March Meet The Maker - Meet Me - Bev Brown AKA Uniko.

Happy Monday 😃

Today is day 1 of March Meet The Maker 2025 and having followed for quite a few years from the side lines, I dipped my toes in once but couldn't keep up! I decided this was the year to commit and join in on the fun. 

Especially as March is looking quieter compared to January and February. Plus, with all the celebrations last month, I gained quite a few new followers. So this is a good opportunity for me to tell you more about Uniko.

Today is Brand Re-Introduction. 

So I've called it, Meet Me.

Hello I’m Bev and I am Uniko 😃

I design all the products and lovingly package and check them for any imperfections. Providing you, my lovely customers with top quality, unique and innovative products is my aim. I am pleased to say it is very rare a faulty stamp passes my eagle eyes! 

And I do a happy dance every time I’m packing a wonderful order and my heart bursts with joy when a customer tags me @unikoltd when they share a card or creation using Uniko products ♥️

If you message, phone or send an email to Uniko, it’s me on the other end of the line. I am always happy to help and do my best to answer as quickly as possible. If it’s technical related and I don’t know the answer, I have to contact my tech support. AKA as husband 😂 He works full time & so I often have to wait until he’s not busy for his help! Other than him, it’s just me here. 

However, I am honoured to have a wonderful team of Brand Ambassadors…

Anita @craftyneet 

Izzy @izzyscrap 

Steph @morticraft 

Julie @sportyjules56 

Vinita @craft_craver 

These beauties help me on the blog and across social with amazing creative inspiration 🥰

AND I can’t forget to mention Claire @earlybirdstamps who has been by my side at all the craft shows I take Uniko too since the very first one ♥️

I know not everyone is on social media to be able to tag/share their makes with me. So why not snap a photo and email me instead. The beauty above is by Ruth @ruthgetscrafty on Instagram.

Before I get to todays card, how about 5 things about me you might not know… 

1. I love colour and I have an ink pad addiction 😂
2. My favourite number is 3 
3. I love cats 🐈‍⬛ 🐈 Jelly (almost 4) and Cali (almost 1) are my fur babies. 
4. Chocolate is my weakness, especially Salted Caramel M&Ms and Brownie M&Ms 😋
5. When I’m not crafting or on mum duties to my twin boys you might find me reading a good book. I like mystery, crime, thriller and psychological thrillers 📚

It wouldn't be a Uniko post without some inspiration, so here's what I made today. 

I've had this stencilled Layering Bright Butterfly fluttering around my desk since I inked it some time last week! So it was calling to be adhered to a card. 

With little time to create before the light of the day faded I put together this really CAS card. I think it took me longer to find the Floral Vines clear stamp set to be able to stamp the sentiment I wanted, than it did to put the card together! 

Thank you again for all the wonderful release day orders on Friday and over the weekend. You are all awesome.

Welcome to Uniko if you are new around here 😃 

Crafty Hugs

Celebrating 13 Years - Introducing Stencil Layering Bright Butterflies & Re-introducing Bright Butterflies Clear Stamps

Hello & Happy Monday! 

Welcome to day 2 of the Uniko 13th Birthday February Release introductions. Today myself and the Uniko Brand Ambassadors are Introducing Stencil Layering Bright Butterflies & Re-introducing Bright Butterflies Clear Stamps.

I had an idea for a layering butterfly stencil, but I was thinking of shapes of butterfly and that got me thinking back to the original Bright Butterflies Clear Stamps originally released back in February 2013. I loved these butterflies and their shapes, so I thought I would super size them and add some more details in the layering options. 

So that got me to thinking of how much I loved creating with these cute butterflies, so decided I would re-release those along with this fun layering stencil.

Let's have a look at these in action.

 Anita

Bev

Izzy

Julie

Steph

Vinita

I've literally butterflies with all this wonderful inspiration and I hope you like these new and returning additions to the Uniko line up as much as I do! 

Until tomorrow, Crafty Hugs

Uniko Birthday Inspiration Through The Years - Part 1

 

Happy Sunday.

I'm here today continuing the 13th Birthday Celebrations with some more inspiration. It's took me a while to think of a theme of some kind, but I finally got there. The other week, I finally got round to cateloging all the Uniko Releases, I will have a product PDF available soon. 

So I thought I would share a birthday card using a product that was released that year. Today I am sharing three cards using a product from 2012, 2013 and 2014. I've then made a new card inspired by the original.

Let's have a look.

First up 2012 and I chose this card using Pure Florals Gerbera. Pure Florals Gerbera was originally released in July 2012 and is the longest standing product that is still available in store when it's not sold out! 

It remains to be one of the most popular florals in the Uniko collection and a favourite of mine too. So it was a delight to ink it up again for my post today. 

Here is how I was inspired by my original card.

I started out by ink blending similar colours to what I used on my original card onto a small panel. The colours I used are Buttercup, Marmalade and Honeysuckle. I adhered the panel to my card base using foam adhesive.

This time I decided to use the outline Gerbera, stamping in black ink and die cutting with the coordinating die. Again, I adhered the flower to the card using foam adhesive and stamped a celebrate sentiment from Everyday Sentiments.

To finish I embellished with some Papertrey Ink buttons like my original card and some sparkly tiny rhinestones. It was lovely to use buttons again, it's been a very long time since I did! 

Next up is 2013 and I chose this card using Bright Butterflies.

And here is how I was inspired by it... 

I was surprised, but also delighted that I kept this little note page die. This time I die cut it from white card and opted for a kraft card base. I also chose one of the other Bright Butterflies to stamp and this time layered with a die cut vellum butterfly.

Eleven years and my favourite trio of colours, all be it a different brand are still going strong! I used the Happy sentiment from Christmas Sentiments and the Birthday from Everyday Sentiments. 

Lastly for today I chose Explosion! clear stamp set released in 2014 and this card to spark new inspiration.

For my remake I decided to use some ink smooshing instead of a halftone background. The original background on my inspiration card was created using Background Builders Round In Circles and an array of blue colours to create an ombre effect. 

For my ink smoosh I stated with Buttercup, then Honeysuckle and then Oceanside. I stamped the Explosion! and again used the coordinating die to cut the explosion out. 

This time I added the OMG! sentiment from the Explosion! clear stamp set and coloured with Copic Markers. I adhered the explosion using foam adhesive and again I used the Happy sentiment from Christmas Sentiments and the Birthday from Everyday Sentiments. 

I really enjoyed revisiting some older much loved Uniko products and looking back at my old makes, techniques and paper crafting supplies. 

I hope that you have enjoyed the inspiration today and this little look back at Uniko's past. I will have more to share in this mini series throughout the month.

Crafty Hugs

Brand ambassador inspiration : Hello Lovely : Three ways

 Hi there!

Hannelie here with inspiration on how to use a large floral stamp in three different ways... all with alternative ways to add color !

First card :

Second card:

Third card:

I used Hello lovely clear stamp set on all three cards, stamped with my Misti and Versafine Black Ink.

Inks used : Distress ink : Picked Raspberry - Spiced Marmalade - Mustard Seed

For the the first card, I used a piece of torn paper/card stock to mask the area where I wanted to add color. I then started the ink blending and stamped the image over the blended ink area. I finished off the card with a birthday sentiment from Simply Said Blocks.

For the second card I used octagon dies. I used the smaller die to cut a mask for ink blending. I removed the mask and stamped the image. After stamping I used the larger die to cut it out, leaving an uncolored , but stamped frame. I layered it over glittered paper, also cut with the larger die, but rotated to only show a glimpse of glitter. The sentiment is from the same floral set.

For the third card, I used the Bright Butterflies stencil to add color, and stamped just a part of the large floral image on the bottom part of the panel. The birthday sentiment is from the Floral vines clear stamp set

Thank you so much for looking! I hope you leave with a lot of inspiration to get more out of those large floral stamps... without 'real' coloring!

Enjoy the weekend ♥

Hannelie

Brand ambassador inspiration : Flower power #7

Hi there!

Hannelie here to bring you some inspiration and ... wishing you a happy St. Patrick's day 🍀

Today I am showing you three cards using the Flower power #7 stamp set. I combined the sweet flowers in the set with newer products, stamps as well as stencils, to create different looks.

Card #1

On the card above, I combined the solid flower with the Alphabet outlined set and sentiment from Happy succulents clear stamp set. I used a mask , created with a circle die, and stamped the flowers ( which reminded me a bit of the shape of a clover ) randomly to create a background for my sentiment. Everything stamped with my Misti and Altenew green inks and Versafine black ink. I finished off this one layer card with tiny black rhinestones.

Card #2

I used the same circle mask I used for the first card to mask off the focal point. I then used the Bright butterflies stencil and Altenew inks in red and purple shades for the butterflies. With the mask still in place I stamped the outline of the flowers using the rule of threes to draw the eye to the sentiment which is from Simply said blocks set. I finally added rhinestones for added interest.


Card #3

For this bright and happy card I used the solid flowers and a wreath builder (template cut with my Silhouette cameo). By changing the position of the stamp on the Misti, I could have stamped a bigger circle of flowers, but I liked the way how it actually created a little cluster of flowers ! I picked two shades of Altenew yellow ink ( Note to self... next time pick two shades with more contrast ;) . I then stamped the outline flower in black and popped the sentiment from Simply said blocks up with foam dots. Once again tiny black rhinestones in the flower centers for interest. A colored card base just to add some extra yellow 😀

I hope this will inspire you to mix the old and new, stamps and stencils to create something amazing !

Thanks for visiting Uniko today!

Hannelie

DT Inspiration - Stencils and patterned papers

Hello, Wiebke here with a brand new stencil-project for you!

 

Like most of us, I have kind of a "comfort zone" when I create my cards. I use similar materials - most of the time I'm crafting with stamps and stencils, inks and markers and some embellishments.
And sometimes I almost forget there are also other ways to craft...!

A while ago, I recieved a card, made with a mix of patterned papers combined with punched elements, embossing paste, stamping and sewing! Not my own usual style of crafting - but so beautiful! 

So this other card inspired me for my current card!
I tried this new-to-me technique mix and show you the result!

 

I grabbed some patterned papers, cut them in pieces, adhered them onto a thin paper and went to my sewing machine to sew them all together with two different stitching-lines.
The next step was to add three different embossing pastes on the paper. One is an opaque white glossy paste, one a less opaque matte white paste and one a mix of a golden colour and the matte paste. 

I moved both stencils - the Party Confetti Stencil and the Bright Butterflies Stencil - around to get exact the shapes I planned on the different areas. I wanted many of the small hearts! 💕
So it was important to let one paste dry before moving the stencil and start adding the next one to avoid smearing them around!

In the center I kept a free area to add the sentiment "You are Amazing" of the new You are, yes you Stamp Set with white embossing powder (fitting to the glossy white paste).

After everything was finished, I cut the layer down to my card size and adhered it with a strong adhesive tape.
Cause there are so many different materials which give enough interest, I think it's not necessary to add some extra embellishments to a card like this one.

The full list of all supplies you can see on my Blog.

Hope you can give some "new-to-you" techniques a try one day too.
Thanks for stopping by today, have a great day and lots of fun with all your art supplies!

Kind greetings from Wiebke

March 2019 Non Release Design Team Blog Hop & GIVEAWAY!

Hey & Happy Weekend!

Welcome to the March 2019 Non-Release Design Team Blog Hop & GIVEAWAY!

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 Design Team a challenge to look back at a previously released product and give it some more love. 

With Spring just around the corner here in the Northern Hemisphere, I thought it would be nice to give some fresh inky love to Spring Botanicals Daffodil, Spring Botanicals Snowdrop and Stencil Bright Butterflies.

As usual we have our GIVEAWAY, so be sure to comment along the hop for your chance to win Spring Botanicals Daffodil and Stencil Bright Butterflies (an alternative prize to the same value will be offered if the winner already owns these). You have until Midnight (GMT) Saturday 16th March 2019 to comment, winner will be announced shortly after.

Let's see how the Design Team were inspired to use these revisited products...

Bev

Carol 

Izzy 

Jane

Linda

Lindsey

Rahmat

Sarah P

Wiebke 

What an inspirational hop, so many new ideas, I hope you all enjoyed it too :)

Thanks for joining in on the fun.

Hugs