I Heart The Ink Pad!

Hello All!

I have something a little different for today's post. Usually for my crafty supplies, I go to Michael's or AC Moore and more recently, a fun run to JoAnn's and Hobby Lobby. But today I decided to use my day off to adventure to a new place.

Like everyone else who wasn't at CHA this year, I've been Twitter stalking crafters as well as companies who were there showcasing new products and projects. (P.S.- If any of you have Twitter, make sure to gimme a follow so I can find you too!) Any who, that is how I found the West Village's store, The Ink Pad.

When I looked on their website, the first photo I saw was one of wall to wall stamps. Well.... that sorta solidified the deal for me. I knew I had to check this place out. The New York Times actually just wrote something about them so please take a look at that too!

I'm a bit stamp obsessed. I am starting to wonder if there is a 12 step program for it, but if I thought I needed to calm down on the buying, The Ink Pad was really the last place I should have gone. As you enter the store, you are immediately hit by wall to wall rubber stamps. They are everywhere. I think I heard angels above me singing their hymn of praise as the small voice in my head of my mother started groaning about all the money I was about to spend.

The thing about this store is that it's cozy. Being a bit on the small side, one has to really pace themselves, especially if this is your first time. (Uh, Hello?) So I took each section one by one. I think I was in there for over an hour easily.

Now I wasn't sure how comfortable the ladies who worked there would have been if they saw me taking pictures of everything (even though they were the nicest women ever) so these pictures are kind of on the covert side. Please go to The New York Times gallery for waaaaay nicer photos of the place.

MINE! ALL MINE!

Hello sensory overload

 What I like about places like this is that it forces you to really look at merchandise. While they had so many products from companies I recognized, there were so much new stuff I had never even see or heard of. They also had Copics! And surprisingly, so many Memento colored ink pads! I know those are the best pads to use with Copics but I have never seen any other colors besides black and while that's the most used color for stamps, this place had a crap load. I grabbed four- Lover Letter, Rich Cocoa, Gray Flannel, and Toffee Crunch. Then I saw the Distress Ink section and I found a shade of green (Mowed Lawn) I had never even seen! So you know I had to grab that. Then I decided to allow myself to purchase some stamps even though I felt myself coming up on my spending limit.

I was good though, I promise.

I found a section of Magnolia stamps and I've seen such beautiful cards with them so I bought two adorable images.

My haul for the day.

The article in the paper mentioned how people from all over would stop in and true to their word, a family from the UK came in while I was perusing. They seemed just as in awe as I was. They did however spend a lot of time in the NY stamp section and I just had to chuckle to myself when one of the girls started asking her brother/boyfriend (?) for extra money because she didn't anticipate how much she was going to spend.

Welcome to my world.

I did leave with a promise to return. Stores like this nestled in NYC is really one of the reasons why I love this city sometimes. You never know when you're going to find a hidden treasure.