You're On The Nice List!

Morning all.

The last day of the month but time for a new challenge at Cardz4Guyz. This week we challenge you to make a masculine -

CIRCLE CARD

Here's my take using this fun MFT Santa stamp set.

After stamping on a scrap of Copic friendly card, colouring with Copics and fussy cutting Santa, I put him to one side and concentrated on the base card. I already had one large white die cut circle in my stash so cut another to match and then a circle frame, Avery Elle, from some more scrap. Rifling through my stash of scraps again, I found a piece of DP for the background and a pierced panel from another project which I cut in half to create some snow drifts. 

Attaching the drifts to the DP, I laid it under the frame and marked the edges with pencil and roughly cut it to size before adding it to my frame with foam pads, the DP was a tad too small so the drifts filled in the gap! The frame was glued onto the front panel and after scoring a narrow edge for a hinge on the 2nd panel, glued it to the front to make my card base. To ensure it stayed stable, I trimmed a slither from the card at the bottom. 

Santa was then added on pads along with the sentiment stamped and heat embossed with white EP on red card.

So how will you interpret the theme? We'd love to see your makes in our gallery. For more masculine card inspiration don't forget to check out the rest of the team here.

Joining in over at:-

Snow or Santa?

I agree with Sarah, there are some creepy looking Santas out there and I do have a few snowmen and women images but this jolly chap always puts a smile on my face so I've gone with Santa this time.

U for use it up!

Uniko October Release in Review and a Blog Hop

Morning Uniko friends. 

As a few of our Brand Ambassadors were late receiving their October stash and were unable to take part in the introductions, Bev has decided to have a  release revisit and of course our usual blog hop and a GIVEAWAY!!

Today, I've got a couple of autumnal makes using the Autumn Serenade and Big n Bold Thankful to share.

These cards use both autumn sets to create a colourful stamped panel of leaves and a Big n Bold sentiment! The trees around here are only JUST turning, many are still quite green but the cherries and Field Maple are showing their colours at last!

I created my panel by stamping the leaves onto white card with a mixture of inks, layering up the colours to give this effect. What did we do before stamping platforms were developed?! If done correctly the colours simply blend together, LOL. 

On another panel I stamped the thanks in 2 phases with WOW brass EP and stamped the Many in Altenew Mangrove Root, a dark ink but not as stark as black would be. My top panel was then die cut at a jaunty angle to reveal the leaf panel below.

My second card uses more of the stamped panel, this time with a nod to the sketch at Colours and Sketches.

The stamped leaf panel was added to a brown, slimline base card and a couple of strips of matching inked card framing it. It is in the middle of the card, I think the photo angle has foreshortened the bottom section! A Simply Said Blocks sentiment in stamped in the same Mangrove Root as before completes. I think this would make a fab masculine card, not too fussy at all. Change the colours and you would have a totally different feel!

That's all from me for now but please check out Bev's and BA blogs for more inspiration.

 Anita

Bev

Izzy

Julie 

Steph

Vinita

 Now for the giveaway, simply comment along the hop for your chance to win a £20 eGift Code to spend in store. 

Happy hopping!

Joining in over at:-

Spooky Churchyard

Good morning peeps.

As we hit the second half of October, it's time for a new challenge at Cardz4Guyz. This time we are looking for your masculine take on:-

SPOOKY/SCARY or BIRDS

I suppose birds are scary to some people, anyway I went with spooky with my card.

I used a XCut die set I've had for years and years and not had the chance to use until now. It's meant to be for shadow boxes but I decided to use thinner card and just layer it up. That's all there was too it really, the first layer was a bit of a pig as the railings refused to out out cleanly despite all my best efforts but they do look rusting and dilapidated!

I've not included a sentiment and did think of adding some scary characters in the foreground but in the end kept it as simple as possible, just a few die cut bats.

So where will you go? We'd love to see your take in the Cardz4Guyz gallery.

For more inspiration don't forget to checkout the rest of the DT here.

Color Hues #74

Afternoon folks, time for a new challenge at Color Hues where this time we have an autumnal palette for you chosen by Hannelie.

My inspiration for this card were the rudbekias that are growing in my front garden. They are on the wane now but earlier this summer they looked fab. Love the golden yellow petals contrasting with the dark central cone.

As well as those, I have some helianthus in the back garden which are now so tall they show over the old cow shed wall, this was last week when 2 hot air balloons went over late one afternoon, driving the dog absolutely crazy!!

I prefer the more sturdy rudbekias though, the helianthus can be a bit unruly, especially after strong winds!

The cone flowers were made using a Reverse Confetti die that I bought in a sale, cut three of each layer, along with three centers from MM paper and used DI smooshed onto an acrylic block to colour them. I used a mix of Mustard Seed and Scattered Straw, some extra shading done with a Zig marker. The cones were painted with a v dark grey Zig marker, with a hint of brown for the hi light.

My leaves were cut from kraft card and edged with Gathered Twigs DI, which I also used to create the pattern in the background using a stencil called Leaf Prints 3 from STAMPlorations, as is the white, heat embossed sentiment, this time from Banners and Balloons. The stitched MFT frame was added to my stencilled panel and the leaves and blooms arranged on top, the sentiment strip completes.

So where will these colours take you and what will you be inspired by?

Should you need more inspiration, then there are lots of ideas from the DT over on the Color Hues blog.

We'd love to see your takes on this new pairing in the gallery.

Joining in over at:-

 

Uniko Release Day Giveaway and BA Blog Hop

Good morning.

It's release day for Uniko's October release and of course as is traditional we are having our bog hop and giveaway. Comment on all the blogs for a chance to win the WHOLE release! All the stamps will be available from 9pm tonight, if you can't wait and if you are lucky enough to win and you already have the release, then Bev will happily provide an alternative!

.

We are doing things a little differently for this release with Bev having done the intros and the BAs joining in for today as it's World Card Making Day too!

First off we have another addition to the Big and Bold series, Thank/s/ful.

BIG & BOLD thank/s/ful  £11

Copyright Uniko Ltd 2012 - To Date

www.uniko.co.uk

Here I've stamped an array of leaves from assorted Uniko sets including Autumn Serenade and Nature's Treasures I, in shades of autumn onto a panel of white card to which I had first stamped the thanks in a pale matching colour, Altenew's Misty Moor. This showed me where to stamp my leaves and where to stick my fussy cut sentiment. This I stamped on some matching card with Memento Rich Cocoa and embossed with clear EP.  The leaves were inked randomly with a mix of Memento, Canteloupe, Tangelo, Peanut Brittle, Potter's Clay and Rich Cocoa. The SENDING, also stamped with Rich Cocoa, is from the Picked Posies set.

Next up is this card using the new Autumn Serenade. It follows the similar designs of the other Serenade sets, Love and Snowflakes, plus a few extra leaves.

Autumn Serenade £11

Copyright Uniko Ltd 2012 - To Date

www.uniko.co.uk

I tried to get my stamping to bleed into my paper but was only marginally successful. So I decided to ink the stamped panel with some Scattered Straw DI and stamped one of the sentiments with more Rich Cocoa. The other colours are the same as for the previous card.

Next is my favourite of the release, Remembrance. It contains a couple of poppy stems and accompanying sentiments. Here I've used watercolour and masking fluid to create my central panel.

I'm afraid that I had intended for the stems to be part of the design but my masking was a bit hit and miss, and the watercolour had bled through, so went with a close crop and a square die cut frame. No sentiment as I wanted the image to shine!

Remembrance £11

Copyright Uniko Ltd 2012 - To Date

www.uniko.co.uk

I love this stamp so much I couldn't wait to colour up another, this time using Copic markers.

You never know when you'll need a sympathy card and they are always hard to make at short notice, so I like to have a couple ready in my stash.

Finally here is another in the Framed series, this time snowflakes with 4 additional snowflakes to play with.

 

Framed - Snowflakes £11

Copyright Uniko Ltd 2012 - To Date

www.uniko.co.uk

I started by embossing the frame with white EP onto white card, then added some DOx colour with a blending brush, splashing on some water and then lifting it with a paper towel to get even more dimension. On some scrap card, I stamped and embossed in white some of the other snowflakes, inked as before, fussy cut them and placed them on my design with pads after stamping and embossing the sentiment from Christmas Wishes. The whole panel was trimmed to leave a small inky border and mounted on a white base card.

Now the formal introductions are done, let's give you some more inspiration for using them. Be sure to leave some comment love either on the BA blogs or social media. You have until midnight Saturday 14th October 2023 to comment and then Bev will randomly select a winner to win the entire release, or equivilant.

 Anita

Bev

Izzy

Julie 

Steph

Hope you have enjoyed this release and happy hopping!

I'd like to join in over at:-

 

 

                                                               Option of Autumn

 

                                               Autumn or Halloween

Autumnal Birthday Wishes

Good morning folks. I'm off shortly to a craft course over at a fabulous garden near us. I've been to look around the Dorothy Clive gardens before, they are famous for azaleas in spring and acers in autumn, but never to take part in a craft class. I just found it advertised on the local town FB group last week and thought I'd see if there were any places left, luckily there were. As I said earlier, they are famous for the show of autumnal colour from their acer collection which is rather appropriate as the new challenge at Cardz4Guyz is:-

Autumn/Fall Colours - Shades of Brown 

Here's what I came up with based on a new to me technique I came across at the Group of Seven Cardmakers.

It also happens that over at JUGS it's their CASE a DT member week and I chose Bobby who used a similar technique to the girls at G7 Cardmakers.

For my card, I used a freebie EF and some Altenew inks which I smooshed onto a panel of MM paper. When dry I embossed the panel but I forgot to ink the EF with black ink before!! No worries, I replaced it into the now inked folder and embossed. The coverage was a bit patchy so repeated the process a couple of times. It was only after I'd trimmed my panel down that I realised that the black embossing was in a slightly different place to the original embossing, but I quite like the subtle embossing in the darker areas!

After the panel was trimmed down and glued to a cream base card, a sentiment strip cut from the same card using a Uniko sentiment and Altenew Mangrove Root ink was added.

So where will this new theme take you? We'd love to see your takes over in our gallery. There is more inspiration from the rest of the DT over on the C4G blog here.

Joining in over at:-

Autumn leaves, trees and berries

A Pile of Fun

Good evening.

As it's the beginning of a new month things are busy in my craft room. Tonight I'm sharing a card for the new October challenge at HLS Birthday using a fun MFT stamp set Piles of Fun.

My A6 kraft base was stamped all over with the leaf stamps in Altenew Sea Forest ink and the cute hedgie and leaf pile stamped onto some Copic friendly card, coloured with Copics and fussy cut.

The arched frame is MFT as is the sentiment banner, greeting stamped in the same Altenew Sea Forest. The reason I used a banner is because the text is slightly too large to be stamped directly onto my arched frame. The final component is a background panel of white inked with Mustard Seed and Spiced Marmalade DI. 

To assemble, I attached my pile of leaves to the back of the frame and added the whole lot with pads to my inked background, adding the hedgy on pads too. This was then added flat to my stamped, kraft base.

That's about it from me but there's lots more birthday inspiration over on the HLS Birthday page from the other members of the DT.

Joining in over at:-

Favourite Harvest Colours

I'm in agreement with Annette, Orange and Gold with the occasional hit of crimson are the colours of autumn, the leaves turning from green to yellow, gold and orange before they fall to the ground. Who doesn't love kicking through the crispy leaves in autumn?

Uniko October Release Sneak Peeks

Good morning and what better way to start off a new week and month, than with some new release sneak peeks from Uniko? 

First up a new addition to the Big n Bold sentiment series, one that will work by itself or even in combination with other previously released sets for more options. Perfect for the current autumn season and upcoming Thanksgiving holiday in the US.

Continuing the autumnal theme, this stamp set is another in the Serenade series.

How about a few snowflakes for those Christmas and winter projects, this one is another in the Framed series.

Finally for this release, how about a new floral.

So what do you think? We'd love to know what you are excited to see in action. Bev'll be back tomorrow with the first of the product introductions and hopefully the Uniko Brand Ambassadors and I will be joining in for our traditional Release Day Blog Hop at the end of the week.

All the products will be available 9am GMT Saturday 7th October 2023. 

Color Hues #73

Good afternoon folks. 

It's now October, can you believe it, autumn is definitely here, I had my flu jab yesterday too. Anyway 1st of the month means it's time for a new colour combo from Color Hues. 

This time we are looking for the colours of Coral and Blue. Here's my take using Uniko's Pure Floral - Gerbera and an Altenew texture plate.

 

 It doesn't matter what blue you use so I went with a piece of dark blue I found in my stash and a couple of Altenew inks, Coral Berry and Coral Bliss, to paint the gold embossed gerbera.

Each element was stamped and embossed with gold EP before I squished the ink pads onto a large acrylic block to use as watercolours. This time I didn't use watercolour paper as I wasn't flooding the paper with water just ordinary white card, not my best Copic card as the paint would just puddle on the smooth surface!

I first added a pale wash over each petal and then added some darker shadows before using a fine brush to add veins to the petals once the first layer was dry.

I fussy cut the bloom and 3 leaves arranging them onto a panel of card I'd preciously stamped and embossed with a sentiment and run through my Big Shot with the coverplate. This was then added to a matching blue base card.

So where will you go with these new Color Hues colours? The team have some fab inspiration so why not check them out here if you need more inspiration? We also have THREE GDs this time too, Fran, Trina, and Jolanda, so don't forget to visit them too.