Ikea: land of wondrous distractions....

[fajrdrako]

I just got back from a trip to Ikea. I had no need for furniture or lamps or anything major, though my friends did. And believe me, there was a sofa or two I could be persuaded to love. I needed a dish-rack and a saucepan. I got a saucepan, two semitransparent blue plastic trays, placemats, a lamp lit by tea candles (for the next big blackout), and a toilet brush.

And I had a wonderful time browsing. I love stuff there, even when it's things I wouldn't want to put in any house - like a bookshelf in the shape of a check-mark. Shelving, I adore good shelving - oh for a dozen sets of good bookshelves - and a place to put them!

I ran into an old friend named Shelley. "Phone me," she said. "E-mail me." She is a friend I have been planning or hoping to invite over for dinner for about two decades now. (Friends who haven't been invited over for a mere two or three years may cease to feel neglected, reading that.) This time I mean it. Can't e-mail her, I don't have her address, but a phone call is a real possibility.

I went into Michaels and swooned over their rubber stamping books. What is it that makes me love the art of rubber stamps so well? I make many greeting cards and gift tags and the like; pretty rudimentary stuff; I don't take the time to do anything ambitious. But how I love to see it. I was on a rubber-stamp mailing list for a while and loved seeing the terrific things people have made.

Another joy was discovering how good the food in the Ikea cafeteria is. I had an open-face egg and shrimp sandwich. Brings a smile to my face, really.

I had to think of "Fight Club", where the Narrator is referred to as "Ikea-boy". I can really relate.

Comments

[dargie.livejournal.com]

Mmmm, I adore Ikea! Try their Swedish meatballs someday. And I am SO going to get Ikea bookcases when I redo this place.

Rubberstamping, too? Girl, you and I were born to be friends.

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

I was looking at the ad for the Swedish meatballs at Ikea. Very tempting indeed.

As for rubber stamps - d'you think it's one of those secret vices we shouldn't talk about? (g)

[dargie.livejournal.com]

As for rubber stamps - d'you think it's one of those secret vices we shouldn't talk about? (g)

Depends. How resistant are you to expressions of total, glazed boredom on the faces of your friends? LOL

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

....Well, if the subject is medieval history, I can go on for ages before their dazed tuning-out registers. It's probably the same with rubber stamps!

[gem225.livejournal.com]

I've never been to Ikea, but now I want to go. I hope there's one near me, and I'm glad that you had such a good time. :-)

Sorry about the deleted comment. I got confused somehow and thought that you'd taken a quiz that you hadn't. My brain is not working as well as it might, but dinner will help.

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

Yeah, dinner's a great thing. Usually.

I recommend Ikea. I know people whose great ambition in life is to progress from Ikea stuff to 'real' furniture, but I do love Ikea. It's so creative; it has a sense of fun and inventiveness and sheer practicality.

[leela-cat.livejournal.com]

Interior decor by Ikea sounds exactly like my place. Walls lined with Ikea bookcases, except where the windows get in the way. Although one of the windows has a pair of low bookcases running below it.

My biggest problem with Ikea is all of the people you have to maneouvre around to get anywhere.

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

Yes, the problem with manoevering around people is a constant. Bumping carts and all. Not to mention squalling children.

In some ways though - if you aren't in a hurry - it's part of the fun.

I love their soft furnishings too.

[jfc013.livejournal.com]

Gotta second the vote for the meatballs. Sometimes it's the only reason I go to IKEA. The lingonberry juice is also yummy. Last time we hit one was in Pittsburgh, and we got a toy tent (that now houses most of our Beanie Babies) and a chair consisting of inflatable plastic cylinders in a silver fabric cover. It's bizarre! I loooove IKEA!

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

Lingonberry juice? I missed that one! Quick, I hafeta go back!

Toy tents: they had one this time shaped like a medieval castle. I longed for it just as I would have when I was five years old.

[dargit.livejournal.com]

We were at "Linen Chest" and bought ourselves a new colander. We then could not resist wandering into Ikea. I also could not resist the "Singoalla" cookies. You know, the ones with the raspberry jam? *sigh* cursed place!

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

We do seem to frequent the same places, don't we? Too bad we didn't run into each other! No, I'm not familiar with the "Singoalla" cookies. I take it you'd recommend them?

Yeah, cursed & wonderful place.

Rubber stamping

[moonchildetoo.livejournal.com]

I was into rubber stamping for years, bigtime. I liked that it let me be creative without actually having to draw (which I can't do). I used to make my own Xmas cards, etc., and I used the stamps on the letters I wrote to my snail mail penpals, of which I had many all over the place, long pre-Net. I used to go to the rubber stamp conventions (the first ones were local in SoCal, now they have 'em all over) and spent a fortune. I had a good sized collection of Egyptian stamps in particular. My total collection at its largest was over 100 stamps (most gone in "the fire"). But when I stopped actually writing letters (or should I say, typing them), I just stopped using and collecting, because I had nothing to use them on. I still love the idea of stamping, but.....

Re: Rubber stamping

[terdrako.livejournal.com]

I liked that it let me be creative without actually having to draw

Yes, that's a large part of the appeal. I too used to have a lot of penpals and wrote decorated letters to them. Decorated the envelopes, too. Since the Net - not so much. I envy your Egyptian collection! I have a Horus stamp that I love. The first one I ever got, I got at San Diego Comic Con - a drawing of a figure by Mobius (Jean Giraud).

I use them now on greeting cards and in wrapping presents, mostly. I have thought about designing a collage or poster but haven't actually done it.