PDO 13 days of Thanks Challenge

Hidey-ho all you crafty people!  I am sad that the Coffee Lovers blog hop is over but I'm super excited about a brand new challenge for Polka Dot Orchard!  What's this you say?  Starting today and ending on Thanksgiving PDO is having a 12 days of Thanks challenge.  You simply need to make a fall or Thanksgiving themed project and post it on Instagram.  The fine details are that you need to include #GiveThanksPDO1119 and tell us something you are thankful for.  Prizes?  Of course there will be prizes, two in fact!  If the winner uses a PDO image, they will win a $10 gift card to the Polka Dot Orchard shop.  The second prize will got to someone who doesn't use a PDO image.  They will receive a $5 gift card to use on digital stamps in the shop.  Whew!  Now that we have all of the details out of the way, let's take a look at what I made.

I made a fun wall hanging using a brand new set called Let's Get Basted.  What's even more exciting that it is one of the debut sets from our newest artist Malanie Colver!  Eeeeeek!

SHOP HERE

Isn't it just the cutest?  I'm a total sucker for puns!  My sign measures approximately 7 3/4" x 8 3/4".

I printed the digi onto Cryogen White cardstock.  Then I colored it up with Copic markers to match the colors in the leaf paper.  The largest layer of cardstock is a dark green.  The leaf layer is a paper I have been hoarding forever from Carta Bella.  I layered the colored piece onto a yellow piece of cardstock.  I backed with foam tape before adhering it to the leaf layer.  

With so many layers of cardstock I found it to be thick enough to not need a cardboard backing.  I punched two holes with a standard paper punch and added a length of ribbon from my stash.  I simply slipped it through the holes and knoted it in the back.  And now I have an awesome sign to hang up for Thanksgiving!

I hope you'll find some time to play along with the PDO 13 days of Thanks Challenge on Instagram.  Don't forget #PDO13Thanks2019 and tell us something you are thankful for!!

Toodles

~Kristina

For the Guys

Howdy one and all!  I'm here today with my latest submission for the Altenew Educator Certification program.  The class I just finished was called For The Guys.  Yep, cards for the boys/men in your life!  This is an area that I definitely struggle with so I was thrilled to see it on the list of classes to complete!

There were lots of great suggestions in the class that I am filing away in my brain.  I decided to run with the idea of using a geometric pattern.  It sounded so easy when I came up with the idea!  Here it is...

I inked up another stamp set that has been sitting around waiting for me to give it some love, Trigonometry.  I thought this would be just the perfect set to use for a guy card.

I started by picking the spot on my cardstock where I wanted the bottom of the triangle to be.  Basically I just moved around one of the stamps until I felt it looked right.  Then I used a T ruler to draw a top and bottom line.  I needed these as a reference point to keep me going straight.  This is when I dug out my mini Misti.  I'm not sure I could have completed this card without it!

I used two different Altenew inks for the triangles, Desert Night and Dusk.  I placed my cardstock in the Misti, lined up my first stamp, inked it up and stamped.  Whew.  So far so good!  Then I cleaned off my stamp and turned it upside down, lined it up, and stamped the Dusk triangle.  I repeated the process until I had a strip all the way across.  

Let me interrupt with a little secret, I actually had to stamp this card out four times.  Yep.  It was a little tricker than I thought to get the spacing between the triangles just right.  Not to mention keeping them straight!  I persevered though!!  Once it was done (and dry!) I went back and erased my pencil lines.  

Next I came in with a copic safe black marker and a T ruler.  I wanted to add that extra bit of detail the black lines would add.  Then I used some gray copic markers to create the appearance of a shadow.  I used N3, N1, N0 and colorless blender.  I like how it makes it appear as if I have multiple layers but it is only one!

I stamped the Happy Birthday sentiment from the same Trigonometry set with the Desert Night ink.  I also rubbed some of the Desert Ink onto a piece of white cardstock.  I wanted to have a dark blue layer to go between the sentiment and the cardstock.  Once that was done, I cut the pieces down to size and glued them onto the cardstock.

For the final touch, I cut off about a 1/4" from the bottom of the cardstock and mounted it to a dark blue card base.  This lets just a little bit of the blue base show at the top and bottom of the card.  I think it makes the blues pop!

Now it's time to move on to my next class.  See you soon!

~Kristina

Penelope cat gets her coffee

Another one of my favorite times of year has arrived at last.  The Fall/Winter Coffee Lovers blog hop!!!  The chance for me to ink up some of the coffee themed stamp sets I have been shamelessly collecting.  It totally justifies their purchase, right??  Anywho, I'm hoping to complete several cards for this round so wish me luck.

Here is my first card to share!

I used this adorable digital stamp from 2 Cute Ink called Penelope Cat.  You can purchase her right HERE.  I printed her out onto Cryogen White Copic safe cardstock.  I had already pre-picked the main piece of patterned paper I wanted to use so I went through my Copics looking for colors that would match.  Here is the list of colors used.

Cat T1, T3, T5

Cheeks & inner ears R00

Table E71, E74, E77, E79

Coffee E23, E27

Mug & Flowers YG61, YG63, YG67

Scarf RV63, RV66, RV69

Once she was all done I moved on to the rest of the pieces.  I cut her out with a Wonky Rectangle die from MFT Stamps.  I handcut a thin green layer out of a coordinating solid green cardstock from Stampin' Up.  Now, can we talk about this background??  The base aqua coffee patterned paper is from an older paper pad.  It is called Winter Wonderland from Pebbles.  I also pulled the pinkish patterned paper from the same paper pad.  Now came some more fun.  I cut it with a plaid die!  My crafty heart goes a little mushy when I get to use this die.  It is the Diagonal Plaid die from Lil' Inker Designs.  It's awesome.

I glued the coffee print paper to a pink cardbase.  Next came the plaid pinkish paper, the green layer and the cat layer.  For the final touch I added some different sizes of sparkling clear sequins from Pretty Pink Posh.  And that's it.  It's a pretty simple card even with the Copic coloring.  I encourage you to check out the 2 Cute Ink Esty store here.  I also want to encourage you to play along with the Coffee Lovers blog hop.

You can link up your creations HERE.  Be sure to use #fallwinter2018clh!

 Happy Crafting!
~Kristina