Brand Ambassador Inspiration - Watercolour Wednesday

Morning all, 

Steph here today with my Uniko Brand Ambassador inspiration and this month I wanted to practice my watercolour. I decided that Uniko Organically Zesty stamp set was a good one to use watercolours on and also needed a bit of a sunny lift! 

So for my first attempt I decided to do some ink blending onto the blank card first before stamping the lemon image and then adding more definition with watercolour pencils. 

For my second card I decided to use just the watercolour pencils but this time blend them using a water brush. This resulted in a much paler version of the previous card, not quite as 'zesty'!

Finally I switched to watercolour paints which was a scary prospect for me as I'm most definitely not a natural but I need the practice! I like the result other than the flowers which didn't turn out so well. I also think the green is a bit too bold and needed to be more yellow green like the other two cards. 

So, which version do you like best and what method do you prefer to use yourself? 

Much love

Steph x

12 Days Of Christmas Inspiration & Giveaways - Day 11 Pure Florals Poinsettia

 

 

Hello & Happy Wednesday. 

I'm here to get you over the mid week hump with some more festive floral inspiration. It was only right that another of the Uniko November Release, Pure Florals Poinsettia got some inky attention during this series and I was inspired to get out my comfort zone a little with a watercolour technique.

As you know I don't always have the patience to colour and I wouldn't say it's my strength either when it comes to paper crafting and card making. So I am always keen on 'quicker' options to add colour! This one is a fun one using ink pads or ink refills and an acrylic stamp block.

I used some watercolour card for this and a red trio of colours, Honeysuckle, Poppy and Cranberry. I think this technique is better watched than explained, so be sure to watch the video over on Uniko's YouTube Channel today HERE.

And how fun does this flower look paired with the Background Block Pinstripe. A little busier than my normal CAS style too, but I really enjoyed making this card. 

Todays giveaway is the Pure Florals Poinsettia clear stamp set and my question today is have you used this technique and what colours would you use? 

Be sure to get your comments in quick as I will be drawing and announcing winners on Friday 13th December. 

Thanks for all the love and support for this fun series so far. I will be back tomorrow with the final day of inspiration.

Crafty Hugs

Brand Ambassador Inspiration - Watercolour Emboss Resist

Morning all, 

Steph here today with some watercolour emboss resist which I was inspired to do following this lovely example by Anita. I started off with the Uniko Background Builders Arts Decoratifs stamp set and repeatedly heat emboss one line of the set in white. I then used metallic watercolours to create a wash across the card in various colours.

For my next card I heat embossed the Uniko Large Background: Scattered Polka Hearts stamp in white and did an ombre wash using four different blue inks. I white heat embossed one of the hearts from Uniko Always & Forever set, ink washed and fussy cut before adhering to the background with foam pads.

Finally, I remembered this fantastic card from Jules and was inspired to try the resist embossing with the Uniko Remembrance stamp set. 

I definitely need to work on my watercolour skills so that's on the list for this year! 

Much love

Steph x

Uniko Birthday Inspiration - 12th Birthday Celebrations

Morning all, 

Steph here with my Uniko Birthday Inspiration post. Each one of the Brand Ambassadors is sharing birthday inspiration as we celebrate Uniko's 12th Birthday!! 

I decided to dig out some of the older Uniko stamp sets here and also realised that some of these are ones I haven’t used before. It’s always lovely to ink up a new stamp, even if it’s been sat in your stash for a while 🤦🏻‍♀️!!

For my first card I inked up the Uniko Large Background Tropical Paradise stamp using green ink. I coloured the leaves using various shades of green alcohol markers and coloured the open spaces with a pale yellow. On another piece of card I stamped the toucan and flower from Uniko Paradise stamp set and coloured with some bright oranges and yellows before fussy cutting and adhering to the background. I stamped the sentiment from Uniko Floral Vines stamp set onto a strip of card coloured the same as the background and adhered everything onto a Kraft card base. 

Sticking with the same stamp sets I created my next card with a watercolour style.

Again I inked up the background using green inks but before I stamped, I sprayed the inked stamp with water and stamped onto watercolour card. I did the same with the flowers and additional leaves from the Uniko Paradise set and fussy cut before adhering with foam pads. The sentiment this time is from the Uniko Anniversaire Arts Decoratifs stamp set.

Don’t forget to check out the other Brand Ambassador Birthday Inspiration posts and come back to join in all the fun with the linky party, sneak peeks, introductions and blog hop with giveaway. 

Much love

Steph x

Technique Tuesday, BA Inspiration using Remembrance

Good morning and welcome, Julie here with a little bit of watercolour inspiration using the newly released Remembrance stamp set.

I was so happy when Bev said that she was launching a poppy stamp as it's one of my favourite flowers and they are also my best buddy's too. So when it came to making her a birthday card for the other Sunday, I had to use them to create this card.

Do you remember my card from the introductions a month ago here? Well, this is how that one was supposed to work out but for some reason the watercolour gods were not behaving, so I ended up just using a portion of the finished panel. I was happy with the flowers but the leaves and stems not so much. I made it using the masking fluid technique, I've used this particular method a few times now so wont bore you with another full blown explanation, check here and here for a detailed photo explanation. 

Here's a quick run down on my method. First I stamped one of the poppies with Altenew Misty Moss and then carefully added masking fluid over the image. When dry I repeated the technique with a further 2 poppy outlines. To fill the lower part of my panel, I drew some poppy heads in free hand and then again towards the top, adding masking fluid to these too. 

When fully dry, I added some water over the whole panel and dropped in a mix of greens, along with some red watercolour. I tried to keep the center of the panel as dark as I could but it doesn't matter you can always go back afterwards. Before it was dry, I placed a piece of cling film over the wet panel and left it over night to dry. 

The cling film was removed to reveal the textured background and then the masking was removed carefully so as not to rip the paper. Using watercolour, I then painted each petal individually with a wet into wet technique. Don't do two adjacent petals at a time as the paint may run together. The foliage was done the same way and any white areas where the masking was not accurate, I coloured with matching paint to neat it up. I used some neat Payne's Grey for the flower centers or you could use a fine liner if you don't feel up to the fine detail!

Finally when my panel was completely dry, I trimmed it down and added it to an A5 base card to which I'd stamped the sentiment from Spring Botanicals - Crocus in black.

Go on, have a go, just let the watercolour do it's thing and don't worry about the end result, you'll be surprised when you come back to it after a night's sleep!! You can always cut it down like I did if things go a bit pear shaped and it's only paper at the end of the day!

So thanks for visiting and happy crafting!

Brand Ambassador Inspiration - Flower Power

Good morning

Anita here wishing you a very Happy Easter Sunday.  We've certainly had a glorious couple of days here in the UK so far this bank holiday weekend, Spring has definitely sprung!  I hope you're all having a wonderful weekend, however you're spending it.

Before I get started on my makes, I'd just like to make you aware of a 10% discount code that Bev is kindly offering on all orders this Easter weekend so if you do want to make a purchase, please do use the code easterspecial10 for a discount...

Ok, onto my cards, and I chose to use some of the great Flower Power stamp sets for these.  

First up, a little emboss resist and ink blending...

I stamped the flowers and leaves from the Flower Power #3 stamp set in VersaMark ink onto some white cardstock and heat embossed them with white embossing powder.  I then ink blended with Distress Oxides before cutting with dies from the Designer Dies Flower Power #1 - #6 Collection. I adhered these to the card base, popping the flower heads up on 3D foam and then stamped the sentiment from the Flower Power #4 stamp set onto a die cut sentiment strip.

Next up I created a stamped floral background as my focal point...

These cute little roses and leaves are from the Flower Power #6 stamp set and the flower head is created with two-step stamping.  So I stamped the solid image first in lilac and then over-stamped with the petals image in a darker purple.  I then created a mask to stamp the leaves up against the flower heads.  The sentiment, also from the same stamp set, has been stamped and heat embossed in white on a strip of purple cardstock.  I then adhered the strip to the panel before die cutting the panel with a scalloped rectangle.

For my final card I watercoloured the flowers using watercolour pencils.  Unfortunately, my camera has washed out the colour a little on this one...

On some Strathmore Bristol cardstock I stamped and heat embossed a few flowers at a time, these being from the Flower Power #2 stamp set.  When stamping the subsequent flowers, I brushed away the embossing powder where it overlapped the already embossed flowers, this could also be done with a mask.  I then painted the flowers using a wet brush and picking up the colour from the tips of the pencils.  I made a die cut panel with an aperture and stamped the sentiment, also from the Flower Power #2 set, and adhered the floral panel behind the aperture, before adhering the panel to the card base using fun foam.

As you can see from these, the Flower Power sets are great for mixing and matching, and can used in so many ways.  There are lots of floral elements and numerous sentiments in each set.

Crafty hugs to you all and very best wishes for a Happy Easter Sunday.  Don't eat too much chocolate!  Actually, on second thoughts...you only live once, eat that chocolate and enjoy it!

Brand Ambassador Inspiration - Season of Beauty

Hi Everyone, 

Thanks for joining me, Steph, today where I am focusing on the Uniko Season of Beauty stamp set. 

This is a ‘new to me’ stamp set but I have been a big fan of it since it was released. As it was my first use of the set I had a good play about and stumbled upon a technique that I have completely fallen in love with - faux water colouring.

For my first card I inked up the poinsettia outline and before I stamped it, I spritzed the stamp with water. I then stamped onto watercolour card and the effect is beautiful. I followed up with inking the inner leaf part of the poinsettia using the same colour ink and various leaves and stems using differing colours of green, spritzing each with water before stamping.

To finish my card I layered it onto a Kraft card blank, heat embossed the sentiment from Uniko Most Wonderful stamp set in gold on black and added some gold embellishments to the gaps.

I was enjoying this technique so I carried on and changed the colour scheme to purple for my second card.

For my third sample I decided to spritz the watercolour card with water instead of the stamp and the effect is quite different.

Initially I wasn’t as pleased with the result because of the more ‘blocky’ look but after I adhered it to the black card it seemed to really come alive. For this card I used a heat embossed sentiment from the Uniko Simply Said Blocks Christmas stamp set.

Us Uniko Brand Ambassadors all seem to be on a roll with Christmas inspiration. See recent inspiration from Weikbe here, Jane here and Issy here.

Much love

Steph x

A Little Bit Of Kindness Blooms

 Hello & Happy FriYAY! 

It's always a good Friday when a bunch of lovely restocks arrive in the studio 😊 I've said it before, but I'll say it again, it always inspires me to dust these sets off and give them some fresh inky love ❤️  Today I managed to tear myself away from the July Release 😉 and was inspired to ink up Kindness Blooms...

I chose some summery colours to try and coax the sunshine back, but unfortunately it just brought rain today 😔 I used Concord & 9th inks in Buttercup and Honeysuckle, trying my hand at a little watercoloring too for the blooms adhered with foam adhesive.

The sentiment is from Floral Vines, I just love this font. Plus I added some white gloss Nuvo Drops to the flower centres to finish them. 

I know a few people are waiting for the Kindness Blooms Designer Dies (and others) to be back in stock. I am hoping to have a small batch ordered at the end of this month 🤞 

That's all the cards I managed to make, but here is a little recap on the restocks that have arrived...

Kindness Blooms

English Country Garden Butterflies

Beautiful Blooms III

Natures Treasures II

Organic Wishes 

Seeing as I have a Bean Free night tonight 👏 I will hopefully be back over the weekend with more creativity to share with you. 

Until next time, thanks for stopping by.

Crafty Hugs

 

Mixed Media Monday - Alumni Guest Brand Ambassador Lindsey Bowe

  Happy Monday & Shiny New Week! 

Today I am back with another Mixed Media Monday and today I have another guest joining us who is also a Uniko Brand Ambassador Alumni.  Please give a warm Uniko welcome to Lindsey Bowe.

Lindsey Bowe

Blog / Instagram / Pinterest

Hello Everyone, Lindsey here and it's good to be back at Uniko. Today I have some watercolour, stamping & stitching mixed media projects to share with you.

And here is how I made them. I started by painting random stripes of harmonious watercolours on some straightforward copier paper. I often paint a couple of shapes at the same time (you never know if they’ll come in handy later on 😊)

I then stamped on top of the strips with the Background Blocks Mid Century Modern and Background Blocks Mid Century Modern II, using similar ink colours to the watercolours.  As you can see my stamping wasn’t perfect but usually with mixed media projects you end up adding lots of different media as you progress,  so I wasn’t overly worried!

I tore the strips apart (again, there’s no need for precision!) and decided on those that I liked the look of best & glued them to a piece of A6 card. 

Then it’s a case of starting to tie everything into one harmonious whole 😊. I do love using machine stitching for this. Paint splatters are also good, as is doodling with paint pens or felt tips. I’m also rather fond of gold or silver acrylic paint!  I’ve used a small lid here to stamp & link the strips together. 

To give the whole piece a final focus I added a stamped flower using the Mid Century Modern Florals clear stamp set, sequins, a spot of glitter and one of the aforementioned little hearts!  The sentiment is from the Pure Florals Peony clear stamp set. 

If you’ve never dabbled with mixed media before I wholeheartedly recommend it. It can be absorbing and lots of fun. It can also help free up your style.  You really don’t need to splurge on lots of new materials (unless you get the bug that is!). If you’ve got children you can probably find crayons, felt tips, poster paints & glitter lurking somewhere in your house.  I’ve even been known to use emulsion paint before!  It’s just a case of starting with some sort of colour on paper and taking it from there, one different sort of media after another. If you don’t like something, just collage another piece of paper on top or paint over it. 

Have fun!

WOW! Are you picking your jaw up off the floor like I am right now? 

I love the soft subtle colours Lindsey has used for her projects today. AND what I especially LOVE is how Lindsey has shown that Mixed Media doesn't have to be complicated and you don't need a lot of specialist supplies.

I hope you have enjoyed todays feature and a big THANK YOU to Lindsey for inspiring us all. 

Crafty Hugs

 

Brand Ambassador Inspiration - Snowdrops and bubbles

Hello friends, I am up with a simple watercolored card using the spring botanicals from Uniko. I have used the Snowdrop set here.

The flowers are watercolored using the Zigs and used pencils fro details.

I have used a distress oxide for the backdrop.

The sentiment is from stash.

         Thank you for stopping by, I really appreciate your kind feedback. Have a great day!