CAS Colours & Sketches #282 - Sketch

Hey!

I'm back & I think I have finally found my card making creative mojo again! I think I hit a bit of a burnout with doing 2 shows & a release on the bounce and then not quite 2 weeks ago I had to say a very hard goodbye to Mr Cat. He had been my fur baby for 15 years and it has been very strange and lonely (when the Beans are at nursery) without him.

I haven't been totally uncreative in my time away from blogging, I have been working on some magazine commissions due out around September and I have designed a NEW clear stamp release for August! 

Anyway, I am finally back in Design Team mode and catching up on my CAS Colour & Sketches responsibilities with this weeks sketch seen HERE and below by the lovely Jeanne, our hostess for July.

This sketch is so appealing to me, I love angles on cards and when I saw the current challenge over at AAA Cards HERE and seen below, I couldn't resist combining the 2 with my love of geometrics too...

As you can see I was inspired to dust off Background Builders: Round In Circles. I also gave my Catherine Pooler inks a good whirl to create the beautiful rainbow colours - LOVE!!

The sentiment is from Pure Florals: Cosmos, which is now back in stock, along with a few others - YAY! I am super pleased as to how this card turned out ;) 

Anyway, the CC&S Design Team have created more awesome inspiration to share with you, so hop on over HERE to see and also find all the challenge details & link up!

Thanks for stopping by today!

Hugs

CAS Colours & Sketches #210

Hey!

It's time for a new challenge over at CAS Colours & Sketches. This month we have the lovely Jane as hostess and Jane has a wonderful sketch challenge HERE and seen below, to spark your creativity. 

Feel free to flip or rotate the sketch & don't forget to keep your creation CAS too ;)

This is what I came up with using the sketch...

I really couldn't decided what images to use on my card today, but seeing as it is Valentine's Day AND the fact that I needed a Valentine's card for hubby, I went with hearts and used Always & Forever clear stamp set. Normally, I try not to use retired Uniko clear stamp sets, but unfortunately I don't have a lot of hearts/love themed sets to chose from (must rectify that). 

I went with a classic red, white and grey colour scheme for my card and added in a polka dot panel, trying to keep the design masculine with a subtle geometric feel. I couldn't resist a little sparkle though and after stamping the heart in red ink, I then stamped it again with VersaMark ink and embossed with Crystal EP. Using a MISTI makes this a cinch ;)

Anyway, be sure to check out all the Design Team inspiration HERE on the CAS Colours & Sketches blog and I hope to see you in the gallery :) Challenge End Time: 6:00 p.m. Eastern U.S. time/11:00 p.m. London U.K. time Monday, January 20, 2017

Hugs

Supplies:-
Uniko Clear Stamps Always & Forever (Retired) and Background Builders: Round In Circles
Ink: Stampin' Up! Real Red, VersaMark and VersaFine Onyx Black
Card: Stampin' Up! Whisper White
Accessories: Stampin' Up! Real Red Enamel Dots and Cherry Cobbler Bakers Twine. Foam Adhesive and MISTI tool.

My Five Faves From Year 2 of Uniko

Hey!

I'm back today with my five favourites from year 2 of Uniko, which is mainly 2013. This year I increased the amount of releases and found it even HARDER to choose five favourites. 

So many awesome clear stamp sets and Designer Dies were released this year, including the popular Background Builders: Round In Circles, Pure Florals: Chrysanthemum and Beautiful Blooms I. Series such as the All Occasion Sentiments and Flower Power clear stamp sets were also launched this year.

Anyway, here's what I chose and why...

Looking through the cards I made during this year, I used this lime green, black and white colour combination quite a few times. This card stood out to me because of this, but also because of the angle of the stamped background and overall layout of the card. The simple combination of two clear stamp sets, Background Builders: Round In Circles and All Occasion Sentiments #1 a few strips of card in different widths and a circle die makes for a fab masculine card! The sentiment could easily be switched to suit any occasion too. 

Those who know me well, know that I would choose a Pure Florals: Chrysanthemum card and one using my 'go to' trio of colours, well that is just too hard to resist! 

You can read all about this card and the meaning behind the Pure Florals: Chrysanthemum clear stamp set HERE.

Next I chose another 'happy' card...

This card uses my favourite trio of graphic flowers from the now retired Time clear stamp set. I think these flowers may just have to make a reappearance in some form ;) I've combined the graphic flowers with All Occasion Sentiments #2 a fabulous 'go to' sentiment set for large focal point birthday sentiments :)

My next two cards again will be no surprise to those who have followed me and Uniko for some time ;) Yep, snowflakes, I LOVE snowflakes!

This partial view of this first card uses Background Builders: Christmas (now retired) for the turquoise snowflake BG and the main sentiment and (favourite) trio of snowflakes is from Stunning Snowflakes.

Lastly I have another Christmas/Winter themed card. Again, I have chosen a partial close up view of the card as I want to focus on the snowflake designer die I have used. These dies debuted in 2013 and I am pleased to report they WILL be making a reappearance in the store again this year :) 

The green stamped snowflake is again from Stunning Snowflakes and is stamped inside a partial stamped label/frame from Label Love: Thank you. The sentiment from Label Love: Christmas and the strip of polka dots from Background Builders: Round In Circles.

All the cards I have showcased today along with many more, can be found on their Pinterest pages via the links below...

Background Builders: Round In Circles

Pure Florals: Chrysanthemum

Time

All Occasion Sentiments

Stunning Snowflakes

Designer Dies Snowflakes

Label Love: Thank you

Label Love: Christmas

That's all I have to share with you today, be sure to pop back tomorrow, as we have a BUMPER filled day with a LOVELY Freebie too ;) Until then, thank you for stopping by today :)

CAS Colours & Sketches #207

Hey!

It's Tuesday, which means it is time for another CAS Colours & Sketches challenge. Karen is our hostess for the January challenges and has another fun sketch challenge HERE and seen below. 

Don't forget to create a CAS 'Clean & Simple' card for the challenge to be considered as a winner for the challenge!

This is what I came up with using the sketch...

As soon as I saw the sketch I knew I wanted to use a Uniko Background Builders clear stamp set. As the popular Background Builders: Round In Circles has just come back in stock, I decided to use that. 

The MISTI tool was perfect to use to stamp the rainbow background with ease and once I had done all the colours the curve of the background stamp helped me to place and stamp the sentiment from Simply Said. I added a few Stampin' Up! enamel dots for a little added interest to the design.

Be sure to check out all the Design Team inspiration HERE on the CAS Colours & Sketches blog and I hope to see you in the gallery :) Challenge End Time: 6:00 p.m. Eastern U.S. time/11:00 p.m. London U.K. time Monday, January 23, 2017

Hugs

One I Forgot to Share!

Hey!

It's not very often that I make a card and forget to share it! Anyway, I did come across todays card on my camera, which I made back in November last year for CAS Colours & Sketches birthday challenge.

Here it is...

I didn't share it on that post or as a reminder for the challenge, because I felt it wasn't CAS enough. The challenge was a colour challenge and shades of blue, which I thought appropriate for a masculine card and one using geometrics - a good 'go to' choice for those pesky men ;)

I started by stamping the sentiment, which is a mix of All Occasion Sentiments #2 and Simply Said Birthday (partial stamped from On Your Birthday stamp). The large circles are from Background Builders: Round In Circles (back in stock in the next week or so). The smaller circles are from the recently retired Essentially Christmas clear stamp set. I finished the card off with a trio of enamel dots, which matched the colours perfectly. 

That's all I have to share today, but I will be back tomorrow with my regular CAS Colours & Sketches card. Until then, thank you for stopping by today :)

Hugs

Supplies

Uniko Clear Stamps: All Occasion Sentiments #2, Simply Said Birthday, Builders: Round In Circles and Essentially Christmas (Retired)

Card: Stampin' Up! Whisper White & Night Of Navy

Ink: Stampin' Up! Night Of Navy, Bashful Blue and Ballet Blue

Accessories: Enamel Dots 

Happy Birthday CAS Colours & Sketches!

Hey & YAY!

CAS Colours & Sketches are celebrating their Birthday today with their 200th Challenge too! This month Patricia is our hostess and has been inspired by the CC&S Blog Header for this weeks colour challenge HERE.

This is how I've used the colours this week...

I originally made a Christmas card using the colours, which I will share later in the week, but as it is CC&S Birthday I decided I should make a birthday card instead. The first birthday card I made, which I will also share later in the week, I thought wasn't quite CAS enough so I went on to make the one above! Third time lucky and all that ;) 

I've gone more down the masculine route too, with all the blues and I've kept to using a grungy geometric style stamp and simple bold sentiments.

I used Stampin' Up! Inks on my card, a couple have retired (sorry) but as blue is one of my favourite colours I kept them. I used Night of Navy, Ballet Blue and Bashful Blue. The sentiment is a mix of Uniko All Occasion Sentiments #2, Simply Said Birthday (partial stamped sentiment) and the circles are from Background Builders: Round In Circles. The enamel dots are My Minds Eye On Trend collection and coordinate lovely with Night Of Navy! 

It wouldn't be much of a birthday celebration without some presents, right?  This time, the gifts are for our challenge participants!  Three lucky winners will be chosen at random from our participants in this week's challenge, and each of them will receive one of the following prizes:

An in-stock stamp set of the winner's choice from Uniko 

A $15 USD gift certificate from STAMPlorations

A gift certificate from Lawn Fawn  

Due to the Thanksgiving holiday in the United States, we'll be announcing our Weekly Winners for this challenge as usual on Monday, November 28, and we'll announce the Birthday Celebration prizes on Wednesday, November 30.

Ok, that's all from me for now, I hope I have inspired you to give these colours a go and join in on the challenge this week. Be sure to stop on over HERE and check out what the rest of the CAS Colours & Sketches DT have done using the colours and I hope to see you in the gallery.

Thanks for stopping by today.

Supplies:

Stamps: Uniko Background Builders:Round In Circles, All Occasion Sentiments #2 and Simply Said Birthday

Ink: SU! Night Of Navy, Ballet Blue (Retired) and Bashful Blue (Retired)

Card Stock: SU! Whisper White, Bashful Blue (Retired)

Accessories: Foam Adhesive and My Minds Eye On Trend Enamel Dots

CAS Colours & Sketches #173

Hey!

It's time for another challenge over at CAS Colours & Sketches and this week our host Caro has a sketch for you to spark your creativity HERE and seen below. This is another fun sketch with SO many possibilities...

Don't you think...? 

This is how I used the sketch this week...

I decided to ink up the recently restocked Background Builders: Round in Circles clear stamp set and I needed a little more help to spark my creativity and so I combined the sketch with this weeks ColourQ challenge colours seen HERE and below.

The colours are all faves of mine, but ones I wouldn't thought of putting together! I started by stamping the circle strip in black ink, I used black to define them and also so the colours stood out a little more than if I had used kraft.

I used my SU! markers to colour, blend and stamp the happy birthday sentiment from Simply Said Birthday and then mounted the panel onto a kraft CS base using foam adhesive.

Ok, that's all from me just now. I have a few bean free hours this afternoon and I hope to spend some time creating :) it's been too long!

Be sure to check out the rest of the CC&S design team inspiration HERE and I hope to see you in the gallery too.

Thanks for stopping by today.

YAY for Friday!

Hey & Happy Friday!

How on earth did we get to Friday?! Two days without blogging & creating a card, I'm in withdrawal! It's been one CrAzY busy but exciting week here at the Brown house. With my last post I mentioned the new windows and French doors & a trip to the hospital for another scan. 

Well, the windows and doors have been fitted and look FAB without any hiccups, just A LOT of dust!  I left for my scan on the morning & left via my MIL house as she comes with me to keep me company. I got there and needed the loo so turned the car off and went inside. Came back out and the car decided it wouldn't start - great! Luckily MIL has a car so off we went to the hospital. 

The beans were playing silly billies and laying awkwardly which made life hard for the sonographer to determine which was which and get all her measurements. From that one had put on weight but not as much as the other, so I am back again next week just to make sure all is OK. Hopefully they'll be good so they can get a better look at things. 

We came back after the appointment and my FIL looked at the car and it wasn't going anywhere, the starter motor has gone, luckily hubby had been out at the weekend to test drive cars and had decided on one and bought it & my FIL was picking it up yesterday, so I've only been without a car for a day.

As you can imagine yesterday was full of excitement as the new car AKA 'beanmobile' arrived! Off I went to run a few errands that had accumulated in one day and test the new beauty out and I am very impressed with hubby's choice...

One of my errands was to pick up a box of inky goodness that had been waiting at the parcel depot. I treated myself to the whole WPlus9 Dye Ink Collection and I've had a little play this morning in-between orders to create this super CAS card...

I've used 3 of the 15 colours, Ocean Drive, Sweet Gelato & Wild Mango. I also used the current CAS(E) this Sketch! HERE and seen below for the layout of my card. 

I did add a little glitter to jazz it up a bit...

That's all from me today, I've a few more orders to pack :) It's 50% Friday here at Uniko Studio which means you only have to spend £25 to get FREE Worldwide Shipping! It's only valid for today. 

I'm determined to be back tomorrow with another card, so until then, thank you for stopping by today & sorry for the longwinded talk! 

Geometric Generation

Hey!

It's all a bit CrAzY here at the Brown household this week! It's all go to get jobs done around the house before the 'lil beans arrive. Today and yesterday we have trades men in who are fitting new windows and French doors. So along with it being noisy it is dusty and the house is upside-down! It'll all be done by the end of today and then I have a mammoth cleaning job ahead of me the rest of the week.

Luckily (I might rephrase that later!) this morning I am back at the hospital for another scan, so I am away from the chaos for 3 hours at least! 

Yesterday evening after a little tidy up in the kitchen & while hubby was out playing football I decided to relax in the studio for an hour and made this card...

It didn't take the whole hour up, so I spent some time organising and part prepping hubby's cousins Wedding Invitation production line! His cousin gets married in September and I am on a tight schedule to get them completed in case the 'lil beans arrive sooner than expected.

Anyway, I was inspired by this weeks A Cure For The Monday Blues HERE on Taheerah's blog and the inspiration pic seen below. I was also partly inspired by this weeks Guest Designer for the challenge Leigh Penner's card created for the challenge.

It was nice to dust off a couple of older sets that haven't seen much ink for a while too, Background Builders: Round In Circles & Wonderful Washi. I'm really quite pleased with how it turned out :)

I had better get moving and go pick up my MIL who kindly comes along to the hospital with me for company :) We've some knitting to do today whilst we wait, I will share a fe things I've made over the next week or so. 

I'll be back tomorrow with more to share & until then, thank you for stopping by today :)

Supplies:

Card Stock: White (Boyes)

Ink: VersaMagic Aquatic Splash, Turquoise Gem & Pink Petunia, Avery Elle Fog & VersaFine Onyx Black.

Stamps: Uniko Studio All Occasion Sentiments #2, Background Builders: Round In Circles, FONTiments - Birthday, Today, Tomorrow & Always TIME & Wonderful Washi

Accessories: Foam Adhesive.

A Cure For The Monday Blues

Hey! 

If you missed my first post HERE today, check it out as I announced the WINNER of the entire June Release. I said I would be back and here I am! I've been MIA for a few days due to being knocked down by a horrible cold going round. Doesn't sound much but colds seem to hit you hard when you're pregnant - or they have me! 

Anyway, this morning I've been catching up on some dreaded office work - accounts! I always seem to put it off, but it's a job I have scheduled in once a month now and I am happy that I am all up to date - YAY! 

So to cure my Monday Blues I decided to have a little inky session and play along with a couple of challenges :) First up is Taheerah's A Cure For the Monday Blues challenge HERE and seen below. 

And this is what I came up with...

I also decided to use the current CAS(E) this Sketch! layout seen HERE and below. From the inspiration photo I was mainly inspired by the polka dots on the napkin and the 3 coloured flowers. Not a colour combination I would normally put together, but I'm fairly pleased with how it's turned out.

I broke out the Hero Arts prism glitter this afternoon as it's been a while since it saw daylight! I added some to the centre of the flowers...

That's all I have for today, but I will be back tomorrow with more to share. Until then, thank you for stopping by today :)

Supplies

Card Stock: White from stash, SU! Soft Sky

Ink: PTI Raspberry Fizz, Summer Sunrise & Pure Poppy. VersaFine Onyx Black

Stamps: Uniko Studio All Occasion Sentiments #1, Background Builders: Round In Circles & Flower Power #5

Accessories: PTI Mat Stack Die, Foam Adhesive & Hero Arts Prisma Glitter

May 2014 Design Team Blog Hop and GIVEAWAY!

Hey!

I'm SO happy you've stopped by the blog today as today is March 2014 Design Team Blog Hop.  As we've quite a few new followers here, ("Hello & Thank you") I will explain what's going on! 

Here at Uniko Studio I currently only release new products every other month. This is for a number of reasons, firstly, being an avid paper crafter myself and knowing the current economic climate I know 'some' are on a limited budget when it comes to buying new stash, so this way you're not tempted to splurge too much every month. The second reason is that it is just me here at Uniko Studio HQ. I currently run this little business single handedly, designing, blogging, demoing, classes, packing etc, etc. so releasing every other month gives me chance to keep my head above water, well, just about!

So, on the in-between release months the Design Team & I take a look back at a previously released product, dust it off and give it some love! This month I decided to dust off the previously released Background Builders: Round In Circles clear stamp set which was released HERE back in April 2013.

This set also has a co-ordinating Digital Patterned Paper Collection...

Geometrics still seem to be trending throughout the paper crafting world and they are also FABulous to use for all those hard to make masculine cards. 

Here are a couple of old FAVES using the set & digital collection...

How about a new card using this set...

For this card I decided to make a masculine birthday card. The current Color Throwdown challenge colours seen HERE and below are perfect for a masculine card.

Here's a close up of the details...

To inspire you more there is a whole bunch of cards HERE on the Uniko Studio Background Builders: Round in Circles Pinterest board.

And how about some inspiration from the FABulous Design Team:

Amber

Erika

Gillian

N@ Ali

Ren-Yi

Taheerah

How about a GIVEAWAY...? 

Simply comment along the hop for the chance to win the featured set PLUS the co-ordinating Digital Patterned Paper Collection or a Gift Certificate to the same value if you already own them. You have until Midnight Wednesday 14th May to comment and I will announce the winner here on the blog Thursday 15th May.

Happy Hopping!