CAS Colours & Sketches #218

Hey!

Oh my, these days & weeks are certainly flying by! I think I'm finding them to pass so quick as my days and evenings are filled to the brim ;)

My days are spent entertaining and occupying two crazy beans! They are proper little boys, loving playing outside and getting dirty now the days are getting warmer and dryer ;) Though they are pretty good the majority of the time and play well together, so I do get the 'odd' moment to get things done. You can guarantee that if I get any kind of 'work' out to do they want me for something! So, I have been 'trying' to get it done once they go to bed, which occasionally has been a challenge :(

Hence the time I do get has been spent on getting new products ready for release on 6th May, which is the day I will be at Happy Stampers Festival in the Wirral (Liverpool) - YAY! Are you planning on coming...? I'd love to see you if you are :)

Anyway, I did find a little creative time to make todays card using hostess sketch for this weeks CAS Colours & Sketches challenge HERE and seen below.

And this is how I decided to use it...

For some reason I *really* wanted to make a shaker card and in my head I had forgotten about the vertical strip on the sketch! So, I adapted my original idea of how I was going to make the shaker but still got to make one! 

I purposefully didn't include a sentiment on the sketch as sometimes cards just don't need one on the front. Though the little square on the sketch could easily be where a sentiment could go or be placed. I decided to make a Spring card inspired by the current AAA Cards challenge HERE. 

I chose the solid flower from Flower Power #2 which is a modern Blossom flower design and paired it with a couple of leaves from Natures Treasures. I stamped them in colours to match the pretty pastel sequins in the shaker, which are from Pretty Pink Posh.

I hope that I have inspired you to play along this week and if you need a little more inspiration, be sure to head on over to the CAS Colours & Sketches blog HERE to see what the amazing Design Team and Guest Designer have created using the colours.

I look forward to seeing you in the gallery & have fun!

Hugs

Uniko Sponsors the 2017 Spring Coffee Lovers Blog Hop!

Hey & Happy Friday!

I'm super happy you have stopped by today, Uniko is yet again honoured to be invited by the lovely Amy from Tsuruta Designs and proudly sponsoring another fun blog hop and challenge...

Friday 24th March - Friday 31st March 2017

The winner of the Uniko prize will receive an £15 eGift Certificate to spend in store 

AND 

There are TWO Flash Prize up for grabs

PLUS

a little giveaway at the end of this post too ;)

Anyone is eligible for a Super Sponsor prize if they link up a newly created Spring Themed Coffee, Tea & or Cocoa project, no back-linkng please. Random.org will be used to draw the winners.

To link up your projects and more details about the hop and Super Sponsors pop on over to the Coffee Loving Carmakers Blog HERE.

To kick this FABulous hop off I've created my own Spring themed tea card...

I've had this idea in my head for a few days now and I just needed 10 minutes to sit down to create it! At first I couldn't decide whether to use one of the Flower Power stamps to stamp growing outside the teacup from I LOVE Tea, but settled upon the stem from Originally Organic and the flowers from Originally Organic Additions.

I kept the design CAS and left the images just stamped in the colours and uncoloured. The stem and flowers are fussy cut and I made a small cut along the rim of the teacup to place the stem inside so it would look as if the plant is growing out of the teacup.

That's all I had time to make for today, but I hope that I have inspired you to join in on the fun HERE! But, before I go today, how about another PRIZE?! 

Simply leave a comment on this post by 6am (PST) March 31st and I will select one lucky comment to receive an in stock clear stamp set of their choosing from the Uniko website!

I look forward to hopping by and seeing all your wonderful creations, have fun!

Hello Friend

Hey!

Today was a much needed bean free day! I took some time to myself this morning to catch up on a little sleep and a couple of my favourite TV shows. The beans are finally getting their last 4 back teeth and as much as they have not suffered with pain, it seems the norm for Josh to wake at least once during the night. Only mummy can sit with him until he falls back to sleep and then we get the 6 am wake up call! Overall they are really good, but boy I needed a rest this morning.

Anyway, this afternoon I have been catching up on work and designing and I decided I needed a little break and set to making this card...

I had been perusing Pinterest this week and was inspired by THIS card by Yana Smakula, I loved the ombre stripes and the bold black sentiment. So had ago using my Altenew inks, Mama Elephant die  and paired them with Beautiful Blooms III and a sentiment from Simply Said.

It's also been an age since I joined in with a card challenge, so decided on a 'Hello Friend' card so that I can join in over at AAA Cards HERE. Their current 'Hello' challenge ends on Saturday.

That's all from me tonight, I had better finish up a couple of things before bed. The design team and I will be back in the morning to inspire you with the first Uniko Challenge of 2017 - yay!

Ok, until then, thank you for stopping by :)

Hugs

Supplies:-

Uniko Clear Stamps: Beautiful Blooms III and Simply Said

Inks: Altenew

Card: Stampin' Up! Whisper White

Accessories: Mama Elephant Die, Clarity Stencil Brushes, Wink Of Stella, MISTI & Stampin' Up! Enamel Dots

CAS - Colours and Sketches #188

Hey!

This month over at CAS Colours & Sketches we have had LOTS of fun challenges with each design team member taking it in turns to host. This is the last week of August and this week Patricia is our hostess.

It's sketch week and Patricia has this sketch HERE and seen below for you to try...

Argh, a oval...haha! My nightmare shape right now as I still don't any oval dies! Don't worry though as Patricia don't mind if you substitute the oval for a similar elongated shape, as long as the corners are NOT 90° - phew! 

So this is what I came up with...

I wanted to do something a little different instead of simply layering card stock to create the rectangle/border effect of the sketch, so I did some masking and and stamping to achieve the look required.

I couldn't decide on a colour scheme either so in those circumstances, monochrome is the way to go! I had Beautiful Blooms II still on my desk from a previous card, so it got some more inky love ;)

I also decided to stamp the bloom so it overhung the Papertrey Ink mat Stack die cut. The whole card could have gone wrong at this point, as then I decided to stamp the bloom again on the base card to make the bloom whole, but add interest too, *luckily* it came out just right! I so NEED to invest in a MISTI, to overcome this stamping hurdles with ease ;)

Ok, that's all from me today! I hope I have inspired you to give the sketch a go and join in on the challenge this week. Be sure to stop on over HERE and check out what the rest of the CAS Colours & Sketches DT have done using the colours and I hope to see you in the gallery.

Thanks for stopping by today.

Supplies:

Stamps: Uniko Beautiful Blooms II and Pure Florals: Chrysanthemum

Ink:  VersaFine Onyx Black

Card Stock: SU! Whisper White

Accessories: Wink Of Stella and PTI Mat Stack Die

CAS Colours & Sketches #165

Hey!

Sorry I am late with my CC&S Design Team card and for being MIA for yet another spell of time, I have been hit yet again by another bug :( This time it literally floored me and I nearly passed out with a dizzy spell whilst giving the beans their breakfast. 

Anyway, enough of my woes, I made it back into the studio this afternoon to 'relax' and make a couple of cards including this one using the new colours over at CAS Colours & Sketches...

Jane our hostess for March has yet again come up with a lovely fresh colour combination to inspire our creations, the colours can be seen HERE and below.

As you can see I decided to go with florals using the 'non-traditional' colours for floral creations. However, who said that florals have to be inspired by those seen in nature?

With it being St Patricks Day I opted for the Good Luck sentiment, plus it fit snug beside the flower ;) 

I hope that I have inspired you a little with my card to join in on the challenge! If not the CC&S Design Team have more inspiration over HERE for you. I look forward to seeing you in the gallery this week.

Thanks for stopping by today.

Hugs

March 2016 Design Team Blog Hop & Giveaway!

Hey!

I'm SO happy you've stopped by the blog today as today is the March 2016 Design Team Blog Hop. Along with the hop we have a GIVEAWAY! So be sure to grab a drink, get comfy, relax and enjoy.

As we've quite a few new followers here, ("Hello & Thank you") I will explain what's going on! Here at Uniko I *USUALLY* only release new products every other month. This is for a number of reasons, firstly, being an avid paper crafter myself and knowing the current economic climate I know 'some' are on a limited budget when it comes to buying new stash, so this way you're not tempted to splurge too much every month.

The second reason is that it is just me here at Uniko HQ. I currently run this little business single handedly, designing, blogging, demoing, classes, packing. Alongside that I am a full time mum to 16  month old twin boys. So releasing every other month gives me chance to keep my head above water, well...just about!

So, on the in-between release months the Design Team & I take a look back at a previously released product, dust it off and give it some love.

This month I decided to take a look back at the previously released Pure Florals: Cosmos clear stamp set...

With Spring just around the corner here in the UK and Easter coming up too, I thought this set would be nice to revisit and give some extra love to.

As usual I like to show a couple of my old favourite creations & more can be found HERE on the Pure Florals: Cosmos Pinterest page.

Ok, how about some new inspiration using this set...

I went for another quick CAS card using a few favourite challenges, first up the layout of my card is inspired by the Freshly Made Sketches sketch seen HERE and below. The colours of my card are from the new Color Throwdown challenge colours seen HERE and below. Lastly I thought I would join in on the TIME OUT Challenge HERE which is Spring or Easter themed cards.

The flowers are stamped in Memento Tuxedo Black ink and coloured really simply with Copic markers. The sentiment is from Some Bunny and the edge of the white layer is die cut using Mama Elephant dies.

That's all from me, but how about some more inspiration using this set from the FABulous DT...

CLICK HERE to see more from Deborah

CLICK HERE to see more from Jane

CLICK HERE to see more from Lindsey

CLICK HERE to see more from Nicki

CLICK HERE to see more from Sarah G

CLICK HERE to see more from Sarah P

It wouldn't be a blog hop without a GIVEAWAY right? 

Simply comment along the hop to be in the chance of winning this featured set along with an eGift certificate for £10 to spend in store. Or if you win and already own the set an eGift certificate for £15 will be awarded. You have until midnight Friday 25th March 2016 to comment and the winner will be announced on Monday 28th March 2016.

Thank you for stopping & hopping along with us today :)

CAS Colours & Sketches #161

Hey!

Welcome back to another fun week & challenge over at CAS Colours & Sketches. This month our hostess is Stef and this week she has inspired us with another fun colour challenge HERE and seen below.

Shades of purple are not my go to colours and adding in metallic silver had me thrown for a little bit. After I had made my card using the nearest colours I have to those above, I realised I have used the same flowers as the last colour challenge...

Beautiful Blooms II is a lovely flower to stamp in two shades of the same colour :) I used VersaMagic Purple Hydrangea for the outline and Spring Pansy for the centre detail. The sentiment is from Pure Florals: Cosmos and embossed in Silver Dollar. 

As you can see in the close up the Silver Dollar EP adds a lovely shine to the sentiment and I finished the card of by adding a few tiny white crystal sequins. So, I'll be adding my card to the current challenge HERE over at AAA Cards, which is to use sequins :)

That's all from me just now, I hope to see you over in the CC&S gallery and be sure to check out the rest of the CC&S Design Team creations HERE.

TIME OUT Challenges - Home Sweet Home

Hey!

I'm here this morning with another TIME OUT Challenges card. This fortnight is Home Sweet Home with a interiors photo to spark your inspiration...

This is how I was inspired by the photo...

I was inspired mainly by the colours and the florals of the wallpaper, but I also liked the stripes and this translated into the position of my CS layers. I used the masking technique to stamp the small flower from Beautiful Blooms I and added a sentiment from All Occasion Sentiments #1.

Short & sweet from me today I'm afraid. I am tried this week, the beans have been keeping me on the go and we've been trying out different baby & toddler groups in the area to see which are the best & they enjoy the most. It's good fun but takes it out of me that little bit more! 

Anyway...

This fortnight we have a lovely guest designer joining us, Joyce, be sure to stop by Joyce's blog HERE to see how she was inspired by the photo and of course the FABulous TIME OUT Challenges Design Team...

Sandie

Lynn

Gerrina

Anita
Sarah
Elizabeth
Shona
Lisa

For all the info and to link up your challenge be sure to stop by the TIME OUT Challenges blog. I look forward to seeing your creations :) I'll be back again later in the week with more to share & until then, thank you for stopping by today.

Flowers & a Winner!

Hey!

Happy Monday, today I have another card to share which I also made before I went away...

I started out by stamping one of the Flower Power #2 blooms in 3 colours, the leaves from Natures Treasures 1 and fussy cut them out. I then die cut a large circle from a white mat layer and adhered my cluster around the die cut. The sentiment is also from Flower Power #2 stamped before adhering the mat layer to the base card with foam adhesive.

I'm just about recovered from the jet lag & easing myself back into a routine today, happy that the sun is out so I can make a dent in the holiday washing and adjust to the lower temperatures without too much of a shock to the system!! 

Before I go I have the winner of the September Design Team Blog Hop to announce - a little late but better than never! All the comments were counted up and Random.Org chose the following number...

Comment 54 is loulou on Erika's blog, congrats loulou send me an email to beverley@unikostudio.com along with your mailing address & I will get your prize out in the post to you. Thank you to everyone who hopped along with us I hope you enjoyed it and found some inspiration :)

I hope you all have a wonderful day & start to your week & thanks for stopping by today :)

Supplies

Card Stock: White from stash. PTI Royal Velvet

Ink: PTI Hawaiian Shores. SU! Elegant Eggplant, Lucky Limeade & Orchid Opulence.

Stamps: Uniko Studio Flower Power #2 & Natures Treasures 1

Accessories: Sizzix Framelits Circle Dies.

September Design Team Blog Hop!

Hey!

I'm SO happy you've stopped by the blog today as we've a Design Team Blog Hop for you to enjoy. So grab a drink, get comfy and enjoy! 

This month here at Uniko Studio we are having a fresh look at the previously released Flower Power series of clear stamp sets. There are currently 3 sets in the series and there is a lot you can do with these mini sets on their own & EVEN more when you combine all 3!

Here's a look at the sets...

For my project today I decided to create a selection of thank you cards as I will be needing a few to thank people for their wedding gifts we were lucky to receive. I think this set of five cards shows the series off in a very CAS way, but I'm super pleased with how they turned out...

I kept the layout of all the cards the same and changed just the colours of the flowers & matched this to the base card colour too. I added one more flower on the fifth card which isn't from the Flower Power series, but from the Time clear stamp set. The smallest graphic flower is the perfect size & so works perfectly with the stem & leaves.

If I hadn't of needed them myself they would look lovely packaged up for a gift for a friend at Christmas!

Ok, so that's enough from me lets get onto the Design Team Hop, you can find the order below in case there is a broken link along the way...

Aimes

 Amber

Erika

Gayatri

Nicki

Stacey

How about a PRIZE...? 

Simply comment along the hop for the chance to win the featured sets or a set to the same value if you already own them! You have until Midnight 14th September to comment and I will announce the winner here on the blog 15th September.

Enjoy the inspiration & thank you for hopping along with us today! 

Supplies
Card Stock: White from stash, SU! Pumpkin Pie & Regal Rose, PTI Hawaiian Shores, Raspberry Fizz & Summer Sunrise
Ink: SU! Lucky Limeade, Pumpkin Pie & Regal Rose, PTI Hawaiian Shores, Raspberry Fizz & Summer Sunrise, Versafine Onyx Black
Stamps: Uniko Studio Flower Power #1, #2 & #3. Time. All Occasion Sentiments #3
Accessories: Uniko Studio Designer Dies Graphic Flowers, Foam Adhesive, Rhinestones