Happy Christmas in July!

Hello & Happy July.

I'm sorry, not sorry! It's that time of year again for Christmas in July. This month there will be lots of festive inspiration, a few giveaways through the month and a NEW release.

Today I am kicking things off with a quick clean & simple idea to get more use out of your alphabet stamps, I used Alphabet Solid.

I started with a Poppy card panel measuring 9.5 x 13cm and I stamped the word CHRISTMAS in Cranberry ink on the left side. To be able to space evenly I started with the IST in the middle.

I then stamped and heat embossed the merry from Festive Sentiments in white embossing powder to compliment the solidness of the Christmas.

To finish the card I adhered the panel to a white card base. This card is perfect for easy mailing, always a bonus at Christmas.

Thanks for stopping by today & Crafty Hugs

Two For Tuesday - Hexagonal Christmas

Happy Tuesday.

It's been a crazy start to Autumn here at Uniko HQ and I am hoping things are settling, in that I can start sharing more inspiration here and across social media.

Today I made time to make a couple of cards and I even recorded making one and have a YouTube Short HERE. 

I fancied Inking & Flipping and turning it Christmassy. 

For this card I was inspired by a layout I've used before HERE. As you can see I replaced the Chrysanthemum with the Ink & Flip Geometric Hexagon. 

I started inking with VersaFine Clair Nocturne ink. Cleaned the stencil, flipped and used Nuvo Glacier Paste in Golden Era. 

I added a hand drawn string with a fine liner, added a sentiment from Christmas Sentiments and a bow stamped in Dragonfruit using the one from Mid Century Modern Wreath Builder.

Sometimes I like using a little bit of ribbon and these little tabs are one of my favourite ways to use it. It doesn't create bulk. I adhered the bauble layer to my card base using foam tape, 1mm thick.

Next up I wanted to use both layers of the Ink & Flip Geometric Hexagon.

First I started with the bauble. I inked it with Dragonfruit & then Peacock. I also stamped the same bow and fussy cut both the hexagon and bow.

Next I went to the background layer. I inked with Honeysuckle and Oceanside to create a slightly softer feel to the colours. I added gold splatter using Gansi Tambi Starry Watercolours.

I stamped the same sentiment, drew a line for the bauble string before adhering the hexagon and bow using foam adhesive.

That's all I have today, but I would love to know which is your favourite of the two.

Crafty Hugs

Brand Ambassador Inspiration, Uniko's VIP FB Challenge Reminder

Good morning, Julie here with a little bit of BA inspiration and a reminder of Uniko's VIP FB challenge.

This month it's a colour themed one.

These colours suggest an autumnal theme perhaps, but I've gone down the Christmas route with this design using Season Of Beauty stamp set.

My starting point was a card made by a blogging friend from Color Hues, Bonnie. She used a background stamp and watercolouring with inks to make the base for a card for the latest challenge and it got me thinking I could do something similar using the Season of Beauty set. Here's my design.

I started by embossing the poinsettia and foliage with white EP on an A6 panel of Mixed Media paper. I smooshed some of Altenew's Desert Night ink onto a kraft mat then wet the whole panel with water and added the ink with a brush. The water makes the ink lighter than the original, literally diluting the colour. To achieve the patchy look, I removed some of the ink with a piece of kitchen roll before it dried. I haven't used Altenew's ink like this before and it is not as forgiving as Distress Inks, which I usually use but the colour was a better match to the swatch.

On some scrap white card, I stamped the poinsettia with Carved Pumpkin and Ripe Persimmon DI for the 2 top layers. I filled in some of the white around the sepals with more Carved Pumpkin. The foliage and green sepals I inked with Forest Moss and Peeled Paint DI, adding water to blend out the lines.

My yellow flowers we originally stamped with Wild Honey DI but they got a bit lost, so I added some dots of white gel pen over and a touch of a yellow Copic marker.

On a circle of white card, I used the Desert Night ink to stamp the sentiment and on a slightyly larger one, I added some of the same ink to create a matte. The elements were then fussy cut and added to my sentiment panel. Meanwhile, I added my inky background to a 5 x 7inch white base card and then placed the layered focal point on to that.

That's it from me for today but please consider jopining in over on Facebook for a chance to win an e-voucher worth £10 to spend in the Uniko store. You've got until October 10th to play.

Brand Ambassador Inspiration - Christmas Blossom

Good morning, 

Steph here today looking at how to use non Christmas stencils to create Christmas cards. 

As with our revisit of the 2025 Uniko release products earlier this month, I have focussed my Brand Ambassador inspiration on Christmas and a 2025 release product, namely Uniko Layering Spring Blossom stencil.

I have used one inking of the Spring Blossom stencil to create all three cards and added elements to the last card using Uniko Layering Bauhaus Christmas Blocks stencil. 

Once I had inked the panel in Christmas colours, I placed a stitched die so that half of it contained the florals and half did not. I then stamped the 'Peace, Love &' part of the sentiment onto the blank half. On another piece of card I stamped 'joy' from the Uniko Big & Bold Joy stamp set, fussy cut, adhered to vellum and fussy cut leaving a border. 

From the remaining inked panel I die cut a circle and mat it to a larger die cut circle of dark green card. I stamped the sentiment from the Uniko Simply Said Blocks Christmas stamp set and adhered this using foam pads.

This left me with just a small amount of the inked panel remaining so I die cut an oval and used the Uniko Mid Century Modern Baubles stamp set to add a bauble hanger. I inked up two circles using elements from the Uniko Bauhaus Christmas Blocks stencil and added bauble hangers. I threaded all three 'baubles' with twine and adhered to a rectangle of card which I then adhered to the card blank using foam pads. Finally I added a sentiment from the Uniko Simply Said Blocks Christmas stamp set.

Hopefully I've given you some inspiration today and shown you how you can create Christmas cards without necessarily using Christmas stencils or stamps. 

Much love

Steph x

Brand Ambassador Inspiration - Christmas Tree Tuesday

Good morning, 

Steph here with my Uniko Brand Ambassador Inspiration post. We are focusing on Christmas in July this month and I have specifically chosen Uniko stamps which include Christmas trees. 

To start off I heat embossed the Uniko Background Blocks Arts Decoratifs Christmas stamp. I then used a craft knife to cut some apertures behind which I laid different colours of tissue paper. The idea being that the light could shine through the tissue paper like a stained glass window. 

For my next card I used Uniko Rustic Christmas stamp set and created a 'forest' using different colour inks before decorating my main tree with fussy cut small elements from the stamp set.

And finally a super quick card made using the outline tree from the Uniko Christmas Pop stamp set and coloured using alcohol markers. I then teamed this with a sentiment from the Uniko Christmas Wishes set.

It's never too early to start your Christmas cards! And hopefully there is a style here to suit most tastes. 

Much love

Steph x

 Hello everyone!

Happy Tuesday and Merry Christmas Eve!

Vinita here! Did you see Uniko's Christmas release last month? I loved everything in it. I spent a whole day creating Christmas cards! I picked a few items from this release and mixed and matched them with old ones!

 

I started by stamping the mehendi mandala design in Jet black archival ink at the top corner representing the Sun in festive colors. I watercolored it with my brush pens. At the bottom corner, I stamped the solid Christmas tree in ombre green DI with its outline image using Jet Black ink.

Then, I added some gifts with a Merry Christmas sentiment. I colored the gifts using acrylic markers. I quickly applied some Bronze Perfect Pearls to the Christmas tree, gifts, and sentiment; it was all magic. The black ink turned into bronze, and I added some bronze splatters.

Here is a close-up image:

I hope I have helped with ideas. This is such a fun way to gift someone. 

Will come back again tomorrow!

Thanks for stopping by!

Happy crafting!

Brand Ambassador Inspiration: Christmas Pop!

Hello everyone!

Happy Saturday!

I hope you all are having fun and having the most wonderful time of the year!

Vinita here with a Christmas card in soft colors.

I started by white heat embossing one of the sentiments from the Season of Beauty stamp set. I added a few elements, like stars and tiny trees from the Christmas Pop stamp set. Then, I blended shaded lilac, cracked pistachio, and saltwater taffy DI over the heat-embossed images. 

I added two stamped trees from the Most Wonderful stamp set using Villainous Potion and Evergreen bough DI using double-adhesive foam tape. Some jewels were added for more fun as an ornament on the trees.

Hope I inspired you to create yours!

Happy crafting! 

12 Days Of Christmas Inspiration & Giveaways 2024 - Christmas Linky Party 🎉

Hello & Happy December 🎄

For a few years now I have done a countdown to Christmas of some sort. Last year I did 12 Days of Christmas Inspiration & Giveaways spread over 12 weeks, with a weekly video. I was clearly more organised than I am this year - haha! 

This year I am bringing you 12 Days of Christmas Inspiration & Giveaways up until 12th December with winners announced on Friday 13th December. Again there are videos, so be sure to check out Uniko's YouTube Channel.

Today we are kicking things off with a Christmas Party 🥳 card making style with a linky link up to enter a new Christmas card using Uniko products. I know you might be super organised and finished all your cards for this year, but it's a great time to get a head start on next year!

How about some inspiration from the team to help boost your creativity.

Anita

Bev

Izzy

Julie

Steph

Vinita

Linky Rules/Details...

Simply create a new Christmas card using Uniko products. I am happy for you to use sentiments, embellishments, dies, papers etc from other brands. As long as Uniko is prominent or the main focus of the card.

Maximum 3 entries per person.

Linky is open now and will close 23:59 GMT Wednesday 11th December 2024. The Uniko Brand Ambassadors will vote for their Top 3 and the prizes are as follows...

1st Prize - £25 eGift Code

2nd Prize - £15 eGift Code

3rd Prize - £10 eGift Code 

Bonus Prize For a Lucky Comment Along The Hop Above - £10 eGift Code

I look forward to seeing all the festive inspiration in the linky gallery below.

Crafty Hugs

Saturday Spotlight - Background Builders Round In Circles

Hello & Happy Saturday Spotlight. 

The other day on social media, I asked what crafters would like to see in the spotlight today. One suggestion was Background Builders. So I got to thinking how I could give a Background Builder stamp set the festive treatment and I thought of a card I made many years ago using Background Builders: Round In Circles.

So I decided to do something similar, but up level it with some different techniques, colours and a couple of different sentiment and accent pairings. This is how it turned out...

I started out by die cutting a few circle masks from printer paper. I then adhered them temporarily onto a white card stock base (10 x 14cm) before ink blending with Aqua Sky, Oceanside, Harbour and Blueberry. 

Before moving the masks I splattered some Gansi Tambi Starry Watercolours, I'm on a splattering kick at the moment for some added sparkle! 

I then stamped the circles with the various individual circle stamps in black ink. I added fine liner drawn strings and bows from Mid Century Modern Baubles that were adhered using foam tape. My sentiment choice is from Most Wonderful and a few silver enamel dots finished the card.

The result a fun, festive card that can be done in so many different colour combinations. I know I am biased, but Background Builders: Round in Circles is such a versatile clear stamp set. For more ideas on how to use it, check out the Uniko Pinterest page HERE.

Before I go, I thought I would share a few things from the Uniko newsletter incase you haven't subscribed.  First I have a few Black Friday Bargains HERE on the website.

There are also a few clear stamps available on backorder that are due in the studio on Wednesday 27th November. These include... The two sellouts from the Uniko November Release, Christmas Pop and Framed Fairy Lights. Anniversarie Arts Decoratifs, Background Blocks Pinstripe, Christmas Sentiments, Christmas Wishes and Simply Said Blocks Christmas. 

A couple of stencil restocks arrived yesterday, these include Ink & Flip Layering Geometric Christmas Tree and Mid Century Modern. 

Any orders containing a backorder clear stamp set will be posted on 28th November 2024. That's all from me today.

Crafty Hugs

Rainbow Wreath

Happy Wednesday 😃

I'm here today to get you over the mid week hump with a Mid Century Modern beauty. This week Mid Century Modern Wreath Builder is the Card Of The Week product with 15% off HERE. 

This is the card featured on the website.

I couldn't resist inking it up today but in rainbow colours. It was quite grey and overcast here to start, but by the time I had finished this card the sun had come out. 

I used the same technique to create the rainbow of colours that I demonstrated in my video HERE the other day. I love how it turned out.

Once I had stamped the rainbow I then stamped the outline version of the wreath and heat embossed with Stardust EP. I gave the same sparkle treatment to the bow and sentiment also from the set which I fussy cut and adhered using foam tape.

That's all I have to share today, mummy duties have taken priority with a poorly Bean in the house. I'll be back later in the week with more to share. 

Crafty Hugs

Brand Ambassador Inspiration - Pure Florals Poinsettia

Morning all Julie here with another festive idea. I'm helping out at Sparkles challenges again this month where their theme is Christmas Florals, so I thought I would combine it with a Uniko Brand Ambassador post.

When I saw the theme I knew exactly which stamp I was going to use, the fab Uniko Pure Florals - Poinsettia, so happy that Bev has reintroduced it. I was unsure about what design I would use until I stumbled across a You Tube video by Michelle Short CASEing Therese Calvird and the rest as they say is history! Here's my CASE of a CASE!

In the video, Michelle used some pretty marbled DP but I didn't have any, so decided to make my own using alcohol ink and Yupo paper, I used what inks I had including Valencia, Flamingo, Dandelion and Coral, with a little bit of gold foiling. Whilst the alcohol ink was still tacky, I dabbed a piece of used gold foil over the panel, just enough stuck to give a little added texture. 

In both their cards, the outlined blooms form the front of the card but I didn't go down that route. Have you come across Ardyth's LIMES mnemonic for CASEing, COPY and SHARE everything? Here's a link to her video where she explains her ideas, I found it really helpful.

I loved the bold black outline on white of the blooms, the marbled paper, gold pearls and bold sentiment. I left out the front panel bit but used the layout and a gold on black fussy cut sentiment instead of a die cut one. The rest was pretty simple, two large images, black on white, fussy cut and mounted over the inky panel. The Uniko stamped sentiment was embossed with gold EP on black card before being fussy cut. The sentiment was popped up with foam tape and some silver crystals coloured with yellow Copic marker were added to the centers to complete.

That's it from me for today, hope I've given you yet another idea on how to use this fab stamp set.

BA Inspiration: Mixed Media Christmas Tree Trio

Hello everyone!

Happy Thursday!

Vinita here! Recently I was going through my stash and rekindled my interest in Silver glitter paste. Because of the paste opacity, a thin layer makes it more opaque and visible the underneath color. Talk about the drama! 

So I thought it would be the perfect use for a new stencil release Christmas tree trio recently at Uniko.

It looked complicated but was easy to make. 

Here are step-by-step instructions with pics:

On a white panel, I placed my Christmas Tree trio stencil and drew the outlined trees one by one as shown in the above pic.

Once again, I put my stencil to ink my solid outlined tree using mowed lawn DI in between all these trees one by one.

It appeared like this as shown in the above pic.

I ink-blended the rest of the space using forest moss, crushed olive and mowed lawn DI. I outlined my trees using a green acrylic marker for more interest.

Now it's time to decorate my trees and the background. I added some confetti using DI.

I used my beloved Posca white pen for snowfall in the sky. Stamped the sentiment from the Pure Florals Poinsettia stamp set. To finish it off I wrapped a thread around the trees. 

Hope you all enjoyed this!

Happy crafting! 

You Can Never Have Too Much Joy

Happy Tuesday.

Thank you all for filling me with joy. 

All your lovely comments, support, love and orders, you have truly made this little Uniko business owner feel full of joy. It really is a dream come true to bring you my ideas and designs and to have them received so wonderfully by you. 

My heart smiles every time I see something I design used to make a card, tag or however you use it creatively. So thank you. 

Ok, now to some more inspiration. 

I shared this card late last night on Instagram, it was a fun filled day of order packing, but I did manage to squeeze in this card! I felt I needed to give BIG & BOLD Joy some inky love.

I love an ombre card & this came together pretty quick, even with the fussy cutting! I kept the embellishing simple with the little foliage image stamped in Evergreen and Parsley. The joys were stamped in Ballet Slipper, Poppy and Cranberry.

I had so much joy making this card, I went ahead and made another one today, which makes up for not giving this set the love on release day! 

Again I went for clean & simple, but I couldn't resist adding the Christmas sparkle. Once I heat embossed the sentiment I embellished with some stamped holly from Winter Foliage.

I hope these two cards bring you joy today. 

Crafty Hugs