The Thrill of the Hunt (or a Really Good Sale!)

*checks her non-watch*

*heads over to a comfy chair and puts down her shopping*

I’ve had one of those days. You know¦those days where you are looking for something¦but can’t seem to find it, but find a million and a half of other things you forgot you needed?

Yeah, one of those.

And yet, I’m not disappointed. In fact, it’s the kind of thing I almost thrive on! Whether it’s finding that perfect embellishment for a scrapbook page¦.getting the exact shade of blue for some project¦or finding that ideal sale that even the Malfoys can’t snub. It’s simple, yet it’s everything. The THRILL of the HUNT!!!!

It’s something my mom pointed out to me years ago. I’m always more pleased if I’ve been to a dozen places looking for something¦which once I find, I’m over the moon about and feel rather accomplished.

Let’s go with an example from a couple of years ago. I had designed a blanket that I was eager to get started on. However, this blanket was going to require 27 skeins of yarn. TWENTY SEVEN!!! So, in order to keep the overall budget reasonable, I had to sort through my stash to see what I already had, make a list of what I needed, then make a list of the locations to hunt from. (A good hunter is always prepared.)

I checked on that Muggle internet thing for local sales at the larger store. Then I started at the store I knew to be the most expensive and worked my way from there. At each store, I made a note of what colors were available and the price along with any sale. Confident in my math (or at least a Muggle calcamather), I printed off my coupons, and spent 2 more days making my purchases.

In the end, I saved over $10 in supplies because of my prep. I also nearly gave my own mum a heart attack when she saw the yarn bags (they had been hiding in my car until I purchased all of them to make sure I didn’t buy doubles).

And for me, the best part? Not so much on the money saving (though that was a bonus)¦but the THRILL of the HUNT! Popping in to each shop to perform a Ravenclaw worthy assessment on my purchases BEFORE I made them made the hunt that much more fun.

Sometimes, it’s not about the sale though¦it’s all about finding something that you, or someone you know is looking for¦ Like when all the yarn shops in your area get rid of one of your top five colors¦but someone who lives a few hundred miles away finds some and sends it to you. It’s an AH-HA moment to make someone’s perfection!

So go forth, you of the crafty kind, seek out that which you and others are looking for!!! That perfect piece to make crafty perfection!!!

Crafty Witch Princess Amber (a.k.a. hp5freak)