Happy ending

Things weren't going that well yesterday. I did get the Ikea chair put together but when I opened the desk, I found that I had the wrong legs for the top (even though they had the same "Vika" name). The Ikea instructions also showed a sad man working alone; he was happy when he had a friend helping, so I'll need to find a friend too.
However, everything changed when I went to AAS (Awesome Art Store) for their tent sale on vintage pen nibs. I should now reveal that AAS is Wet Paint Artist Materials in St. Paul. I love them for the care and attention they give to each customer; a child who needs poster board for a science project is as important as the professional artist who needs high-end oils. They're also a lot of fun. I'll have to do another post on Vera, the paper goddess, but as I've said before, if they served beer on Friday nights, it would be my perfect place in St. Paul.
I did pick up a small variety of nibs to play with, but my real find was an old wooden display case for Esterbrook nibs. They had it up for a silent auction, but no one had placed a bid! I walked away with this gem for just $5. Wet Paint manager Darin got the Speedball display (on the right in the picture) which had some amazing graphics of pen nibs. But mine is wood, has a windowed door (on the front) and a small drawer in the back (presumably for boxes of nibs). The marks under each nook are the marks that that particular nib would make. I also picked up 10 old nib boxes just because they were so lovely. Their use will be made clear to me someday, I'm sure.
I don't have the attention span to go browsing through flea markets, but sometimes treasures still come to me!