Paper Products
My tolerance level for shopping tends to max out in 2 hours or 3 stores, whichever comes first. This sounds very much like a rule so I have to admit to exceptions: run-away days devoted to exploring boutiques, galleries, and antique shops; garden centers in the spring; and, any time of the year, bookstores. Office supply stores are another place where I usually lose track of time and almost always find something nifty.
I guess I just have a thing for paper products. Whites, brights, pastels, construction, photo, sketching, notebooks, notepads, posterboard, cardstock, matte, glossy, lined, plain, linen, textured, tracing, graph, newsprint, filler, calendars, index cards, labels, and envelopes. All of which cry out for accessories: binders, dividers, file folders, portfolios, clips, fasteners, cutters, rulers, containers, clipboards. Implements for writing and drawing come in so many tempting varieties: fine line, medium point, washable marker, gel, glitter, crayon, colored pencils, No. 2 lead, pastels, dry erase, permanent markers, drafting, and watercolor.
Perhaps the appeal is that every piece of paper represents a fresh start or a blank slate waiting to just the right words, and every pen or pencil suggests a wide range of creative possibilities.
When I walk into an office supply store, I can't walk out again until I have walked up and down every aisle ... at least once. Cruel and unusual punishment would be sending me in to get one small item at the back of the store with just enough time to walk in and out to the checkout. Rarely do I walk out without buying something. I'm less tempted now after so recently having to sort, pack, and move my accumulated stash, but something new can break down my most determined resistance.
Yesterday, I went shopping for an ink cartridge. What I also bought was a new product that combines the ease of rearranging index cards with the stickiness of traditional Post-its - with lines and colors similar to a floppy disk label. Just what I needed for my closet door to-do list of lists! More possibilities! More stuff for my stash!
I guess I just have a thing for paper products. Whites, brights, pastels, construction, photo, sketching, notebooks, notepads, posterboard, cardstock, matte, glossy, lined, plain, linen, textured, tracing, graph, newsprint, filler, calendars, index cards, labels, and envelopes. All of which cry out for accessories: binders, dividers, file folders, portfolios, clips, fasteners, cutters, rulers, containers, clipboards. Implements for writing and drawing come in so many tempting varieties: fine line, medium point, washable marker, gel, glitter, crayon, colored pencils, No. 2 lead, pastels, dry erase, permanent markers, drafting, and watercolor.
Perhaps the appeal is that every piece of paper represents a fresh start or a blank slate waiting to just the right words, and every pen or pencil suggests a wide range of creative possibilities.
When I walk into an office supply store, I can't walk out again until I have walked up and down every aisle ... at least once. Cruel and unusual punishment would be sending me in to get one small item at the back of the store with just enough time to walk in and out to the checkout. Rarely do I walk out without buying something. I'm less tempted now after so recently having to sort, pack, and move my accumulated stash, but something new can break down my most determined resistance.
Yesterday, I went shopping for an ink cartridge. What I also bought was a new product that combines the ease of rearranging index cards with the stickiness of traditional Post-its - with lines and colors similar to a floppy disk label. Just what I needed for my closet door to-do list of lists! More possibilities! More stuff for my stash!
Labels: creativity, office supplies, paper, shopping
posted by Three Seas | 2:15 PM
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