Such Generosity

Zach and I spent Sunday afternoon hanging out with our friends Seth and Nancy and their little boy Levi. While we were there, Nancy mentioned she had to stop by a neighbor's house for a few minutes to check out her rubber stamp collection. I guess this woman has been rubber stamping for over twenty years but recently decided it was time to let it go. As you can imagine, her collection was quite immense. But instead of selling it, she decided to give it away to friends and family. Nancy was nice enough to invite me to tag along. Knowing my creative bent, she figured I might find something I could use too.

So off we headed up the street to visit the magical land of rubber stamps. Unfortunately her neighbor wasn't there, but her super nice husband was (probably the nicest stranger I've ever met.) and her dog (close second), who greeted us exuberantly on the front stoop. We were given free reign of the collection which had been neatly organized and left for us to peruse in the living room. As soon as we laid eyes on everything, it was like a circuit popped in my brain and I forgot who I was. I just started poking through all the drawers saying stuff like, "Look at this one!" and "Do you think Levi would like this one?" It was one of the most amazing personal collections of craft supplies I'd seen. Not only did this woman have stamps but she also had stamp pads (in ever color of the rainbow), decorative paper (I'm nothing if not a lover of paper.), glue, stickers, grommets and grommet punches. Plus more that I'm sure I've forgotten from the craft-laden haze that fell over me. Looking back on it, I feel guilty for taking anything because Nancy's neighbor doesn't even know me. But I'm going to send her a little package via Nancy to thank her for her extreme generosity. We asked her husband if we could pay for the items but he said no, his wife just wanted them to go to a good home. I tell you...the nicest people ever!

Here's a list of what I got:
- 12 rubber stamps (including a lovely botanical-themed set that almost looks hand drawn)
- 3 full-size stamp pads, plus a stamp pad collection of 12 mini pads in earth tones
- 1 package of mini manilla envelope tags
- 1 Zig glue pen
- 1 package of Mullberry paper

I'm not exactly sure what Nancy ended up with (probably because of that popped circuit and the resulting craft fog), but I know we found a lot of fun foam kid stamps, some stickers (Levi is lovin' stickers right now), and lots of paper and envelopes.

So that wraps up my rubber stamping field trip with Nancy. Have any of you ever scored some great craft supplies? Or maybe it was home decor items or furniture? Do tell!