I should not be left alone in an art supplies store...

I swear my intentions were good when I set out on a lovely walk today to do some brainstorming and pick up one new piece of lino-block. After resolving not to spend any more large sums of money on 'materials' until I have actually sold a piece or two from my current inventory, I should have had the self-discipline to enter the brightly coloured, ‘endless possibilities’ world of an art store without putting the net sum of my last pay check at risk. Unfortunately, I react to brightly coloured tubes of paint the way some people react to shoes. I hadn't even made it to the lino-block section when a stunning column of new, blank cards caught my eye. It was a bit of a frenzy.

I am now in possession of the most beautiful rainbow of pink, yellow, red, and black cardstock (with matching envelopes!) and justifying my purchase by envisioning the vibrant character of my soon-to-open etsy shop.


Still, I feel a bit guilty about breaking my own newly established business guidelines and I think my temporary art store splurge should be cosmically balanced by some other form of restraint. In terms of sacrifice, Starbucks teas are absolutely out of the question, so I might have to get a bit more inventive. Maybe I should handicap myself in the pizza making competition by imposing a stricter budget on my ingredients.

In the end, I'm not going to be too hard on myself for the cards. They certainly have more of a chance of redeeming their cost than most of the stuff I buy and I think the stamps are going to look great on non-white backgrounds. Also, I did exercise some serious restraint with my other item of desire today. I was one adorable whimper away from taking home a three-month-old black lab puppy playing in the pet store.