CAS Colours & Sketches #197 & Design Team Call

Hey!

It's time for another challenge over at CAS Colours & Sketches - YAY! This week is sketch week and we have another fun sketch HERE and seen below to inspire you...

I admit I struggled with this one at first, mainly because I was tired and feeling a little stress with things going wrong and breaking round the house - those housewife/mummy woes! 

Anyway, I finally found some inspiration and came up with this...

I started out by masking off a panel to stamp with various mehndi images from Marvellous Mehndi. I then used the current ColourQ Challenge colours seen HERE and below to selectively colour parts of the images in.

For the three elements on the sketch I was inspired by CC&S and Uniko DT member Jane's card HERE. I loved the enamel dots she used, so did the same but added a trio of a trio! They are Stampin' Up! Halloween Night enamel dots from the Autumn/Winter catalogue. The sentiment I used is from Strike A Pose! and I simply cut the film strip edging off and adhered it to the card using foam adhesive.

Before I go, CAS Colours & Sketches are looking for some new members to add to the Design Team in 2017! 

We (CAS Colours & Sketches) are dedicated to creating cards in the Clean and Simple style, alternating between colour challenges and sketch challenges.  If you would like to be considered for a position on our team, you will need to participate in this week's colour challenge and next week's sketch challenge so that we can see your work in both types of challenges.  Please add the letters "DT" after your name when you link your cards for the two challenges, and make sure that your cards follow our Challenge Rules.  Applicants will be contacted during the month of November, and our new members will start on the team in December.

Ok, that's all from me for now, I hope I have inspired you to give these colours 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 Marvellous Mehndi and Strike A Pose!

Ink: VersaFine Onyx Black

Card Stock: SU! Whisper White

Accessories: Foam Adhesive, SU! Markers Pumpkin Pie, Crushed Curry and Elegant Eggplant. SU! Halloween Night Enamel Dots

Fall Coffee Lovers Blog Hop Candy Winner!

Hey!

I'm just about catching up on everything post Happy Stampers Festival and the recent Uniko Release, thank you to everyone who came along to HSF and popped by to say 'Hello' and those who purchased goodies too :) It was lovely to see and meet so many of you IRL again and for the first time. 

Thank you to everyone who has purchased the NEW Release too from the website, all orders apart from those placed today are on their way. The clear stamps that have sold out already are on order and should be in the studio available for shipping early next week! 

If you missed the Sept/Oct Reveal, Release Blog Hop & GIVEAWAY post you can catch up HERE. There is still time to enter the GIVEAWAY! 

A few more 'thank you's'... What a fabulous hop the Fall Coffee Lovers Blog Hop was, I didn't quite manage all the blogs this time, but the gallery looks awesome! Thank you to Amy for organising the hop and to everyone who took the time to stop by my post and comment.

Which leads me nicely onto the winner of my blog candy! Random.org helped me pick a lucky comment and that is...

Katrina Brown24 September 2016 at 19:35

Beautiful fall card! Love that botanical flourish coming up behind the cup! Thanks for sponsoring!

Congratulations Katrina! Please drop me an email to bev@uniko.co.uk along with your postal address and I will get your prize on its way to you. 

Before I leave, how about a card...

I 'needed' to have a little crafting therapy tonight after a 'challenging' day with the beans! They have lived up to the 'double trouble' comments today, causing havoc! 

As I didn't get to make as many coffee themed cards for the hop as I would have liked and had planned in my head ;) out came the I LOVE Coffee and Marvellous Mehndi clear stamp sets! 

I also decided to play along with a couple of challenges, it has been ages since I've joined in on some of my favourites! First up the layout of my card is from Freshly Made Sketches seen HERE and below. Secondly, my colour choice is from ColourQ seen HERE and below.

I used one of the paisley/patterned teardrop stamps from Marvellous Mehndi, simply over stamping the coffee cup and fussy cutting the cup out, direct on the stamped line not leaving any border. This meant I didn't have to do any masking. The sentiment is from Simply Said and I added minimal colour and just a trio of SU! Candy Dots.

That's all from me tonight, I have made a couple more cards tonight, which I will be sharing on the blog tomorrow. I do hope you will pop back again tomorrow ;) Until then, thank you for stopping by.

Supplies:

Stamps: Uniko I LOVE Coffee, Marvellous Mehndi and Simply Said

Ink: VersaFine Onyx Black

Card: SU! Whisper White

Accessories: SU! Marker Pens, Candy Dots and Glitter Paper

CAS Colours & Sketches #186

Hey!

This month over at CAS Colours & Sketches we have LOTS of fun challenges in store. As it is the summer months we are taking it in turns to be a hostess for the week. This week is my turn to be hostess.

It's sketch week, so I have created this sketch HERE and seen below for you to try...

Even though I had tons of ideas when I created the sketch, I kinda stumped myself when it came to creating my card! Anyway, this is what I came up with...

I kept to the sketch and as Pure Florals: Cosmos doesn't seem to leave my desk at the moment it got inked up again! 

I stamped the flower onto a die cut tag with the top trimmed off onto Whisper White CS using VersaFine Onyx black ink. I then coloured the petals in using my Prismacolor pencils, blending two shades of aqua using Gamsol.

My colour choice was inspired by the current ColourQ challenge colours seen HERE and below. I couldn't resist as it is a fabulous colour combo! 

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 Pure Florals: Cosmos 

Ink:  VersaFine Onyx Black

Card Stock: SU! Whisper White & Basic Grey

Accessories: Prismacolor Pencils, Gamsol, PTI Tag Sale Die & Foam Adhesive.

Gold Explosion!

Hey!

I hope everyone is well and enjoying the weekend, it's been a lovely day here in the NE of the UK, with the sun shining and reasonably warm outside too - YAY! 

We've had a fairly usual Saturday with the boys, but I have to say the highlight of my day was seeing the Red Arrows (RAF Jets) fly over our house a few times and I could see them doing various parts of their display at Durham Tees Valley Airport just a few miles from our house. I remember seeing them many times as a child and it brought back many memories. 

The beans got up off their nap just in time but after seeing them fly past the once, they were not that bothered the second and third plus times! This is a photo hubby and I snapped of the beans before we had to wake them up...

It still amazes me when they sleep in the same positions! Anyway, enough waffle, how about a card...

This is one of the clear stamp sets being restocked next week, Explosion! So when I saw the new sketch over at CAS(E) this Sketch! seen HERE and below, I couldn't resist using it! 

I also decided to use the new ColourQ challenge colours seen HERE and below...

This close up photo below shows off the shimmer of the gold embossing on the explosion. I stamped the explosion sparks in Calypso Coral and added a few trio of dots using the holly berry stamp from the retired Label Love: Christmas! 

Ok, thats about all from me today, I've spent a couple of hours this evening (once the beans went to bed) in the garden too, so it's now time to relax a little ;) 

I hope to be back tomorrow with more to share, until then, thanks for stopping by today.

CAS Colours & Sketches #171

Hey!

I'm popping by today to share my Design Team card for this weeks CAS Colours & Sketches challenge HERE. 

This week is sketch week and our hostess for April, Louise has another fun sketch for you to use to get your creative juices flowing...

This was such a fun sketch and the hardest part was choosing which stamps to use! Anyway, this is what I settled on...

I decided to pair a few tiny flowers from Background Builders: Vines with a leaf from Natures Treasures I and a sentiment from Flower Power #5. My colours were determined by the new ColourQ Challenge colours seen HERE and below.

To create my curves I used a circle die and a pencil to lightly draw a stamping line. I started with the leaves and added the fussy cut flowers. I then filled in some gaps with the teeny tiny flowers and dots. To finish the card off I added some tiny rhinestones and some Wink Of Stella to the larger flowers.

I look forward to seeing you in the CC&S gallery HERE and be sure to check out the rest of the CC&S Design Team inspiration.

Ok, that's all from me toda. Sorry it has been so quiet around here this past week or so, it is full steam ahead for Happy Stampers Festival show prep. Eeeek! I am a mixture of excited, nervous and worried all at the same time - LOL! 

Anyway, must dash, lots to be done while I have a bean free afternoon ;) Thanks for stopping by and hanging in there with me in my absence, it is much appreciated.

Hello 2016!

HEY & HAPPY NEW YEAR!

I do hope 2016 has begun well for you all and I wish you all a healthy, happy and creative New Year. 

We saw in the New Year quietly at home and watched the fireworks in London on the TV, with a hot chocolate then went to bed! So rock 'n' roll these days - LOL! 

I also had a little creative time before the New Year arrived and I made two cards to share with you this evening...

First up a 'Hello 2016' shaker card. Again I used the current ColourQ challenge colours seen HERE and below & this time I added in the current Freshly Made Sketches sketch seen HERE and below.

To make my shaker window I used a die from SU! Square Pillow Box collection and the shaker mix is from Little Things From Lucy's Cards. I used Uniko Classic Numbers to stamp the 2016 inside the shaker frame & the 'hello' die is from Mama Elephant die cut in gold CS and mounted over the top of two glittered stripes of double sided tape. You can never have too much glitter & bling to ring in a New Year :)

As I was on a creative roll I decided to make another New Year card, there were a few people I really wanted to send Christmas cards to, but I simply ran out of time. So I plan on sending New Years cards instead :)

This time I went for a mail friendly flat card. I started out by drawing a grid on my white CS layer & stamped the 4 squares from Uniko Classic Alphabet in black ink. I then stamped and heat embossed the 2016 in gold. 

Before rubbing out my grid I stamped 'Happy New Year' in the remaining squares. Once all my stamping was dry I erased the lines, added some glitter to the square outlines and adhered a few white heart dome stickers.

Today has been fairly quiet, this morning was spent with the beans just playing with their Christmas toys and me & my husband joining in ;) Then this afternoon I hosted New Years Day dinner for my husbands Mam, Dad & brother which was lovely. The beans love spending time with their grandparents :)

Now the beans are in bed and the family have left I am enjoying some more creative time & preparing my cards to mail out tomorrow. One of my many New Year resolutions is to send more of the cards I make!

Ok, that's all I have to share with you today. I will be back over the weekend (fingers crossed) with more to share, but if not 'normal' scheduling & work will resume on Monday as the holidays are 'officially' over then! 

Until then, thank you for stopping by & here's to another FABULOUS & EXCITING Year, with many Uniko creations & surprises ;)

Geometric CAS Style!

Hey & Happy Monday!

I do hope your week has got off to a good start :) There is a chill in the air here in the NE of the UK but the sun is out, so that helps. 

The beans are super tired today, I think they are still adjusting to the change in the clocks with them going back an hour at the weekend. Which means I had a little extra creative time in the studio today - YAY! 

Today I have shared a card HERE using this weeks Stamp Of The Week which has some geometric elements and really wanted to create a card using the current CAS(E) this Sketch! layout seen HERE and below with some more geometric elements suitable for the current Uniko Challenge HERE.

This is what I came up with...

I started out by die cutting the Mama Elephant 'hello' from the white CS at an angle. I then used temporary adhesive to adhere it to my work space with the 'hello' straight. This made it easier for me to stamped the lines with squares straight, following the sketch. 

After adhering it to my SU! Smokey Slate card base using foam adhesive I added a few square rhinestones to finish the card off. I loved the current ColourQ challenge colours seen HERE and below, so decided to use them again for my card.

I think that cue words such as geometrics can be daunting, but when you use them as accents to a focal image & think outside of the box they are really quite fun! I have used them to accent the 'hello' die cut with the simple stamping and with the rhinestones. An super CAS card in under 10 minutes! 

Ok, that's all from me today, mummy duties are required! I'll be back again this week with more to share, until then, thank you for stopping by today & hope to see you joining in on the Uniko Challenge :)

More THANKS!

Hey!

What do you do when you have an unexpected 30 minutes to yourself during daylight hours? Me...? Well, I literally whizzed round the house with the vacuum and then snuck in the studio to make a super quick CAS card! 

This is what I came up with...

Light was just beginning to fade as I took my photos, I really must sort some space for my light tent (added to the long list of 'to do's). 

Anyway, I spotted a few new challenges and couldn't wait to play along! First up is the CAS(E) this Sketch! layout seen HERE and below. 

Next, I need a colour combo. So without spending too much of my limited valuable creating time I turned to the new ColourQ challenge colours seen HERE and below, a lovely Autumn mix :)

I started out by curving the large THANKS sentiment from All Occasion Sentiments #6 and stamping it in Red Magic VersaMagic ink. I then used 3 stamps from Natures Treasures II & used the other 3 SU! ink colours in the inspiration photo. 

I decided after mounting the stamped panel onto my Riding Hood Red card base that it needed a little something...GLITTER! 

One final challenge this card fits into is the new TIME OUT Challenge, which is an inspired by words challenge HERE and the sentence...

 'Autumn...the year's last, loveliest smile'

That's all I had time to make, 30 minutes certainly goes quick when you're on the clock! Don't forget there is still time to join in on the Uniko Challenge HERE too ;) Fingers crossed I will be back tomorrow with more to share :) Until then, thank you for stopping by today.

Blog Hop WINNER and a card!

Hey!

I'm back today to announce the winner of the July Design Team Blog Hop HERE. This month we revisited Pure Florals: Chrysanthemum & the matching dies, which was the prize up for grabs (or a Gift Certificate to the same value if already owned by the winner) for commenting along the hop.

So without further ado all the comments along the hop have been counted and Random.org has selected the winner...

Commenter #3 is...

Carole11 July 2014 09:58

Love that baby wipe technique, might just have to ad it to my list of to do's! It looks fab on the Chrysanthemum.

Congratulations Carole, send me an email to beverley@unikostudio.com letting me know if you have the stamp set & dies or not along with your postal address and I will get your prize on it's way to you! 

As I was MIA yesterday, due to being tired after another scan & 3 hrs spent at the hospital I have a card to share with you today too...

I decided I needed a mojo boost and played along with a couple of challenges. Firstly the ColourQ challenge HERE and seen below. I chose just one of the colours - 5 seemed a little scary! 

The second challenge is Crazy for CAS seen HERE, which is to use Butterflies! As you can see I had no trouble combining the two challenges and reached instantly for the English Country Garden - Butterflies! You can just about see the sprinkling of glitter I added to the butterflies to help them sparkle a little more. 

That's all from me today, it's time for a little power nap before hubby comes home from work & I have to start the tea! I will be back tomorrow firstly with the next TIME OUT Challenges card & information and then with the WINNER of the Uniko Studio Challenge #11. 

Until then, thank you for stopping by today :)

Supplies

Card Stock: SU! Black, white from stash

Ink: VersaMagic Turquoise Gem, VersaFine Onyx Black

Stamps: Uniko Studio English Country Garden - Butterflies

Accessories - SU! Glitter

Lots of Colour!

Hey!

Firstly I want to thank you all for your lovely comments and understanding re: my tiredness and current condition, it truly means a lot to me :) 

Secondly after all the napping and an early night I felt much more refreshed today and was able to accomplish a few more things around the house in preparation for the 'lil beans and also spent some time with a few old work friends catching up. Plus this evening I've had the energy & a little mojo to create todays card...

I've used a lot more colour and very little white than I normally would on a card, but I still feel that as I've kept the elements minimal to a degree it still looks CAS. I was inspired by the current ColourQ challenge colours seen HERE and below and using SO many colours is certainly a challenge, but that's what they're all about after all! 

Surprisingly I am now off to watch the World Cup! I have gotten into it this time round and I watch it whilst doing my knitting! 

Anyway, it's a quiet day tomorrow with no excursions or plans, so I hope to spend quite a bit of time here in the studio, fitting in the normal lunchtime nap of course! So until tomorrow, thank you for stopping by & again for all your lovely comments & understanding :)

Supplies

Card Stock: SU! Costal Cabana & Island Indigo. White & Yellow from stash

Ink: VersaMagic Red Magic. VersaFine Onyx Black & Memento Luxe Dandelion

Stamps: Uniko Studio Flower Power #5, A Gift For You & Natures Treasures I

Accessories: Fiskars Threading Water Punch, SU! 1" Circle Punch & Markers