Brand Ambassador Inspiration - Rustic Christmas

Good morning!

Anita here, so sorry it's been so long!  I'm sharing two cards today and I decided to dig out an "oldie but goodie" stamp set for these, Rustic Christmas.  I just love the perfect little tree in this set so have kept these cards clean and simple so it takes centre stage.

First up, I've tried to create a northern lights sky as my backdrop...

I used some low tack tape to mask off a vertical panel and then randomly ink blended the areas of light using Distress Inks in Twisted Citron, Mowed Lawn and a touch of Picked Raspberry.  I then filled in the rest of the panel with both Black Soot and Chipped Sapphire, blending over some of the lighter colours.  I then stamped the tree in Versafine Clair Nocturne ink for a crisp dark image.  Once dry I used an anti-static powder tool at the top of the inked panel and stamped and heat embossed the sentiment, also from the same set, in white.  I finished by adding some falling snow using a white Sakura Gelly Roll pen.

My second project is another one layer card, again, super simple...

To enable the solid baubles to appear as if on the tree and in the foreground, I stamped them first in pigment ink and heat embossed in clear, this then created a barrier when stamping the tree over the top.  I used Versa Color inks here.  As you can see below, the pink ink didn't hold as much of the embossing powder so let some of the green ink through but I like the effect it gives of the baubles being amongst the needles.  To clean up the green ink I just used a slightly damp cotton bud to wipe away the ink from the baubles.  I simply stamped the sentiment below and added a gold, sparkly enamel star.

I hope this gives you some inspiration and encourages you to have a rummage through your stash to see what older stamp sets you have that could be inked up.  Thanks for taking the time to visit and I wish you a lovely Wednesday.

 

12 Days of Christmas Inspiration & Giveaways - Day 10

           Hello & Welcome to the 12 Days of Christmas Inspiration & Giveaways - Day 10

Every Friday, I will have a new Christmas themed card or project to share with you, along with a video showing how I made it. Plus, if you watch the video you will find out what the giveaway is and how to enter for your chance to win 😊 All the videos are HERE on the Uniko YouTube Channel.

This week I am using Mid Century Modern Baubles and along with this card, I am also sharing another fun and creative way to use your stamps. You'll have to watch the video to see what it is!

I've gone for bold colours this week, red, white and navy blue with a touch of gold embossing. I talk about this set a little more and my ideas behind adding the elements it contains.

 

I share a few of my tips when embossing and of course tell you about the giveaway during the video HERE and how to enter! Only two weeks left, but you've still time to catch up on all the videos posted.

Still time to shop Uniko's Thankful for You SALE too and receive a surprise discount code with your order...

I decided to do #blackfriday a little different this year. Of course there is a SALE. 

BUT, I am also giving back to everyone who places an order between 21st - 27th November 2023*. Receive a surprise discount, from £5-£25 to use with your next order. 

* Code cards look like this (with a code on them obviously 😉) and they are tucked inside an envelope. So even I don’t know what I’m putting in your orders. It’s totally random as to who gets what discount. But you are guaranteed the minimum of at least £5. 

Crafty Hugs

Thankful...

Hello!

Firstly, Happy Thanksgiving to all my friends, wonderful customers in the USA and to those that are marking the holiday. I wish you all a lovely day, however you are celebrating. Although, we don't celebrate the holiday here in the UK, I always like to take the opportunity to let you know how thankful I am for all that support me & Uniko.

So here is a card in honour of the occasion...

I was inspired to give some fresh inky love to the Large Background Sketched Foliage, it's been a while and seeing all the leaves waiting for me again in the back garden, it inspired my colours.

I masked off the edges of my card base before putting the panel inside my MISTI to stamp the large background. I'm currently enjoying using a variety of colours on one stamp & using a stamping tool makes it super easy. My raised sentiment is from Autumn Serenade and adhered using foam tape. 

As always, once I get creative it lead onto another card...

This time I wanted to create a look of a window, so I created a raised die cut window to adhere above the stamped foliage background, using foam tape. I then added the smaller butterfly from English Country Garden Butterflies, which I doubled up using the solid butterfly stamped in Honeysuckle & then I adhered the partially coloured outline butterfly over thee top, secured down the middle.

The card made me smile, so I decided to add the smile die cut from Uniko's Exclusive Picked Poise Collection, available on CraftStash. See link on left hand side of the blog! 

 

I also had another reason for using the Large Background Sketched Foliage. And that is, as much as I love this stamp, I have made the sad decision to retire it once it has sold out. This stamp along with 3 others are in the SALE and RETIRING sections on the website. 

Which nicely leads me onto remind you, in case you missed the newsletter this week of Uniko's Thankful For You, SALE & Surprise Discount Codes with every order.

I decided to do #blackfriday a little different this year. Of course there is a SALE. 

BUT, I am also giving back to everyone who places an order between 21st - 27th November 2023*. Receive a surprise discount, from £5-£25 to use with your next order. 

* Code cards look like this (with a code on them obviously 😉) and they are tucked inside an envelope. So even I don’t know what I’m putting in your orders. It’s totally random as to who gets what discount. But you are guaranteed the minimum of at least £5. 

Have a wonderful day!

Crafty Hugs 

Technique Tuesday, BA Inspiration using Remembrance

Good morning and welcome, Julie here with a little bit of watercolour inspiration using the newly released Remembrance stamp set.

I was so happy when Bev said that she was launching a poppy stamp as it's one of my favourite flowers and they are also my best buddy's too. So when it came to making her a birthday card for the other Sunday, I had to use them to create this card.

Do you remember my card from the introductions a month ago here? Well, this is how that one was supposed to work out but for some reason the watercolour gods were not behaving, so I ended up just using a portion of the finished panel. I was happy with the flowers but the leaves and stems not so much. I made it using the masking fluid technique, I've used this particular method a few times now so wont bore you with another full blown explanation, check here and here for a detailed photo explanation. 

Here's a quick run down on my method. First I stamped one of the poppies with Altenew Misty Moss and then carefully added masking fluid over the image. When dry I repeated the technique with a further 2 poppy outlines. To fill the lower part of my panel, I drew some poppy heads in free hand and then again towards the top, adding masking fluid to these too. 

When fully dry, I added some water over the whole panel and dropped in a mix of greens, along with some red watercolour. I tried to keep the center of the panel as dark as I could but it doesn't matter you can always go back afterwards. Before it was dry, I placed a piece of cling film over the wet panel and left it over night to dry. 

The cling film was removed to reveal the textured background and then the masking was removed carefully so as not to rip the paper. Using watercolour, I then painted each petal individually with a wet into wet technique. Don't do two adjacent petals at a time as the paint may run together. The foliage was done the same way and any white areas where the masking was not accurate, I coloured with matching paint to neat it up. I used some neat Payne's Grey for the flower centers or you could use a fine liner if you don't feel up to the fine detail!

Finally when my panel was completely dry, I trimmed it down and added it to an A5 base card to which I'd stamped the sentiment from Spring Botanicals - Crocus in black.

Go on, have a go, just let the watercolour do it's thing and don't worry about the end result, you'll be surprised when you come back to it after a night's sleep!! You can always cut it down like I did if things go a bit pear shaped and it's only paper at the end of the day!

So thanks for visiting and happy crafting!

Merry Monday - Rainbow Snowflakes

Hello & Happy Monday.

I originally planned to make & share these yesterday, but I decided to enjoy more family time and simply ran out of day. So here I am, later than planned. But at least I have a trio of pretty rainbow snowflakes to share with you.

Restocks always inspire creativity and with the Stencil - Let it Snow arriving back in stock on Saturday, I was inspired to ink up one of the largest snowflakes from the stencil in a rainbow of colours. I then added Moonstone Glimmer Paste over the top. My sentiment choice is from Christmas Sentiments.

 

This then led me to use the Stencil - Large Snowflake Two which is a supersized version of the first snowflake. 

I repeated the same process using a rainbow of ink colours through the stencil and then used the same Moonstone Glimmer Paste. The sentiment is from Simply Said Blocks Christmas.

And this led to my third card. 

This time I used the stencil mask. This was a little more tricky, more so to add the paste over the top. I don't think I have pasted such a large flat area. And although it has a few little kinks to it, I think it turned out well.

That's all I have to share today, but there is LOTS more inspiration coming this week. Along with Uniko's version of Black Friday! Be sure to sign up to our newsletter via the website homepage HERE to be the first to know. 

Crafty Hugs 

12 Days of Christmas Inspiration & Giveaways - Day 9

 

           Hello & Welcome to the 12 Days of Christmas Inspiration & Giveaways - Day 9

Every Friday, I will have a new Christmas themed card or project to share with you, along with a video showing how I made it. Plus, if you watch the video you will find out what the giveaway is and how to enter for your chance to win 😊 All the videos are HERE on the Uniko YouTube Channel.

This week I have a trio of cards to share using Background Builders: Christmas 2018...

From Scandi inspired Christmas jumpers for a Warm Christmas Wishes card, using traditional Kraft, White & Red.

To a more clean & simple design of classic Christmas trees...

You'll have to watch this weeks video HERE to find out what my third card is, but lets just say I can talk about pretty Christmas lights, a lot 😂 I also share what this weeks giveaway is & how to enter 😃 Can you believe how quick these weeks are going? 

Crafty Hugs

BA inspiration post- Poppy Love!

 Hello friends!

Happy Wednesday!

New month, new inspiration!! Half of the November month passed so soon. Vinita here showcasing the remembrance stamp set! I just love this gorgeous stamp set!! Don't you!!

A simple design with the coloring taking centre stage and the sentiment coordinates just perfectly.

I am still in an autumn color mood!

I stamped one of the poppy images on a piece of white CS. I colored it with my clear ZIGwatercolor brushes. 

And just hand-cut it as I desired shown in the above pic. On my white card base, I added the sentiment and placed the stamped panel using adhesive foam. Added some black enamel dots.

Thanks for visiting!

Happy crafting!

Brand Ambassador Inspiration - Holly

Morning! 

Steph here and I welcome you to my Nov Uniko Brand Ambassador Inspiration post. This month I wanted to focus on Holly.

My first card uses Uniko Framed Holly stamp set and Uniko Most Wonderful stamp set for the sentiment.

I stamped the large frame stamp using very light ink and drew over the lines with an alcohol marker, colouring in the leaves as I went. I have coloured the background in light grey and added Wink of Stella all over for sparkle. I used the extra stamps in the set to stamp individual holly leaves, fussy cut and adhered these to the card front using foam pads. 

My second card uses Uniko Snowflake Serenade stamp set and inked it in light blue. I then used alcohol markers to draw in the holly and berries. The sentiment for this card is from Uniko Christmas Sentiments stamp set. Again I added some Wink of Stella to the holly leaves for sparkle. 

Finally I have used the holly stamps from the Uniko Winter Foliage stamp set and Uniko Festive Sentiments stamp set for the lovely large sentiment. I have added snowflakes from the Uniko Stunning Snowflakes stamp set and used the Wink of Stella on these. 

How are you all getting along with your Christmas crafting? The final card here today is very quick and easy to make if you need to get a few cards done in a short amount of time. 

Much love

Steph x

12 Days of Christmas Inspiration & Giveaways - Day 8

           Hello & Welcome to the 12 Days of Christmas Inspiration & Giveaways - Day 8

Every Friday, I will have a new Christmas themed card or project to share with you, along with a video showing how I made it. Plus, if you watch the video you will find out what the giveaway is and how to enter for your chance to win 😊 All the videos are HERE on the Uniko YouTube Channel.

This week I am heading to the 1950's/1960's with a Pop Art style Christmas card...

This week I have dusted off Cracking Christmas and paired it with Explosion! and Explosion! Additions, two sets that inspired me to add this Christmas addition to the collection. 

I added a couple of Background Blocks too, along with switching up some colours for my video version.

You'll have to watch this weeks video HERE to find out what this weeks giveaway is & how to enter 😃 Can you believe how quick these weeks are going? 

Crafty Hugs

Beautiful Blooms & a Winner!

Hello & Happy Thursday.

I'm finally getting round to announcing the winner of the October 2023 Release in Review, Brand Ambassador Blog Hop & Giveaway we had HERE. I know I am late, I have a terrible memory 🙈 but better late than never, right? 

Anyway, before I get to the winner I have a card to share...

I was inspired to make this card with the recent restocks of Background Blocks Nautical Stripes and Beautiful Blooms II. I can't think that I have combined Beautiful Blooms I flowers with many Background Blocks, but I am almost certain I've not combined it with this one. But I am super pleased how well they go together. 

Background Blocks Nautical Stripes is pretty easy to line up and fill a strip down the front of a card base. I did use my stamping tool to make it a bit easier. I then stamped the blooms and leaves, adding some colour shading using the Rock 'n' Roll technique. The images are die cut using the Designer Dies Beautiful Blooms I. 

I finished with the smile die from Uniko's Exclusive Picked Posies Collection, only available at CraftStash HERE. 

Okay, so now onto the winner of the £20 eGift Code. I used Random name generator to select the lucky comment and the lucky one is...

 Bev Karolak said...

Stunning cards! The Poppy stamp is so beautiful! Love your colouring. 🥰

Congratulations Bev! Please drop me an email at bev@uniko.co.uk and I will send you your code. A big thanks to the Uniko Brand Ambassadors for all their beautiful inspiration. AND a big thanks to everyone who took the time to hop and comment, plus all the lovely comments around social media.

Crafty Hugs 

Two For Tuesday - Originally Organic

Hello & Happy Tuesday.

I hope your week has begun well. It was back to school for The Beans yesterday and back to routine for me in the studio. It's a week of show prep for me this week as on Friday I will be heading over to Port Sunlight for The Stamping Together show.

Even though it's a busy week, I am still squeezing in a bit of creative time and I was inspired to dust off my Originally Organic stamps for my Two For Tuesday.

Originally Organic debuted in September 2016 and to me it was one of the first sets that defines my style of design and way I prefer to draw. So it has a special place in my design loving, paper crafting, card making heart. It was about time I gave it some fresh inky love and I couldn't resist paring it with some of my favourite stencils.

Uniko's first stencils, Scattered Polka Dots and Wonky Stripes didn't debut until October 2017 and I can't think off the top of my head of many cards where I have combined stencils with Originally Organic. 

For my first card I chose one of my most recent stencils, MOD Background Builder. I masked off the edges of my card to create a rectangle before using a trio of yellow inks through the stencil. I then simply added my favourite image in black and one of the sentiments for a one layer card. 

For my second card I chose the stencil, Cloud 9. And unusually for me I decided to create an oval window. Ovals are not a shape I lean towards very often.

This time I opted for Grapefruit and Sorbet inks to create this fluffy background. I then used the stem and one of the flower options. Again opting for a one layer card.

There is another reason why this month Originally Organic was restocked. If you saw the reveal of the Papercraft Society Box 51 HERE on YouTube you might connect the styles 😉 I can't wait to show you more!

Crafty Hugs