Celebrating 13 Years - Introducing Stencil Geometric Happy Birthday

 

Hello & Happy Sunday! 

Welcome to day 1 of the Uniko 13th Birthday February Release introductions. Today myself and the Uniko Brand Ambassadors are kicking things off with a fun new Uniko Stencil - Geometric Happy Birthday. 

Not only is this an awesome stencil and one that is perfectly suited for quick masculine makes, this stencil is also the FREE gift for 13th Birthday February Release orders of £15 or more, while stocks last. After 8th March this stencil will be available for purchase.

Let's have a look at this stencil in action.

Anita

Bev

Izzy

Julie

Steph

Vinita

I think you would agree with me in that this is a delightful array of colourful geometric creations. I love the mix of cards from clean & simple to the amazing stencil pairings.

That's all for today, but be sure to stop by tomorrow for more product introductions. 

  

Crafty Hugs

Celebrating 13 Years - Birthday Release Sneak Peeks

 

Hello & Happy Saturday!

I don't think there is a better way to start the weekend than with the NEW Release Sneak Peeks. This release brings a variety of clear stamps and stencils and I'm super excited to get to sharing them with you.

Let's have a look at the peeks, there is a few to get through! 

First up is a peek at a Release Day Special. This stencil is a fun geometric sentiment and it is a free gift that will be added to orders of £15 or more while stocks last.

This next peek is of a fun layering stencil. 

The designs were inspired by this next peek, that is of a re-release of a clear stamp set I've decided to bring back from retirement.

This might look like a simple Alphabet, but combine it with the current Alphabet Outlined for even more creative options. I can't wait to show it in action!

You know I love a background block, this is a fun addition to the series.

I'm loving layering stencils at the moment, and this is a fun one with lots of creative possibilities. 

Use the stencil on its own or pair it with this next peek for even more possibilities. Also, if you're like me and not a fan of colouring, use the stencil to colour the stamps contained in the stamp set peeked below!

Lastly for today, how about a new, long overdue addition to the Spring Botanical series.

What do you think? 

Are you excited for the first of the introductions tomorrow? I know I am!

Until tomorrow, thank you for stopping by.

Crafty Hugs

Uniko Birthday Inspiration Through The Years - Part 5

Happy Friday.  

Welcome to day 21 of the Uniko 13th Birthday Celebrations and part 5 and the final of my Inspiration Through The Years. If you missed part 1,  part 2, part 3 and part 4, you can catch up HERE,  HERE, HERE and HERE.

Today I am sharing new inspiration from 2023 and 2024. For me personally I feel 2023 was the beginning of a little revival for Uniko as I added to the ever popular Mid Century Modern Collection, but also designed some new and innovative stencil designs, including the Ink & Flip Stencils. 2024 was a continuation of this revival which sparked new designs to explore and release this year.

Let's have a look at a couple of my favourite cards from 2023 that inspired my new version I'm sharing today. 

It may be no surprise to you that I chose the Stencil - Layering Bauhaus Blocks. This stencil was originally released in May/June 2023 and was an instant hit and still remains to be. 

I took the original concept of the Stencil - MOD Background Builder in that you can create an instant focal point, but that you can also easily move the stencil to fill a larger background with the pattern. As you can see from the title I was inspired by the Bauhaus Design Style and this time created a 3 layer stencil to create the pattern and bring more colour to the background. 

The beauty of this geometric pattern is that depending on the colours you choose you can make it both masculine looking and feminine looking. The pairings with other products, sentiments and layout choices are endless. 

It was a delight to ink this stencil up again.

Here I was inspired a little by the colours of the second card above and the layout/technique of the first. When the stencil was released I also released the Bauhaus Blocks Clear Stamps that pair beautifully with the stencil. So I opted to use those on my card too, along with a sentiment from the same set. 

I know the Bauhaus Blocks Clear Stamps are currently out of stock, I will do my best to have them back with the next batch early March. 

Lastly is 2024 saw the development and expansion of the Ink & Flip Stencils along with a couple more additions to the Mid Century Modern Collection. It was a tough decision on what to choose with so many favourites, but here is what I chose and the card to inspire a new card.

Background Blocks MOD Builder and Mid Century Modern Birthday were both released in February 2024. The MOD Background Builder is purposefully designed to be smaller than the stencil, mainly because I wanted the patterns to offset each other. 

And Mid Century Modern Birthday came about because I wanted a large birthday sentiment option in the same font I created for Mid Century Modern Christmas and Mid Century Modern Wreath Builder. Mid Century Modern Everyday Sentiments was also released the same time. 

Here's my new card.

For this new card I simply stamped the block in a new layout, stamped the sentiment and heat embossed in my favourite Stardust embossing powder. I then coloured the block in a similar way to my original card, but with brighter colours.

And that wraps up looking back at Uniko Through The Years! 

I hope you enjoyed this as much as I have and it has provided you more inspiration to create with your Uniko supplies. 

Before I go today, I know, it's a really long post. There is still time to join in on and enter...

Uniko's 13th Birthday Linky Party

Grand Prize Giveaway - Win Stamps For a Year

Grand Prize Giveaway - Win Stencils For a Year

PLUS, did you know that Uniko has a VIP Group on Facebook for Uniko customers and fans? 

The group is a private and safe space to share your Uniko creations. Today I have launched a monthly challenge over there to inspire your makes and there is a little incentive to join in too. A chance to win £10 to spend in store to one randomly selected entry.

https://www.facebook.com/groups/2723159841326437/

Use the link above to find the group and answer the questions, an admin of the group will approve and then you'll able to join in on the fun. I hope to see you there. 

Crafty Hugs

Birthday Brand Ambassador Inspiration - Mix and Match

Welcome, 

Steph here and today I am using the Uniko Flower Power and Background Builders to mix and match my three cards. I took my inspiration from this lovely card created by Bev during the January 2025 release. 

For this card I have used Uniko Flower Power #11 from the January release and Uniko Background Builders: Delightful Diamonds stamp sets. For the sentiment I have used Uniko Birthday Wishes stamp set. 

Here I have used Uniko Flower Power #2 and Uniko Background Builders: Round In Circles stamp sets with a sentiment from Uniko Birthday Sentiments stamp set. 

And finally, I have paired Uniko Flower Power #1 with Uniko Background Builders: Seeing Stars and again a sentiment from Uniko Birthday Wishes stamp set. 

I hope you like this set of clean and simple cards and I hope they breathe life into your Uniko Flower Power and Background Builders sets again. 

Much love

Steph x

Birthday Inspiration with Uniko Alumni Brand Ambassador Carol Mayne

 

Hello & Happy Wednesday!

It's a wonderful Wednesday as I am absolutely delighted to have another Brand Ambassador Alumni joining us today, the lovely Carol Mayne.

Carol joined the Uniko family in September 2017 again having been a regular participant in Uniko challenges and valued customer. 

Let's have a look and see what Carol has created for us today.

How fun and creative is this? 

I absolutely love how Carol has personalised the balloon with the 13 especially for Uniko using Classic Numbers and continued the number theme to create a stamped colourful background. Balloon Bash is centre stage and accented with the Happy Birthday from A Gift For you. 

A big thank you to Carol for joining us today and taking part in the Uniko 13th Birthday Celebrations. Be sure to leave some comment love here on the Uniko blog and across social media platforms if you use them. I will be randomly selecting comments through the month to win some prizes.

Crafty Hugs

Birthday Inspiration with Uniko Alumni Brand Ambassador Sarah Platt

Hello & Happy Tuesday!

It's a terrific Tuesday as I am absolutely thrilled to have another Brand Ambassador Alumni joining us today, the lovely Sarah Platt..

Sarah joined the Uniko family in August 2014 having been a regular participant in Uniko challenges and valued customer. 

What drew my attention to Sarah was her use of bright colours and clean style. Just like she has used today in her trio of birthday cards made especially for Uniko's 13th Birthday.

On this first card Sarah has used Background Blocks Wonky Stripes with die cut balloons decorated with elements from Balloon Bash. The sentiment is from Anniversaries Arts Decoratifs. 

I love how Sarah has continued the theme and colours, simply switching up the background block and balloon placement for a slightly different look. Here Sarah has used the Background Block Arts Decoratifs.

And for this last card Sarah has used Background Blocks Party Confetti.

A big thank you to Sarah for joining us today and taking part in the Uniko 13th Birthday Celebrations. Be sure to leave some comment love here on the Uniko blog and across social media platforms if you use them. I will be randomly selecting comments through the month to win some prizes.

Crafty Hugs

Brand Ambassador Inspiration - Stamp & Stencil Combo

Good morning.  Anita here with some Brand Ambassador inspiration for you.  How are you enjoying the birthday month celebrations so far?  We're just past the halfway point and there is so much more to come so don't forget to keep checking back here for more.

For this card I decided to use a technique I love to use when stamping with detailed images.  I've used the gorgeous Pure Florals: Peony stamp set for the image and sentiment, and used the Quilted stencil...

This technique is great if you are short of time or if you're less experienced with colouring...just colour the background instead and it's surprising how this makes the image pop.  So I began by stamping the peony in black ink and I also stamped a mask at the same time which I cut out and then placed over the image.  I then gently ink blended the background starting from the top right corner using two shades of blue ink and fading it out.  I then placed the stencil over the top and used the darkest shade of blue to ink through.

I then removed the mask, stamped the sentiment and added a few flat iridescent sprinkles for some sparkle. 

This card came together pretty fast, the most time consuming part is cutting out the mask but you also then have it for a couple more projects.

Thanks for taking a look and I hope this month of Uniko celebrations is giving you lots of crafty inspiration.  There is so much more to come too!

That's all from me today, I hope you enjoy your week.