Rock Paper Scissors

As you know if you've been reading this very long or following me on Facebook, I travel A LOT!!  My husband says that nobody enjoys hurtling through the skies in aluminum tubes as much as I do and he may be right....one of the big perks is getting to see new shops and meet new people.

When I fly, I like to read.  It's perfect downtime -- no phones, no internet, just quiet for a few hours.  So when I was flying from Atlanta to Newark on Sunday, the latest issue of Generation Q Magazine was in my hands.  I was completely engrossed in the story about a shop in Montclair NJ called Rock Paper Scissors.  As I'm reading about Beth's journey from finance person to quilt shop owner, I'm thinking -- Hmmmm....she and I are a lot alike....I think we could be friends.....

This progresses to "OMG, I'm flying to New Jersey right this minute!  I have a free day tomorrow!  How far is Rock Paper Scissors from my hotel?"  So as soon as I land, I plug the info into my phone and see that it is a mere 33 miles and that the store is open on Monday -- SCORE!!!



I Uber'd over to the store and it was so totally worth the trip -- Beth was just as delightful as I had hoped and she and I had even more things in common.  She also has knowledgeable friendly staff with wide ranging interests.  That's important because this store has so many things going for it.

First there is all the quilt and garment fabric -- yes, this store sells both and has people to help with both.  I admit that I am totally ignorant on the garment side of sewing, but everybody in the store was wearing things that they had made and they were really cute!

But that only addresses the "scissors" part of this shop -- here is the "paper"...lots of supplies for scrapbooking and other paper arts.

Stamping, anyone??

 

And what about the "rock"?  Lots of beads and other jewelry making supplies and a mirror to try things on....

Classes to learn how to make your own!

More class samples!  I love making jewelry -- I like to string beads into necklaces, bracelets and earrings.  It's as close to instant creative gratification as you can get  --and if I don't love what I made, I can cut the wires and stick the beads back in my glittery stash!

It seemed like everywhere I looked, there were supplies for another creative opportunity -- here, hand embroidery....

Class schedule on a magnetic board so everyone knows what's going on...

...and a closeup of the blocks and the hand embroidery area.

I'm so happy that this shop was close enough for a visit!  If you'd like to go there, too, Rock Paper Scissors is located at 15 Bloomfield Avenue, Montclair NJ (phone: 973-337-6759).  You will have so much fun browsing and visiting with owner Beth Rowan and her awesome staff!  (And Kourtney has the most contagious giggle, beautiful handmade clothes and a totally retro, fun vibe -- thanks for helping me pick fabric, Kourtney!)