Sonja's Shop Hop Safari Trek

I finally had a chance to shop hop myself on Monday! Waa - hoo. And since mom was in town, she came with! We scaled back our rather ambitious plans to cover orange county and part of the san gabriel valley and stayed in the OC, since I was try to rendezvous with a couple vendors to pick up orders as well. Here's a glimpse of our journey 160 mile, 7 store journey!

The first stop was at Scrapbooking Heaven in Westminster where I scored on some hard to find Jolee's and got a nifty notepad for my purse. I love the mini shells in the make 'n' take kit! Funny story...as we were leaving I tried to get into a different white Camry! I kept putting my key in the lock & turning but nothing happened. Then mom calls out my name, I look up and she's standing one car over...at my car. Blond moment!!

*****

Then we headed over a couple streets to The Scrapbook Garden in Huntington Beach, which is actually not to far from where I used to live. I found some cool rhinestone embellies as well as those spinners from Cosmo Cricket....never tried those before. Also, I picked up some Spica pens that I've heard some great things about. I'll give 'em a try and let you know. Mom found some awesome papers and I even got her to pose for the camera! And don't you love their "Wild Thing" Make 'n' Take. I also found the best sign there that I MUST have for the shop. I immediately uploaded it to my facebook page.

While at The Scrapbook Garden, we also ran into lead Fiskateer Cheryl (she was at my shop on Saturday) and scored some cool Fiskar's giveaways. Check our Cheryl's blog and her shop hop schedule and you just might spot her out there, too!

*****

Then it was off to Oh, Scrap! in Costa Mesa. Don't you just love the name? When I lived in Costa Mesa, there was another scrapbook store in the same shopping complex...isn't that funny. Anyhow, mom found a ton of paper she loved and I picked up some of the Robin's Nest Dew Drops that I've heard so much about and some gorgeous flowers. Very vintage.

*****

After lunch we meandered through Irvine trying to pick up the 241 toll road to get to Timeless Treasures. I rarely consult maps, preferring to rely on my keen sense of direction...ha ha ha! This led to passing under and over the toll road numerous times until we actually got to Rancho Santa Margarita. Oh well! But Timeless Treasures is well worth the drive and you won't be disappointed! I picked up some Core'dinations cardstock to play with and my mom found lots of soccer and travel stuff.

*****

Then it was off to The Red Bee in Tustin and this time I successfully picked up the toll road so we were there in no time at all. Besides having a great scrapbooking selection, they are a full service craft store with goodies for beading, knitting and home decor. Among other things, I scored some neat pumpkins for my Halloween display, distress stickles which I've never tried before and my fave pink pen. Mom got some yarn and some great papers.

*****

Then it was off to Scrappin' in the Hills in Anaheim Hills where I was so tired I forgot to take a picture of there store front, but they're next to a cigar shop, too! Ha ha! I've been visiting this shop off and on since I moved to socal 11 years ago since it's just down the street from where my aunt & uncle live. With so much to choose from, I focused on picking out some things from a technique I've never tried before...embossing with Lasting Impressions. I got a die, the embosser, embossing paper and a few more goodies. Can't wait to try them.

*****

Our last stop was The Scrappin' Table in Placentia where I also forgot to take a picture of the storefront. Sorry! There were so many things I could have picked up, but I got the Copic markers to give them a try and some new stuff called Sparkly Fluff...you know how much I love my flocking! Mom picked out some papers and great mini - alpha stickers from My Little Shoebox. So much fun!

Then it was time for home...so with our goodies in the backseat and pick-up stix take out for dinner, we headed west on the Imperial Hwy until we picked up the 105 for home. Gotta love that loop. It was so much fun. I wish I could visit the other Shop Hop stores, but I'm looking forward to that next year!

Sonja