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.