March Design Team Blog Hop Winners and a Card!

Hey!

Thanks for stopping by today. I've a long over due winner of the March Design Team Blog Hop to announce today. AND as it's taken me SO long to do so, I decided to draw an extra winner too! 

First up is the winner of the £15 eGift Certificate...

Preeti D. (aka Dutt Preety)24 March 2018 at 11:53

Beautiful cards :)

And secondly, the extra winner who will receive the Fun Flowers clear stamp set & Fun Flowers Stencil...

Karen @ Misplaced Mojo4 April 2018 at 04:43

So bright and cheerful! Love it!!!

Congratulations Preeti and Karen! Please email me at bev@uniko.co.uk no later than 7th May 2018 to claim your prizes. 

Before I go, how about a card...

It has been a while since I created just for fun and joined in on a few of my favourite challenges. I saw the new Freshly Made Sketches challenge seen HERE and below and was inspired to join in. 

I also turned to Color Throwdown HERE and seen below for some colour inspiration! I decided to dust off All Occasion Sentiments #6 and paired it with one of the stamps from Fun Flowers. 

A little bit of simple colouring with my Prismacolor Pencils, a little dimension and some Altenew enamel dots finished my CAS design. 

This is for you guys, A BIG THANKS to you all for joining in on the March Design Team Blog Hop, we all appreciate your lovely comments and support.  

Hugs

CAS Colours & Sketches #202

Hey & Happy December!

WhooHoo, the countdown to Christmas has begun! Thanks to my bestie Kerry, we have started a new tradition, like many households with kiddies... Elf on the Shelf! I'm not sure if the beans will enjoy it as much as me ;) but this is Buddy the elf waiting to greet the beans after breakfast. Buddy is sat on the TV stand, as I usually let them watch Peppa Pig so I can eat my breakfast in peace - LOL!

Talking of peace, lets get to todays card! This month over at CAS Colours & Sketches we are looking back at all the challenges of 2016, choosing one and making it FESTIVE. THIS week we would like you to look at the 2016 Colour Challenge Archive and choose a colour combo and use it to make a festive card.

I decided upon Challenge #196 from October...

You can check HERE to see how I used them last time, this is what I came up with this time...

With the recent Uniko Release all the stamps are still currently on my desk, so I reached for Rustic Wreath and paired it with a Stampin' Up! die cut sentiment, which is heat embossed with Copper EP. As are the pine cones and then I finished the sentiment off with a partial sentiment from Pure Florals: Poinsettia. 

For the layout of my card I used the current Freshly Made Sketches sketch seen HERE and below. Such a fun and versatile sketch and one that worked perfectly for using Rustic Wreath ;)

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 Rustic Wreath and Uniko Pure Florals: Poinsettia

Ink: SU! Real Red, Garden Green. VersaFine Onyx Black. VersaMark.

Card Stock: SU! Whisper White

Accessories: Personal Impressions Kettle Copper EP. SU! Christmas Greetings Thinlits Dies

CAS Colours & Sketches #198

Hey!

Oh my, how did we get to Thursday already?! This week has been one of 'those' weeks and all my good intentions on getting caught up and even ahead on things has gone astray! 

I knew the time would come when the beans would drop their afternoon sleep of 1-2 hours and this week is the week it has happened - NO! Plus to top it off (as if I am not worn out enough) they decided that they could climb out of the cots and so a transition into cot beds has come earlier than planned. Along with even MORE excited chaos at bedtime! 

So by the time they have both settled and gone to sleep this week I have been too tired and frazzled to do anything! Hence my lateness in my CC&S card today :(

Anyway, it is a new month and so we have a new hostess over at CAS Colours & Sketches. This month Patricia is our hostess and has kicked things off HERE with a beautiful Autumnal colour challenge.

This is what I came up with...

I have used a combination of Background Builders: Vines and Background Builders: Vines Winter Additions on my card today. This wasn't my first choice of clear stamp set to use, but the one I was after has seemed to of walked away from it's space on the shelf I think tiny bean hands may be the culprit there ;) so I opted for these instead and it all turned out better than expected.

I used the current Freshly Made Sketches layout seen HERE and below for my card design and it worked really well with the focal panel.

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 Background Builders: Vines and Background Builders: Vines Winter Additions

Ink: SU! Pumpkin Pie, Chocolate Chip and Always Artichoke

Card Stock: SU! Whisper White, Pumpkin Pie & Always Artichoke.

Accessories: Foam Adhesive

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 #187

Hey!

It's a new month over at CAS Colours & Sketches with 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 our hostess is the lovely Louise.

Louise has come up with this lovely colour combo HERE and seen below for you to try...

This one had me stumped for a little while, I don't know if it was my creativity or the colours. Anyway, I decided to break out some Christmas themed stamps to try and get me in the mood for the upcoming season. Quite hard after a trip to the seaside and full on sunshine this week ;)

This is what I came up with...

I only have the new SU! In Colours in card stock, so I needed a way to incorporate at least one of the colours that way! I matched Flirty Flamingo as closely as possible to Regal Rose ink to stamp the snowflakes from Stunning Snowflakes.

The layout of my card is from the new Freshly Made Sketches challenge seen HERE and below...

Here is a little close up of the sparkle of the die cut snowflake...

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 Stunning Snowflakes

Ink: SU! Regal Rose & Chocolate Chip

Card Stock: SU! Whisper White & Sugarplum

Accessories: Uniko Snowflake Dies, SU! Glitter & Glue Pen

Aloha!

Hey!

So, I am back again with even MORE paradise inspired cards! I have two to share tonight as yesterday, I simply ran out of time in the day to prepare a post. 

Anyway, lets get to the projects...

This was the card I made last night, I used both the Paradise and Paradise Leaves clear stamp sets, along with a sentiment from Simply Said. Again, the bill of Bob is coloured with Copic markers and the ribbon is from Papertrey Ink.

Next I decided to make a more feminine card...

I combined both the sets again, using the two smaller leaves from Paradise Leaves to create a larger smaller leaf! I was inspired by the new Freshly Made Sketch sketch seen HERE and below for the layout of my card, so I masked the lower section to stamp the leaves.

After stamping the outline hibiscus flower, leaves and fussy cutting them I added a good dose of Wink Of Stella before adhering them to the card using foam adhesive. I added a few Pretty Pink Posh sequins to finish the card off.

Ok, that's all I have for you today using the NEW Uniko release stamps, by the way there is still time to comment on THIS post here to be in the chance of winning a £10 eGift Certificate. I do however have a Stamp Of The Week card over HERE, if you are looking for some more inspiration ;)

Thanks for stopping by!

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CAS Colours & Sketches #176

Hey!

I'm excited to say that for this month over at CAS Colours & Sketches I am the hostess, which means I have picked the colour combos and drawn the sketches to *hopefully* inspire you all. I do hope you like them and I really look forward to seeing you join in :)

Ok, so it's the first of the month which means it's a colour challenge. I think I have started things off with a pretty fun and simple combination...

With Summer just around the corner (for some of us & supposedly us in the UK!) I thought florally inspired combination would be fun.

Though I decided to go with butterflies for my card...

This set English Country Garden Butterflies is due back in stock over the weekend (available for pre order now along with other clear stamp sets) and so I thought I would dust my set off and give it some love.

I was also inspired by the current Freshly Made Sketches sketch seen HERE and below for the layout of my card. 

Iv'e been wanting to get some more ink blending practice in and so I masked a rectangle off and started blending the Rose Red to Blushing Bride and then to So Saffron, going back & forth between the colours blending until I was happy with the result! I still need a little more practice I think but I am enjoying the results.

The butterfly is stamped in VersaMark onto vellum and heat embossed with detail white embossing powder. After I fussy cut the butterfly out I decided to add some Wink of Stella to it for a little subtle sparkle. The sentiment also from the set is stamped in VersaFine Onyx Black ink.

I do apologise for being absent on the blogs recently, just when I think I am getting back into the swing of things I come down with a hacking cough and snuffles :( It's half term too which means all the playgroups we go to are closed and it's been a tough week keeping the beans entertained! 

Ok, that's all from me today, I do hope you will pop by the CAS Colours & Sketches blog HERE to check out the rest of the Design Team & Guest Designer Fiona's inspiration. I look forward to seeing you in the gallery & have fun!

CAS Colours & Sketches #174

Hey!

Yay! It's time for a new challenge over HERE at CAS Colours & Sketches, this week is colour week. Our hostess this month, Caro has a theme for her chosen colour combos and that is the Stampin' Up! retiring In Colours. This week is Blackberry Bliss and Lost Lagoon with Metallic Silver added in for good measure! 

Unfortunately I don't have any of the retiring In Colours, so I have selected the closest match I have in my ink collections to create my card...

I decided to ink up a couple of the Uniko May 2016 revisited clear stamp sets, Flower Power #3 and Natures Treasures II, which the DT showcased recently, HERE. The sentiment is from Flower Power #5. I will be back later today to announce the winner of the Design Team Blog Hop too ;)

Anyway, I needed a little more help to spark my creativity last night and decided to use the current Freshly Made Sketches sketch seen HERE and below for my card layout.

Hopefully you will see in the photo below that I added some sparkle to the open parts of the leaves using my clear Wink Of Stella pen. I also added a trio of tiny rhinestones for a little CAS embellishment.

Ok, that's all from me just now, I will be back later today to announce the winner of the Uniko May 2016 Design Team Blog Hop. 

Until then, thank you for stopping by and I hope to see you over in the CAS Colours & Sketches gallery HERE. Be sure to check out all the wonderful CC&S DT inspiration too ;)

CAS Colours & Sketches #170

Hey!

Sorry I have been so quiet creatively this past week, with being ill and then the anniversary of my mothers death this week I haven't been feeling so great. I have spent time organising and preparing for Happy Stampers Festival and will share some photos soon ;)

Anyway, I'm back today with my design team card for this weeks CAS Colours & Sketches challenge HERE. This week is colour week and our hostess this month Louise has chosen this colour combo to inspire us...

Though the combo features a favourite of mine, turquoise I was a little stumped at first with the theme of my card! 

This is what I came up with...

With the Happy Stampers Festival fast approaching I have some more restocks coming at the weekend, English Country Garden Butterflies & Natures Treasures II being a couple of them. So I thought I would give them some LOVE and I think they suit the colours too :)

I needed some extra help with my creativity, so I turned to the new Freshly Made Sketches sketch seen HERE and above for my card. 

After colouring sections of the butterfly in with my SU! markers, I added some clear Wink of Stella and I went overboard on the tiny rhinestone embellishment to the swirly leaves ;)

Ok, that's all from me today, I will be back with the design team and guest designer with a Uniko Challenge reminder. Until then, thanks for stopping by and hope to see you HERE in the CC&S gallery :)

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 ;)