Happy Earth Day - with PRIZES!!!

[The Tick, after being asked if he is powerful enough to destroy the Earth]

Ye Gods! I hope not! That's where I keep all my STUFF!

Happy Earth Day!

This third rock from the sun is an amazing spot to call home and we all need to do our part to keep her in ship-shape. Some simple things to consider:

* Plan your route and combine errands during the same trip so you drive less, reduce your carbon footprint and save time and money too

* Eat at least one meat-free meal per week. Your grocery budget, waistline and the earth will thank you. Some ideas: pasta marinara/primavera, beans and rice, curries, stir fry... there are a lot of yummy options (even here on my blog).

* When crafting use your stash. Seriously. You probably have some awesome stuff in your closet or scrap room. Reduce is the most important member of the reduce, reuse, recycle trio if you ask me :-) Imagine the money, time, gas, resources you saved if you checked what you had at home first.

My Earth Day challenge is to re-purpose packaging into a craft project. I know you've got Altoid tins by the dozen in your alter box... admit it :-) Here are some other ideas of fun ways to waste not, want not.

1. When I saw this:


I was enchanted by the kraft, punched, stampy backing that the flower came on. Instead of tossing the packaging after using the flower I made this:


Stamps Used: Take Care of the Earth, Kelly's Stump, le bandit left

2. I needed a two... I checked my chipboard and came back empty handed. All my letter stickers were too small and I didn't want to wrestle the Cricut into submission. What's a crafty girl to do? That's right, make her own. So I took this:

I tell you, chipboard is EVERYWHERE!

And made this:


Close-up of the 2:


On this LO I indulged my current passion, and I mean Edward and Bella level obsession here, for making my own patterned paper. All you do is stamp a main image - making sure to bleed some of the images off the edge of the page - fill in the bare spots with a smaller complimentary image and then color with markers. The distressed solids by Basic Grey are particularly great for this.

Stamps Used: Lovely Skull and Bones and circus star

3. Do you have any luscious Crate chipboard cans lying about?

Before:


After:


These make great neighbor/just because gifts. I've filled them with chocolate-covered pretzels, cookies, taffy. Yummy!

Stamps used: Whimsical Frame (one of my favorites), circus star and madricaine owl

4. And finally a girlie-girl up-cycling gift to myself. Who among us can't use a little more storage? First, we had cornmeal mush for breakfast and emptied the box:


Realizing how sturdy and nicely proportioned it was I made this little cutie:


Side View:

Can't you just imagine it filled with embossing folders or alphas?

I started with a white(ish) sheet of BG paper and stamped it with strawberry pair and then filled in the open spaces with grass. Next I hole-punched an old book page and glued on the dots. Here's a closer look:

My challenge is for you to re-purpose some packaging into a new project. It can be a card, layout, altered item etc. Once you are done take a picture and post it on your blog then leave a comment here. If you don't have a blog let me know and I can post it here for you.

To Enter the Repurposed Packaging Challenge:

1. Create a NEW card or other project that uses repurposed packaging. While we would love you to showcase your Odd Bird Planet stamps, this is not a requirement. If you do not have any, that's okay! Play anyway!

2. Upload a photo of your work to your blog. If you do not have a blog you can upload your card to the new Odd Bird Planet Forum located at PaperCraftPlanet.

3. Post a link to your card on THIS post on my blog. For the other challenges, you will need to post on the appropriate DT member's blog. This is important, as winners will be chosen from DT blog posts.

4. Spread the word about the Earth Day Extravaganza! Okay this is not a requirement, but it would be awfully nice of you.

You have only 24 hours after the last challenge is posted to finish and post a link to your card on my blog (this post); the challenge ends at midnight on Thursday, April 23rd PDT.

A challenge winner will randomly be selected from posts on my blog who have successfully completed the challenge; all challenge participants will be entered into the Grand Prize drawings

You may enter each challenge as many times as you wish, but each entry must be a new card and new post made for each challenge alone. Please do not combine challenges.

I will post the winner here on Friday the 24th. Winners need to provide name, email address and phone to have their goodies shipped (all this info is required by the shipping company).

Prizes:

o Each winner of the blog challenge drawings will win a Limited Edition Stamp or an Earth stamp

o Each of the blog challenge participants will be entered into a grand prize drawing for:

• One winner will receive $100 in Odd Bird Planet stamps
• One winner will receive $50 in Odd Bird Planet stamps
• Five winners will receive a 25% discount coupon when they place an Odd Bird Planet order

Other OBP design team blogs to check out for challenges (Times are PST):

6:00 am – 9:00 am – Rina, Suzy, Godelieve
9:00 am – 12:00 pm – Tracy, Dianne
12:00 pm – 3:00 pm – Kim, Tanis
3:00 pm – 6:00 pm – Beth, Marnie, Teresa
6:00 pm – 9:00 pm – Laura, Sparkle
9:00 pm – 12:00 am – Debbie, Kathi