Uniko 11th Birthday Release In Review and a Brand Ambassador Blog Hop & Giveaway!

Good morning, hope I find you well.

Some of the Brand Ambassadors at Uniko didn't all get their stash for the 11th Birthday release until after the release day due to problems with the Post Office and other things, so we are back with a few more ideas using the release and another chance for you to win with a Blog hop and giveaway! 

I was lucky enough to get most of my stash but not all and have finally got my sticky paws on the fab Falling Hearts Serenade stamp set!

Here's my first card using Spring Botanicals- Crocus, I just love it!!

When we had snow at the beginning of March, the crocuses in the wild area of my garden were in flower, their purple heads just peeking above the 3 inches of lying snow. Once the snow stopped and the sun came out they looked very pretty against the sparkling snow and blue sky, so I decided to have a go at painting them.

A piece of torn copy paper served as a useful mask for the foreground snow and after stamping, decided not use the background technique I used here and here. This time I simply added a wash of Ultramarine watercolour for the sky, leaving a few gaps to give texture. The foreground I left plain to work on later. I then worked on the crocus flowers, removing the masking before adding detail using Zig watercolour pens. To create the snow, I just added shadow with a dry brush and some Payne's Grey watercolour, except on the right where I used a little more water in the mix. One of the blooms didn't work out as I would have liked but the overall effect I'm pleased with. The A5 panel of watercolour paper was trimmed to size and added to an A4 base card. I didn't want to spoil the pic by adding a sentiment, so left it off.

My next card uses the Falling Hearts Serenade stamp as well as a few small hearts from Big and Bold Love.

On an A6 panel of white card, I stamped and heat embossed with white EP the Falling Hearts Serenade quite a few times, filling in the gaps with some smaller hearts. From an A6 panel of masking paper, I die cut a heart to create a frame. The A6 panel was then placed over the stamped panel and the the heart aperture was inked through with Worn Lipstick DI. The heart die cut was then put back into the panel to mask the red heart, the outer panel was removed and the rest of the panel inked with Weathered Wood DI. Once the central heart was removed, I added the fussy cut Happy, Christmas Sentiments, and the Anniversary, Flower Power #7, stamped in black on a white strip of card on foam pads. A few PPP sequins complete the design.

Finally another using the Falling Hearts Serenade stamp set. A simple gold embossed image, a few additional hearts and a sentiment that would serve for a wedding, engagement or anniversary from the Wonderful Day set.

The large stamp was stamped with Versamark and heat embossed with gold EP on a panel of white card, along with a few extra hearts and sentiment. This was then trimmed and added to a panel of gold textured card and then on pads to a 5 x 7 white base card.

So now it's over to you. Just leave a comment here for a chance to win a fab prize, before hopping off to see what the rest of the Brand Ambassadors have made.

Bev is going to choose one lucky winner from the comments, to receive a Uniko Clear Stamp & Stencil Bundle worth a minimum of £30. It will be a mix of the new release featured in the hop with a few of her favourites mixed in too.

Simply leave a comment along all stops of the hop before midnight BST Saturday 8th April 2023 and she will randomly select a lucky winner and announce ASAP after the closing date.

Happy hopping!

 Anita

Bev

Izzy

Julie -that's me

Steph

Vinita

11th Birthday Release Day and Blog Hop and giveaway at Uniko

Well it's release day and you can finally get to play with the new Uniko goodies for yourselves!

I've loved playing with the new stamps and stencil and had so many ideas on how to use them, but here are a few I got around to making!

You might recognise the background to this card from an earlier post made up of spring sentiments, then it was green behind a rabbit! The fussy cut crocus was stamped and coloured using Copics this time, V04, 06, 09 and V17 for the petals.

I couldn't resist making this next card, another watercolour using Spring Botanicals Crocus.

This time I stamped the central bloom then used masking fluid to mask, then stamped the left one, masked again, then the right and masked with the liquid masking. When dry, I flooded the background with a mix of Cadmium Yellow and Prussian blue, added some crinkled up cling film and left it to dry. I did check carefully that there were no beads of damp colour on the masking before carefully removing it and painting in the petals and leaves. The frame was cut using an Avery Elle die and then mounted over the top of the dry painting with foam pads, I left the sentiment off this time.

Next I have a fun birthday card using the bunny from Hoppy Easter and some pretty NitWits DP, the die is MFT.

Whilst I had my watercolours out, I made this simple card using Up and Away.

Look closely and you may notice that this balloon has an extra panel or two. While I was painting the dark blue panel the dog came in and nudged my arm and so I smudged a bit over the lines, so had to extend the colouring to cover it up! Of course the pinky purple one had to be extended to match too.

Finally I used the Up and Away set along with the Cloud 9 stencil for this slimline design.

So that's it, what do you think? Don't forget to leave a comment before you hop along to the rest of the team for a chance to win a fabulous prize.

Anita

Bev

Julie - that's me

Steph

Joining in over at:-

 
                                               Spring Blooms

Introducing Spring Botanicals Crocus

Morning all and welcome to the first of my introductory posts for the Spring release at Uniko. Previously Bev has launched Snowdrops, Tulips and Daffodils as part of the Spring Botanicals series and this year Crocus has been added to the stable! When I got my hands on the new set I knew exactly what I was going to do with it. 

We had a few days of warm weather last weekend and it brought out the flowers from crocus bulbs I planted in the grass to naturalize and was inspired to replicate the look of the purple against the green of the grass.

I've previously done water colour versions of the tulip and snowdrop sets so why not a crocus one!

After stamping the image with Altenew's Limestone ink on watercolour paper, I used some rubber masking fluid to mask out the image then taped it firmly onto a board with masking tape when dry. Lots of water and paint was then flooded onto the panel, Cadmium Yellow and Prussian Blue being the main colours and let the magic begin. I tried to keep the darker colour on the right hand side of the image, lighter to the top and left, but I wasn't top hung up as watercolour often has a mind of its own! Before the paint was dry, I added some crumpled up clingfilm and left it to dry, then removed the film to create an interesting background. I just love the freedom this technique gives you compared to using say a stenciled background, the clingfilm gives you all the random texture without all the stress, it's different every time you do it too.

Don't rush to remove the masking fluid as any wet paint will smudge onto your clean image, so check first! Once the masking was removed, I washed a mix of Prussian Blue and Purple Lake onto the petals and a mix of Cadmium Yellow and Prussian Blue for the leaves and stem. The papery bit at the bottom of the stem I coloured using some very dilute Raw Sienna, the stigma is Cadmium Yellow and a touch of Vermillion and left to dry.

After removing the masking tape, I attached the finished panel to a 5 x 7 base card and stamped the sentiment from the set in black.

So what do you think? Why not check the rest of the team to see what ideas they've come up with?

Anita

Bev

Julie - that's me

Steph

See you tomorrow for another introducing post. 

Joining in over at:-

Stencilled background or freestyle?

I just love the freedom this cling film and watercolour technique gives you compared to using a stenciled background, it gives you all the random texture without all the stress, it's different every time you do it too.