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

Introducing... Autumn Serenade

Welcome to Day 2 of the product introductions for our October Release. 

Today I am introducing a new addition to our Serenade series with Autumn Serenade. I definitely think there is a place for more leaves & foliage in the Uniko line up. And you might notice the cross over with the leaf design from BIG & BOLD thank/s/ful which I introduced HERE yesterday.

Let's have a look at this set in action...

If you were in Lincoln at the weekend and took part in the make & take, you got to play with this new set and make this card. A simple ink blended rectangle using Distress Oxide Ink in Tea Dye, Vintage Photo and Walnut Stain from top to bottom. 

I then removed the mask to stamp the falling leaf image. I wanted to keep the colour soft and rustic, so I used VersaFine Clair in Morning Mist. The sentiment from the set I wanted a little more prominent and so I stamped in VersaFine Nocturne ink.

For my second card today I wanted to highlight some of the smaller stamps in the set to create this clean & simple design.

I added in a few more green tones for the leaves, using Concord & 9th Avocado, Evergreen and Parsley, mixed with Stardust and Wheat.

I then stamped the Autumn Blessings over the leaf cluster. Super simple, but I am pleased how this turned out.

That's all I have for today, but I will be back tomorrow with more to share. This clear stamp set, along with all the products being introduced this week will be available 9pm GMT Saturday 7th October 2023. 

Crafty Hugs

 

Two For Tuesday - Large Background Sketched Foliage

Hello & Happy Tuesday! 

I was determined to get to make and share two cards in-between work jobs today and answering emails. So if you're awaiting a reply from me, I apologise, I *needed* to sit and create something! 

One of my jobs today was a stock check & website update. As much as this can be a tedious task, it was also a nice reminder of all the lovely stamps I have neglected to use! One that stood out to me today was Large Background - Sketched Foliage.

So I dusted my stamp off and got to inking it up. I had no particular plan or layout in mind and just went with the flow. 

With it being a large stamp, I use my stamping tool for this background. For my first card I trimmed a panel of white card to 10 x 13.5 cm and stamped the background onto it. I did mask the bottom of my panel to keep the border 'equal' by eye all the way round. 

With using a stamping tool I was able to easily ink the stamp with two colours. I stamped the top with Altenew Olive ink and the bottom with Altenew Moss ink to create a subtle two tone effect.

I think this foliage image is perfect for both feminine and masculine cards. So for this first card I kept it more masculine, simply adding the Happy Birthday sentiment from Floral Vines. I did embellish with a few enamel dots from my stash.

For my second card today I opted for a more feminine design and used just snippets of the background to create a fun focal point. 

As you can see I decided to pair the background with the smallest butterfly from English Country Garden Butterflies. I think the sketched foliage is a wonderful backdrop to pair with them. 

I inked and stamped the foliage in Altenew Olive ink. I then die cut 3 stitched circles from the panel and used the negative to help me place them onto my card base. The sentiment is from Simply Said Blocks II (available on backorder & due in 24th Jan) and I know so many people coming down with Covid, hence my choice! 

The butterflies are stamped, die cut and coloured with water based markers. I then added a colourful second non stamped die cut underneath, securing just down the body of the butterfly. I wanted to tie in the colours I used to colour and also create a feel of fluttering wings. 

I hope you've enjoyed this brief look at the Large Background - Sketched Foliage. I am always open to suggestions, if there is a particular stamp set, designer die or stencil you are looking for ideas for, just add them to the comments! 

Crafty Hugs

Introducing... Happy Days and Background Blocks Pinstripe II

Hey!

Welcome to Day 5 and the last of the product introductions for the February 2020 & 8th Birthday Release. If you missed day 1, be sure to catch up HERE , for Day 2, HERE,  Day 3 HERE and Day 4 HERE.

Today we have two more clear stamp sets to introduce to you, Happy Days and Background Blocks Pinstripe II. Happy Days is a mini clear stamp set similar to the previously released Just Because clear stamp set. It features a beautiful foliage silhouette and some 'happy' mix & match sentiments in the same fonts I used in Just Because. Background Blocks Pinstripe II, is basically those lovely pinstripes again, I have simply changed the orientation of the lines. 

Let's have a look at these sets in action! 

Bev

Carol 

Hannelie

Izzy 

Jane

Julie

Linda

Rahmat

Sarah

Wiebke 

WOW! That was one inspirational hop and there is so much fun to be had with these stamp sets. My Brand Ambassadors certainly showed this with their creativity.

I hope you enjoyed the hop & left some comment love along the way. I will be randomly selecting some comments left on the Introducing hops to win prizes!

Thank you for stopping by today & I hope you will come back tomorrow for the full reveal, blog hop & GIVEAWAY! All the products you have seen over the past few days will be available to purchase at 9pm GMT.

Crafty Hugs

Introducing... English Country Garden Butterflies Designer Dies & Large Background Sketched Foliage

Hey!

Welcome to Day 2 of the April / May 2019 Release product introductions. If you missed Day 1, you can catch up HERE, it is one not to be missed ;)

Today we are introducing English Country Garden Designer Dies & Large Background Sketched Foliage Clear Stamp.

I've been wanting coordinating dies for English County Garden Butterflies for ages, having them to match stamps creates so many more possibilities to stretch the use of the stamps. And Sketched Foliage is another original drawing from my BA (Hons) Textile & Surface Design days and I've kept it pretty much as it was drawn.

It wouldn't be a release without a daily blog hop full of inspiration! As usual my AWESOME Design Team and our Guest Designer this month have worked their magic with todays products, so be sure to hop along & see them...

Bev

Jenny

Carol 

Izzy 

Jane 

Julie

Linda

Lindsey

Rahmat

Sarah G

Sarah P

Wiebke 

WOW!

That was a phenomenal inspirational hop, so many new ideas and ways to use the English Country Garden Butterflies now there are matching dies! Plus a versatile large background stamp!

I hope you enjoyed it and you will join us again tomorrow for another product introduction and LOTS more inspiration :)

Hugs

Introducing... Winter Botanicals: Sweet Broom & Quilted Stencil

Hey!

Welcome back to day 3 of the October 2018 Release product introductions.

This is the fun part, you now get to see all the sneak peeks in action. The Design Team have worked their socks off and created an abundance of inspiration to share with you over the coming days :)

Thank you for all the comment love yesterday here and on social media. If you missed yesterday, you can catch up HERE, where myself & the DT introduced 2 Stencil Designs and an addition to the Simply Said Blocks series. You can catch up HERE with day 1, where myself and the Design Team re-introduced Background Builders: Christmas and Jolly Christmas clear stamp sets.

Today we are introducing Winter Botanicals: Sweet Broom & another Stencil, Quilted. Here is a look at the two products.

First up is Winter Botanicals: Sweet Broom, a lovely multi-step foliage clear stamp set. Though I have categorised it as a Winter Botanical, it can be used and paired with a variety of other clear stamps and products all year round.

This was one of the cards we made at last weekends Uniko Stamping Retreat and I wanted to show how the detail stamps can be used on their own and not just as shading inside the outline foliage stamps.

I was inspired by an Autumnal sunset when I chose the colours for my ink blended panel and I used Altenew inks. The foliage stamp and sentiment (from Simply Said Blocks) are stamped in VersaFine Onyx Black ink.

Next is another card we made at the Stamping Retreat and it was technique based, embossing with stencils...

I'd never tried embossing with stencils before I made this card and it was one technique which inspired me to create this stencil design. I was so chuffed with how the embossing turned out and I'm kinda loving embossing with stencils!

I wanted to make sure the embossed background wasn't obscured too much, so I chose to use the flowers from Beautiful Blooms III and a sentiment from Simply Said Blocks. 

That's all I have to share here, but my AWESOME Design Team have created projects to share with you all too. Be sure to hop along, commenting along the way. You never know, I might just pick some random comments to WIN some prizes this release ;)

Bev

Izzy 

Jane 

Julie

Linda

Lindsey

Sarah G

Sarah P

WOW! That was another inspirational hop, so many new ideas of how to use these new stencils and sentiment stamps. I hope you enjoyed the hop & will come back tomorrow for the last product introductions. 

Hugs