Polly The Voyeur

It's funny where inspiration comes from; for the past year or so I have been 'stalking' a website in the States called Papertrey Ink. By stalking I mean that I have been hanging around on the peripheries looking in; something like the behaviour expected from the common-or-garden peeping Tom!

I am not a voyeur; so really the analogy doesn't hold water, though it does give some idea of my ridiculous antics. Papertrey Ink make and sell the most divine products; including stamp sets, which of course would be perfect for my card making business. Best of all their copyright policy is simple; it actually encourages people to make stuff for resale, providing this is done entirely by hand and by the purchaser/intended recipient.

So, why on earth have I been behaving like a social deviant; instead of just hopping in and placing an order? Simply put this is because of the ridiculous postal charges. To make placing any order worthwhile; I believe that it is best to place a large order whereby the cost becomes an inclusive part of the order rather than a big shock to the purse! Let's face it folks, whose purse can absorb shocks at the best of times?

Anyway, some time ago I plucked up the courage to join the Papertrey Ink Forum and discovered that not only are the products gorgeous; but so are the people that use them. I have been drooling over pictures of various projects displayed on the various designer's blogs for months now and have been so inspired by them. Even taking into account that I have what I often refer to as a pile of c@%? in my stamp drawers; I have to be objective and admit that what I already have is what appealed to me at the time of purchase and that it represents the best of what was available.

Don't get me wrong now; I don't actually hate the stuff that I have already spent a fortune acquiring, it's just that Papertrey Ink products make it look amateurish by comparison. It is a sad fact that while stamping, card making and scrap booking have at long last taken off in this country; we are very much subjected to the attentions of one company in particular whose monopoly on the market reflects the amount of interest in the hobby in general.

A very dear friend of my Mom's could not believe her ears, when only two years ago in August 2006 I told her that craft supply shops were few and far between in this country. In turn I could not believe my ears when she told me about the situation in the UK; where there is an abundance of such shops springing up all over the place. If only this were the case here in Ireland! Still, at least I have been able to admire my favourite stamping products from afar...

Only last week I received my regular newsletter and having dealt with my financial issues last month, I decided to jump right in and place the long dreamt about order. So on Friday evening I went shopping. Along with the five stamp sets, I ordered some six hundred custom labels, two spools of ribbon amounting to 10 yards of the stuff, and ten packs of their Clearly Creative Card Boxes.

The postage amounted to $50.80; though $10.00 of that was later refunded. Today is Wednesday; a mere five days since placing the order and yet when I heard the dogs barking this morning I just knew that Mr Postie had a parcel for me. Guess what? He did, I was right and LB and I ripped it open excitedly within seconds of taking possession of it!

Everything ordered was there; beautifully wrapped in tissue paper, with screwed up paper as filler in between each item. The invoice was hand checked and the deduction in the postage marked in red by a human hand. Also included was a compliments slip, printed up in the distinctive colour scheme used by PAPERTREYink thanking me for my valued business and hoping that they exceed expectations in quality and service! So far, so good...

I am dyeing(sic) to get going; so that I can join in on their forum and present my own inspired projects for all the world to see. I logged in and frantically checked to see if I was too late for this months challenge; which of course I am, but I was delighted to find that my new cyber friend Claire had joined in. For a relative newcomer to the art of stamping this girlie from Antrim is prolific; in terms of what she has produced, her new blog and also her contribution to the forum.

So, maybe next month you'll be seeing the BlogHop logo on this blog along with details of what I have made as my contribution to the PapertreyInk monthly challenge. Meanwhile why not check out what Claire did to her CD case; (it's called Altered Art!)