Countdown to Christmas Day 6

Hey & TGI Friday!

Seriously I really do not know where this week has gone, time is flying by at lightening speed here at Uniko Studio HQ. Can you believe that the December release sneak peeks will begin here on the blog tomorrow? 

Anyway, apologies for my tardiness with todays Countdown to Christmas post, I got caught up in the flow of making yesterday that I totally forgot to photograph the cards before writing & sending them out in the mail! I needed a few more of the same design as I had a few pre stamped a envelopes to match left so I whipped up another card to share with you this morning...

This is one of the mail friendly designs I have decided to send out this year. I was in a rush yesterday to get these in the post to my international friends and family as it was one of the last airmail posting dates.

As well as the design being flat it had to be reasonably mass produceable with not too many steps. I also like to make an effort with my Christmas cards and decorate the inside which I have for this card by simply mirroring the design on the front.

I also decorated the envelopes to match. Even though the design is simple and flat sparkle can be added with glitter and spending that little more time with the finishing touches can make it all the more special.

That's all from me today here on the blog, but I will be back again tomorrow with more to share including the first sneak peek! I had best get back to preparing class kits for tomorrow as I am at The Paperlane doing a demo from 10am - 2pm and doing the class from 2pm - 5pm. If your in the area pop in, I'd LOVE to see you & I think there is a couple of spaces left in the class too.

Until tomorrow, thank you for stopping by :)

Supplies

Card Stock: White from stash, SU! Real Red

Ink: VersaMagic Red Magic & Tea Leaves. VersaFine Onyx Black

Stamps: Uniko Studio Background Builders: Christmas, All Occasion Sentiments #4, Pure Florals: Poinsettia and Label Love: Christmas

Accessories: Hero Arts Prisma Glitter

Countdown to Christmas Day 5

Hey!

Is it really day 5? Oh my Christmas Day is only 20 sleeps away & I still have quite a bit to do AND there is SO much excitement just around the corner here at Uniko Studio too with the December Release - Sneak Peeks begin on Saturday! 

Anyway, yesterday I said I had a little something different to share with you and here it is...

What do you think of my little Christmas tree decoration? Below is a close up of the sparkly snowflake detail...

I love sewing and making stuff but I don't always have the time or patience to make them! But, as it's the Countdown to Christmas and it incorporated snowflakes I made time and TBH I throughly enjoyed myself! I'm thinking of making a couple more of these in different colour combos and giving them as little gifts to some special friends. 

They are super simple to make too. I started out with 100% wool felt (Papertrey Ink) in Aqua Mist and I die cut 2 hearts using the Sizzix Framelits Heart collection (the second largest). I then die cut a Vintage Cream medium Uniko Studio Designer Die Snowflake. I used 100% wool felt as I tried using the cheap felt I had in my stash but the snowflake simply fell to pieces as it was too flimsy.

I then placed the snowflake on the top heart and used some simple hand stitching using embroidery floss to secure the snowflake in place. I added some Swarovski beads to add some sparkle along the way too. Once the snowflake was in place I secured the hanging ribbon and then used a blanket stitch to sew the hearts together. As I neared the end of my sewing I padded the heart out with some toy stuffing. 

That's all from me today, I hope that you have enjoyed todays inspiration?! I will be back tomorrow with more to share, until then thank you for stopping by today :)

Supplies

Accessories: Uniko Studio Designer Dies Snowflakes, Sizzix Framelit Hearts Dies, PTI Aqua Mist & Vintage Cream Felt, Embroidery Floss & Swarovski Beads.

Countdown to Christmas Day 4

Hey!

I'm back this afternoon with day 4 of my Countdown to Christmas, this mornings post HERE was by Gillian our December Guest Designer who won the last Uniko Studio Challenge. Be sure to check out Gillian's beautiful & festive card as a challenge reminder. There is still 10 days to get your entires linked up.

Ok, back to my project for today...

The inspiration for this card came from the current CASology challenge HERE which is ribbon. I had all the usual ideas of using ribbon on cards, tags & gifts floating around my mind. Then all of a sudden it came to me - a gift card, but not in the usual sense of creating a gift card holder but merely a card disguised as a gift. 

Yes, it's not an original idea but it's what came to me and sometimes you just have to go with the flow! I've used minimal supplies on the card and any colour ribbon can be used. You could even match the colours to your actually gift wrapping for the year if you are a colour coordinating theme person. 

I decided to add a small die cut heart tag stamped with a 'With Love' sentiment from Flower Power #3, but it would still look pretty & festive even without the tag. Thinking about this card now as I type it doesn't even have to be a card for Christmas, it would suit any occasion. 

That's all from me today & I hope I've inspired you a little bit to use some of that ribbon I know you're hoarding like me! I'll be back tomorrow at the usual time of 9am GMT with Day 5 of the countdown, with something a little different! Until then, thank you for stopping by today :)

Supplies

Card Stock: SU! Crumb Cake. Dovecraft White

Ink: VersaFine Onyx Black

Stamps: Uniko Studio Flower Power #3

Accessories: Sizzix Framelit Heart Dies, Gingham Ribbon from stash. Linen Thread. Foam Adhesive

[Uniko Studio Challenge] Challenge No. 5 - Reminder

Hello everyone! We have our guest designer Gillian from Made With Sparkle on board today to share with us her project:

I was very very lucky to be chosen as the winner for the last Uniko Studio challenge.  As part of my prize I get to be guest desinger to the current challenge, so here I am!

The challenge this month is Christmas or Winter Holiday.  As luck would have it Beverley recently released some gorgeous snowflakes dies so this was the ideal time to use them

Supplies Used:

Uniko Studio - Designer Dies Snowflakes

Uniko Studio - Pure Florals Poinsetta (Sentiment)

Stampin Up - Glimmer Paper

Stampin Up - Dazzling Details

I coloured my snowflake using some Distress Ink and my Ink Dusters

Is this ok? Do you need anything else for the post?

Thanks so much

Gillian

The Challenge Rules:

• You have until December 14th 09:00 UK time, to link your card up below
• Winners will be announced by December 17th
• Please add the Uniko Studio Challenge badge & link back to the challenge 
• If you don't have a blog to link back to the challenge, don't worry. Just use "USC"+<challenge number> as your tag. For example, for the second challenge "USC2"
• Showcase any Uniko Studio product: clear stamps, dies, digital pattern paper, digital cut files, or digital stamps. If you haven't purchased any Uniko Studio products, fear not. Plenty of freebies here.

The Prizes:

• A £10 Gift Certificate to the Winner & Guest Design Team spot on the blog for the next challenge
• Top Three Spotlight

We can't wait to see your creations. Come play along!

Countdown to Christmas Day 3

Hey!

It's no secret that I LOVE Snowflakes & ALL things SNOW! Every morning I wake and hope to open my windows to it snowing or that fresh snow has laid overnight. Much to my disappointment that hasn't happened yet :(

Anyway, I decided to incorporate my Christmas window dream into a card reality & made two versions, you can decide which is your favourite but I'm leaning towards the kraft & white version...

I used a Papertrey Ink label die to create the window, die cutting it once then moving it down slightly and die cutting again to create an elongated window. 

For my second card I changed it to a landscape card and decided to use the current Dynamic Duos challenge colours seen HERE and below, I chose white to use as my other colour.

Typing the post now, it is like I've done a day & night version! On this second card I stamped the snowflakes using VersaMark Dazzle ink which has a subtle shimmer to it.

Do you dream of a white Christmas? They say the weather is getting colder here towards the end of the week & predicting rain & haven't forecast snow, but I can only keep everything crossed and hope they're wrong! 

That's all from me today, I will be back tomorrow in the afternoon with Day 4 of the Christmas Countdown, be sure to stop by in the morning too as we have a guest joining us on the blog :) Until then thank you for stopping by :)

Supplies

Card Stock: PTI Kraft & Enchanted Evening. Dovecraft White

Ink: Memories Unicorn, SU! Night Of Navy & Crumb Cake. VersaMark Dazzle

Stamps: Uniko Studio Stunning Snowflakes, Background Builders: Christmas & Label Love: Christmas

Accessories: Uniko Studio Designer Dies Snowflakes, PTI Label Die, Hero Arts Prisma Glitter, Linen Thread, Foam Adhesive.

Countdown to Christmas Day 2

Hey!

Happy Monday & welcome back to day 2 of my Countdown to Christmas. If the days keep flying by like they have this past weekend I don't think I will ever be ready! I was at The Paperlane yesterday for a little demo as it was Santa Sunday in Northallerton. I made a couple of cards and they all featured glitter, such a quick & easy way to add sparkle to a CAS creation. 

I've just whipped up a couple more cards using mainly double sided tape to adhere the glitter...

Double sided tape is available in so many different widths it is easy to create lots of different variations. I've used a 12 mm wide DST on both these cards today, which is double the width of DST I normally use. This made adding the strips easier and it was quick to fill a panel of CS. Using a fine glitter like the Hero Arts Prisma Glitter goes a long way, making these two cards hardly made a dent in my pot of glitter.

For my second card I did some super CAS stamping using the little tree from Label Love: Christmas to create a larger tree & of course adding lots of glitter...

I started out by stamping the 3 trees along the bottom starting with the right hand side and stamping towards the left and then built my tree up from there. I added some simple red rhinestones to tie in the sentiment stamped in red and added some glitter to the trees. Before I adhered the panel to the card base I used the same technique as the first card using my wide DST and glitter.

Both my cards took me under 20 minutes to make and with a simple assembly line style a batch of each could be whipped up in no time at all. Plus, if you get bored like me making all the  cards the same, switch them up by changing the colours of the CS or even the glitter. Another positive thing about both these cards is that they use minimal supplies which equals minimal cost. 

Both these cards are perfect for the Sparkle "less is more" challenge HERE too, so I will be linking these beauties up a bit later. Be sure to checkout the challenge & also ALL the inspiration in the gallery.

Ok, that's all from me today I have some lovely customer orders to pack & post - thank you :) and some 'to do lists' to write! 

Today is the last day to grab yourself a bargain from the website too and there is less than 12 hrs to go until it ends, be sure to visit HERE.

I will be back tomorrow with more to share, until then THANK YOU for stopping by today :)

Supplies

Card Stock: PTI Spring Rain & Ripe Avocado, White from stash

Ink: VersaMagic Red Magic & Tea Leaves

Stamps: Uniko Studio Label Love: Christmas

Accessories: Uniko Studio Designer Dies Snowflakes, Hero Arts Prisma Glitter, Double Sided Tape, Rhinestones & Foam Adhesive.

Countdown to Christmas Day 1

Hey!

Today marks the beginning of the traditional countdown to Christmas, have all got your advent calendars? If not then you can countdown with me here at Uniko Studio where each day I will be getting my festive spirit into FULL swing! I will be sharing lots of CAS and most importantly quick creative projects from cards, tags, gift wrapping & simple memento gifts. Hopefully it will give you some ideas & inspiration :)

So, let's open door no.1 and see whats inside...

Behind todays door is the simple bottle tag. I love this invention and even though I've used & kind of cheated by using the die from Papertrey Ink, they are really simple to make even without a die which would open you up to more possibilities in size, I will give a few tips at the end of the post.

I've only used a small selection of supplies (listed at the end of the post) and a batch of these would be easy to whip up in assembly line style.

I think you can see the sparkle of the snowflake die cut in the photo & I also added some extra sparkle to the stamped red label just for good measure! It is also perfectly fitting to enter into the current 'Less is More' challenge HERE which is to add SPARKLE to your creation.

To make your bottle tag without a die;

1. Cut a rectangle of card 2 1/2" x 7"
2. Score across the tag 2 1/2" down and die cut or punch a circle
3. Round corners of the tab with corner punch or use partial die cutting technique with a slightly larger circle die
4. At the bottom of the tag find the centre of the width and up each side measure 1/2" to 3/4" and use a craft knife & ruler to cut the V shape.
5. Decorate!

I have also made these into multipurpose tags in the past which also double up as a gift card holder. This is achieved by cutting two bottle tags out, cutting off or missing off the loop to hang the tag and leaving an inch to an inch & half gap at the top. Then secure this to the full bottle tag just around the sides & bottom of the die as to ensure you can slip the gift card in the top with just a part of it peeking out. Then just decorate as above or however you should please. You could also coordinate the colours with the shops gift card.

I kind of started with my festive spirit yesterday with the current Super FREE Saturday, which I showcased HERE on the blog yesterday. It is also available from the website HERE for free. The labels in the download are perfect for the centre of the snowflakes as you can see by yesterdays cards but they would also work inside other die cut shapes too.

Ok, you will be pleased to know that's all I have to share with you today, I've waffled on for far too long! I will be back tomorrow with more to share, until then THANK YOU for stopping by & don't forget that the Black Friday & Cyber Monday Sale is still on over at the website HERE. The bargains are selling out FAST along with the Stunning Snowflakes & Designer Dies Snowflakes so don't leave it to the last minute or you might miss out!

Supplies
Card Stock: SU! Real Red & Bermuda Bay, White from Stash
Ink: VersaMagic Red Magic, VersaFine Onyx Black
Stamps: Uniko Studio Label Love: Thank you & Label Love: Christmas
Accessories: Uniko Studio Designer Dies Snowflakes, Hero Arts Prisma Glitter, PTI Bottle Tag Die & Limitless Layers Dies. Foam Adhesive.