Monday 30 September 2024

Let's Have Some FLIPPIN' Seasonal Fun - Day 1

Hello & Happy Monday! 

I'm so glad you've stopped by today as this week we are having some FLIPPIN' Seasonal Fun, AKA Ink & Flip Week Part Two.

This week, myself & the Uniko Brand Ambassadors have lots of new inspiration using two of the previously released Ink & Flips, then we have a couple of sneak peeks and then two Brand New Ink & Flip Stencils to introduce. 

I am super excited about this week as I am so proud of this stencil concept and all the new design ideas I have come up with and have in the pipeline. I hope you love them as much as I do. 

Anyway, today we are revisiting the very first Ink & Flip, Ink & Flip Christmas Star. So without further ado, let's check out all the new inspiration...




















WOW! What a start to a new week, I am so inspired by all this new creativity using this stencil. I hope it has inspired you too. 

That's all for today, but be sure to stop by tomorrow for more FLIPPIN' Seasonal Fun. 

Crafty Hugs

Friday 27 September 2024

Ink & Flip Geometric Hexagon Layering Stencil Inspiration With Guest Designer Ardyth & MORE!

Happy Friday, 


I'm so glad you have stopped by today as I'm absolutely delight to share with you a couple of peeks at some cards our guest for September, Ardyth has created using Ink & Flip Geometric Hexagon Layering Stencil

Let's have a peek at them...







From seeing the whole of each of these cards and the colours of these beauties I know for sure you won't be disappointed in heading over to Ardyth's Blog. Ardyth has made a lovely YouTube short for you to watch too.

I'm also delighted to share that Uniko has a feature in the latest issue of Simply Cards & PaperCrafts and it's all about the Ink & Flip collection!





A little snippet of the feature and one of the cards I made using the Ink & Flip Geometric Hexagon Layering Stencil. 






What perfect timing for both of these, you'd think I'd planned it with Ink & Flip Week 2 coming on Monday! 

Who's ready for some FLIPPIN' Seasonal Fun?! 

Crafty Hugs



Thursday 26 September 2024

Sending Rainbow Hugs

Happy Thursday 😃


Today I was in the mood for rainbow colours, it literally hasn't stopped raining all day. Coincidently this weeks Card Of The Week products include Sunshine & Rainbows and BIG & BOLD Hugs, which I have used on my card today. 




I started by stamping the rainbow, making sure I had room for the hugs sentiment. And to make sure I had the rainbow nice and centred I started with the inner arch, working my way out to the biggest. I used Concord & 9th Inks in Poppy, Marmalade, Buttercup, Parsley and Oceanside. 

For the clouds I used Dove and a little fussy cutting before adding a tiny little heart enamel to one of the clouds. 




I finished with a combination of sentiments. The Sending and Rainbow from Sunshine & Rainbows and the Hugs from BIG & BOLD Hugs. I masked off the 's' from the end of the rainbows sentiment.

Both of these sets are 15% off this week in The Card Of The Week section on the website. 

I hope you are staying warm and dry where you are. 

Crafty Hugs



Friday 20 September 2024

Festive Friday - Rustic Christmas

Happy Festive Friday 🎄

Let's make a quick (under 10 minute) Christmas card that is festive, sparkly & fun. I've used Uniko's Rustic Christmas Clear Stamp Set for this card.




Step By Step


1. Poppy Red Card Base 10.5 x 14cm

2. White Card Panel 7.5 x 10.5cm

3. Stamp Sentiment in VersaFine Clair Nocturne Ink

4. Stamp Rustic Christmas Tree A in C9 Evergreen Ink

5. Apply 3 Stripes Of Double Sided Tape To Your Card Base

6. Trim Edges & Peel Off Backing

7. Add glitter to Double Sided Tape

8. Adhere White Stamped Panel Using 1mm Thick Foam Tape

9. Embellish With Enamel Dots


Ta dah 🎉


A quick, sparkly & easily mass producible Christmas Card


Crafty Hugs

Wednesday 18 September 2024

Brand Ambassador Inspiration - Wednesday Workout with some Autumn Themed Stencilling

 Morning all, Julie here with a little bit of BA Inspiration using stencils.

I'm helping out a friend on one of her challenge blogs up until Christmas and their latest challenge is Autumn so I thought I would have a go using some stencils that I haven't used or one not in a while! Here is my card using the Nature's Treasure stencil and the French Script stamp.


On a panel of white card, I stamped the script with Versamark before heat embossing with gold EP, then inked through the stencil, roughly covering the text and trying not to overlap the sprigs.
Rather than use a single colour for each leaflet, I blended a couple to get a graduated effect. The colours used were Mustard Seed, Carved Pumpkin and Vintage Photo Distress Inks. Once the text was covered, I dried the ink and then as the background looked a little too stark, I blended Antique Linen over the panel before trimming and adding to my cream base card. A strip of gold mirror card and a heat embossed Happy Birthday complete.

My second card uses the Mid Century Modern Shapes stencil and the Nature's Treasure II stamp set.


I was just playing around with the same inks from the card above as they were still on my desk, looking to make an interesting pattern by moving the stencil around so that each shape overlapped the next. The foliage was stamped in Altenew's Obsidian ink and is a great contrast to the softer blended DIs. I found the frame in my bits box and I think it just sets off the panel perfectly. What do you think? No sentiment this time, think it would spoil the look.

So two totally different designs but linked by the colours and the use of stencils. I hope I've encouraged you to have a play and see what comes about. 

Happy crafting. 

Sunday 15 September 2024

Stencil Sunday - Instagram Vote Result

 Happy Sunday 😃

So yesterday on Instagram I put a vote in my stories asking what I should use for today's Stencil Sunday feature. 

The options were, Ink & Flip, Pure Florals, Flower Power or Geometric. I was keeping an eye on the votes and at one point it was a 3 way tie 😬 I did prepare myself for that, but in the end Ink & Flip won by one vote! 

So here is what I made...

As you can tell I opted for the newest Ink & Flip Geometric Hexagon Layering Stencil, though I opted to use just the detail hexagon layer. 

I've actually had this layout idea in my head for a while to add a smaller hexagon detail with the tiny bee from Flower Power #9 and I chose the Just Because sentiment from Simply Said Blocks II

Even though summer has decided to return again this weekend, I opted for some more autumnal yellow and orange tones, Spiced Cider, Cayenne, Sunflower and Stardust. 

That's all I had time for today, but I will share the other cards I made today using 2 of the other options during the week. 

If you haven't seen how this Ink & Flip works, be sure to checkout the video over on the Uniko YouTube Channel HERE

Crafty Hugs

 

Saturday 14 September 2024

Saturday Showcase - Originally Organic

Happy Weekend 😃


Earlier in the week, I think it was during my latest video I talked briefly about the Originally Organic collection and it got me to thinking how I've not inked it up for quite sometime 😢 So today I corrected it and inked up the first in the collection, Originally Organic for a little showcase. 





For my first card today I decided to go for a one layer card adding my favourite trio of colours through a simple circle die cut window. I then stamped the leaves and added the bell style flowers over the top in black ink. 




The friends are flowers sentiment is from the set, but the trio of dots I added around the sentiment and up in between the pink and blue circles are from Floral Vines

For my second and last card for today I used the other main image from the set, this beautiful swirling organic leafy sprig.




This time I went for a little dimension and fussy cut detail. After stamping and fussy cutting I coloured the image with alcohol markers. I also decided to add the Stencil - MOD Background Builder to the Avocado base card.




Lastly I added a sentiment from Floral Vines, along with the trio of dots again before finally adhering the panel to the card base using foam tape. 

It's been fun to revisit this older and much loved set, I hope you find some inspiration from todays cards. 

Crafty Hugs



Friday 13 September 2024

Floral Friday 🌼

Hello & Happy Friday 😃


I've had the rainbow colours out again today while I was working on some inspiration coming soon 😉 so I couldn't resist putting them to work with the Stencil - Pure Florals Chrysanthemum, which came back in stock recently.





I thought that this cheerful card would be wonderful as a Get Well Card, so I added the sentiment from Everyday Sentiments to a strip of paper and adhered it using foam tape. I finished off with a trio of white enamel dots.




A couple of bits of news in case you missed it, I have a new video up on the Uniko YouTube Channel. 






AND there are only a few hours left of the End Of Summer SALE, so be sure to take advantage of these FAB bargains.




That's all I have for today, I hope to pop in with more inspiration over the weekend 🤞🏻 

Crafty Hugs



Monday 9 September 2024

Brand Ambassador Inspiration - Flower Power

 Good morning all, 

Steph here and today I am focusing on the Uniko Flower Power series for my Brand Ambassador inspiration. 

My first card uses Uniko Flower Power #2 stamp set. I have also used the Uniko Flower Power #1 - #6 matching die set for some of these cards. 


The flower stems and sentiments are stamped directly onto the card and the flower heads have been stamped, die cut and adhered using foam pads. 

My next card uses Uniko Flower Power #4 stamp set.


Both the stems and the flower heads have been stamped and die cut with the stems being adhered to the card flat, and the heads again adhered using foam pads. 

My final card uses Uniko Flower Power #6 stamp set.


I didn't use the die set here but I did want to move away from the CAS nature of the first two cards and fill the background with florals. I used the flower head and one of the leaves from the set and stamped them around the sentiment from the Uniko Birthday Wishes stamp set.

My passion for this series of stamps has definitely been re-ignited having had a play around with them. I have used only one Flower Power stamp set per card but of course you can mix and match these sets so the possibilities are endless!

Much love

Steph x

Thursday 5 September 2024

It Worked... New YouTube Video

Happy Thursday.

Today I recorded a new YouTube video as I promised, showing how I created my card in yesterdays post combining the Stencil - Layering Bauhaus Blocks with Background Blocks MOD Builder





For this card though I switched out the Background Blocks MOD Builder for the Stencil - MOD Background Builder, a slightly larger version of the stamp.




I switched up my colour combo for this card, using Honeycomb or Sunflower (I can't remember now), Spiced Cider & Midnight. I show the colours in the video! 




A little pre warning, the video is long, I talk a LOT and I won't be mad if you fast forward during my fussy cutting! So grab a drink and get comfy, or why not get your supplies and craft along with me! 

Here is the link to the video...




Happy Watching & Crafty Hugs

Wednesday 4 September 2024

Smile, it's Wednesday 😃

Hello & Happy Wednesday.

I'm slowly catching up and getting back into routine now The Beans are back at school. It's lovely to be back in a routine, but it's oddly quiet without them home! 

‼️warning‼️

Long post ahead, lots to tell you about. So grab a drink and get comfy 😃

The Beans turned 10 on Monday, can you believe it? I'm not sure where the last decade has gone, it has flown by for sure. Here are a couple of photos for those who like to see. If not, just scroll on past to my inspiration today! 




Josh is on the left in blue and white stripes and Ben is in red on the right. These were the birthday cake requests I got this year! 




And here they are on their first day of year 5, just this year and next left in primary school before they head off to secondary school. Again, Josh on the left and Ben on the right.

Yesterday on Instagram and Facebook I shared these two cards for #twofortuesday using the Stencil - Layering Bauhaus Blocks which is now back in stock, along with lots more I will tell you about shortly! 




First up I went for a bright and cheerful colour combo of Blueberry, Oceanside and Sprout. I then stamped the sentiment from Sentiments Outlined (now back in stock) over the top. 




Then with autumn just around the corner I went for an autumnal inspired colour scheme and a kraft card base. I used Wheat, Nutmeg and Spiced Cider and paired the stencil with Natures Treasures II and a Simply Said Blocks sentiment. 




I wasn't sure about this card at first, I think it was my offset layout. But the more I look at it, it is growing on me! 




So last night instead of going to sleep, I lay thinking of more ways I could use the Stencil - Layering Bauhaus Blocks that I haven't done already!

And this idea popped into my head...




My idea was to combine the stencil with the Background Blocks MOD Builder (now back in stock) with the stencil to create a spotlight effect. At first I wasn't sure if it would work and when you look at this first flat lay photo it doesn't have a lot of impact.

But if I show you from this next angle you can see the raised elements a little more clearly. It's a spotlight come paper piecing technique. 




My colour combo is one I have used before and really liked, Rainforest, Watermelon and Parsley. Again my sentiment is from Simply Said Blocks.




After I made the card I got to thinking that you could also combine the Stencil - MOD Background Builder the same way. The stencil elements are a little bigger than the stamp, so would be a little easier to cut out and adhere.

So I've decided I will do a video tomorrow and share my process that way. It'll be posted on the Uniko YouTube channel.

As I mentioned earlier a whole bunch of restocks arrived in the studio. A few stencils and some popular and requested clear stamps...



Phew! That's a big bunch of restocks 😍

AND that isn't all the news... 



To add a little cheer and celebrate double the double digits with The Beans turning 10, I have discounted 20 products by 20% in the SALE section on the website. The sale is online only and will end midnight (BST) Friday 13th September 2024. 

Ok, I think that is enough news for now! 

Happy Shopping & Crafty Hugs