DT Inspiration .... using the new Alcohol Lift Ink

Good morning to you .......Happy Friday!

It's Linda here.  I hope you've had a good week.  Can you believe it's September tomorrow. 
There's only 17 more weekends left before Christmas!! ..... just saying.
Don't worry, I'm not going all festive on you just yet.

I've been having fun recently playing with the brand new Alcohol Lift Ink from Tim Holtz.  You may have already seen a couple of cards I made using this new ink, along with the Framed Florals stamp from the Uniko August release.  If not you can check them out when you've finished here.  I'll put a link at the bottom of this post.

Not only can you use this ink with your stamps, it's great for using with stencils too .....

Get your hands on the Alcohol Lift Ink Re-inker ...... great to re-ink your ink pad, obviously, but if you squeeze a little of the ink onto your craft mat or heat sheet, then use an applicator tool with one of the foam pads (not the felt pads that are usually associated with using alcohol inks) to apply the ink through your stencil onto an alcohol inked background, you will get this sort of effect ......

You only need a tiny amount of ink ...... don't use too much, and don't press down too hard, otherwise it will seep underneath your stencil and you will lose all the detail.

I've used the pretty Uniko Mehndi Mandala stencil here. 
I created my alcohol ink background on a piece of YUPO paper using shades of blues and turquoise inks with just a touch of pink in there.

I placed the stencil over the top and then used the ink.  You can see how the Lift-ink reacts with the colour and lifts if away onto the foam.

I removed the stencil and then used a soft paper towel to blot away any excess ink left on the card.  You need to do this a couple of times, making sure you use a clean piece of paper towel each time you blot. 

When you're happy there's no 'wet' ink left on the paper, gently buff over the whole piece using another clean paper towel.

A little mat and layering to frame the design, a pretty gem in the centre and a few dots of glitter glue,

and then I finished off with a sentiment,from Uniko's Pure Florals: Cosmos stamp set (which I believe is on offer at the moment with 10% off)

If you love Alcohol inks then you will love the new Alcohol Lift Ink ..... give it a try.

Thanks for popping by ..... Happy Stamping!
Before I go, here's the link I promised you to the cards made using the stamping technique and the Alcohol Lift ink.

Cheerio until next time .....

CAS Colours & Sketches #287 - Sketch

Hey!

Welcome back to another week at CAS Colours & Sketches and the last week in August! This week our hostess is Karen and she has this fun sketch HERE and seen below...

I've been wanting to put my background building stamp skills to the test ever since the recent Uniko Background Builders: Happy Hexagons landed on my desk, I just needed a little time to do it! I had a bit of time this past Thursday, whilst The Beans were out with their grandparents and set to making the largest panel on the sketch...

I used my MISTI tool and the Background Builders: Happy Hexagons acetate sheet the stamps come on to stamp and perfectly space the outline hexagons strip in VersaMark ink. I then heat embossed them in white. 

I also gave my recently purchased Altenew watercolours another outing, using the majority of yellows and oranges in the set, just randomly colouring them. The sentiment & bee is from Bee Happy. 

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

Featured in Cards & Crafts for Christmas

Hey!

Happy Weekend & HAPPY long Bank Holiday weekend to all in the UK, you've got to love an extra day to the weekend! 

Today I am back to share a little more about the Uniko feature in Cards & Crafts for Christmas, which I shared on social media on Friday. 

I am always truly honoured to be approached by editors to design digital stamps and have my cards featured. I also love sharing things for free, which brings me on to the feature in Cards & Crafts for Christmas....

I also LOVE snowflakes, glitter and sparkle, so when I received the brief my heart skipped a beat and these are the snowflake digital stamps I came up with and a snippet of the feature from the magazine...

The digital stamps can be downloaded from www.simplycardsmag.com and the digital stamps in the magazine can be found HERE, you will need to register to be able to download them. 

I'd LOVE to see if you use these freebies or any of the free digital stamps I have designed in the past. I have links to some of them HERE. 

So if you have made something and blogged about it, email me a link to bev@uniko.co.uk OR if you have posted it on social media, such as Instagram or Facebook, be sure to tag @unikoltd or  use the #unikoltd or #unikostamps and I will be able to find them.

That's all from me today, but I will be back again soon with more to share! Until then, thanks for stopping by and enjoy the freebies ;)

Hugs

CAS Colours & Sketches #286 - Colours

Hey!

Welcome back to another week at CAS Colours & Sketches. This week our hostess is Wei and she has this fun sketch HERE and seen below...

These are pretty colours, but I struggled a little with them. I think maybe because I didn't have 2 of the colours in any medium and I have had to find the best substitutes I could. Anyway, this is what I came up with...

I decided to give the recently released So Much clear stamp set some more inky love and I was so inspired by THIS card by Uniko DT Julie, that I had to give colouring the leaves in black a go. I am loving the results too!

Black and white with just the trio of colour is all you need some times! I stamped the image on an angle, fussy cut the lower section, stamped the sentiment (YOU from Birthday Sentiments, partial sentiment stamped) and then adhered the panel using foam adhesive to a black card base.

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

August 2018 Reveal, Release, Blog Hop & GIVEAWAY!

Woohoo! 

Finally the day has arrived and the August 2018 Release is NOW available to purchase HERE on the website. We have our traditional Reveal, Release, Blog Hop & GIVEAWAY! 

How about a look at the FIVE new clear stamp sets...

Background Builders: Happy Hexagons £9 

Copyright Uniko Ltd 2018

www.uniko.co.uk

Beautiful £4 

Copyright Uniko Ltd 2018

www.uniko.co.uk

BIG & BOLD Hello £4 

Copyright Uniko Ltd 2018

www.uniko.co.uk

Framed Florals £4

Copyright Uniko Ltd 2018

www.uniko.co.uk

So Much £4 

Copyright Uniko Ltd 2018

www.uniko.co.uk

Now I have formally introduced all the NEW products, how about a FUN blog hop and a ton of inspiration from the Design Team.

Bev

Carol 

Izzy 

Jane 

Julie

Linda

Lindsey

Sarah G

Be sure to comment along the hop for your chance to win the ENTIRE Release!! You have until Midnight (BST) 2nd  September 2018 to comment and the winner will be announced soon after.

Happy Hopping!

Hugs

Introducing... BIG & BOLD Hello and Framed Florals

Hey!

Welcome back to day three of the August 2018 Release product introductions. Thank you for all the lovely comments and support around social media for yesterdays introductions, I do love reading them all :)

Today we are introducing another 2 new clear stamp sets, BIG & BOLD Hello and Framed Florals.

Here is a little look at BIG & BOLD Hello, the next in the BIG & BOLD series...

This little stamp set has been designed for sometime, well, the sentiment part that is! It has been sitting there in my archives waiting for some tiny accent stamps and one day whilst doodling, these little accent stamps appeared and became the perfect accompaniments ;)

I used the tiny trio of accent stamps to create my own patterned paper design. I added some White Blizzard Glitter Nuvo drops to the flower centres for a little sparkle embellishment and the bold 'hello' is stamped, fussy cut & adhered to the card using foam adhesive.

Lastly, I have Framed Florals to introduce to you...

This was kind of a 'happy accident' stamp! I was simply playing around with various motifs which you will recognise from the Flower Power & Originally Organic series and this stamp design was born! 

I love how striking the design is against colourful backgrounds. For this card I went back to my original Mini Distress Inks in my favourite colours, Mustard Seed, Spiced Marmalade, Picked Raspberry & Peacock Feathers to create a ink blended background. I've then simply stamped the image, fussy cut it and adhered it to my card base. The sentiment is from Simply Said.

That's all I have to share with you here using these new sets, but why not grab a cup of your favourite beverage and hop along with myself and the team...?

Bev

Carol 

Deborah 

Izzy 

Jane 

Julie

Linda

Lindsey

Sarah G

Well, I thoroughly enjoyed that hop and I am all inspired to get inky! I'd love to know your thoughts on these clear stamp sets and which is your favourite of the two, that is if you can decide?! 

That's all from myself and the Design Team today and all 5 of the new clear stamp sets have been introduced, which means.... TOMORROW is RELEASE DAY!!

Hope to see you then for the full reveal, release, Blog Hop & GIVEAWAY!!

Hugs

Introducing... Background Builders: Happy Hexagons & Beautiful

Hey!

Welcome back to day 2 of the August 2018 Release product introductions.

This is the fun part, you now get to see all the sneak peeks in action. The Design Team have worked their socks off and created an abundance of inspiration to share with you over the coming days :)

Yesterday myself and the Design Team re-introduced the 'So Much' mini clear stamp set HERE, be sure to check out all the inspiration and comment along the hop ;)

Today we are introducing 2 new clear stamp sets, Background Builders: Happy Hexagons & Beautiful.

Here is a little look at Background Builders: Happy Hexagons...

Geometrics, particularly hexagons are bang on trend right now and can be seen all around the paper crafting industry. I didn't have this in mind when I was designing the stamp set, I was mainly thinking to add to the Uniko Background Builders Geometric collection! 

This was one of the cards from the Uniko Summer Stamping Retreat and it features all 4 of the single large hexagon stamps. The smaller squished hexagon is such a fun shape to add sentiments inside and some from the Simply Said range are the perfect size ;)

I've used my current favourite Altenew inks on this card and my 'go to' shades are the second lightest in the colour quads. The tiny solid hexagons are from Bee Happy clear stamp set, which was another influence on designing this new background builder. 

Next is Beautiful...

This clear stamp set came about through some logo designing I did for a friend and I was drawing imagery related to holistic therapies and geraniums were one of the flowers I started with. To cut a long story short, I ended up designing a logo completely different and these were calling to be put into a stamp set! 

This is another of the cards made at the Uniko Summer Stamping Retreat. The focus being on the sentiment and flowers stamped and heat embossed in white.

Ok, that's all I have to share here, but why not grab a cup of your favourite beverage and hop along with myself and the team...?

Bev

Carol 

Deborah 

Izzy 

Jane 

Julie

Linda

Lindsey

Sarah G

Well, I thoroughly enjoyed that hop and I am all inspired to get inky! I'd love to know your thoughts on these clear stamp sets and which is your favourite of the two, that is if you can decide?! 

That's all from myself and the Design Team today, but be sure to come by tomorrow for even more product introductions :)

Hugs