Friday Focus - Flower Power #5 - #8

Hello & Happy Friday.

Today I am back with another Friday Focus and continuing with the Flower Power Series. If you missed last week you can catch up HERE. 

This week my focus is on Flower Power #5 - #8 seen in the picture below...

And now let's see the new inspiration I've created.

Starting with Flower Power #5, which to me is like a modern and graphic poppy. I went for a duo of peach colours, Grapefruit and Sorbet paired with black making for a striking card.

I decided not to mask the flowers and let them overlap each other. I did however mask my border and then stamped one of the Background Builders Classics strips. My sentiment choice for this card is from Flower Power #6.

This leads me nicely onto Flower Power #6, a beautiful modern 2 step stamping rose. I am super excited that our Birthday Wishes clear stamp set is coming back in stock next week (Tuesday) and so I decided to pair the roses with one of my favourite sentiments from the set.

For the solid layer of the rose I used Ballet Slipper and the detail petals layer I used my favourite Honeysuckle. I did a little masking for the leaves and to layer the bottom two roses. But I let them overlap the sentiment.

My third card for today features the modern daisy flower from Flower Power #7 and I was reminiscing about making daisy chains as a child for this card! 

We're being treated to some wonderful sunshine and hot weather, so my colours reflected this with my choice of Honeysuckle, Buttercup and Oceanside. My sentiment choice is from Flower Power #5 which has a thank you theme.

Lastly, but no means least I have this cute design using Flower Power #8. I actually made this card quite a while ago, but forgot about it until it popped up in my photo memories! 

I love the Flower Power flowers for making clusters of flowers like I have here and even though Flower Power #8 doesn't (currently) have dies to match, this one is fairly easy to fussy cut. You could also use your scan and cut.

I finished the card with the Happy Birthday sentiment from Floral Vines and added enamel dots to the flower centres. 

I've absolutely loved these past two weeks, inking up these clear stamps and playing with different combinations and pairings. AND I can't wait to show you what's coming! I hope you will join us for the usual Uniko Countdown to Release fun.

I hope you've enjoyed this as much as I have and thank you for stopping by today.

Crafty Hugs

Two For Tuesday Tangle!

Hello & Happy Tuesday. 

Today I have a couple of cards to share, totally inspired by cards shared in the Uniko VIP Facebook Group HERE this week. Thank you Debi for kick starting my Zentangling again! 

Debi has cleverly used the Pure Florals Gerbera and Pure Florals Chrysanthemum stencils and instead of inking with colour, Debi used a black fine liner and beautifully drawn the outline and filled with pattern. So it got me thinking of what other Uniko Stencils I could use for this fun technique. 

Here's what I came up with...

As you can see for my first card today I decided upon the Stencil MOD Background Builder. This was pretty quick to create the outline and it was fun to add all the doodles, I found it very relaxing.

Once I was happy with my doodles I added the Birthday Wishes sentiment from Simply Said Blocks III and a trio of Poppy enamel dots.

I then went on the hunt for another stencil and as I was flipping through my folder I came across the Stencil Flower Power #8.

Again, another easy design to draw the outline with and the spaces being a little bit bigger I was able to be a lot bolder with my doodles. 

For this card I chose a sentiment panel to go across the card and adhered with foam adhesive. The sentiment is from Everyday Sentiments and again I chose the pop of red with Poppy enamel dots. 

That's all I have today and I hope you'll give this fun technique a try. Now the decision is to see what I can Zentangle next! 

Crafty Hugs

Brand Ambassador Inspiration - Masculine Monday

Morning all, 

Steph here today. Welcome to my Uniko Brand Ambassador Inspiration this month where I am focussing on those oh so difficult masculine cards, using Uniko Bauhaus Blocks stamp set.

For this card I started off with Uniko Background Blocks Linear stamp and used green ink on cream card. On another piece of cream card I stamped one of the stamps from the Uniko Bauhaus Blocks stamp set, also in green ink, and after colouring with alcohol markers adhered this with foam pads. The sentiment is also from the Bauhaus Blocks set and stamped in black ink. Finally the whole panel was adhered to a black card base. 

For my next card I chose a different one of the Bauhaus Blocks and stamped it in black, blue and green ink, following which I coloured each with alcohol markers in coordinating colours. On a separate piece of card I stamped a red block and coloured with red alcohol markers. This I adhered to the panel using foam blocks. I then stamped the 'Happy Father's Day' sentiment in red using a mixture of Uniko Everyday sentiment sets. I then stamped the letters DAD from the Uniko Alphabet Outlined stamp set, coloured and adhered these to the panel using foam pads. 

For my final card today I started off with the Uniko Mid Century Modern Shapes stencil and three distress oxide inks. After randomly stencilling the background I stamped the Bauhaus Block in black and coloured random areas with a black alcohol marker. 

I hope this has given you some inspiration for masculine cards, and more ways to use your Uniko stash.

Much love

Steph x

A Little Bit of Sunshine

Hello & Happy Weekend! 

Well, it's no surprise really, but summer is yet to be seen here in the UK. The weather as usual has been pretty dismal today and I was in need of some cheer. So I took a break from working on the new website and squeezed in a little creative time to make this card...

I used the Mid Century Modern Wreath Builder before for sun rays and I liked the results, so I decided to use it again. I stamped the solid wreath twice in Buttercup and then Honeycomb, moving the wreath slightly for the Honeycomb colour. I then used the outline wreath and stamped it in Clementine ink. 

With the Cloud 9 Stencil coming back in stock recently I decided it was high time I inked it up again too. This time I wanted to create a kind of sunrise/sunset sky, starting off with some light pink, melon and lilac shades before going darker with Fig and Honeysuckle. I then added Powder blue over the sun rays to blur out the white background. 

To finish my card I added the sunshine sentiment from Spring Botanicals Daffodil. I then decided to go a little bit mix media and added some Gansi Tambi Starry Colour splats! 

That's all from me today, if you have sunshine, please send it to the UK!! 

Crafty Hugs

Friday Focus - Flower Power #1 - #4

Hello & Happy Friday,

I'm a lot later than planned but I'm here today with a Friday Focus looking at the Flower Power clear stamps numbers 1 - 4. 

There are currently 8 mini clear stamp sets in this series and a set of Designer Dies that match flowers 1-6 and the stem with leaves. I often think they are over looked by crafters at their creative potential. And I will be continuing the Flower Power focus next Friday with numbers 5 - 8.

Like most things in the craft industry, I think you need to see things in action to see the possibilities. There is another reason why I am focusing on this series of stamps, but you'll have to wait a bit longer to find that out! 

This series of stamps is designed in a mix and match way, so that if you own 2 or more you can 'build' different floral combinations. The sentiment font is the same in each of the sets and each set offers a different theme of sentiments. And like most of my product designs they have a modern look to them. 

Let's have a look at some new cards I've made using the clear stamp sets seen above.

For my first card today I decided to focus purely on the Designer Dies and the flower die that matches Flower Power #1. I opted for my usual Honeysuckle, Buttercup and Aqua Sky for the flowers and a nice Parsley green for the stems.

This card has an Orla Kiely inspired look to it and I used a big bunch of the Concord & 9th White enamel dots for the flower centres. My sentiment choice is from Flower Power #3.

Next I wanted to show how these flowers look with Uniko backgrounds and one I've not used for a while, Large Background French Script.

For my colours this time I went for some peachy colours, Sorbet, Grapefruit and Creamsicle for the Flower Power #2 blooms. Along with the same Parsley green for the leaves. The leaves of which I sneakily used from Flower Power #6! 

The script background is stamped in Pebble a lovely earthy grey and my sentiment is from Flower Power #2 and one of my favourites.

Next is Flower Power #3 and the Uniko brand image. I also used one of the Uniko brand colours for the outline flower bloom which is a stylised Chrysanthemum. My stem is from Flower Power #4 and sentiment from Flower Power #1.

Lastly for today, but by no means least is the flower from Flower Power #4. This flower has some fun builder options giving different looks to the bloom.

I used the stem and sentiment from from Flower Power #2 and kept the theme of colours going and unusually for me opting for a colour card base. I also dug out some ribbon from my stash to add little loops to the edge of my panel.

I've absolutely loved inking up these clear stamps and playing with different combinations and pairings. I think my second card comes out as my top fave today. I think it's the colours and pairing with the background. 

How about you, which is your favourite?

I hope you've enjoyed this Friday Focus and thank you for stopping by today.

Crafty Hugs

Brand Ambassador Inspiration: Nautical cards

  Hello friends!

Happy Monday! 

Vinita here with a new month and new inspirations!  

I love this nautical stamp from Uniko, it is perfect for creating Masculine cards! 

Card 1

I inked the bottom edge of the card using Background Blocks splatter in various blue inks. Then, I created waves in circles using Background Builders" Round in circle stamp set and placed the Yacht in a wavy sea.

The compass stamp and a sentiment finished the card with simplicity!

Card 2

For this card, I came out of my comfort zone and created this simple card with a mix of patterns.

I created the bottom edge using Round in circle stamp set 2 times leaving some space to fill the red color in between. 

I stamped the Yacht and paper pieced it to create the pattern and placed a pattern paper strip on a red space too and was pleased with the result! The sentiment is from the same set.

Have a wonderful day!

Happy crafting!

Friday Focus - Natures Treasures

Hello & Happy Friday

Today I was inspired to ink up a much loved older favourite, Natures Treasures. It's been a while since I used this clear stamp set and I had so much fun. Instead of just one card, I ended up making three. Let's have a look...

For my first card I decided to pair a cluster of fussy cut foliage with the Background Blocks Splatter. I seem to be on an ombre kick at the moment, so inked up the background with Pebble, Wheat and Nutmeg. 

I then stamped and fussy cut the foliage, layering it up in a cluster and using foam adhesive to adhere it to my card. My sentiment choice is from Floral Vines and I also added some enamel dots to finish.

I kept with the spray of foliage for my second card and opted for some Kraft card stock which I think pairs lovely with the greens. I've used Evergreen, Parsley and Avocado and Sprout, plus Wheat. 

Again I used a sentiment from Floral Vines, however I stamped it on two lines instead of just one onto a wheat circle die cut. 

Lastly for today I continued the Kraft card stock theme and decided to stamp two of the leaves directly onto my base. 

I then added another spray of foliage, this time I decided to adhere it with the leaves hanging down, I secured it with some bakers twine from my stash and again added a sentiment from Floral Vines.

It's been fun inking up this set again and pairing it with some newer products. I highly recommend having a look through your stash and using older supplies to create with. I've more ideas and can't wait to get them out onto a card. 

Anyway, that's all from me today. Now time to go and watch The Beans swim! 

Crafty Hugs

Masculine Makes

Hello & Happy Thursday.

With Father's Day fast approaching I have two masculine cards to share with you. Although I have used a Father's Day sentiment on both my cards, the sentiments can be easily switched for a different occasion. 

First up is a card I started at Sincerely Yours Papercraft Show on Sunday. 

I am delighted to have the Stencil - MOD Background Builder back in stock and I wanted to show how it can be used for masculine cards, simply by switching up the colours and what you pair it with. 

Mid Century Modern Frames is the perfect masculine accent choice. These funky frames are non complicated, clean and simple. 

For this card I used Oceanside, Peacock and Midnight to ink the stencil design, which I opted to ink on an angle. 

For my next card, I used Mid Century Modern Frames again, but this time paired with another favourite recent restock, Background Blocks Linear.

How fun is this colour combo? 

Normally I pair pink with turquoise and yellow, but this time I decided to switch the pink with red and I just love it. The colours really pop against the black and white.

That's all I have for today, I hope this has given you some ideas for masculine makes.

Crafty Hugs