CASE Me a Christmas Card with Michelle Lupton

Hi there

My lovely crafty friend from across the pond, Michelle Lupton has invited me to join her once again in her CASE Me a Christmas Card Series.  I'm so happy to be part of Michelle's series again.

CASE can either stand for 'Copy and Share Everything' or 'Copy and Selectively Edit'.  This year, the series features ten creative hops in October - two on YouTube and eight on Instagram - where we’ll CASE cards from fellow crafters.

So, to join us, make your own unique Christmas card inspired by someone in the hop, upload it via Inlinkz on @michelle_lupton ’s blog (link in Michelle’s IG profile), and you could even snag a prize from one of our awesome sponsors. Just look at this line up...

Or leave a comment on the stops on the hop (either on IG or on YT)! It's all about sharing ideas, connecting with other cardmakers, and sparking your creativity for the holidays!

I was inspired by Beth Opel, here's her gorgeous card...

I was inspired by the monochrome design, the embossed background with the white accents and the bows.

And here is my festive take, using Beth's card as the inspiration...

Beth embossed her background using pink cardstock and used white ink to highlight the raised elements. I started with white cardstock and inked up the background part of this festive embossing folder with dark green ink, thereby leaving the raised parts white. I too added a white sentiment on a die cut coloured background, mine being on a tag which I ink blended to match the background. And I added a white die cut bow cut from white glitter cardstock.

Materials used:

• Embossing folder: Spellbinders - 3D Pine Cones & Berries
• Ink: Altenew - Evergreen; VersaMark
• Embossing Powder: Brutus Monroe - Alabaster
• Dies: The Greetery - Fit to be Tied; MFT Die-namics - Stitched Traditional Tag Stax
• Stamp: Clearly Besotted - Eat Drink Be Merry

The full list of my fellow crafters on this particular Instagram hop is as follows:
@michelle_lupton
@pocono.pam
@little.finn.crafts
@tinstar05
@craftyneet - THIS IS ME
@bopels
@hannelie.bester
@joy_in_a_jar
@thealtcardmaker

Thank you so much for taking a look and thank you once again to Michelle for inviting me to take part.  
CASEing cards is a great way to craft if you need a creative nudge, just remember to give credit to the original designer.

Uniko August 2025 Release - Introducing...Stencils Layering Retro Stripes and Ink & Flip Mid Century Leaves

Happy Saturday

It's the final day of the Uniko August Release introductions.  The entire release will be revealed tomorrow at 9am BST and will then be available to purchase via the Uniko online store.

We're showcasing stencils today...Layering Retro Stripes which is a five stencil set, and Ink & Flip Mid Century Leaves.  Both of these products have a retro vibe, like the rest of this release.  I think you'll agree that Bev's design skills have been amazing with these new products.

I'll start with the leaves...

Now, I didn't actually flip the stencil when making this card.  There are so many ways you can use it.  Firstly I inked up the beige and green leaves then, instead of flipping it, I cleaned the stencil and just moved it so that the leaves were below the ones I had just inked.  I then inked up the teal and orange leaves.  I then grabbed an image from the Mid Century Modern Florals set and stamped those in grey.  A greeting from the Bauhaus Blocks set, embossed in white on a black die cut strip finished the card.

Materials used:

• Stencils: Uniko - Ink & Flip Mid Century Leaves
• Stamps: Uniko - Mid Century Modern Florals, Bauhaus Blocks
• Ink: Altenew - Sand Dunes, Teal Cave, Autumn Blaze, Forest Glades; Versafine Claire - Morning Mist; VersaMark
• Embossing Powder: Brutus Monroe - Alabaster
• Die: MFT Die-namics - Stitched Sentiment Strips

Now for the fabulous retro stripes, and I paired these with a greeting from the Mid Century Modern Everyday Sentiments set...

I decided for this I wanted the sets of stripes in different coloured gradients.  These stencils are super easy to line up but I had to mask sections to do the different colours on each stencil.  My Altenew inks are in sets of four so I had to try to find a fifth colour that would work, I think I've done ok here.  The two lightest blues look the same here but the inner colour is a touch lighter so I think it works ok.  I trimmed the panel down slightly and mounted it onto a frame in creamy beige.

Materials used:

• Stencils: Uniko - Layering Retro Stripes
• Stamp: Uniko - Mid Century Modern Everyday Sentiments
• Ink: Altenew - Dark Night, Nimbus, Cloudy Sky, Misty Morning, Polar Bear, Marigold, Snapdragon, Chamomile, Sunray, Buttercream; Versafine Clair - Nocturne
• Cardstock from stash

Aren't these fab?!  You can see how the other Brand Ambassadors have used these stencils if you check out the Uniko blog, here.  I'll be back tomorrow with a reveal of the full release.

Thank for visiting, as always x

Uniko Christmas in July 2025 - Introducing...Flower Power #12

Hi there

Back today with the final introduction for the Christmas in July release from Uniko.

And it's the final addition to complete the Flower Power series of stamp sets - Flower Power #12.  Bev has designed a lovely festive version to complete the set.

I have two cards for you, here's the first...

On a piece of white cardstock I stamped the linear images of the holly leaf and poinsettia flower randomly using a Copic friendly ink.  I then coloured these in with Copics.  I die cut a panel of white cardstock with a stitched rectangle die and a stitched aperture die before adhering the stamped piece behind the window.  I added a stamped greeting which is also from this new stamp set and adhered the panel flat to the card base

Materials used:

• Stamps: Uniko - Flower Power #12
• Ink: Memento - Tuxedo Black; Versafine Clair - Nocturne
• Coloured with Copics
• Dies: Create a Smile - Cool Cuts Double Stitched Rectangles; MFT Die-namics - Rectangle Peek-a-boo Window

And my second card, a simple one layer...

I stamped the stem/leaves images first before building the rest of the design using the flower stamps.  I stamped the solid image inside the linear image for the central flower and then used the same solid image with offset stamping in two shades for the outer flowers.  Finished with a sentiment from the set and added three gold glitter enamel dots.

Materials used:

• Stamps: Uniko - Flower Power #12
• Ink: Altenew - Forest Glades, Coral Bliss, Heart Beat; Versafine Clair - Nocturne
• Accents: Enamel dots from stash

As always, you can see more cards showcasing this new set over at the Uniko blog, here.  I'll be back tomorrow with the full release reveal which will be available to purchase from the Uniko online shop from 9am BST.

Thank you for visiting.

Uniko Christmas in July 2025 - Introducing...Stencil Layering Christmas Bauhaus Blocks

Hi there

So, did you see the sneak peeks yesterday?

It's day one of the new Uniko introductions and it's all about festive goodies in this upcoming release.

We're kicking off with a brand new introduction to the Bauhaus series...Layering Christmas Bauhaus Blocks, which is a set of three stencils.  If you love the previous products in the Bauhaus series this one should be right up your street.

Here's my first card using the set, with a sentiment from the Festive Sentiments set...

Here I inked up the design using the three stencils, without building any further.  I used three shades of Distress Oxide ink here, I think Oxides and stencils work brilliantly together.  I kept this as a simple one layer card and nestled in the greeting from the Festive Sentiments set.

Materials used:

• Stencils: Uniko - Layering Christmas Bauhaus Blocks
• Stamps: Uniko - Festive Sentiments
• Ink: Distress Oxide - Iced Spruce, Lumberjack Plaid, Uncharted Mariner; Versafine Clair - Nocturne

For my second card I built the design to fill the entire card...

I chose a peach shade of cardstock for my card base and used three shades of ink, one of which was white.  I didn't want the background parts of the images to be white this time.  So I used two shades of Distress Oxide and a white pigment ink.  I inked up the initial eight blocks and then moved the stencil around to add the additional blocks.  I finished with a die cut sentiment strip, heat embossing the greeting which is from a new set we'll be introducing in a few days.

Materials used:

• Stentils: Uniko - Layering Christmas Bauhaus Blocks
• Stamp: Uniko - Flower Power #12
• Ink: Distress Oxide - Peacock Feathers, Saltwater Taffy; Hero Arts - Unicorn; VersaMark
• Die: MFT Die-namics - Stitched Rectangle Stax
• Embossing Powder: Wow - Opaque Bright White
• Cardstock from stash

For lots more inspiration from the rest of the team using this stencil set, take a look at the Uniko blog, here.  I'll be back tomorrow to introduce another of the new products.

All the new products will be available from next Thursday 31 July 2025 at 9am BST.

I hope you'll pop back over the next few days to check out the other new products.

Uniko April 2025 Release Day, Brand Ambassador Blog Hop and Giveaway!

Good morning!

It's release day over at Uniko and I'm here to reveal the whole release and share another card.

Here's the final card I made, combining elements from two of the new products...

I decided to go super clean and simple with this one.  I started by stencilling two of the solid leaf images from the Flower Fusion stencil set in three shades of Distress Ink and then stamped over these with the linear leaves image from the Originally Organic Flower Garden stamp set.  I die cut and mounted this on 3D foam on a larger co-ordinating green die cut from the same square dies set and adhered to my card base.  Finished the card with a greeting, also from the Originally Organic Flower Garden set.

Materials used:

• Stamps: Uniko - Originally Organic Flower Garden
• Stencils: Uniko - Layering Flower Fusion
• Ink: Distress Ink - Wild Honey, Peeled Paint, Forest Moss; Versafine Clair - Nocturne
• Dies: MFT Die-namics - Pierced Square Stax

So, now to reveal the new and reintroduced products in full.

First up are the two new stamp sets...Butterfly Serenade, a new addition to the Serenade series...

and Originally Organic Flower Garden...

Next, two new layering stencil sets, the first being Flower Fusion...

and the other...Spring Blossom...

And finally, a new addition to the fabulous Ink & Flip series of stencils...Ink & Flip Delightful Diamonds...

So, some great new products to inspire your creativity.

Be sure to leave some comments on the Brand Ambassador blogs or social media.  You can find all the links over at the Uniko blog, here.  By leaving comments along the way you will be in with a chance of winning some goodies.  All the details are on the Uniko blog post.

The products are available from the Uniko store now, here. 

Thanks for visiting today and for your lovely comments here and on my socials this week :)

Uniko April 2025 Release - Introducing...Stencil Layering Spring Blossom

Happy Friday!

It's the last of the introductions for the Uniko April 2025 release today and it's all about a new layering stencil set...Layering Spring Blossom.  This set has three stencils.

There are so many possibilities with this versatile stencil set...use the images individually or all together to create some really pretty backgrounds.

I got my Color Cubes out again for these and I love both these colour palettes.  I'll certainly be using these inspiration cards a lot more going forward, they really encourage you to combine colours you would never think to put together.  I've chosen colours as close to the suggestions as I can from what I have in my stash, I'd love to know what you think.

Here's my first card using the stencils and I've combined with a greeting from the Bauhaus Blocks stamp set...

I used all the stencils to build the background pattern and then cut down the panel with a stitched curved border die and trimmed it to fit my card base before adhering flat.  I then simply stamped the greeting in black along the curved edge and called it finished.  Lovely and clean and simple. 

And this was the Color Cube inspiration card I used...

Materials used:

• Stencils: Uniko - Layering Spring Blossom
• Stamp: Uniko - Bauhaus Blocks
• Ink: Memento - Cottage Ivy, Tuxedo Black; Altenew - Ultraviolet, Rubellite, Burnt Red; Versafine Clair - Nocturne
• Die: MFT Die-namics - Stitched Basic Edges

And a one layer, clean and simple card...

I began by masking off the edges of my card base.  I very lightly inked up my background, fading it out as I moved down to the base.  I then did the same with each element of the stencils, inking stronger at the top and fading the colours out at the centre.  I then finished with a greeting from the new Originally Organic Flower Garden stamp set, also new with this release.

And here is the colour palette I chose from my Color Cubes...

Materials used:

• Stencil: Uniko - Layering Spring Blossom
• Stamp: Uniko - Originally Organic Flower Garden
• Ink: Altenew - Emerald, Volcano Lake, Deep Iris, Pumpkin Pie, Memento - Desert Sand

Ok, that's all the introductions done.  I hope you love all these new products that Bev has designed.  Lots more creative inspiration is waiting for you over at the Uniko blog, here.  My fellow Brand Ambassadors are sharing some beautiful projects.

Please do pop back tomorrow to see the full release reveal and to find out about the Uniko Giveaway.  All the new products will be available tomorrow, Sunday 27 April 2025 at 9am BST.

Wishing you a lovely weekend.

Uniko January 2025 Release - Re-introducing...Background Builders Flower Power

Good morning

As part of the new release coming from Uniko tomorrow, Bev is re-releasing a stamp set which was originally released back in 2013!

It was retired some time ago but now that the Flower Power series has grown somewhat since then, Bev thought it was time to bring it back as it co-ordinates with the other sets so well.

So, here's my card for today, and I've used three of the stamps with a sentiment from the Birthday Wishes stamp set...

I began by die-cutting a white cardstock panel and trimming it at an offset angle with the edge of the card.  This then gave me the angle to position my first of the background stamps and I then stamped the three different designs in three different colours alternately to fill the background.  The sentiment was then stamped on the white panel and this was adhered flat to the card.

Materials used:

• Stamps: Uniko - Background Builders Flower Power; Birthday Wishes
• Ink: Altenew - Icy Water, Dew Drops, Pink Pearl; Versafine Clair - Nocturne
• Dies: MFT Die-namics - Inside & Out Diagonal Stitched Rectangle Stax

So, that's all the introductions for this release which will be revealed in its entirety tomorrow morning and will be available to purchase from 9am GMT.  As with all the introductions, there is more to see over at the Uniko blog, here.

So, please do pop back to see the full reveal tomorrow if you can, and as always, there will be a chance to get your hands on some free goodies!

Uniko January 2025 Release - Introducing...Flower Power #11 and Mid Century Modern Circles & Stars Stencil

Hi there

Ok, so we're now onto day three of the new Uniko introductions.

And yes, Bev has done it - she's designed another stamp set to join the Flower Power collection - Flower Power #11!  And there is also a new stencil to join the Mid Century Modern series - Mid Century Modern Circles and Stars.

I'll start with the stamp set as I love this new flower design.  Here I've paired the set with a backdrop using the Background Blocks Solid Wonky Stripes stamp...

On a die cut panel I began by stamping the flower head and stem/leaves in a light coloured ink and then coloured them with Copics.  I then made masks to enable me to stamp the background stripes over the top but to appear behind.  I left the flower and stem stamps in my MISTI so I could then re-stamp them, this time in VersaMark and then heat embossed in white.  As I used both stamps together at the same time, there was a small gap where the flower head met the stem so I used an embossing pen to extend the stem and also heat embossed that section.  I finished by stamping the sentiment, also from the new set, and adhered the panel flat to the card base.

Materials used:

• Stamps: Uniko - Flower Power #11, Background Blocks Solid Wonky Stripes
• Ink: Altenew - Dew Drops; VersaMark; Versfine Clair - Nocturne
• Embossing Powder: Brutus Monroe - Alabaster
• Die: Create a Smile - Cool Cuts Double Stitched Rectangles

And now my second card using the new stencil...

On some mustard cardstock I inked through the stencil, using brown ink for the circles and then masking them off to ink up the blue star sections.  I then used a circle die to cut a section and adhere off the edge of the card base.  For the sentiment, I didn't have any cardstock in the right blue shade so I die cut the strip, ink blended with the same blue ink, left it to thoroughly dry and then stamped and heat embossed the sentiment, which is from the Mid Century Modern Frames set.

Materials used:

• Stencil: Uniko - Mid Century Modern Circles & Stars
• Stamps: Uniko - Mid Century Modern Frames
• Ink: Distress Oxide - Vintage Photo, Uncharted Mariner; VersaMark
• Embossing Powder: Brutus Monroe - Alabaster
• Dies: Hero Arts - Infinity Nested Circles; Altenew - Featured Sentiments

I had some of the stencilled design leftover so I made another card...

I cut a vertical strip of the already inked design and then lined up the stencil on my card base to continue the design, which I inked up in more muted shades to create the design across the whole of the card.  I adhered the vertical strip and then added a die cut panel with a stamped sentiment using stamps from the Mid Century Modern Birthday and Mid Century Modern Everyday Sentiments sets.  This was popped up on 3D foam.

Materials used:

• Stencil: Uniko - Mid Century Modern Circles & Stars
• Stamps: Uniko - Mid Century Modern Birthday, Mid Century Modern Everyday Sentiments
• Ink: Distress Oxide - Vintage Photo, Uncharted Mariner, Speckled Egg, Scattered Straw; Versafine Clair - Nocturne
• Die: MFT Die-namics - Rounded Stitched Rectangle Stax

Take a look at the Uniko blog, here, for more inspiration from the rest of the team, the projects are all so different.

All the new products will be available from Sunday 5 January 2025.

Tomorrow I'll be introducing two more products from this new release, I hope you'll join me.

Uniko 12 Days Of Christmas Inspiration & Giveaways 2024 - Christmas Linky Party

Good morning!

Starting this morning, Uniko is bringing you 12 Days of Christmas Inspiration and Giveaways up until 12 December, with the winners being announced on Friday 13 December.

The team are kicking things off with a Christmas Party card making style with a linky link-up.  All you have to do is make and link up a new Christmas card using Uniko products.  If, like me, you still have cards to make (super unorganised as usual!), this is the perfect opportunity to make more and you can link up three as part of this party!

Here's my card...

On a panel of white cardstock I ink blended in from the edges using some green Distress Inks, fading out in the centre which remained white.  I then inked through the Winter Foliage stencil using two shades of green.  I then stamped and heat embossed the sentiment in white on a die cut rectangle from red cardstock.  The sentiment is from the Most Wonderful clear stamp set.  I popped up the sentiment panel on 3D foam and finished with some Nuvo Crystal Drops to add some accents.

Materials used:

• Stencil: Uniko - Winter Foliage 
• Stamps: Uniko - Most Wonderful
• Ink: Distress Ink - Rustic Wilderness, Pine Needles; VersaMark
• Embossing Powder: Brutus Monroe - Alabaster White
• Die: MFT Die-namics - Stitched Rounded Rectangle Stax
• Accents: Nuvo Crystal Drops - Autumn Red

Linky Rules/Details...

Simply create a new Christmas card using Uniko products.  Products from other brands can also be used, so long as Uniko is prominent or the main focus of the card.  And there is a maximum of three entries per person.

Linky is open now over on the main Uniko blog, here, and will close at 23:59 GMT on Wednesday 11 December 2024.  The Uniko Brand Ambassadors will vote for their Top 3 and the prizes are as follows...

1st Prize - £25 eGift Code

2nd Prize - £15 eGift Code

3rd Prize - £10 eGift Code 

Bonus Prize For a Lucky Comment Along The Hop Above - £10 eGift Code

I look forward to seeing all your fabulous projects in the Linky gallery!  Thanks for taking a look and enjoy the rest of your weekend.

 

Case me a Christmas Card with Michelle Lupton

Hi there

My lovely crafty friend from across the pond, Michelle Lupton has invited me to join her once again in her CASE Me a Christmas Card Series.  I'm so happy to be part of Michelle's series again.  CASE can either stand for 'Copy and Share Everything' or 'Copy and Selectively Edit'.  The aim is to take inspiration from any card made by the other and make a Christmas card.

I had a great time scrolling through Michelle's Instagram feed, she has shared so many wonderful makes.  It was a gorgeously clean and simple card that caught my attention so I chose that one as my inspiration for this card...

I began by die cutting a panel with a diagonal stitched edge.  I then ink blended through a star stencil with two shades of ink.  I chose a pink and a teal green, fading out slightly in the centre as Michelle did.  I then simply stamped the holly image and the sentiment in black ink.  The panel was then adhered on fun foam.

Materials used:

• Die: MFT Die-namics - Inside and Out Diagonal Stitched Rectangle Stax
• Stencil: Efco - Stars
• Stamps: Watercolour Wonders Festive Collection (free set with Simply Cards and Papercraft magazine); Clearly Besotted - Brushed Sentiments
• Ink: Altenew - Pink Diamond, Volcano Lake; Versafine Clair - Nocturne

And here is Michelle's gorgeous card, I loved the simplicity of it...

I think you can clearly see how I CASED this one...an ink blended central shape, a linear stamped image and a sentiment.

  

I'm now off to visit Michelle to see which of my cards she chose to CASE.  You can find her post, here.

Thank you so much for taking a look and thank you once again to Michelle for inviting me to take part.  Why not take a look through Michelle's feed, she has had lots of crafty friends joining in so far and more to come.

CASEing cards is a great way to craft if you need a creative nudge, just remember to give credit to the original designer.

Uniko October/November 2024 Reveal, Release, Brand Ambassador Blog Hop & Giveaway!

Good morning!

It's release day over at Uniko and I'm here to reveal the whole release and share another card.

Here's the final card I made and I used the new Big & Bold Joy stamp set, along with the Plaid stencils which were part of the Picked Posies collection which was exclusive to Craft Stash but no longer available... 

I wanted to go with traditional Christmas red and green but wanted to use muted shades so I inked up the plaid background in a pink and soft green.  Then on a die cut panel, I simply stamped various elements from the Big & Bold Joy set and adhered the panel on 3D foam.

Materials used:

• Stamps: Uniko - Big & Bold Joy
• Stencils: Uniko - Picked Posies Plaid
• Ink: Distress Ink: Worn Lipstick, Bundled Sage; Altenew - Forest Glades, Coral Berry; Versafine Clair - Nocturne
• Die: MFT Die-namics - Wonky Stitched Rectangle Stax

So, now to reveal the new and reintroduced products in full.

Reintroducing...Christmas Pop clear stamp set...

and Pure Florals Poinsettia clear stamp set...

And the new addition to the Background Blocks series of stamps...Background Blocks Snow Flurry...

The new addition to the Big & Bold sets...Big & Bold Joy...

and finally, another new set to join the Framed series...Framed Fairy Lights...

So, lots of festive inspiration for you in this release.  Be sure to leave some comment love either on the Brand Ambassador blogs or social media.  You can find all the links over at the Uniko blog, here.

There is a giveaway too, go over to the Uniko blog post and use the links to each of the Brand Ambassadors' posts.  Just comment along the way for a chance to win the whole release.

The products are available from the Uniko store now, here.  Happy shopping!

Thanks for visiting today.