A day of shopping and laughter

Yesterday was a fun shopping day when Dana, Kathy, and I got together to check out all the newest and coolest things available to us to make art. Kathy wanted to take advantage of the sales at Michaels, while Dana wanted to check out the new one on the east edge of town (Dana and I live on the north central/west part of Wichita). Also, Kathy wanted to go to a scrapbook store in Andover, a little town just east of Wichita. So, it all worked out well.

Kathy picked up Dana on the way to my place, then came to get me.

We took a few minutes to look at our latest art and some projects we want to try from the latest art magazines. Although I didn't get a chance to photograph Dana's art she brought, you can see something Kathy made. Her necklace, earrings, and bracelet all match and she made them. They are spectacular.

It's not long and we are off on our journey.


We took the interstate around town to Michaels, which was our first stop.

People say I am never in photos, so look closely. I took a photo of me in the side mirror!

Here we are at the brand new . . . . What is this store?

I had to back up a bit to get the name in, but yes, it's our newest Michaels.

It was so light inside and the employees were so helpful and knowledgeable, things I never thought I'd say about this chain.

After spending over an hour in the store, Dana is in line to check out. Can you see her head poking over the candy?

Kathy had already checked out and was patiently waiting on me, stuck in line behind a very large order.

At this point, we decided to eat, and not knowing Andover very well, decided on the chicken fried steak Wednesday special at KFC. It had started to rain and we made it inside just prior to the downpour.

Not sure what Dana and Kathy are talking about, but they look intense.

I'd better get over there and start eating. I'm the slowest eater in the world, and they always have to wait on me to finish.

Speaking of waiting, Dana got bored waiting on me to finish my meal, so started snapping artsy shots of their trash.

Yep, I'm still busy eating!

It's still sprinkling when we pull up to the cute scrapbook store located in a strip mall not far from where we ate.

Dana admires the potato vines planted in pots in front of the store

and comments on how much she loves the purple columns.

Inside, the store was light and airy, with tons of room, including a generous space for teaching. There were lots of products, including Tim Holtz and Heidi Swapp items. We had plenty of room to walk and never felt crowded, like in some art stores.

There were scrapbook examples everywhere, and they leaned toward the altered art side of the scrapbook look. I was really impressed and spent quite a bit of time at their clearance rack.

By now the sun had returned and Kathy and Dana went shopping in Sams, while I read one of Kathy's art magazines. That's the bad thing about Sams. You can only take one adult with you in the store at a time. I didn't mind. I blew my "allowance" on art supplies anyway.

Dana showed us an alternate way to get home from Sams. It took us past a row of grain elevators, which should be teeming with activity this time of year.

I love grain elevators in the landscape as much as I love palm trees (I know, they don't grow in KS), so when I see some, I have to take photos.

This is a typical view of the Kansas landscape once you get out of the immediate city.

Once home, I spread everything out that I got. Now granted, Kathy bought the scissors for our play days (far left front) and Dana surprised me with the little hand punch, but everything else on the table cost me just under $20.00. The big ticket item, glass cutting nippers, was not on sale, so I used a 40% off coupon. I'm determined to cut those glass pieces so we can make those fairies under glass, and this way we can experiment with mosaics, too, another thing I've wanted to try forever. The lavender ribbon? ROCKING HORSES! How cute is that?

As I was photographing my haul, I heard my neighbor outside, so asked him if I could borrow his mower (my neighbor Sally's is still not fixed and my lawn was really looking bad). I only mowed the front and side, but pulled a bunch of weeds and laid down cardboard under the pots. Whew, that looks so much better than before, but I'm really tired.

After taking this photo, I went in and put everything away that I purchased, then collapsed, not even getting these photos off my camera. But I'm awake now, and ready for this wonderful art day.

And don't forget. Tomorrow I unveil the first of my disintegration projects. If for some reason you don't know about this project, please visit Seth Apter's blog for details.