What's UP in KORYLAND?!

It's been a busy week! 

A busy CRAFTY week, too!  Which is always good.  Isn't it?

I think it's a combination of the darker weather, the cooler weather and the approaching HOLIDAY season that's hitting my bloodstream in the way a ten dollar crack rock ignites the GO GET 'EM attitude in a streetwalker.  You know what I mean.  YOU know.

I spent a crazed lunch hour at OKC's hidden treasure- BASKET MARKET.  Awww.  You don't live in OKC and can't experience the pile of cheap scrappy goodness that can be found at this unofficial Hobby Lobby outlet?  Well!  You should move to OKC so's you can experience the fun of fighting over a brand new sheet of Studio Calico with your right hand while your left hand tries to grab and drop a package of SPELLBINDERS down to your foot so you can deftly kick it across the aisle into your (already full) basket.

Wanna see today's haul?  Ya do?!  You nasty perverts.  Always up for some ScrapPorn, aren't ya?!Here it is:

I don't know if you're going to believe me or not- but ALL of that scraptacular goodness was purchased for 39.16.  That's right.  Not even forty bucks.  As we say on the corner of 1st and Main, "What you driving away so fast for, Mister?!  That's a BARGAIN!"

Besides shopping- what else have I been up to?  Well, believe it or NOT, I got the Cricut out!  My poor, neglected Cricut Expression 2.  Purchased in a fit last Black Friday, amongst cries of, "I MUST HAVE IT NOWWWW, I SWEAR I WILL USE IT ALL THE TIME," then left to sit on my shelf.  Sitting on my shelf, staring at me like a kid with a runny nose. 

There it is- all lit up and cutting like a pro.  See that lattice-y looking thing to the right?  I love that- can't wait to find a reason to use it...  Also had great fun cutting out lots of stuff from the 'Happy Hauntings' cartridge.  Has anyone cut out the entire 3-D Haunted Mansion, from that cartridge, and lived to tell the tale?  Call me.  I'd love to hear about it. 

I've also been throwing together some layouts like it's no tomorrow.  Because, as far as we know, there won't be a tomorrow.  Mayans, you know.

That's the 'background' of one of my STATE FAIR layouts, using the very inspirational "MIDWAY" collection from those geniuses over at OCTOBER AFTERNOON.  Can they get any cooler?  I love how they manage to be cool, vintage, modern AND colorful all at the same time? 

As you can see, I cut a few pieces of papers from the MIDWAY collection into strips and kinda threw them down and attached them (thank you, Glossy Accents!) to the base paper.  The 'detail,' on this layout of mine, that I'm obsessing over is this:

No, I didn't get my sewing machine off it's lonely shelf when I was breaking Lil' Cricut out of jail- those ain't real stitches!  I know, it fooled you.  They're just RUB-ONS!  Yeah, I'm sure all y'all have seen rub-on stitches before- but for those of you who haven't and especially for those of you that didn't know such a wonder existed:  YES.  You don't have to sell your blondest child so you can get a sewing machine so's you can make them classy layouts with nifty zig-zagging stitching.  You don't even hafta fall for an infomercial's claims that their little piece of plastic and crap can sew a hem on a skirt while you're wearing it so therefore it should stitch a photo to a piece of cardstock.  No.  All you gotta do is go to Jo-Ann and pick up packs of RUB-ON STITCHES from their DOLLAR SECTION.  Yeahp.  Gets even better, don't it?  Not only can you quickly and painlessly add stitching to a layout, but it will only cost you ONE DOLLAR.  Amazing days we live in, huh?

Alright, people.  I got paperwork to do, calls to make and coffee to drink... so's I can get back home and rub stitches on cardstock. 

See you soon.

-k

Well, if you twist my arm...

11:15AM CST:

It's almost time for my lunch break. 

CoWorker Michelle decides to take my PayDay-Friday Fever and run with it-  she practically gets down on her hands and knees and BEGS me to accompany her to Basket Market, as she is in need of alphabet stickers. 

By begging, I mean she just said, "Kory, let's go to Basket Market."

The next thing you know, we're flying down the interstate and she's honking and shouting, "OUT OF THE WAY, GRANDPA!"  (This part is not exaggerated.  She really shouted this at a Cadillac that was trying to make it off the off-ramp.)

The Mother-Land

Look at that blue sky!  If that isn't a sign from the Lord himself that we're doing the right thing, I don't know what IS!

While Miss Michelle dug through stickers and then disappeared into the Christmas aisle for the better part of 45 minutes,  I was crawling around the scrapbook aisle and found these treasures:

Wood Flags!  Studio Calico!

Sexy envelopes!

Here's everything together:

A new Sizzix/Basic Grey tag die!

Little black letters!

Crazy red letter stickers!

We stopped by the Portland Express Mart on the way back to work, for a nutritious lunch of Heat Lamp Burritos, and returned to the office to this:

The other ladies in the office went to pick up cupcakes, from Cuppies & Joe, on THEIR lunch hour!  Cake Party!

Happy Friday to everyone!

-kory





PayDay Friday: Part Two!

Yeah- that's right.  Part TWO.  The PayDay celebration so big that it had to be two posts!

This second part will be much, much shorter.  Promise.

After all the Jo-Ann Grand Opening excitement, I really just wanted to go home.  And crash.  But we had to check out Super Target.  It's next door.  I debated buying a box of silver binder clips.  Holly debated over a plant.  We changed our minds and decided, no, let's go to Goodwill.

And that took some convincing.  I don't like to go to Goodwill.  Well, I do- but I'm always so discouraged because I rarely find anything.  I was all, "NO! LET'S GO TO BASKET MARKET!!!!"

Holly is a Goodwill Guerilla.  She can find the coolest stuff at the thrift shops.  I'll often be at work, slaving away at my desk, and she's texting pics to me from thrift stores across Oklahoma.  The coolest things.  I'm still kicking myself for missing the text about the ventriloquist dummy that she found- I would kill to have that scary little thing sitting on a chair in my room!

So, Holly talked me into Goodwill.  And I actually found things!  A vintage Better Homes 'Entertaining' Guidebook.  So cool.  I love the photos in vintage entertaining books.  And the recipes.  Hilarious.  I have an old cookbook, that I think I stole from my Mom, just because it has a recipe for something it swears would be 'perfect after a night of energetic folk dancing!'

I also found a nice tripod, still in the box.  Surely, I'm going to need something to steady my camera, right?  And it was only 4.99.  I also picked up a couple of records.  You know, for my record player.  Have you seen my amazing record player?  I'll haft show it to you.

So, Holly found a giant old globe.  I was jealous she found it, but didn't try to wrestle it out of her arms because it was HUGE and I didn't have any place for it...

Holly drove me back to Jo-Ann, and dropped me off at my truck.  She said she was going home to take a nap.  But I know better.  She was hitting more thrift stores and didn't want my competition.  Or my whining for BASKET MARKET.

And BASKET MARKET is exactly where I headed!   I jumped in my big manly truck and headed to the least manly place in town.  The HOBBY LOBBY OUTLET!   I know I'm always going on how it's called BASKET MARKET but it like an undercover Hobby Lobby outlet.  Yes, the majority of the stuff is wholesale floral and wedding supplies.  But you go in, you turn to the right, and cross under this sign:

Yes, ladies and gentlemen, through this passage is the promised land.

At first, I kinda felt out of luck.  It had only been about a week or week and a half since I've last checked out the Basket Market.  When I made my first descent into the scrapbooking aisle, I really felt out of luck as I saw the three hundred packages of Hobby Lobby brand brads that have sat there looking lonely and unloved.  I think those poor brads have been there for ten years.  They're dusty and sad.  Not even their 1.00 price tag can find them a new home.  BUT WAIT- what's all this?!  There are so many new packages of stamps that they're almost jumping off of the wall hooks!  WhooooHAW, restock!!!

I found lots of stamps.  Too many.  I had to restrain myself.  I grabbed so many on the first pass that I had to sit down on the cold concrete floor and decide what I really NEEDED.  Yeah- believe it or not, I don't just buy EVERYTHING I get my hands on- I DO try to really put some thought into it!

I realize that I'm not 19, anymore, when I try to spring up from the floor.  I realize that I'm not even 29, anymore, when I think- I might be trapped.  My injured knee isn't going to let me get up off the floor!  (I hurt my knee last week, at the theatre, trying to climb down a dangerous metal spiral staircase.)

As I'm thrashing about the floor- something catches my eye.  What is it?

Well, if you keep up with my goings on, you will remember that last week, I saw and fell in love with the Studio Calico Mister Huey Color Mists.  Yes- that's what was on the shelf.  A nice selection of MISTER HUEYS!!!  And the EVEN BETTER part?  They were TWO DOLLARS EACH.

You would've thought I saw priceless jewels.  Well, they kinda are!  None of the local stores carry them.  I was about to order them from scrapbook.com- but they were out of a couple of the colors I wanted, so I wanted to wait until they had all the colors I wanted IN STOCK so I could order them all at once.  But I LOVE being able to just buy something IN a store.  I hate paying and waiting for the mail.

I grabbed every color of MISTER HUEY that caught my eye.  And then some.   

They didn't have 'Clay,' and a few others I'd wanted- but I can order those later.  At least, now, some of the compulsion is quelled.  But they did have CALICO WHITE- which is the one that has been most recommended to me- so here, allow me to model it for you:

Now, here's where I learn an important lesson.  

Things might only be one or two dollars each.  That doesn't mean you can fill a basket with the things and  only spend ten dollars.  This is a lesson I have to relearn.  Every time I go to Basket Market.  These things do NOT add up in my mind.  I will fill a basket with two dollar items and be dazed and confused when the cashier says, "That'll be 54.19."  WHAT?!  I only bought 27 two dollar items!!!

No, I'm not complaining.  Look at these great stamps I found!  

There it is- the Part Two of the Pay Day Celebration haul- Basket Market style.  I even found a few colors of Distress Stain (also 2.00!) and the Goosebumps texture spray that I saw mentioned in the scrapbook.com forum earlier in the week.  I said I would buy some and sure enough, I did!

See you all later- the Craft Donkey inspired me to make a card.  

-kory

PayDay FriDay!

Oh, hi!

One of my favorite holidays is, definitely, PAY-DAY FRIDAY.   Sometimes abbreviated as PDPF- which isn't really shorter to say, but is a heap of fun to say!  Sometimes I format the spelling differ-oh, anyways-  So-

"WHAT IS PAYDAY FRIDAY?"

Oh come on, you know what it!  It's that special, magical holiday that occurs whenever you get paid!  Whether it's a biweekly holiday, like mine- or a monthly holiday for a government employee, or just whenever the money gets thrown on the dresser as your, um, 'employer' finishes getting dressed to head home to his wife-  THAT, my friends, is PAYDAY FRIDAY!

How do I celebrate this glorious day?  With shopping binges at my favorite crafting meccas:  Hobby Lobby!  Hobby Lobby Outlet! Micheals!  Home Depot!  Byron's Liquor Warehouse!

I went a bit overboard, this weekend.  I began at the Hobby Lobby outlet, which is actually called BASKET MARKET- but I still just call it the HL OUTLET, cuz, that's what it is...  More on this trip, later but soon, because that's my upcoming SURRRRPRIZE! 

One of the highlights of my weekend was visiting the newly opened JOANN, at Northwest Expressway and Rockwell, here in beautiful OKC.  Our former Joann was 'down the street.'  It was one of those 'antique' Joanns- with barely room for a sad fabric collection and a few sadder pads of DCWV paper packs...  The 'NEW' Joann, I'm excited to note, is large and in charge! 

When I spotted all the fully stocked shelves, I think I gasped a little-  but when I saw all of Mr. Holtz's dies and texture fade embossing packs- WOW!  My eyes lit up like a methhead finding a crate of Sudafed! 

And, as usual, my insane rationalizing crafter's mind took over.  Some people will say, "Well, since I'm buying this die, I will wait until next PAYDAY FRIDAY to buy this nice embossing folder..."

My mind says, "If you're going to spend 20.00, you might as well spend 40.00!"  Yeahp, my little internal BAD IDEA BEARS were running on overdrive!   See the photo of that shopping haul?    Please don't surprise me with a televised intervention.

Coming soon:  The NEXT EXCITING EPISODE of KORY K's PAINT CHIP PARTY!