Polka Dot Orchard ~ Magic of Christmas & Reason For The Season ~ Christmas in July

Hello there crafty friends!

I'm here today with one last Christmas in July post sharing a few more creations using the digi stamps I created for this coming Christmas season. Both of these digi sets are available at Polka Dot Orchard.

My first card is using the sweet kneeling Santa with baby Jesus from the Reason For The Season digi set... I just love this scene! I also added the digi star for this card... like the star was Santa's guide to Jesus. I paired these images up with the perfect paper called Wise Men Still Seek Him by Echo Park. I love the regal colors of the paper and the brighter colors of Santa and baby Jesus pop on the card.

Supplies used for this card:

Copics:

Santa ~ N0, N2, N3, N4, C00, C1, C3, R000, R14, R20, R27, E000, E00, E21

Manger/Straw ~ E55, E57, Y15, Y21

Baby Jesus ~ E23, E25, E55, B0000, B02, B14, E00, E21

Ground ~ E30, E31, E33

Star ~ Y000, Y15

Lawn Fawn Everyday Sentiment Banner die

My Favorite Things Blueprints 15 dies

My second card is a fun card to send a friend during the month of July... but since it's a digi stamp you could alter this sentiment and have it just say Happy Christmas. I really love the combination of papers I used with the colored image from the Magic of Christmas digi set... so bright and cheery!

Supplies used for this card:

Copics ~ N0, N2, N3, N4, C00, C1

Uniball Gold gel pen

Echo Park A Perfect Winter paper pad

Carta Bella Santa's Workshop enamel dots

Taylored Expressions Stitched Rectangle Stacklets

Lawn Fawn Stitched Hillside Borders

My last creation to share today actually isn't a card, it's a gift that I've made and will put in a 6 x 6" frame... just a little funny Christmas decoration that can be hung up in the house. I know just the right person to give it to... I know she'll love it!! I knew that I wanted to add a layer of patterned paper to the main image so I made sure not to make the digis too big. If you're familiar with the Magic of Christmas digi set, you may have noticed that Santa's hat is flipped in the other direction well... digis are awesome that way!! You can rotate them, flip them, resize them... so many possibilities!! 

I colored the images with the following Copic markers:

Santa's Hat ~ R000, R14, R27, C00, C1

Santa's Boots ~ N0, N2, N3, N5, C00, C1

I trimmed down the main panel and some how my top left corner got messed up so I had to find something to fix it and I decided to go with a corner punch. I then mat the piece on True Black card stock and wrapped some pretty silver ribbon on either side. I tied a little bow and used a glue dot to add it to the panel. I set that aside and got my base done. I thought this Santa paper from the Celebrate Christmas paper pad by Echo Park was a perfect backdrop for the main panel... I trimmed it down to 5-3/4 x 5-3/4" and mat it with a 5-13/16 x 5-13/16" piece of True Black card stock. I just wanted a skinny black mat. And then my final layer is a Real Red 6 x 6" piece of card stock. I adhered all those layers together and then popped up my main panel with foam tape. I love how this turned out and I'm so excited to have a Christmas gift done already!! Isn't that crazy!! Lol!!

Here's a close up of the sparkle on Santa's Hat... I used the Sakura clear stardust gelly roll pen. Oh, and for the buckles on Santa's Boots I used the Uniball Signo silver gel pen... though in the picture it looks white. It's just the shine on the silver gel pen. 

That's the last of my Christmas in July creations for this year! 

I've had so much fun getting ahead on my Christmas cards and projects! 

Some of the wonderful Polka Dot Orchard Design Team members joined me in our very first Instagram Hop on July 25th sharing all kinds of beautiful Christmas in July creations... if you haven't had a chance to hop yet, be sure to check it out. Here's a link to get you started at the Polka Dot Orchard Instagram. Or you can start on my Instagram ---> here or there's also a link at the top of my blog to my Instagram if you want to scroll back up there. Be sure to check it out though... there's prizes up for grabs and today is the last day to enter!!

Thanks so much for checking out my blog!

See ya next time.

Inky Hugs,

Crystal

Growing in Unity ~ Day 2 of My 5 Favorite Things

Hello there crafty friends!

I am back for Day 2 of My 5 Favorite Things for my Growing in Unity week and I am so excited to share the cards I created for you today! Now, be warned... there's a lot of pictures and even a super short video for this one... so please hang in there and I'll try to keep the chatter short.

So, another one of my favorite things is interactive cards... and Unity Stamp Company has so many fabulous stamps to make interactive cards with... it's awesome! I don't make many of these because, let's be honest, they are a lot of work and take some time and most of the time I just need a quick card. But interactive cards are really so much fun! So I just had to share a few today!

Since it's July, I thought a Christmas in July card would be fun!! I just adore this door die by Lawn Fawn called Shut the Front Door... it makes for a cute interactive card and there are so many possibilities!! Think of all the cute critter stamps from Unity that would just be awesome behind that door! I created the front of my card using die cuts and I also stamped the tree from Woodland Festivities using Gina K. Designs Key Lime and Fresh Asparagus inks. 

I adhered all of my layers to a kraft card base and then stamped the Winter Boy from the Winter Boy and Girl kit and the bulldog from the Woodland Festivities kit with Gina K. Designs Black Amalgam ink and colored them with the following Copic markers:

Winter Boy ~ E000, E00, E21 (skin), E42, E43, Y21 (hair), R11, R56, R59, R89 (hat/scarf), B95, B97, B99 (jeans), G19, G29 (shirt), N1, N4, N7 (belt/shoes).

Bulldog ~ E000, E11, E97, E9, R20 (fur), R14, R27, N0, N1 (hat), N1, N2, N4, N7 (collar).

I then fussy cut them and adhered them inside the door... tucking the bulldog in just slightly under the door frame.

All that remained was finding a sentiment that would fit... and I thought the 'Happy Christmas with Love' sentiment was perfect! This sentiment is from the Classic Christmas kit. I just love how this Christmas card turned out... and another card done for my Christmas card stash!! Woohoo!

My second interactive card uses the adorable bunny from the Hoppy & Hedgie kit along with a cool interactive die from Lawn Fawn called Slide On Over Semicircle. I just love this adorable bunny!! I started by blending my galaxy cloud background using the Mini Cloud Edges stencil by My Favorite Things. I couldn't help but splatter some water even though there wouldn't be stars in the clouds...lol... but I love the effect it gives. I then stamped the sweet bunny with Gina K.'s Black Amalgam ink and colored it with the following Copic markers:

Bunny ~ W0, W2, W4, R20

Bunny's Clothes ~ BG70, BG72

Balloons ~ Y13, Y35, RV32, RV34, G05, G12

I then fussy cut the bunny and balloons very carefully and used it to decide where to die cut the Slide On Over Semicircle. Once I had that figured out... I die cut the background with the interactive slider piece as well as a large stitched rectangle die. I popped up the galaxy cloud background using foam tape... being sure to leave room for the interactive piece behind the bunny to move back and forth. I, unfortunately, didn't take a picture of this process but all I did to attach the bunny was I punched out 3 small 3/4" circles and adhered them all together. I then used a mini stampin' dimensional and attached the little circle to the bunny through the slider... that easy! I then adhered the negative die cut piece to my scalloped rectangle of Lost Lagoon card stock and then adhered the popped up galaxy cloud background. I hope this all makes sense!

Here's a look at the bunny as the 'wind' pulls him across the card. The 'pull' stamp is from the new Interactive Verbiage kit... such a fun kit!

And here he is at the end of his ride. 

To finish off the card, I stamped and fussy cut the sentiment. I mat it on True Black card stock and then adhered it to the card and then I adhered the entire panel to a True Black card base.

Here's a short little video to show you the interactive slider in action. So much fun!

And here is my last interactive card to share with you all today... a shaker card using the new and fabulous Interactive Verbiage kit along with the equally fabulous #letterforhenry kit!! Other than the shaker element for this card... since I used patterned papers for my layers... this card was relatively quick to put together. Just how I like it!!

I paper pieced the frame and adhered it to a piece of white card stock so it would be a little more sturdy. I also stamped the frame on the lined patterned paper so I could easily line up the frame and also so I could easily stamp the sentiment for the card. I just love the 'Kindness Changes Everything' sentiment... it is so true! 

Now... a little funny... so me and shaker cards have a love hate relationship... always, seriously every single time I try to make one of these something goes wrong. I was doing great with this one though... even getting excited it was going so smoothly until I realized I forgot to adhere the clear card stock. I actually forgot about the clear card stock (or acetate) completely... lol... so I had to pull off the foam tape I used. Luckily, since I had paper pieced the frame on that extra piece of white card stock, it didn't tear into the pretty paper and I was able to use it. Anyhow... I thought I'd share that funny mishap... every time, I tell you!

If you have made it this far in my post, Thank You!! I tried to keep the chatter down... but I truly thank you for sticking around and checking out my blog today! I had a blast creating these cards to share with you all! I hope you like them!

Be sure to leave a comment on each of my GIU blog posts for a chance to win one of two fabulous grab bags of 25 stamps from Unity Stamp Company!!! If you missed Day 1, you can check it out ---> Day 1 of My 5 Favorite Things!

Come back tomorrow for Day 3 of My 5 Favorite Things!

Thanks so much for stopping by!

See ya next time.

Inky Hugs

~ Crystal

Jolly Ol' Santa ~ Holly Jolly Christmas!

Hello there! Today I thought I'd share a bit more of Christmas in July with this sweet Santa card. A couple of weeks ago I hopped with Friends of Unity sharing some Christmas cards... you can check those out here... I got a bit carried away and created this card too. 

I adore this Santa stamp! He's so cute! I thought I'd also use up some of my Christmas patterned paper from last year. I decided to use the Tim Holtz Christmas Paper Stash paper pad that I had to have last year, but never actually cut into. The layers on my card are both cut from the same pad of paper, but so is my sentiment. I cut each word out and layered it on white card stock and then popped each of the words up along with my Santa. How cute is that?!

Santa was colored using the following Copic Markers ~ R20, E000, E00, E21, E23, E25, R14, R29, R39, R89, G05, G14, C00, C1, C3, N4, N7. I also used some clear wink of stella on the white of his hat, mustache and beard. There's also just a bit of Sakura Gelly Roll Stardust gel pen on his hat and shirt buttons. I die cut the Santa image using the Papertrey Ink Shape Shifters: Oval 2 die. I popped the oval piece up on the card and then trimmed the edge.

I had so much fun making this card! I think I'll make a few more of this one using different papers.

What do you think?

Thanks so much for stopping by!

See ya next time.

~ Crystal

~ Friends of Unity July Blog Hop ~ Christmas in July ~

Hello! It's the first Saturday of July!! That means it's time for another Friends of Unity Blog Hop!

Before I get started on my cards for this month's hop, I'm super excited to share that we have a new friend hopping with us... Joyce Verdon! I was really excited when Joyce started her blog the beginning of this year. She's an amazingly talented artist and I've been loving on her cards for quite some time. I was even more excited when Joyce said she'd love to join our Friends of Unity Blog Hop! So please give Joyce a big welcome to the hop!! 

Now let's get back to it... this month our theme is Christmas in July. I absolutely love making Christmas cards so when Jeanie suggested it, I thought it was a perfect idea!

For my first card, I wanted to go with a non-traditional color scheme. I was thinking light, pastel colors with a lot of white and some sparkle. I also thought I'd ink the little snowmen from the Snow Way set that I hadn't inked up yet. They looked like they wanted to have some fun!

To start, I made my background... I smooshed some Distress Oxide inks on my craft mat adding a bit of water. I like to work with one color at a time... I think it gives me more control on where the colors go. I start from the lightest color to darkest too, but I often go back and smoosh again with each color. So for my background I used Tattered Rose, Worn Lipstick, and Wilted Violet. I also like to create two backgrounds when I do this technique... it's amazing how different they will turn out and then you can pick and chose which one you want to use and save the other for another project.

Once I was happy with my background and I had it completely dry, I added some white acrylic paint splatters. For this I just add a drop of paint to my palette, spritzed it with a little water, mixed it up with a cheap paint brush from my kids watercolor set, and splattered away. I also used my Sakura Gelly Roll Stardust gel pen to add a bit of sparkly snow by simply making random dots.

Next was my scene... I die cut a few of the Tim Holtz Tree Line dies out of white card stock. I added some clear wink of stella all over the trees and then I added a touch of the stardust gel pen to the edges of the trees... not all over the edge but where I wanted some sparkly snow to be on the trees. I then layered the trees using pop dots just on the bottom portion of the tree line so the front layer of trees would give some dimension to the card. I die cut my Scalloped Stitched Rectangle Frame die from Gina Marie Designs from white card stock. I did that twice and layered them together to give the frame some support because I was going to pop it up on the card. 

My final touch for this card was, of course, these sweet little snowmen! I stamped them with the new Gina K. Designs Amalgam ink and then colored them with the following Copic markers ~ BG0000, BG11, B000, B01, V0000, V01, V04, R00, R20, R81, RV21, Y000, Y06. This was my first time using the Amalgam ink with Copics and it worked beautifully! I fussy cut each of them out and adhered them to the card. Now at this point, I decided to add the sentiment which wasn't the best idea because my white craft ink wouldn't show enough and when I heat embossed it and it still didn't show very well... so it's kind of like a hidden message in the sky. LOL :)

Since my sentiment on the front of the card didn't quite work out... I decided to ink up the inside of the card. I stamped a few snowflakes and this great sentiment from the Like a Snowflake sentiment kit using the same Distress Oxide inks from the background. I think they tie in really well with the front of the card.

Now, I got on a bit of a roll thinking up Christmas card ideas so when I saw this technique in an email I just had to give it a try. And it was a great excuse to ink up this sweet Unity set called Happy Holidays. This set was designed by Jolande & Marleen last year and I just had to have it, but I didn't get a chance to ink it up so I was really excited to get to play with it for this card.

I've gotten a bit ahead of myself though... to create the background, I blended Broken China distress ink over the top two-thirds of the distress watercolor card stock and then blended some Mermaid Lagoon at the top of the card stock. I wet my wide watercolor brush (not dripping wet, but a bit more then damp) and painted from top to bottom letting the brush create some streaks. I cleaned off my brush after every other stroke so the inks didn't get too dark and it kept a nice ombre look. I stamped the branches from the Winter Blessings set around the edge using Mermaid Lagoon distress ink at the top, Broken China in the middle, and then Tumbled Glass at the bottom.

I then stamped the ornament from the Happy Holidays set using Versamark watermark ink and heat embossed ultra fine white embossing powder. Using my water pen I saturated the middle of the ornaments with clean water and dabbed them with a paper towel to lighten the background colors to make the ornaments pop a bit more. Once that was dry, I used my clear wink of stella to add some pretty glitter and also a touch of the stardust gel pen to add some dimension. The sentiment was inked up with Versamark watermark ink on Pacific Point card stock and embossed just like the ornaments with white embossing powder. Those are my cards for this month's hop! So much fun to create and I hope you got some inspiration from them!

I have some business to take care of now, before we move on to the hopping. Last month I had a giveaway and I need to share who the lucky winner of the brand new Kendra Girl stamp set is...  drum roll please... the lucky winner is...

LISA BUSCH!!!! Woohoo! 

Lisa please email me at crystalominkler@gmail.com with your mailing address to claim your prize. Prize must be claimed within two weeks.

Thank you to all those that hopped with us last month and, of course, this month!

Now since I had such a blast making these Christmas cards, I thought I'd do another giveaway... this time the winner will receive a brand new Jolly Ol' Santa set! I was playing around with this sweet new set this week and thought he'd make a great giveaway... so be sure to hop and comment on each of our blogs so you'll be entered into this giveaway. We sure appreciate and love all of your fun comments! The winner will be announced during our next hop! There may even be another giveaway... you never know unless you hop. ;)

Now let's get hopping!

Eileen

Crystal <--- you're here

up next ---> Robyn

Joyce

Jeanie

Wynne

Dawn

Thanks for stopping by!

See ya next time.

~ Crystal