard great things about this stuff)
Scrapbook Trends magazine
MAMBI Chester papers
Crate papers from the Kate Collection
Crate papers from the Taylor collection
small acrylic block (for my clear stamps)
Bazzill Really Big Chips
Bazzill Chip Toppers
Lil Davis Vintage Wood Alphabet
WUBE papers (very cool - had never seen these before)

I think that's it... as I type this I am surrounded by bags and papers and other goodies in my scrap room. It's great. LOL Now I'm off to get everything organized and put away. Can't wait to play with everything!