It's a Lori Whitlock Blog Hop!

Greetings from sunny Florida where I am on vacation!  Yep, we gathered up the youngest two in our brood, stuffed  loaded them into our overpacked vehicle and headed east on I-10 for about 10 hours to get to the land of sunshine, endless beaches, and white sand.  Even on vacation, though, I like to send out cards with a personal touch - a post card of Big Al's Gator Farm just isn't for me.  So...(insert sound of record screeching to a stop)...

Wait a minute!  First, let's talk about Lori's wonderful blog hop.  She has been up to some super exciting stuff lately, and we are celebrating - yippee!  Now, you should have arrived from JOY'S BLOG. Don't you love her condiment caddy?  If I could have fit one more thing in our car, I probably would have asked Joy to let me borrow it for our trip - it looks perfect for a little picnic!  If you are just arriving and want to start at the very beginning, click HERE.

Lori has had so much wonderful news to share with us lately - she has launched her new and improved shop, she has terrific new cutting files almost every day it seems, and she has teamed up with Jessica Sprague to offer us digital designs, too!  And to celebrate all this funliness - that's right, I said funliness - Lori is offering YOU this awesome free file available for download today only.  I love it when people celebrate something by giving US free goodies, don't you?

Now, back to my project - instead of sending those postcards of Big Al's Gator Farm, I like to send quick personalized cards.  Lori has quite a few suh-weet summer files out to choose from, but I really fell in love with her bathing suits on a clothesline - it's simple, it's cute, and it's FUN. 

I initially started just making the first card using Lori's clotheline swim suits file (I layered my twine over her clothes line) - my card was quick and easy to make, so I "mass-produced" it and plan to insert a few vacation pictures before sending to a few family members and friends.

As I was cutting my bathing suits, I realized I also had the perfect card idea for a dear friend of mine who is having a birthday.  She marches to the beat of her own drum, no doubt about it, and a ordinary card simply would not work!  So, I came up with this quick, fun card - the inside says, "Happy Birthday to a true original!"  Pretty clever, huh? 

That's it for me today - the beach is calling my name and I can't stay inside a second longer.  Don't worry though, Lori is having a sale on her new shapes in the SHOP, and there are so many fabulous new files for you to check out! I can't wait to play with them when I get back!

Your last stop is LISA! I know you are going to love what she made!  Happy crafting!