Farewell to Archivers: I Heart You!

On February 16th, 2014 the Scrapbook world shined a little less bright. The previous day, Archiver's officially closed all of their doors and went out of business. To say this was heartbreaking to hear, and even worse to see happen, would be an understatement.

I moved to the North Carolina approximately 2 1/2 years ago from Washington State. It was a very difficult adjustment for me, for a variety of reasons. When we first arrived here I missed my family, my friends, my hobby, the moderate Washington summers, and I missed our house. I was in a new city, in a rented townhome I didn't particularly love, and it was a record-breaking muggy summer and the bugs were absolutely disgusting. I got more mosquito bites that first month in that townhome then in my entire life! The first 25 days here were in the 100+ degree category with high humidity, and my husband was working long hours with a very arduous commute. Life was difficult. I felt so depressed in our new home, and lost in my new city. A couple of weeks into our new surroundings, I decided to take a drive one day to familiarize myself with our area and to clear my head. I stumbled upon an Archiver's store that was only 5 minutes from our townhome and instantly my mood lifted.

Growing up, Archiver's was one of those stores that I saw featured in the back of Creating Keepsakes magazine and always dreamed about visiting, but never thought I would actually see since I lived in Washington State. When I say stumbling upon that store was a complete game changer, I am not exaggerating. Just knowing that there was an awesome scrapbook store in my area made my mindset shift, and I thought to myself, well if Raleigh has an Archiver's it can't be that bad.

Unfortunately, Archiver's was closed that day, but I made a plan to go back and visit soon, quit moping, and start unpacking more of the boxes in our disorganized townhome, and specifically to unpack all of my crafty stuff, so that I could get creative. That is exactly what I did the next week, and the very next day I walked into Archiver's for the very first time. Our local Archiver's in Raleigh, North Carolina had some of the nicest employees and fellow scrappers that I have ever had the pleasure to meet. Just driving there and knowing you would soon be surrounded by these wonderful people was enough to turn even the worst days into something enjoyable. I made so many friends at this store, and some I plan on continuing to scrap with on a regular basis post-Archiver's.

Archiver's I will miss you. I will miss all of my scrappy friends. I will miss browsing the aisles and aisles of pretty paper and embellishments. I will miss knowing that you are just a short drive away.  THIS song by Boyz II Men seems most fitting. The below photo was taken the last night Archiver's was open during their final crop. There was lots of reminiscing, teary eyes, and photos that night. You  will be missed Archier's.

Thank you for the memories.

Toni