SERS brings you - local craft news!

Local craft news? Is this a new thing SERS does? Probably not all the time, but I just happened to have a big day out on Wednesday (courtesy of my daughter who needed delivering to a few different places she couldn't reach by bus), and of course, I gathered craft news all the way.

First stop was Paper Place at the corner of High St and Blackburn Road, Mount Waverley. Lovely place for invitation style paper, and a surprisingly big range of art supplies. Turns out they are under new management, so pop in and say Hello.

Next stop was Shamrock at 21-23 Joseph Street, Blackburn North. Not a retailer, theses guys are wholesalers. But, like all good wholesalers, they wind up with excess stuff every now and then, and move it on to canny customers at their little outlet.

The tiny outlet store was well stocked with feathers, tiny doll hats, those frames you use to make purses, sequins, masks - basically all the stuff I had no need for, but you might. But there was glue, much glue. A whole display of UHU brand special purpose glues, which seem like a nice thing to try. I bought a biggish bottle of wood glue (regular PVA, my go-to glue) and two special purpose UHU glues, and my bill came to $6.

The outlet is off the reception area, so if it doesn't look open, just tap on the door and smile at the lovely staff. I noticed they support school fundraising projects. And they had a big sale last week. Also, they are about to be the neighbours of Bounce, the new trampoline centre, where daughter had a job interview.

Final stop was Bellbird at 74 South Parade, Blackburn. Turns out they are moving! It was very short notice, but some other people wanted the location to run a restaurant, and made Cathy an offer to take over the rent. The new location is not far away, at 138 Canterbury Road Blackburn South. It will be all crafts! ALL CRAFTS!

Cathy always has the nicest stamps (she has a good eye for them) so for local shopping, it's a great destination. She stocks Copic markers (that's all I bought on the day).

She has some amazing machines to sell you, and I'll bet she'd like the floor space back. Check out the Theresa Collins Stampmaker - Cathy has a couple to clear at $150. From what I've read, you need to know what you are doing to get good results from it - or rather, the supplied instructions are a bit poor. But our friend YouTube provides all the extra help you need, and people are loving their machines once they are in the know. This price is awesome, by the way.