A Warm Welcome ❤️

Hello & Happy Tuesday.

I am delighted you have stopped by here on this final day of January. As today I get to give a warm welcome to our newest Brand Ambassador, Vinita Jain. 

Vinita has been a long supporter, follower and customer at Uniko. So I am delighted to hand you over for a brief introduction from Vinita herself.

Hello! 

My name is Vinita Jain and I am from India. I am 54 years old. I came to crafting in 2013 when I took early retirement from Kindergarten teaching in 2012. It changed my whole life! Since then I'm addicted and spent my whole time ( and money) crafting as a hobby. I love to experiment with different techniques and colouring mediums. With Uniko Brand Products when I worked for the first time, I noticed their excellent quality, so many universal designs, fun and interesting. To create with them is a pleasure! 

I am honoured to be part of this exciting adventure and hope to inspire you with my creations!

Have a wonderful day!

And here are a few of Vinita's favourite Uniko creations to date...

Beautiful Blooms II, Stencil Scattered Polka Dots & Sentiment from Pure Florals Cosmos.

Stencil - Pure Florals Gerbera & Sentiment from Pure Florals Cosmos.

Marvellous Mehndi 

Stencil - Stylised Floral & Sentiment from You Are, Yes You.

I think you will agree with me how beautiful and colourful Vinita's creations are. I can't wait to see what Vinita creates to share with us here on the blog.

So welcome Vinita!

Crafty Hugs

 

Brand Ambassador Inspiration - One Layer Love

Good morning

Anita here and today I have a trio of clean and simple, one layer cards, all with a love theme and using a selection of products.  Valentine's Day is just around the corner so I hope I can inspire you with these.

Ok, here's my first card...

I began by stamping the heart from the Always and Forever clear stamp set and then I stamped the same heart on a mask and covered up the image.  I then blended two shades of pink ink through the Scattered Polka Hearts stencil, fading it out.  To finished I stamped the sentiment in black, also from the Always and Forever stamp set, manipulating the stamp slightly to follow the curve of the heart.

My second card...

I chose a hammered card base for this one and began by stamping a selection of hearts from the Always and Forever and Big & Bold - Love stamp sets in Versamark before heat embossing in white.  I then used a technique I've not used in years, I blended the pink background against a piece of torn paper.  I then stamped more hearts in red, pink and grey and the sentiment in black, which is from the Always and Forever set.

And my final make...

I stamped the floral heart from the Always and Forever stamp set in black and then masked it off with the same mask I used for the first card.  Next I positioned the Background Blocks Scattered Hearts stamp to the top right but masked off a few of the hearts before inking and stamping.  I then repeated this in the bottom left so the hearts flowed down across the card diagonally.  The card was finished with a sentiment from the Always and Forever set.

So the above are all completely flat with just a little masking involved to create them.  Thanks for taking a look, Happy Monday and I hope you have a wonderful week! 

 

Brand Ambassador Inspiration - BIG & BOLD Love & Paw Print Hearts

Bonjour !

It's Izzy here. I echo Steph's post (see HERE) with her Love cards but this time for another loved one...your four-legged fellow. 

So I made 3 cards using the Paw Print Hearts and the BIG & BOLD Love stamp sets where I show you how versatile but also complementary both sets are.

For my first card I wanted something bold and bright so I stamped the paw prints in different colours all over the double white card and I stamped in a very light grey an outline heart from the BIG & BOLD set between the paw prints. 

Then, I stamped the word LOVE from the Big & bold set, on a piece of Vellum and I heat embossed it with black embossing powder. 

To finish, I fussy cut the word LOVE, I foam mounted it on the card and I stamped in black the rest of the sentiment.

Since I was little, I have always had a cat at home. Currently we have three! Most of my friends also have a cat or a dog. We know very well that they are not eternal and that it is always very painful when they leave us. A card does not replace them but it brings a little comfort in these painful moments.

For my second card I also uses the Scattered Polka Hearts stencil to make the background with a light pink ink. On white card stock I stamped two hearts in pink from the BIG & BOLD set and the heart from the Paw Prints set in red. 

To finish, I stamped the sentiment from the Paw Print Hearts set, I fussy cut the hearts and I foam mounted them on the card.

For my last card I wanted to use the cat from the recent Uniko January release:  Mid Century Modern Purrfect Day and I combined it with the other two sets.

It's a One Layer card since I directly stamped all the elements on the card base. I started by stamping the paw prints in grey as well as the silhouette of the cat. Then I stamped the little hearts in red.

For the sentiment I used some masking tape. I first stamped the heart in red, I masked it and I stamped the "L" of the word. Then I shifted a bit the stamp to finally stamped the rest of the word. 

And that's all for me today. I really enjoyed making these cards and I hope I inspired you to use and combine your Uniko's products. You will be surprised how versatile they all are !

Have a lovely day and thank you so much for stopping by.

 

Stencil Sunday, Brand Ambassador Inspiration, Don't forget the small elements!

Morning all, Julie here with a little bit of inspiration using just one of the small elements from the new MOD Background Builders Circle stencil. I had so many different ideas that I didn't get around to making for the release.

First off is this card that was inspired by an abstract poster I found online, using just the largest  semi circle from the stencil.

To start, I took a panel of white card and drew around the inside of the semicircle with a black fine liner. Once I was happy with the pattern, I went back to add the stencilled elements in shades of blue. The panel was trimmed down to neaten it up and a simple sentiment, stamped in black on a scrap and trimmed down, was added. When I look at it now, I realise that the central mid blue semi circle should have been the other way around, but it's too late to alter it now!!

You could change up the design quite simply by including the quarter circle into the pattern or use the smallest semicircle for a more compact pattern. Play around on some scrap before you commit to your final design. Just have fun!!

This second card uses the same element but in a regular repeat pattern.

I chose to use a rainbow of colours this time and the last one of my square sentiments I made awhile ago using Doodle Flowers.

On a panel of white card, I inked the semicircle using rainbow colours, to create this repeating pattern. Trimmed down it was added to a base card and the sentiment added, then a white frame created using stacking square dies.

So two cards using just one small element, but two totally different looks. The small elements in sets are often forgotten but they are quite useful to create patterns. Play around, look at geometric posters on Google or Pinterest for ideas, but again have fun playing, it's only paper and ink after all!

That's all for today from me. Keep safe and keep crafting!

NEW Exclusive Launch - How To Craft Network

Hello & Happy Saturday! 

What a whirlwind of a week, thank you for the fabulous response to the New Release last Friday / weekend. I am so glad so many of you love the Mid Century Modern collection as much as I do. I am working hard to get the stamps back in stock as soon as possible. The Stencil - MOD Background Builders Circles flew off the shelves too, but that is now back in stock HERE.

I haven't forgotten the winner of the giveaway, I will announce the winner at the end of my post! Thank you for all the lovely comments, they are all much appreciated by myself and the team.

Now onto the other news, that I am a little late sharing, the other NEW and Exclusive Launch of 3 products over on the How To Craft Network (HTCN). 

Did you catch me live on YouTube yesterday? I saw a few names on the live comment feed, but I am still getting my head round focusing on demoing and then looking up at the cameras and feed! 

If you missed the show, you can catch up HERE. 

But I thought I would pop by and share a look at the NEW products here today too, so let's get to it! 

First up is Falling Hearts Serenade. 

I've had this series idea in my head since I released Snowflake Serenade! So it feels good to finally get going with it. 

Like the snowflake clear stamp set, it features a swirling cascade of hearts and roses. Along with a main sentiment and some mix and match sentiments. I also added in some individual accent hearts. 

A couple of fun coordinating features about this set to make it a little more versatile with Uniko products you may have in your stash. Firstly the rose. It's a lot smaller, has a curved stem and is a slightly less detailed. But it is a version of the closed rose from Pure Florals Rose. Second the sentiment font choices are carried through from Snowflake Serenade and the Spring Botanical series.

Next in the launch bundle on HTCN is a new sentiment set, Everyday Love Sentiments. You will recognise this font from our popular Everyday Sentiments and Christmas Sentiments. I think this is a great addition to the Uniko line up.

Lastly in the bundle is a stencil duo, Bokeh Layering Hearts. 

This stencil has a fun feature too, in that the hearts are the same shape as those from Background Builders Hearts, BIG & BOLD Love and Paw Print Hearts.

These are available to purchase HERE on the HTCN. They will come to the Uniko store, but not until late February. So if you want to be in the first to get them, don't miss the opportunity.

Now that I have formally introduced the newness and where you can purchase it, I thought I would share some of the cards I made for the show.

First up a clean & simple slimline card.

For this card I used the hearts & roses cascade to stamp down the length of the panel. I then simply heat embossed with star dust embossing powder for some beautiful sparkle. I then simply coloured with some Copic Markers. 

I kept the sentiment sparkle free and just popped it up with foam adhesive.

My second card is a little less clean and simple! 

For this card I used one of the stencils from Stencil - Bokeh Layering Hearts with the Falling Hearts Serenade.

I used Concord & 9th Ballet Slipper card as my base and inked blended around the edges a bit before inking the heart stencil. I then cleaned and flipped the hearts to ink again, creating this blur effect. 

I then stamped the cascading image and decided on the large love from Big & Bold Love which I also sparkly heat embossed.

Lastly, the card I demonstrated on the show...

I hope you like this new collection & the HTCN show! 

Ok, so how about the winner from the giveaway HERE. 

Without further ado, the winner is...

Sharon Gullikson 🎉

Congratulations Sharon! 

Please send me an email to bev@uniko.co.uk along with your mailing address to claim your prize.

Crafty Hugs

 

Mid Century Modern inspiration

 Hi there

Hannelie here... having so much fun creating this set of masculine cards using products from the new release, combined with some older goodies too !

If you are a lover of all things Mid Century Modern, UNIKO is the place you will find everything you need to create wonderfully inspired cards.

Card #1

Card #2

Card #3

The set together !

All the cards feature :

• Mid-century-modern-frames-clear-stamp-set

•  On the first card I used Background-blocks-pinstripe-ii-clear-stamp (partially stamped

• On the second cards I used Background-blocks-mid-century-modern-clear-stamp and Anniversaire-arts-decoratifs-clear-stamp

• On the third card I used Background-blocks-linear

• I used my Promarkers for coloring and cut out the frames with my Silhouette cameo and used foam tape to pop up the frames

• Versafine black ink

• Misti

Hope you feel inspired!

Hannelie

Brand Ambassador Inspiration - Background Builders: Hearts

Morning All, 

Steph here today. How is 2023 treating you so far? I feel like it's going too fast already and with that in mind I've turned my thoughts to Valentine's Day cards using Uniko Background Builders: Hearts stamp set. These background builders sets are always so versatile as you can create backgrounds (as per the stamp set name!) or just use individual elements to create beautiful cards. I have shown both in today's post.

For my first card I was very much thinking of Valentine's Day and went with the reds and pinks. The heart I have used here is my favourite from the set as I love the 'sketchy' effect and it is also present in other Uniko sets so mix and match away! (Sunshine & Rainbows & Mid Century Modern Florals). The sentiment (XOXO) is from the Uniko Always & Forever stamp set. 

I stamped and heat embossed the hearts and sentiments onto scraps of red, pink and cream card before die cutting into squares. I then added in further squares and rectangles of card to create a patchwork effect. This is a great way to use up card scraps, of which I have far too many!

My next card uses one of the strips from the stamp set to create a heart covered background. I used my stamping platform and placed the stamp to the right hand side (when shut) so I could leave the stamp in place and simply shift the cardstock to the left each time I wanted to stamp a new column. I then used one of the other heart stamps from the set to create the teal and olive  hearts before fussy cutting and laying on top. I added a lovely large sentiment from the Uniko BIG & BOLD - Hugs stamp set and a simple small heart from the Uniko Flower Power #3 stamp set to fill the gap in the bottom right hand corner. 

Finally I wanted to use the most popular product from the recent Uniko Jan mini release; Background Blocks Linear. I can see why this stamp was so popular as it was so brilliantly showcased during the product introductions but also because it is so versatile. I simply stamped the BB Linear in dark grey, at an angle, and to this I added the outline heart from the Background Builders: Hearts set. Once again I have fussy cut the hearts, both inside and out (I'm a bit of a fussy cutting fan!), before placing them on foam pads and adhering to the card front. The sentiment is from another one of the Jan mini release sets called Mid Century Modern Frames. 

Thanks for joining me today and hopefully I've given you some inspiration for your Valentine's makes, or not, as you can see that two out of the three are not actually for Valentine's Day!

Much love

Steph x

January 2023 Release, Brand Ambassador Blog Hop & Giveaway!

Hello, Happy Friday 13th AND Happy January 2023 New Release Day!

I'm super excited to share these new products with you and they are now officially available to purchase HERE over on the website.

But, let me first formally introduce these new additions to the Uniko Mid Century Modern collection. 

Background Blocks Linear £6

Copyright Uniko Ltd 2012 - To Date

www.uniko.co.uk

Mid Century Modern Frames £11

Copyright Uniko Ltd 2012 - To Date

www.uniko.co.uk

Mid Century Modern Purrfect Day £6

Copyright Uniko Ltd 2012 - To Date

www.uniko.co.uk

Stencil - MOD Circles Background Builder £4.25

Copyright Uniko Ltd 2012 - To Date

www.uniko.co.uk

And now we have the formal introductions done, let's get to more inspiration using them. Be sure to leave some comment love either on their blogs or social media. I will be randomly selecting a winner to win the entire release and will announce the winner Saturday 21st January 2023.

 Anita

Bev

Izzy

Julie

Steph

WOW! What an inspirational hop. Well, I know I am biased, but I think the showcase of these products was amazing. Be sure to leave some comment love on them or on the Brand Ambassador social media, as I will be randomly selecting one lucky winner to receive the ENTIRE RELEASE. I will announce the winner Saturday 21st January 2023.

I hope you like the new products and have enjoyed the fun over the past few days. Be sure to stick around over the coming week/s as I have so much more to share! 

Until then, happy shopping ;)

Crafty Hugs

 

Introducing... Mid Century Modern Purrfect Day and Stencil - MOD Background Builders Circles

Hello & Happy Thursday,

Welcome to Day 3 and the final day of the January 2023 Release Introductions.

Today myself and the Uniko Brand Ambassadors have two products to introduce. First, a mini clear stamp set called Mid Century Modern Purrfect Day. And a Stencil - MOD Background Builders Circles. Now if you watched me on How To Craft Network back in November 2022, you might recognise the stencil from my show then. 

Let's get to seeing these products in action..

  Anita

Bev

Izzy

Julie

Steph

Just purrfect inspiration! 

Be sure to check out each of the Brand Ambassador blogs or social media for more inspiration and leave some love.

That's all the introductions, which means tomorrow is Release Day! Myself and the Brand Ambassadors will be back tomorrow with more to share and all the products will be available at 10am GMT on the website.

Hope to see you!

Crafty Hugs