Countdown to Christmas Day 19 - Sparkle Saturday

 Happy Sparkle Saturday!

I'm a little later than I originally planned, but didn't want to get behind again. This evening we had a family film night and I introduced the boys to Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory (Gene Wilder) the classic. It started off well, then they got a little bored! BUT then they loved it, but the chocolate factory is the best bit! 

Anyway, the card I am sharing today is one I really had to get out of my head! Occasionally I will envision a card idea in my head, often when I am designing stamps, but this time probably about a week or so ago. So while the boys were watching something on You Tube before bed I sat down to make it.

Who remembers and even owns Christmas Sparkle? 

This little gem of a set retired a few years ago now, as much as I love all the stamps I design, a few years ago I needed to make room for newer designs and unfortunately this one got the bench. 

As it's retired I haven't used it for a very long time as I try to use just current and in-stock products. Anyway, today I am making an exception and as you have seen in the recent past, some retired stamps get a little re-introduction ;)

Anyway, how beautifully ornate does this gold beauty look?

Doesn't the Sparkle bauble pair with Framed - Holly wonderfully? Like it was designed to ;) I dusted off my Encore Gold pigment ink and also added gold heat embossing to add to the shine of these stamps. 

I really love how this turned out. 

That's all I have to share with you all today. I will be back tomorrow with another Stencil Sunday instalment, but until then, thank you for stopping by & I hope I have added a little sparkle to your day after the devastating news we were issued regarding Christmas. 

Sending Love & Crafty Hugs Bev x

CAS Colours & Sketches #259 - Sketch

Hey!

Welcome back to another fun challenge at CAS Colours & Sketches. Patricia is your hostess for February and this week HERE she has this fun sketch to inspire you...

As soon as I saw the stripes on the sketch it firstly reminded me of the line stamp contained in Simply Said Blocks and I thought of it rainbow style. However, they also reminded me of the inspiration challenge over at Time Out Challenges seen HERE and below. 

So I decided to combine the challenges to create my card for today. As you can see I was totally inspired by the black and white stripes, the LOVE word, hearts and gold. Basically the whole inspiration photo!! 

I've kept to the sketch exactly and think both the inspiration and sketch went hand in hand. Love it when that happens ;) 

I put my MISTI tool to good use stamping the lines, though my measurements went a little off at one point :( Hopefully it isn't too noticeable! 

That's all from me today, I hope thatI have inspired you to join in on the challenge?! If you need a little more inspiration, pop on over HERE to see what the CC&S Design Team have created.

Thanks for stopping by!

Hugs

CAS Colours & Sketches #231 - Sketch!

Hey!

Welcome to another challenge at CAS Colours & Sketches and this month Cathy is our hostess. Last week we had a wonderful fresh and vibrant colour combo to inspire you and this week we have a sketch designed by Cathy...

Argh! Ovals! You might know already that I don't reach for ovals very often. It's a shape that just doesn't sing to me design wise, so it always gets me out of my comfort zone. 

Anyway, this is what I came up with...

I now own some oval dies, so that was one hurdle I have overcome! My design was a spin off from my Design Team Blog Hop & GIVEAWAY card seen HERE (the hop started today too, so there is plenty of time to hop along and comment to be in the chance of winning).

I already had Marvellous Mehndi on my desk, which is the clear stamp set the Uniko DT and myself are revisiting. So it seemed appropriate to give it another outing ;) I used the same colours, which are basically all of the Gansai Tambi Starry Watercolours! 

I stamped and heat embossed the paisley design, as this helps keep the watercolour in place. I just LOVE the sparkle of these watercolour paints. The sentiment is from Simply Said and I added a few sparkly glitter enamel dots to compliment the design.

That's all from me today using the sketch, but if you need some more inspiration using the sketch be sure to pop by the CAS Colours & Sketches blog HERE and see how the DT and Guest Designer have used it.

Thanks for stopping by today.

Hugs

A Look Back At 2016!

Hey!

Welcome back to another 'Look Back At 2016! This year has been an amazing year for myself personally, but it has been a fantastic year for Uniko. We have had 5 fabulous releases, with 16 new clear stamps sets lining the Uniko HQ shelves. 

I don't know about you, but to me this year has almost passed by in a blur! With that in mind I thought it would be nice now the main seasonal festivities are over and as 2016 draws to a close, to take a look back at Uniko's 2016.

Today, I am taking a look back at the April 2016 Release and giving some fresh inky love to Celebrate With Cake and Fun Flowers clear stamp sets.

First up I have a shaker card using Celebrate With Cake...

I seem to have a 'thing' for shaker cards when I use this set ;) I had some Stampin' Up! Designer Paper on my desk, left over from my CAS Christmas cards HERE. I decided to put some more of it to good use, instead of sitting and admiring it!

I used my MISTI tool again to line up and stamp the top and bottom of the cupcake and used Copic Markers to colour it in. The sequins are a mix of Stampin' Up! collections and the the 'happy' die cut is from the Hello You Thinlits Collection also from Stampin' Up! which has a good smothering of Clear Wink Of Stella. I then used the Papertrey Ink Banner Die to stamp the birthday sentiment onto, which is from Simply Said.

Next, I was inspired by THIS card created by Jennifer McGuire to create my next card using Fun Flowers. 

Again I put my MISTI tool to good use to stamp the layers of the flowers. I still require a little practice for the flower centres! 

I used my Zig Clean Colour Brush pens to colour the flower which is fussy cut and adhered flat to the card. I love the vibrancy of the Zigs just used as a marker and I now have another thank you card to send :)

So, that's a quick look back at the April 2016 Release, I hope I have given you a little inspiration to dust off these sets if you have them ;) There is a small amount of 3 of the sets in stock on the website and I have planned some restocks to arrive in January.

I hope you will join me again tomorrow, when I will be taking a look back at the 2016 June Release. Until then, thank you for stopping by.

Hugs

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.

Uniko Challenge #31

Hi!

Welcome to the April Uniko challenge.  We have another fun challenge this month for spark your creativity...

This is a FUN themed challenge this month to use Metallics on your creation.
Metallics could be in the form of paper, card, embellishments, heat embossing, die cuts etc. The possibilities are endless.

You can use any products/stamps to enter the challenge, but we do LOVE to see you use your Uniko products.  And, if you do use Uniko, there's an extra chance to win a prize.

Email entries welcome, just email a photo of your card to bev@uniko.co.uk and I will add it to the Uniko Flickr gallery and link up!

This month we have another super Guest Designer joining us this month, Christy from Schnauzer Crafts Creations. Christy was the lucky winner from Challenge #29 and has created this beauty to inspire you.

CLICK HERE to see more from Christy and leave some love :)

Now, here's some inspiration from the Uniko Design Team:

CLICK HERE to see more from Bev 

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 Sarah G

CLICK HERE to see more from Sarah P

Aren't these just super!  Now, if you need more incentive to play along with the challenge here are the details of the prizes.

THE PRIZES

• The DT will choose a winner who will get a £20 gift voucher.
• The DT choose a Top 3 who will each get 50 Loyalty Rewards Points added to their customer account.
• We will do a random draw for all those who use A UNIKO stamp, and this winner will get 150 Loyalty Reward Points added to their customer account

You've got plenty of time to play along with this month's challenge.  The deadline for submission is midnight (BST) on Friday 13th May (7.00pm EDT).

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An InLinkz Link-up

January 2016 Design Team Blog Hop & GIVEAWAY!

Hey!

I'm SO happy you've stopped by the blog today as today is the January 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 Always & Forever clear stamp set...

As you can see this set has a love theme & with Valentine's Day just around the corner I thought it would be nice to give you some' lovely' inspiration. Even though the sentimhents are geared towards Valentine's Day I hope to show you that the set is also good for Anniversaries, Weddings & general occasion cards too. 

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

This first card shows how the set coordinates with the flower from Beautiful Blooms I and I have also paired them with a sentiment from All Occasion Sentiments #1.

This second old favourite pairs the set with Background Builders: Round In Circles and the card was left sentiment free so it could be used for any occasion. 

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

My card today uses the 'Love You' heart which instead of stamping I printed it using my new laser printer so that I could foil it through my new Heidi Swapp Minc Machine that I got from Santa! I'm sure you will be seeing LOTS of foiling over the next few weeks as you know I am addicted already ;) 

I'm keeping my fingers tightly crossed for some new Minc mediums being released at CHA this weekend, which will be good for stamping & card making. But I will also be exploring some ideas I've seen on You Tube too and sharing the results with you.

Anyway, for my card I die cut my tag from some left over SU! CS and stamped my sentiment from the set in VersaFine Onyx Black ink. I adhered my foiled heart using DST and after adding some ribbon and bakers twine mounted it onto my card base using foam adhesive. I added some tiny black heart die cuts also from SU! and gave them a splash of Wink Of Stella too.

Before we get to the traditional blog hop I would firstly like to introduce you to a new member of the Uniko Design Team. Please give a warm welcome to...

Lindsey Bowe from Doodlings

Welcome to the Uniko DT Lindsey & we all look forward to seeing your creations & inspirations using Uniko products :)

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 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 Sunday 17th Jan 2016 to comment and the winner will be announced on Monday 18th Jan 2016.

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

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 ;)

Thank you So Much

Hey!

Well, some of you have already rang in the New Year & I wish you all a Happy 2016. But first as it is still 2015 here in the UK for a few more hours I wanted to stop by to say THANK YOU for an amazing year here at Uniko HQ!

2015 has been a eventful year and a HUGE learning curve for me as a mum to my twin beans alongside keeping Uniko Ltd going! 

I am thankful for so many things and so many people that if I tried to list them all I would forget someone or something so tonight I have made a card to show my THANKS to you all...

I had a little creative time tonight and decided to play along with the new ColourQ challenge colours seen HERE and below. 

I also gave my new Heidi Swapp Mini Minc Machine a whirl and added some gold foil to heart from Always & Forever. LOVING this machine and can't wait to make full use of it in 2016! 

Anyway, I thought I would also share 12 of my favourite projects from 2015 and I put together this little collage of them...

Before I go there is a Uniko Design Team member to say THANK YOU and farewell to, Gillian has decided to step down from the Design Team. With becoming a mum this year to her gorgeous little boy, crafting time has become limited. Gillian has been a wonderful inspiration to me and the rest of the Uniko DT and I am sure to all of you wonderful Uniko fans. 

Thank you Gillian you WILL be truly missed. 

THANK YOU to you ALL for an amazing 2015 see you next year!