Color Hues #107

Good afternoon. This is no April fool, it is after noon so the joke would be on me anyway, it's a new colour combination at Color Hues. Here's my take.

When we had a similar pairing I made this card, using some DP I found in my stash from way back when. It was a double sided piece, so I went with the reverse for this card using more AI ladies. The layout is similar, one of my go to ones, but instead of an embossed circle over a panel of DP, I've cut a circle from a panel of white linen card, embossed with an ancient Cuttlebug EF and placed the DP behind it. Some more of the teal textured card trims the panel and frames the sentiment, also AI.

My ladies were coloured with Copics, then fussy cut and added to one side of my embossed panel. The whole panel was then added to a linen top fold card.

So where will these new colours take you? As always the team and our GD have some fab ideas if you need further inspiration. 

Looking forward to seeing your makes in the gallery.

Game Boy

Morning all. Although it's April Fool's Day there's no fooling here as it's time for a brand new theme over at Cardz4Guyz. Our theme for the next two weeks is:-

FUN and GAMES

Here's a card I made for my eldest Grandson's birthday using Mo Manning's Game Boy digi.

Usually when he arrives, he's straight to the kitchen to see what there is to eat then disappears into 'his' bedroom and plays games on his Switch or computer, typical teen!

For this image, I added some spectacles to the boy to make it more personal and coloured the whole image with Copics before fussy cutting him out. I lost the packets of crisps etc around his feet and the undone laces were very fiddly to cut out but I prefer to do this as I can then add him to my background without being too constrained. 

I found some Khaki coloured card in my stash along with some DP that came as a free digital download many years ago so don't know the make and used a layout I found online, I've used it a couple of times now.

The greeting, LOTV, was stamped and die cut and the zigzag edging was made using an ancient Martha Stewart edge punch. To seat the lad into the white panel, I added a freehand line to suggest floor and wall.

So what fun and games will inspire you? We're looking forward to seeing your makes in the gallery but should you need a little more inspiration why not check out the team's ideas here.

Sailing Boat

Morning all.

Another fortnight has zoomed by so it's time for a brand new challenge from Cardz4Guyz. This time our theme is:-

S is for .........?

Here's my take incorporating a little bit of a seaside vibe!

For my S is for .. , I used LOTV's Sailing Boat, one of my oldest stamps but still a fave and some NitWits DP. The background and striped DP come from their Nautical set, though I did add some red Copic to the broad navy striped square to lift it. The smaller pieces were in my bits box and the background was one I printed off after playing with GIMP. I made a digital scrapbook for my son's birthday last year but I really struggled to remember how to use GIMP, a case of use it or loose it!! I managed to import one image and then totally blanked!

My Sailing Boat was stamped and coloured with Copics to match the DP before being fussy cut out. The small DP panels were mounted on some red off cuts and then added to the card over the paler panel previously glued to an A6 white base card. The sweet little guy and his boat were then added on pads and the sentiment, LOTV, was simply glued down flat.

So that's it from me but where will you go? The rest of the team have some fab ideas if you need a little help, so why not check out the Cardz4Guyz blog. Looking forward to seeing your makes in the gallery.

Joining in over at:-

# 780 Add a sentiment

Uniko BA Inspiration and Color Hues #106

Good afternoon.

Today it's my turn to host the new colour duo challenge at Color Hues, so I decided to incorporate a Uniko BA Inspiration post too. I chose a fresh spring combo and when I sat down to make my card I decided to give my Organically Zesty stamp set from Uniko a dust off, here's my card.

As you can see I went with the lemon as my focus with the large, fab lemon and blossom from the set, I think it fit the colours perfectly. I could have gone down the spring flowers route but I do like to ring the changes and try not to get in a rut when it comes to my Color Hues duties!

Starting with a panel of black card, I used the Uniko stencil Scattered Polka Dots to ink through with white pigment ink. A sentiment strip with a sentiment from the set stamped in black was added over the top, 2/3rds down the panel.

I stamped the large lemon from the set onto some MM paper with black ink and added clear embossing powder, much cleaner and easier than using Versamark and black EP. To make sure I had enough EP on, I repeated the stamping with Versamark and more clear EP. What did we do before stamp positioners came on the scene?! Smooshing some Altenew ink pads, Lime, Limeade, Fresh Lemon and Maple Yellow, onto a piece of acrylic to use as a palette water coloured the image. I used a grey Zig marker to create some shadow. Finally, I fussy cut the lemon out and mounted it onto my background with pads.

This was my second attempt but here is my first which you can find out more about by checking out the Uniko blog. 

 So where will these new colours take you. The rest of the Color Hues girls and our very talented GD  Michele have come up with some fab inspiration. We are all looking forward to seeing your makes in our gallery. You've until 29th March @ 9am EDT to get those little grey cells working!

Joining in over at:-

 

                                             Water colouring

Shades of Green

Uniko Brand Ambassador Revisit- Sunshine and Rainbows and a Uniko FB Challenge

Good morning. 

Today at Uniko we are revisiting the Sunshine and Rainbows set AND announcing the start of a new Facebook VIP challenge.

So without further ado here are a couple of cards using the set.

This card uses the rainbow builder BUT with a twist!

I created the rainbows by stamping the REVERSE of the image. Normally there is a gap between each arc but this way you can blend the arcs of the rainbow together. You do need a little bit of masking for the smallest purple arc but I think it's worth it. After covering the A6 panel with rainbows, I added some stamped hearts, then added one of my square sentiments made from Doodle Flowers. I'm almost out of these so must make some time to make some more. It takes awhile to line up the elements in my MISTI, so it's well worth getting some stamped on neutral colours that I can dip into when required. I framed the sentiment with a thin white square border die cut using stacking squares. 

Frustratingly as I removed the two squares I wanted one of the set slipped out, bounced on the bookcase and slipped between that and the fitted cupboards in my craft room. Now if the bookcase was small no problem but this is a monster made from solid oak and FULL, I mean VERY full of books, so until I need said die it will remain there until I have time to empty the bookcase and have a couple of strong helpers to move it!!

Anyway here is another make using the set, who says rainbows have to be bold!

The other day a post from Concord and 9th fell into my feed and one of the cards used a new stencil and as soon as I saw it I knew I could used the rainbow arcs to create something similar. As The Paper Players are asking for pastel colours, I thought I would play along and came up with this.

All the rainbow arcs were lined up in my MISTI then I stamped them around in pastel shades all over the edges of my A6 panel, overlapping as I went. Another of my Doodle Flower sentiments added on pads complete, very simple.

So why not check out what the rest of the team have made and if you are into rainbows join our FB group and link up a card in the album for a chance to win a £10 egift voucher. Just make sure that you use Uniko products as your main focus.

  Anita

Bev

Izzy

Julie - me

Steph

Vinita

Joining in over at:-

Dapper Gent

Morning all.

It's the start of another challenge over at Cardz4Guyz where this time we would like to see your masculine cards on the theme of :-

MEN'S CLOTHES

Lot's to go at there and the team have come up with some fab inspiration, here's mine.

I've used this stamp set from Papermania a couple of times before, it's called Dapper Gent. For this card I've teamed it with a Woodware sentiment for a masculine birthday card.

Not sure if it's because the stamp is getting on in years but it didn't stamp quite as clearly as I would have wanted but I'm reasonably satisfied with the end result. Each element was stamped either onto DP or white card, with a couple of tiny brown buttons from the stash to complete as the stamped ones were awful! I also added a hand drawn hankie for the top pocket to match the tie. Not sure of the DP make as I've had it in my stash for yonks. Once assembled, I added the jacket to a panel of dark brown card and the sentiment on some more before adding both to an A6 side fold white base card. A greeting from the same Woodware set completes the inside.

So where will this new theme take you? We'd love to see your makes in the gallery.

Joining in at :-

 

Color Hues #105

Afternoon and happy St David's Day.

Hope your weekend has got off to a great start, we are going to be a little quieter after last weekend's grandchildren's visit!

Anyway, time for a new colour combo from Color Hues. This time we have a quiet calm colourway for you to play with and here is my take.

To be honest I've had the makings of this card awhile and found it whilst rooting through my to finish box, so in view of the new duo thought I ought to finish it. I'm sure I was inspired by an Altenew post but as ever I can't find the card to link back!

As always neutrals are allowed, so the gold mirror and the black flowers work here.

All the images and sentiment are Altenew, as are the inks I've used. Their collections of 1inch cube inks are perfect for the Color Hues challenge as they are already in the correct hues! I don't have the dies, if there are any, so all the leaves and the bloom are fussy cut. My gold letters were cut using a freebie die.

So where will your ideas take you?

As always we look forward to seeing your makes in the gallery. For more inspiration, please check out the rest of the team here.

Uniko February Birthday Release and Giveaway.

It's finally release day at Uniko and as is customary we are hosting a Blog Hop and GIVEAWAY of a £25 eGift Code! 

But before the details, grab a cuppa, settle in and check out the complete release and a few more ideas of how to use them.

First off is this masculine card using some of the letters from the Solid Alphabet set.

Alphabet Solid Clear Stamp Set £16

Copyright Uniko Ltd 2012 - To Date

www.uniko.co.uk

I used a selection of DIs and the MCM Shapes stencil to create a background for my # sentiment.

When I'd finished adding that, I thought it needed something extra, so stamped over it with the BB MCM in Blueprint Sketch DI.

My next card combines the new Background Block with the Bright Butterflies stamp set.

Background Blocks Waves Clear Stamp Se £6.50

Copyright Uniko Ltd 2012 - To Date

www.uniko.co.uk

Bright Butterflies Clear Stamp Set £6.50

Copyright Uniko Ltd 2012 - To Date

www.uniko.co.uk

On intro day, I used BB Waves as actual waves but it also reminded me of long grass moving in the breeze, add in some butterflies and off I went. I started off with an other idea but it wasn't working but once I saw the sketch from CAS on Friday I ran with that layout.  I'd earlier created a panel by stamping the BB Waves twice onto a panel of white card with Mowed Lawn and then blended more of it over the inked panel to make it look more like grass waving in the breeze. From this panel, I die cut a tag and two banners. The butterflies were stamped and fussy cut before adding to a circle of card from the bits box to which I'd stamped a sentiment.

This next card uses the two stencils, the floral to create the background and the butterfly was cut from a panel made using the butterfly layering stencil. The sentiment is from the Organic Bloom stamp set.

Stencil - Layering Bright Butterflies £10.75

Copyright Uniko Ltd 2012 - To Date

www.uniko.co.uk

Stencil - Layering Organic Blooms £13.75

Copyright Uniko Ltd 2012 - To Date

www.uniko.co.uk

      

My next idea uses the Organic Bloom stamp set. 

Whilst walking the dog in the field earlier in the week, I saw that the blackthorn was in flower and on closer inspection the blossom reminded me of the flowers from this set, so here is my interpretation!

Organic Blooms Clear Stamp Set £11.50

Copyright Uniko Ltd 2012 - To Date

www.uniko.co.uk

I stamped the smaller of the two flowerheads and coloured them with Copic markers using a photo I found online to inform my colouring. After fussy cutting them, I used a ball tool to give them some shape and added them to a die cut panel of white card to which I'd added a brown, branch die cut from Memory Box. I stamped the sentiment from the set and embossed with gold EP.

Next my personal favourite of the release, Spring Botanicals- Primrose.

Spring Botanicals Clear Stamp Set £11.50

Copyright Uniko Ltd 2012 - To Date

www.uniko.co.uk

The image is another of my masking fluid resist panels which this time I've framed simply with circular aperture. Compared to my intro post, I kept to the wild primrose for my inspiration. One of our fields has a large patch of them that have crept through the fence from the railway embankment and make a fab sight, if the rabbits and sheep leave them alone. I decided to leave the frame without a sentiment so as not to detract from the central image.

Finally we have the Happy Birthday stencil.

This stencil is FREE with all Release Day orders of £15 or more while stocks last.

Also, why not take advantage of FREE Worldwide Shipping on Orders of £40 or more 

until Midnight Sunday 2nd March 2025.

Now that we've formally introduced the new products and before you run to the website, how about some more inspiration from Bev and the rest of the Brand Ambassadors. 

Be sure to comment along the hop for your chance to win a £25 eGift Certificate to spend in store. Winners of this giveaway and the stencils from the first couple of days introductions will be announced here on the blog, Saturday 8th March 2025, along with all the other 13th Birthday Celebration Winners.

  Anita

Bev

Izzy

Julie - me

Steph

Vinita

Happy hopping!

Joining in over at:-

 

Introducing Spring Botanicals - Primrose

Good morning.

It's the final of my introduction posts for Uniko's February release. I think we have kept the best to last with this fab addition to Bev's Spring Botanicals series.

When I saw the stamp I couldn't wait to get my paints out and get all arty!

The main focus of the set is this primrose image with assorted sentiments. 

As always when doing a botanical card, I look for photos to aid the painting process. I suppose for this I could have gone outside to see the real thing but it is rather cold out there in the wind swept garden!! Anyway, I noticed that over at The Flower Challenge , damn missed it!, they would like pink to feature, so I turned these primroses into polyanthus! I love this type of bloom and often make up an arrangement with some bulbs to bring indoors and then I can plant everything in the garden afterwards.

As you may be able to tell, I used my favourite masking fluid resist and clingfilm technique with watercolours. If you are interested in the technique here is a link to the process. 

Normally I keep the background to green but for this I added some Burnt Umber and Prussian Blue to the right to suggest soil. Once the masking was removed, I used a Zig watercolour marker to colour the petals and three shades of green watercolour for the leaves. The leaves of primroses and polyanths are quite crinkly, so I layered up the greens using a swirly action and my rigger brush. The rigger has long thin bristles that can form a point but you can be quite loose with the mark making as the tip is flexible and difficult to be tight with the addition of the paint. I used a photo to show me where to put the colour on the flowers, especially around the center.

When dry I framed it with an MFT rectangle frame and added a sentiment on a banner glued down the side.

That's all from me for today but why not check out the rest of the team to see how they've used the new set.

  Anita

Bev

Izzy

Julie -me

Steph

Vinita

See you back here tomorrow for the big release day blog hop and GIVEAWAY!

Introducing Layering Organic Bloom Stencil and Organic Bloom Stamp set

Good morning.

Today we are introducing a stencil AND a stamp set. The layering stencil echoes the stamp set as you can see from the card below.

I used all 4 layers of the stencil to create an all over pattern on A5 panel of white card with Picked Raspberry and Seedless Preserves DI for the blossom and Twisted Citron and Mowed Lawn DI for the leaves and stems. I cut an A6 panel from the larger one and put to one side for later use ;)!

Using the stamps, I stamped a one of each of the blossom flowers and coloured with matching Copic markers before fussy cutting out. I added a few dots of white gel pen to the centers of all the flowers as well as some around the anthers of the stamped ones.

I had a panel of linen effect card that had managed to get some ink on it and as I can no longer get it from my supplier I wanted to use it up, so cut away the marked section and created two strips. On the reverse of the marked strip, I inked with a mix of the pinks to create a couple of strips which I stuck along the edge of the textured white panels. 

To put the card together, I glued the textured panels over the stencil one, adding the Copic coloured blooms to cover any open areas. A simple sentiment strip using the stamp set completes. 

Here is a card I made using my masking fluid resist and snappy wrap technique.

Bev has designed these blooms to be used with stems but for this I just used the two flower heads.

I saw a video on You Tube one wet Sunday afternoon and now I can't stop making cards this way, this time I've turned the flowers into crab apple blossom! I stamped and masked the two blooms, then added a couple of buds and sketched in some branches. Watercolour was used to create the background and the detail in the blossom but you could use Brusho for the background and DI for the detail or even a mix of all three! 

My panel was mounted behind a die cut woodgrain frame, a pressie from Santa and it's first outing, and then onto a matching textured off white card base.

For more inspiration why not check out what the rest of the BAs have been up to.

 Anita

Bev

Izzy

Julie -me

Steph

Vinita

Back again tomorrow for the final day of intros, hope to see you then.

Joining in over at:-

                                             #71