Sneak Peeks

Morning all, it's Monday and it's also the beginning of  the introductions to Uniko's latest release. So to whet your appetite her are a few Sneak Peeks of the upcoming release.

This first peek is a fun Mid Century Modern inspired set with a mix of sentiments and elements to create some fresh and funky festive makes.

This next peek is a little add on set.

And lastly in the Mid Century Modern theme is another fun builder set, which you've been seeing all month in the Christmas in July graphic below! 

Next we are switching gears a little to an addition to the Art Deco series of stamps...

Lastly, but by no means least for the clear stamps in this release we have an addition to the Everyday Sentiment series.We think you will find this one really useful as well as versatile, not just for Christmas, but all year round.

Finally we have a new stencil.

This might not look much from this peek. However, when you see it in action you'll see how useful it can be!

So what do you think? 

We'd love to know what you are excited to see in action. So please join Bev and the Uniko Brand Ambassadors as we begin the official introductions tomorrow. 

All the products will be available 9am Sunday 6th August 2023. 

Pirates on the High Seas

 Good morning and welcome to a post to announce the start of a new challenge at Cardz4Guyz. Our theme this time is:-

ON THE WATER

I racked my brains for a stamp that I could use for this challenge and finally went with the BB set from MFT Party like a pirate. The sketch from The Paper Players and the theme at Seize the Birthday were the final links and this is what I came up with.

Using the sketch as my starting off point, I cut a circle of white card then using a cloud stencil, inked in the background, followed by the rest just inked with a light covering of Salty Ocean DI. The water was added by cutting some vellum strips to look like waves and layering them up, slipping the fussy cut Copic coloured vessel between. A little bit of sandy coloured card was added to the bottom of the circle, the sentiment banner attached and finally the pirate, coloured and fussy cut, added. 

Once this circle panel was complete, I cut a panel of dotty DP and glued it to an A6 white base card. The middle layer made by stamping the skull with Versamark on to black card and embossing with white EP was added as per the sketch. Finally the circle panel was adhered to complete.

For more ideas on the theme, check out the rest of the team here.

Joining in over at:-

 

Color Hues #68

Afternoon all, time for a new colour combo from Color Hues.

As you read this I will be enjoying a matinee performance at the Lowry in Salford, curtesy of my daughter. She bought me tickets for The Anton and Gio tour, Du Beke and Pernicci that is, two of the mainstays of Strictly Come Dancing! I will let you know how it went later!!

So in good Blue Peter style, here is one I made earlier!

 

Now this is a for fun challenge so don't get hung up about the colours here, my card uses Altenew's Cosmic Berry for the bloom and Olive for the leaves, see how it works?! Never seen a 'Cosmic' berry but the colour reminds me of crushed blackberries or bilberries. I used to go bilberry picking with my dad and younger sister up on the moors above Sheffield when I was young, my fingers were pretty well stained this colour by the time we got them home for my mum to bake a pie! Anyway I digress, just use what inks you have that are the closest.

I took inspiration for my card from the challenge over at The Flower Challenge where it's CAS this month. Using the bloom from Altenew's Fantasy Floral and the leaves from Garden Picks I die cut each element from white card that I'd dragged ink across, I'd seen Therese Calvird do it over on You Tube. It struck me as a great way to get shades of the same colour, but with some added texture. Usually I colour white die cuts with Copic marker, as despite the drawers of card, I never seem to have the right colours!! I did go over the solid flower layer and the detailed leaf die cuts a few times before layering up, to get a darker colour.

The simple layout was completed with a strip of Washi tape and a sentiment from Uniko.

So where will these colours take you? The rest have the DT and our GD have some fab inspiration if you need it. Join in and you too could be guesting with us in a few weeks time!

Joining in over at:-

edit 16/7 - Well I'm back and I have to say the afternoon went by in an instant. Fabulous dancers to back up the stars of the show. Great to spend some time with my daughter too, thanks Nichola for the ticket!

Christmas in July with Uniko

Morning all. 

It was my turn to choose a theme at Cardz4Guyz, so decided it was time to give my Christmas makes a kick start with the new challenge. 

CHRISTMAS in JULY

Here's my take using a stencil from Uniko called MOD Background Builder Circles.

I created this graphic looking Christmas tree using the stencil and a tip I saw on Jennifer McGuire's You Tube channel. Taking an A6 panel of white card, I placed the stencil on it so that the 4 units of the middle section created my bottom tier, leaving enough room for a sentiment. Then, using a mask created by cutting a small square from some scrap acetate, I went ahead and inked the elements in, moving the mask and stencil as I went. The inks I used were the 3 darkest of the Altenew Tropical Forest set and also their Evergreen ink pad. Once complete, I moved on to the next row and so on until I got to the top where I used the extra elements found on the edge of the stencil.

The sentiment, Christmas Sentiments, was stamped and embossed with gold EP and a few red punched foil circles complete.

I'm also up on the Uniko blog with another idea for a Mid Century style Christmas tree as part of their Christmas in July.

However, if that's not your bag, how about checking out the rest of the team for some masculine Christmas ideas here. See you in the gallery!

Joining in over at:-

Happy Birthday Grandson

Evening folks. A new month so a new challenge is starting at HLS Birthday where our theme is always -

ANYTHING GOES

This month I've gone with a masculine birthday with this one using a trio set from LOTV.

The DP is from NitWits and the net behind the images is made using a Sizzix honeycomb die that I extended to cover the area I needed. Each of the images was stamped, coloured with Copics then die cut using a stitched circle die. The green grass was cut using an ancient MS punch. Sentiment strips are also from LOTV.

So what are you making this month, we'd love to see your birthday cards in our gallery.

For more birthday inspiration, check out the rest of the team here.

Joining in over at:-

No topping this time!

Color Hues #67

Hi there!

It's the first of the month so it's time for a new colour combo at Color Hues.

Here's my take on the new pairing.

When I saw the colours, I thought of wine and then I remembered this Ai image that I stamped a few years ago when visiting another Julie, just before COVID lockdown happened. We had met at an Altenew day over in Wales and realised that we didn't live that far away from each other, so arranged a couple of crafty days. Our 3rd one was in the diary when lockdown happened. I've lost touch in the intervening years which is such a shame, so if you are reading this Julie drop me a line!

Anyway, after 3 years it's time I coloured it in, so using the appropriate Copic colours I set to.

After fussy cutting the finished image, I added some Glossy Accents to the wine glasses and put it to one side to dry.

The layout is one of my go to one's, this time I used plain card to match, DP didn't fit the bill this time but added a chevron of wine coloured card for some added interest and stamped this Picket Fence sentiment with Versamark and heat embossed with white EP. The navy blue was attached to an A6 base card and the die cut top panel made from white linen effect card on top, followed by the red chevron. My group of ladies was added with foam pads and a bit of Copic colour grounds them.

So where will the colours take you, we'd love to see your ideas in the Color Hues gallery.

If you need more inspiration, check out the rest of the team and our GD here.

Joining in over at:-

Plain or Pattered Paper

I'm more of a CAS kinda girl so although I have a mountain of DP I only usually use the odd bit. For this card, I went with pain coloured card with a chevron of wine card for interest as the image has a lot going on.