Life Hack

According to the Oxford dictionary, a Lifehack is a strategy or technique adopted in order to manage one's time and daily activities in a more efficient way.


I am not sure if this little project is a Lifehack, but it is a recycling project that will save you the cost of a gift bag the next time you are giving a gift.

1 1 17 Happy New Year

Happy New Year!

I am starting out the new year with the intention of being more creative:  more stamping, crafting, quilting, sewing and sharing.

Happy 2017

PPA 311

This week we have a color challenge by Lynn Hoyt.  Head on over to Pals Paper Arts to check it out!

This is such a pretty color combination!  It is a dreary day here in New England, so my photos are bit dim.

The stamps sets are Garden in Bloom, Flourishing Phrases, splotches from Awesomely Artistic,and for the punched Itty Bitty Butterfly, I used Papillon Potpourri.

The flowers were stamped first in Smokey Slate, then Marina Mist (stamped off once), than stamped with Pink Pirouette two times.

This is the inside:

And the one on the right is an error but I went with it anyway and completed the card.  I accidentally inked up a splotch in Marina Mist and stamped it.  Whoops!  So then I added a stamped off blue below and above to make it look like the butterfly was on a blue path.  Works for me.

Christmas in July

Each year in July I make a Christmas Card.  My plan is to make my Christmas Cards early in the year so that when the Holiday Season arrives, I am ready with my cards.  It has never happened. 

This Christmas in July card is for two different challenges.

Follow these links to play along.

Retro Rubber Challenge

Pals Paper Arts

I have used old Stampin' Up! stamps and new Stampin' Up! Copper Embossing Powder for this card.

The stamps are both from 2009.  The reindeer is called Dasher and the sentiment is from Delightful Decorations.

The embossing folder is current and is called Softly Falling.

The mini copper brads are from Recollections and the copper metallic paper is from a Recollections paper collection called Precious Metals.

PPA 307

This week Brian King has is a color challenge over at Pals Paper Arts.   Here is my card:

I love this color combination.  I used a retired stamp set called Awash With Flowers because I wanted an image with a large enough open area to use a dauber.  

Also, I don't think I ever used this stamp set.  I recently re-configured my stamp room and and have been coming across stamps that I have never used.

The sentiment is from Watercolor Wishes.

I have been splashing ink on my cards recently, and did so again on this card using the Real Red ink.

The Weary Traveler

This is my card for the PPA Sketch Challenge.

The stamp set is Traveler and the colors are Crumb Cake, Soft Suede and Very Vanilla,

The look and feel of the card is grimy; sort of the way you feel after a long time traveling away from home.  You just want to get home again, take a shower and flop into your own bed to sleep.

Vacations can be wonderful, but there is no place like home.

Red White and Blue Card

I am so excited to tell you that I have been invited to be a Guest Designer at  The Retro Rubber Challenge.  Follow the link to play along.  

The challenge is a Red, White and Blue color challenge.
Here is my card:

The colors are Stampin' Up!'s Night of Navy and Real Red on Whisper White.

The stamp is SU's Medallion from 2009.   The sentiment is from a Sale-A-Bration set called Feeling Sentimental from 2013.

The card is a 5" X 5" so that I could use the whole image.  Back in the day when I first bought this stamp, I would stamp a portion of the image on a regular A2 card size.   In those I did not want to take the time to create an envelope for a card that would accommodate the whole image.


But, nowadays, we have the Envelope Punch Board that cranks out a custom sized envelope in no time flat.

I stamped the image on white then distressed the edges. Next,  I used my aqua painter, inked up the brush with Real Red, squeezed out enough water to make the brush very wet, and then used my finger to flick the bristles of the brush to make the splashes of red.  Be prepared to have a red tip on your index finger for the rest of the day.  I did the same for the sentiment. 

I colored a Basic Pearl with a Red Sharpie for the center of the medallion.

Now, take a peek at your retro stamps and play along!

PPA305

There is a color challenge over at PPA this week!

 I saw Kristina Werner demonstrate a blending technique this week. I thought I would try it with the Pool Party and Island Indigo on Whisper White to play along with this color challenge.

I stamped 3 balloons in Pool Party toward the top and 3 balloons in Island Indigo toward the bottom of a piece of Whisper White that measures 3 7/8"   X  5 1/8".  Then I used a blending tool, but you could use a sponge,  and blended  Pool Party on top and Island Indigo on the bottom.

The stamp set is Balloon Celebration.  I stamped the sentiment string first and then masked a few of the bottom balloons to stamp the plain strings.

I paced that layer on another piece of white card stock, measuring 4" X 5 1/4" and then those two layers on a card base of Island Indigo measuring the usual 8.5" X 4.25", scored at 5.5", for a top folding card.

Pretty quick and simple.

Retro Rubber Challenge

Here is my card for the Retro Rubber Challenge.  You may have noticed that I enjoy making collage cards, or at least, "collage looking" cards.

The Stampin' Up! stamp set "Postage Due" does the collage work for you.  This stamp set was introduced in the 2012 SU catalog.

I am not sure but I think this DSP was called Watercolor Wonder.
The polka dot DSP might be from a different collection, but it matched so I used it.  I put the dotted strip on the hombre looking dsp before I stamped the image in black ink, over both layers of paper.

Then I stamped the image again in Tangerine Tango on the dsp and punched it out with the 2 3/8 circle scallop punch.  I took a white circle scallop and placed it under the original stamped scallop to give it a little dimension.  

 I stamped two of the postage stamps from the stamp set in Tangerine Tango on the dsp, punched with the Postage Stamp punch and added them to the front.

Finally, the tiny happy birthday sentiment is from SU Happy Moments (2010 Sale-a Bration) and one I use ALL the time.  I love that lower case tiny font.

PPA 304

Hello
Have you seen the sketch challenge at Pals Paper Arts this week?
Click on the link to see some awesome creations!

Here is my submission:

Colors are Sahara Sand with Crumb Cake for the sentiment.

Stamps sets are Butterfly Basics and the sentiment is from Celebrate Today.

If you enjoy creating collage cards, Stampin' Up!'s Butterfly Basics is a "must-have".

The thinlit used is the new Swirly Scribbles.

Pals Blog Hop - Pick a "B"

We are thankful you stopped by to take a look at our new 2016 Blog Hop monthly themes. This month we are featuring projects that are based on “B“ themes such as Birthday, Bride or Baby. 

We hope to provide you with lots of ideas and that you enjoy our creations. You may just be starting the Blog Hop or may have come from the previous link from the Line-up on the Pals Blog Hop listing shown below. The full lineup will help you move along from blog to blog so you may see all the projects. 

 I chose two  Bs;  Bride and Birthday. Here are two very simple cards using the new Stampin' Up! In Colors, Sweet Sugarplum and Dapper Denim.  The stamp set, Rose Wonder, is in the new catalog along with the Rose Garden Thinlits.

The sentiment on the first card is embossed with white embossing powder and the thinlit image was cut from the Irresistibly Floral Designer Series Paper.  You may not be able to see it in the photo, but the cut-out has a beautiful sheen to it.  

The image and sentiment here were stamped in Dapper Denim and then embossed with clear embossing powder. 

Thanks for visiting. To continue with the hop, please refer to the Blog Hop Line-up below. We hope to see you on next month’s Pals Blog Hop! 

1. Mary Fish at Stampin' Pretty
2. Nicole Everitt at Stamp Scrap Love
3. Natalie Bradley at NatalieBradley.com
4. Katy McGloin at Just Fun Stamping
5. Karen Hallam at Karen's Stampin' Habit!
6. Pamela Sadler at Stampin Pink Rose
7. Lisa Ann Bernard at Queen B Creations
8. Kim Jolley at Stampin' Artfully
9. Tricia Chuba at ButterDish Designs
10. Susan Itell at Simple Stampin'
11. Jackie Diediker at Stampin' Jackie
12. Diane Roberts at Score at Four and a Quarter  (you are here)
13. Karen Zaring Browning at Stamp With Me KZB
14. Debbie Mageed at Secret Stamper
15. Peggy Noe at prettypapercards
16. Rae Harper-Burnet at Wild West Paper Arts
17. Pam Dotts at Clearly Southern Stampin'
18. Beth McCullough at Stamping Mom
19. Patti MacLeith at Papercrafts By Patti
20. Jane Knudsen at see jane stamp
21. Kalyn Shubnell at The Stamping Chronicles
22. Wendy Klein at Doggone Delightful Stampin'
23. Sherrie Gross at Stampin' Sunshine
24. Becky Volpp at Inkblossomwithbecky
25. Jennifer Michalski at Stamping Serenity
26. Amy Hoptay at CraftCarnivore

One Stamp Set - One Ink Pad

Hello

This card is for The PPA Challenge.  Click on the link to play along or to see all the wonderful submissions.

It is a Color Challenge:

As my post title indicates, I used one stamp set, Endless Birthday Wishes and one Ink Pad, Night of Navy, both from Stampin' Up!

The card is a standard 4.25 X 5.50 inches.  The layers are 3 X 3, 3.25 X 3.25 and 3.5 X 3.5 inches.

I stamped the cake image on the Sahara Sand layer, then stamped the image two more times on scraps of cardstock.  One image was stamped on  Mint Macron and one on Night of Navy cardstock. 

I then fussy cut the cake from the mint color and the cake stand from the navy and glued both pieces to the original image on the Sahara Sand layer.

I randomly stamped the Sahara Sand base with various images from the stamp set in Navy.

I punched mint and navy stars with the Confetti Stars Border and glued around the cake.  I put stars on the candle flames and then added silver Dazzling Details to the flames.

Old and New

Hello!

Today I made a card to participate in the Retro Rubber Challenge. The theme is May Flowers.  Click on the link to play along.

The stamp set I used today is called Field Flowers.  I believe this Stampin' Up! stamp was first released in 2011  and retired in 2014.  I also used En Francais (2007) and Happy Watercolor (2014). That tiny sentiment, which I really love because of the size, is from an old  Sale-A-Bration called  Happy Moments.

I love this challenge because I go back to view my older stamps to select one to use for the challenge. I feel that I don't get enough use out of many of my stamps.  This challenge allows me to re-visit and use the images again.,

Here is my submission for the challenge:

I named this post "Old and New".  The stamps sets are old, but I used the brand new Stampin' Up! in-color, Sweet Sugarplum.  This will be available on June 1, 2016.

The Field Flowers is a 2 step stamp set.  I used Sweet Sugarplum for the first part stamp on the flower blossoms.  The second color on the blossoms is Rich Razzleberry.  The background was stamped with SU Tip Top Taupe,

Awesomely Artistic

I finally got to stamp something today for the Pals Paper Arts Challenge.

Here is the color challenge:


Here is my card:

The stamp set is Awesomely Artistic and the sentiment is from the set Butterfly Basics.

Sometimes the design is an after-thought (or two)

I originally intended to center the white card stock (3" X 3") on the Pool Party card stock, but changed my mind and cut a piece of Crushed Curry 1/8' wider than the white, to border the white.

I still intended to center the image, but when I put the pieces on the card to view, the white card stock slipped a little and moved to the right.  I decided I liked that look, so I let it stay there.  

Also, the water drops were originally on the Pool Party only, then I added them to the white, stamping off 2 times.

Then I decided, what the heck, let's go for water drops on the Crushed Curry too!

Just let the design take you where it wants to go.

Hey Dude

There is a color challenge at the Retro Rubber Challenge this week.

 

Click here to play along

I used a stamp set from 2001.  This is a set from Stampin' Up! called "Groovy".  

The inks and cardstock are from Stampin' Up!:  Real Red and Blushing Bride.

The Hey and Dude sentiments are from an older Paper Pumpkin and the happy valentine's day sentiment is from Teeny Tiny Wishes.  The background stamp is from Work of Art,

You Are My Sunshine

Hello.  It is a snowy Saturday in Rhode Island today,  Luckily, we are not getting as much snow as the states to our south,  I enjoy a snow day.

Today I am participating in the Retro Rubber card challenge.

Click here to participate:  Retro Rubber Challenge

Here is my card

I used an old SU stamp set called "You Are My Sunshine"  2001.

I bought this set used from a co-worker when I was trying to learn how to stamp.  This is actually the first time I used it!

The "thank you" sentiment is from a Stampin' Up!  Sale a Bration set called Happy Moments.   This is my favorite tiny sentiment stamp set.  I used it frequently.

Happy New Year

Here are two cards; one done in white and one done in white with the embossing highlighted with Dazzling Details Silver Sparkle.

The image is heat embossed in silver.

Happy New Year.

Watercolor Wishes

Finally.



 Here is a post demonstrating the Stampin' Up! Watercolor Wishes Stamp Set.

PPA259

Color Challenge this week. Click here to see all the creativity!

All I can say is, Silver Foil is hard to photograph!

I stamped the image with Stazon black on both Whisper White and Silver Foil.

I fussy cut the silver foil vases and glued them on top of the stamped image.

The flowers are "painted" with the Aqua Painter.  

The stars were stamped with the Confetti Stars Border Punch and the Itty Bitty Accents Punch.

The tie is Silver Metallic Thread. All products Stampin' Up!

PPA Sketch Challenge

Follow the link to Pals Paper Arts for this week's challenge:

I used Soft Sky as the card base with a vellum layer.

Using the By the Tide stamp set, the sea plant is stamped directly on the vellum with Pear Pizzazz, and the shell is stamped on Naturals White with Smokey Slate and fussy cut.

The driftwood was stamped with the  Hardwood stamp with Sahara Sand on Sahara Sand and then fussy cut into a driftwood shape.

The sentiment is from Another Thank You, punched with the Large Oval punch and slipped under the vellum.