Festive Friday - BA Inspiration using Rustic Wreath

Good morning and happy Festive Friday!

Anita here, and it's certainly strange making and sharing Christmas cards in the middle of a heatwave (which we are currently experiencing here in the UK) but if it inspires us to make a start on our festive projects then why not.

Today I have three makes, all using the Rustic Wreath Clear Stamp Set, along with a few other Christmas products.

So first up is a project using the stamp set, purely stamped in a traditional design...

On a die cut panel I stamped the main wreath image, first in a dark green shade, before then filling in with the smaller images - the pine cones, twigs and berries.  The sentiment was stamped below and heat embossed in gold.

For this next card I've combined the Rustic Wreath Clear Stamp Set with a couple of other products from the Uniko Christmas range...

On a piece of white cardstock I inked through the Christmas Folk Snowflake Stencil using Distress Ink in Old Paper.  After leaving it to dry and applying some anti-static powder I then stamped the wreath centrally in VersaMark ink and embossed in gold.  I die cut the panel using a stitched rectangle die and adhered it flat to the card base.  To finish I heat embossed the sentiment, from the Pattern Building Christmas Tree Clear Stamp Set, in gold on some red cardstock, trimmed it down and popped it up on 3D foam.

My final card combines the Rustic Wreath set with stamps from two other festive sets...

On the card base I stamped the wreath randomly in red ink before adding the baubles and bows which are extra little stamps in the Rustic Christmas Clear Stamp Set.  I created the strings to join the bows and baubles using a black fineliner pen.  I used a curved border die to cut some red cardstock and stamped the sentiment from the Big & Bold: Merry Clear Stamp Set, which was heat embossed in gold, before this was then adhered in position and trimmed to fit the card base.

Well, that's all from me today.  I hope I've provided you with some inspiration for your festive projects.  Oh, and don't forget, for the entire month Bev is offering 10% off Christmas products over at the online store! 

I'm off to go and sit in front of a fan for a while!

Stay safe, everyone.

Merry Monday, BA Inspiration with Winter Foliage Stamps and Matching Dies

Good morning, Julie here with some more ideas and inspiration to encourage you to make a start on your Christmas makes. Today I'm using the Winter Foliage stamps and matching dies and a new to me technique I stumbled across on You Tube recently. Here's a look at the three designs I came up with.

I was looking at a Marion Emberson video and she was raving about a video of a technique she'd just seen, so I went to look too. In the You Tube video, Ann Melvin uses Kitchen paper to die cut foliage to give a 3D effect. You Tube also suggested another video here that pre dates the first by the Memory Box guy. Thinking this looked something I could use for my post I had a play. 

I wont go into the process of making the die cuts as the video does it much better but I will explain how I made each card!

My first card uses a couple of the pine branches and pine cones, together with a text panel I made a couple of years ago.

         

Once I had cut out my elements, I added some water colour paint to the die cuts and left to dry. Using the left over from the die cutting, I placed it in my MISTI to use as jig to stamp my elements with the matching stamps. The boughs I stamped with Evergreen Bough DI and the cone with Ground Espresso DI. Now in the video there was no mention of the layers parting from one another which happened to mine, but a little dab of glue secured them back together! To make it more Christmassy, I added in some Inka Gold wax watered down with a little plain water, with a fine paint brush.

My panel was made for this BA post a couple of years ago, the process is quite involved so I made a load at the same time and kept them for use later! I trimmed the background panel, clear embossing on kraft, then added stamped and die cut elements. The finished panel was finished with a twine bow and added to my off white, A6, base card.

This second card uses two of the holly leaves and one of the berry clusters over another sentiment stamped background. This time I kept it very simple and just added a circle from the bits box, stamped with Season's Greetings from Christmas Sentiments and the holly and berries. 

My text panel was slightly too small for an A6 base card, so I trimmed it down to leave a thin, white border down both sides. The holly was painted as before with watercolour, then stamped in Pine Needles DI and the berries I left unstamped, just watercoloured and a few dots of white gel pen. This time I added some Wink of Stella to the die cut and stamped elements.

My final card uses the last of the holly leaves and berry cluster in a more contemporary slimline design.

After adding water colour and stamping the leaves as before, this time I added some Versamark and clear EP and heat embossed. It took a couple of goes as the paper towel is very absorbent. The definition on the leaves was lost in the embossing process, so I scored in the veins carefully, with a craft knife.

On a panel of white card I stamped the large sentiment from Festive Sentiments in black and added the embossed leaves and berries. A doodled border using a black fine liner completes this element. 

When I'd finished the panel and placed it on the plain white card, it looked a bit uninteresting, so I stamped a couple of the Background Blocks Wonky Stripes in black on another piece of card, then added that to my base card before the top panel.

Well I hope I've given you some ideas to kick start your Christmas makes, so for the moment, thanks for stopping by.

Stay safe and keep crafting!!   

Brand ambassador inspiration : Christmas in July

 Hi there!

Hannelie here today ... popping in with a couple of ideas to inspire you to start making your Christmas cards early this year!

The first three cards are all in traditional green and red :

For the first card I used :

• Stencil : Christmas pop trio
• Stencil : winter foliage
• Christmas wishes clear stamp-set

I started off by stenciling a light shade of green with the Christmas trio stencil. I kept the stencil in place and placed the Winter Foliage stencil over it and added the darker shade of green. I finished the card off with the sentiment, tiny gold rhinestones and stars.

For the second card I used :

• Background-blocks-scandinavian-christmas
• Background-blocks-pinstripe-ii-clear-stamp
• Big-bold-merry-clear-stamps (cut out with my Silhouette cameo)
• Pattern-building-Christmas-tree-clear-stamp-set (sentiment)

After stamping a couple of panels using the above mentioned background stamps, I used a die (Pinpoint rectangle die from Memory box) to cut out the rectangles for the background. I finished the card off with the sentiment and a bit of bling.

For the third card I used :

• Christmas wishes clear stamp-set
• Alphabet outlined stamp set
• Background-blocks-scandinavian-christmas
• Background-blocks-pinstripe-ii-clear-stamp
• Background-blocks-diagonal-stripes
  

After stamping a couple of panels with the above mentioned background stamps, I used a punch to cut out the tags. I then stamped the MERRY on the tags and strung them through some gold string.

The card was finished off with the Christmas sentiment and small gold rhinestones.

And the last one in black white and a pop of turquoise :

For the last card I used :

• Background-builders-winter-wonderland
• Background Builders Christmas - Sentiment

The image was stamped on a piece of water colored paper I found in my "scraps" box ... YAY for that one! I used my craft knife to cut out the curve on the bottom, and used my Misti to stamp the sentiment following the curve of the image.

I used Altenew inks and Versafine black ink on all the cards.

I hope one or all of the cards inspire you today!

Thanks for looking :)

Hannelie

Two For Tuesday - Alumni Brand Ambassador Rahmat Gouse

Happy Tuesday!

I am delighted to share two beautiful coloured cards by the talented Alumni Brand Ambassador Rahmat Gouse, using the recently released Organically Zesty clear stamps.

I am sure you are with me that Rahmat has wonderful creative talent and patience when it comes to colouring. I was beyond grateful when Rahmat said she would be willing to be called upon for Alumni features when she stepped down.

Just look at the beautiful texture detail on this orange, absolutely stunning. The hand coloured bubbles add the perfect accent without drawing too much focus away from the main feature.

The lemon is just as stunning and I love the added embossing folder texture.

The sentiment Rahmat has used is from Bee Happy clear stamp set and pairs wonderfully with these images.

I hope you have enjoyed seeing and you are as inspired as I am by these beautiful creations by Rahmat. Thank you for stopping by today.

Crafty Hugs

Merry Monday BA Inspiration

 Hello!

And welcome to a Merry Monday Christmas post featuring the BIG & BOLD Merry stamp set combined with the In The Forest stencil.

My first card uses a technique from Jennifer McGuire and uses both distress and distress oxide inks.

Lucky clover distress ink was applied straight from the pad to the background, then the stencil was placed over. Water was used to lift some of the ink and then once dry twisted citron and cracked pistachio distress oxide was added through the stencil.

My second card uses the exact same layout but this time the greeting was stamped onto a white die cut square. I then masked off parts of the stencil so that only three or one tree was inked.

Have you started your Christmas cards yet? Maybe one of these ideas might inspire you to get creating. Remember to share anything you make in the facebook group Uniko Ltd or on instagram using #unikoltd. We love to see your creativity.

Thanks so much for looking today.

Stay safe and keep crafting!

Jane

x

Stencil Sunday - Christmas in July!

Hello July & Happy Sunday.

It's become a trend within the paper crafting industry to celebrate Christmas in July and so Uniko is jumping on the band wagon. Myself & the Brand Ambassadors will be sharing various Christmas themed inspiration throughout the month along with some non Christmas inspiration.

For the entire month Uniko Christmas products are on sale HERE. So be sure to take advantage of this and get a head start on Christmas making 😉

Today I have a simple layout I have used to create two quick Christmas cards using two Uniko stencils.  You could easily use the layout for Christmas stamps and non Christmas products of course. For my first card today I decided to ink up Uniko Stencil - In The Forest. 

I started by inking through the stencil with Concord & 9th Evergreen ink, onto a Concord & 9th Parsley card stock panel. I then removed and cleaned the stencil before repositioning in exactly the same place to ink through with VersaMark ink. I then embossed with WOW Clear Sparkle embossing powder.

I die cut the tag (I believe it is a Mama Elephant die) and stamped the Merry Christmas sentiment from Christmas Sentiments. I added some green bakers twine and adhered the tag to the card using foam adhesive. I finished off using some Nuvo drops and adhered the panel to a white card base.

My second card uses the exact same layout, but I simply changed things up by using the Stencil - Scandinavian Christmas.

I also changed my colours up. This time I used Concord & 9th Cranberry card and applied Gina K Glitz Glitter Gel through the stencil. 

The sparkle on both these cards are wonderful and it feels good to get a start on Christmas! I hope I have inspired you in some way.

Thanks for stopping by & crafty hugs

Brand Ambassador Inspiration - Stencil Techniques Trio

Hi there

Happy Sunday!  Anita here with some stencil inspiration for you.  I love getting creative with stencils and, not only are they an inexpensive addition to your craft stash, they can be used in so many ways, in addition to the traditional ink blending method.

So I've got three different techniques for you using three different stencils from the Uniko range.

Using Pigment Powders and Water

For this technique I always use watercolour paper.  Lay the stencil flat to the paper, I used Flower Power #5 here.  There's no need to use tape, in fact it's best if you don't as the stencil will need to be lifted away easily.  Gently sprinkle pigment powders over the design.  I used Brusho here and just gently tapped the pot and used it very sparingly as there is so much pigment.  Then use a fine mist water sprayer to cover the design and to activate all the pigment.  Do not over-saturate or the water will start to migrate under the stencil.  Just lift it away and leave it to dry.

I finished off by stamping a sentiment from the So Much Clear Stamp Set.

Using the Ghosting/Watercolour Lifting Technique

I ink blended a background using Distress Oxide inks.  For this technique I used the Stylised Floral Stencil.  The stencil was placed over the ink blended panel and then spritzed with water.  Carefully lift the stencil away and leave for a few moments before blotting with a paper towel.  The water will activate the ink and allow the colour to be lifted away.  This generally works best with Distress and Distress Oxide inks as they react with water.

I die cut the panel with a stitched rectangle and heat embossed a sentiment from the Simply Said Clear Stamp Set onto a strip of vellum which was wrapped around and secured on the reverse.

Reverse Stencilling

For this card I've used the Flower Power #1 Stencil.  This technique involves inking up the stencil directly with ink pads and then spritzing well with water before placing it onto the cardstock.  I chose Strathmore Bristol Smooth cardstock for this as it takes water well.  I inked it up with Distress Inks in three shades.  Once placed onto the surface I left it for a short while to let the ink settle into the cardstock.

I trimmed it down and matted it onto a panel of co-ordinating cardstock, leaving a slim border, before adding the sentiment which is from the Simply Said Blocks Clear Stamp Set.  I then added some clear gems to finish.

Thanks for taking a look, hopefully these have given you some creative inspiration.  I hope you enjoy the rest of your weekend.

Crafty hugs