Uniko Brand Ambassador Inspiration - Snowflake Serenade

Hi there

I'm over on the Uniko blog today, here, sharing some cards using the Snowflake Serenade Clear Stamp Set.

You can find all the information on how these were made over on the Uniko post but here they are, along with the supplies used...

Materials used:

• Stamps: Uniko - Snowflake Serenade, Rustic Christmas
• Ink: VersaMark; Distress Ink - Rustic Wilderness
• Embossing Powder: Wow! - Metallic Gold Rich
• Die: MFT Die-namics - Wonky Stitched Rectangles Stax

My second card...

Materials used:

• Stamps: Uniko - Snowflake Serenade
• Ink: Altenew - Dust; Distress Oxide - Tumbled Glass, Broken China, Prize Ribbon; Versafine Clair - Nocturne
• Water
• Gems from stash

And my final make...

Materials used:

• Stamps: Uniko - Snowflake Serenade, Background Builders Winter Wonderland
• Ink: Versafine Clair - Nocturne
• Glitter: Sweet Poppy - Super Fine Satin Glitter in Moss Green and Light Blue

Thanks so much for stopping by, I hope you have a lovely week.

 

Uniko October/November Stencil Release - Introducing...Flower Power #6

Good morning

It's day two of the stencil introductions for the latest mini release coming up from Uniko.

Bev is introducing another fab stencil to join the Flower Power series, this time it's #6, featuring the familiar rose design.  This one features the background solid images and the detailed roses, as well leaves, and also comes with masks of the solid images.

I kept my first card really simple but used something I've not used for a long time...texture paste...

I die cut a stitched rectangle from some linen cardstock and then mixed a little Distress Ink with white texture paste, before spreading it through the largest rose.  While still wet I sprinkled on some super fine glitter.  Before completely dry I gently pressed the glitter into the paste to ensure it was adhered.  When dry I inked through the leaves with Distress Oxide ink.  It would have been easier to do those first! I finished with a sentiment in black ink, from the Simply Said stamp set.

Materials used:

• Stencil: Uniko - Flower Power #6
• Stamps: Uniko - Simply Said
• Ink: Distress Ink - Scattered Straw; Distress Oxide - Cracked Pistachio; Versafine Clair - Nocturne
• Die: Create a Smile - Cool Cuts Double Stitched Rectangles
• Embossing Paste: Dreamweaver
• Accents: Sweet Poppy - Super Fine Satin Glitter - Crystalina Rainbow

And for my second I layered up the solid and detailed images...

I inked up the solid rose image first, then used a darker ink to add the detailed rose.  I also did the same with the leaves before die cutting with a pierced square die.  This was then mounted onto a larger square, die cut from deep pink cardstock.  I then finished with a stamped sentiment from the Pure Florals Rose stamp set.

Materials used:

• Stencil: Uniko - Flower Power #6
• Stamp: Uniko - Pure Florals Rose
• Ink: Distress Ink - Worn Lipstick, Festive Berries, Bundled Sage, Rustic Wilderness; Versafine Clair - Nocturne
• Dies: MFT Die-namics - Pierced Square Stax

Please do pop over to the main Uniko blog, here, to see this new stencil in action, with some awesome projects from Bev and the Brand Ambassadors.

The new stencils will be available to purchase from the Uniko website from 3 November at 9.00am GMT.  Bev is also doing a Giveaway so pop along to the blogs of each member of the team and leave a comment for a chance to win the stencils.

I'll be back with more tomorrow, using the final two stencils from this release.

Less is More Challenge #455

Good morning

Apologies that it's been two whole weeks since I last posted here, life just becomes busy sometimes and I haven't found time to craft and share.

As we have five Saturdays's in October, Less is More have an extra Lucky Dip challenge for you starting today.  So, I'll get straight to the cue card for this one...

I thought I'd make a card using just dies for this one, it's been a while since I didn't reach for my stamps but I enjoyed making this one...

I began by raiding my stash and fishing out some different white cardstocks.  For some background interest I chose a linen cardstock for my main die cut panel.  I then die cut the poinsettia ribbon from some off-white pearlescent cardstock, i thought that would showcase the detail on the flower, and the Merry Christmas frame was die cut from some white glitter cardstock.  After adhering the panel to the card base I adhered the poinsettia ribbon, leaving the flower without any adhesive at this point.  I then adhered the frame, gently lifting the flower petals through, which I then finally adhered using some glue dots for a little dimension.  To finish, I added some glitter jewels to the centre of the flower.

Materials used:

• Dies: Create a Smile - Cool Cuts Double Stitched Rectangles; Poppy Stamps - Poinsettia Ribbon; MFT Die-namics - Merry Christmas Circle Frame
• Cardstock: a selection from my stash
• Accents: Cosmic Shimmer Glitter Jewels - Iced Snow

Challenge entries:

Happy Little Stampers - October Anything Goes with Dies Challenge

Happy Little Stampers - October Christmas Challenge - Anything Goes

Thanks so much for taking a look today.  I'm hoping to get some cards made this weekend, I really need to make a start on my Christmas cards or it will be the usual mad panic at the end of November when I realise I still need about 70 more!

Enjoy your weekend, folks x

Less is More Challenge #442

Good morning

I'm feeling very chilled this morning as it's the start of my first week off work this year.  Not much planned as we're still in partial lockdown here in the UK but some restrictions have been lifted so I should be able to get out and about, and no alarms are required so that's good enough for me.

Ok, this morning I'm introducing the new Theme challenge over at Less is More which will run for the next fortnight.  Here's the theme...

I decided to give one of my stamp sets it's first inking and chose this cute little crab...

I began by stamping the crab and then inking up another to use as a mask.  With him covered up I then masked a slim strip and inked this up to create the sand of the seabed, then shifted the masking to enable me to then ink up the water, before inking heavier over the top through a sun rays stencil.  I removed all the masks then coloured the crab with Copics.  Next I stamped the sentiment before die cutting the panel with a scalloped rectangle die.

I have been after this set of dies from Create a Smile for sooooo long.  It is so difficult to find rectangular dies which are designed in the correct ratio for UK/European A6 cards.  Most are American brands which are made to work with A2 notecards so you're left with an uneven border.  Create a Smile have really reasonable shipping charges and I received my parcel from Germany within two days!  Certainly worth checking out for those of you who use A6 card bases.

Next I made some dots on the seabed with a Quickie Glue pen before sprinkling with glitter and then used a white gel pen to add some subtle twinkles to the water.

Materials used:

• Stamps: Clearly Besotted - Water Plushies
• Ink: Memento - Tuxedo Black; Versafine - Onyx Black; Distress Ink - Pumice Stone, Tea Dye, Peacock Feathers, Mermaid Lagoon
• Stencil: Clearly Besotted - Sunny Day
• Coloured with Copics: R20, R22, R14
• Die: Create a Smile - Cool Cuts Scalloped Rectangles
• Accents: Nuvo Pure Sheen Glitter - Rose Gold; Sakura White Gelly Roll 08 pen

Thanks so much for visiting today.  I hope you all enjoy your weekend and to those in the UK, happy Bank Holiday!

Age Gets Better with Wine

Hi there

This is another card I made in December but didn't get around to sharing with you.  It was for a friend whose birthday was right after Christmas.  It's one of those you have to remember to post in good time and take into account the bank holidays!

Oh, and I've just noticed that this is in fact my 1000th post on my blog!  That's a lot of waffling! lol

I masked all four edges of the card base with tape and then blended the background in three shades of Distress Oxide ink.  I then die cut the wine glass and the 'cheers' once from silver glitter cardstock and again from fun foam.  I adhered these together to add dimension and adhered to the background.  To finish I stamped the sentiment on a flag sentiment strip.

Materials used:

• Ink: Distress Oxides - Cracked Pistachio, Mermaid Lagoon, Wilted Violet; Versafine - Onyx Black
• Dies: Reverse Confetti - Clink; MFT Die-namics - Stitched Sentiment Strips
• Stamp: Clearly Besotted - Laugh Out Loud Again
• Glitter cardstock from stash

Challenge entries:

Addicted to Stamps and More - Challenge #398 - Birthdays

Uniko - 9th Birthday Celebration Challenge

I'll be back on Saturday morning with an exciting post, please check back for more info :)

Stencilled Snowflake

Hi guys

I'm almost there with sharing all my 2020 Christmas makes, just one more after this one.

I decided on another square card base for this one as I think it worked best with this large stencil and the symmetry if the design.

This is a lovely metal stencil from Sweet Poppy Stencils.  I inked through it with pastel shades of Distress Ink then trimmed the panel down and matted it onto no-shed silver glitter cardstock and then adhered flat to the card base.  I added glue dots to various parts of the design with a glue pen and added some fine glitter.  To finish I stamped and heat embossed the sentiment on vellum which I wrapped around a strip of more of the glitter cardstock and adhered this on 3D foam in the centre.

Materials used:

• Stencil: Sweet Poppy - Mehndi Snowflake
• Ink: Distress Ink: Spun Sugar, Shaded Lilac, Salty Ocean; VersaMark
• Stamp: Clearly Besotted - Tiny Type
• Embossing Powder: Brutus Monroe - Alabaster White
• Accents: Sweet Poppy Superfine Satin Glitter - Crystalina Rainbow
• Vellum and cardstock from stash

Challenge entries:

Allsorts Challenge - Week 603/4 - Sparkle & Shine

Use Your Stuff - Challenge #412 - Winter/Snow/Christmas

Uniko - Challenge #62 - 'Tis the Season (Option: Sparkle)

NBUS - Challenge #21 - First use of this stencil

Thanks so much for taking a look, back again soon :)

Snow Angels

Hi there

This evening I'm sharing a cute little Christmas card that I made for my neighbour.  I got my hands on this fab little set from a destash sale and I'm so glad I did.  My neighbour has a cat and two house rabbits so this was perfect!

I die cut a panel with a stitched rectangle die and then began by stamping the snow shapes and the footprints with pale blue ink.  Next I stamped the bunnies, the cat and the sentiment in black ink and coloured the image with Copics.  The panel was adhered to the card base on fun foam and then I finished by adding some glue to the snow shapes and footprints with a glue pen and sprinkled with super fine glitter.

Materials used:

• Die: Create a Smile - Cool Cuts Double Stitched Rectangles
• Stamps: Mama Elephant - Snow Angels
• Ink: Altenew - Sea Glass; Memento - Tuxedo Black
• Coloured with Copic markers
• Accents: Sweet Poppy Superfine Satin Glitter - Crystalina Rainbow

Challenge entries:

Sweet Stampin' Challenge - Last Minute Christmas

NBUS - Challenge #21 - First use of new stamp set

Thanks for visiting today.  It's back to work for me tomorrow but I'll still be back to share more projects before the new year.

Perfectly CAS - June 2020 Challenge

Hi there

It's time for the June challenge at Perfectly CAS, I'll get straight to it with the cue word for this month...

There are lots of directions you can go in for the word 'sparkle'.  I chose diamonds as my theme which led me to making an engagement card.  I also added some sparkly elements to my design...

Although a really simple card, this one did take a little time to ensure the placement was right.  The letters were die cut from rose gold low shed glitter cardstock and I began by drawing a pencil line towards the bottom of my card base before adding the letters.  I adhered the letters slightly above the guideline to allow room to erase it afterwards.  I adhered all the letters apart from the 'C', stamped and heat embossed the ring in silver, then adhered the 'C'.  To finish I coloured in the ring with a silver pen, coloured the diamond using a very pale blue/grey ProMarker and added some final bling with a sparkle pen.

Materials used:

• Dies: Lil' Inker Designs - Mixed and Stitched Alphabet
• Stamps: Lawn Fawn - Happy Wedding
• Ink: VersaMark
• Embossing Powder: Wow! - Metallic Silver
• Accents: Signo Uniball pigment pen - Silver; ProMarker - Dove Grey; Spectrum Noir sparkle pen - Clear

Thanks so much for visiting.  If you pop over to the main challenge blog you will find lots of inspiration from my fellow teamies, and also there is a note from Kylie.  After this June challenge there will be a six month break.  Kylie runs many challenges as has been doing so for eight years so understandably, she is taking a well deserved break!  We will be back so please do keep a look out for more information at the end of the year.

Less is More Challenge #418

Good morning

I do believe it's Saturday!  Although I'm working from home at the moment I keep completely losing track of my days, I'm sure you're all the same.

If it is indeed Saturday then it's time for the new challenge at Less is More.  We have a Recipe challenge for you this time, and here is the cue card...

We also have some wonderful news....we have not one, not two, but THREE NEW DESIGN TEAMIES!  So please pop on over to the main Less is More page, here, to see who they are.  Welcome to the team, folks!


Ok, on to my sample card, and this is a bit different for me...

This was my second attempt at making this, there was a bit of trial and error involved!  I wanted to use one of my new Clearly Besotted stencils to create the drips of an ice cream topping.  I'm clearly thinking about food far too much while in lockdown, eh!  To create the chocolate waffle cone I used brown cardstock and an embossing folder then trimmed it into a cone shape.  The ice cream was a little trickier...I ended up using pearlescent pale pink cardstock which I partially cut with a cloud die and then partially cut the rest with a round balloon die.  It's far from perfect but I think it worked out ok.  I then used part of a splat in the stencil which I blended through first with pink ink before topping with embossing paste and then sprinkling with glitter.  Once dry, all that was left to do was mount it on a panel, trim off the bottom of the cone, stamp the sentiment and pop the panel up on 3D foam.

Materials used:

• Dies: Create a Smile - Cool Cuts Double Stitched Rectangles; MFT Die-namics - Cloud Trio and Blueprints 26 (partial dies used)
• Embossing Folder: Darice - Wire Fence
• Stencil: Clearly Besotted - Splat It
• Stamp: Clearly Besotted - Sweet Plushies
• Ink: Distress Ink - Festive Berries; Versa Color - Camelia
• Embossing Paste: Sweet Poppy - Stencil Dimensions Translucent
• Accents: Super Fine Satin Glitter in Crystalina Rainbow
• Cardstock from stash

Challenge entries

Addicted to Stamps and More - Challenge #386 - Anything Goes
Happy Little Stampers - April Anything Goes with Dies Challenge






Hopefully this theme will give you lots of options for themes and techniques you can use.  Looking forward to seeing your creations in our gallery.  And if you need some more inspiration, there's plenty over at the LIM challenge blog, just follow my teamies' links for more info on each of their cards.

Winter Wonderland Walkies

Hi there

Back again with two very similar cards, and using more Card-io stamps that I just love for winter cards.

This first card was made for my bestie, she became mum to a puppy earlier this year which was my inspiration for this design...

On a die cut panel I masked a curve with some scrap paper and blended the sky and sunrise.  With the mask still in place I stamped the fir trees using first, second and third generation stamping for some depth.  Using the mask again I blended a little colour at the base of where my images would be, and then stamped the dog walker, the tree and the sentiment.  I then used a glue pen to add some glitter to the slope of the hill.  To finish I sprinkled on some embossing enamel for the snow.

The next card I made for my brother and sister-in-law, who recently re-homed two beautiful dogs...

This card was made in exactly the same way, just using a few different stamps and these little images were perfect for what I wanted.  And I've only just noticed I forgot to add the embossing enamel for the snow!

Materials used:

• Stamps: Card-io - Mini Tall Trees, Winter Trees, Festive Fun; Winter Wonderland - free with Simply Cards and Papercraft magazine (sentiment on Card 1); Enchanted Corner - free with Papercraft Essentials magazine (sentiment on Card 2)
• Ink: Versa Color - Neptune, Orange, Marigold; Versafine - Onyx Black
• Accents: Cosmic Shimmer Diamond Frost - Frosty Dawn; Stampendous - Chunky White Deep Impression Embossing Enamel

Challenge entries:

Crafty Hazelnut's Christmas Challenge - Challenge #470 - Anything Goes

Christmas with the Cuties - Challenge #34 - Christmas Cuties

Creative Inspirations - December Challenge - Festive Fun!

Happy Little Stampers - December Christmas Challenge - Anything Goes

STAMPlorations - December CAS Cards Challenge - Anything Goes

Just one more Christmas card to share with you from my 2019 makes, I'll be back with that one very soon.  I'd love for you to pop back x