Recent trip goodies

My latest love is rubber stamp and mixed media artist Tim Holtz. I love all his tools and techniques. This summer is they first time I have ever tried something he came out with called Grungeboard! It's a flexible sheet of material that can be painted, inked, hammered, or grunged! It's so much fun. It feel like thin leather, but it's actually paper based. It amazes me because you can't tear it! On a recent trip to Huntington, WV I found several packs of grungeboard, and it was on sale!!! I bought a couple of packs with the sheets of numbers, but with different textures. I also bought a couple of packs with only the texture, and you can use any cutting machine you have such as the Big Shot etc. to cut a shape that you want. Since Tim also came out with this cute little texture hammer for grungeboard I had to have that as well. I love that it comes with various tips to use for different textures. Next was some of Tim's stamps I have had my eye on for a bit, and natureally as soon as I buy these I hear he has just released some new ones that I am also drooling over!
Also, while in the Huntington, WV area my boyfriend surprised me with a little trip over to Kenova, WV where we had lunch at an old time soda fountain. It's been updated over the years, but still has that old time feel, and there's still a real running pharmacy inside! The food was yummy, and looking at the pictures of the area all along the walls was great! I even spotted one of The Pumpkin House, and found out the same man who owns the pharmacy lives in The Pumpkin House. The Pumpkin House is my favorite place to go see near Halloween! Each Halloween there are over 3,000 jack-o-lanterns that cover this house. The designs and creativity are just amazing to see. People from miles away come year after year to see this amazing place! Last year we were even able to take a tour out back which in the fall is set up almost like a production line. Everyone in the family helps out with some aspect of it all, and it's just a dream for a Halloween lover like me!!!