rub out

now, this may not look like much....
just a collection of something from S.C.R.A.P.  (oh, scrap, resource to the resourceful,  let me count the ways...)

But, a few weeks ago when i walked into Flax to pick up my annual supply of transfer letters, the guy looked at me straight on and said,
oh, they stopped making those.  The display we had was the last of it's kind. 

My mouth dropped open. 
Noooooooooooohhhhh!  

WHY does this keep happening?!  I wanted to get on a soapbox and holler:  People! (i imagine i would holler) TYPEWRITERS, VHS PLAYERS, TINY STAPLERS, HAND-CRANKED PENCIL SHARPENERS, BROWNIE CAMERAS, DOVE-TAILED WOODEN BOXES, ELMER'S GLUE, WELL DESIGNED BUTTON CARDS, OLD WOODEN HAND STAMPS, BOOKS, LARGE ROUND CORNERED FLASH CARDS, ALL THESE THINGS are still useful. 
You can't just stop making something all-together or decide to stop fixing that particular thing, as it goes to it's dinosaur-like death.  People use transfer-letters.  They do!

Okay, I DO!

So, someone does...

and there's no way, really, you can't tell me that the rub-on letter inventor-guys decided they weren't cool anymore. 

I re-discovered the ole rub-on letters years ago and, ever since, have continued a one-way love affair.  I use them regularly in card designs, I use them in art work often, and I've done entire pages of text this way for a hand-made book.  Thinking they were gone forever from my grasp,  I remember telling a few friends about it:  Sure, I got weird looks and the repeated question, "People still use those?!"  I was fairly bummed out.

But your lows will have their compliment of highs.

Weeks later, after I've done an on-line search and come up with the most horrible transfer letters and images ever thought of, finding nothing I could possibly use ... I walk into SCRAP, purely unassuming.  I often find something I need like crazy here.  More often than not, it's two or three things.  This trip was on a different level.  I was going with a purpose, for certain finds:  old envelopes, maybe some old paper, a great old stapler and pencil sharpener (all of which I found).  But, never did I imagine coming across this treasure trove.

The pencil lead here is still raw to the touch.  I had stopped using a pencil for transfers when I was a kid -- learning that you don't need to be drawing all that lead out, you can use any hard edge -- but now I'm back, due to this inspiration.  Something extremely satisfying about drawing out the old lead to get a simple black letter.

I love thinking about all the different office people that used these, each one with a different style:  black pen, super hard scratching, pencil led, soft touch, just the outline of the letter, all around the letter.  Then a type I'd never seen: the cut-out-rub-on-letter,

Each envelope was specifically crafted for holding these very important sheets of letters.

Large manila envelopes:  sides split, tops taped, and the fronts clearly labeled.

And, a bonus sheet:

never ending periods, ellipses, or dots galore, however you look at it.
And I'll be looking at this whole bunch of goodness for quite awhile now.