Book Sales & Rubber Stamps

I'm going to be totally honest- this last week sucked a zombie's butt.  It was horrible.  Work was stressful. To a sickening degree.  And why am I talking about zombie butt?  Because, as I was trying to think of something disgusting to compare my week with, I looked up and saw a zombie on TV.  Have I told you how much I like zombie movies?  Even bad, cheap zombie moves on the Chiller Channel.  Have you watched any movies on the Chiller Channel?  They are worse than the 'movies' I made with friends when I was eleven and my Dad bought a video camera.  We had bigger budgets than these things.

So yeah, bad week.  But the weekend started off well enough- leaving the office early on Friday for one of my favorite annual traditions.  The Friend of the Metropolitan Library Booksale!  We go early, around one, and line up with the other die hard booksale fans.  The sale doesn't open until 5- so it's a long wait.  What blows my mind is that when we arrive at about 1, there are already about fifty people ahead of us in line!  In the picture below, taken about an hour before the sale is to open you can see all the people who are BEHIND us!

I've been going to this book sale for as long as I can remember.  My Mom used to take me.  It's a tradition, dammit.

But now, the tradition is to go, with Holly, to 'the presale,' which is the night before the sale opens to the general public.  For a ten dollar donation to join 'The Friends,' you can get into the presale and find even more books to hoard.  You do know that I'm a hoarder, right?  Well, because of that show- Hoarders- I've become more aware of my habits.  So I limited myself to books, this year.  Instead of buying so many books that a nice volunteer has to find a dolly and help me load the books into my truck, I only allowed myself to buy what I could carry.  What I could carry in a big bag looped around my neck, that is...

I always walk/run directly to the 'Fine Arts' section, to look for any scripts/plays/theatre books- and I gotta hit the table FAST.  There always seems to be another group that heads right to this table first, believe it or not, who are trying to beat me to the scripts!  I LOVE reading plays.  I found a couple of good theatre history books, this year.

There are so many books EVERYWHERE that my head gets a little spin-y, and my eyes glaze over.  My next stop is the Hobbies and Crafts table.  This is where things start to get a little violent.

The library sale is very popular with what seems to be an entire compound full of some religious sect.  I'm not sure what they are and I definitely don't want to offend anybody- I'm not making fun of them, I'm just saying- if you're going to grab a book out of my hands, I'm going to make fun of your sideburns, lady.  So yeah, I battled a squadron of long-jean-skirted women with sideburns for a couple of craft books.  I'm not a proud person.  As I reached for a book about lettering- I saw Holly's head bob up out of a writhing mass of jean-skirts, waving a book- she tosses it to me, which gets me about ten evil glares.  It's 'The Joy of Scrapbooking.'  It's outdated but fun!  I think I have mentioned it- but I'm gonna mention it again- I LOVE outdated or vintage craft and/or cooking books.   "Here's a recipe that's just PERFECT after an energetic evening of folk dancing!" is one of my favorite lines from one of my old cookbooks.  HIGH-larious.

Here's a shot of my 'craft book haul.'

I grabbed another old dictionary to use- it's full of those great old line drawings and beautiful pages, that, for a dollar, you don't mind using for art.  One of the old dictionaries that I bought last year (I bought more than one, last year!) was already a bit of an art piece on its own.  Its previous owner had cut out articles from newspapers and bits of old bills and pasted them inside the covers.  Bunch of random stuff- clips from articles about when daylight savings time begins, birthstone lists, part of a water bill- and it's beautiful.  I can't bear to cut it up- I feel it was so special to the lady who owned it and glued this stuff in, and because I FOUND it, I feel that I was meant to be its guardian.  You can go 'awwww' right now, if you understand what I mean.  If not, you can make fun of me.  Go ahead.  I'm tough and can beat you up. AND- check that out- SCRAPBOOKING FOR DUMMIES!  Isn't that hilarious?  I don't know why I think it's so funny.  I just do.  Sue me.  The big pinky purple book is the book about lettering- it has some great examples of fonts to write by hand- and not just calligraphy- great looking handwriting examples.  I love to write by hand.  It's a dying art, people.  I must keep it alive.

Saturday:  I woke up, bright and early, with one goal.  To visit a new(ish) rubber stamping store.  How lucky is OKC?  We have a good number of stores- everything from the big holy trinity of Hobby Lobby, Michaels and Jo-Ann, to the perfectly perfect small local-owned stores (Hobby Lobby is technically locally owned- yes- it is 'Oklahoma owned and operated, as we're always told).  Our local art stores are great.  Paper Crown, Paper Arts, and Whole Lotta Scrap- and now- My Heart's Fancy.  That's the rubber stamping store that I went to, today.

I'd recently heard of My Heart's Fancy from a coworker, Miss Chris.  She's the scrappy lady I work with who gave me her little Cricut when she upgraded to the Expression.  Was that a blessing or a curse?  She told me about this shop and gave me the link to their website- and I was finally able to make it out there, this afternoon.  They're only open until 6, weekdays- so I can't go after work.  And they're closed on Sundays.  And too far to make it there and back on my lunch hours during the week- so Saturday it has to be!

I'd been checking out on their blog- here, for the last two weeks, so even thought I had a good idea of the stuff they carry- I was still awed upon walking in, wow- you know that feeling- when you're walking into a store that is filled with stuff you don't see at other stores?  Stuff  you might've only seen online, and wanted to see up close, to touch and hold?  I'm a stroke and tap shopper.  I must run my fingers across items and/or tap them.  Why?  I don't know.  We'll explore that.

I told myself I wouldn't spend more then thirty bucks.  I only went over a dollar.  It could've easily been in the hundreds.  And with all the items that I put on the little next time list in my head,  the next trip could do lots of damage.

I ended up with the 'dot matrix/gridlock' embossing folder from Tim Holtz.  I'd had my eyes on that one for a long time!   But I'd never seen it in a store.  And I needed to run my fingers over it before buying!  I also picked up some more 7 Gypsies paper tape- the one that looks like stamps, a ruler and something else?  Yeah, that one.  I also bought three dominos AND the coolest wood-mounted stamp I've ever laid hands on-  wanna see it?   Hell yes, you say?  Okay!  Here it is!

It's from Catslife Press.  I've never heard of this company before- but I just went to their website, to find out the name of this AAAMAZING stamp.  As far as I can find, it's known as nothing else besides 594F. Isn't this a wonderful stamp?!?!  It's cool.  It's strange.  It's fun.  It's classy in a cool, strange, fun way.  It's everything that makes my blood pump.  Catslife Press is now my favorite stamp company.  Sorry, Mr. Holtz, but you'll still always have a special place in my little black heart.  I can't wait to get a few more of the Catslife Press stamps as soon as I go back to this store!  I hope I didn't frighten the owner and she hasn't banned me from the premises!  Just kidding, I was on my quietest, best, most polite behavior.  I do have manners, no matter what you might've heard.

Alright, I'm off to play with my stamps.  I'll be back soon with a special post about the United States Postal Service and the joy they provide.  In the meantime, why don't you check out My Heart's Fancy, and if you're in OKC, give them a visit and tell them Kory sent you.  They won't have the slightest clue who you're talking about, so that'll make it fun.

-kory