Uniko June 2024 Release - Introducing...Flower Power #9

Hi there

It's Day 2 of June release introductions from Uniko and next up is a fantastic set to add to the Flower Power series...Flower Power #9.  This set also works well with a few other products already available from Uniko.

I went super simple with this card, a one layer card with stamping and minimal colouring...

I stamped the flower, stem and leaves in Copic-friendly ink and then coloured them in with co-ordinating Copics.  The remaining images and sentiment were simply stamped and all of these elements are from the new set.

Materials used:

• Stamps: Uniko - Flower Power #9
• Ink: Memento - Cantaloupe, New Sprout; Versafine Clair - Nocturne, Morning Mist
• Coloured with Copics

And for my second card I combined images from the set with a honeycomb embossing folder I had in my stash...

I started by embossing a panel using the embossing folder and then came the time-consuming part.  I stamped the florals and bees inside each of the hexagons and then coloured with Copics.  This was then trimmed down and adhered to the card base.  The sentiment, also from the new set, was stamped and heat embossed in white on a die cut strip of black cardstock.

Materials used:

• Stamps: Uniko - Flower Power #9
• Embossing Folder: Stampin' Up - Honeycomb
• Ink: Memento - Tuxedo Black; VersaMark
• Coloured with Copics
• Embossing Powder: Wow! - Opaque Bright White
• Die: Altenew - Featured Sentiments

There is lots more inspiration over at the Uniko blog, here where the team are sharing their projects.

The entire release will be available to purchase from 9am BST on Saturday 29 June 2024. 

Another introduction will follow tomorrow so, if you have time to pop back, please do take a look.

Uniko: You're Going to Flip - Ink & Flip Geometric Heart Layering Stencil Revisited

Good morning 

More Ink & Flip inspiration for you today from Uniko.

Each day this week, Bev and the Brand Ambassadors are revisiting the existing Ink & Flip stencils, ahead of a new release stencil set which will be available from Saturday.  Be sure to check out the Uniko blog to see lots of inspiration from the team.

So today is all about the Ink & Flip Geometric Heart Layering Stencils.  You can use the two stencils together or just use the central geometric heart on its own.

I have two cards for you today and have used just the central heart on these, and for my first I've kept it super clean and simple...

I inked up using the first side of the stencil with Distress Oxide ink in Speckled Egg.  I then cleaned the stencil, flipped it over and then spread over the stencil using a mix of stencil paste and Distress Oxide ink in Kitsch Flamingo.  This was then left to dry before finishing the card with a sentiment from the Flower Power #3 set in black ink.

Materials used:

• Stencil: Uniko - Ink & Flip Geometric Heart Layering Stencil
• Stamps: Uniko - Flower Power #3 (sentiment)
• Ink: Distress Oxide - Speckled Egg, Kitsch Flamingo; Versafine Clair - Nocturne
• Stencil Paste: Sweet Poppy - Stencil Dimensions in Pearlescent White

For my other card I dug out by Brusho pigment powders...

On some watercolour card I laid the heart stencil down, sprinkled sparingly with purple Brushos and then spritzed with a mist of water to release the pigment.  I removed the stencil and left the pigment to dry, then I flipped the stencil and repeated the process using blue Brushos to complete the heart.  I had a rummage in my coloured papers and found this co-ordinating purple jacquard paper, also with a geometric pattern.  I used a border die, trimmed down the panel and adhered it to the card base, leaving the patterned paper showing at the base.  I finished with a sentiment from the Just Because stamp set.

Materials used:

• Stencil: Uniko - Ink & Flip Geometric Heart Layering stencil
• Stamps: Uniko - Just Because
• Ink: Brushos - Purple, Ultramarine; Versafine Clair - Nocturne
• Dies: Stampin' Up Edgelits - Adorning Accents; Altenew - Featured Sentiments
• Patterned paper from stash

I hope these have given you some inspiration today.  Don't forget to visit the Uniko blog, here, to see the Brand Ambassadors' makes using this stencil set, and we'll be showcasing another tomorrow.

Less is More Challenge #446

Hi there

It's Saturday and time for a new challenge at Less is More, but I'm sure some of you won't be excited to hear that we're back to the dreaded One Layer week! lol

And this time we want to see your one layer creations combined with...

Oooh, this one's a toughy!

Monogram isn't an easy theme and then combined with only being able to use the card base makes it much more tricky.  I was scratching my head for quite a while thinking about what to do and how to produce what I wanted to do for my DT card but, with a little forward planning I managed to create the vision I had in my mind.  Here it is...

I knew I wanted to use this sentiment stamp saying 'friends forever' which has been in my stash, well, forever!  I just had to figure out a way of creating the 'FF' behind it and I certainly don't have any alphabet stamps this large!  So I printed the 'FF' onto some fairly thin paper then drew around the letters on the reverse with a pencil.  Then I scribbled over the front to trace it onto a sheet of masking paper.  I tried to cut the letters out with a craft knife but the masking paper dragged a little so I used some tiny decoupage scissors to cut away the negative space.  The rest was pretty straightforward.  With the masking paper over my card front I ink blended through the letters with light pink ink then stamped the ditsy flowers and leaves, keeping the colours fairly pale.  All that was left to do was remove the mask and stamp the sentiment.

Materials used:

• Stamps: Stampin' Up - Stacks of Wishes (sentiment); Wplus9 - Happy Wishes (tiny images)
• Ink: Distress Ink - Spun Sugar; Altenew - Sea Breeze, Soft Lilac, Minty Mint; Versafine - Onyx Black
• Other: Inkadinkado - Stamping Mask Paper

Please give this challenge a go, with a little forward planning it's not as difficult as you first think.

Christmas Card Multiples - Dasher

Hi there

Sorry it's been a while since my last post.  I've been concentrating on getting my Christmas cards made, written and posted over the last couple of weeks.

Yet again, I left them far too late but I'm now in a position to start sharing them with you so here are the first of my multiple makes this year.

For these one layer cards I used a Stampin' Up wooden stamp I bought second-hand a few years ago...

I used some pale purple card bases here and began by masking off the bottom half and blending up from the centre with purple ink.  With the mask still in place I next stamped the stag image in dark purple ink and, once dry, I blended through a stencil with white ink to create snow.

To finish I stamped the sentiment from a retired stamp set just below the masked line and then added some silver glazed gems to the stag's antlers.

Materials used:

• Stamps: Stampin' Up - Dasher; Clearly Besotted - Signature Christmas 
• Ink: Distress Ink - Dusty Concord; Altenew - Andromeda; Hero Arts - Unicorn; Versafine - Onyx Black
• Stencil: Clearly Besotted - Snowy Day
• Gemstones from stash

Challenge entries:

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

STAMPlorations - December Stencil Challenge - Anything Goes

Sweet Stampin' - Let It Snow

My Time to Craft - Challenge #447 - Monochromatic Christmas

Inkspirational - Challenge #228 - Snow

Thanks so much for taking a look, I'll be back with more very soon.

Happy Little Stampers April 2019 CAS Challenge

Hi guys

Over at Happy Little Stampers the April challenges are kicking off and today it's the turn of the CAS challenge.  Here are the details...

For all the challenge rules please pop over to the main HLS challenge post.

Ok, onto my DT card, and this is the card I sent to my dear mum for Mother's Day, which in the UK took place on Sunday...

This card is purely just masking and stamping.  I masked the base leaving the square exposed.  I began by blending some blue Distress Ink in from the edges of the square.  Next up was the turn of the script stamp which I stamped in grey.  I then stamped the flower which consisted of the outline, the base colour and two further detailed layers.  The linear images were then stamped in black before removing the masks and stamping the sentiment.

Materials used:

• Stamps: Stampin' Up - En Francais; Altenew - Beautiful Day; Clearly Besotted - Brushed Sentiments
• Ink: Distress Ink - Salty Ocean; Memento - London Fog; Altenew - Arctic, Caribbean Sky, Persian Blue; Versafine - Onyx Black

Challenge entries:

My Time to Craft - Challenge #393 - Mother's Day / For a Female

All of the Happy Little Stampers challenges run until the end of the month.  The Watercolour challenge is already live and the rest of the April challenges will launch over the next few days.  I hope you can join in and play along.

Christmas Card Multiples - Shimmering Snowflakes

Hi guys

Today I'm sharing a batch of Christmas card multiples.

For some time I've been making my card bases out of A4 cardstock, cutting to size and scoring myself.  But I still had a box of cards and envelopes in my stash which weren't getting used so for this year's Christmas cards I decided to reach for these for a change.

These card bases are so pretty, in subtle gold and lilac pearlescent card with a gorgeous shimmer.  So I kept with the shimmery theme and added die cut glitter card and metallic heat embossed vellum. 

Here's the gold version...

I die cut the base snowflake from rose gold glitter card and adhered flat to the card base.  The smaller snowflake was stamped on vellum and heat embossed in platinum and die cut with the co-ordinating die.  The sentiment was heat embossed in the same embossing powder on a strip of black cardstock.  This was then adhered on 3D foam holding the vellum snowflake in place.

And the lilac version...

This was made in the same way but with the base snowflake die cut from white glitter card and the vellum snowflake heat embossed in silver sparkle.  The sentiment strip was heat embossed in silver.

Materials used:

• Dies: Stampin' Up! - Festive Flurry
• Stamps: Stampin' Up! - Festive Flurry; Clearly Besotted - Sentimenta; Type
• Ink: VersaMark
• Embossing Powder: Wow! - Metallic Silver, Metallic Platinum, Metallic Silver Sparkle
• Cardstock, glitter cardstock and vellum from stash

Challenge entries:

Sweet Stampin' - Anything Christmas/Last Minute Christmas Cards

Daring Cardmakers - Snowflakes Falling

Happy Little Stampers - December Anything Goes with Dies Challenge

Happy Little Stampers - December Christmas Challenge - Anything Goes (Snow)

Cards in Envy - The Spirit of Christmas Card Challenge

Stamping Sensations - December Challenge - Winter Sparkl

Thanks for visiting :)

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. 

Uniko Challenge #45 - Guest Designer!

Good morning!

After being super lucky and winning the last challenge at Uniko, I'm thrilled to be the Guest Designer for their next challenge starting today!

Below are the details for the next challenge and you can find the link to the main challenge post here.

Over the New Year I was suffering with a flu bug and lovely Bev at Uniko was wonderfully sweet and sent me a gorgeous card along with one of her beautiful stamp sets, just to cheer me up.  Thanks once again, Bev, you're an absolute gem, and such a thoughtful and generous gift.

And as this challenge is 'Something Old, Something New', I've used the stamp set here as my something new :)

I started by embossing a panel of white cardstock with a diagonal stripe embossing folder I've had in my stash for years, I believe it is now retired.  So that was my something old.  I sliced a section out of the panel and stamped the sentiment and heart directly onto the card base in the diagonal gap created.  The embossed panels were then popped up on fun foam and to finish I added a tiny clear gemstone to the heart.  I never know which is the positive and negative side of this embossing folder, but I love both sides anyway!

Materials used:

• Embossing Folder: Stampin' Up - Stylish Stripes
• Stamps: Uniko - Big & Bold Hugs
• Ink: Versafine - Onyx Black; Versa Color - Cardinal
• Gemstone from stash

Challenge entries:

Simply Create Too - Challenge #134 - Use Embossing
CAS on Friday - Challenge #124 - Love/Valentine
Moving Along with the Times - Challenge #63 - CAS


Thanks so much for visiting today, I hope you get a chance to play along.  I'll be back with you tomorrow morning to introduce the next challenge at Less is More.  Hope to see you then!

Muse Challenge #248 - Sunny Florals on Teal

Hi there

I'm here to kick off the first challenge of 2018 over at Muse and I'm delighted that it's my turn to be your designer.

The idea of the Muse challenge is to use the designer's creation as inspiration for your own project.  You can use any element(s) to inspire you, e.g. colours, theme, technique, layout, etc.

In recent months I've been inspired by many cards that Yana Smakula has created using coloured pencils on dark cardstock, so wanted to have a go at this myself using my Polychromos, and I'm really pleased with the result.

I chose teal cardstock as my base and stamped the sentiment and florals in VersaMark before heat embossing in gold.  I then coloured the flowers and leaves with my coloured pencils before trimming slightly and adhering the panel to my card base.

Here's a closer view...

Materials used:

• Stamps: Clearly Besotted - Sincerest Thanks, To You With Love
• Ink: VersaMark
• Embossing Powder: Wow! - Metallic Gold Rich
• Coloured with Faber Castell Polychromos
• Coloured Cardstock: From an assortment by Stampin' Up

Challenge entries:

Simpy Create Too - Challenge #134 - Embossing
Moving Along with the Times - Challenge #62 - Flowers
Just Us Girls - Challenge #422 - Anything Goes
Seize the Birthday - Anything Goes





Thanks so much for visiting today.  I hope my card will inspire you to play along at Muse this week.

Less is More Week #339

Good morning, crafters

Saturday morning means it's time for a new challenge to launch over at Less is More and as there are five Saturdays in this month we have a Lucky Dip challenge for you.

But first I have some sad news.  Our lovely Sarah G is stepping down from the Design Team.  Sarah has a busy working life, so with the added pressure of design team commitments, both have become difficult to accomplish.  We're all going to miss you on the team, Sarah.  Please do pop over and wish her well :)

So, onto the challenge, here are the details...

We'd like to see paper piercing, brads, eyelets, sewing, etc.

I have two cards to share with you and for my first I am revisiting one of my designs which was ShowCASed at this very challenge back in February 2014 as well as achieving a win at Addicted to Stamps and More!  This is pretty much a blatant copy of this card, I've just changed up the colours and the sentiment...

I covered the card base with some green striped paper and cut a panel slightly smaller than the card base.  The image was stamped in black and the sentiment in pink and black.  I then affixed eyelets to take the place of some of the rings of the design.  The panel was then adhered flat to the base.

Materials used:

• Patterned Paper: Lawn Fawn - Let's Bokeh in the Snow
• Stamps: Marion Emberson - On Your Special Day; Altenew - Celebrate
• Ink: Versafine - Onyx Black; Versa Color - Opera Pink
• Eyelets from stash

Challenge entries:

The Color Throwdown - Challenge #453

House of Cards - July Challenge - Stripes and/or colours
Just Us Girls - Challenge #404 - Something Old and/or Something New (a new version of an old design and the eyelets in my stash are really old!)

For my second card I did some paper piercing as well as using a pierced die...

I started by stamping the ring in VersaMark and heat embossed in platinum.  I then added the pierced heart detail using a paper piercing template.  I die cut this out with a pierced square die and mounted it onto my card base using 3D foam.  I coloured the gemstone with a pale blue Zig marker and added some shimmer to the whole ring with some clear Wink of Stella.  The sentiment was stamped below the panel in black.

Materials used:

• Stamps: Lawn Fawn - Happy Wedding
• Ink: VersaMark; Versafine - Onyx Black
• Embossing Powder: Wow! - Metallic Platinum
• Die: MFT Die-namics - Pierced Square Stax
• Pierced heart using Stampin' Up Paper-Piercing Pack Essentials
• Accents: Zig Clean Color Real Brush Marker; Wink of Stella - Clear

Challenge entry:

STAMPlorations - Summer CAS Card Challenge

This might be an opportunity to revisit some oldie but goodie techniques so why not play along!

Thanks so much for stopping by today.