A Shoppin' Good Time

This weekend my pal Penn and I went shopping for art goodies.

Here are the spoils:

7 Gypsies, which are one of my all-time favourite companies, made this incredible sheet of rubber. There are sixty four different stamps in all for a mere $15! (On sale.) That was a steal because if you do the math (which I did and I'm sure Penn did too because we both bought one) that works out to 23c per stamp. I recommend clicking on the image to read all the cool things they say. I can't wait to play with these!

And then there was the inevitable paper purchases. I freely admit I am a paper junkie. I'm hardcore about it, but I don't feel guilty because I actually use what I have. I'm not stockpiling or hoarding here-as far as I'm concerned, there's no point buying it if you're not going to enjoy it. Anyway, this one is Authentique "Blissful". I love the folk-arty feel of this one in a soft antique mustard gold.

Basic Grey, is one of my tried and true go-to companies for great papers. I love them! I got this strippy one-I think bits will find their way into some of my ROD journals. (The arc of yellow is what's on the other side-these are two-sided papers.) This line is called Out of Print and this piece is "Classifieds".

Another from the same line, called "Bits & Pieces". I am obsessed with circles. You would not believe the amount of circle paper I have.

 "Tribune". I love the layering on this one.

 "Newsflash" which reminds me of a quilting pattern I've done called "Bullseye". I have a stack of blocks, enough to make a queen sized quilt sewn. I've just never got around to piecing the top. One of these days! The blocks are all Aunt Gracies (1920's & 30's reproduction fabrics) on a white background. They are something special and piecing them in this way really makes them pop. One day I'll post pics.

 I am not a fan of Martha, but she does make some really cool Hallowe'en stuff. I decided I needed this set of paper tapes. There's a black doily pattern, black wood grain, spiders and then a roll of spider web. There's a fair bit of tape on the rolls. Fun stuff!

And lastly, I bought this package of post-it notes made by Smash. They have some really fun products and I can see myself buying more. I thought these would be fun to add to my RODs.

Speaking of RODs, I've been working on the one I started in January. It's almost ready. I will be sewing the signatures into the cover soon. I took it with us and showed Penn my progress over lunch. She gave me one of the fabrics I used in the cover for Xmas.

Right now I'm working on two Hallowe'en Petite Inspiration Boxes for a swap. I did the spring swap and had so much fun, I decided to sign up again. (You can see those boxes here, here and here.) I've been hunting and gathering bits in the last week. Today I hope to work on the boxes themselves. They have to be in the mail before the end of the month.

I'm also busy with week two of Swan Dive, which I am enjoying. Fall is turning out to be a busy time!

Cures What Ails Ya!

So today I was feeling like total crud. I've been coming down with my annual ear, (possibly sinus) infection for the last week and feeling worse and worse. (And yes, I have been to the doctor.) Anyway, I decided to haul my sorry self out the door and go check out a new store down in Port Moody called Cherish the Thought.

I'd emailed the owner, Jessie Hurley a couple weeks ago to let her know I'd heard really good things about her store and was looking forward to visiting as soon as I could find a free moment. Today I finally got to meet her. She is very sweet and lovely, warm and friendly. I enjoyed chatting with her and felt as if I had known her a long time. It's always wonderful when you cross paths with someone like that.

The store is amazing-it's light and airy and yet when you walk in the door, you notice right away that it's jam packed with artsy goodness. The sign out front says "scrapbooking", but I would describe it as leaning more towards paper arts. (which is a good thing!) She carries everything from scrapbooking paper to a huge array of embellishments, to twinkling h2o's, to fun little antiques and handcrafted jewellery. The selection is endless and if you are looking for art supplies, this is a great place to find them!

In poking around, I came across this:

It's a 7 Gypsies ATC holder that turns into this:

I've been coveting one of these since they first came out but just couldn't bring myself to order it from the US because the shipping was pretty spendy. You have no idea how delighted I was to find this locally this morning! I have no idea where I am going to find the time to fill it up like this, but I had to have it.

Maybe if I keep the cards on my desk and just do one at a time when I have spare bits to use up or a few minutes to play I could someday have one like the sample...*dreams* Truthfully, I have a *thing* for office supply stuff and Rolladexes. (Let's just say I am artistically embracing my inner geek.)

Anyway, if you are local and have a chance, do stop by and check out Jessie's store. It's worth the trip and I am sure you won't walk away empty handed!