Happy Graffiti Explosion - Uniko Guest Ambassador Tara Cardwell

Happy Weekend! 

I’m thrilled to be guesting for Uniko today and couldn’t wait to get one of my favourite of their stamps all inky – the Background Blocks Graffiti Texture is such a great way to add maximum impact for minimum effort!

For my first card I started with a white base card and stamped the graffiti background twice underneath each other with the card in portrait orientation in Speckled Egg Distress Oxide ink rotating the stamp for the second imprint so the swirls form an S shape in the middle.

Next, I turned the stamp and inked it up again this time in Peacock Feathers Oxide and over stamped the speckled egg in the top right corner.  This fills 75% of the card but to cover it completely I masked off the edges and stamped the image another 3 times until the whole area was complete.   Lovely textured background complete.

For the focal image I used the Explosion! and Explosions Additions sets stamping onto teal card and embossing with copper powder (hero arts) before fussy cutting the explosion.   Fun and funky way to tell a guy he’s awesome!

For the second card I wanted to take the background one step further and to make it more masculine by going for a camo feel.  I did this by starting with a sand base card and stamped in Versafine Clair Shady Lane and Verdant greens following the same pattern as the blue version.   

Once that was full dry (I cheated it with a heat gun)  I masked off the edges and then stamped across the two corners with the same stamp in versamark  and added gold embossing powder.  To get a rough feel I rubbed off the straight edges in the middle of the card so the embossing looked more rustic before heating it.   

The focal point this time came from the Big and Bold Happy stamp and die bundle with the die cut happy and a stamped and embossed birthday sentiment.   I do find it awkward to find non-twee images for boy cards and these graphic styles from Uniko really hit the mark!

Thanks for reading – happy crafting

Tara