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.

Have You Joined Us Yet?

Hey!

The Design Team, Guest Designer and I are here today to remind you about the May Uniko challenge.  We have another fun challenge this month to spark your creativity...

This is a FUN themed challenge this month to create a Masculine card.
We have also added in the optional twist of Fathers Day as it is just around the corner.

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. There is also an extra chance to win if you TWIST with us too ;)

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, Tanja from Little Art Cottage.

Hi there, my name is Tanja and I live in Germany with my wonderful husband, two children and three cats. I am addicted to stamping and paper crafting for a while now and I decided to start my own blog www.littleartcottage.blogspot.com in February 2014. I love to find new ways to use my supplies and try new techniques. Coloring and the design of little scenes are my favorite things to do. I love to make people happy with my projects and I sure hope that you will be one of them. I am super excited that I got the chance to be a guest designer at the Uniko Challenge and I can't wait to see your creations in the gallery.

Tanja was the lucky winner from Challenge #30 and has created this beauty to inspire you...

CLICK HERE to see more from Tanja 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 Uniko customer account.
• We will do a random draw for all those who use A UNIKO stamp. This winner will get 150 Loyalty Reward Points added to their Uniko customer account.
• We will do a random draw for all those who twist with us and create a Fathers Day creation. This winner will get 100 Loyalty Reward Points added to their Uniko 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 10th June (7.00pm EDT).

***************************************************

An InLinkz Link-up

CAS Colours & Sketches #175

Hey!

I'm here today with my Design Team card for the new CAS Colours & Sketches challenge seen HERE and below. This week our hostess Caro has challenged us with a sketch...

Caro would like to see the 5 elements of differing sizes in the diagonal on your cards. Feel free to flip or rotate the sketch as desired. This is what I came up with...

This sketch certainly stumped me for a while, I wanted to do something a little different at first but it didn't work out. So as you can see I reached for a collection of Uniko heart stamps for my card. The flower heart and largest outline flower are from Always & Forever with the smaller trio from Flower Power #3.

I decided I needed a little extra help with my creativity and turned to Color Throwdown for my colours seen HERE and below.

That's all from me today, be sure to check out the rest of the CC&S DT samples over HERE and also to join in on the challenge. I hope to see you in the gallery and look forward to being inspired by you all :)

Uniko Sponsors AAA Cards!

Hey!

I'm a little late to the party, various reasons such as designing new stamps, sorting restocks and looking after crazy beans! 

Anyway... Uniko is SUPER DUPER happy to be sponsoring AAA Cards. There is a FABulous celebration and challenge happening HERE as AAA Cards is celebrating their 2nd Birthday. 

There are lots and LOTS of prizes and fun to join in on, so be sure to check it out and I hope you will join in the celebration - you'd be silly not to ;)

As it is a celebration and I haven't had much time to be creative card making wise in the studio I squeezed in a little card making this evening...

Tonight I decided to give the recently released Fun Flowers some inky love, using a lovely quartet of bright cheery colours. I recently purchased a pack of the mini Distress Inks in my favourite colour combo - perfect! 

I also used the current CAS(E) this Sketch! layout seen HERE and below for my card. You got to love a sketch to get the old creative mojo a flowing again ;)

The flowers are stamped onto some SU! Whisper White CS starting with the smallest flower. I then fussy cut them out and layered them onto a white card base using DST. 

The sentiment is from Strike A Pose! and is adhered to the card, overlapping the flowers using foam adhesive. I added a small amount of Wink Of Stella to various parts of the flowers and a tiny rhinestone to the centre of each for that added sparkle ;)

That's all from me today, it is just about my bedtime after a VERY long day! I do hope to see you in the AAA Cards gallery and most of all having fun :)

Until the next time, thanks for stopping by today.

Uniko Challenge #32

Hi!

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

This is a FUN themed challenge this month to create a Masculine card.
We have also added in the optional twist of Fathers Day as it is just around the corner.

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. There is also an extra chance to win if you TWIST with us too ;)

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, Tanja from Little Art Cottage.

Hi there, my name is Tanja and I live in Germany with my wonderful husband, two children and three cats. I am addicted to stamping and paper crafting for a while now and I decided to start my own blog www.littleartcottage.blogspot.com in February 2014. I love to find new ways to use my supplies and try new techniques. Coloring and the design of little scenes are my favorite things to do. I love to make people happy with my projects and I sure hope that you will be one of them. I am super excited that I got the chance to be a guest designer at the Uniko Challenge and I can't wait to see your creations in the gallery.

Tanja was the lucky winner from Challenge #30 and has created this beauty to inspire you...

CLICK HERE to see more from Tanja 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 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 Uniko customer account.
• We will do a random draw for all those who use A UNIKO stamp. This winner will get 150 Loyalty Reward Points added to their Uniko customer account.
• We will do a random draw for all those who twist with us and create a Fathers Day creation. This winner will get 100 Loyalty Reward Points added to their Uniko 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 10th June (7.00pm EDT).

***************************************************

An InLinkz Link-up

Uniko Challenge #31 Winners!

Hey!

I'm am here this evening, all be it a little late, to announce the winners of our Metallic Challenge.  LOTS of inspiring entries this time and I thoroughly enjoyed popping by to see all the beautiful creations. 


Firstly we have our overall winner chosen by the DT:

Anita

Congratulations and here is your winners badge:

You have won a £20 eGift Certificate to spend in Uniko store here-please contact me at bev@uniko.co.uk by the 2nd June 2016.

We would also love to have you join us as our Guest Designer for a future challenge. If you are interested please contact me at bev@uniko.co.uk by the 2nd June 2016.

Next, we have a randomly selected winner who used Uniko products on their entry and that winner is:

Cornelia

Please contact Bev at bev@uniko.co.uk by the 2nd June 2016

to claim your 150 reward points.

Now for our Top 3 chosen by the DT and in entry order: 

#16 Hannelie
#28 Cara
#34 Shona

Congratulations to you all & here is you Top 3 badge:

You have all won 50 loyalty reward points.

Please contact me at bev@uniko.co.uk

by the 2nd June 2016 to claim your prize.

Congratulations to ALL the winners & EVERYONE who joined in on the fun!

We have our next challenge starting tomorrow at 9am BST, I hope you will join in on the fun :)

May 2016 Design Team Blog Hop WINNER!

Hey!

I'm popping by this evening to announce the winner of the May 2016 Design Team Blog Hop. Thank you to everyone who joined in and commented along the hop, the design team and I appreciate all the visits and comments you leave. 

Anyway, without further ado random.org assisted me in selecting the winner AND in order of the hop the lucky comment is...

Neets B13 March 2016 at 11:52

Gorgeous cards, Sarah. That cluster of purple blooms is just beautiful but I think the yellow one wins my heart, so clean and fresh xx

Congratulations Anita! Please send me an email to bev@uniko.co.uk by June 2nd 2016 to claim your prize.

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 ;)

FABulous 50!

Hey!

Tonight I 'made' myself sit down and create! These beans are exhausting at the moment, literally full of BEANS! So, once they have gone to bed and I've tidied up the whirlwind of toys that has passed through the house I have been too tired to sit and create :(

Anyway, I needed to make a couple of cards so while I was at it I decided to make a card (all be it a little late) for the wonderful Sandie (a Uniko DT Alumni), who turned 50 on Monday...

There are a couple of link ups in blogland to celebrate Sandie's birthday. First up HERE at Kylie's blog and HERE at TIME OUT Challenges, who have a CAS with optional twist of use purple theme.

As you can see by my card above I decided to use the optional twist of purple. I used 4 different shades, stamping various tiny flowers from Background Builders: Vines, adding green leaves also from the set and swirls from Natures Treasures II.

The sentiment is from All Occasion Sentiments #3 with the '50' from Classic Numbers and embossed with Stardust EP. I kept my card one layer and added a few rhinestones to add a little more sparkle and fill a few gaps. 

I came across a new to me challenge too called CanYouCaseIt? and decided to play along their too with the current sketch seen HERE and below.

That's all from me tonight, I am determined to make a couple more cards before I call it a night and crash in front of the TV! 

I'll be back tomorrow though with this weeks CAS Colours & Sketches creation, until then, thanks for stopping by :)

Uniko Sponsors A Passion For ProMarkers Challenge

Hey!

Apologies for being MIA for so long (again), things have been keeping me busy behind the scenes here at Uniko HQ along with life in general, including taking a couple of days off to celebrate my birthday!

Anyway, thanks for hanging in there with me I am (fingers crossed) back in the swing of things and have a few things to share this week. 

First up I am super thrilled to announce that Uniko is sponsoring a new (to me) challenge Passion for ProMarkers challenge.

This is a fun challenge blog and you don't necessarily have to use ProMarkers, they accept entries using any marker, BUT to qualify for the challenge sponsorship prizes you must use some kind of Letraset marker. 

This week is a special challenge as it is their anniversary - Congrats Passion for ProMarkers! Along with Uniko being a sponsor there are more prizes up for grabs so be sure to check out the challenge HERE. The challenge theme this week is...

Spots & or Stripes

Ok, so I don't actually own any ProMarkers as my followers will know I am a Copic girl (sorry ProMarker fans!) However, I was digging through the piles of stash still in the garage to be sorted to see if I had anything from Letraset and I came across a pack of 6 Pantone Tria inks my mum had bought many many years ago. Not being up with the knowledge of these inks/refill bottles I just had to experiment and go with the flow using them to create my card...

I simply used a brush to paint the inks which are alcohol based onto my SU! Whisper White CS and used some Letraset Special Effects Extender to 'blend' them. I then stamped the polaroid from Strike a Pose! and flowers from Pure Florals Cosmos in Memento Tuxedo Black ink and fussy cut them out.

The trio of stripes from Background Builders: Squared are stamped onto a separate layer of white CS along with the white Cosmos flower and sentiment from the set.

The layout of my card is based on the current sketch over at Fusion Card Challenge HERE and seen below.

Ok, that's all from me today, I will be back again with more to share this week. Until then, I hope to see you in the Passion for ProMarkers gallery :)