The theme at AAA cards is a design along the Edge featuring your Country. Click through and take a look at all of the great cards from the Design Team.
I knew I had tucked away some new America papers & Stickers from Echo Park, so I pulled them out to design my card.
I used this week's Freshly Made Sketch for my layout.
One of my favorite Independence Day photos of me from my childhood that was published in the local newspaper ... swimming pools and watermelon.
No cardmaking this weekend because I was off to a long weekend in Kansas City with my Sister.
Our annual sunglasses in the car photo.
We had fun exploring thrift stores, used book stores, and anywhere else that caught our eye. And of course we had amazing food.
She remembered some amazing mussels we had on one of our prior trips at a modern French restaurant, the Westport Café.
The memory did not disappoint (we made sure and spoon up ever bit of that amazing curry broth) ... they were absolutely delicious. We also had raw oysters, escargot and fun little salmon-on-waffle bites.
The next morning she introduced me to McLain's Bakery where we shared salmon toast and wonderful pastries.
That night I made a mistake and failed to get reservations ... there was a volleyball tournament in town and they were filling-up everywhere we tried. We finally found a table at Mesob Ethiopian Restaurant that we followed-up with the fabulous new Ice Cream Flights at Betty Rae's Ice Cream.
She got Betty's Adventure and I got Betty's Favorites, so we could try 12 different flavors ... and they were all amazing (don't worry, we couldn't come close to finishing it all).
I didn't make the same mistake Sunday night and got us a reservation at Grunauer Austrian-German Restaurant.
We shared a stuffed schnitzel with cheesy spaetzle and red cabbage and then topped it off with the scrumptious Apple Strudel with whapped cream.
There was also lots of game playing including Codenames Duo, Big Boggle, Scrabble and Rolling Across America.
I miss her already but am so very grateful for the time we got to spend together.
My sister's favorite color is purple and in a few weeks I'll be joining her as Matron of Honor at her purple wedding ... I can't wait.
So of course, I had to join the Purple Challenge at Addicted to CAS.
I paired the new Essentials by Ellen Cup of Cheer stamps with a sentiment from Essentials by Ellen Bear Ware Grand Tour to turn it into a Purple wedding celebration design.
I added a little marker coloring and decided to go all-in Purple with a purple card base.
I did a trial run of my nails for the wedding this weekend ... I love the glittery sparkle.
We've enjoyed almost a full two week vacation and now we must return to reality. We took a westward road trip to see our Nephew get married in the mountains of Colorado.
Our first overnight was in Grand Island, Nebraska where we enjoyed an early supper at Kinkaider Brewing Company.
Then we walked around downtown enjoying the painted wings #wingsacrosstheheartland
And buying some fun new art - a Mary Kolar Bad Hair Day Mask.
The wedding was in a beautiful outdoor mountain setting near where my Nephew had proposed.
We spent the day enjoying a hike along the river.
After another day visiting with family, we headed eastward again for a few days in Kansas City. This was our view for miles & miles.
We tried staying in the Crossroads Art District this time at the Crossroads Hotel and enjoyed the neighborhood (except for the horrible road construction). Thankfully it was mostly walkable and we enjoyed all of the outdoor art.
We took the opportunity to check out some new-to-us Museums. We started at the World War I Museum and learned so much.
Next we explored the Negro League Baseball Museum and the American Jazz Museum (where the memories of our High School Band Director taking us to see Count Basie play were strong).
Our final museum was the small but sufficiently funky Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art. Our favorite exhibit was Rafael Lozano-Hemmer's Pulsa Topology - a room full of hanging light bulbs where you held your hand near a sensor and it picked-up your pulse and made the lights flash in rhythm.
Our favorite meal was at the Grünauer. I must learn to make the Käsespätzle.
But alas it's back to reality. I have missed traveling so much; it felt so good to get out for a bit and see the world.
This week's Waffle Flower Challenge is Travel Around the World.
For me travel is almost always (at least in part) about the food, so I chose three images from the Waffle Flower Food Adventure Set that are foods my Sister and I love to share when we travel (because even though I recently spent a week with her, I miss her already).
I added a sentiment from Waffle Flower Sisterhood and stamped them both in ombre shades of yellow/gold for the Addicted to CAS Ombre Challenge.
Sisters ... nothing better than food-loving sisters.
It feels like forever since I shared a travel post. We just returned from Time in Missouri for a visit with my family.
The trip began with a Sister Day in Springfield, Missouri. We started with breakfast at Van Gogh's Eatery. I had a beautifully crafted Coconut Milk Chai to start my meal ... admire those layers. In the background is my sister's Speculoos Latte.
After discovering Liege Waffles on a prior vacation in Ohio, I always order them when they are on the menu and these did not disappoint.
And our awesome waitress helped us out with a sister photo.
And of course, there always has to be the annual sunglasses in the parked car picture.
Later in the trip, we enjoyed a morning walk round Carthage, Missouri including hanging out with famous Carthaginian Merlin Perkins (we always used to watch Wild Kingdom with my grandparents).
There was also a newly installed mural Downtown that honored Perkins and other family individuals from the City ... as well as honoring the City's Heritage and six of its famous artists.
And the Carthage Marble Courthouse is iconic (the Marble was originally mined just outside the City).
We had one more sister day before the trip was through. We enjoyed exploring the thrift stores where you never know quite what you might find.
We had lunch at a newer restaurant the Beast & Barrel.
My sister is a Stout aficionado (having a Yeti at a Sasquatch themed restaurants seemed appropriate). I enjoyed their house-made Pineapple Honey Lavender Soda.
And one dish we always enjoy sharing are the Mussels.
And if you're ever in the neighborhood, make sure you try the Caramel Apple Bread Pudding.
And of course, we couldn't end our time together without some Snapchat filter Sister fun.
It was so great to see, laugh with and hug family again.
I’ve been enjoying a few days away visiting with family.
Yesterday we had a pizza picnic in the park with my sister, Mom and her Mom (my Gran). I sure hope I have those genes.
The first assignment in Wanderlust 2021 was called Reflections ... a great way to start the new year. I followed the video and written instruction to do each of the steps in the process.
I started with free-form scribbling. I decided to start with a single page layout in my journal since it seemed more do-able to start & I thought it would work better with the focal point photo I had chosen to feature.
After Scribbling came more scribbling. I purchased some new Pastel Pencils (you knew there would be new art supplies involved) and had fun scribbling in purple.
Next came liquid glue and collage papers ... I chose random pages from several different dictionaries focusing on words that inspired me. I also chose a stencil from my stash for the next step.
I would have never thought to put a blob of paint right on my page to use for stenciling, but I loved the effect. I also added more blue pencil for a different color. I think I would like to create again stopping here ... love how all of the elements work together at this point, but I pushed onward.
Next we covered large portions of the page with paint. I chose a gold transparent paint because I decided I wanted more of my base to show through.
Next I added my focal point - a scan of Photo Booth pictures my sister & I took in Kansas City 5 years ago on our very first Thanksgiving Adventure ... we had so much fun on that trip. I even went back and watched the video online of us in the booth ... it just made my heart happy.
I added white paint and then went back and added more stenciling to pull the purple to the top. I decided I needed words, so I added some song lyrics from Pink! and another small sticker. I finished by using my fingers to add a bit more white & gold paint and some more blue pencil.
For me, one of the hardest thing about this type of art is knowing when to stop, so I quite and let it all dry.
It was an incredibly freeing process to have my fingers covered in paint. I'm happy I decided to take this adventure in 2021.
I'm finishing-up my Mother's Day cards to get them in the mail ... and this week's Little Red Wagon Challenge is all about Maaama!
Thanks to some enabling from Chris Dayton, I purchased some new Dies from Gina Marie Designs. I love this Art Deco Fan Background ... so lovely and versatile. I die cut it from a piece of watercolor paper that I had sprayed with a combination of Distress Oxide Sprays and I placed it over a lacy designer paper.
I added a trio of purple flowers and retired Simon Says Stamp Sentiment stamps on a scrap of the lacy paper. This one will take some extra postage to mail, but it's worth it for the recipient to have a year 'round bouquet.
I took my inspiration from The Card Concept {Hello Spring} Challenge.
My friend Sam (@samvandesigns at Instagram) is continuing her Use My Stuff Challenge with a theme of Flowers this week ... these vintage Prima Flowers are happy to have a home. #umschallenge #umschallengefloral
