Roses & Birthday Wishes

Hello & Happy Monday.

Today I thought I would share one of the cards that we made at yesterday's Uniko Stamping Retreat at a new venue in Hartlepool.

This card was a hit with the ladies and like me they love this supersize rose.

Along with having the pleasure of inking up this Stencil - Pure Florals Rose again, I dusted off this old 'ghosting' technique. It's such a fun one and give this lovely shadow look. 

I'll be sure to share a video soon of this fun technique, I have another stencil I'd like to try this technique on.

Crafty Hugs

March Meet The Maker - Favourite Collection

Happy Wonderful Wednesday.

Today on March Meet The Maker it's all about Favourite Collection. Now this is a little tricky, my favourites constantly change and well, I love everything I design! 

So far during March Meet The Maker I have given love to the products in the Organic series and I have also given a little love to the one of a kind Ink & Flip Stencils. So, it was only right that I let the Uniko Mid Century Modern Collection take the limelight today.

Whilst technically the Bauhaus design movement (1919-1933) was before Mid Century Modern (1945-1970), I've included them in the Uniko collection because, well they do work lovely together.

This collection is also a firm favourite with Uniko customers and often sells out quickly, I've had a recent rush on what *was* in stock, such as Mid Century Modern Florals which has had a flurry and sold out last week. 

With that, it is a collection I restock fairly quickly, more on that later though. Let's have a look at some of this collection in action, I've created a couple of cards using some of the products that are currently still in stock! 

I feel I've neglected the Stencil - Mid Century Modern Circle & Stars so chose that for some fresh inky love. As you know I love pink & orange together and so I chose to section off a little of the background to ink with Honeysuckle and then I placed the stencil and inked through with Marmalade to create this striking background inside the circle die.

I chose the Smile sentiment from Mid Century Modern Everyday Sentiments as this really does make me smile. And I finished with a few Marmalade enamel dots.

I had fun with circle die cuts that I created another fun card using more of a spotlight technique. I ink blended the stencil all over my base card using Blueberry, Fig and Grapefruit inks..

I then die cut circles from another layer before adhering using foam tape and finishing with another of the sentiments from Mid Century Modern Everyday Sentiments.

Along with making these new creations, I've been busy in the studio designing new products to expand this collection later this year and if you already love the collection, I think you'll love these new additions too 😜

Are you a fan of Mid Century Modern?

Before I go today I have some restock news, the following highly popular and requested clear stamps and stencils are now available...

Background Blocks Arts Decoratifs

Background Blocks Mid Century Modern

Background Blocks MOD Builder

Background Blocks Splatter

Background Blocks Wonky Stripes

Background Builders Diamonds

Bauhaus Blocks

Flower Power #2

Flower Power #3

Flower Power #7

Flower Power #8

Organic Blooms

Paw Print Hearts

Stencil - Geometric Happy Birthday 

Apologies for such a long post! 

Crafty Hugs

Rustic Merry Christmas

Hello & Happy Thursday.

With the return of Rustic Christmas this week, after it flew off the shelves from its last restock. I thought I had better ink it up and get this idea onto a card before it sold out again! 

I used a little bit of masking for this card to 'trim' off the trunk of the tree at the bottom. It's quite a sizeable focal point tree and I wanted to make sure I had some space in the lower section of my card for the sentiment. Looking at the card now, it looks like the trees are buried in a few feet of snow! 

For this card I dusted off an old technique too. I used a water based marker from Stampin' Up! in Espresso to colour direct onto my stamp down the trunk of the tree and lightly across the middle of the branches. I then 'huffed' to moisten the ink before stamping. I repeated this a couple of times to get a good impression, so using my MISTI was a good idea.

I then alternated between inking the remainder of the stamp with Peacock and Artichoke to stamp the branches of the tree to complete the look. I wasn't too concerned about the colour getting on the branches and trunk as I knew the dark brown would be dominant. 

As you can see I altered the height of the trees for added interest. I finished off with a white heat embossed sentiment from the stamp set. I used Espresso card for the Merry Christmas and Artichoke for the From Our Home To Yours part. Adhering them with foam tape and embellishing with a few Peacock enamel dots.

I loved how this turned out, but it's definitely not one to mass produce! 

Did you see the newsletter and restocks that arrived in store yesterday? I highly recommend signing up HERE for it. 

So much loveliness has returned, I just need a little more creative time to play with them all as you know how restocks inspire me!

Rustic Christmas

Background Blocks Arts Decoratifs Christmas

Rustic Wreath

Happy Succulents

Kindness Blooms

Flower Power #1

Background Blocks Arts Decoratifs

Stencil - Layering Bauhaus Blocks

Stencil - Layering Bauhaus Blocks Stencil Recall
 
If you purchased Stencil - Layering Bauhaus Blocks at Crafterama Lincoln on Sunday 6^th October 2024, please email me at bev@uniko.co.uk  I have recently changed manufacturer for this product and have subsequently discovered a small defect in the first batch I received which were sold at this fair.  I pride myself on providing the best quality products, so this issue is a top priority for me.  As soon as you confirm your purchase I will rectify the issue immediately and send you a replacement.   
 
Anyone who bought a stencil via the website has already been contacted and replacements sent so this recall applies only to in-person sales at that show.   Rest assured that products sold at more recent shows, and stock in our online store are the rectified versions.  Please accept my apologies for the inconvenience if you received a stencil from the faulty batch.

That's all the news from me today.

Crafty Hugs

It Worked... New YouTube Video

Happy Thursday.

Today I recorded a new YouTube video as I promised, showing how I created my card in yesterdays post combining the Stencil - Layering Bauhaus Blocks with Background Blocks MOD Builder. 

For this card though I switched out the Background Blocks MOD Builder for the Stencil - MOD Background Builder, a slightly larger version of the stamp.

I switched up my colour combo for this card, using Honeycomb or Sunflower (I can't remember now), Spiced Cider & Midnight. I show the colours in the video! 

A little pre warning, the video is long, I talk a LOT and I won't be mad if you fast forward during my fussy cutting! So grab a drink and get comfy, or why not get your supplies and craft along with me! 

Here is the link to the video...

Happy Watching & Crafty Hugs

Technique Tuesday - Blackout with Uniko Stamps

Hello & Happy Tuesday. 

In between our new furry addition, Cali (the Calico kitten) playing and napping, I've managed to record a new video for you all and it's now available to watch HERE on the Uniko YouTube Channel.

Last Wednesday I shared THIS card over on the website blog and social media. I used the Stencil - MOD Background Builder for the same technique. 

I then realised that you might not know this technique, or you might. But all the same I thought it would be a fun video. 

Here's a look at the card I made in the video... 

I thought I would use this weeks Card of the Week products, Background Blocks Splatter, Balloon Bash and Everyday Sentiments. 

Have you seen the new feature on the website? 

Every Monday I upload a new card and all the products used are 15% off until the following Monday.

For the background colours I used Honeysuckle, Sorbet, Creamsicle, Sea Foam and Oceanside. For the balloons I used Peacock and Dragonfruit. 

I do hope you'll pop on by to watch the video. 

Crafty Hugs

 

Technique Thursday with Uniko Designer Dies!

Hello & Happy Thursday! 

Gosh, it's a warm one here today. Though I am sure when the sun starts to go down it will cool off, I can feel Autumn in the air. 

Anyway, today I have a fun technique and a video to share. YES, I have been brave and recorded a video. I am still learning and still have a few things to learn to make them pretty. But this card I made yesterday was easier to explain and demonstrate in a video. 

I used BIG & BOLD Snow Clear stamps and BIG & BOLD Snow Designer Dies. Plus there is a bundle option HERE!

My thinking behind this card and technique was that I wanted more of the stamped snowflake design to be seen and not hidden by a large die cut word. 

It's a little fiddly, time consuming and this first card took two attempts! But, I think the results are fun. You can check out my video HERE on You Tube and below is the finished card of the one I made during the video.

I hope you enjoy the video and I'd love you to subscribe, I will be sharing more in the coming days and weeks.

Crafty Hugs 

DT Inspiration - stenciled resist technique

Hello, Wiebke here to share some inspiration with you!

For today I made a colourful "sound card" with a stenciled resist technique.

The Uniko products I've used are the Equaliser stencil and a combination of the stamp sets Life is a Song & Most Wonderful.

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Magic of Music

Magic of Music - Detail

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About this card & technique:

For the stenciled resist technique I first applied a clear embossing paste through the Equaliser stencil onto the paper. After it was complete dry I started adding the colours - this time I used Zig Clean Color Real Brushes and blended them with a moisturised cloth and a brush and some water.

(When you don't have clear embossing paste you can also use clear embossing powder - apply the embossing ink through the stencil and then add the powder - don't forget to use a antistatic powder tool before!)

The embossed areas will stay white / in the colour of your paper and pop out of any colourful background!

Some colours tint clear products - if you want it really clear you need to check the combination of your materials before!

In this case it was ok for me to get some staining, it reminds me more to the old "Winamp Music tool"! ;-)

I cut down my paper in the shape of the equaliser blocks (with a similar edge around) and adhered it to my cardbase. The sentiment is a combination of two different Uniko stamp sets - Life is a Song & Most Wonderful,

To repeat the clear part of the background I used clear embossing powder for the first part of my sentiment "believe in the magic of" and white powder for the "music" and the note.

To add some sparkle, I drew a slim line around the sentiment with the amazing Sakura Gelly Roll - clear star pencil.

The headphones are a die cut (sorry, I have no brand name). I combined a normal black and a pearlescent black paper to get some optical dimension. The shells are adhered on the card with some 3D pads, for the rest I used a strong fluid glue.

To get the full list of all used supplies please hop to my blog.

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Musical greetings from Wiebke.

DT inspiration - Eraser technique

Bonjour !

Izzy here. Today I want to share with you a technique that I recently discovered on Papierelle's blog and that I particularly love. This is the Eraser technique.

For this technique I used the Pure Florals Peony stamp set released this past December together with the Large Background French Script stamp released in May 2018.

All you need for this technique is a pencil, sandpaper, a sponge, an eraser and a stamp. And the process is very easy : 

1. Rub off some graphite of the pencil over the sandpaper.
2. Pick up the graphite with a sponge and sponge it onto your card stock
3. Stamp the image you chose on top of this sponging
4. And to finish, erase the surfaces of your image you want to be white

Easy peasy, no ?

To make my card I cut a rectangle of Strathmore Bristol and I sponged it with the graphite. I stamped the gorgeous peonies with Memento Tuxedo Black ink. I also stamped them on post-it notes to use them as masks to be able to stamp the French Script Background with a light gray ink.

Then I erased the inside surface of the peonies and I used my new loved pencil brushes to colour them. If you try this technique you will notice that the choice of the paper is important. Depending on the paper, it is sometimes hard to completely make the surface white. For this card I've used Strathmore Bristol because it's a very smooth surface and I knew it's compatible with the use of the Zig Clean Colour pen brush as watercolour pencils.

Even with this smooth card stock I didn't succeed to totally erase the graphite on the peonies. But I loved the vintage look it gives mixed together with the pink watercolour that's why I went on. To finish I sponged Black Soot Distress ink on the edges of the card stock. Once everything was totally dry I sprayed a fixative to be sure that the graphite would not smear everywhere.

I adhered this panel on top of a white card stock and I stamped a birthday sentiment which comes from the Pure Florals Chrysanthemum set. I love how this card looks, the peonies really stand out over the grey background !

I hope I inspired you with this gorgeous stamp set. It completes so beautifully the Pure Florals collection. It's my new favourite and a must have !

Thanks so much for stopping by and have a fabulous day !

Izzy xx

Bunny with Balloons!

Hey & Happy Monday!

I do hope your week has got off to a good start? We had a dusting of the white stuff outside this morning, which was fun for the beans to run about in for a few minutes before we went to do errands. I'm almost back to full health and I had a little creative time yesterday afternoon while the beans were napping to create todays card...

This was one of the cards I had planned on making for the release, but due to getting poorly it didn't happen, until now. I hope it was worth the wait?! 

I have used Some Bunny which is paper pieced, a really fun and easy technique to do with the bunny and paired him with the previously released but recently back in stock Balloon Bash clear stamp set. The sentiment is from Simply Said Birthday.

That's all I have for you here today, but I also have a Stamp Of The Week card HERE using this weeks SOTW, which is Balloon Bash. I'd love you to pop on over and see what I have over there today too :)

Ok, I will be back tomorrow with another bunny card and post. Until then, thank you for stopping by today.