Uniko Brand Ambassador Inspiration - 3 Stamp Sets 1, One-Layer Card

Good morning

I'm back with some Uniko Brand Ambassador Inspiration today.

I was recently tasked with making an 18th birthday card for my godson and masculine cards are the kind I find the most difficult, so to make one for an older teenager was even more daunting!  I had a rummage through my Uniko stash and decided to combine three stamp sets: Big & Bold Happy, Background Blocks Halftone and Explosion!

And other than the number dies I adhered, this is a completely flat, one layer card with all the elements stamped directly on the card base.  For full details of how this was made, take a look at my post over on the Uniko blog, here.

Materials used:

• Stamps: Uniko - Big & Bold Happy, Background Blocks Halftone, Explosion!
• Ink: Altenew - Autumn Blaze, Nimbus, Olive, Vineyard Berry; Versafine Clair - Nocturne
• Dies: Spellbinders - Be Bold Lowercase Alphabet and Numbers

I was really pleased with how this one turned out and I hope this gives you some inspiration for those trickier masculine designs.

Enjoy the rest of your week, and with the Easter weekend approaching we are already past the halfway point of the working week.  Mustn't grumble, eh!  I hope you have some lovely plans for the long weekend.

 

Uniko July/August 2023 Release - Introducing...Mid Century Modern Christmas

Good morning

It's Day Two of the introductions for the new release from Uniko. 

Here we have another set which is a great add-on set for the Mid Century Modern series...Mid Century Modern Christmas.

I'll get straight to it with my first make...

I began by stamping the tree three times, masking to be able to stamp behind.  And I also used one of the shapes from the Mid Century Modern Shapes Stencil to add the shading under the trees.  The trees were coloured with Copics and I then stamped the large sentiment from the set and finished with the stars atop the trees.

Materials used:

• Stamps: Uniko - Mid Century Modern Christmas
• Stamp: Uniko - Mid Century Modern Shapes
• Ink: Memento - Tuxedo Black; Distress Ink - Pumice Stone; Versafine Clair - Nocturne
• Coloured with Copics

And for my second card I combined the set with a stamp from the existing Background Builders Winter Wonderland set...

I stamped the snow from the Winter Wonderland set in VersaMark and heat embossed in white across the top of a die cut panel of kraft cardstock.  I then stamped the tree, the parcels and the star from this new Mid Century Modern Christmas set and also heat embossed these in white.  I added a little white colouring using water and a white Inktense pencil, then added the dots on the parcel using a white gel pen.  The sentiment is from another new set which will be introduced in a few days time.

Materials used:

• Stamps: Uniko - Background Builders Winter Wonderland; Mid Century Modern Christmas
• Ink: VersaMark; Derwent - Inktense White
• Embossing Powder: Wow! - Opaque Bright White
• Dies: Create a Smile - Cool Cuts Double Stitched Rectangles; Spellbinders - Nestabilities Classic Ovals

I hope you're enjoying these introductions.  There will be plenty more over the next few days.  Please do pop over to the main Uniko blog, here, for more inspiration from the rest of the team

The new products will be available to purchase from the Uniko website from 6 August at 9.00am BST.

I'll be back with more inspiration tomorrow using a fab new stencil.

Bears and Balloons

Hi there

Today I'm sharing a card I was commissioned to make for a friend for her daughter's wedding.  The special day was yesterday so I'm safe to share it online now!

The request was for it to be A5 (UK sizing) as it was a special card so this is twice the size of the normal A6 size I usually make.  As a CAS cardmaker I do struggle to fill an A5 space but I think I made it work here.

She asked for something cute and with balloons and the wedding colours were subtle pink and purple so this is what I came up with...

I've had this cute stamp in my stash for about ten years!  I've only used it once before but it's perfect for a cute wedding card.  I stamped the bears first, coloured them with Copics then masked them off before stencilling the layered balloons behind using Distress Inks.  Once dry I then stamped the heart clusters and heat embossed in silver.  I printed the sentiment onto white paper (my printer struggles to take cardstock), so to solve this I then adhered it to some white cardstock before die cutting with a curvy rectangle die.  A wrapped some lilac ribbon across the panel, securing on the reverse before topping with the sentiment die cut.  The whole panel was then adhered to the card base on fun foam and to finish I added some shimmer to the champagne glasses using a sparkle pen, you can just about see it in the photo below.

Materials used:

• Stamps: Stampavie - Bubbly Bears; Uniko - Balloon Bash
• Stencil: MFT - Big Balloons
• Ink: Memento - Tuxedo Black; Distress Ink - Kitsch Flamingo, Spun Sugar, Dusty Concord, Shaded Lilac; VersaMark
• Embossing Powder: Wow! - Metallic Silver
• Die: Spellbinders - Reverse Wonky Rectangles
• Coloured with Copics
• Accents: Spectrum Noir Sparkle Pen - Clear

Challenge entries:

STAMPlorations - June Stencil Challenge - Anything Goes

Happy Little Stampers - June Stencil Challenge - Anything Goes

Thanks for looking, enjoy the rest of your weekend whatever you're up to.

Guest Designer for Honey Doo Crafts - Bonus Card!

Hi guys

I have one more card to share which I made at the same time as my Guest Designer cards for Honey Doo Crafts, and using one of the stamps from the Brush Strokes set.

My inspiration for this card came from a beautiful photograph that my brother took last month, of the Hunters Moon rising over Torbay, taken from our home town of Torquay in South Devon.  I've included his photograph below my card photos.

I decided to use one of the brush stroke images to mimic the coast, but had to flip the photograph left to right because of the orientation of the stamp. 

Here's my card...

I began by die cutting a small circle from a post-it note and used the negative mask to blend the moon first with Distress Inks.  I then used the circle die cut mask to cover the moon and blended the background, then added another post-it horizontally to blend the line of the horizon with a darker shade.  I then used black ink to stamp the brush stroke 'coastline'. 

All that was left to do was die cut the inked panel and mat it popped up on another die cut frame and adhere to the card base.  I decided to leave this one sentiment free.

Materials used:

• Ink: Distress Ink - Ripe Persimmon, Squeezed Lemonade, Blueprint Sketch, Faded Jeans; Versafine - Onyx Black
• Stamp: Honey Doo - Brush Strokes
• Dies: Hero Arts - Circle Infinity Dies; Spellbinders - Classic Rectangles

And here is my inspiration, my brother's beautiful capture of the Hunters Moon...

If you are interested in photography you can find his Facebook page, here.

Thanks for your visit, I'll be back tomorrow morning with details of the next Less is More challenge.  Bye for now :) x

Spellbinders - Designer Series: Flower Garden

Hi guys

I was recently contacted by the fabulous Yana Smakula on behalf of Spellbinders asking if I would like to receive some Spellbinders goodies in the mail to play with.

Of course, I didn't hesitate in saying yes so today I'm sharing a couple of cards I've made using some dies from the Flower Garden collection.

First up is a card using the Spellbinders Flower Garden Floral Panel Card Etched Dies...

I'm loving the blush shade trend right now so chose that for this card.  I die cut the main blush panel using the gorgeous floral frame and outline dies.  The cardstock I chose was from a set of blush and grey shades so I chose one of the mid grey tones to cover my card base.  I wrapped some blush toned organza ribbon around the panel before adhering flat to the base then die cut the tag from the same die set from the same grey cardstock and heat embossed the sentiment in white (this particular embossing powder is a very creamy white so co-ordinates well with the blush tone).  The tag was then popped up on 3D foam.

Materials used:

• Dies: Spellbinders - Designer Series Flower Garden: Floral Panel Card
• Cardstock: Papermania - Midnight Blush
• Stamp: Clearly Besotted - Scrumptious Script
• Ink: VersaMark
• Embossing Powder: Stampin' Up - White
• Organza ribbon from stash

Challenge entries:

Happy Little Stampers - May Challenge - Anything Goes with Dies

Next up is a card using some dies from the same Flower Garden Series, this time the Corner Floral Etched Dies...

I began by adhering some patterned paper to my card base.  Next I took a panel of white cardstock and die cut the scalloped border using a Spellbinders Edgeabilities die that's been in my stash for years, the Classic Scallop.  I then chose to use the inlaid die technique and die cut the rose and leaves from the panel.  Using a separate piece of cardstock I blended with Distress Ink and then die cut these out and replaced the pieces into the main panel, using an adhesive sheet on the reverse.  All that was left to do was to stamp the sentiment and then adhere the panel onto the card base using 3D foam.

Materials used:

• Dies: Spellbinders - Designer Series Flower Garden: Corner Floral, Edgeabilities: Classic Scallop
• Patterned Paper: Dovecraft - Garden Party
• Stamp: Clearly Besotted - Say It With Flowers
• Ink: Versafine - Onyx Black; Distress Ink - Worn Lipstick, Peeled Paint

Challenge entries:

AAA Cards - CAS Game #115 - Inspired by Nature
Allsorts - Week 467 - In The Pink
Time Out - Challenge #109 - Inspired by Words





Thanks for visiting today and I hope you've had a lovely weekend.  It's back to work for me tomorrow after a lovely week off taking a few days out here and there, and for once the weather has been great for the most part.  Let's hope it stays that way as it was a long time coming!

Bye for now. 

Less is More Week #319

Good morning, crafters

It's time for the challenge that gives many of us sweaty palms!  That's right, it's One Layer week over at Less is More and this time our theme is leaves.

I managed three cards for you this week and had fun making all of them! The leaves theme/one layer week combo actually works really well.

Ok, here's my first, although I was having a nightmare with the lighting.  I had to use my daylight lamp but this one looks completely washed out.  Photography isn't my strong point!

I used my Mini MISTI for the stamping on this card as I knew I was going to need to re-stamp.  The top and bottom images were done one at a time as I had to leave the stamp in position.  So I stamped once in white pigment ink.  Once dry I coloured in some details with a blue coloured pencil and then restamped in the white ink to re-establish the detail of the image.  The sentiment was stamped in a co-ordinating blue shade and that was it.

Materials used:

• Stamps: Clearly Besotted - Magnolia Blooms; Altenew - Thinking of You
• Ink: Hero Arts - Unicorn; Versa Color - Atlantic

Challenge entry

CAS-ual Fridays - Challenge #169 - Off the Edge





I used one of my favourite layouts for my next card, masking is a great way to add a sentiment strip to a one layer card...

I adhered some masking tape across my card and then blended up and down from it with some Distress Ink, gently fading it out.  With the tape still in place I stamped the leaves and flourishes.  The mask was then removed and the sentiment stamped in black.

Materials used:

• Stamps: Marion Emberson Designs - Just Because; Altenew - Thinking of You
• Ink: Distress Ink - Dried Marigold; Versa Color - Evergreen, Green Tea, Split Pea, Lauren Leaf, Cement; Versafine - Onyx Black

Challenge entries:

Stamping Sensations - March Challenge - Close to Nature

For my final card I added some interest by embossing my card base with a die...

I embossed my card base with an oval die using a rubber mat with my Big Shot.  I then cut the same oval from a scrap of cardstock and used this as a mask so I could blend the background.  I used my heat gun to ensure the ink was dry, and used some anti static powder before stamping the sprig of leaves in VersaMark and heat embossing in gold.  I then added a little water to the berries with a paint brush and blotted away the colour to make the berries appear lighter in colour.  Finally, the sentiment was stamped below in black.

Materials used:

• Die: Spellbinders Nestabilities - Classic Ovals
• Ink: Distress Ink - Aged Mahogany; VersaMark; Versafine - Onyx Black
• Stamps: Stampin' Up - Simply Sketched; Altenew - Beautiful Day
• Embossing Powder: Wow! - Metallic Gold Rich

Challenge entries:

Addicted to Stamps and More - Challenge #232 - Make Your Mark (sponged ink blending)

Thanks so much for stopping by today.  And if you have the time, why not take a little hop around my teamies' blogs for more inspiration, I'm sure they would love a visit from you.

Have a great weekend!

Less is More Week #298

Hi there

It's new challenge time over at Less is More and this week we have a Theme for you which should give you lots of options.  We would like to see...

Incy Wincy Spiders / Insects

I've got two cards to share with you...

I chose this cute little bee for my first card and used it as part of my sentiment.  I stamped the bee, then masked it before gently blending the honeycomb background through a stencil.  I then positioned and stamped the sentiment in black.  The bee was then coloured with pencils and a little clear Wink of Stella added to its wings.  The panel was popped up on 3D foam.

Materials used:

• Stamps: Clearly Besotted - Cute as a Bug, Sugar & Spice
• Stencil: Imagination Crafts - Hexagons
• Ink: Distress Ink - Wild Honey, Mustard Seed; Versafine - Onyx Black
• Coloured with Derwent Coloursoft pencils
• Accents: Wink of Stella - Clear

Challenge entries:

CAS Colours & Sketches - Sketch Challenge #195

Virginia's View - Challenge #24 - Focal Point

And what better than a Halloween card for our spider theme...

I started with a panel of white cardstock and blended some purple Distress Ink fading out from one corner.  I then die cut this with a wonky rectangle die.  I stamped the spider and sentiment next in charcoal and black ink.  I wanted to add a spider web but didn't have a stamp or stencil in my stash so I used a Quickie glue pen to draw the web and then sprinkled over some fine glitter.  I then added some splatters in green and orange before mounting the panel on 3D foam onto a black card base.

I don't know why but very often my purples seem to look bluer in photographs.  And the glitter is super sparkly in real life which I really struggle to capture.

Materials used:

• Stamps: Clearly Besotted - In Print, Message Me
• Ink: Versa Color - Charcoal; Versafine - Onyx Black; Distress Ink - Wilted Violet, Twisted Citron, Carved Pumpkin
• Die: Spellbinders Nestabilities - Reverse Wonky Rectangles
• Accents: Quickie Glue Pen; Cosmic Shimmer Diamond Frost - Frosty Dawn

Challenge entries:

Simply Create Too - Challenge #120 - Halloween
The Male Room - Challenge #46 - Halloween
Just Add Ink - Challenge #333 - Just Add 'G' (Glue and Glitter)
CASology - Challenge #219 - Spooky
Fantasy Stampers - Challenge #73 - Black Magic





My teamies have created some wonderful projects this week so why not pop over to the challenge blog if you need some inspiration. This theme has great scope so I can't wait to see what you create this week.

Happy Little Stampers November 2015 CAS Challenge

Hi there

Well, we're at the beginning of another month and that means it's new CAS Challenge time at Happy Little Stampers.  We have another great technique challenge for you, here it is...

This challenge is sponsored by

and one lucky winner will receive this fabulous stamp set!

For my DT card I decided to go super CAS and I love how it turned out...

I knew this challenge would be coming up so while I was at a craft show in the summer I treated myself to a little gilding flakes starter kit by Honey Doo Crafts.  It's got everything you need to get started.  There are lots of different shades of flakes but as I'd never used them before I just went with their one tone gold, Golden Sands.

I stamped the bauble and sentiment with the mixed media glue onto some deep red cardstock, followed the instructions that came with the kit and voila....here's a closer look.

I then simply die cut the image with a rectangle die and mounted this onto my card base with 3D foam.  I almost went for a black card base but I think the red and gold looks quite classy on the white.  What do you think?

Materials used:

• Stamps: Marion Emberson Designs - Sparkling Christmas; Happy Little Stampers - Mixed Christmas Sentiments
• Gilding Flakes: Honey Doo Crafts - Golden Sands (together with starter kit)
• Die: Spellbinders Nestabilities - Classic Rectangles

I'm going to link this card up at the following challenges:

Merry Monday - Challenge #178 - Red and Gold
Crazy 4 Challenges - Challenge #310 - Christmas
Crafty Hazelnut's Christmas Challenge - Challenge #253 - It's Time to Sing (The First Noel)
Crafty Hazelnut's Christmas Challenge - Challenge Extra for November - Anything Goes

My teamies over at Happy Little Stampers have created some wonderful cards for this challenge, if you have the time please drop by and see what they've made, you won't be disappointed.  And we also have a Guest Designer joining us this month, the fabulous Karen Mead of Made by Meadie.  Please stop by her blog and show her some love, her card is amazing!

And you don't need to use gilding flakes for this challenge.  There are lots of ways to add gilding and there is some help for you over at the challenge blog, here, if you are unsure.  There is a definition and some tutorials for you.  I can't wait to see your creations this month.

It's All About the Boys

Good Morning!

It's time for yet another new challenge at Less is More, where on earth are these weeks going?  We're back with a Theme challenge for you this week and it's certainly one that I always struggle with, we want your creations to be.....

Masculine

Please remember to keep your creations clean and simple

So, without further ado, here are some examples for you...

A while ago I received a lovely gesture from the very sweet Barb Ghig of Barb's Studio Creations. She had seen a comment I had made about not being able to get hold of Papertrey Ink products in the UK without paying really high shipping costs so she very sweetly sent me lots, and I mean lots (!!!), of die cut images, all by Papertrey Ink.  Thanks once again, Barb, you are so so kind!  My stash has been all over the place for a while but I finally used one of them on this card.

I stamped various sunburst images to create the background directly on my card base.  I then used the 'happy' die cut word and coloured it with a black ProMarker and adhered it to the card base.  I stamped the sentiment offset below in black, and a few tiny black gemstones were scattered around before smothering the 'happy' with Glossy Accents.

Materials used:

• Stamps: Clearly Besotted - Sunburst, Sentimental Type
• Die: Papertrey Ink - Wet Paint
• Ink: Versa Color - Topaz, Khaki, Atlantic, Bamboo; Versafine - Onyx Black
• Accents: Glossy Accents; Black gemstones from stash

Challenge entries:

Creative Inspirations - Challenge #331 - Clean and Simple

Crafty Catz - Challenge #297 - Anything Goes

Card two...

I adhered a piece of striped patterned paper to the bottom section of the card.  I then cut a thin strip of blue cardstock and adhered this along the top of the paper to give it a clean edge, and doodled a faux stitched line using a black fineliner pen.  The celebrate flag is from a free set I recently received from Clearly Besotted and this was stamped at the top in black ink and a few co-ordinating Doodlebug Sprinkles were added to finish.

Materials used:

• Patterned Paper: Hot Off The Press - Cardmakers Ultimate Pack (years old!)
• Stamp: Clearly Besotted - Flag Sentiments
• Ink: Versafine - Onyx Black
• Accents: Derwent Graphik Line Maker pen; Doodlebug Sprinkles - Blue Jean, Limeade and Bon Bon

Challenge entry:

A Gem of a Challenge - Challenge #155 - Spots and/or Stripes

And finally, one for the younger male...

I'm always lacking in my stock of these cards so thought this was a good opportunity to make one!  I used a rectangle die to cut out a piece of polka dot patterned paper and adhered this flat to my card base.  I stamped the train, die cut with its co-ordinating die, and then coloured it in with ProMarkers.  The train was then popped up on 3D foam and the sentiment from the same set stamped below.

Materials used:

• Die: Spellbinders Nestabilities - Classic Rectangles; Clearly Besotted - Going Places
• Patterned Paper: Doodlebug - Kraft in Color paper pad
• Stamps: Clearly Besotted - Going Places
• Ink: Memento - Tuxedo Black
• Coloured with ProMarkers

If you have the time, please pop by my teamies' personal blogs where they will be sharing more inspiration with you.  I'm looking forward to seeing your creations in the gallery this week to give ME some inspiration for masculine cards!

Bye for now

Addicted to Stamps and More #162

Hi there

I'm here to introduce you to this week's new challenge just starting over at Addicted to Stamps and More.  This week we are back with one of our regular themes which is...

Make Your Mark

Your entry must contain the use of anything that can make a mark such as markers, painting, chalks, watercollours, sponges, etc.

Our Sponsor for this week's challenge is QKR Stampede who are offering a prize of 3 digis for one lucky winner.

Here's my DT card...

I cut a white cardstock panel slightly smaller than the card base and used a circular die to cut an aperture.  I knew I wanted to use markers and although my card base is good quality alcohol markers tend to bleed on it so on a piece of Neenah Solar White cardstock I drew around the die to indicate the area in which I was going to stamp my scene.  I recently purchased the Woodland Kisses set from Clearly Besotted and the images are sooooo cute so I couldn't wait to ink it up.  I stamped one image at a time then cut a mask of each before stamping the next so I could make my images appear to be behind each other.  With all the masks still in place I used my ink dusters with Memento inks to create the sky and the grass.  I cut the stamped piece down a little to sit behind my panel and adhered to the card base.  I then stamped the sentiment on the top panel before adhering flat over the top.

Materials used:

• Die: Spellbinders Nestabilities - Nested Circles
• Stamps: Clearly Besotted - Woodland Kisses and For Everyone
• Ink: Memento - Tuxedo Black, Summer Sky, Cottage Ivy; Versafine - Onyx Black
• Coloured with ProMarkers and FlexMarkers

Challenge entries:

Sweet Stampin' Challenge - Make a Scene

Time Out - Challenge #39 - Make your Mark

Moving Along with the Times - Challenge #3 - Cute Animal

D J Kard Kreations - NBUS Challenge #5 (new CBS stamp set)

My teamies at ATSM are sharing some wonderful creations this week so there's plenty of inspiration for you.

Thanks so much for popping by.