the ever elusive craft punch

thanks for your responses, guys! I feel better about blogging now...hahaha.

so onto a completely unrelated and random post:

I was browsing through Martha Stewart Crafts one bored & lonely night in Taiwan; I think I was trying to find inspiration for decorating ideas for a personal bakery business out of my kitchen, or maybe the crafts I saw gave me inspiration to start that personal bakery business... either way, I watched a video and totally fell in love with this paper punch:

This punch-around-the-page craft punch comes as a set of two punches -- one for the corner, and one for the edges. When I saw this design, I immediately had a whole color scheme, font, and even a menu to complement this for my bakery business, and I couldn't help but start planning out how I could use cardstock and ribbon on paper boxes to package some shortbread cookies and macaroons.

As soon as I got back to California, I headed out to my nearest Michael's to buy this punch, but to my disappointment, they didn't carry it. They were completely sold out of the "double loops", which at that time I had thought was the name of this paper punch! I kindly asked the cashier to ask other Michaels stores in the area if they carried it, and 10/10 were literally sold out of that particular punch! They carried dozens and dozens of other designs, and this one happened to be the only one sold out! Sigh. After copying down the barcode number thingy, I went home sad, and proceeded to call up at least 10 other Michaels stores in LA. NONE of them carried it, and all of them didn't know when they would get a new shipment. I also couldn't find that punch on the martha stewart craft online store, and Michaels doesn't sell items online :(

Last week, I went up to Boston with Sam. I made a special request to visit Michaels, and to my disappointment yet again, they were sold out of that particular one! I called some other Michaels, and one store had JUST one left!!! They told me they could only hold it for me till the end of the day, and Sam graciously drove me out of the way of where we were heading just to pick up this punch! As soon as I got into the store, I randomly bumped into a HS friend (who attended MIT and who I haven't seen in 4 years ... SO WEIRD). I walked towards the cashier with my heart beating fast, and she handed me the paper punch set ......... which turned out to be the wrong design!!!! I had gotten the name wrong this whole time! The punch I wanted was loops, not double loops. Fail. I walked out of that store with a bashful defeated grin on my face, empty-handed, and we proceeded to drive to our destination, now 20 minutes late with nothing to show for it...

But, my friends, the story has a happier ending! I was actually going to email Martha herself that night to tell her how hard I tried to find this paper punch and how much I needed it in hopes that she would just mail me a set for free (cuz she's awesome like that), but I think God heard my prayers first. I checked the Martha Stewart craft store again, and lo' and behold!!!!! The Loops Craft Punch!!!!!! On SALE! I quickly ordered a set and all-too-excitedly told Sam how happy I was to have finally found it!!! I picked up the package today, and lemme tell you....online pictures and videos don't do justice for how freaking awesome this punch makes a piece of paper look. It's so beautiful. I can't get over it.

You all can probably expect any card you receive from me from now on (thank you / birthday / get well) to have this fun, cute, yet elegant border on the paper. ^___^ And now, in addition to a new kitchen scale I just bought, I feel like I can finally launch the personal-out-of-kitchen-bakery-business (of which I have yet to find a name...).

There was no real point to this post. I'm just really happy. :D