Release Day @ Uniko with a Blog Hop and Giveaway

Good morning and welcome to the Uniko release day, blog hop and GIVEAWAY!!

We hope you've enjoyed seeing all the new stamps and stencils that Bev has designed and now you can see what the sets are all about and more importantly get your hands on them!!

Here are a few reminders of what is in the release.

First off we have the Layering Christmas Bauhaus Blocks, a 3 part set that allows you to build up a pattern, as big or as small as you want. This card uses another 3 x 3 panel I made from the original A5 sheet I created.

For this I die cut the word JOY from an alphabet die set from gold mirror card, placing them diagonally across the grid. This was then mounted on more gold then onto a square white base card.

Here are the set I made from the one panel, and there are still some squares left!!

Stencil - Layering Bauhaus Christmas Blocks £10.75

Copyright Uniko Ltd 2012 - To Date

www.uniko.co.uk

My next card featured the BB Christmas Scramble. I think this is a great stamp for a quick but impactful card. Here I've used metallic paints on a black base and gold embossing.

Lots of other ways to colour the bold lettering or just leave it blank!

Background Blocks Merry Christmas Scramble £6.50

Copyright Uniko Ltd 2012 - To Date

www.uniko.co.uk

There's also another background block, My favourite colour is.

Background Blocks My Favourite Colour £6.50

Copyright Uniko Ltd 2012 - To Date

www.uniko.co.uk

Now we are onto the stencils, a couple of ink n flips featuring small trees and snowflakes, always a perennial favourite.

This card was made using an off cut from the intro post card, made extra Christmassy with more red and gold. 

 

Ink & Flip Christmas Tree Pattern Stencil £4.50

Copyright Uniko Ltd 2012 - To Date

www.uniko.co.uk

This next card uses the offcut again, waste not want not!

 

Not sure what went wrong with the EP on the large greeting but I quite like the texture it gave, even if it wasn't what I had first intended!

Ink & Flip Snowflake Pattern Stencil £4.50

Copyright Uniko Ltd 2012 - To Date

www.uniko.co.uk

Finally it's Flower Power #12. For this idea I've not used the flower elements but the sentiments to fill a panel, then embossed with white EP and inked with Mowed Lawn DI. A trio of die cut fir trees, no idea of brand they were a freebie from a craft retreat, complete

Flower Power #12 £6.50

Copyright Uniko Ltd 2012 - To Date

www.uniko.co.uk

So that's it but I'm sure that Bev and the rest of the BAs have lots more ideas about how to use this release. Why not check them out and leave some love on the way AND have the chance to win a prize.

 Anita

Bev

Izzy

Julie - me

Steph 

Vinita

So don't forget to leave a comment before you hop off  or you may miss out on a chance to win a £25 eGift code. Comment by 3rd August with winners of all prizes announced Wed 6th August.

Happy Hopping!

Introducing - Flower Power #12

Morning all. Today is the last of the intros for the Christmas in July release from Uniko.

Our last intro is the latest in the Flower Power series. Here's my take with this not so traditional design!

I realised that clever Bev had designed this set so that the die from an earlier Flower Power release, fit the largest outlined poinsettia in the set, so after cutting some shapes from white card, I used my MISTI and a card jig to stamp a few. I made the jig from the die and a scrap of card. The jig allows me to stamp multiple images without the die cuts moving around. I find this much more successful than stamping then die cutting.

Once the ink, Altenew's Heartbeat, had dried I arranged the images in a grid of 3 x 3 onto a square of white card, leaving the center one for the sentiment. I could have placed the greeting over the central image but decided I liked this look better. I added a few punched yellow dots to the center of each to add a little bit of dimension, the sentiment from the set was simply stamped on red and heat embossed with white EP.

The white panel was then added to slightly larger red one that in turn was just smaller than my white square base card.

 So that's all from me but please check out the rest of the team to see what ideas they've come up with.

Anita

Bev

Izzy

Julie

Steph

Vinita

See you back here bright and early for the full release, blog hop and GIVEAWAY tomorrow!

Introducing - Background Blocks My Favourite Colour

Good morning. Today at Uniko we're focusing on another new Background Block, My Favourite Colour.  It's a fun image and makes the easiest of Christmas cards just like this!

All I did for this was simply stamp the image onto a black A6 note card with Versamark, then heat emboss with gold EP. To continue the sparkly element, I coloured the fairy lights with a rainbow of metallic paint. Simples.

Why not checkout the rest of the BAs and Bev to see what ideas they have.

Anita

Bev

Izzy

Julie

Steph

Vinita

See you back same time tomorrow for more inspiration!

Introducing - Ink & Flip Christmas Tree Pattern & Ink & Flip Snowflake Pattern

Morning all, day 3 of the intros for Uniko's July release. Today we focus on two brand new Ink n Flip designs. First off is Christmas Tree Pattern.

I started by inking a panel of A5 white card with Mowed Lawn DI through the stencil. Once covered, I washed and dried it before flipping it and inking in the other halves of the trees with Pine Needles DI.

From this finished panel, I cut out an A6 panel then added the sentiment, Christmas Sentiments, gold EP on red and fussy cut. A very simple card design but the pattern is so striking I didn't think it needed anything else.

Next is the Snowflake Pattern stencil. Here are a couple of ideas using the A5 panel I created using Salty Ocean and Blueprint Sketch. This time I added some extra interest by over stamping with the script stamp and heat embossing with white EP. I also decided to soften the look by softly inking over the panel with Salty Ocean DI.

This card uses just a fraction of the A5 panel and a matching turquoise blue base card with a little bit of holographic card as trim. Sentiment is Christmas Wishes.

This next card uses an A6 panel which I cut into with a pierced rectangle die. The large panel was added to a white base card, more of the leftover later!

A simple greeting in silver EP completes.

That's all for today but we'll be back tomorrow for yet another intro.

Why not check out what the rest of the team have come up with by clicking the links below.

 Anita

Bev

Izzy

Julie

Steph

Vinita

See you back tomorrow for another intro!

Introducing - Background Blocks Merry Christmas Scramble

Good morning, it's day 2 of the intros for the Uniko Christmas in July release. Today we are introducing another in the Background Block series - Merry Christmas Scramble. Here are a couple of ideas I came up with to use them.

This first card which was actually the starting point for another card idea but I rather liked the simple gold embossing on black.

I simply stamped the block, then heat embossed with gold EP onto an A6 black base card. A few tiny red gems added to the berries completes this very simple card.

This next card could be the start of a batch of cards as I used paper piecing to fill in the outlines.

After stamping the block onto a panel of white with black ink, I repeat stamped it onto some Christmas DP. If you do it on 9 different pieces then you can make 9 different panels, but for this card I used some scraps and my MISTI to stamp in black and then fussy cut the letters out, gluing them over the black outlines on the white card. 

I die cut the white panel with a pierced rectangle die, mounted it onto one of the green DPs I used and then onto a red A6 base card.

So that's all from me for today but I'll be back tomorrow with more release intros but in the meantime why not see what Bev and the rest of the team have been up to. 

Anita

Bev

Izzy

Julie

Steph

Vinita

Introducing Stencil - Layering Christmas Bauhaus Blocks

 Good morning, today we start the introductions for the Christmas in July release from Uniko. Today we are focusing on a fabulous stencil that will pair well with the previously released Bauhaus stencils or just on it's own as I have done here.

My first idea shows what you can do if you cut up the squares and rearrange them into your own pattern.

When I first got the stencils, there are 3 parts to this one, I covered an A5 panel of white card by inking with the stencil. Each layer was a different colour, I used Mowed Lawn, Candied Apple and Worn Lipstick DI, but I masked off some elements to change up the design, leaving the bird and parcel ties white and the 2nd half of the tree a pale shade of green. From the finished panel I cut a couple of 3 x 3 squares and then cut up the rest into 1 inch squares.

On a panel of white card, I assembled the inchies along with a die cut white panel stamped with the greeting. The white panel was then cut down and added to an A6 base card.

This second card uses one of the 3 x 3 squares I mentioned above, mounted on matching green and red card and then onto a small, square, white, base card.

I've kept the design clear of any sentiment, it's quite obvious that it's a Christmas card!

The other square and inchies I will keep for use later.

What do you think? For more ideas about how to use this fab new stencil set check out the BAs and Bev below.

 Anita

Bev

Izzy

Julie - me

Steph 

Vinita

See you back here tomorrow for more Christmas in July fun.

Joining in over at:-

Uniko's Christmas in July Release Sneak Peeks

Good morning. It's release week over at Uniko with the focus on Christmas in July!

Here are a few sneaky peeks at the fab new stamps and stencils you can get hold of from 9am BST Thursday 31st July 2025!

First off is a fab Background Block that's sure to be a fave.

 

Next another in that series, great for quick and simple Christmas cards.

Sneak Peek 3 is of the final addition to the Flower Power series, think it fills the last gap in the series perfectly.

Now we move onto the new stencils. This first peek is a wonderful addition to the builder style stencils. A big clue, if you like the Stencil - Layering Bauhaus Blocks, we think you'll love it! 

Next are a couple of Bev's innovative Ink n Flip designs.

These are sure to make your Christmas card making a FLIPPIN' breeze! 

So that about wraps up the peeks, I am sure there's something here for everyone. Hope you find time to join Bev and the Uniko Brand Ambassadors tomorrow as we start the introductions.

All these products will be available at 9am BST Thursday 31st July 2025.

Color Hues #114

Good afternoon. We're over the halfway point in July so it's time for a brand new colour combo from Color Hues. Here's my take.

There's not much green around here at the moment, nor yellow for that matter unless you class straw as yellow. The dry and hot sunny weather, has bleached everything. The hay fields are thin and crispy and the flower borders are struggling to show any colour, only the tomatoes and butternut squash appear to be enjoying this hot summer! So as a result I thought of an alternate use for green and whilst flipping through my to colour box, I found this sweet little dragon from Lili of The Valley. Unless you're Welsh I think dragons should be green!

I used Copics to colour and then fussy cut him out. I decided to set him against a sky but as I couldn't use blue, found some grey ones that were a mistake when I first got my new printer! I used some linen effect card for the base and matching die cut panel, popping it up on foam pads after stamping with a Uniko sentiment. My little Dragon with Flowers was similarly popped up and the extra flower head added flat in the space I'd left by off setting the greeting.

So what will you make with the new colours? For more inspiration please check out the rest of the team here along with our GD for this challenge.

Looking forward to seeing your makes in the gallery.

Fun At the Beach

Good morning and welcome to a brand new challenge at Cardz4Guyz. Today we start the first of the new MONTHLY challenges and it is my turn to choose the theme. Bearing in mind that schools here will soon be breaking for the school holidays, I thought I would choose the theme of:-

SUMMER HOLIDAYS

As we are both now retired it seems like we are on holiday all the time but those of you with kids will either be looking forward to the next few weeks or dreading it!! As a kid and when ours were little, it was always a beach holiday, a week in the sun, or more likely rain if it was in this country! Here's my card based on the theme.

I've used this cute little chap a few times, he's on old rubber stamp from Paper Pretties, now no longer in business. 

For my design, I inked the corner of a white A6 base card with Tea Dye and Salty Ocean DIs and stamped the image onto a scrap of Copic friendly card before colouring him in with said Copics. After fussy cutting him out, I returned to the background, adding some sea foam with an embossing pen and white EP and a sentiment from a magazine. The little chap was then added over the top with some glue, simples.

So you have the whole month to think up an idea and join in, there's also plenty of inspiration over at the Cardz4Guyz blog too. 

Looking forward to seeing you in the gallery.

Joining in over at:-

Sun, Sea and Sand

#180 Masculine

Christmas in July Uniko's FB VIP Challenge

 Morning all. As it's the 11th of the month it's time for a new challenge over at Uniko's VIP FB page. All through July we at Uniko are celebrating Christmas in July, so that's our theme for this months competition. Here's a very simple OLC using Winter Foliage for your inspiration.

I apologise for the pic, it was either too dark or too bright for a photo today!

I used the sketch at CAS Colours and Sketches along with the OLC option at ABC Christmas Challenge as inspiration, it's also Christmas in July at CAS on Friday. All elements are simply stamped using DIs, but I used a small blending brush and more Peeled Paint for the evergreen bough. A simple gold embossed sentiment completes.

Joining in over at:-

O is for OLC

Christmas in July

Color Hues #113

Afternoon all. A new month has begun, so it's time for a new challenge at Color Hues but it's also Christmas in July over at Uniko! What says Christmas more than a Christmas sweater?

The Color Hues pairing chosen by Tracey had me reaching for the Background Builders Christmas 2018 set to create a fun sweater!

I simply stamped and embossed in white, 3 of the Scandinavian star strips and bookended them with the diagonal stripe one. I cut away the neck opening with a circle die and cut a welt with two more circle dies from the leftovers, trimming the panel down to reveal a white border when added to my white base card. I finished it off with a simple sentiment from Uniko's Christmas Sentiments.

So what will the new colours inspire you to create? Looking forward to seeing your makes in the Color Hues gallery. For more red and white inspiration why not check out the rest of the team and our GD here?