Hello December & A Winner!

How did we get to the final month of the year? 

I really don't know where November went, but one thing I am determined to see 2021 out with some festive fun, so you're really going to want to stick around and check in 😉 regularly! 

So I am starting the day off with some festive creativity and a belated winner as I simply forgot to announce it, so my apologies 🙈

First up I have two cards to share using the prize going to one lucky person at the end of the post...

My first card I wanted to pair the Stencil - Mid Century Modern Shapes with Designer Die Sparkling Snowflake. I think they have paired together pretty well, especially with this icy aqua colour combo.

I used three shades of Altenew Sweet Dreams ink collection , Dew Drops, Aqualicious and Teal Cave. I added some sparkle to the snowflake and a sentiment from Simply Said Blocks Christmas.

As we've officially begun the countdown to Christmas I decided to put a festive spin on the Flower Power #5 stencil...

My idea is it represents a modern interpretation of a white Christmas rose. I used white pigment ink through the stencil and once dried I added yellow ink to the centre. 

I then decided to add a sheen with embossing through the stencil with VersaMark & WOW Glossy Clear embossing powder. I then added a simple sentiment from Christmas Sentiments.

Okay, so that's my creativity for today. How about we get to that winner...? 

With the help of Random.org the lucky comment left on the post HERE is...

D.L. Walls4 November 2021 at 18:57

Wow, these are gorgeous stencils and very unique!

Congratulations 🎉 please send me an email with your postal address no later than Friday 17th December 2021 to claim your prize. 

Thank you to all those who left comments and joined in on the fun. Don't worry, there is SO much more fun to be had this month :)😊

Crafty Hugs

 

Uniko Challenge #68 - Celebrate + optional twist Reds & Greens

  Hello & Happy Friday!

Welcome to the November/December 2021 Uniko Challenge.

We have the super simple theme of Celebrate, with an Optional Twist of using Reds & Greens.

For this challenge we are delighted to welcome Vicky as our Guest Designer.  

How awesome do Vicky's reds and greens look? Be sure to pop over to her blog and tell her how much you love her card - HERE.

The Uniko Brand Ambassadors have also been busy creating cards to inspire you to play along. Let's see how they've interpreted the theme.

Bev

Hannelie

Izzy

Jane

Julie

Rahmat

Steph

Wiebke

Are you ready to play?

Well, just in case you need some more incentive to play along with the challenge here are the details of the prizes.

Due to the current chaos around the world and here in the UK, I have temporarily reduced the value of the prizes. This is so that I can keep my small business afloat during these uncertain times. I hope you understand and will still join in on the fun.

Thank you for your continued support & joining in with the fun at Uniko.

  

THE PRIZES

• Main Winner Chosen By the DT - £15 eGift Certificate
• Random Twist Winner - £5 eGift Certificate
• Random Uniko Stamps Winner - £5 eGift Certificate
• Top 3 Chosen By DT - 150 Loyalty Reward Points

There is plenty of time to join and play along with this challenge. 

The deadline for submission is midnight (GMT) on Friday 31st December 2021.

Crafty Hugs,

Merry Monday, Some Pastel Christmas BA Inspiration

Good morning, Julie here with a little bit of festive inspiration. I've been wanting to try the floating strip technique for awhile and decided to turn the end result into a Christmas bauble. I originally thought of a simple circular one but in the end I used a really ancient bauble die as well!

Here are my two cards. 

The technique is the same whether you use a basic circle die or a more complex shape die to create your bauble. All you need is a piece of acetate slightly larger than your die and some strips of card!

To make mine, I used Background Builders Christmas and Background Builders Christmas 2018 and a variety of pastel coloured card for a non traditional look. Some elements I heat embossed with white EP, others I simply stamped with ink. You could just use some bits of DP as well.

Using double sided tape I added the strips to my acetate background, leaving a small gap between each one. I used some scrap acetate that was from an old brochure, you don't need the good stuff. When covered, I trimmed off the excess.

Then, using a circle die I cut into the acetate panel, a couple off passes might be needed depending on the thickness of the acetate. If it doesn't work after a couple of runs through your machine repeat or remove the die and carefully run a pair of scissors around the impression to free the die cut.

I repeated these steps to create the decorative bauble die also and added a fixing using the matching die in silver and a cut down one from another die for the plain circle one.

Once I had completed each bauble I was ready to create my cards. After a bit of toing and froing, I used a Gelli plate background using the Let it Snow stencil for one and kept the other plain.

I used a 51/2" square base card, matting the stencilled background on some silver paper before adding the bauble. I used pads down the middle and glue along the edges to give it some shaping. A simple silver chord bow and a trimmed and fussy cut, white, heat embossed sentiment from Christmas Wishes on black completes. I fussy cut the sentiment as I wanted it to look a little lighter than using a solid sentiment panel.

My second card has the bauble attached as before but onto a linen effect, white, A6 note card and a simple stamped sentiment.

So that's all from me. I hope I've given you an idea to help you make your Christmas cards. I think I'm almost there with my Christmas makes but there are always last minute ones to make!

Stay safe out there 'til next time and keep crafting.

Brand Ambassador Inspiration - Silhouette Christmas Card

Bonjour !

 It's Izzy here with three inspiration cards that I'm combining with the current challenge over at Less is More where the theme is Silhouette.

As I used Uniko stamps to make my Less is More card, I wanted to give even more love to my Uniko products. Moreover, Christmas being in a little bit more of one month, I thought it was a great opportunity to do more Christmas cards.

I went on with a triangle background (as for my LIM card) but this time I chose a red background using Distress oxide inks Candied Apple and Picked Raspberry.

I used the Winter Botanicals: Sweet Broom to make the silhouette, a sentiment from the Christmas Sentiments set and to give a more festive look I stamped in black, part of the Background Blocks Pinstripe II on the side edges and I gold heat embossed the ends of the stripes.

For my second card, I chose the Flower Power #1 stencil to make the background in pink shades with Distress Oxide inks: Spun Sugar, Kitsch Flamingo, Worn Lipstick, Picked Raspberry.

Then to make the silhouette I used the Rustic Christmas tree and I finished with another sentiment from  the Christmas Sentiments set.

For my last card, I changed my card format, I directly made a rectangle on the card base with Washi Tape and I blended Salvaged Patina and Evergreen Bough Distress oxide to make the background.

Then I stamped the Happy Days image as well as a branch of the Season of Beauty set to make the silhouette. To write the sentiment, I used letters of the Alphabet Outlined set and I gold heat embossed them.

For a more festive look, I used a gold gel pen to highlight the foliage outlines. 

And now here is a sneak peek of the card I made for the Less is More challenge...

All these cards are one layer cards, quick and easy to do and perfect for mass production if you are late in making your Christmas cards. 

I hope that I inspired you and that you are now ready to prepare your Christmas cards stock and/or to come and play along at Less is More.

Thanks so much for visiting today. Have a fabulous weekend, stay safe and get crafty !

Brand Ambassador Inspiration - Creative Christmas

Good Morning all, 

Steph here today. For my Uniko Brand Ambassador post I thought it would be quite nice to showcase a different way to use some Uniko non Christmas stamps mixed with the traditional Christmas sets for creative Christmas projects. 

My first card uses Uniko Background Blocks Doodle Flower stamp teamed with the more recently released Uniko Doodle Flowers stamp set. I have used red and green for the petals to resemble a Poinsettia. The sentiment is from Uniko Simply Said Blocks Christmas stamp set. 

My second card uses the foliage silhouette from the Uniko Just Because stamp set and I have teamed it with some white berries to create a hanging stem of mistletoe. I have used chalk ink over the black card in order for it to show up. The sentiment is a mixture of Uniko Christmas Sentiments stamp set, Uniko Most Wonderful stamp set and Uniko Big & Bold Hugs stamp set.

My final card for today uses Uniko Flower Power #3 stamp set. I have stamped the solid floral in two shades of green before fussy cutting and turning upside down to build my Christmas tree. The decorative elements have all come from the recently released Uniko Pattern Building Christmas Tree stamp set teamed with a sentiment from the Uniko Simply Said Blocks Christmas stamp set.

I hope you like my three cards today and that I have got you thinking about different ways in which to use your stamps. 

Much love

Steph x

Brand Ambassador Post : Background Blocks - Pinstripe II

 Hi there!

Hannelie here today with a set of cards so quick and so clean and so simple . I just realised again that cardmaking doesn't have to be complicated to be fun !

I started off with the intention to make five cards (the first five photos) and then the idea came to (sort of) combine a couple of them on one card... 

All you need is a background stamp, a sentiment stamp & some colored card stock . A couple of geometric dies or punches would make it even easier 😊

Inspiration for the designs come from some mid century posters like THIS pin combining bold color blocks with stripes. The color block provides a great spot to place the sentiment!

Here's the card with the combination of elements :

... and the complete set !

I used :

• Background-blocks-pinstripe-ii-clear-stamp
• Anniversaire-arts-decoratifs-clear-stamp
• Versafine black ink
• Misti stamping tool
• Silhouette cameo (to cut the small circles ,squares and rectangles)
• Circle die (to cut the larger circles)
• Foam squares for dimension

Thank you so much for popping in today! 

I hope you feel inspired ♥

Hannelie

Brand Ambassador Inspiration - Rustic Wreath Spinner

 Hello everyone!

It's Jane here today sharing a fun interactive Christmas card.

I used a Jennifer McGuire tutorial as my starting point and adapted it to suit Uniko's Rustic Wreath.

I prepared the base card first and added a button to the centre - this is what will allow the wreath to spin.

Next I stamped the wreath from Rustic Wreath and then die cut it into a doughnut. I matted it onto a second doughnut to give it more stability and this also covers the rough edges from the die cut which could impede the movement.

The wreath doughnut is then placed, but not adhered over the button. The button and central hole need to be a fairly close fit to stop the spinner from looking lopsided when stood up.

Finally I stamped a greeting from Rustic Wreath and die cut it into a circle which I then adhered to the button.

Here's a little video of how the wreath moves.

Thanks so much for looking today. I hope you enjoyed my card and may be inspired to create something similar. Remember to share your Uniko makes on social media using #unikoltd.

Stay safe and keep crafting!

Jane

x