road trip!

Yesterday I had one of those days where I had to go tons of different places to run errands... sooo, as long as I was out, I stopped at a couple stamping/scrapbooking stores in the area. I started my day in Scottsdale, at Cigar Warehouse to pick up a few cigars for Tom, then hit Frenzy Stamper, one of my favorite stores in the Phoenix area. They have an awesome selection of stamps, altered arts supplies, and unusual stuff... at least an hour later, I finally had to leave before I bought out the store! (it wasn't that bad, really...) These are a few of my purchases from there- two new Heidi Swapp masks ("reverse" stencils, really... the design sticks onto the paper, so your paint or ink outlines it (instead of filling it in, like how a stencil works). These designs are a little more ornate than the previous ones I bought, so I tried them out with ink rather than paint. I tried them out in a little book I also bought there- it's a hardcover book, cut down to 4 x 4 inches... they had all sorts of shapes, like houses, pears, etc, but I stuck with basic square. I think I'm going to decorate the pages and use the book to display some of my ATCs, to get them out of the 3-ring binder they're now hiding in.

I also bought some more Adirondack acrylic paint daubers... (before, I only had black). From left to right the colors are Espresso Brown, Denim Blue, and Gold. I have been using the black one for edging cards, which gives them a really nice effect, so I decided to get some more colors. I also picked an ARTitude Zine, the third issue of Artful Blogging (which I still haven't opened-such restraint!), a really cool stencil, and a couple new sets of unmounted stamps from Invoke Arts (Tres Santos and Build Your Nest). I'll show those later, hopefully after I actually try them out.

After finishing up my shopping- pet store for cat food, chewies, bones, and a present for Sedona (oh my gosh, she's three!!!), grocery store, etc. I finally got home to relax for the evening with Tom, some homemade tacos, nachos, margaritas, and a movie. It was a good day!