Ready, Set, Color! Join Me at The Paper Escape: Summer Break with OLO

Get your favorite alcohol markers ready and clear your crafting desk, because an incredible weekend of creativity is just around the corner! I am absolutely thrilled to invite you to The Paper Escape: Summer Break with OLO—a spectacular virtual coloring retreat designed to bring pure joy to your coloring journey and take your skills to the next level.

This virtual retreat is a fantastic partnership between The Paper Escape and OLO Markers. The fun officially kicks off on August 1st, and it is completely FREE to watch on YouTube with unlimited replay access. Whether you are an absolute beginner just dipping your toes into the world of alcohol markers or you've been blending for years, there is something special lined up for you.

We are even hosting a LIVE Q&A session with OLO’s very own Lori Craig! As a veteran coloring instructor with more than two decades of experience, Lori is ready to share her ultimate tips, tricks, and industry secrets while answering all of your burning questions live.
The Ultimate Upgrade: The Digital Kit Ticket

While the physical retreat kits completely SOLD OUT in record time, you don't have to miss out on the VIP experience. You can still grab a Digital Kit Ticket, which is your exclusive pass to the ultimate creative weekend upgrade!

🎫 Why the Digital Kit Ticket is a Must-Have:

• Exclusive Access to the Live Bonus Day: A Digital Kit Ticket gets you an official invitation to our private Bonus Day on August 2nd for an extra day of premium live coloring with Meg and interactive crafting with our amazing event host, Linh (@lvhandcrafted)
  
  
• The Digital Coloring Workshop PDF: A comprehensive, downloadable guide packed with step-by-step instruction to follow along at your own pace.
  
  
• Pre-Colored Digis: Ready-to-use pre-colored digital images (drawn by yours truly!) that are perfect for quick card layouts, background practice, or instant cardmaking inspiration.

For a tutorial on how to make today's featured card, check out my YouTube video.

Don't Have OLO Markers? No Problem!
If your marker collection consists of other brands, please don't let that stop you from joining the fun! We want everyone to participate, which is why Meg has put together a comprehensive Color Conversion Chart mapped out for Copic, Altenew, and Ohuhu markers. To unlock access to this handy chart, all you need to do is register for a ticket—whether you choose the Free Ticket, the Digital Kit, or were lucky enough to snag a physical kit.

Choose Your Experience & Register Today:

FREE Ticket: Officially registers you for the event, unlocks the color conversion chart, and enters you into our exciting freebie and giveaway drawings.

Digital Kit Ticket: Unlocks the color conversion chart, the full Workshop PDF, the pre-colored digis, and your live pass to the August 2nd Bonus Day!

Spaces for the live interactive portions are filling up fast, so secure your spot, download your digital goodies, and let's get ready to color together this weekend!

👉 Grab Your Ticket to The Paper Escape Here!

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Sneak Peek: Exclusive Happy Everything Stamp Set & VIP Unboxing! 🌸🎨

Hi friends! I am beyond excited to share a special "sneaky peek" at the exclusive stamp set I illustrated for the upcoming The Paper Escape with OLO: Summer Break virtual coloring retreat! This set is only available with a VIP Ticket purchase for our event on August 1-2, 2026.

It's FREE to register for the event, but the only way to get my stamp set is to purchase a VIP Ticket. VIP tickets are $35 and include a curated coloring kit, a digital bundle, an extra day of live chats and a live Coloring with Meg class, and so much more!

We've also partnered with OLO markers and all of the instructors will be coloring with a curated palette. Check out the colors over on the OLO marker website.

What’s Inside the VIP Coloring Kit?

In today’s video, I’m taking you through a full unboxing of the curated coloring kit that comes with the VIP ticket. It is packed with high-quality supplies, including:

• The "Happy Everything" 4x6 Stamp Set: Illustrated by yours truly! It features images specifically designed for practicing techniques like skin, hair, florals, and even glass.

• OLO Sampler Pack: A selection of OLO markers and a handle extender to get you started with alcohol blending and a sampling of OLO's premium marker blending cardstock.

• Premium Cardstock: A2 coloring panels with printed images to color, as well as blank 100# Hammermill cardstock panels perfect for alcohol markers.

💙 Buy your VIP ticket here: https://www.lvhandcrafted.com/products/the-paper-escape-2026-summer-break?dt_id=2915174

Watch the Process

After the unboxing, stick around to see me create this fun, interactive flap card using a gorgeous "pop of pink" floral design. It’s a great example of how you can use these new images for special occasions like Mother's Day!

Watch the full video right here on the blog or over on my YouTube channel:

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The Paper Escape Spring Staycation is Almost HERE!

Hey friends! The wait is almost over—The Paper Escape Spring Staycation is happening THIS Saturday and Sunday, April 11-12! If you’re looking for a weekend filled with creativity, community, and fresh inspiration, you won’t want to miss this.

Catch My Class Live!

I’ll be teaching a session featuring two fun cards created with the specially curated Wonder & Whimsy kit. My class is scheduled for approximately 1:00 PM Mountain Time. I’ll be hanging out live in the YouTube chat to answer your questions. It’s going to be such a blast to hang out with you all!

Choose Your Crafty Adventure
There is a ticket level for every crafter, whether you want to use your stash or dive into something brand new:

• 🆓 FREE Ticket: Register to watch the first day of classes on YouTube. You’ll also get access to exclusive freebies just for signing up!

• 🎟️ Bonus Ticket: Want to keep the party going? The Bonus Ticket includes an entire second day of live classes, plus a Digital Craft Kit featuring the workshop PDF with cutting guides and instructions for all 7 cards, digital papers, and digital ephemera. Just print and craft along with us!

REGISTER HERE: https://collabs.shop/jd3ua9

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A Sneak Peek at the Projects

I’ve designed two cards with a whimsical vibe and some fun interactive features. If you want a closer look at what we’ll be making—including a few different variations for each design—check out my preview video below or on my YouTube channel.

Whether you’re joining for free or upgrading for the full digital experience, I can't wait to see what you create. Register today and I'll see you Saturday!

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Coffee is Calling on National Coffee Day

Hi friends! Happy National Coffee Day! Today I'm popping in with a little caffeinated craftiness featuring stamps from the Not 2 Shabby September Box of the Month and Critter Cafe stamp set.  I just love these little coffee critters and thought they would look perfect hanging out at the coffee cart!

All of the images are stamped in alcohol safe ink and then colored with Copic markers in an orange, teal, and brown color palette. Football season is my coloring season, since I often gather up my supplies, stamp out images and then color them while the family is watching football. I like to cheer on the teams, but am okay with missing a few plays, especially since they always replay the important ones.

I kept the layout for this card really simple because I really loved the contrast of the vibrant colors and all that white space. A sentiment and a bit of ribbon finishes things off.

On another note, this weekend is The Paper Escape! I'm so excited to share my first class with you. Below is the link to the retreat playlist so you won't miss a thing. If you haven't registered yet, there's still time. The first three days are free, but the bonus ticket gives you access to a fourth day with two live classes and a livestream wrap-up with instructors. Many of our fabulous sponsored prizes will be given on this day! The bonus ticket also gives you access to a PDF printable with measurements and step by step instructions for all of the classes. A great value for just $20! And a great way to support our instructors.

Get you retreat ticket HERE

Click here for Retreat Playlist

Thanks so much for stopping by today! I hope you have a fabulous day!

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Autumn Thanks

Hi friends! Today I'm popping in with a bit of inspiration with the August Paper Pad Club from Not 2 Shabby. After a Copic coloring session with the Stamp of the Month, I decided to create a scene with a few of the darling images.

While I love the look of masking images into fun scenes, I often forget or just stamp and color images before I have plan. So sometimes I do a bit of a hack to make it look like two images were masked.  Here the raccoon and stump images were cut individually with my Brother Scan 'n Cut with a 0.4" border. Then I layered them together how I wanted the raccoon to stand on the stump and marked off on the raccoon where the borders of the two images met up.  I then fussy cut away just the bottom border from the raccoon up to the markings and layered them together so it appears the border is seamless.

My layout came from some pieces I had left over from cutting the EZ Wonder Die #2. I inlaid the gold foil letters, then added a rectangle of Boho Critters paper for the backdrop of my images. I cut one of the gold foil pieces on the corners to get some "photo corner" pieces to accent the backdrop.  I finished off  with that darling little snail.

In other news, I've been super busy prepping for The Paper Escape retreat I'm teaching at this fall. While the VIP tickets with all the class kits have sold out, there's a new grab bag option available with 2-3 class kits, the bonus day of lives, and some sponsored swag and instructor destash supplies included for just $45. Tickets are limited, so act fast if you're wanting in on this fun grab bag!

Grab your FREE ticket, Bonus Ticket, or Grab Bag HERE

Thanks so much for stopping by today! I hope you have a fabulously creative weekend!

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I'm Teaching at The Paper Escape

Hi friends! I'm super excited to announce that I'll be teaching my first class EVER at The Paper Escape: 2025 Holiday Retreat - October 2-5th! I hope you'll join me! I can't wait to craft along with you!

This is a FREE virtual retreat for crafters by crafters! It's 4 fun-filled days of livestreams, pre-recorded classes AND LIVE workshops! We've got cards, gift and decor ideas for Halloween, Thanksgiving and Christmas. Join us to chat, win prizes from some AMAZING sponsors, and get a start on your holiday projects!

In my class, we'll craft an adorable Thanksgiving themed mini book-shaped gift holder, complete with a clever pouch for treats, gift cards, or tiny treasures. These handmade beauties are perfect for hostess gifts or charming table favors, but the best part is how easily you can customize these to add a little handmade magic to any holiday or occasion! 

The website is currently open for FREE registration, which includes 7 real time pre-recorded classes over two days. These will be available for FREE even after the retreat, so you don't need to cram it all into one weekend! After you register, you'll receive an invite to join the event Facebook Group. Members of this group will get first access to the paid ticket options on July 27.

Starting next week, you will have two upgraded ticket options.

Option 1 - $20 BONUS Ticket, includes the free ticket options, plus those listed below. 

I'll be part of the live wrap-up party, my first EVER livestream! (Lots of firsts for me, here!)

 

Option 2: $95 VIP Ticket (only a limited number available!)

You'll get everything in the free and bonus levels, PLUS everything in the graphic below.

Instructors are providing a pre-cut class kit, with supplies all ready to go for class (no homework prep!),  as well as a swag bag with $150+ worth of crafting goodies!

Grab your FREE ticket today to get all the news and details as they are revealed!

1. Register now for free!

2. Join the private FB group to have first access to earlybird tickets and info. A link to join the group will be emailed after you register for the free ticket.

3. July 27th - be the first to buy a paid ticket (supplies are limited!) -- early bird special is a class kit for Kendra's Sponsored class ("Spooktacular 'Boo' Banner") and an extra $25 in products added to the Swag bag... while supplies last.