Happy Monday!

Hello! Sorry that I have been MIA. We went on a family vacation to Orlando. I scheduled my blog hop posts during the trip, but didn't have time to get anything else posted for while I was gone. I hope you all enjoyed the blog hop. I thought everyone had great projects. I tried to comment on as many as I could, but my access to a computer while I was gone was limited, and I can only do so much on my phone! Thanks to all who participated in the blog hop and WELCOME to my new followers. I'm glad to have you watching what I do.


I have two cute Halloween projects done, so I will get photos and posts done for those soon and get something out there for y'all to see! I just didn't want you to think I had abandoned the blog.


Stay tuned for two (at least) projects this week! Time to get back to reality and out of vacation mode....bummer!


Lori

Halloween Hand Sanitizers

Happy Sunday folks! I hope you’re having a great day. We’re off to another fun start with the “What’s New” Blog Hop. You should have arrived here from Pat's adorable blog. If not, please go to Lisa's blog and start at the beginning!

Remember, we’re all new to the blogging world, so we love followers and comments! Show the wonderful “What’s New” bloggers some love!

Now, on to my project!

I saw them all over…you know…the projects where they made adorable little boxes for the Halloween hand sanitizers. So cute…but for me, not fast enough!

See, I don’t want to spend a lot of time on a project like this for a couple of reasons. First of all, I don’t want to spend a lot of time and then have a bunch of 5-year olds rip my hard work to shreds as they try to get into the package. Also, I wanted to make a lot of these, and if I have to spend 20 minutes on each one….well, the entire project just isn’t going to get done.

So, after seeing the adorable projects, I bought these sanitizers. Then I sat down and actually read the directions (more than once) and realized I would NOT be making that project! Back to the drawing board.

Today I feel like I came up with a reasonable revision.

I had these bags (bought at Hobby Lobby) and was doing a happy dance when I realized the sanitizers fit right in there. Time to get busy!

Cut 3” strips of paper. Cut those strips into 4” sections so that you end up with a 3” x 4” piece of paper. Score this at 2” and fold in half.

(Since I was making several, I cut a bunch of the 3” x 4” pieces, scored all of them, then folded all of them.)

Then I had to make a few decorations for the bag topper. I used a scallop punch from Creative Memories and punched the orange circle. I stamped in black Stazon. The stamp is from the $0.97 section of stamps at Wal-Mart. Then I inked around the edges of the scallop.

Moving on I punched out some of the scallops in black. Then I used a CM circle punch and punched a white circle, on which I stamped a black spider (again from those $0.97 stamps) and inked the edges.

For the final one, I punched the black scallop, but this time I let the dots punch out as well. Punch more white circles, and stamp “Eeeek”….ink edges.

Now that all of that is done, assemble them….easy peasy! Take your folded bag topper and place on the bag. I found that it’s better to place it higher so that the bottom of the topper is just above the top of the sanitizer. Staple this in place (make sure you hit the bag!). Adhere your decoration to the front (covering the staple) and there you go! You can get a bunch of these done in no time at all.

I’m not yet sure WHAT I’m going to do with these, but they’re ready, nonetheless!

I hope you enjoyed this project….Next on our blog hop is Trenise's blog. Go and see what she has in store for you today. Remember, if you arrived here and would like to check out the entire roster of bloggers on this hop, go HERE to Lisa’s blog and start at the beginning. If you want to check out yesterday’s awesome posts, click HERE and start at the beginning of yesterday’s hop at Leah’s blog.

Lori

Anniversary Card

Welcome to the "What's New" Blog Hop! If you arrived here from Trenise's blog you're on the right path! If not, go HERE to start at the beginning with Leah. We are all new to the blogging world, so please stop by, become a follower, and leave a comment to show these talented bloggers some love....bloggers love comments!

I finally found my inspiration to use the banner die/stamp set that I had recently bought from My Creative Time. I needed an anniversary card and when the word “LOVE” popped into my head, I immediately thought “Banner Set”….woo hoo!

As always, I made two versions of the same card. Here is my favorite of the two:

I chose a few sheets of paper from a DCWV stack I had in my craft room. I knew I had a blue stamp pad that would work with these colors, so I went to it.

First step, make the banner pieces. Once those dies are all cut, it’s time to stamp the letters on each circle. Not only did Emma make the cool banner die set, but she made a stamp set of letters that fit perfectly in the circle of the banner. Awesomeness!

Once the banner sections are done it’s time to put it all together and see what works.

The colors in the top photo are the closest to true. I was not having good luck with photography today…sorry.

I recently purchased some twine, so I thought I’d try and incorporate that with one of the versions. I struggled with the twine…I’m horrible at tying bows, so the ends just don’t look finished off enough for me.

I used a Creative Memories heart punch to let a little of the background paper show though. After I did it I wasn’t crazy about it, but it’s not horrible.

I will be sending one of these off soon and the other will remain in my “finished” card stack for one of those times I need a card but don’t have time to make anything. I really enjoyed using the banner die set. I hope to be able to create more cards with it soon!

Recipe:

DCWV paper stack; My Creative Time banner stamp and die set; Twine and ribbon from my stash

Have a creative day…Head on over to Pat and see what awesome project she has for you to see today. Remember to check back tomorrow (10/9) for round 2 of our “What’s New” blog hop! Tomorrow’s fun will start with Lisa. I have an adorable Halloween project for you to check out tomorrow. Hope you enjoy it, and make sure to check out all of the blogs on this fun Hop!

Lori

40th Birthday Card

Hello! I hope your Wednesday is off to a good start! Today I’d like to share a 40th Birthday card that I made.

I started with a white A2 card base. To this I added a yellow layer that I had run through the Cuttlebug for some texture.

The “the big 40” is cut from “Life Is A Party”. I wanted it as big as the card could handle! I used a slightly brighter yellow for the “40” and the sentiment circle; both were attached with pieces of dimensional foam adhesive. The two sentiment circles are created with a Creative Memories circle punch.

The sentiment punch is from Emma, over at My Creative Time. I’ve been using this particular stamp a LOT lately!

Once I had the card put together it just seemed to be missing something. I grabbed the Stickles and went to it! Once I was satisfied there I did a small amount of doodling with a white gel pen and called it a day.

I hope you enjoyed this project. Go and do something craft today!

Lori

Busy Week....altered schedule

Good Monday morning! I hope you are ready for a beautiful week. This week my blog posting schedule is a bit altered. You are still going to get 3 projects out of me this week, but not on the regular Monday, Wednesday, and Friday schedule.

I will post a project on Wednesday this week. Then, on Saturday and Sunday (10/8 and 10/9) I am participating in the "What's New" Blog Hop. This is a new blog created for new bloggers to get the word out about their craft blog.

I will have a project both Saturday and Sunday for the Hop.

So....you're still getting 3 projects, just on a little different time line! I hope you enjoy Wednesday's project and then be sure to check back on Saturday and Sunday for a couple of fun projects from me and LOTS of great ideas from fellow "new" bloggers.

Have a great Monday!

Lori

Male Birthday Card

I have been having trouble creating “male” birthday cards recently. I picked up “Block Party” but had not cut anything with it. When I saw the grill it made me think of two of my brothers, because they both enjoy grilling. Today I figured I’d try the grill and see if I could use it for a birthday card.

The two cards are basically the same, but on the one above I cut the grill at 3.5”. The one below is 4”, and I think that just worked out better for the card. The cloud paper is from Imagine Hopscotch and the grass is from Plantin Schoolbook. I used two circle punches for the sentiment tag, while the stamp itself is from My Creative Time. I used some Stickles to jazz up the “smoke” and added a few dots of Stickles on the grill itself.

I attached the sentiment with a brad and did some stitching with a white gel pen. I also took a dark green pen and did some lines on the grass. It’s not my favorite part of the card, but it also wasn’t horrible!

Since my brothers live so far apart (one in Illinois and one in Oregon) I figured it was safe to send them similar birthday cards. Hopefully they don’t discuss that kind of stuff!

Hope you enjoyed this project. Do you have a hard time creating cards for men? Let me know your thoughts!

Lori