Brand Ambassador Inspirations : Summer cards

  Hello everyone!

Happy Wednesday!

Fill up a drink and let toast to the Summertime!

Vinita here, Today's card inspirations are full of summer and sunshine! I made two cards showcasing Monstera Leaves in summery colors and sunny mood. I am showcasing super trendy technique of contemporary art - abstract collages!

First card

The soft pastel hues of the summer sun along with circle is the inspiration of this card. I love how this circle created a landing spot for smaller stamped leaves.

To create this look, I stamped the circle from the Background Builders: Round in circle stamp set using Memento rose bud ink and to achieve the soft color impact, I re-stamped the image using Frost white pigment ink on it. Then I stamped the Paradise leaves in black and soft lemon color. In between the top two leaves I created a summer sun in soft yellow using the little part of the circle image directly.

The sentiment is from the Sunshine & Rainbows stamp set. The completed panel attached to the light cream color panel using double tape.

For this CAS card, I created a simple stroked panel by dragging my Memento dye ink directly in smoky blue from the top to bottom directly 3- 4 times. I stamped the paradise and monstera leaves straight on the card using both outlined and solid images in sweet plum dye ink and Versafine Onyx black ink.

The sentiment is from the Originally Organic Flower Garden stamp set.

Have a sun-filled day!

Happy crafting!

Uniko's Top 25 Products of 2025 No.20 - 17

Happy Monday!

Welcome back to this months fun feature on the blog, Uniko's Top 25 Products of 2025. If you missed my first post sharing products 25 - 21, you can catch up HERE. 

Let's have a look at what product came in at number 20, Stencil - Layering Flower Fusion.

I was pleased to see this stencil in the top 25, mainly so I had an excuse to ink it up again! Here's my new inspiration using this 4 layered stencil.

As I am still in need of Christmas cards, I added a festive spin to this new card. I used four colours that haven't left my desk for this series and added in Oceanside and Peacock.

I have a YouTube short HERE, showing the making process of this card. My sentiment choice is from Christmas Sentiments, which hasn't left my desk either! 

Next up is number 19 and although I love butterflies, I was surprised to see Butterfly Serenade being in the top 25. 

And this has to be one of my favourite makes using this stamp set. 

I love maximising those individual stamps to create impact and of course, rainbow colours. So this card was a given to be a favourite make. 

Without giving too much away, you will be seeing more of this stamp set in 2026! 

Coming in at number 18 is the Stencil - Geometric Happy Birthday. 

This one didn't surprise me as this stencil has pretty much sold out instantly as soon as it's back in stock! I know there are lots of geometric lovers like me out there and of course, this stencil is perfect for those masculine makes.

Here is one of my favourite makes.

Lastly for today and coming in at number 17 is Originally Organic Flower Garden. 

It was a delight to see this stamp set in the top 25, as it is definitely one of my favourites and I have so many favourite makes using it! 

This card has caught lots of attention at shows this year.

Again, a card showing how a small accent stamp can create impact, especially with the use of rainbow colours! 

And a bonus is that this card created a twofer. So it is only right I give limelight to the second card I made from this one as well! 

That's all from me today, thank you for joining me.

Crafty Hugs

Brand Ambassador Inspiration - Retro Autumn

Good morning from Steph! 

Retro Autumn?! What do I mean by that? Well simply that I have combined the Uniko Layering Retro Lines stencil with a few Uniko autumnal sets. 

I stencilled three panels with the same green shades using part of the Uniko Layering Retro Lines stencil. To all three I added a sentiment from the Uniko Butterfly Serenade stamp set. 

 

For this first card I used a grey ink and added a floral outline from the Uniko Originally Organic stamp set.

Next I added some colour using the Uniko Autumn Serenade stamp set, both the large stamp and some of the smaller elements in the set also. 

Finally I went super simple with just one leaf stem stamped in green from the Uniko Originally Organic Flower Garden stamp set, and added a few dots of colour with Nuvo drops. 

The change in weather in the UK is definitely influencing my crafting this year. I can't remember it doing so in previous years other than I do like to switch over to festive crafting in autumn because they are my favourite cards to make! Do the seasons influence your crafting style?

Much love

Steph x

BA Inspiration, Watercolour Garden and a FB VIP Challenge reminder

Good morning Julie here on a Bank Holiday weekend and unlike most others recently, it may well be a good one weather wise. However we could really use the rain, our large pond that our flock of sheep use to get water is now nothing less than a trickle through a muddy hollow! 

Anyway here is a little scene I created to remind you all that there is a challenge over on Uniko's VIP Facebook page The theme is ANYTHING GOES, so long as it's using Uniko products, so a chance to use those newly acquired goodies or an old fave and a chance to win a £10 voucher too.

I've used some older sentiments together from Originally Organic, with the fun flowers from Originally Organic Flower Garden. 

After stamping the little group from the set with Versamark and heat embossing with white EP, I masked the leaves and flowers with liquid masking, let it dry before adding more blooms either side with a pale ink, Altenew's Limestone, then masking again.

Once the masking was fully dry, I washed in some Mowed Lawn DI across the bottom and Salty Ocean across the top getting paler towards the center where the two colours met. Once the background was dry I removed the masking and painted the flowers and leaves with Zig watercolour markers. To give the grass more interest, I added flicks of darker green with my Zig marker pen. Dots of white were added to the background with some white acrylic paint.

I neatened up my finished panel by die cutting it with a stitched rectangle die and mounting it onto a side fold note card from my stash. The sentiment was added using black ink.

Hope I've inspired you to join in our challenge.

Spring/Summer 2025 Coffee Lovers Blog Hop WINNER

Hello & Happy FriYAY! 

Today I am popping by to announce the winner of the Spring/Summer 2025 Coffee Lovers Blog Hop. Thank you to everyone that took the time to hop along and comment. But before I get to the winner I have one more hot drink card to inspire you.

For my card I dusted off I LOVE Tea. I had this fun idea to stamp the garden of flowers from Originally Organic Flower Garden inside the cup and I was delighted to see the stems fit inside perfectly.

I stamped the solid flower from the set onto the side of the tea cup and added one of the sentiment options from I LOVE Tea, before colouring with alcohol markers.

Isn't it great when you can combine new and old products for more creative options?

Ok, now onto the winner. I used random.org to select a lucky comment. 

And the lucky winning comment for the £25 Uniko eGift Code is...

Judy Rozema23 May 2025 at 17:27

Sun fun cards from everyone - they're all so wonderful. I especially like your second with the pink flowers! Thanks for being a sponsor!

Congratulations Judy! 

Please send an email to bev@uniko.co.uk no later than Saturday 21st June to claim your prize. 

Crafty Hugs

Quick, Clean & Simple 🌸

Hello & Happy Friday. 

With it being school half term here for The Beans, creative time has been limited. So I set myself a challenge of making a couple of cards, both in less than 15 mins from prep to finishing.

I'm still loving Originally Organic Flower Garden and had this fun fussy cut detail idea.

I shared a reel on Uniko's Instagram HERE making this card, time to make in real time was 11 minutes. And I also shared it as a short on YouTube HERE. 

Today a few stencil restocks arrived, including the Stencil - Layering Bright Butterflies. And I've been waiting to share this idea with you all.

I'm determined to use up lots of coloured card panels and both these layout ideas are good for that! The split panel adds a little interest to a flat card with no embellishment. And with the stencil having 3 different butterflies, instantly you have 3 different designs. 

If you want to see how quick I made this card you can catch the short on Uniko's YouTube Channel HERE. It took me 7 minutes real time. 

Stencil Restocks

These popular stencils are back and available on the website 😀

Have a lovely weekend & hopefully I will be back with more to share tomorrow.

Crafty Hugs

A Blooming Birthday Card And A Winner!

Hello & Happy Monday.

I'm starting the week off with finally announcing the winner of the April 2025 Release Day Blog Hop. Thank you to everyone that took the time to hop and comment.

I also finished this card in honour of todays post too.

This was a panel I stencilled at Crafterama Lincoln using the Stencil - Layering Spring Blossom and some of the new C9 colours. 

I finished the card with a sentiment and flowers from Originally Organic Flower Garden. My reason for the sentiment is because this month the Uniko VIP Facebook Challenge is Anything Goes Birthday. 

Ok, now onto the winner of the blog hop. 

I used random.org to pick a lucky comment and it chose this comment number

And the lucky comment is...

*Vicki*

28 avril 2025 à 20 h 38 min

All of your creations are just gorgeous! I love your composition of each and how you’ve managed to make so many different styles too! Love your use of the “J” for “JOY” creations so much! Thanks for sharing your lovely creations with us at the Alphabet Challenge!

Congratulations Vicki. Please send me an email at bev@uniko.co.uk no later than 26th May 2025 to claim your £25 eGift code to spend at Uniko.

Did you see the wonderful inspiration from the Brand Ambassadors HERE, yesterday? Don't forget to hop along and comment for your chance to win a £25 eGift code to spend at Uniko.

Crafty Hugs

Introducing... Originally Organic Flower Garden

Happy FriYAY!

Welcome to day 4 of the April 2025 product introductions. Be sure to check back if you've missed any of the introductions so far, they are definitely not to be missed! 

Today I am delighted to be adding to the Originally Organic series, one of my signature design styles, with Originally Organic Flower Garden. 

This clear stamp set features pretty flowers, stems and a flower garden border style image along with some sentiments in a different font style to my 'usual' Originally Organic clear stamps. A change is as good as a rest, so they say! 

Let's get to the good stuff and see this set in action...

Anita

Bev

Izzy

Julie

Steph

Vinita

All these pretty flowers really make me happy, so many different colouring styles and techniques. I think you can really make this stamp set your own. Plus, you can get different looks by mix and matching with elements and sentiments from the other stamp sets in the series. 

Again, be sure to hop along to see the inspiration from the team and leave some comment love.

This stamp set, along with all the products being introduced this week are available at 9am BST Sunday 27th April on the website. I will also have them with me at Crafterama Lincoln. 

Happy Hopping & Crafty Hugs