Merry Monday!

Merry Monday!

With Christmas only weeks away, I thought it was time to begin a 'Merry Monday' feature where I share projects using Uniko Christmas products. The hardest part of any blog post, is deciding what product to use and where to find inspiration.

Anyway, when the post arrived this morning the decision was kinda made for me today. My copy of Creative Stamping magazine arrived and I am super happy to share a peek of a product feature I am honoured to have in this issue.

The product I decided to focus on for the feature was one I didn't show enough inky love to last Christmas, BIG & BOLD Merry...

This clear stamp set, though it be a mini £5 set can pack a punch and has lots of creative possibilities when you get creating with it.

Here is a peek at just two of the cards I made using this stamp set and only this stamp set. The one below is one of my favourites and though it was fairly time consuming, it is one I hope to replicate in other colour ways for one of my Christmas designs this year.

For more information and to look at my bonus card, head on over HERE. And to not be a cop-out for my first Merry Monday feature I made a new card using the set to share with you...

Another clean and simple design with some festive colours, fussy cutting and colourful Nuvo Drops! I think this card took about 20 mins or so and the longest part was the fussy cutting of the bold merry. Why oh why haven't I got dies for this set yet?!

I just love this Cherry colour of ink from The Stamp Market and it stamps beautifully too. And just look at the colourful Christmas lights accented with Nuvo Drops, a match made in heaven! 

That's all I have to share today, I hope I have inspired you a little to get Merry this Monday and break out your Christmas supplies! 

Thanks for stopping by.

Crafty Hugs

Brand Ambassador Inspiration - Stenciled Christmas Cards

Hello everybody!

Have you started creating Christmas cards weeks ago?
Or did you miss it until now and just recognized it's almost middle of Ocotber, time is running and you NEED some more quick ideas to make nice cards in no time to send out soon?

If you are one of the second ones, you should take a closer look here!

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

As you know, I love stenciling!
Some people may say: "stencils are so time-consuming..." but here you'll see they aren't!
Maybe you need a bit of time for the first step - but one of the best parts of a finished stencil pattern is, you can cut it in smaller pieces and make several cards with not much extra time!
 
Time savers are: 

• Heat-Embossing all things in one step.
• Combine several DieCuts in one cutting-process.
  and/or: Use leftover DieCut pieces from previously made cards.
• Use the same materials like inks, embossing powders or embellishments on different cards (so you needn't search what fits and clean-up after using it every time again!).
  When you combine them in a new way, it's different everytime!

Let's get crafty with the first step:
I mixed some white matte embossing paste (the one I used is called "snow paste", it's from a German company) with a bit of green and blue Nuvo-Drops and also a bit of dark green Stickles. This self-made paste I put through the "In the Forrest" Stencil onto a thick multi-technique paper (140 lbs = 300g/m²), this helps to avoid warping and uneven paper after everything is dried. 

After the paste was dry I made these three cards of this single piece of paper:

1. Raised Christmas Tree

I cut a strip with a width of 6,5 cm of the tree-paper. Then I used a fir tree punch to cut out one tree, which I covered with a thin layer of the green Nuvo-Drop I used before and smeared it around with my finger. You can still see the stenciled trees there, but the punched tree was optically seperated from the background now.
I punched out several trees from a simple green cardstock, stacked and glued them together with the green stenciled tree on top.
Then I glued both, the strip and the stacked trees with a strong adhesive onto my cardbase

I stamped and heat embossed the sentiment from "Simply Said Christmas" in gold and the cones from "Background Builders - Vines Winter Additional" in liquid platinum.
To finish the card, I embellished the raised tree with some little golden stars and put also one on the top (on the flat layer). 

"Raised Christmas Tree"

Dimensional Tree

Sentiment and embellishments - heat embossed in two colours

* ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
2. Golden Rings 

For the second card I die cut a circle of the tree-paper.

This special die I used always cuts a circle and an additional thin ring at once.
I cut out several of the dies in one step, nested them together, adhered them with my (low sticky!) painters tape and cut.
For the card I used three of the thin rings in different sizes and a small circle I cut out in a second step. I stamped my sentiment from the Set "Rustic Wreath" and put the powder on, then I covered all three rings with a VersaMark Marker and put the golden powder on top too. I heat-embossed them one after another, so it was only one time-saving working step with only one heating time of the tool.

After I adhered the three rings and the two circles on the card, I embellished each ring with some of the small stars I also used on the second card and with one big golden star.

"Golden Rings"

* ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

3. Tree in the Forrest

For the last card I die cut again a circle of the third part of my tree-paper.
This time I stamped and heat embossed my sentiment of the Set "Most wonderful" first.

Then I stacked the circle up with some same-sized circles of white cardstock. The thin ring with the pattern I placed flat around the pile and covered it with some clear sparkling stickles.

Then it happened! A big and clumsy blob came out of the bottle! In the first moment I thought, ok, this card is demaged! But then I thought: NO! I don't want to put it away! I tried to save it.

I die cut another ring of paper - why I thought, green woud be a good idea... I don't know anymore... So the second misstake was sticking around the pile... and this glue is strong! No removal possible!  
To save the card once more, I covered the green ring with the same dark green stickles I used to colour the paste to calm it down a bit. 

You now have the chance to learn from my idiocy and avoid the faults I made!

• NEVER cover thin rings with wet or semi-wet stuff when they are already fixed on the cardbase!
• ALWAYS think twice, how you can save the situation if something bad has happened!

A better idea would have been to cut out the larger ring of white cardstock (instead of green!) and leave it blank or cover it with the subtle colour of the sentiment (liquid platinum again).

But hey, it's a handmade card, it may not be perfect, but I like it anyway!

* ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

I hope I could inspire you to use your stencils and the DIY backgrounds you've created in a new way. 

0It's also a perfect way when you have a stenciled paper with smaller misstakes (run outs) - cut these parts of and use the smaller pieces!


Have a great and creative day!
Greetings from Wiebke

SURPRISE...October 2019 Release Available NOW!

Happy Saturday!

I'm popping by to share the news that the October 2019 Release is available NOW to buy HERE on the website. After the popularity of it last Saturday at Happy Stampers Festival, I simply couldn't wait any longer to release it on the website!

So instead of my usual sneak peeks and introduction posts, I shared a post HERE last night on the website, with a card for each of the products being released. We will still be holding our traditional Brand Ambassador Blog Hop on Saturday 26th October, with a GIVEAWAY.

Until the Blog Hop, I will be sharing more about each product on the website blog and I am sure you will see peeks of all the products around the Brand Ambassador blogs as they each receive the goodies in the mail! 

Anyway, how about a look at the new products. This month there are three clear stamp sets, two coordinating designer die collections to previously released clear stamp sets, one stand alone die which coordinates with a previously released clear stamp set and one new stencil design.

First up a look at the clear stamp sets...

Background Blocks Scandinavian Christmas £5 

Copyright Uniko Ltd 2019

www.uniko.co.uk

First up I have a new addition to the ever popular Background Blocks series, Background Blocks Scandinavian Christmas. This yummy design is based on the previously released Uniko Stencil Design, Scandinavian Christmas. The pattern features images and elements from popular clear stamp sets such as Background Builders Vines Winter Additions, Peace on Earth, Rustic Christmas and Rustic Wreath. This in turn will add so many more possibilities to your Christmas and Holiday stamping.

Festive Sentiments Outlined £10 

Copyright Uniko Ltd 2019

www.uniko.co.uk

Next I introduce you to Festive Sentiments Outlined. With the popularity of Sentiments Outlined released in July this year, it seemed like a no brainer to have a festive version. Along with some pre built sentiments in this set, such as 'Let it Snow' and 'Season's Greetings', I have added lots of individual sentiments for mix and match opportunities. AND some sentiments can even be used all year round.

Season Of Beauty £16

Copyright Uniko Ltd 2019

www.uniko.co.uk

The last clear stamp set for this release will no doubt be my go to set for my Christmas card making this year, Season Of Beauty. 

Season Of Beauty features a modern layering poinsettia style flower, large and small wintery foliage and a trio of sentiments. Though the main focus of this stamp set was designed purposely for Christmas, it does lend itself to all the other seasons. And I will be showing you how to achieve different looks from this set in the coming days :)

Next I introduce you to the two Designer Die collections which coordinate with previously released clear stamp sets.

Designer Dies BIG & BOLD Snow Collection £9

Copyright Uniko Ltd 2019

www.uniko.co.uk

Just like the previously released BIG & BOLD Happy and BIG & BOLD Wish Designer Die Collections, BIG & BOLD Snow features a die to cut out the word snow and a shadow die to layer with it. There are dies included to match the snowflakes and snowflake swirl in the clear stamp set too. Having the dies to match creates so many more fun possibilities.

Designer Dies Winter Foliage Collection £8

Copyright Uniko Ltd 2019

www.uniko.co.uk

Winter Foliage is still as popular now as it was when it was released a few years ago. These coordinating Designer Dies Winter Foliage have been a long awaited and will be an invaluable addition to the clear stamps and my Christmas card making this year!

Now the next Designer Die is a stand alone die and one I couldn't resist adding to this release, Sparkling Snowflake. Though I have designed it to stand alone on Christmas and Winter themed projects, it does coordinate with the previously released and ever popular Stunning Snowflakes clear stamp set.

Designer Die Sparkling Snowflake £9

Copyright Uniko Ltd 2019

www.uniko.co.uk

This beauty of a die is my favourite design from Stunning Snowflakes and it measures 10.5 cm from point to point across the diameter. It's BIG and it certainly takes centre stage when used on a card!

Lastly for this release and by no means least I have a new Stencil, Winter Foliage.

Stencil Winter Foliage £3.50

Copyright Uniko Ltd 2019

www.uniko.co.uk

This was designed to coordinate with the Winter Foliage clear stamp set and the new coordinating Winter Foliage Designer Dies. Plus it has familiar imagery to Background Builders Vines Winter Additions, Rustic Christmas and Rustic Wreath. 

So there we have it, the October 2019 Release. I'd love to know what your favourite product is and what is making its way into your shopping cart or wish list!

That's all from me today, but I will be back in the coming days with more to share using these new products and don't forget to join us on the 26th October for our Brand Ambassador Blog Hop & GIVEAWAY!

Crafty Hugs

DT Inspiration - A Little More Sweet Baby: Last Chance to Buy before Retiring

Hello there, it's Sarah and I'm here with another DT Inspiration post.

You no doubt spotted fellow DT members, Jane and Izzy showcasing designs, on the blog recently, using sets from the 'Soon to be Retiring' section and here's another one featuring that gorgeous bundle of Sweet Baby stamps. I for one will be sad to see this one retire but Bev has made the tough decision to make room for new sets.

If you fancy grabbing a bargain then please follow this link to the shop where Sweet Baby is on offer at 50% off the regular price.


So first up I've gone with the traditional baby blue and baby pink designs using the cutest little romper with a mini stamp from the set to decorate, before fuzzy cutting and popping up on 3d foam. The sentiments are also from the set and stamped to coordinate.

... and this one uses a little paper piecing idea with some Doodlebug patterned paper in a 'not-so-traditional' colour way but still baby cute I think!

Thanks for calling by the blog today and hope you're enjoying some happy crafting time.

Brand Ambassador Inspiration - Last chance to buy before retiring Sweet Baby

Bonjour !

Izzy here. Today I'm echoing Jane's post from last Saturday, as she explained, some stamp sets have to be retired to make room for the new ones. For this occasion, they are on sales with 50% off, so I'm here today to give you some inspirations on how to use the Sweet Baby stamp set.

As all the Uniko stamp sets, this one is very versatile, you can not only make Babies'cards but also cards for other occasions and that what I'm showcasing in this post.

The first trio are Babies cards using not only the Sweet Baby set but combining it with other Uniko stamps.

My first card uses the ducks of the Sweet Baby set together with the So Much set. I simply stamped the ducks, masked them and then I stamped the flowers. I coloured them with Kaleidacolor inks and a blender pen. I stamped the sentiment and I die cut a frame (x3) and glued it on the card base around the image.

Stamps: Uniko, Sweet Baby & So Much - Die: MFT, Stitched square scallop - Inks: Kaleidacolor, Baby Powder & Altenew, Industrial Diamond

My second card uses the onesie that I stamped in pink on a pattern paper. I made the background with the Scattered Polka Dots stencil and Catherine Pooler inks that have the same shades than the pattern paper. I matted this dotted background onto pink and then onto the card base. I die cut a scallop circle that I embossed with a dotted embossing folder. I then foam mounted the onesie on it. I stamped the sentiment onto a banner and I also foam mounted it.

Stamps: Uniko, Sweet Baby - Stencil: Uniko, Scattered Polka Dots - Die: Spellbinders, Classic Scalloped Circles Small & No brand, Tags and Labels - Inks: Catherine Pooler, Party Dress, It's a girl, It's a boy, Daydream & Versafine, Onyx Black.

My third card of this group is very simple and quick to make. I stamped the duck on a white cardstock, I coloured it with colour pencils then I fussy cut it. I glued a white feather on the double white card and I adhered the duck with a glue dot. To finish I stamped the sentiment.

Stamps: Uniko, Sweet Baby  & Simply Graphic, Planche Petit Trésor (sentiment) - Colour pencils: Faber-Castell Polychromos, #107, 108, 113.

Now with my second trio of cards, I show you how you can make cards for different occasions with this set. This time I used the teddy bear for the first two ones.

My first card uses the bear of this set and I combined it with the Background Blocks : Party Confetti and the Designer die BIG & BOLD Happy Collection. I stamped the party confetti block on a white cardstock then I die cut a square that I foam mounted on the double white cardstock. I stamped the teddy bear in brown on a scrap of paper and I fussy cut it. I die cut a party hat, I coloured it then I glued it on teddy's head. The teddy is glued on the background and foam mounted on the card. To finish I die cut the Happy word in black cardstock and I adhered it on the background. The rest of the sentiment is stamped.

Stamps: Uniko, Sweet Baby  & Birthday Sentiments (stamped sentiment) - Die: Uniko, BIG & BOLD Happy collection & Create a Smile, Cool Cuts Magical Frame - Inks: Kaleidacolor, Desert Heat & Cappuccino Delight - Promarkers: Lipstick red & Cardinal red.

The second card used again the bear but this time for a Christmas card. I combined it with the sets Background Builders: Vines Winter, Rustic Wreath and Simply Said Christmas. This is a One Layer Card. I stamped the bear in brown and I coloured it with colour pencils. Then I stamped the sentiment in black. At the bottom I used stamps from the Background Builders: Vines Winter and from the Rustic Wreath sets.

Stamps: Uniko, Sweet Baby ,  Background Builders: Vines Winter, Rustic Wreath & Simply Said Christmas (sentiment) - Colour pencils: Faber-Castell Polychromos, #103, 132, 189, 230, 231 - Inks: Distress, Mowed Lawn, Festive Berries, Vintage Photo.

And finally, for the last card I used the Sweet Baby set together with the Spring Botanicals Snowdrop to make a Spring card. I die cut a rectangle in a friendly watercolour paper, I stamped the duck once with Distress ink, I masked it and I stamped another one that I also masked. Then I stamped the snowdrops also with Distress ink. To colour this scene I used Zig Clean Colour Real Brushes. To finish I stamped the sentiment and I matted the image on a double card.

Stamps: Uniko, Sweet Baby & Spring Botanicals Snowdrop - Zig Clean Colour brushes: #050, 051, 052, 041, 045, 302, 303 - Inks: Distress, Mustard Seed & Shabby Shutters.

As you can see this stamp set is very versatile, useful for baby cards but also nice to be used for other occasions. So if you want to have a chance to get it before it is retired, you can find it HERE.

Thank you very much for stopping by and have a great crafty week !

Brand Ambassador Inspiration - Last chance to buy before retiring Background Builders Christmas

As the Uniko inventory of stamp sets grow it becomes necessary sometimes to retire stamps to make room for the new ones. That's the case with  Background Builders Christmas. So today I'm showcasing them to encourage you to buy before they're gone.

I've created a trio of cards using different colours and combinations with other stamp sets.

My first card uses the traditional Christmas colours of red and green and I've added in a sentiment from Most Wonderful and a line of dots from Background Builders Classics. I simply masked off an area for the sentiment before stamping the holly and tree strips. This card was then die cut and matted closely onto red and then onto a matching base card.

Supplies:
Stamps: Uniko, Background Builders Christmas, Background Builders Classics, Most Wonderful
Inks: SU, real red, garden green; Versafine Clair, nocturne
Die: MFT Die-namics, double stitched rectangles

My second card uses icy blues and greens. I've added Stunning Snowflakes and Background Blocks Falling Snowflakes into the mix. I stamped the diagonal strips across the bottom of the card first, then filled in the top half. Once again I double matted, once on white and then on green card.

Supplies:

Stamps: Uniko, Background Builders Christmas, Background Blocks Falling Snow, Stunning Snowflakes

Inks: SU, pool party, soft sky, tempting turquoise

My final card goes right off the radar as far as Christmas colours are concerned, but there seems to be an ever increasing combination of colours used every year so I thought I'd add my take to this. i stamped the two vertical lines first, then added the horizontal strips and a shorter vertical line. The sentiment is from Most Wonderful. Another double mat, first pink then white.

Supplies:
Stamps: Uniko, Background Builders Christmas, Most Wonderful
Inks: SU, blushing bride, old olive, peekaboo each, baked brown sugar

Here's a final look at all three cards and the Uniko products used.

Thanks so much for looking today, I hope you get your shopping done before the last of the Background Builders Christmas sells out. It's on special at the moment with 50% off, find it HERE.

And remember to keep crafting!

Jane

x

Uniko Challenge Reminder #55 - Anything Goes + optional twist Autumn

Hey!

The Uniko Brand Ambassadors and our Guest Designer are here today to remind you about the September/October 2019 Uniko challenge.

We have Anything Goes for this challenge and if you want to twist things up a bit use our optional twist of Autumn.

Challenge Guidelines:

* You can use any products/stamps to enter the challenge, but we do LOVE to see you use your Uniko products. Plus, there is an extra chance to win a prize if you do ;)

* Email entries welcome, just email a photo of your card to bev@uniko.co.uk and I will add it to the Uniko Flickr gallery and link up!

* Share the challenge graphic in your post and link back to the challenge if possible ;)

The Uniko Brand Ambassadors have been super busy creating cards to give you ideas and spark your creativity. We also have the amazing talent of our new Brand Ambassador Hannelie to share with you too.

Bev

Hannelie

Jane 

Sarah P

Wiebke 

Now, if you need more incentive to play along with the challenge here are the details of the prizes.  

THE PRIZES

• Main Winner Chosen By The Brand Ambassadors - £25 eGift Certificate
• Random Twist Winner - £5 In Stock Clear Stamp Set of Winners Choosing
• Random Uniko Stamps Winner - £5 In Stock Clear Stamp Set of Winners Choosing
• Top 3 Chosen By The Brand Ambassadors - 150 Loyalty Reward Points

You've got plenty of time to play along with this month's challenge. The deadline for submission is midnight (GMT) on Friday 25th October 2019 (7.00pm EDT).