Love & Friendship Inspiration Blog Hop

Valentine’s Day may be over and done for this year, but Polka Dot Orchard is still celebrating with our Love & Friendship Inspiration Blog Hop. The creative team has amazing creations to share with you featuring some of our newest releases! We have two $10 gift cards for two lucky winners chosen randomly from the comments. You have until February 24th, 11:59pm EST to leave a comment on each of the blogs, including the Polka Dot Orchard blog letting us know that you completed the hop. We will announce the lucky winners on February 26th on the Polka Dot Orchard blog.

Hiya!  I'm SUPER excited to be participating in the Polka Dot Orchard Love & Friendship blog hop!  Polka Dot Orchard is celebrating a huge release of 20 new digital stamp sets.  Yes, 20!!  You can find all of them right now in the Polka Dot Orchard shop!

For my project today I am using the One Stellar Friend set.  Here's a quick look at the set.

So let's look at my card and then talk about all the details.

This set just needed to have a galaxy background.  Who am I to argue!  I cut a piece of watercolor paper down to A2 size.  Then I got inky with my Distress Oxide inks and lots of shimmery water.  The colors I used were Wild Honey, Seedless Preserves, Peacock Feathers, Salty Ocean and Black Soot.  I'm sure you have seen other tutorials and videos on how to create these backgrounds so I won't go into all the details.  My secret to this one was using a shimmer spray to help the colors blend together.  I tried to capture all the shimmer in this picture.

Once I had dried it for the last time, I went back and splattered it with clean water and dabbed it up.  Then I followed it up with splatters of white paint.  I set it aside to work on the next part...the moon!

Of course a galaxy card needs a moon.  I cut a 3 1/2 circle out of watercolor paper.  I used Hickory Smoke distress ink for the gray bits and then went over the open areas with Antique Linen distress ink.  I found it easiest to smoosh my ink onto a block, spritzed with water and then use a paint brush to apply the color.

I laid the moon aside so I could get to the coloring of the girl.  I printed her out onto a Copic friendly cardstock and got busy with the coloring.

Helmet: N01, N00 and 0

Skin: E31, E30 and R20

Yellow: Y17, 15, 11

Teal: BG49, 45

Hair: E29, 27, 25, 23

Once I was done with the coloring, I added glossy accents over the entire helmet piece.  Make sure you let this dry completely before putting your card together!

Let's build a card!

I added the galaxy panel to a top fold A2 card base.  Next I added the moon in the bottom right corner.  I made sure the moon hung over the edge of the card and I just flipped it over and cut the excess off.  I put foam tape on the back of the girl and added her right on top of the moon.  I printed the sentiment out on the same paper I used for the girl image.  I cut it down into a strip and glued it on top of a purple strip just slightly larger then the sentiment.  I glued the entire strip down on the card.  One out of this world card complete!

Make sure you stop by all of the design team member pages!

Just click on the names below to take you to the other blogs.

PDO Blog

Crystal

Rosemary

Pam

Kim

Kristina <--- you are here

Lisa

Kirsty

Larissa

See you again soon!

~Kristina

PDO - Valentine's Day tags

Welcome back to my little crafty corner of the world!  Polka Dot Orchard has just had a HUGE release of brand new digital stamps in their store.   Click HERE to check out all the new goodies.  Today I am using Love and a Fabulous Cupcake illustrated by Crystal O. Minkler and Love Grows Here illustrated by Kimberly Wiener.

I cut two tags 2 3/4" x 5" out of a pale pink cardstock.  Next I measured the space available to put the digital stamp.  I had drawn out a quick sketch so I had some idea what I wanted to do.  Next I reduced the size of the cupcake and printed it out on Neenah Solar White 80lb cardstock.  I set this aside for the moment and went to work on the background.

I had two different ideas for the background and I just couldn't decide.  So I did both!  I used red ink with a brush and stencil to create the one on the left.  For the one on the right, I used the same stencil but used Nuvo Glimmer Paste in Raspberry Rhodolite instead.  I laid them both asided to air dry.

Now back to the cupcake stamp.  Like the backgrounds, I couldn't decide on which medium to use.  I thought I would use colored pencils to create a softer look to go with the tag on the left.

I used Gamsol and Prismacolor pencils.  The colors used were: 

Wrapper - PC947 and PC1082. 

Frosting - PC992, PC995 and PC105. 

The cherry/heart - PC1030 and PC925.

For the glimmer paste tag I used Copic markers.  I love the bold colors you can get with them.

Colors used:

Wrapper - T7, BG78, BF75 and BG72.

Frosting - W5, W3, W1, W0 and 0.

Heart/cherry - R59, R37 and R32.

I fussy cut them both out with scissors and added some detail with white gel pen.

While the gel pen dried, I got back to creating the sentiment.  Like I said at the beginning of the post, the sentiment is from the Love Grows Here set.  I wanted the tag backgrounds to shine through so I thought printing the sentiments onto vellum would be perfect.  And it was!  I trimmed them down to thin strips and wrapped them around to the back of the tag.  Then I used a strong adhesive to keep the strips in place on the back.

I cut out pieces of foam tape to add to the back of the cupcake.  Even a tiny little piece for the cherry stem!  Peeled of the backer pieces and added them to the tags.  I searched through my ribbon stash and found ribbons to work with both of the tags.  And that's all there is!

Here is a side-by-side comparison.  Can you pick a favorite?  I can't!

Remember, head on over to the Polka Dot Orchard shop to check out the latest and greatest!

Thanks for stopping by!

~Kristina

PDO Technique Thursday

Howdy friends!  Today I've got a card AND a technique to share with you.  I am using the Beary Best Friend digital stamp set from Polka Dot Orchard.  You can find it HERE in the Polka Dot Orchard store.

The tecnique I'd like to focus on today is paper piecing.  You may not think about paper piecing with digital stamps but you totally can!  Let's take a peek at my finished card and then we'll dive on in.

And here we go!

I started by printing out the digital stamp on to all of the different papers I wanted to use in my card.

Next I cut out all of the parts and pieces I needed.

Then I used Copic markers to add a bit of depth and dimension to the pieces.  

I set the pieces aside to work on my base layer.  I'm excited to make my first slimline card!  I printed the same digital stamp onto the base white layer.  I created my own mask using copy paper and got to work creating my ink blended background.  I used Bundled Sage, Stormy Sky and Antique Linen Distress Oxide inks.

Once the blending was complete I removed the mask.  To add a bit more interest to the blended background, I splattered it with water and dabbed it up after 10 seconds or so.  I did also add some Copic marker detail to the bear.

Here is what it looked like after I used liquid glue to add the bits and pieces.  I also used foam tape for even more dimension on the fox's scarf and the cuffs and band of the bear's sweater.  Stay tuned for a side view.

I layered my finished panel onto a navy card base.  I also used one of the sentiments from the same stamp set.  I printed it onto white, layered it onto navy, layered again onto white and added foam tape to the back.  All finished!

And a side view to see the added dimension.

I really appreciate you stopping by and I hope you give paper piecing with digital stamps a try!

~Kristina

Supplies used:

Tombow Mono Multi Liquid glue Shop at: SBC | EH	Therm O Web Foam Tape Shop at: SBC | EH	Copic Marker R22 Shop at: EH	Bundled Sage - Distress Oxide Shop at: SBC | EH
Antique Linen - Distress Oxide Shop at: SBC | EH	Stormy Sky - Distress Oxide Shop at: SBC | EH	Copic Marker YG63 Shop at: EH	Copic Marker R20 Shop at: EH
Copic Marker B95 Shop at: EH	Copic Marker W00 Shop at: EH	Copic Marker W0 Shop at: EH	Copic Marker W1 Shop at: EH
Copic Marker W3 Shop at: EH	Copic Marker W5 Shop at: EH	Copic Marker YR21 Shop at: EH	Copic Marker YR23 Shop at: EH
Copic Marker E13 Shop at: EH	Copic Marker E17 Shop at: EH	Copic Marker E18 Shop at: EH

Color Throwdown 576

Hey crafty friends!  I found a little time to play in my craft room this weekend and was able to complete a card for the Color Throwdown Challenge 576.  I also meant to enter it in the Freshly Made Sketches challenge but I missed the cut off for today. 

Anywho, you can find the Color Throwdown Challenge HERE.

And here's my card!

Stamp set is from Concord and 9th.  Inks used are from Stampin Up.  Edge dies is from My Favorite Things stamps.

Thanks for stopping by!

~Kristina

PDO Birthday Gnome

I hope everyone has had a wonderful holiday season!  It's been great to spend time with family and friends but I think I'm ready to go back to a more normal schedule.  Today I've got a card for you that I created using the Polka Dot Orchard Caroling Gnomes stamp set.  I'm going to show you how to use an image that seems only good for holidays and use it for non-holiday.  I love when I can stretch my stamps!

Let's take a quick look at my finished card and then dive on in to the details.

I love gnomes and I thought this cutie from Caroling Gnomes would be perfect to create a masculine birthday card.  You see, this gnome is singing.  He could be singing happy birthday, Auld Lang Syne, Christmas carols or just about anything!  That's why I don't feel like he's limited to just the Christmas season.

I started by printing the gnome out onto Bristol Smooth cardstock.  I knew I was going to do a little stenciling and watercoloring and this is a great surfact for both of those things.  I also needed a mask for my gnome before I could do the stenciling.  I printed him out onto regular copy paper and spread a thin coat of Tombow Mono Multi liquid glue.  Once it dries, it becomes a temporary adhesive.  Absolutely perfect for a mask.

I put the mask in place and taped the plaid stencil on top.  The stencil I used is from Echo Park and is no longer available but I did link up to another similar stencil below.  I then used a blending brush and gray ink over the stencil.  I concentrated the color around the gnome and then let it fade the further I went out.

Before:

After:

Next it was time to color up the gnome.  I used a combination of Distress Inks, Distress Markers, Tombow and Marvy water-based markers to add the color to my scene.  Sometimes I added the ink directly to the paper and blended it out with a water brush.  Other times I smooshed the ink onto a block and then picked it up with the water brush.  It just depending on the depth of color I needed.

Here he is all colored up:

Now down to the card making.  I cut the gnome panel down with a Stitched Indented Rectangle die from Elizabeth Craft Designs.  I set the panel asided and started work on the card base.  I used a  piece of black cardstock to create a top fold A2 sized base.  I cut a piece of patterned paper from the Echo Park Little Lumberjack paper pad down to 4 1/4" x 5 1/2".  I glued this to the black card base.  I added foam tape to the back of the gnome panel and adhered to the card base.

The Happy Birthday sentiment comes from the Polka Dot Orchard Floral Flourish Background 3 set.

This set has several great sentiments and really cool backgrounds!  I plan to make some foiled background when I find the time...

I printed the sentiment onto white cardstock.  I cut it down to 2 1/2" x 1".  I glued it to a piece of black cardstock just slightly larger and then glued it on top of the gnome panel.  I let part of the left edge hang off over the panel. 

For the final touch I added some black pearls in assorted sizes.  That's it.  One masculine birthday card in the books for the new year!

Close up detail

I really appreciate you stopping by and hope that you will check out all of the great digital stamps available in the Polka Dot Orchard store HERE.

Toodles!
~Kristina

Supplies used:

Tombow Mono Multi Liquid glue Shop at: SBC | EH	Tonic Studios-Retractable Craft Pick Shop at: SBC | EH	Therm O Web Foam Tape Shop at: SBC | EH	Strathmore Bristol Smooth paper Shop at: EH
Stitched Indented Rectangles - Elizabeth Craft Shop at: SBC	Barn Door Distress Ink Shop at: SBC | EH	Black Pearls - Kaisercraft Shop at: EH	Trinity blending brushes Shop at: EH
Little Lumberjack - Echo Park Shop at: SBC	Worn Lipstick Distress Marker Shop at: SBC | EH	Tattered Rose Distress Marker Shop at: SBC | EH	Fossilized Amber Distress Marker Shop at: EH
Black Soot Distress Marker Shop at: SBC | EH	Hickory Smoke Distress Marker Shop at: EH	Dark Jade 177 - Tombow Shop at: EH	Plaid Stencil - LDRS Creative Shop at: SBC