By the River

Good morning. Are we really near the end of April, where it that month go? Anyway it's time for a brand new challenge over at Cardz4Guyz. This time we would like to see your masculine take on the theme of:-

A BODY of WATER

So, that means anything that refers to the sea, a river, lake or perhaps even an aquarium! Here's my take, not sure if he's by a pond or stream, your guess?

The official title of the image is By the River by LOTV, one of my first purchases from years ago.

To start, I stamped the little chap, then cut an aperture for him to sit inside. I used partial die cutting, slipping the circle die behind the image so that just the arc was cut. You can just about see where I cut the  panel to allow this to happen. Once coloured with Copics, I added a scrap of NitWits DP to the back then stamped my sentiment and added the whole to an A6 base card. The water was the hardest element to colour, you have to keep your strokes parallel or it looks like the water is moving up hill!

So where will the new theme take you? We are looking forward to seeing your takes in our gallery and if you need more inspiration please check out the rest of the team at Cardz4Guyz. 

Joining in over at:-

#786 Birthdays

Uniko April Release Day Blog Hop and Giveaway

Good morning, hope your weekend is going well.

Today marks the full release day for Uniko's April release and as per usual we having a Blog Hop and GIVEAWAY!!

Simply leave some love along the way for a chance to win!

So buckle up, grab a cuppa and join me for some more release inspiration, then hop along to visit Bev and the rest of the BAs.

First off I've used the 2 small solid butterflies from Butterfly Serenade to create this.

Butterfly Serenade Clear Stamp Set £11.50

Copyright Uniko Ltd 2012 - To Date

www.uniko.co.uk

I chose some of my favourite colours and CASed a card of mine from way back. 

To create my opening for the sentiment, I cut a large butterfly mask using English Country Garden dies, then stamped the coloured butterflies around it. Removing the mask I stamped a sentiment. I had planned on using the larger sentiment from the set but couldn't fit it into the opening made by the mask, so used one from Originally Organic, stamped a couple of times in the darkest plum from the butterflies. The finished panel was going to be kept as is but after stamping I put it to one side which happened to be over the envelope from my daughter's Mother's Day card which I'd saved. It looked so pretty I decided to cut the panel down to reveal the thin pink edge!

Next up is a card using the Ink n Flip Delightful Diamonds and the spray using Flower Fusion stencil, which I fussy cut out.

Stencil - Ink & Flip Delightful Diamonds £4.50

Copyright Uniko Ltd 2012 - To Date

www.uniko.co.uk

Stencil - Layering Flower Fusion £13.75

Copyright Uniko Ltd 2012 - To Date

www.uniko.co.uk

I found a card mask in my bits box which had rounded corners but was the correct size to create my central panel on the base card. Using the Delightful Diamonds stencil, I inked through the stencil onto a white A6 base card with Salty Ocean DI. 

The large daisy in the stencil reminded me of a very old daisy punch I had and I wondered if it would fit, so had a play. The punched daisy was coloured using the stencil which left the white collar in the center which I really liked and no fussy cutting involved!! The punch is a yellow Woodware one, 11/2" diameter, if you're interested. Unfortunately the rest of the spray had to be cut freehand. Each element was shaped using a ball tool before adding to my base card which I'd stamped the sentiment from Organic Flower garden.

Speaking of which, here is the second panel I mentioned on Wednesday using Originally Organic Flower Garden.

Originally Organic Flower Garden Clear Stamp Set £11.50

Copyright Uniko Ltd 2012 - To Date

www.uniko.co.uk

This panel was created the same way, using masking fluid but I spritzed water over the MM stamped panel before sprinkling some Brusho over and adding salt. This technique really does require good masking as Brusho powder gets everywhere!! 

Once the panel was dry I brushed off any loose powder before removing the masking fluid and watercoloured the blooms. A simple frame stamped with a sentiment from the set was added on pads over the trimmed down panel on a linen effect base card.

And finally I have this card using Spring Blossom layering stencil and the outline stamps from Organic Flower Garden.

Stencil - Layering Spring Blossom £10.75

Copyright Uniko Ltd 2012 - To Date

www.uniko.co.uk

The background was created using the stencil and a grey palette and the central panel was created using colours. A bit of fiddling around using a mask to identify the correct area to be used, before cutting it out. I softened the coloured panel by running the blending brushes used over each element and stamped the made up sentiment as before. The panel looked a bit bare so I stamped the blooms in a no line ink and used Copic to colour the large one and the stencil and DI for the smaller. All were fussy cut along with a few stencilled leaf clusters.

So that's all but for some more fab inspiration please check out the rest of the team below, leave some love and you'll be in the running for a £25 e gift card, the winner of which Bev will draw randomly from all comments on Monday 5th May 2025.

  Anita

Bev

Izzy

Julie - me

Steph 

Vinita

Happy hopping!!

Joining in over at:-

 

Spring

Introducing Layering Stencil Spring Blossom

In our final day of intros for Uniko's April release we have another layering stencil for you, welcome Spring Blossom!

Here are a couple of ideas for you.

To start the design process, I first stencilled over an A4 panel of white card, then cut it into 2 A5 panels. Here's the first idea I had.

I had the remains of a white die cut A5 panel from earlier in the week, so decided to use it to make the card. I wanted a sentiment to follow the line of the die cut, so used the long sentiment from Pure Florals Cosmos and bent it to fit before stamping. A stamped bloom from Organic Flower Garden was inked with the same DIs as the panel before cutting out and added to the die cut panel. I used the stamped version as it is slightly larger than the stencilled one and gave more impact. A couple of green leaves were fussy cut and added under to complete the top panel. I thought it needed a little something to contrast with the two panels, so added an inked curved trim to match the edge of the die cut. This was then added over the inked panel to create the card front.

Next is this design using the other A5 panel made using the stencil.

This is very simple. I just cut my remaining A5 panel at about 2/3rds and marked the base card where the edge would come before stamping the bold Happy Birthday which is a mix of MCM Christmas and MCM Everyday Sentiments in silver EP a couple of times. The panel was then glued down and the leftover glued beneath, trimming away the excess.

Wondering what the rest of the team have come up with, then why not check them out below.

  Anita

Bev

Izzy

Julie - me

Steph

Vinita

See you back here tomorrow for the full release and blog hop!

Joining in over at:-

Introducing Originally Organic Flower Garden

Morning.

Another day of introductions for the Uniko April release. Hope you're loving these new stamps and stencils because I am!

Today we focus on one set from the Originally Organic group featuring some fab little stems and blooms plus a cute new font for the sentiments.

Here's my first idea using the stencil from yesterday and the larger flower outline, there are two, and the stem.

On a panel slightly smaller than my base card, I inked through the stencil with Salty Ocean DI, feathering out my inking to get the desired effect. Next I stamped the stem, followed by the largest outlined flower. I coloured the bloom with black marker pen to create a silhouette but decided to keep the leaves open. My sentiment from the set was stamped and the panel popped up on foam pads.

My next card is one of a couple I made from stamping onto MM paper, when I first got my stash, more of the other later in the week!

For this panel I stamped and heat embossed with white EP. When cool, I added some liquid masking fluid to the flowers and leaves and left it to dry. If you are very careful by using EP you could get away without masking but it is easier this way. 

Using my water colours, you could use DIs smooshed onto a suitable surface, I wet the stamped panel with plain water then painted a wash of blue across the top half and green across the bottom. Before it was dry, I added some rock salt crystals to the bottom half and left it to dry thoroughly. Once it was, I swept the salt into the bin to reveal the pretty pattern where the water/paint had been absorbed by the salt, clever eh? I think it looks a bit like tiny wild flowers in the grass. The masking fluid was then removed and the flowers and leaves were painted in with more watercolours. 

I cut a frame for the little scene by die cutting a rectangle from a panel of white card, smaller than my base card, stamping the same sentiment in black before gluing the MM panel to my base card and popping the frame up over on foam pads.

Enough from me, why not check out the rest of the team here to see what they've been up to?

  Anita

Bev

Izzy

Julie - me

Steph

Vinita

So that's all for today but pop back tomorrow to see an other intro from the Uniko April release.

Joining in over at:-

April AG, no option

Use a stencil

Birds, animals, flowers, nature

Clean and Simple or Fussy and Fancy

I'd choose clean and simple nearly every time, as I find the simple no clutter style lets the image sing. Also I find it difficult to add layers and fussy things up, the end result always look wrong to me!

Introducing Ink n Flip Stencil - Delightful Diamonds

Good morning. 

It's day 2 of the Uniko April release intros. Today we are focusing on another of Bev's Ink n Flip stencils, Delightful Diamonds, here are a couple of ideas.

This card was made by inking an A5 panel of white card, with a rainbow of DI inks diagonally across my panel. Starting first with Wilted Violet. then Salty Ocean, Peacock Feathers, Twisted Citron, Mustard Seed, Spiced Marmalade and finally Picked Raspberry. After wiping down the stencil, I flipped it over and continued the pattern, blending the colours as I went. The stencil only covers part of the panel at one go so I needed to move it around to get the whole A5 panel covered. I love how the colours blend so that the transition from one to another is subtle. 

I cut my panel in half, then trimmed once again so that I had a thin white border when added to an A6 white card base. The sentiment white EP on black card, was made up from a selection of Uniko sentiment stamps, I made a few some I used yesterday, some for later use too, cut with a couple of nesting circle dies. The circles were glued together then popped on to the panel with foam tape.

Here's what I made with the rest of the panel. 

This time I simply added a die cut white panel over the top and one of the sentiments from Tuesday's intro, a few black punched stars and dots complete.

What do you think? Why not check out the rest of the team to see how they've used this fab new stencil.

  Anita

Bev

Izzy

Julie - me

Steph

Vinita

I'll be back tomorrow with another introduction.

Joining in over at:-

                                                Patterns

Introducing Layering Stencil Flower Fusion

Good morning, it's day 2 of the intros for Uniko's April release. 

Today we have a fab layering stencil for you, full of spring flowers and foliage.

Here're a couple of ideas of how I've used this 4 layer stencil for you.

This first card uses half of an A5 panel I inked using the stencil.

I chose a spring palette of DIs to ink through the 4 four layers, then cut the panel into 2. This panel I softened the stencilling by using the leftover ink on my brushes, then ran it through my Big Shot with a linen texture EF. This was inspired by ex BA Carol who made this card recently, using perforated paper. Not having any of the specialist paper, I looked for ways to get texture onto my panels.

This next card was the other half of the panel, embossed with a texture plate. As the plate is from an  American company it is too small for a British A6 card base, so How to get around it? I could have trimmed all sides to leave a border but decided to cut a curve onto the bottom edge instead using part of an large oval die.

Both sentiments were made from Uniko stash, the first stamped and heat embossed with white EP onto a piece of card coloured with Picked Raspberry DI, the second simply onto black.

Thanks for the inspiration Carol, hope you like my take and this fab new stencil too!

So what have the rest of the team been up to? Why not pop along and have a look?

  Anita

Bev

Izzy

Julie - me

Steph

Vinita

See you back here tomorrow for another introduction!

Joining in over at:-

stencil/any color/ flower

AG Spring

springtime flowers

#177 Spring flowers

Introducing - Butterfly Serenade

Morning.

Today we are starting the introductions for Uniko's April release with another in the Serenade series. We've had hearts, leaves, snowflakes, now butterflies!

For this example I've used a Gelli print pull from my stash as a base, stamping the swirl of butterflies with Versamark before heat embossing with white EP. The set comes with a few additional butterflies which I stamped to fill in the panel before adding some blue watercolour to the outline butterflies and a few tiny silver gems to the flower centers. The larger of the two sentiments comes from the same set and was heat embossed with white EP and the second I made from some other Uniko stash!

This is a 5 x 7 inch card with the finished panel double mounted onto white then textured silver card before popping the whole lot up on foam pads over a white base card.

My second design uses an older large butterfly stencil and another of the Gelli print pulls for the background.

Starting with the Gelli print pull, I stencilled through the detailed butterfly with Salty Ocean DI before stamping the Butterfly Serenade and heat embossing with white EP. No filling in of the outline butterflies this time and the sentiment from the set was stamped with Blueprint Sketch DI and heat embossed with clear EP.

Well that's all from me for today but why not check out what the rest of the girl's have been up to with this stamp set?

  Anita

Bev

Izzy

Julie - me

Steph

Vinita

Come back tomorrow for another introduction from the release and ways to use it.

Sneak Peeks of Uniko's April Release

 Good morning. Hope you're having a great Easter break despite the weather here in the UK and are ready for a new release from Uniko. There's lots of ideas coming up over the rest of the week on how to use it but first are a few tantalising sneak peeks!

First up a new addition to the Serenade series.

Next up a layering stencil and another fabulous floral that will be wonderful all year round. 

Next another in Bev's innovative Ink n Flip stencil series. 

Next up is another clear stamp set and you might recognise Bev's organic drawing style.

Finally there's another floral, layering stencil

That wraps up the peeks and I am sure there's something for everyone. I do hope you will find time to join Bev, me and the rest of the Uniko Brand Ambassadors from tomorrow as we start the introductions.

All these products will be available at 9am BST Sunday 27th April 2025 and at Crafterama Lincoln! 

See you tomorrow same time, same place!