Simple Joys Found

I went to Trinoma after class and library time this afternoon to buy some boards and paper for some of my plates. I was thinking of looking for paper twine as well, so I passed by Simple Joys upstairs before going to National Bookstore.

Simple Joys is one of the stores I really love, not for buying (because I’m a stingy little bi@tch), rather for looking at things for inspiration. I first encountered their little store in SM North, and I’ve passed by a lot of times just to look at their products and imagine what I could do with them and how I could replicate them with the materials I had at home. Sometimes I do buy some stuff, particularly before I discovered Wellmanson in Quiapo, like jump rings and special charms and beads that I can’t find anywhere else. I also love this small journal that I bought for 100 pesos: it had white, unruled pages and the hard covers were wrapped in this lovely shade of turquoise embellished with beads and embroidery. The store in Trinoma is a lot bigger, since Simple Joys is combined with Regalong Pambahay and Egg, two more stores I’m so very very in love with for their inspired and inspiring merchandise.

I didn’t find any twine, but while looking at this rack full of felt cut-out shapes, ribbons, stick-ons and ultra-cute mini folders, I saw in one corner… *gasp!* packs of assorted craft stuff for merely… *double gasp!* Fifty Pesos! And these packs contained a LOT. I was so excited that I couldn’t choose which to buy. It also didn’t help that the mini-packs inside were taped together so all I could see were the ones at the front and back. The others were a wild toss. In the end I picked out two to bring home, wondering what they contained.

When I got settled back at home I opened them up and revealed the mysterious contents!

Pack #1 contained:

1 “Antique” Jump rings; 2 Metal end clamps (in silver and gold); 2 Leaf charms; 1 Fish charms; 2 Round wooden beads; 1 Sequin flower pin; 1 Cloth leaves; 2 Elastic nylon string; 1 Acrylic diamond beads;1 Flower charms; 1 Metal stoppers; 1 Brass bells

Pack #2 contained:

2 Head pins; 1 “Antique” Fish hooks; 1 “Antique” FLAT Fish hooks; 1 Round wooden beads; 1 Metal end clamps (gold); 3 Metal stoppers; 2 “Antique” jump rings; 1 Bugle beads; 2 Metal flower beads; 1 Acrylic globe beads

Most of the items had their regular prices attached so I tried computing how much they would cost. The first pack amounted to more than 200! I didn’t bother to compute the second one because I’m sure it’s around that price as well, or at least definitely above 50. Isn’t that so cool??

To some it may be an impulse buy that may not be practical. You pay a meager lunch meal’s worth of money for stuff, and you aren’t exactly sure what they are until you’ve bought and opened them. But for artsy craftsy people like me (or as my boyfriend calls it, “Butingting”) the simple joy–pun intended– of discovering these little things is well worth the price. It’s like a little locked box you found in an antique store that turns out to be a treasure chest. I love it.

My favorite of ’em all: the Fishy charms!