Meet Your Merchant: Scrapbook shop provides haven for crafty types

Donna Jean Anderson's east Carson City scrapbook shop is more than just decorative papers and stickers.

County Purr Farm Scrapbooking also is a classroom and studio space for those who enjoy making cards, scrapbooks and other crafty things. And after five years in business, Anderson said she's gained a loyal clientele.

"They like to come here because they don't have to deal with the phone at home or think about doing the laundry," Anderson, 53, said. "Some of the ladies call it their bar."

Anderson opened the business, 3220 Highway 50 East, in September 2005 after selling Stampin' Up arts and crafts products for a number of years. She wanted a retail store where she could make a living off her longtime passion of scrapbooking.

Today, Anderson is teaching three classes a week inside the store, which features all of the tools (such as the Cricut - an electronic precision cutting machine) and materials needed to make anything from birthday cards to wall decorations. Students are only required to bring their own glues.

"I sell the products and then I teach the classes," she said. "We also have open studio time so people can come in and work on their own stuff."

Her shop also offers a variety of scrapbooking goods, such as decorative papers, stickers, adhesives and more from brand names such as My Mind's Eye, Echo Park and Tim Holtz.

It's the classes, though, that have kept her business moving, attracting new clients and keeping long-time customers interested.

Anderson spends a lot of her time searching for new products, too.

"Most scrapbooking materials don't improve with age, you have to stay on top of the new trends and styles," she said.

That means scouring social media and scrapbooking blogs in search of the newest styles.

"You can't obviously stock everything, but at least try to get some of everything," Anderson said. "My regular customers, the comment that comes out of their mouth most of the time is, 'What do you have that's new?' "

She said the down economy has hit her hard, but the classes help.

"I hope it picks up because I rent the store alone and I teach all the classes," Anderson said. "Six days a week I'm here."

Over the years Anderson has learned to keep a variety of styles of materials in her business, from vintage-styled products to the "cutesy" stuff.

"The distressed look, those things are coming back," Anderson said. "You can tear your paper and not worry about everything being straight. I like that."