DT Inspiration at Uniko

Good morning all. 

I'm over at the Uniko blog this morning with a little bit of DT inspiration. 

I was inspired to make this card for my daughter's birthday after seeing this video. (Being on the sick list earlier this year allowed me far too much time to watch You Tube videos! )

She love's butterflies and purple and turquoise colours so that's the route I went down.

Jennifer McGuire calls the technique stamped see through cards as you can literally see through the front panel!

For all the details check out the Uniko blog here.

Linking up at:-

Blooms, butterflies and/or bugs

Stencil Sunday

Hi and welcome.
I'm over at the Uniko blog for another Stencil Sunday.

I'm sharing a couple of cards made using a wreath builder/ turnabout stamping jig that some of you may be familiar with. If you haven't got one here is a link to how to make your own.

Some of you may even have used one with your stamps to create some fun cards, like I did here, but this time I'm going to use a couple of stencils. I was inspired to have a go after seeing this Jennifer McGuire video.

My first card uses the wonky stripes stencil and the So Much clear stamp set.

This second card uses the Broken Lines stencil and a more restricted palette.

Pop over to the Uniko blog for all the details

Joining in over at:-

     
Stencilling, die cutting and Ombre Copic colouring!

June 2019 Uniko Blog Hop and Giveaway

Morning all.

Its time for a revisit of some of Uniko's stamps and dies and while we're at it why not have a little blog hop and giveaway as well!

This time around we are focusing on Explosions, Explosions Additions stamp sets and their matching dies.

Explosions was one of the first sets I ever bought from Uniko years ago and has been very useful for masculine cards, so when Bev launched the Additions and matching dies, I knew they would come in very useful.

As its coming up to Father's Day here in the UK, so I decided to use them to make this card.

I used the layout from Freshly Made Sketches and the Colour Throwdown colours as my inspiration.

The explosion was made up of 3 pieces, one stamped in navy with the original Explosions then die cut and the larger ones simply cut from card and layered up. The background was stamped a couple of times in Coral Bliss ink with the Explosions Additions large stamp. The greeting is also from the set with some die cut letters added on top. All the panels were then added to a pale cream base card.

This second card uses one of the small explosion stamps and matching die from the Additions set, along with the sentiment and three of the exclamation stamps from the original Explosions set.

Each die cut was placed back into the negative space of the card so that I could use it as a jig, just replacing the die cut each time before stamping. The exclamations were stamped in black over the top and the centres coloured with a white gel pen. The layout is CAS(E) this Sketch.

   

     

So that's it from me but carry on hopping and commenting with a chance to win a Uniko £25 eGift certificate. You have until midnight BST on Friday 15th June to leave your comments.

Bev

Carol 

Izzy 

Jane 

Julie - that's me

Linda

Rahmat

Sarah P

Wiebke 

So happy hopping!

I'm playing along at:-

     

Uniko May Challenge

It's time for a brand new challenge over at Uniko. Here's my inspiration for you.

This time our theme is Anything Goes with the twist of Masculine. 

Now some of you may quake at the thought of masculine cards but being out numbered by boys in our family, I've got quite used to them!
I find that a CAS approach works well as well as the choice of colours. This card uses a panel made my combining two recently released sets, Mid Century Florals and the Mid Century Stencil.
To be honest the design of this card was dictated by the fact I smudged the stencil so had to hide it under the die cut plain top panel!
The stencil was inked through with Altenew black ink onto white card, then over stamped with the solid oval from the floral set in masculine colours, Altenew Parrot, Aqualicious and Memento Tangelo. The starburst from the floral set was then stamped randomly over the panel. The greeting is one from Simply Said Blocks, a couple of black pearls complete.
Voila, CAS and masculine!

Check out the rest of the DT here for some more inspiration and you'll also find all the Ts and Cs there too.

Bev's 40th

Good morning.

Today is a special day at Uniko, it's Bev's birthday, but it's not just an ordinary birthday she's, whisper it quietly, 40!

To celebrate the DT are holding a birthday party over on the Uniko blog and you are invited to take part with your birthday cards.

Here is mine which I gave to her on Saturday at the Happy Stampers Festival in Port Sunlight.

Not wishing to push the actual age to the fore, I tucked the silver die cut numerals between two of the leaf clusters after mounting the water coloured and embossed Pure Florals Peony largest bloom over a die cut silver frame. The die cut sentiment is from Poppy Stamps and the stamped one from the peony set.

If you would like to celebrate with us just pop along and add your card to the Uniko blog here, where you'll also find all the details. Thanks to Jane for organising this surprise party.

I'd like to join in over at:-

Heat Embossing

Feminine with AG option

Release Day at Uniko

Good morning peeps.

Hope you are having a fab Bank Holiday weekend, even if the weather is not what it should be. There's been snow on the Welsh and Scottish hills I've heard! 

Anyway it's release day at Uniko so grab a cuppa and settle in for some more fantastic inspiration from The DT.

If the introductions have tempted you into wanting the May release you'll have the chance to win the whole release by partaking in the blog hop but if you feel you can't wait all the sets will be available  to purchase HERE at a NEW time of 9pm GMT tonight. 

First up is a card featuring the English Country Garden stamps and matching dies.

This is a card where the butterflies actually wobble over the background! I've seen so many butterflies this spring so I just had to include some with the Sketched Foliage stamp.

The central panel was created using Copic reinkers on Yupo paper and Alcohol Lift-Ink. I tried to stamp the lifted off ink onto another panel but as it wasn't proper alcohol ink it did't work awfully well. I will just have to bite the bullet and buy some proper ink when I go to Port Sunlight next week. 😉

The small butterflies were cut then stamped and coloured with Zig pens.

I saw the wobble technique for the butterflies on Jennifer McGuire's You Tube channel here. She explains the technique much better than me, it involves cutting holes in the panel then attaching the butterflies to a disc of card through the hole. I mounted my finished panel under a frame before adding the whole to a base card.

My second design uses Background Blocks Mid Century Modern II. I was playing around with it and ended up with a slightly patchy embossed panel. I put it to one side and tried again but I liked the first attempt better as the patchy embossing allows the colours to show through.

I couldn't decide which card design I liked best so went with all three! What do you think?

The finished panel reminds me of some wallpaper we had in our first house in the 70's! The first layer was stamped with a pale ink then coloured with Copics before the gold embossed layer was added.

That's all from me but don't forget to check out the rest of the team.

Here's the release in full.

    

   

   

As usual we have our traditional Design Team Blog Hop & Giveaway. To be in the chance of winning The ENTIRE April / May 2019 Release! (4 clear stamp sets, 2 previously released clear stamp sets, 2 co-ordinating designer die collections & 1 stencil design), simply comment along the way, it's as easy as that! You have until Midnight Sunday 12th May 2019. Winner will be announced a few days after. 

Happy hopping!

Bev
Jenny GD
Carol 
Izzy 

Jane 

Julie-that'll be me

Linda
Lindsey

Sarah G

Sarah P

Wiebke

Joining in over at:-

English Country Garden

Introducing BIG & BOLD Wish Designer Dies

Good morning.

I hope you are going to have a great Bank Holiday weekend. The weather is not so good here, rather nippy if truth be told so a good excuse to stay indoors and get crafty!

Its day 3 of the Uniko May release and today we are  again showcasing a die set to match an existing stamp set, Big and Bold Wish. 

Here's my inspiration for you.

Instead of using the wish word dies, I chose to focus on the small candle and flame die.

The sentiment was inked up in a variety of overlapping inks to create a rainbow effect. My die cut panel was then cut repeatedly with the two dies. I found a few feint pencil lines help to get the layout square. To create the shadow effect, I cut the candles again bit in black fun foam before replacing them in the openings and adding back the white ones.

Quite an effective technique if a tad fiddly.

There are even more ideas on the rest of the DT's own blogs, so pop over for a look and be even more inspired.

Bev
Jenny GD
Carol 
Izzy 

Jane 

Julie-that'll be me

Linda
Lindsey

Sarah G

Sarah P

Wiebke

Come back tomorrow for the big release and blog hop with prizes!

Introducing Mid Century Modern Stencil

It's day 3 of the new release intros at Uniko, how are you liking it so far?

Today sees us launch the next stencil in the range.

Simply called Md Century Modern Stencil, it is essentially a chunkier version of the Background Blocks I launched on Wednesday.

Here's my take on how to use it.

The stencil was attached to panel of white card and Altenew black ink sponged through.

When dry, the solid oval from Mid Century Florals was stamped in Altenew Rose Quartz, Cosmic Berry and Bamboo randomly across the stencilled panel. The star burst element from the same set was then stamped in the black ink. The design was based on many images on Pinterest including this. The colours just appealed! 

A wavy panel was cut from another white panel and then stamped with a greeting from the Birthday Sentiments set and over laid the inked one, using foam to create some dimension.

OK, that's it from me but there's plenty more inspiration from the team as well as our GD Jenny from Crafting in the Country.

Bev
Jenny GD
Carol 
Izzy 

Jane 

Julie-that'll be me

Linda
Lindsey

Sarah G

Sarah P

Wiebke

Come back tomorrow for some more May release inspiration from Uniko.

Joining in over at:-

Introducing English Country Garden Designer Dies & Large Background Sketched Foliage

Today at Uniko sees the introduction of some dies to match the English Country Garden stamps and a gorgeous addition to the background blacks stable.

In this card I've used the large butterfly stamp and new matching die, there is a smaller one too.

I stamped my butterfly onto a panel of w/c paper in Antique Linen DI and then  washed in some more turquoise and dark grey colour with my Zig pens. Just love how the initial stamped lines take on the colour from the over painting. On a separate panel of card, I die cut the aperture and again in fun foam. Before layering up, I first added the sentiment from the set and then placed on a top fold note card.

Here is the second new release, a large background foliage stamp. No card as my attempt ended in the bin and no time to make another!

Large Background Sketched Foliage £10

So that's all from me for the moment but pop back tomorrow for some more ideas for the May release at Uniko.

Check out the rest of the team as well as our GD Jenny from Crafting in the Country for more fab ideas too.

Bev
Jenny GD
Carol 
Izzy 

Jane 

Julie-that'll be me

Linda
Lindsey

Sarah G

Sarah P

Wiebke

Joining in over at:-

No twist!

Introducing Mid Century Modern Florals & Mid Century Modern Background Blocks I & II

Morning.

It's day 1 of this month's release previews at Uniko.

The first set up is Mid Century Modern Florals.

Bev has gone all retro on this release, focusing mainly on designs influenced by her love of the MCM movement, you'll find more details about that here.

I might be showing my age here but they remind me of designs from my youth, such as Mum's dresses and wallpaper! 

Using a couple of the solid background stamps to create the ring of blooms, I then added detail stamps to each centre. A few high lights were added with a white gel pen and the leaves and stamps added with matching grey ink. On a die cut circle the Happy Birthday from Birthday Sentiments was stamped then added to the card.

My second card is a more masculine card using Background Blocks Mid Century Modern and a sentiment from the December release Wonderful Day.

A few homemade gems were added for a bit of colour and dimension, just dot some clear Nuvo Jewel Drops onto a sheet of acetate then let dry. Add Copic pen in the colour of your choice, peel off and add to your project when the ink has dried with a bit of Matt medium in this case. I prefer to use thid than adding directly as you cut down the risk of splodging and ruining your card!

Card three uses the second Background block and the Big and Bold Happy stamps and dies.

The stamp was inked with a pale ink and then coloured with Copic markers for a solid look, before the sentiment was added.

That's about it for today but don't forget to come back for more ideas tomorrow.

Here are all the new the stamps used today laid out in full.

Mid Century Modern Florals £10

Background Blocks Mid Century Modern £5

Background Blocks Mid Century Modern II £5

Check out the rest of the team as well as our GD Jenny from Crafting in the Country for more fab ideas.
Bev
Jenny GD
Carol 
Izzy 

Jane 

Julie-that'll be me

Linda
Lindsey

Sarah G

Sarah P

Wiebke