Brand Ambassador Inspiration - 3 Stamp Sets 1 One-Layer Card

Good morning, Anita here.

I'm back with some Brand Ambassador Inspiration today.

I was recently tasked with making an 18th birthday card for my godson and masculine cards are the kind I find the most difficult, so to make one for an older teenager was even more daunting!  I had a rummage through my Uniko stash and decided to combine three stamp sets: Big & Bold Happy, Background Blocks Halftone and Explosion!

And other than the number dies I adhered, this is a completely flat, one layer card with all the elements stamped directly on the card base.

I began by stamping the explosion in orange ink and then created a mask to protect it while stamping other elements.  I stamped the "happy" in blue/grey ink and then the halftone images in olive green and berry shades.  I removed the mask before stamping "birthday" in black and finished the card by adhering the die cut numbers.  All inks I used here are Altenew and the dies are from Spellbinders.

I was really pleased with how this one turned out and I hope this gives you some inspiration for those trickier masculine designs.

Enjoy the rest of your week, and with the Easter weekend approaching we are already past the halfway point of the working week.  Mustn't grumble, eh!  I hope you have some lovely plans for the long weekend.

 

Brand Ambassador Inspiration - Watercolour Spring Botanicals

 Good morning all, Julie here with a little bit more Spring Botanicals inspiration. Earlier in the month I used Snowdrops and Crocus for my design here, but today I want to share the fab Tulip set from the series. I received a lovely bouquet of them for Mother's Day from my son and have only just consigned them to the compost heap, so I was inspired to get the set out for a play. 

I love to use simple frames in my cards and for my first card I've used an oval frame for these pretty spring tulips. 

On a panel of MM paper, I stamped and masked this bunch of tulips in a pale ink for a no line look.

Each petal was then painted by adding colour then water to so that I didn't have any harsh edges. The watercolour bleeds into the water and does a lot of the work for you! I did do alternate petals and left them to dry before attempting another as I didn't want the colour to move from one petal to another. Once dry, I tackled the stems and leaves in the same way.

Once complete, I die cut a frame from textured card to match my 5 x 7 base using a couple of stacked ovals fromWaffle Flower. I stamped and heat embossed my sentiment in gold EP before fussy cutting it from the same card. The frame was attached to the panel of tulips cut with yet another of the nesting ovals with foam pads and then flat onto the base card with glue. My sentiment was placed to one side, overhanging the frame.

My second card was trickier to stamp as I went for embossing but this method is much easier to water colour.

I stamped the flowers onto more MM paper with DI Black Soot then heat embossed with clear EP. I prefer this to stamping with Versamark and black EP as I always manage to get black EP all over the place!!

Again I used the same watercolour technique as before but the water should stay within the cells created by the embossing so is a little quicker to paint. This time I filled in the background with a thin wash of blue before trimming and adding my die cut frame, MFT. Again I used foam tape to add the frame and added the panel flat onto my square card base. A simple sentiment stamped in black was slipped under the edge of the frame before it dried completely.

So that's it for today from me. I hope you've been inspired to have a go for yourselves and embrace the joy of Spring Botanicals!

Happy crafting

Brand Ambassador Inspiration - More Spring Botanicals Inspiration

 Bonjour !

Izzy here. I hope that you enjoyed the last post with the Non-Release Blog Hop & Giveaway where Bev and all the Brand Ambassadors gave some more love to the Spring Botanicals collection.

Today I'm showing you 3 more cards with this collection. For the Blog Hop I chose to use the Spring Botanicals Crocus (see here) so this time I'm using the other ones.

I will start the show with the Spring Botanicals Snowdrop.

First, I stamped and I white heat embossed the snowdrops on a piece of white card stock previously die cut with a irregular edges die. I made a mask of these flowers and I stamped the Large Background French Script set on top with a soft grey ink.

I removed the mask and I coloured the flowers with markers. To finish, I coloured the edges of the card with the same colours of the blooms before adhering the image on top. I also prepared a label for the sentiment that I stamped and white heat embossed. 

For my second card, I used the Spring Botanicals Daffodil.

It was easy to get inspired since the daffodils in our garden are all in full bloom. I decided to make a slimline card. 

First I stamped the sentiment on the slimline white card stock. Then I basically used the flower bud which I stamped several times in different positions all around the sentiment. For this I obviously used masks. I also stamped a few leaves to add a bit of green.

I coloured everything with markers and I flat adhered the image on a slimline white card.

My last card features the Spring Botanicals Tulip set.

I made another slimline card to showcase these beautiful tulips. I kept the whole card clean & simple. Again, using masks I stamped several time the set or part of the set. 

I removed the masks and I coloured the image with markers. I stamped the sentiment on top and to finish I flat adhered the image on a soft pink slimline card.

That's all for me today. I hope that I inspired you a little bit more with these gorgeous sets from the Spring Botanicals collection.

Happy Spring and happy Easter to you all. By the way here is a sneaky peek of an Easter card I posted yesterday on my blog with some Uniko's products.

Thank you so much for stopping by today !

Brand Ambassador Inspiration - Organic Wishes

Morning all, 

Steph here today and I am using Uniko Organic Wishes stamp set for my Brand Ambassador post this month. I have used it in both a light and dark setting to see what difference can be created. 

Firstly my ‘light’ card. I have teamed Uniko Organic Wishes with Uniko Natures Treasure stamp set. I have used chalk ink on both cards for better comparison.

My second ‘dark’ card uses the Uniko Organic Wishes stamp set as fireworks in the night sky. I have teamed it with Uniko Big & Bold Wish stamp set. 

So which do you like best?

Much love

Steph x

March 2024 Non-Release Brand Ambassador Blog Hop & GIVEAWAY!

Hello & Happy Monday.

Welcome to the March 2024 Non-Release Brand Ambassador Blog Hop & GIVEAWAY! 

You might remember in January we brought back the Non- Release month blog hops. For those of you who are new around these parts I will explain what this post is all about...

Here at Uniko HQ it is just myself behind the screen, blogging, designing, packaging stamps & orders through the Uniko online shop, customer service and all the things in between. I *usually* release new product every other month for a number of reasons, but mainly so I can keep up with everything!

On non - release months like this month I like to set myself and the Brand Ambassadors a challenge to look back at a previously released product and give it some more love. Plus, I think it's always nice to revisit older sets and provide more inspiration and not just from me.

So without further ado, lets see the products I decided upon for March.

Spring Botanicals Crocus

Spring Botanicals Daffodil

Spring Botanicals Snowdrop

Spring Botanicals Tulip

As you can see, with Spring just around the corner here in the Northern Hemisphere I have chosen the 4 clear stamps in our Spring Botanical range. 

I've let the Brand Ambassadors choose which to use, so let's get to the inspiration...

Anita

Bev

Izzy

Julie

Steph

Vinita

I'm totally inspired after that hop. The Brand Ambassadors have certainly cheered up a grey morning here in the North East! 

As usual I am offering a prize to one lucky comment left along the hop. Simply leave some comment love before Midnight GMT Monday 18th March 2024 and I will select a lucky winner to receive a £15 eGift Code to spend in the store!

Before I go, how about some March Madness?

Happy Hoppin'!

Crafty Hugs

Simple Spotlight Saturday 💐

Hello & Happy Weekend, 

I planned on sharing this card yesterday, but due to some technical difficulties I wasn't able to edit my photos. Technical support obtained from my husband and I am back, just need him to sort all the others I have on my list - haha! 

Anyway, back to my card.

I still had Spring Botanicals Daffodil on my desk from my last card I shared using it HERE. I wanted another quick and cheerful colouring technique, so opted for the spotlight technique.

Here I trimmed a piece of printer paper to the size of my card panel. I then die cut 3 circles to use as a mask to ink through. You could choose any shape or even the Stencil -  Mid Century Modern Shapes is a good choice. 

I then inked with Clementine & Honeysuckle, Buttercup & Sprout, then Oceanside and Harbour inks through each circle. 

Once I was happy I stamped thee Daffodil and then added the Happy Mother's Day sentiment which is a mix of stamps from Everyday Love Sentiments and Everyday Spring Sentiments. A trio of Buttercup enamel dots finished the card for me. 

One for the Mother-in-law tomorrow! 

Crafty Hugs

Celebrating 12 Years Winners, Winners, WINNERS

Hello & Happy Monday.

I'm kicking the week off announcing ALL the Celebrating 12 Years Winners, Winners, WINNERS.  I used Random.org to select the lucky entry and all the prizes apart from the Linky Party were picked on Brand Ambassador vote. But I also have a card to share, so that first...

I decided to make a thank you card, to thank you all for making February one to remember. I've been wanting to use the Background Block MOD Builder (apologies for it selling out so fast) with Uniko Style.

I stamped the background block and coloured it using a trio of aqua alcohol markers. I used C9 inks to stamp the flowers from Uniko Style in Pink Lemonade & Honeysuckle and then Buttercup and Sunflower. I finished with the Thank You sentiment from Mid Century Modern Everyday Sentiments and a trio of Honeysuckle enamel dots.

Restocks of the February Release are due in the studio 16th March. Thank you to all those who have placed a backorder in anticipation of their return.

Now let's get to the winners...

First up I have the winner of the Uniko Papercraft Society Box, exclusive to CraftStash. Thank you for all the comments and love about this box. It was super fun to design for this and it is something I will consider bringing out Exclusive to Uniko in the near future.

And the winner is...

Congratulations Aileen 

Please send me an email to bev@uniko.co.uk with your postal address and I will get the box in the mail to you. 

Next up we have the first of the Grand Prize winners, Win Stamps For a Year! 

Congratulations The Crafty Den - Denise Morgans! Please send me an email to bev@uniko.co.uk with your postal address and I will get the February 2024 Release in the post to you. 

Next is the second Grand Prize winners, Win Stencils For a Year! 

Congratulations Greta! Please send me an email to bev@uniko.co.uk with your postal address and I will get the February 2024 Release Stencil in the post to you. 

Next we have the Birthday Linky party Winners. As voted by the Brand Ambassadors the winner is...

Ishani

Congratulations Ishani! Please email me and I will send you your £25 eGift Code to spend over at www.uniko.co.uk. 

As this beautiful spring sunshine has put a smile on my face, AND there were so many wonderful entries into the link up. Based on votes I have added two more prizes and the winners in no particular order are...

Emma

Bev K

Congratulations Emma and Bev K. Please email me and I will send you your £10 eGift Code to spend over at www.uniko.co.uk. 

Lastly and by no means least I have the winner of the Release Day Brand Ambassador Blog Hop. Thank you to everyone that hopped along and most of all left lovely comments.

Denise Bryant 

Such awesome cards! Great designs and color combos on your creations! I am loving this release!

Congratulations Denise! Please email me and I will send you your £25 eGift Code to spend over at www.uniko.co.uk. 

A big congratulations to all the winners and to everyone who joined in on celebrating 12 years, I appreciate you all. I don't think I have forgotten anything or any of the giveaways I mentioned. If I have, be sure to let me know ;)

Crafty Hugs

 

Hello March & Happy St Davids Day

Hello, Happy Friday & Happy St Davids Day.

Firstly, thank you for all the support, comments and lovely orders during February. You really made Uniko's 12th Birthday one to remember. Secondly, I need to extend my apologies for not sharing much since release day. 

Along with the release orders keeping me busy and the general day to day running of Uniko. I have spent this past week doing my other main job of being mummy and nurse to a poorly Bean. Thankfully he is doing a lot better and has spent the day with Grandma and Grandad giving me a little reprieve and time to catch up. 

So, I am kicking the month off with a Spring card...

With it being St Davids Day and the national flower of Wales being the Daffodil I had to incorporate Spring Botanicals Daffodil into my make. 

I wasn't in the mood for detailed colouring, so my quicker alternative is using a stencil. It feels like it has been a while since I used the Layering Bauhaus Blocks, so that's what I used for my base and colour hit! 

I added a little masked off border to my base card before stencilling and this married in with my top layer using the Spring Botanicals Daffodil. I adhered the layer using foam adhesive for a little dimension too.

That's all from me today, but I will back over the weekend with more to share.

Crafty Hugs