Lorajean's Magazine, BLOG

If you walked by my house in the morning or late afternoon you would see a blonde little girl either lying in the grass staring at bark or taping leaves together. Her love for all things Harry Potter is not trumped, but put on the shelf for awhile while fairies consume her every free moment. When I have to put home-school on hold while I nurse the baby, she can be found building a fairyland in her room or drawing fairies in her sketchbook. Pictured above are some of the things I have found lying around the yard.  The other day I found a pixie dust basket filled with glitter, made with leaves and washi tape.  It was so amazingly constructed, but sadly it was not around to be photographed. I assume it dried out and was crushed into dust. (Pixie dust perhaps?!) :(  It looked just like a real basket and if I were a fairy I so would have used that basket!   When I was little I would lay down and stare into the grass looking at the world like a tiny fairy would have.  I would tape leaves to

When my printer stopped working earlier this month I was a little freaked out.  I'd had my heart set on printing out a bunch of my free printable ghost invitations I designed.  I thought and thought of what I could do instead but it was like my imagination was broken. All I could think of was ...beef...stew. (5 points to whoever knows that reference.)  Anyway, I wracked my brain and I just couldn't let go of the adorable idea of ghosts holding a flag banner.  So I went to my craft room got out my stamps, paint and paper and went to work.  What do you think? I used my sewing machine to put it all together. I am super happy with how they turned out. :) I like to link up with these link parties.

Hi everyone! I was asked by Amberlee to participate in a post about my favorite gifts on Giverslog . If you haven't been to her blog yet get on over there. It is a great place to get inspiration on gift giving, pretty wrapping, or to just look at all the eye candy she posts!  These boxes are made from re-purposed paper grocery bags and 12x12 scrapbook paper.  If you want to learn how to make one just watch my origami box tutorial video here . What is my favorite gift to give or receive? I have to say hands down it's a handmade gift!  A handmade gift says, I am willing to spend the time, whether it's time wrapping it beautifully, time planing out what the gift is, or time making the gift itself.  My most recent favorite gift to receive was a skull and crossbones blanket my mother made for my son.  I love it because my son is obsessed with skeletons, & I love it because my mom went outside her own craft style just for him. (She's not the scull and crossbones t

For today's Free Halloween Challenge I have a few more free printables. :)  Also, the link party starts today! If you want to add a link just go to the bottom of this post and click "click here to enter". Sadly my printer is broken so I have no photos of these lovelies actually made. :(   I have a free printable of some treat bags and a few more of Halloween cards. :) I hope you as much fun using all of these as I did making them!  Here you go. Terms of use:  for personal use, not for profit! Don't post large image on your blog, post a small one and link it back to me. :)     click images to view larger and save. How to make the treat bags: Print image on regular printer paper (not card stock) fold bag in half  fold bottom and side tabs in and glue to other side of bag fill bag with goodies fold and glue(or staple) top tab if you want a closed envelope look. If you have any questions just let me know. :) **************************************************

Today for the Free Halloween Challenge I am posting a few of the great tutorials from others on the web.  These are the posts I keep going back to again and again. Enjoy. :) 1}The best fabric pumpki n I have seen by Daniell Thompson . (Love her blog, seriously) 2} Lovely twigg wreath by Delia Creates . (really lovely blogger who also happens to be from Logan...Lets get together sometime Delia!) 3}Super cute and affordable wreath from katydid (so awesome and so cheap!) 4}Super cute fall bunting by jdavis. (I love felt it is so cheap!) 5}A super cute fall rosette wreath by Along for the ride. (love those rosettes, they look a lot like mine made from old t-shirts) 6}A paper pumpkin from Two peas in a bucket . (I have seen this type of thing done with those free paint strips too) 7}Another awesome wreath from Nancy . (Love these crepe paper wreaths they are so cute! And the silhouette detail is lovely.) ********* Aren't these so inspiring?! Keep coming back

Today for the Free Halloween Challenge I am sharing some stuff from around the web. Over the years these great printable goodies have been marked in my bookmarks and now it is time to share them. 1} Lovely printable iron on bag decal s from Love, Obsess, Inspire .  2}Awesome free Halloween downloads from Mathew Mead  (There is seriously tons of great stuff on this page!) 3} More lovely printable Halloween crafts from Mathew Mead - found via armelle blog 4}Cute little printable tags from Love, Obsess, Inspire . 5}More great printable tags from She's kinda crafty. 6}A super awesome printable Halloween garland from allsorts . I love her blog! (Been flowing it since I knew what a blog was.) 7}A great printable owl invitation from Martha Stewart . Love the vintage look they have, and the movable wings, how awesome!:) 8}A lovely printable halloween card from The Black Apple .  Love her little drawings and dollies. Keep checking back for more great Free Hallow

Today's Free Halloween Challenge freebie is a party invitation I drew for you.  It turned out looking so cute.  Just look at those little ghosts holding the orange flag banner!  The download is for a folded card but if you want yours to look like mine just cut the back off your card and glue the front to orange card-stock. Terms of use:  for personal use, not for profit! Don't post large image on your blog, post a small one and link it back to me. :) click on image to view larger and save Next week some time I am going to post about your tutorials and free printable stuff. Do you want to participate?  Post a Halloween tutorial or free printable and just let me know so I can link to your post.  Also if you would place a button on your blog to let people know about it that would be great! :) grab a button and share the wealth <a href="http://lorajeansmagazine.blogspot.com/2010/09/free-halloween-challenge.html"><img alt="button blog" height="2

Here is my first post for the Free Halloween Challenge .  Today I am posting some free printable ghost cupcake toppers. What a fun time I had making these cuties! Also here are some different ways these can be used: Print them on sticker paper for spooky ghost stickers. Punch holes in the top of each one and string up as a garland. Use scalloped scissors for added whimsy. Or attach to a cute little package.     Terms of use:  for personal use, not for profit! Don't post large image on your blog, post a small one and link it back to me. :) Click on image to view larger and save. grab a button and share the wealth <a href="http://lorajeansmagazine.blogspot.com/2010/09/free-halloween-challenge.html"><img alt="button blog" height="216" src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4128/5036814581_aa04d36895_m.jpg" width="216" /></a><br /> Click here to see what link parties I'm in

 Whenever I bake cookies or any yummy treat I go back to these boxes to package and give as gifts to friends and neighbors.  I also love to use them for favors and place settings for parties .  This one was made with 12x12 scrapbook paper.  Perfect size for cookies! :)

I have had this quilt idea in my head for a while but I never got around to it. Till I visited my sister and was totally inspired with her passion for quilting. She showed me some tips and helped me figure out how to make my idea work. :) Here are my fabrics Here is my design I was too scared to start chopping my fabric apart so I scanned all my fabrics in and made a "quilt" in Photoshop. It is supposed to be a twin but it isn't very to scale, I think it will end up being bigger and with more flags. Maybe I will add a border to it. Drawing the design is as far as I have gotten, I'll update you as soon as I get more progress made.