Hi all
Work are sending me to Austin in Texas next week to give a presentation at a conference there. Luckily I’m also able to spend some ‘personal time’ during this trip so I thought I’d hit the local craft shops and stores 
Does anyone know any of the mainstream craft stores there? I know there’s Hobby Lobby and Michaels but are there any others I should look out for?
I believe there’s a chain of fabric shops I think are called Joann or something along those lines
You could try doing a google search for craft store in Texas
There’s got to be a joanns there too. I’ve just come back from the USA and spent a lot of my time in Hobby Lobby, joanns and Micheals. They are all on similar lines to hobbycraft over here. Have a great time.
Here’s a link to joanns, you just need to type in Texas in the zip code space and I think it comes up with about 31 stores in that area. http://www.joann.com/stores
Oo, I’m envious. Joann have launched a new product for bag making which isn’t available in the UK. Whenever I google for cool fabrics/interfacing so joann’s always comes up in my search. Have fun. Oh, and enjoy Texas too!
Joanns have some fantastic fabrics and almost half the price of the UK shops, and much better quality. I bought some more Halloween fabric over there this time so I shall be using that next year in my baskets.
Don’t forgot you’ll have to pay their local sales tax on top of the price ticket then when you come back through customs you’ll need to declare the fabric and our threshold is very low so you could be charged VAT.
If you are looking for beads and the like to go with your fabric you could try
http://www.beaditaustin.com/photos.html
http://lapislanebeads.com/
My experience with bringing beads and cabochons back from overseas (most recently New Zealand in January) is that I was allowed £390 worth of goods in my suitcase before I had to pay any duty/ vat and I had kept just under that value (I knew the limit from a previous trip and shopped carefully), this value may have changed since then. Make sure you keep reciepts and go through the red channel. Enjoy your shopping.
Sasha
Oooh Thanks @PaulinesCrafts
There’s one to the South of where I’ll be and it’s open on a Sunday! I may put that on my Sunday sightseeing list. 
Thanks @HandbagsbyHelen.
This is going to be the longest business trip I’ve been on. Usually its just a one or two night stop over then back to the office. This time, it’s a whole week with a free weekend in between!
The downside is that I’m presenting at the conference which is always a little nerve-wracking! Even more so when I’m going to be the only British delegate and the organisers are already making me feel self-conscious by saying that they’re looking forward to being charmed by my ‘delightful accent’… 
I’m sure you’ll be fine. Just go there with a positive attitude and everything will be fine.
I’m sure you’ll be fab @Dayzee. Your company wouldn’t be spending all that money to send oyu unless they knew you’d do a fab job. Good luck with the presentation! And enjoy the shopping.
Well, I had a great time in Texas and went to Hobby Lobby and Michaels and a lovely little fabric shop called the Stitch Lab!
Hobby Lobby… OMG! It was HUGE! Kid in a candy store!
About six times the size of my local Hobbycraft and I spent far too much in there too…
Highly recommend it to any crafters visiting the USA… Seek out the local Hobby Lobby and pay a visit!
Michaels was good too, but the one I visited was kinda small and didn’t have the variety or choices that Hobby Lobby had.
Oh and make sure you take an extra suitcase… you’ll need it! 