Pasta Point of No Return

Wow, what a day! I went and did some shopping around looking for hex shaped cookie cutters and a pasta machine. I never did find hex shaped cookie cutters; I may have to go online to get some of those. But then, that's if I even decide to go the cookie cutter method after all.

What I did find today though was a crazy deal on a pasta machine and a whole pile of Fimo soft poly clay.

The day started with a trip to Fairview Park Mall only to find out that the Castle & Barnes housewares store that used to be there is gone. Since I was at the mall, I decided to check out Wal-Mart; that was a bust, but unsurprisingly so.

From there I headed to Sunrise Shopping Centre at the opposite end of Kitchener and checked out Benix & Co. - who were having an inventory clearance sale, Bulk Barn - who does carry cake decorating and candy making equipment and supplies, and finally Linens & Things; that trip turned out 0 for 3.

I passed by S.T.O.P. restaurant supply; but they're closed on Sundays. So being in the area, I decided to check out Herrschnerrs craft shop. My wife, Carrie was with me, and I knew she'd be happy to check out yarns, and stuff; so it seemed like a good idea.

Was it ever a good idea! Due to poor demand, Herrschnerrs stopped carrying Fimo poly clay, and related equipment. However, they still had a couple of used pasta machines in the back room that they used for craft classes they provide; they sold me one for ten dollars. At their cheapest, such pasta machines are thirty dollars; usually, up here in Canada, they tend to go for forty or more. That was a great deal in itself; but it got better.

Although they returned most of their Fimo stock to the manufacturer; they still had a small stock of it left in their clearance area. They had a bunch of the standard 56g blocks on sale for twenty-five cents, and a few large 350g blocks on sale for around six dollars. Around here, these packages sell for around three dollars, and seventeen dollars respectively. I started off with just a few blocks of Fimo, 'cause I didn't have a whole lot of money to spend. But in passing, while the cashier - who I guess is also the manager or some such - was starting to ring up our purchase, I asked if she'd make me a deal on cleaning them out of their entire stock of Fimo clay. Since they no longer carry the product, I figured that she'd probably be receptive to not having to have this little remaining bit in inventory. My hunch was right; she offered to sell me the remaining stock for just a couple dollars more than the few blocks she had already rung in at their already discounted price.

All in all, I got five large blocks of Fimo Soft in varying colors, and at least fifteen of the small blocks mostly in yellow, but with a few other colors also, all for less than twenty-five dollars. Essentially, I got over $130 worth of Fimo for a bit over twenty bucks; that's a frikkin' deal.

It's true, not all of the colors of the clay are quite what I would have chosen in thefirst place; but colors of Fimo clay can be mixed to create new colors, so I'm sure it'll work out in the long run. Besides, I can use some of the less desirable colors as underlying build-up layers to be covered by the finish layers on many of the scuplted pieces; or failing that, I can keep it for other crafts that I might decide to do with my young son Alex.

The colors of Fimo that I have now have put me in a position that I can probably starting planning and building some of the game pieces - the roads, settlements, and cities - for the game.

The project is really taking on a sense of definitive reality now that there's more going on than just cute little graphics.