Here's one I made earlier!

I was cleaning up the front end of my computer yesterday and came across this card I made a few months back using Uniko's Pure Floral Rose and it's perfect for a few challenges that are just coming to an end so I thought I would share now!

It's on the same lines as one I made using Uniko's Peony set here. The ladies at my Wednesday art group loved it and so I did a class to show them how to watercolour a stamped bloom but in the end I used the Lily set as it was simpler for them to paint. Perhaps now we have done a simple flower we may go back and try this bloom.

I used watercolours instead of inks to paint my rose which I stamped with a pale ink on mixed media paper so that the outline didn't show. The finished bloom was then fussy cut and attached to my die cut panel on which I'd stamped the greeting, a mix of Doodle Flowers and an older set, You Are, Yes You, with Memento London Fog.

The diecut panel was then added to a white top folding note card.

On another note, the garden is finally looking a little more green after the deluges of the last couple of days. However the water tank isn't as full as we thought it would be. Reason? The heavy rain washed grot off the tractor shed and blocked the newly cleaned gutters and blocked the filter so it was going straight down the overflow! Anyway the OH found out before the next set of thunderstorms arrived yesterday, so hopefully it will get topped up now all the grot has been washed away!

Joining in over at:-

 

Summer Blooms

Patchwork Hotair Balloon

Morning all.

Over at Cardz4Guyz we have a new challenge starting where Caz has chosen the theme of -

HOTAIR BALLOONS

I thought at first I would use my Uniko Up and Away but in the end used this sweet digi from LOTV called Patchwork Hotair Balloon.

After printing off the digi, I used Copics to colour before fussy cutting him out. Copics are my go to for colouring characters like this cute bear. I love the flexibility of the nib as well as the range of colours and shades and tones. It allows me to get a smooth, graduated look to my colouring that I haven't achieved with Promarkers or the Altenew alcohol ink pens, their nibs are too firm for my taste.

Rather that phaff with the tiny details on the balloon, I simply shaded each panel then added white gel pen over the top on two of the panels and a darker shade of the turquoise on the others. I chose the colours to match my DP which was a scrap in my bits box!

My DP was attached to my card blank, leaving a white strip above and below, because it was too small to fully cover it, then the next layer was added. This was made again using a scrap of linen effect card which I die cut with a couple of cloud dies. and cutting another smaller one to add over the top, I ended up with the largest cloud left over for another project. On more scrap white, I used my darkest Turquoise marker to colour 2 strips of card which I added to the top and bottom edge of the die cut panel. My sentiment, Uniko was stamped onto an oval die cut and added below the basket. The finished panel was then added on foam pads over the DP.

So where will the new theme take you? Don't forget it needs to be MASCULINE in focus!

For more ideas check out the rest of the team over on the C4G blog!

Joining in over at:-

Favourite Colouring Medium

(Copics are my go to for colouring characters like this cute bear. I love the flexibility of the nib as well as the range of colours and shades and tones. It allows me to get a smooth, graduated look to my colouring that I haven't achieved with Promarkers or the Altenew alcohol ink pens, their nibs are too firm for my taste.)

Color Hues # 139

Afternoon folks.

We are already halfway through the month of August so we have another colour duo for you from Color Hues! Marcia has chosen a duo which literally radiates the summer heat we are experiencing here this year. Here's my take using one of the Stampingbella's Snapshots images.

I was looking through my stash of images and found this partially coloured one, I must have decided to put it to one side, then forgot about it! Anyway, it was perfect for the new challenge.

I used Copics to colour the image, trimmed it down and then went looking for some DP to use in my design. 

In my orange/yellow DP pile, I found a piece of Japanese paper that my friend Jenny brought back from visiting her son in Japan many years ago! It was a perfect colour match, the orange and yellow blossom and waves outlined in gold.

This is a solid rubber stamp and I always struggle to get the sentiment in the correct place, I much prefer the polymer variety for this reason!

Anyway, that's all from me but please check out the rest of the team and our GD Priscilla for more yellow and orange inspo.

Uniko's Christmas in July Release and Blog Hop

It's release day at last and is always the case we are having a blog hop and giveaway!

But first here are a few more ideas using the latest release to tempt and inspire.

First off is the Christmas Star stencil. For this I've combined it with Christmas Scramble and the rays from Sparkle Sentiments.

Stencil - Ink & Flip Christmas Star, Star £5

Copyright Uniko Ltd 2012 - To Date

www.uniko.co.uk

Second is a card made using Rustic Snowflake and a couple of other snowflakes stamps from older sets in a OLC! I love it when new sets coordinate with stash you already have.

Rustic Snowflake £7.00

Copyright Uniko Ltd 2012 - To Date

www.uniko.co.uk

Thirdly using probably my favourite of this release, Modern Poinsettia layering stencil. With a stencil this good you don't really need much to make a fab card.

Stencil - Layering Modern Poinsettias £14.50

Copyright Uniko Ltd 2012 - To Date

www.uniko.co.uk

And finally we have a card using another of the Winter Garlands, holly this time.

Background Builders Winter Garlands £12

Copyright Uniko Ltd 2012 - To Date

www.uniko.co.uk

So that wraps up this little Christmas *almost* in July 2026 release. I hope you love the products as much as we do. As always the Bev and the other Brand Ambassadors are here to inspire you a little bit more.

Be sure to comment along the way for your chance to win a £20 eGift Certificate to spend in store. Winner will be announced Wednesday 26th August 2026.

Bev

Denise

Julie -that's me

Natalie

Happy hopping!

Introducing Winter Garlands

Good morning.

It's day 4 and the final of Uniko's Christmas in July introductions. 

Today we introduce Winter Garlands. It comprises of 3 beautiful foliage garland stamps, perfect for Christmas and other occasions too. Here's one idea I came up with using the Fir tree garland.

On some MM paper, I stamped the garland with pigment ink repeatedly down the panel, leaving space for my sentiment. I used MM paper and pigment ink because I wanted to colour using a watercolour technique. 

Once the ink was dry, I coloured the berries and foliage with some Altenew ink smooshed onto an acrylic mat. I used Evergreen and Heartbeat, the paler green was just more diluted ink.

My sentiment, Christmas Wishes, was stamped and heat embossed with WOW primary red EP. I also heat embossed the berries in clear EP, having first used my WOW embossing pen over the top of the red ink wash.

The panel was then trimmed and added to an A6 base card.

For more inspiration why not check out the rest of the team over on the Uniko blog, I'm suer they have had some great ideas on how to use this new stamp set.

Tomorrow is release day with the usual blog hop and giveaway so I'll see you same place same time tomorrow!