Introducing... Background Blocks Layered Stripes

Happy Tuesday.

Welcome to the first day of the December 2023 mini release introductions. This release we are adding to Uniko's popular Background Blocks series. I love pattern and I love quick, clean & simple cards. Background Blocks fit the bill for all these and prove to be such versatile additions.

This next addition to the series is Background Blocks Layered Stripes, let's have a look at it in action...

  Anita

Bev

Izzy

Julie 

Steph

Vinita

I love seeing the creativity of the Brand Ambassadors and how they read my mind executing designs I struggled with! I hope you are as inspired as I am. 

This clear stamp set, along with all the products being introduced this week will be available 9am GMT Friday 8th December 2023. 

Crafty Hugs

December 2023 Sneak Peeks

Hello & Happy Monday!

I love starting a new week off with some new release sneak peeks. I've had this last mini release of 2023 planned for ages, so getting to finally start the countdown and share inspiration makes me happy.

Time is short this month as we all have lots to do, so here are the three peeks...

First up I have two new additions to the Background Blocks series. Both fun and geometric based, making them perfect for those hard to make masculine cards! Though, they also lend themselves to so much more.

Then lastly as it is just a mini release, I have another addition to the Ink & Flip stencils. This one has a wintery theme to it and will pair beautifully with lots of previously release wintery products.

As usual myself and The Brand Ambassadors will be here tomorrow sharing lots of inspiration using the first product. I hope you will find time to join us. 

Crafty Hugs

Brand Ambassador Inspiration - Winter Wonderland

Bonjour ! 

Izzy here with three Christmas cards. I got my inspiration from a flyer I received from a Tea Shop. When I saw the cover I immediately thought of the Background Builder Winter Wonderland set.

So I took the set off my stash and I tried to CASE this beautiful landscape.

On a blue card stock, I blended blue inks to have the gradient as on the flyer. I heat dry the panel before stamping the snow and the hill with the deers and trees with Versamark, then I heat embossed with gold powder.

Then with an embossing pen, I drew all the dashes and I also heat embossed them with gold powder.

To finish I stamped and I gold heat embossed the sentiment on a piece of card stock previously blended with the same blue inks.

I loved so much the result that I decided to do two other cards but with different combo of colours.

For this one I chose a green card stock on which I made a green gradient. And I also changed the colour of the embossing powder and chose a silver one.

For my last card, I chose a brighter combo with pink and I heat embossed with gold powder.

And that's it ! These are simple cards that you can make quickly if you prepare your backgrounds before. Perfect if you are short of time in your Christmas card !

Thanks for stopping by and I hope that my cards will inspired you. You can even try with your favourite combo of colours !

Have a wonderful weekend !

Hello & Welcome to the 12 Days of Christmas Inspiration & Giveaways - Day 11

 

           Hello & Welcome to the 12 Days of Christmas Inspiration & Giveaways - Day 11

Every Friday, I will have a new Christmas themed card or project to share with you, along with a video showing how I made it. Plus, if you watch the video you will find out what the giveaway is and how to enter for your chance to win 😊 All the videos are HERE on the Uniko YouTube Channel.

This week I have aligned myself with the weather here in the North East of the UK with two snow inspired cards. We had a dusting of snow yesterday and more overnight to satisfy a snow loving girl for a bit! I dusted off my Stunning Snowflakes and Stencil - Let it Snow for my cards today, which I had actually planned on using anyway! 

For this first card I used the Stencil - Let it Snow as the main focus, using texture paste through it and adding colour.

Join me in this weeks video as I talk about texture paste, its uses and how I added the colour. I used Concord & 9th Aqua Sky, Oceanside & Peacock, such a lovely turquoise collection. Perfect for snowflakes. My sentiment and accent snowflakes are from Stunning Snowflakes.

This led me to create this next card during the video.

This card is totally inspired by this weeks Freshly Made Sketches layout seen HERE and below. I often turn to challenges for a creative spark when I am needing that little extra creative mojo. 

The layout this week was calling snowflakes to me! So I used Stunning Snowflakes and the same colours to create this card. I used the same sentiment treatment and show in the video how I created the detailed edge.

You'll have to watch this weeks video HERE to find out what this weeks giveaway is and how to enter. I can't quite believe there is only one week left of this series!

Thanks for joining me today. Crafty Hugs

Brand Ambassador Inspiration - Rustic Christmas

Good morning!

Anita here, so sorry it's been so long!  I'm sharing two cards today and I decided to dig out an "oldie but goodie" stamp set for these, Rustic Christmas.  I just love the perfect little tree in this set so have kept these cards clean and simple so it takes centre stage.

First up, I've tried to create a northern lights sky as my backdrop...

I used some low tack tape to mask off a vertical panel and then randomly ink blended the areas of light using Distress Inks in Twisted Citron, Mowed Lawn and a touch of Picked Raspberry.  I then filled in the rest of the panel with both Black Soot and Chipped Sapphire, blending over some of the lighter colours.  I then stamped the tree in Versafine Clair Nocturne ink for a crisp dark image.  Once dry I used an anti-static powder tool at the top of the inked panel and stamped and heat embossed the sentiment, also from the same set, in white.  I finished by adding some falling snow using a white Sakura Gelly Roll pen.

My second project is another one layer card, again, super simple...

To enable the solid baubles to appear as if on the tree and in the foreground, I stamped them first in pigment ink and heat embossed in clear, this then created a barrier when stamping the tree over the top.  I used Versa Color inks here.  As you can see below, the pink ink didn't hold as much of the embossing powder so let some of the green ink through but I like the effect it gives of the baubles being amongst the needles.  To clean up the green ink I just used a slightly damp cotton bud to wipe away the ink from the baubles.  I simply stamped the sentiment below and added a gold, sparkly enamel star.

I hope this gives you some inspiration and encourages you to have a rummage through your stash to see what older stamp sets you have that could be inked up.  Thanks for taking the time to visit and I wish you a lovely Wednesday.

 

12 Days of Christmas Inspiration & Giveaways - Day 10

           Hello & Welcome to the 12 Days of Christmas Inspiration & Giveaways - Day 10

Every Friday, I will have a new Christmas themed card or project to share with you, along with a video showing how I made it. Plus, if you watch the video you will find out what the giveaway is and how to enter for your chance to win 😊 All the videos are HERE on the Uniko YouTube Channel.

This week I am using Mid Century Modern Baubles and along with this card, I am also sharing another fun and creative way to use your stamps. You'll have to watch the video to see what it is!

I've gone for bold colours this week, red, white and navy blue with a touch of gold embossing. I talk about this set a little more and my ideas behind adding the elements it contains.

 

I share a few of my tips when embossing and of course tell you about the giveaway during the video HERE and how to enter! Only two weeks left, but you've still time to catch up on all the videos posted.

Still time to shop Uniko's Thankful for You SALE too and receive a surprise discount code with your order...

I decided to do #blackfriday a little different this year. Of course there is a SALE. 

BUT, I am also giving back to everyone who places an order between 21st - 27th November 2023*. Receive a surprise discount, from £5-£25 to use with your next order. 

* Code cards look like this (with a code on them obviously 😉) and they are tucked inside an envelope. So even I don’t know what I’m putting in your orders. It’s totally random as to who gets what discount. But you are guaranteed the minimum of at least £5. 

Crafty Hugs

Thankful...

Hello!

Firstly, Happy Thanksgiving to all my friends, wonderful customers in the USA and to those that are marking the holiday. I wish you all a lovely day, however you are celebrating. Although, we don't celebrate the holiday here in the UK, I always like to take the opportunity to let you know how thankful I am for all that support me & Uniko.

So here is a card in honour of the occasion...

I was inspired to give some fresh inky love to the Large Background Sketched Foliage, it's been a while and seeing all the leaves waiting for me again in the back garden, it inspired my colours.

I masked off the edges of my card base before putting the panel inside my MISTI to stamp the large background. I'm currently enjoying using a variety of colours on one stamp & using a stamping tool makes it super easy. My raised sentiment is from Autumn Serenade and adhered using foam tape. 

As always, once I get creative it lead onto another card...

This time I wanted to create a look of a window, so I created a raised die cut window to adhere above the stamped foliage background, using foam tape. I then added the smaller butterfly from English Country Garden Butterflies, which I doubled up using the solid butterfly stamped in Honeysuckle & then I adhered the partially coloured outline butterfly over thee top, secured down the middle.

The card made me smile, so I decided to add the smile die cut from Uniko's Exclusive Picked Poise Collection, available on CraftStash. See link on left hand side of the blog! 

 

I also had another reason for using the Large Background Sketched Foliage. And that is, as much as I love this stamp, I have made the sad decision to retire it once it has sold out. This stamp along with 3 others are in the SALE and RETIRING sections on the website. 

Which nicely leads me onto remind you, in case you missed the newsletter this week of Uniko's Thankful For You, SALE & Surprise Discount Codes with every order.

I decided to do #blackfriday a little different this year. Of course there is a SALE. 

BUT, I am also giving back to everyone who places an order between 21st - 27th November 2023*. Receive a surprise discount, from £5-£25 to use with your next order. 

* Code cards look like this (with a code on them obviously 😉) and they are tucked inside an envelope. So even I don’t know what I’m putting in your orders. It’s totally random as to who gets what discount. But you are guaranteed the minimum of at least £5. 

Have a wonderful day!

Crafty Hugs