March Meet The Maker - Aim

The Sky Isn't The Limit, It's Just The View.

Hello & Happy Monday.

Today on March Meet The Maker, it is all about aims. I've lots of aims this year, more than I will probably achieve! 

But I see it like this sentiment above which I used on my card today and how I interpret it. Why limit yourself?

Why should the sky be the limit? 

There is so much more beyond that, well that's what I think. That's why I included this sentiment in the Up & Away stamp set which I used on my card today.

Here's a few of my aims this year...

💕 Be authentically me.

To continue to be unique, true to my style, releasing products that are fun and spark creativity.

💕Be more visible.

It took me a few years to get out from behind the computer screen and take Uniko to paper craft shows. This year my aim is to take Uniko further a field in the UK and add a few more shows to my list. 

Along with that I want to be more visible across social media, and maybe even show my face a little more on camera! 

💕Learn & develop to improve.

This year I am invested in learning and developing my skills to improve how I showcase my products and design. From better photography to implementing and expanding features available on the Uniko website. 

That is just a little outline of some of my aims this year. I could probably write a dissertation on the subject of my aims in 2025. But I know the visual inspiration is what you'd rather have 😜

Today I used a Spellbinders die to create a frame mask to ink the Stencil - Cloud 9 through. I used 3 shades of blue, Powder, Harbor and Blueberry. 

I stamped the hot air balloon adding the basket and flag tail for a little bit of a different look and coloured with my Copic Markers. 

Finishing with my favourite sentiment. 

That's all from me today.

Crafty Hugs

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

Two For Tuesday - Originally Organic

Hello & Happy Tuesday.

I hope your week has begun well. It was back to school for The Beans yesterday and back to routine for me in the studio. It's a week of show prep for me this week as on Friday I will be heading over to Port Sunlight for The Stamping Together show.

Even though it's a busy week, I am still squeezing in a bit of creative time and I was inspired to dust off my Originally Organic stamps for my Two For Tuesday.

Originally Organic debuted in September 2016 and to me it was one of the first sets that defines my style of design and way I prefer to draw. So it has a special place in my design loving, paper crafting, card making heart. It was about time I gave it some fresh inky love and I couldn't resist paring it with some of my favourite stencils.

Uniko's first stencils, Scattered Polka Dots and Wonky Stripes didn't debut until October 2017 and I can't think off the top of my head of many cards where I have combined stencils with Originally Organic. 

For my first card I chose one of my most recent stencils, MOD Background Builder. I masked off the edges of my card to create a rectangle before using a trio of yellow inks through the stencil. I then simply added my favourite image in black and one of the sentiments for a one layer card. 

For my second card I chose the stencil, Cloud 9. And unusually for me I decided to create an oval window. Ovals are not a shape I lean towards very often.

This time I opted for Grapefruit and Sorbet inks to create this fluffy background. I then used the stem and one of the flower options. Again opting for a one layer card.

There is another reason why this month Originally Organic was restocked. If you saw the reveal of the Papercraft Society Box 51 HERE on YouTube you might connect the styles 😉 I can't wait to show you more!

Crafty Hugs 

Pastel Clouds

Happy Thursday & Hello Summer! 

It's officially Summer here in the Northern Hemisphere and if you missed the announcement yesterday in the newsletter, I have put lots in the SALE section on the website until Saturday morning PLUS I have lowered FREE Worldwide Shipping to £35 or more! 

I'm finally back with a card to share and this one has been waiting since Sunday to be finished! But I think it was worth the wait.

I've been having a play with my Spellbinders Glimmer Hot Foiling machine and as I am a crafter by heart and love more than just the products I design, I couldn't wait to pair the Lawn Fawn Cloud Hot Foil Plate with our Stencil - Cloud 9.

As you can see I opted for pastel shades to ink the cloud background. I've then used an iridescent foil for the foiled clouds over the top. I thought it might be a bit busy, but I think they pair well together.

I finished the card off with a hot air balloon from Up & Away that I have heat embossed in silver. I tried a silver heat embossed sentiment from Floral Vines, but felt it got a little lost. So I opted for black instead. 

That's all from me today. If you've checked my stories on social media this evening, you will see how messy my desk is. So I had better make a start on tidying it a bit. 

Crafty Hugs

Brand Ambassador Inspiration: Spring Botanical Crocus

  Hello everyone!

Happy Good Friday to all!!

Hope you are all having a wonderful Friday so far!!!

I wanted to stop by and share this card using the Uniko stamp Spring Botanical Crocus with Cloud 9 Uniko stencil.

I love this brand-new Uniko set. I enjoyed coloring the crocus flower so much, it has a large amount of space to color!

I love the way it turned out after coloring using Altenew inks and distressed inks. It is a one-layer base card where I created an earthy background first and then inked my clouds in pink using the stencil for the sky as shown in the pic:

Added some splatters to the background and fussy cut my flower. 

Gave a dimension to my flower and added some watercolor splatters to it. Now stamped the sentiment from the same set.

In the end, finished it off by adding a black strip and adhered the crocus flower using the foam pad.

I hope you enjoyed this card I created to share with you!

Happy crafting!

Vinita

Two For Tuesday AND a Winner!

Hello!

Happy Tuesday and a belated happy spring. Apologies for myself being quiet here and across social media this past week or so. Before last week I was finalising some exciting products and then I got struck down with a nasty cold/flu bug. A week later and I am just starting to feel better and finally have some energy back.

Anyway, enough of my woes, how about some creative inspiration...

I was inspired to use the Stencil - Cloud 9 as my starting point for my Two For Tuesday and opted for a circle aperture. I used a circle die to create an aperture mask and stencilled the cloud onto my white card layer. I used Altenew inks to get the beautiful ombre look.

To finish I added a sentiment from Up & Away and adhered a hot air balloon using foam adhesive. I then layered this onto my card base using foam adhesive. 

For my second card I used the circle from the aperture I die cut for the first card as my cloud focal point. Again I used the same inks for the clouds and I love how you can get different layering looks each time. I find this stencil very therapeutic to ink.

I'm longing for warmer days now and to see those butterflies fluttering in the garden. So for this card I opted to ink and colour the largest butterfly from English Country Garden Butterflies. The sentiment is from our popular Simply Said Blocks. All of the elements are adhered to the card using foam adhesive.

Now before I go, I have been reminded that I forgot to announce the winner from the 11th Birthday Release Blog Hop HERE. Apologies for my forgetfulness and thank you to those who emailed me a reminder this week.

With the help of random.org the lucky comment is...

Alice

 

Three sweet cards, love so much especially the first one with the fabulous crocus, daffodil and snowdrops!

Congratulations to Alice! 

You have won a £30 eGift Certificate to spend in the Uniko store. Please email me at bev@uniko.co.uk to claim your prize.

Thank you to everyone who hopped and left comments, they are much appreciated by all of us here at Uniko. We have one more chance for you to win from the 11th Birthday celebrations this week, so be sure to keep an eye on the blog! 

Crafty Hugs