Birthday Wishes

Happy Tuesday.

This week is my birthday week and I decided to bring all the birthday inspiration. Yesterday I shared this fun Balloon Bash card. You can watch the YouTube short of me making it HERE.

Today, I thought I would share one of the cards that we made during the Uniko and Stampin' Up! Mashup on Saturday.

On this card I paired the Stencil Layering Retro Rainbow with a butterfly from a Stampin' Up! set called Extraordinary Life. The sentiment is from Simply Said Blocks III.

For the three rainbow arches I used SU! Basic Grey. I started by inking light and increased the intensity for each arch. For the butterflies I used Calypso Coral, Pumpkin Pie, Melon Mambo, Poppy Parade, Old Olive, Lost Lagoon and Night of Navy.

I love showing how Uniko products can be paired with other wonderful companies, and I think this turned out pretty well. 

I'll be back with more to share this week, and a special offer too, so stay tunned.

Crafty Hugs

Two For Tuesday - Baby Cards

Happy Tuesday.

I'm over on the Uniko YouTube channel again today, this time with a full video HERE. 

I am creating two baby cards using the accent stamps in the Background Blocks My Favourite Colour is Rainbow. You know how I love to maximise those smaller stamps.

Here is a peek at the cards I have made today.

I hope you can join me 😃

Crafty Hugs

14th Birthday February Release - Introducing... Background Blocks My Favourite Colour Is Rainbow

 

Happy Thursday.

Welcome to day 3 of the 14th Birthday February Release Introductions. Today myself and the Uniko Brand Ambassadors are introducing a new Background Block. And I think you are going to love this one as much as you loved the Christmas version, My Favourite Colour is Christmas Lights.

Introducing Background Blocks My Favourite Colour Is Rainbow.

Let's have a look at it in action... 

Anita

Bev

Izzy

Julie

Natalie

Steph

Vinita

This stamp set is going to bring SO much colour to your crafting, I hope you love it as much as I do. 

Thank you for joining us today and I hope you come back tomorrow for the last product introduction. All the products being introduced will be available at 9am GMT Saturday 28th February 2026. 

Crafty Hugs

 

14th Birthday February Release - Introducing... Stencil Layering Retro Rainbow

Happy Wednesday.

Welcome to day 2 of the 14th Birthday February Release Introductions. Today myself and the Uniko Brand Ambassadors are introducing a new retro layering stencil. And I think you are going to love this one as much as the Stencil Layering Retro Lines. 

Introducing Stencil Layering Retro Rainbow.

Let's have a look at it in action... 

Anita

Bev

Izzy

Julie

Natalie

Steph

Vinita

This stencil is going to bring SO much colour to your crafting, I hope you love it as much as I do. 

Thank you for joining us today and I hope you come back tomorrow for the next product introduction. All the products being introduced will be available at 9am GMT Saturday 28th February 2026. 

Crafty Hugs

 

Rainbow Waves & Paw Print Hearts

Happy FriYAY!

It's been another day of show prep in the studio today, but I managed to find some inspiration and time to finish add something to this background I stamped a few days ago. 

I've been on a little watercolour kick this past week, working on some cards coming for the April Release at the end of the month. 

But I had this idea to do some watercolour waves using the Background Blocks Waves. I started with a panel of watercolour card that I washed with water before putting inside my stamping platform. I then inked the Background Blocks Waves in Poppy, Marmalade, Buttercup, Parsley, Oceanside and Blueberry. Stamping it down onto the card and letting the colours smoosh and bleed into the paper.

I then couldn't decide what to put on the background, but then today I thought of Paw Print Hearts. So I simply used my stamping platform to stamp the heart and sentiment in black ink before adhering the panel to a piece of Honeysuckle card. 

Like all sympathy cards they are difficult to make, but good to have on hand for when they are sadly needed. 

Right, time to do a bit more prep.

Crafty Hugs

Sending Rainbow Hugs

Happy Thursday 😃

Today I was in the mood for rainbow colours, it literally hasn't stopped raining all day. Coincidently this weeks Card Of The Week products include Sunshine & Rainbows and BIG & BOLD Hugs, which I have used on my card today. 

I started by stamping the rainbow, making sure I had room for the hugs sentiment. And to make sure I had the rainbow nice and centred I started with the inner arch, working my way out to the biggest. I used Concord & 9th Inks in Poppy, Marmalade, Buttercup, Parsley and Oceanside. 

For the clouds I used Dove and a little fussy cutting before adding a tiny little heart enamel to one of the clouds. 

I finished with a combination of sentiments. The Sending and Rainbow from Sunshine & Rainbows and the Hugs from BIG & BOLD Hugs. I masked off the 's' from the end of the rainbows sentiment.

Both of these sets are 15% off this week in The Card Of The Week section on the website. 

I hope you are staying warm and dry where you are. 

Crafty Hugs

Hugs

Hello & Happy Thursday,

Although this week has gone quicker than the last two, January already feels like a year! I don't know about you, but personally I have sought out hugs this week for warmth (it's cold with minus temps) and for comfort, for those January blues.

This in turn has inspired my card...

Sunshine & Rainbows has been on my list for a while as a stamp set to give some fresh inky love to, so that's what I reached for first. I went for some non traditional rainbow colours, Peacock, Stardust and grapefruit and a non white card base, Dove. 

Back to some fussy cutting again, but the rainbow arches aren't as difficult as they look. I did some tone on tone stamping for the clouds before adhering the rainbow.

The BIG & BOLD Hugs is stamped and embossed in white before I fussy cut the word out. I adhered using foam tape and then finished with the Sending sentiment stamped in a slightly darker grey, VersaFine Clair Morning Mist.  

So if you are in need of a hug, this ones for you.

Crafty Hugs

Slimline Thank you!

Happy Saturday.

Autumn is here, I love the change in season. The cozy nights, the crisp air & change in colours. But I am still all for the bright rainbow colours!

With The Beans out for the day with their grandparents, I've been in the studio preparing for the Autumn & Winter season, but I also had some creative time. It's been a while since I used this set, so decided to ink up the Just Because clear stamps to create a rainbow slimline card. 

I enjoyed inking, stamping & fussy cutting to build this card. But dies are definitely on the mind for this set! 

I used Concord & 9th Ballet Slipper, Honeysuckle, Buttercup, Aqua Sky and Oceanside. I then added a the Thank You sentiment from Everyday Sentiments and finished off with some sparkly clear Nuvo Drops. 

What's coming up?

October sees a fresh batch of show prep with the Stamping Together show in Port Sunlight first on October 8th, just 2 weeks away! 

This is one of my favourite shows and I can't wait to get back & see some of you there. AND I am excited to have a little giveaway for one of you to win.

WIN A PAIR OF TICKETS TO ENTER THE SHOW

AND 

£10 spend at the Uniko* stand! 

Simply comment on this post here on the blog, Instagram or Facebook. I will choose a lucky random winner from those left across the platforms next Saturday 1st October 2022. 

* The £10 spend is gifted by myself as a little extra. Please only comment to win if you are able to attend the show. The winners name will be given to the show organisers to enter for free.

You can purchase tickets HERE too.

THEN...

Sunday 9th October 2022 Uniko will be 'almost' on home turf at Newcastle again for Stamperama! All the details and ticket purchase can be found HERE. 

On Sunday 16th October I will be demoing on the Dies to Die For stand at Stamp Magic in Doncaster. There will be a small selection of Uniko products available to purchase on their stand. 

A busy, but exciting month ahead! So watch this space for a bunch of restocks arriving next week.

I think that is all I have to share. Thanks for stopping by.

Crafty Hugs

Blog Hop Winner, Restocks & a Card!

Happy Wednesday! 

Apologies for being late with announcing the winner of the June Release Blog Hop, but without further ado, the winner is...

Dee Earnshaw said...

OMG what amazing looking cards - the first one with the butterfly is stunning - thanks for sharing

Congratulations Dee, please send an email to bev@uniko.co.uk no later than 30th June 2022 to claim your £20 eGift code. 

In other news...

A fabulous and highly requested bunch of restocks have arrived in the studio, these include Background Blocks Mid Century Modern, Background Builders Round In Circles, Mid Century Modern Florals and Sentiments Outlined. 

The Stencil, Layering Zesty will arrive by the end of the week too. All backorders awaiting this stencil will be posted this week too.

Lastly for today I have a card using the new Background Builders Hearts paired with a sentiment from Simply Said Blocks III.

I'm still on my rainbow colour kick. I've had these hearts stamped and cut for a while, it's just taken me longer to decide on an arrangement! Do you find that the layout is often the trickiest part of creating? 

 

That's all for today, now time to enjoy this sunshine as we never know how long its going to stay around for! 

Crafty Hugs 

Stencil Sunday - Rainbows & Clouds

 Hello August & Happy Sunday! 

I'm here today with a couple of cards I've made using the Stencil - Rainbow & Clouds from the July Release. If you missed it you can catch up HERE and there is still just time to comment along the hop to win too ;)

I had LOTS of ideas with how to use this stencil, but end of school chaos, start of the holidays and release prep stopped me from getting them made. However, I had a few hours to myself on Friday evening and got to playing & getting a couple of them made to share with you. 

When I first started using stencils I kept very basic and rarely used anything other than ink or embossing paste and embossing paste was very sporadic too! It wasn't until I saw Brand Ambassador Wiebke use pencils and fine liners with stencils, that I started to think outside of the box and use them like I would stamps to create cards. 

So for this card I used Concord & 9th Aqua Sky card for my base and drew inside the clouds using a Bermuda Bay marker from Stampin' Up! I then inked through the largest rainbow using a variety of C9 ink colours. It was a little time consuming, but fun to do.  A sentiment from Simply Said Blocks II, some twine, foam adhesive and some Nuvo Drops finished my card off.

For my second card today I couldn't resist going back to using Gina K Designs Pastillage Texture Paste. This stuff is SO much fun! Last time I used it for my card HERE, I used a white background. But the beauty is you can apply it onto a coloured card base and add colour, like I have today.

I just love how vibrant the ink colours remain when applied over the texture paste. This little panel of rainbow sure made me happy on a dull rainy day! 

I couldn't resist using this sentiment from Reach For The Stars, it was just made to be combined with the rainbow and the little trio of stars from the set.

So many more ideas floating in my head, but I will save those for another day ;) Until next time, thank you for stopping by today.

Crafty Hugs