Uniko Challenge Reminder #57 Anything Goes + optional twist Cool Winter Colours

Hey!

The Uniko Brand Ambassadors and our Guest Designer are here today to remind you about the January/February 2020 Uniko challenge.

We have a super easy theme of Anything Goes with the optional twist of Cool Winter Colours.

Challenge Guidelines:

* You can use any products/stamps to enter the challenge, but we do LOVE to see you use your Uniko products. Plus, there is an extra chance to win a prize if you do ;)

* 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!

* Share the challenge graphic in your post and link back to the challenge if possible ;)

We're super delighted to welcome Trina P as our Guest Designer and she has created another draw droppingly awesome card to inspire you to play along.

The Uniko Brand Ambassadors have also been super busy creating cards to give you ideas and spark your creativity. 

Hannelie

Jane 

Rahmat

Sarah P

Wiebke 
 

Now, if you need more incentive to play along with the challenge here are the details of the prizes.  

THE PRIZES

• Main Winner Chosen By The Brand Ambassadors - £25 eGift Certificate
• Random Twist Winner - £5 In Stock Clear Stamp Set of Winners Choosing
• Random Uniko Stamps Winner - £5 In Stock Clear Stamp Set of Winners Choosing
• Top 3 Chosen By The Brand Ambassadors - 150 Loyalty Reward Points

You've got plenty of time to play along with this month's challenge. The deadline for submission is midnight (GMT) on Friday 21st February 2020 (7.00pm EDT).

Hugs,

January 2020 Release In Review Blog Hop & GIVEAWAY!

Hey & Happy Thursday!

It's almost been 2 weeks since the January 2020 Release. I am sure the products and inspiration are still fresh in your mind, but as my Brand Ambassadors were late receiving their release goodies, I feel you didn't get to see all the inspiration and possibilities using these new clear stamps have to offer.

So, with that in mind I thought it would be nice fo a January 2020 Release In Review Blog Hop & GIVEAWAY!

Above is a little look at the clear stamps released & when you click on an image it will take you to the website where you can read more about them & purchase them if you like ;)

So how about some awesome inspiration from myself and my lovely Brand Ambassadors. Be sure to comment along the way for your chance to win the Hello Lovely & You Are, Sentiments Outlined clear stamp sets.

You have until Midnight Thursday 6th February 2020 to leave a comment and the random winner will be announced Friday 7th February 2020.

Bev

Carol 

Hannelie

Izzy

Jane 

Julie

Linda

Sarah

Wiebke

WOW! I don't know about you, but for sure am inspired to get creative. Thank you for hopping along with us.

Crafty Hugs

Brand Ambassador - Pure Florals - Rose

Welcome, it's Julie here with some Brand Ambassador inspiration for you.

I love the Pure Florals Rose stamps, they are great to colour with either Copics or with watercolours, but for this card I decided to leave the single bloom uncoloured after seeing this card on Pinterest.

I first created the background by inking through the Wonky Stripes stencil with Altenew Silverstone ink onto an A6 panel of white card, keeping the edges soft. I then die cut a panel of hearts from vellum A couple of the rose leaves were stamped on white card and I used inks to colour in a watercolour effect using blue greens to match with the stenciled background, before fussy cutting. The stamped small rose was fussy cut and I die cut some leaves from the same white card. The cluster of hearts behind the rose is a die, cut  from a piece of vellum. 

On a strip of white card, I had previously inked with the same Silverstone ink, I stamped the Always and Forever sentiment, from the Always and Forever set, in black.

Once I had everything ready, I started to assemble my card, keeping the bloom to the right of middle of the panel, adding the sentiment strip across the bottom of the rose. Always tricky to attach vellum to a project with out the glue showing through, I only added glue behind the leaves and bloom, sort of trapping it between flower cluster and background.

Finally I popped the finished panel up on foam pads over a 5 x 7 white base card. 

I designed this card for my daughter whose TA is getting married next month but after seeing the finished card, she decided it needed some bling adding and she preferred it without the border so here is the card she took away.

So that's all from me for this month. Hope I have inspired you to dig out your pretty flora stamps and have a go and see back here soon.

Brand Ambassador - Reach for the Stars

Hello,

Carol here, warmly welcoming you to my Brand Ambassador post where I'm sharing two cards to showcase Reach for the Stars. The combination of images and sentiments in this set span a variety of occasions - birthdays, encouragement, friendship - when used on their own. Pair them with other sets and watch the possibilities multiply!

Using the same palette for both cards, I've created one as a shaker (made ever so easy using 'star pouches'), filled with a Studio Katia blend of sequins,

and one to express gratitude.  Here, the swirl of stars was stamped several times, then cut using star shapes in my collection and popped up for dimension (a 'must' when I make cards). A sprinkling of one of the smaller stamps added a bit of background.

Hope my cards brought you a smile and some inspiration!

January 2020 Release WINNER!

Happy Sunday!

I'm here today to announce the winner of the January 2020 Reveal, Release, Brand Ambassador Blog Hop & GIVEAWAY we had HERE. 

Before I announce the winner of the ENTIRE release, I just want to firstly say a HUGE thank you and give each of my Brand Ambassadors a hug for being awesome and so inspiring. With a mess up my end before Christmas they each only received one/two of the release sets to work with for this hop. But they showcased each of the products so creatively. 

Secondly I want to thank each of you who took the time to hop along with us and leave such lovely comments. I know I can speak for all the Brand Ambassadors as I do for myself, that each comment left means a lot & gives us warm fuzzies inside.

Okay, so who is the lucky winner? 

I have been round myself and commented along the hop whilst counting up the comments & random number generator helped me select a lucky comment from those left before the cut off AND the lucky comment is...

Sue D19 January 2020 at 02:39

Pretty heart cards. I like your choice of colors.

Congratulations Sue D. You are the lucky winner of the ENTRIE January 2020 Release! Please send an email to bev@uniko.co.uk no later than Sunday 2nd February 2020. Please include your postal address in the email and I will get your prize on its way to you.

Hands up, who wants another chance to win something from the January 2020 Release?? 

I thought there might be a few hands in the virtual air, so myself and my awesome Brand Ambassadors have a Release in Review Blog Hop for you on Thursday 30th January at 9am GMT. Hopefully most, if not all of the Brand Ambassadors will have received their January Release stamps in time and will have more inspiration using the stamp sets to share with you :) AND as you know, when we have a blog hop, we have a giveaway! 

Until the next inspiration post, thank you so much for stopping by.

Crafty Hugs 

The Saturday Show!

Hey & Happy Saturday!

I'm back with The Saturday Show. Those who have followed Uniko since the early years will remember The Saturday Show, where on one Saturday a month I would showcase Uniko Customer creations that I have spotted or been tagged in around social media.

I absolutely LOVE seeing what you all create using Uniko products, it makes me so happy to see you enjoying my designs and the new and creative ways to use them. As much as I inspire you, YOU ALL inspire me too.

So here are a few that I have spotted around social media, blogs & also entered into the current Uniko Challenge HERE.

This first card is by Ashley Hughes over HERE  on @ashleyscrapstamp Instagram. Ashley has used the You Are, Yes You clear stamp set to create this fun and fresh design. I'm loving the blues and greens of these Spectrum Noir watercolours and the simple but really effective focal sentiment banners.

Thank you Ashely for tagging me over on Instagram & sharing this beautiful handmade card. 

Next, is this beautiful card by Nancy which I also spotted over on her Instagram @made_by_nananas this week and you can find all the details about the card HERE on Nancy's blog, Nananas.

Nancy has combined the heart wreath stamp from Originally Organic Additions clear stamp set with one of the sentiments from Wonderful Day clear stamp set. 

Another fresh design with beautiful blues and greens with little pops of pink in the flowers. This makes me long for the freshness of Spring. I love all the open space and the off the edge design. 

Thank you Nancy for sharing this beautiful CAS card.

Lastly for today I have this lovely card by Sue...

Sue regularly enters the Uniko Challenges & always tries to use her Uniko products too. Sue has used Beautiful Blooms III on this card that she has entered into our current challenge HERE. The soft ink blending and beautiful heat embossed images captured my attention. 

Be sure to check out Sue's wonderful blog HERE and thank you Sue for sharing this beauty and for joining in on the fun at Uniko.

I hope you have enjoyed todays The Saturday Show & you are inspired as much as I am to find time to create today. 

If you would like to be featured on The Saturday Show be sure to #unikoltd #unikostamps on social media so I can find you. If you are not on social media but would like to be featured / have used your Uniko stash please email me a photo or link to bev@uniko.co.uk 

Thanks for stopping by today. 

Crafty Hugs

Brand Ambassador Inspiration - BIG & BOLD Happy

Good morning ...... Happy Friday!

It's Linda here with my first Uniko Brand Ambassador post of 2020.  I can't believe that we're heading towards the end of January already!

It's been a busy start to the year though.  Did you enjoy the new release from Uniko last weekend?  As always, Bev has designed some fabulous new stamps to add to the Uniko collection ...... did you have a favourite?

If you can't decide and you just want the lot, there's still time to join in the fun with the New Release Blog Hop and Giveaway ...... you could be the lucky winner of the ENTIRE new collection!

I've got a little bit of inspiration for you today using one of my favourite sets from the BIG & BOLD series ...... BIG & BOLD Happy

January for me, means birthdays.  Female and male, old, young and everything in between.  The girlie ones I've usually got covered, but it's the ones for the boys in our lives that prove troublesome.

This stamp set is perfect and if you have the matching dies well, the possibilites are endless.

Here's a couple of designs that could be for just about anyone, and any age ......

First up is a really cool all over design using just the large 'happy' stamp.  Just think of all the colour combinations you could use for this.  For the guys it could be masculine tones, or go for a more vintage look.  Use the colours of their favourite sports team perhaps. 

For a more feminie look try pastel shades or create a pretty ombre effect.

I went for a bright, rainbow of colour using Distress Oxides.  I also used my MISTI, so that I could repeat stamp and build up the depth of colour

A simple sentiment, stamped in black, die cut, and then attached onto the front of my card using foam pads

You can find another version of this over on my blog this morning.  Our son Chris is the big 30! today so I used this design to make his birthday card! .......

If you really don't fancy doing all that stamping, then let the matching dies to the stamp set do all the work .......

Using the acetate smooshing technique I applied Distress Ink onto a piece of white cardstock.

In case you're not familiar, simply swipe your Distress Ink pad onto a craft mat, spritz with water and then use a piece of acetate to pick up the ink and smoosh it onto your card .... easy!

I added a few splatters of red on top for a bit more interest.

I used both the word die and the shadow die, cutting them both from plain white cardstock ...... the actual word I cut twice.

I coloured one of the words with Distress Oxide ink and then layered everything together.

I stamped the rest of my sentiment directly onto the card, and attached the die cut word in the centre using a mini wobbler.  These are my thing at the moment .... they add dimension to your cards and of course whatever you use them on wobbles so you get movement as well ..... so much fun!

Thanks for popping by .... enjoy the rest of your day, and have a fabulous weekend.

Cheerio until next time .......

Products used:
Card 1
Stamps: BIG & BOLD Happy (Uniko)
Inks: Distress Oxide inks - Twisted Citron, Candid Apple, Mustard Seed, Blueprint Sketch, Spiced Marmalade, Wilted Vioet; Versafine Clair - Nocturne (for the sentiment)
Other: Small stitched oval die from my stash

Card 2
Stamps: BIG & BOLD Happy (Uniko)
Inks: Versafine Clair - Nocturne; Distress Oxide ink - Candid Apple; Distress Ink - Salty Ocean
Other: BIG & BOLD matching dies (Uniko); small wobbler

January 2020 Reveal, Release, Brand Ambassador Blog Hop & GIVEAWAY!

Hey & Happy Weekend!

Welcome to the first release of 2020, I have so many fun products in store for you this year and I am excited to share these 4 brand new clear stamp sets and re-introduce one returning from retirement.

*PLEASE NOTE:- To protect my designs and discourage the blatant theft of them, there is a watermark over the top of the product image. This makes the image appear that the lines are not solid. I apologise for the inconvenience and ensure you that this is not part of the design or physical stamps you will receive. To see what the stamp/s look like when stamped, please have a look at the samples in the product gallery. Thank you for your understanding*

First up we have the newest addition to the Background Blocks series. This is an ever growing series of patterned stamps as they are just so versatile and I just keep coming up with more and more ideas!

This month I introduce to you, Background Blocks Scattered Hearts, a fun outline scattered heart pattern, perfect for Valentine's, Weddings, Anniversaries and more.

Background Blocks Scattered Hearts £5

Copyright Uniko Ltd 2020

www.uniko.co.uk

Next we have BIG & BOLD Love, the newest addition to the BIG & BOLD series. This one has been designed for some time now and I've just been waiting for the right time to release it! It features the large bold sentiment, accompanying sentiments and accent heart stamps. What's not to love about this set?!

BIG & BOLD Love £5

Copyright Uniko Ltd 2020

www.uniko.co.uk

Next up a new, but also not so new floral stamp set! Hello Lovely. This clear stamp set features the Peony design from the popular Pure Florals Peony clear stamp set. 

Instead of the large single peony blooms that are in the Pure Florals set, I have scaled them down and clustered them together to form this beautiful bouquet stamp. I have shared a comparison of the Pure Florals Peony stamps against this new stamp HERE on yesterdays introducing post.

This set is perfect for so many occasions and it's not just for those who love to colour too ;)

Hello Lovely £10

Copyright Uniko Ltd 2020

www.uniko.co.uk

Next is the newest addition to the Sentiments Outlined series, You Are... Sentiments Outlined. A trio of sentiments for those special people in your life. Not just for Valentine's Day either, these sentiments are perfect for cards & projects to lift people up and spread some cheer all year long.

You Are... Sentiments Outlined £5

Copyright Uniko Ltd 2020

www.uniko.co.uk

Lastly, but by no means least I re-introduce to you the previously retired, Always & Forever clear stamp set. This clear stamp set first debuted back in December 2013 HERE. This set was designed to coordinate with Beautiful Blooms I and now has so many more creative possibilities with the Uniko products that have launched since it retired! 

Always & Forever £5

Copyright Uniko Ltd 2020

www.uniko.co.uk

All the heart eyes for this line up of clear stamps :) Now how about some inspiration and a fabulous blog hop.

Be sure to comment on all the Brand Ambassador blogs for your chance to win the ENTIRE Release! You have until Midnight GMT Saturday 25th January 2020 to leave a comment and a winner will be announced Sunday 26th January.

Bev

Carol 

Hannelie

Izzy 

Jane 

Julie

Linda

Rahmat

Sarah P

That was one fabulous and inspirational hop! I hope you all enjoyed it too and don't forget to comment along the way to be in the chance to win all the NEW goodies!

Thanks for stopping by today.

Crafty Hugs