"Shabby Chic" in Brunei

Yesterday, a close friend virtually made my day with a simple phonecall. She rang me to tell me that a scrapbook shop called Shabby Chic (what a great name) had opened in the Gadong Mall. It was advertised in the BB and there was even an article on it in the back pages.

Wowee!! I couldn't contain my excitement and drove straight there after lunch. And there it was, on the 3rd floor right next to Solitude the bookshop. It turns out that the owner, Irene, is the sister of a friend of mine. The shop has a good variety of supplies from essential tools, albums, patterned paper, cardstock and embellishments such as brads, eyelets, stickers, rub-ons etc in all the big brand names from USA (Making Memories, S.E.I, Bazzil Basics, Wild Asparagus and Chatterbox to name but a few). I'm pretty well stocked up in terms of tools and supplies but even then, it was fun to browse around and examine stuff personally rather than online thru a computer screen. It was also great fun to chat with Irene about scrapping.

There was also a tool table for people to try out the various scrapping tools available. Irene has the Sizzix and Sidekick die-cutting machine for customers to try. I have never seen the Sizzix machine close up and it was fun trying it out finally. Personally, it is a little bulky but then you have the Sidekick for portability. The dies are also pretty bulky but you can pretty much arrange your paper or cardstock on the template that you want and run it thru the machine. So it helps in not wasting any cardstock or paper. I have already invested in the Quickutz so am not looking at acquiring the Sizzix or Sidekick at all but it is nice to finally try it out.

My brother-in-law pointed out to me just afer i started this blog that perhaps i ought to write something about what scrapbooking is all about as a starter. A really good point but i think i will leave that for another post. At this moment in time, if any of you would like to know what scrapbooking is all about, make a stop at Shabby Chic. Irene will be able to show you firsthand what this is all about.