Scrap & Bean

I was working on a project and needed some letters so I popped into Scrap & Bean to see if they had what I was looking for.
The place is very bright and clean with an okay selection — it’s definitely not the biggest that I’ve seen but I think you would get by for a project that you were working on.
I love the idea of scrapbooking/​creating and enjoying coffee at the same time — I didn’t have a coffee though as I was on a mission for my letters!
The customer service was lacking though as I asked for help finding anything with letters — stickers, stencils, anything. The lone employee told me that she was pretty sure they didn’t have anything. I looked through the store and I found two separate packs of letter stickers and she was surprised when I brought them to the till. I get that you may not always know what’s in stock, but I would have expected an employee to come out from behind the till (when she wasn’t serving anyone at the time) to double check a few places where she may have seen the product I was seeking in the past.
This store is out of the way for me on the north end of the City but it is conveniently located just off St. Albert Trail.

I used to be hugely into scrapbooking in my early twenties and happened across this store while waiting for the bus so I thought I would kill some time and take a look. While it’s not huge in the typical retail sense for a scrapbooking store this place would have you covered for any project no matter how big or small. Everything is neat and well categorized into different seasons and themes. As I mentioned at the beginning of the review I haven’t done scrapbooking in a number of years so I can’t say much about price comparison to other stores but the only thing I came across that made me raise an eyebrow was a pre designed card kit for $ 40.00 that only made four cards. Everything else seemed to be priced at a fair price point for quality.
On my way out I decided to grab a hot beverage for the bus trip and went with a green tea latte which was really good. I think the combination of coffee and scrapbooking is an interesting idea and they seem to pull it off well here. I must also say the beverages are extremely affordable compared to alot of other specialty places.
If your into scrap booking or even just contemplating picking up the hobby I recommend checking this place out. I for one plan to come back and check out one of their workshops when life gets a little less busy.

This store relocated recently to St. Albert Trail from 137 Ave. Although I only shopped at the old location once or twice, I can’t really compare the differences. I really like the new location as there is lots of parking, the store is spacious and bright inside and the staff is very friendly and helpful.
The wall on the right side of the entrance changes with difference themes periodically. The store is laid out so there is lots of room to look around without getting in other people’s way. The paper is displayed by theme along with stickers and embellishments. They carry some unique papers like printed acetate. Ink, markers, ribbon, stamps and die cuts are located near the back of the store.
What I was so excited about was to see stamped images on watercolour paper. There was a selection of different images and greetings for cards, each sheet was $ 1.79. The images can be coloured with Copic markers, watercolour pencils or aqua painters.
You cannot walk in and not buy anything. If you spend over ten dollars and you get one scrap buck which does not expire. They offer Saturday crops as well as the occasional weekend crop. Sign up on their email list and receive store info!

Scrap & Bean is a scrapbook store and coffee shop tucked into a stripmall on 137 Ave by the Old Navy store. It sells scrapbook supplies (duh) but has carved a bit of niche for itself as it also provides coffee and specialty drinks to shoppers and scrapbookers.
Their stock is limited and they don’t have the selection other scrapbook stores have, their crop room is small and lighting is the pits. Makes me wonder how their crop session are…
Speaking of crop session they offer crop sessions on Wednesday evenings from 6−10pm and twice a month on Saturdays from 10−10pm. Meals, snacks and beverages are included in the full day crops and the fee is $ 17, which is very reasonable.
Even though the store may not have the selection that others do, the gal was very friendly, helpful and not pushy. I’ll stop in now and again to finish a layout and to support a neat little craft store!