Uniko Designer Dies Natures Treasures II Release Day, Blog Hop & Giveaway!

Good morning

It's Release Day at Uniko so the new Natures Treasures II Designer Dies are now available to purchase from the shop, here.  You can see the full product image at the end of my post, below.

The team have more projects for you today which you can find over on the Uniko blog post, and by following the links of each of the Brand Ambassadors you may find some extra inspiration too.  And if you comment over on each of our blogs you'll be in with a chance of winning a gift certificate.  All the details are over on the main blog post.

So, two more for you, here they are...

This leaf is my favourite from the set so I had to use it again on this card, and I stuck with the ombre theme too.  On a scrap of cardstock I ink blended with Distress Oxides, fading it out, the die cut the leaf from it.  I stamped the Background Blocks Halftone image on the card base as I figured the fading out dots was a great match for the ombre leaf, which I adhered over it.  And I finished with a sentiment from the Simply Said Blocks II stamp set.

Materials used:

• Stamp: Uniko - Simply Said Blocks II, Background Blocks Halftone
• Dies: Uniko - Natures Treasures II
• Ink: Distress Oxide - Abandoned Coral, Saltwater Taffy; Versafine Clair - Nocturne

And for my final card I combined the die set with the co-ordinating stamp set, Natures Treasures II...

I die cut the leaves from some green cardstock and then stamped with the co-ordinating image in VersaMark and heat embossed in cooper.  I die cut a white cardstock panel and heat embossed the sentiment from the Simply Said clear stamp set, before then adhering the leaves and trimming off the edges.

Materials used:

• Stamps: Uniko - Natures Treasures II, Simply Said
• Dies: Uniko - Natures Treasures II; Create a Smile - Double Stitched Rectangles
• Ink: VersaMark
• Embossing Powder: Wow! - Metallic Copper

So there you have it, a great die set, and even better if you have the co-ordinating stamp set too!  Don't forget to comment on each of the Brand Ambassadors' blogs for a chance to win the gift certificate.  You can visit them all directly from the Uniko blog, here, 

Happy Saturday, I hope you all have a lovely weekend.

Uniko Brand Ambassador Inspiration - Three Ways with Pure Florals: Lily

Good morning

I'm over on the Uniko blog today with some floral inspiration for your Monday morning.

You can find all the information on how I made these cards over on the blog post, here.

First up, I left the image uncoloured and added colour and interest around it...

Materials used:

• Stamps: Uniko - Pure Florals Lily, Simply Said Blocks II
• Stencil: Uniko - Party Confetti
• Uniko - Memento - Tuxedo Black; Versafine Clair - Nocturne; Distress Oxide - Abandoned Coral, Spiced Marmalade, Dried Marigold
• Other: Inkadinkado - Stamping Mask Paper

For the second card I used the negative mask which was left over from the same masking sheet...

Materials used:

• Stamps: Uniko - Pure Florals Lily, Simply Said Blocks II
• Ink: Memento - Tuxedo Black; Versafine Clair - Nocturne; Distress Oxide - Dried Marigold, Spiced Marmalade, Abandoned Coral
• Some colouring using Copic markers
• Die: Create a Smile - Cool Cuts Scalloped Rectangles
• Other: Inkadinkado - Stamping Mask Paper

Finally, a little spotlight colouring...

Materials used:

• Stamps: Uniko - Pure Florals Lily, Simply Said Blocks II
• Ink: Memento - Tuxedo Black; Versafine Clair - Nocturne
• Coloured with Copic markers
• Dies: Create a Smile - Cool Cuts Double Stitched Rectangles

Thanks so much for visiting today, have a wonderful week.

Less is More Challenge #417

Good morning

It's new challenge day at Less is More and we're back with a theme challenge.  Here's our cue card...

We have a super talented Guest Designer joining us for this challenge, Helen of Helen's Craft Haven, who was our lucky February winner.  I do hope you'll can take a minute to pop on over to her blog to see her take on this challenge theme and say hi.


I have two sample cards for you this time, both with a wild flowers/foliage kinda theme for some reason, and also a bonus card as my second card turned into a twofer!

Here's card one, using a technique that I love, the ghosting technique, as this creates a delicate version of the image and generally out of focus...

On a piece of white cardstock I made a sunset blend of inks using Distress Oxides.  I then used the ghosting technique which involves laying a stencil over the top, spritzing with water and then blotting away the colour.  Once dry I die cut a section of it and popped it up onto another panel using a larger die from the same set.  After adhering to the card base I finished with a small black sentiment.

Materials used:

• Ink: Distress Oxide - Squeezed Lemonade, Spiced Marmalade, Abandoned Coral; Versafine - Onyx Black
• Stencil: STAMPlorations - ARTlorations Bloom Silhouettes
• Dies: MFT Die-namics - Wonky Stitched Rectangle Stax
• Stamp: Altenew - Thinking of You

Challenge entries:

STAMPlorations - April Stencil Challenge - Anything Goes

Next up I used a stencil again, but this time grabbed my Brushos...

I've only tried this technique once or twice but it has lovely results.  I laid a stencil onto some watercolour paper and very gently sprinkled a mix of Brusho powders, very sparingly, into the gaps in the stencil.  Without moving the stencil I then spritzed a mist of water over it, which activates the pigment powders.  I then carefully removed the stencil and left the image to dry completely.  I trimmed a section of it down and mounted it onto some teal cardstock. Before adhering to the card base I stamped a sentiment flag vertically to look like a tag when the panel was adhered along its edge.

Materials used:

• Stencil: Imagination Crafts - Bay Leaf
• Ink: Brushos - Emerald Green, Turquoise, Leaf Green; Versafine - Onyx Black
• Stamp: Clearly Besotted - Flag It
• Cardstock from stash

Challenge entries:

Addicted to Stamps and More - Challenge #384 - CAS

And my 'twofer' is made from the remaining part of the Brusho panel.  This one doesn't follow the Less is More guidelines as there isn't really enough white space but I thought I'd share it with you anyway in this post.  Materials used here are as the card above, with the addition of a stitched die by Create a Smile.

Challenge entries:

Fab 'n' Funky - Challenge #476 - Birthday



Thanks so much for visiting, I hope you'll join us for this 'out of focus' challenge.

And in the meantime, please do stay safe :) xx

Less is More Challenge #401

Good morning!

It's two weeks since the last challenge at Less is More, so of course, we're back with a new one for you.  It's the turn of our regular Colour challenge, here are the details...

For a fresh new month we have a fresh new sponsor!  If you've followed Less is More for some time you'll no doubt be familiar with our previous Design Team member, Sarah Gray, of Funky Fossil Designs.  She is generously sponsoring our August challenges so just by playing along you'll be in with a chance of winning our monthly prize!

Not only is Sarah guest designing with us for this challenge, we also have Alli C joining us who was our June Winner.  Please do pop over to see what she's created and say hi.


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

For this design I die cut a circle and stamped the sentiment across the centre.  I then filled in the gaps using the leaves, flowers and a few smaller stamped elements.  I coloured the images with ProMarkers then popped the die cut up onto a slightly larger circle using fun foam.  The two die cuts were then adhered to the card base.  I felt it needed a little 'something' more, so I used a white pigment pen and added some dotty accents to the flowers.

Materials used:

• Dies: Hero Arts - Infinity Circle Dies
• Stamps: Altenew - Painted Greetings, Doodle Blooms
• Ink: Versafine - Onyx Black; Memento - Tuxedo Black
• Coloured with ProMarkers
• Accents: Signo Uniball Pen - White

Challenge entries:

Addicted to Stamps and More - Challenge #352 - Make Your Mark

STAMPlorations - Summer CAS Card Challenge - Anything CAS Goes

For my second card I used one of Sarah's fab stencils as a background...

I die cut a panel with a stitched rectangle die then blended two shades of Distress Ink just through the central area of the stencil.  I die cut a leaf from orange cardstock and added some detail with a ProMarker.  I stamped the sentiment in black onto a stitched die cut strip then slotted it between the leaves and trimmed it off before adhering to the panel on 3D foam squares.  The who panel was then adhered to the card base on fun foam.

Materials used:

• Stencil: Funky Fossil - Geo Diamonds
• Ink: Distress Ink - Cracked Pistachio, Broken China; Versafine - Onyx Black
• Stamp: Altenew - Leaf Canopy
• Dies: Create a Smile - Cool Cuts Double Stitched Rectangles; Creative Expressions - Laurel Leaves; Clearly Besotted - Frame It Die Collection (sentiment strip)

Thanks so much for stopping by.  My teamies are sharing some great projects over on the main challenge blog so please do pop over and take a look.

I hope you have a wonderful weekend :)

For Remembrance Day

Good morning

Just a simple and appropriate card for today...

Materials used:

• Stamps: Clearly Besotted - Pure Poppies, Brushed Greetings II
• Ink: Memento - Cottage Ivy; Altenew - Crimson, Velvet; Versafine - Onyx Black

Challenge entry:

Allsorts - Challenge #493 - Poppies/Colour Red

Thanks for visiting, have a lovely Sunday x

Happy Little Stampers November 2018 CAS Challenge

Good evening, guys

Honestly, where are these months going?  Can you believe it's time for more new challenges over at Happy Little Stampers?! 

The Watercolour challenge is already up and running, today is the turn of the CAS challenge, and the rest of the regular challenges will follow over the next few days. 

So, for this month's CAS challenge, here's the cue card...

The winner for this challenge will receive a $20 coupon to spend at the shop! Check out all the details HERE.

IF YOU USE STAMPS BY HAPPY LITTLE STAMPERS AND YOU ARE THE RANDOM WINNER, YOUR PRIZE WILL BE DOUBLED!

I will admit, I did struggle with a limited stash for this 'fantasy' theme, but I got there in the end and combined some bits in my stash with a sentiment from Happy Little Stampers...

This fairy stamp is from a set that's been in my stash for many years.  I wanted the silhouette to be the main focus so only added a small amount of colour.  I did this by masking off the bottom and right edges of my card front and gently faded out the blend of two Distress Inks.  I removed the masks and stamped the fairy and sentiment, using my MISTI to ensure great coverage.  To create the stars I masked off a section at the top of the card using post-it notes which had been cut with curves, then repeatedly stamped a small star cluster stamp using VersaMark to fill the space and heat embossed in silver.

Materials used:

• Ink: Distress Ink - Peacock Feathers, Twisted Citron; Versafine - Onyx Black; VersaMark
• Stamps: Lindsay Mason - Magic Happens; Happy Little Stampers - Thinking of You; Stars from free 'Away in a Manger' set free with Creative Stamping magazine
• Embossing Powder: Wow! - Metallic Silver

There is more inspiration for this challenge from my fabulous teamies over at the main challenge blog, here.  And plenty of time to link up with this challenge and the rest of the HLS November challenges, as the linkies will be open until the end of the month.

Clearly Besotted June Release Teasers: Pawfect Plushies & That's Genius - Guest Designer!

Good morning!

...and I'm still over the moon to be able to Guest Design and share the Clearly Besotted June Release teasers with you.

So, onto Teaser Day Three!  And today I'm sharing sneak peeks of two of the new A6 stamp sets.

First up is a cuter than cute set called Pawfect Plushies featuring adorable kittens and puppies and a great mix of sentiments and add-on images...

As a kitty mum I had to ink up one of these adorable cats and I kept this card super simple.  On a panel of Strathmore Bristol Smooth cardstock I stamped the kitten in Versafine Onyx Black ink then masked and stamped the cushion, this from a previous CBS set called You're Purrfect (currently retiring and in the sale!).  I stamped the sentiment below, also from the Pawfect Plushies set and then watercoloured the image with my Zig markers.  To add some interest to the white space I scored some horizontal lines across the background at regular intervals and then adhered the panel flat to the card base.

Challenge entry:

Addicted to Stamps and More - Challenge #294 - Clean and Simple




Next up is another of the new A6 sets, That's Genius, another cute set great for teacher cards, exams, graduations, etc...

I stamped this little guy in Memento Tuxedo Black ink and coloured him in with ProMarkers.  I then masked him and inked through this great Altenew stencil called Warp Speed with Distress Oxides in Peacock Feathers and Cracked Pistachio.  The sentiment from the set was stamped in Versafine Onyx Black before popping the panel up on 3D foam and adding some Glossy Accents to his specs.


Thanks so much for popping by and I hope you're loving these new sets so far.  The wonderful CBS Design Team are also sharing teasers and you can find them linked, here.

I'll be back tomorrow with my final day of teasers, ahead of them launching at the Clearly Besotted store at 8pm BST on 1 June 2018 and at Simon Says Stamp.

Less is More Challenge #372

Good morning!

It's time to announce a brand new challenge for the next fortnight over at Less is More, and we're back with the genre that some love and some...not so much, that's right it's One Layer Card challenge time.  And here's the cue card...

And our Sponsor continuing for the month of May is the wonderful Winnie & Walter so don't forget to play along for a chance to be our monthly winner!

Just one card for you this week as I've been short of time.  Behind the scenes I've been working on a few cards which I can't share yet, but they will be posted very soon!

Here's my DT card for this one layer theme...

I masked the horizontal strip and die cut a circle mask.  I then blended the sunset using three shades of Distress Ink, removed the circle mask and gently blended over it to add a hint of colour.  With the horizontal masks still in place I then stamped the foliage.  To finish, I removed the masks and stamped the flag sentiment.  That was it, super simple.

Materials used:

• Ink: Distress Ink - Festive Berries, Spiced Marmalade, Mustard Seed; Versafine - Onyx Black
• Stamps: Clearly Besotted - Simple Silhouettes and Flag It
• Die (for mask): Hero Arts - Infinity Circle Dies

It's always handy to have these types of cards to hand as they are sometimes a struggle to make when someone is going through a difficult time, so why not use this as an opportunity to stock up.  If you need more inspiration my teamies over at Less is More are sharing some great projects and ideas, so do follow the links over at the main challenge blog.

I'll be back on Monday morning to share some exciting news and projects with you so please do pop back and see me if you have time.  Have a lovely weekend :)

Happy Little Stampers September 2017 CAS Challenge

Hello crafters

As it's the beginning of the month it's time for lots of new challenges at Happy Little Stampers, and today is the turn of the September CAS challenge.  Here are the details...

And please don't forget to keep you creations clean and simple:

And, one lucky winner will win a $20 coupon to the HLS store.

So, here's my DT inspiration card for you for this month and I've used the HLS Thinking of You stamp set which is discontinuing and can be purchased right now at a reduced price, here.

On a panel of white cardstock slightly smaller than the card base I began by blending some Distress Ink up from the bottom corner, fading it out.  I then flicked some water droplets over the ink and blotted away with a paper towel.  I gave it a quick blast with my heat tool to ensure it was dry before stamping the script detail.  I then stamped the poppy silhouette in black, using my MISTI so I could re-stamp to ensure it was nice and dark, then stamped the main sentiment in charcoal ink.  I finished by adhering the panel onto the card base using fun foam.

Materials used:

• Ink: Distress Ink - Scattered Straw; Hero Arts - Soft Granite, Charcoal; Versafine - Onyx Black
• Stamps: Happy Little Stampers - Thinking of You; MFT - Grand Peaceful Wild Flowers

Challenge entries:

Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge - Anything Goes
Crafty Creations - Challenge #349 - Anything Goes
House of Cards - September Challenge - Add Text and/or Colours

Thanks so much for popping by.  Please do pop over to the main HLS challenge blog for more inspiration from my teamies.  And why not join in, you have until the end of September to play along with this challenge, as well as the many other challenges which will be launching over the next week or so.

Less is More Week #334

Good morning

Wow, what a hot week it's been here in the UK!  I love the sun but this heat has been taking it out of me.  Thankfully, since Thursday it's been a little cooler so it's much more bearable now.

So, let's get to the reason for today's post.  At Less is More this week we have a Sketch challenge for you.  It's been a while since we've had a sketch challenge so here it is...

We continue to have STAMPlorations as our fab sponsor this month so please do play along for a chance to win the monthly prize.

I find sketch challenges the most difficult but I've managed three cards for you this week (it might have something to do with the fact that I designed this week's sketch! haha Hope you like it!)

So let's get to it with my first card...

I used a curved die to create some masks and then blended in between with Distress Inks in sunset colours.  After removing the masks I stamped the flowers in waterproof black ink.  I then 'painted' the petals with clean water and blotted with a paper towel to remove the colour.  I went over the petals a couple of times to achieve the faded look a little more.  I finished by stamping the flourishes and sentiment.

Materials used:

• Die: Avery Elle - Dotted Borders Dies (to create the masks)
• Ink: Distress Ink - Squeezed Lemonade, Carved Pumpkin, Candied Apple; Archival - Jet Black; Versafine - Onyx Black
• Stamps: Honey Doo Crafts - Flowers for Design; Clearly Besotted - Message Me

Challenge entries:

Addicted to Stamps and More - Challenge #247 - Make Your Mark (sponge blending)

Penny Black and More - June Challenge - Anything Goes

The Flower Challenge - Challenge #9 - Anything Goes

I chose a kraft and lace theme for my second card...

On a panel of kraft cardstock slightly smaller than my card base I used some thin paper cut from a curved die to mask the wavy section.  I then stamped the lace design in VersaMark and heat embossed in white.  I chose thin paper for my masks as I wanted to achieve the best impression from my stamp.  With thicker masks you usually get a narrow margin that doesn't stamp properly.  I also heat embossed the sentiment and die cut around it with a stitched heart die.  The main panel was mounted on fun foam to the card base, and then I adhered the heart and added a single white pearl.

Materials used:

• Kraft cardstock: Neenah - Desert Storm
• Dies: Mama Elephant - Landscape Trio Dies; MFT Die-namics - Stitched Heart Stax
• Stamps: Wow! - Lace; Clearly Besotted - On Your Day
• Ink: VersaMark
• Embossing Powder: Wow! - Opaque Bright White
• Accents: Hobbycraft - 3mm white pearl

Challenge entries:

CAS(E) this Sketch - Challenge #227

Alphabet Challenge - 'H' for Hearts

I reached for some patterned paper for card three...

This patterned paper pack has been in my stash for about ten years!!!  So it was nice to create with it again.  I adhered a strip to my card base and then cut a panel of white cardstock, split using a curved die.  I stamped the sentiment in grey before adhering both white panels on 3D foam.  I used a die which co-ordinated well with the design of the paper and used this to cut a flower from some bright pink cardstock, adhered over the panels to finish.

Materials used:

• Dies: MFT Die-namics - Snowdrifts; Tim Holtz - Wildflowers
• Patterned Paper: Dovecraft - A Hint of Pink
• Stamp: Wplus9 - Fresh Cut Florals
• Ink: Versa Color - Sky Gray

Challenge entries:

Happy Little Stampers - June Challenge - Anything Goes with Dies

Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge - Use Patterned Paper

Thanks so much for stopping by.  Please do pop over to the LIM challenge blog and check out my teamies' creations this week, they've really shown how versatile this sketch is, and no doubt will have more inspiration for you over on their personal blogs too.

Have a lovely weekend :)