A crocodile rockin' birthday

My dear hubby had a birthday last week and this is the little card I made him to go along with his gift of Elton John tickets.
I knew I wanted to use this clever saying but also knew, even with my ever growing stash of stamps, that I didn't have a stamp to go with it.
Time was limited so I couldn't order a stamp, I looked high and low on digi stamp sites but still no luck. Getting desperate, I typed crocodile/alligator birthday coloring page into the search engine and look what I found! Perfect.

So whether your a frugal stamper on a tight budget or just can't seem to find what you are looking for, remember to search the free coloring pages online. There are oodles of them. Just shrink to the size you need.

Happy Stamping!

Free cupcakes!

Did you know there is a fantastic cupcake store right next to our favorite scrapbook store?

Cake Hope Love is next to The Paper Cottage and they have DELISH cupcakes! What's better than cupcakes? Free cupcakes!

Now through March 2, you can earn a free cupcake for each bottle of new nail polish you bring in. (Limit 6) CHL is helping the Polished Girls charity... Organization of girls who paint the nails of hospital patients among others. If you bring in 6 polishes, they will also give you a Polished Girls nail polish while supplies last.

Below are two pics:
One I found on Pinterest that are nail polish made of marshmallows and Tootsie Rolls. I sent this to CHL as an idea for cupcake toppers.

The second are the 6 cupcakes I bought for my hubby's birthday last week. They had "man-cakes". Choc cupcakes with choc covered bacon...to die for! I also recommend the buckeye one.

So stop by The Paper Cottage for a few of my new kits, then head on over to Cake Hope Love...don't forget the nail polish!

Just add stamps!

What's better than finding the perfect card layout? Having someone else find it, cut all the paper and baggie it up! That someone is me so today is your lucky day.

Ever need a quick card and not feel like dragging out 3 sheets of paper, paper trimmer, scissors , ribbon, punches, etc? Then you will love my "just add stamps" kits.
I do all the prep work, you just glue it together and find a stamp in your stash to use on the white paper provided.
If the white paper is too big, simple trim it and the mat.
This week, I will have a St Patricks Day "just add stamps" and a few other generic ones at The Paper Cottage.

Happy Stamping!

Valentine Innocence

I'll keep this post short and sweet so you can hang out with your sweetie today.
This is a copy of the Valentine class I had at The Paper Cottage. I used the Pure Innocence stamps and some 2013 Valentine paper from our favorite store.

Now get off the computer or phone & snuggle!

Valentine, s'more the best!

Tomorrow is Valentines Day... Do you still need a treat? This one is super easy to make. All you need is:

Red curling ribbon
Bags
Scissors
Hershey bars
Graham crackers
Peeps brand marshmallow hearts
Tags with "valentine, s'more the best!"

Peeps brands make shapes for every holiday. They used to be so easy to find at the store... Now thanks to Pinterest, everybody is buying them.

S'more Valentines tomorrow!

Shamrock Bear

It's been a long time since I've made a tear bear. But since I'm in a Lucky St. Paddy's day kinda mood, I decided to give it a whirl. I couldn't find my pattern anywhere (I really gotta organize my scrappy stuff better). I grabbed a pen & some white cardstock and proceeded to draw some sloppy circles and ovals.

So if anyone is wondering, the pattern is my own and not scrap lifted...sometimes you just have to add those blurbs so the scrappy police don't get their knickers in a snit...

Even though my pattern is far from perfect, I still made a pretty cute bear. I always have trouble with the eyes. I don't have the right size or style punch. Much to my delight, there is a free download for printable bear eyes on the bearyscrap.com website. I printed, cut, glued, and finally put a thin layer of glossy accents over them.

It's also been a long time since I've made any card kits so I cut 10 extra of everything, copied my lopsided pattern, and the kits are made.

I'll be dropping them off on Tuesday to The Paper Cottage along with 24 candy bar wrapper kits, and the long forgotten "Just add stamps" kits. --if you forget what they are, stay tuned til tomorrow on the blog.

Happy Tearing!

Let it snow??

No! Make it stop. This Ohio weather is nuts! 60 degrees and 24 hours later we've got 4 inches of snow!
I'm going backwards in time to show you a class I taught in January at the Paper Cottage.
I call this a lick em and stick em class. I had everything cut and all you had to do was assemble them. It was a laid back relaxing morning to make 6 cards. I thought the colors were masculine enough to use as a mans winter birthday card. They were blank so they could be used for anything.
I'm sharing these "oldies" because the layouts can be used with any paper line. I know you ladies like layering!

Smooches!

I know Valentines day is just around the corner so what a great time to tell you about a stamp line that The Paper Cottage carries: Paper Smooches.
They are simply adorable! AND super easy to color.
The card in this post was actually colored by my 9 year old and used as her Christmas Thank you notes. She made over a dozen of them. She did pretty good using the Copics.

I introduced her to the liquid appliqué. Well we did it after a quick trip to Michaels. I lost my heat gun! I tore my scrap room apart and the sucker was nowhere. So I bought another one. I'm sure it will turn up now.
To use liquid appliqué, you sqiggle it on and heat it with your heat gun until it bubbles up. Be careful to remove the heat after it bubbles or it resembles a burn marshmallow... Which is great for a s'more card but not for snow.
After it hardened, we topped it with some Stickles. The saying was "Thanks snow much".
Happy Stamping!

Feeling Lucky?

I've had a pretty good run of luck lately. At least I have at my church bingo. 3 times in one night is REALLY good for me!

March will be here before we know it so I guess it's not too early for St Pattys day stuff.

I work 3rd shift at my "real" job so here I am at 3:30 am on my night off looking through Pinterest and pinning green things.
I found a candy bar wrapper similar to this one and made one with my own twist. I pretty much just used a scallop punch for the beard and a bunch of different sized circles for the face, eyes, and nose.

These would be cute for a preschool class that goes on a leprechaun hunt or for coworkers who are lucky enough to get to work with YOU!
Happy Stamping!!

Totally 80s

I'm hopping into my time machine again and transporting you back to September. This party was too fun not to share.
Abby turned 9 and she wanted an 80s theme party which was totally fun to plan because I got to revisit my childhood.
Steve got involved in the planning by making an 80s CD for her invitations. (See picture below for the cover-starring Abby)
We had totally RAD party bags, played the MASH game, watched the Thriller video, and danced with glow sticks in our black-lit family room.
I made her cake with one of those Chechen board cake pans I bought at michaels. Really easy but loads of work coloring all the different batters.
Thanks to Pinterest, I made a faux fondant icing that was super easy.
To frost: put a thin crumb coat of icing on the cake and pop it in the freezer for about 5-10 minutes. Then frost the cake, kinda thick on the icing and place back in the freezer until the icing sets up and hardens. Then take a paper towel and begin smoothing out the top, sides, and edges. It turned out relatively well for my first attempt. We finished the cake by splattering colored powdered sugar/water glaze so it looked like graffiti.
The girls had so much fun as did the moms who dressed them up in 80s costumes-wonder who raided their own closets???
We're already kicking around themes for 2013!!

Ascension Craft Show

I participated in my first craft show this past fall. It was at my church. I had no idea what to expect and got started making things a little late. It was still more successful than I had ever hoped.
I made loads of cards and about 10 each of smaller paper crafts. Mostly cute stocking stuffer type items. They went like hot cakes.
I will post a few of the projects in upcoming posts. It's never too early to start Christmas projects.
I also made my Pizzelle cookies. My local crafty friends will remember these flat waffle cookie from the Simply open houses. My daughter helped me make 16 dozen (2 at a time in a cookie iron) in an afternoon.
I can't believe it's already Feb... I better get moving on this years projects!

Tri shutter mini book

Here is another example of the mini book I'm teaching on 2/9. I made this one as part of a baby gift for an out of town friend. I bought a few monkey themed layette items at Carter's and then found some monkey paper at The Paper Cottage to go along with it. I think it turned out absolutely adorable and my friends loved it too.

Zanesfield Ohio retreat

I wanted to post some pics from a retreat I went on last fall. This retreat is sponsored by a Creative Memories consultant, Kathy Settles and is located about an hour and a half from Dayton. (North of Urbana).
The Croft House can accommodate 24 scrappers in 4 bedrooms. Each with a private bath ( 2 bunks and 2 twin beds). Nevermind the messy bedroom in the pic. It was Sunday morning.
The cabin has a large great room, a full kitchen, and a loft area. I mention the loft because massages are available for additional charge on Saturday.
Breakfast is continental so sleep as late as you want. Lunch and dinner are catered on site. You are welcome to bring munchies and have full use of the kitchen.
The basement is our cropping area and each guest has their own table. Kathy always has a nice goodie bag waiting for you.
The first time I went to this retreat, I didn't know a single soul. I've gone every year since and have made some life long friends.
Need a break from scrapping? There are loads of trails to walk on and enjoy the fall leaves.
If you'd like to join us this year, contact Kathy at album4you@aol.com. Early bird registration is $165. The retreat is in October.

Mini book class

I taught a mini book class right before the holidays and many were busy ho -ho-ho-ing and were unable to make it. Several asked me to teach it again and requested a Saturday afternoon. Well, it's scheduled for Saturday, Feb 9 at 3:30pm.
The best thing about this class is that you get to pick your own papers and theme of your mini book. You will pick 5 cardstocks and 2 patterned papers to create your book.
I love making them. Once you learn how, you can make one in about 2 hours and for under $5. This is a great gift or to add to a gift. Imagine baby showers, grand parents, graduation... I know you will love them as much as me.
Sign up with Brenda at the Paper Cottage and spend a few hours crafting with me!

New card class

I'm still teaching card classes at The Paper Cottage in Beavercreek. This month, I used the new SWALK cards that Brenda just got in. The little girls remind me of the old Betsy Clark dolls. Wow! That's a long time ago...maybe the 80s?
I left the insides blank but the stamps do come with sentiments. These particular ones are "with sympathy", "thank you", and "mum you're the greatest".

Class will be $12.50 and held on Saturday the 23rd of February from 2-4.
My goal in class is to teach you how I color hair. I spend loads of time watching YouTube copic hair videos but this is the Lori method. That said, I encourage you to bring these 4 colors in particular: e31, e33. E35, and e37.
I will also demo the Gamsol and pencil technique too.
For those interested in all of the Copics I used for this set: g94, e02, y17, r05, g21, r20, bg10, bg0000, 0, bg15, r02, c7, c5, c3, c1, and e00.
Hope to see you soon!

I can't flippin believe so much time has passed!

It's been many months since I've had a chance to post on my little blog. In the mean time, I have been posting to a Facebook page that I've created called Imagine That by Lori. It seems so much easier to post to FB.
But this morning I found the mobile app for Blogger and hopefully I can do more.
My crazy hours at work find me up at 3:30 am on my night off. The house is really quiet so I've been crafting.
I needed a really unique card for my childhood friends 40th birthday. After some Pinteresting ideas, I tweaked this one and made a "card" out of a small pair of flip flops.
I just tied them together with some curling ribbon and made a tag that said " I flippin can't believe you are 40. It still looked plain so I punched out a few scallops and circles and made the poem "no ordinary card would do... For a friend I've known as long as you".
I met Gilly in kindergarten 35 years ago and we've been friends ever since. Hopefully when she gets these in the mail, she'll "flip".
Happy Stamping!
Lori