Uniko's July release in review

Today the Uniko Brand Ambassadors are revisiting the July release to share a few more ideas using some of those stamps and stencils, as well as showing how to incorporate other Uniko sets. There's also a chance to win by commenting along the way.

So this is my first card to inspire you.

For this card I've used Block Party Summer as a background combined with elements from the Paradise stamp set and a sentiment from Simply Said Blocks III.

I played around with a new technique when I first got hold of the stamp that I saw Jennifer McGuire using. I stamped the background with Versamark and heat embossed with white EP on MM paper.

Using some DI inks in Peacock Feathers, Salty Ocean and Mermaid Lagoon, I added colour straight from the pad randomly over the embossing. I then spritzed it with water containing some perfect pearls and set it aside to dry. Once it was really dry, I sandwiched it between a couple of pieces of typing paper and ironed over a towel to remove the embossing. Only use the paper once or you may transfer embossing where you don't want!

The end result left a soft, shimmery panel that is completely flat. I didn't use this panel for the release day as I wasn't sure how to use it but I then picked up on the tropical bloom in the background stamp and used the toucan and foliage from the Paradise set and the tropical flower from Block Party Summer to create the design. These elements I coloured with Copics, fussy cut them and added to a die cut aperture in my now trimmed down panel. A sentiment was stamped in black, trimmed and added to complete the coloured elements. The finished panel was added to a white linen effect base card on pads.

My second card focuses on the BB Grid stamp which I used to create a subtle background for the peonies from Hello Lovely.

To start, I stamped the large spray from Hello Lovely onto a panel of white card and them made a mask for it which I fussy cut. After placing the mask over the stamped image, I stamped the grid over the panel with Versamark ink. I wasn't too bothered about completely covering the stamp with ink as I was aiming for a shabby chic look on the finished panel. I then added white EP, removing where not required with a soft paint brush, and heat embossed. I got slightly carried away with this section and forgot to remove the grid pattern from around where I was going to stamp the greeting!

I then removed the mask and coloured the flowers using coral coloured Zig Markers. Using the plain acetate backing of the BB Grid stamp, I added some Zig marker and added some clean water, then used the acetate to stamp colour over the panel, adding more when required and also to deepen the colour in  certain areas. When satisfied with the coverage I added some splatter in the green and coral over the whole panel. Finally I stamped the greeting, from Wonderful Day.

I used an ancient peach coloured base card which I trimmed to size and added Abandoned Coral DI around the edge before adding my trimmed down panel, leaving a border all around.

My final card features BB Layered Floral and a sentiment from Simply Said III.

Instead of stamping a solid image, I tried a faux layered effect by adding a partial inked flower over the original stamped image and blended it out with a damp paint brush. I rather like the subtle effect this gives you.

I used the reds from Altenew's Red Cosmos and the greens were from Tropical Forest.

Over at The Flower Challenge they want us to use dies along with flowers, so as we don't have a matching die cut, I used a stacked pierced rectangle set from Avery Elle to die cut my finished panel.

I also cut some pink fun foam and mounted two of the layers before adding them back onto a white note card. A sentiment strip stamped in a matching coral pink completes.

To see the full July release, check out the Uniko blog

To see what the other Brand Ambassadors have come up with check out the links below.

Bev
Hannelie

Izzy 

Jane 
Julie -that's me

Rahmat

Steph

Don't forget to leave a comment on all the stops along the hop. Bev will be randomly selecting one lucky comment winner to win a £20 eGift Certificate. Commenting to be able to win will close at Midnight BST my Sunday 22nd August 2021. The winner will be announced on the blog before the end of August.

I'd like to join in over at:-

  

Uniko Stencil Release Day and Blog Hop

So it's time for the full release at Uniko. 

Hope you've enjoyed the new stencil release so far so why not grab a cuppa and join in our 9th Birthday Blog Hop. Here are a few more cards I made with the brand new stencils.

The first one is made using the fab Rose stencil. 

I was trying to find different ways to use this fab large rose and came across a card by the talented TaeEun Yoo on Pinterest. Her gorgeous card uses a different stencil but I used the same technique, I think. 

On a panel of dark pink card, I inked through with some white pigment ink, removed the stencil then left it to dry. When fully dry, I went in with my Polychromo pencil crayons to give definition to the petals. I don't use them quite as often as I should so I hope the effect looks OK.  I am ashamed to say that after colouring the flower I was left staring at it for a couple of days trying to decide how to make a card. In the end I gave in and CASEd TaeEun's card layout. 

I trimmed down the panel, added it at a jaunty angle and trimmed off the excess before adding a sentiment strip that I had in my stash, made by putting a couple of small sentiments from Pure Florals-Peony together. When I do something like that I make quite a few using different colours and EP and save them for later use as getting the elements lined up is time consuming. To lift the strip I added a bit of gold glitter paper from the stash, a few PPP gold sequins complete.

My second card took inspiration from the rainbow wall in the latest Time Out challenge.

After inking my rainbow through the mini Mix Geometrics stencil with DI, I die cut the large English Country Garden butterfly die and popped it up with a second one cut from fun foam. The sentiment strip from Pure Florals - Cosmos was stamped on a die cut banner and embossed with white EP, before adding it across the middle of the butterfly. With all the hot weather we had last week there have been lots of butterflies fluttering around the garden, so I thought it would work well.

Finally, this card also features a butterfly but this time it's the stencil variety. The colours chosen being the latest ones over at JUGS.

To begin, I placed the open butterfly stencil over a piece of white card and inked through with Dried Marigold DI. Removing the stencil revealed a soft, solid, orange image. Carefully laying the detailed stencil over this, I added Picked Raspberry to the outer edges and Candied Apple DI to the center.  Before removing the stencil, I added some Black Soot DI to the body and antennae ends. I love the way the soft orange shows in the fine lines of the butterfly's wings and the way the wings appear to almost shimmer. The body didn't look dark enough, so I added some Zig watercolour pen detail in black as well as the antennae ends.

I decided to have my butterfly flying out of the panel, so I laid my rectangle die over the image and marked where it crossed the wings, then fussy cut towards the center of the image, just enough to allow the die to slip under, then secured with tape and die cut as normal. Once cut, I removed the die and fussy cut the rest of the wings. The sentiment, from Birthday Wishes was stamped in black then embossed with clear EP.

I thought a thin frame of gold glitter paper hi-lighted the orange shimmer of the wings so added it under my butterfly panel, before finally adding it to a black 5 x 7 card base with pads. I was going to add some sequins but in the end left them off.

So for a chance to win some Uniko goodies, leave a comment here then hop along following the links below. If you loose your way just head back to the Uniko blog where you'll also find all the links and the Ts and Cs.

Don't forget to comment along the way, as there will be one lucky winner from those comments left, selected to win ALL the stencils released today. You have until 10pm BST Sunday 27th June 2021 to leave a comment. Winner will be announced on the blog on or around the 28th June 2021.

Bev
Hannelie

Izzy 

Jane 
Julie -that's me

Rahmat

Steph

Happy hopping

I'd like to join in over at:-

 

Uniko New Release Blog Hop and Giveaway

 Good morning folks. Its time for a little blog hop featuring the latest release from Uniko. So grab yourself a cuppa and get hopping!

First off the block is a Twofer featuring Floral Vines.

This first card uses the bleaching technique and heat embossing.

I made a frame with the Floral Vines stamping it onto a panel of smooth white card with Versamark, then heat embossing with white EP. I then added DOx in Picked Raspberry and Seedless Preserve over the top, keeping the center paler and the edges darker, buffing of the excess from the embossing when dry. Using a fine brush I used water to remove the colour where I wanted and blotted with a dry paper towel to lift the colour. If it doesn't work first time, just go back in again until you get the result you want.

To complete, I added a white, heat embossed sentiment from the same set.

The second card featuring Floral Vines, uses fussy cutting and Copic colouring.

On a panel of linen effect card, I stamped the Floral Vines in green, removing the ink from the solid line at the bottom. On a separate piece of scrap white card, I stamped it again in black.

Using more Copic markers, I coloured the leaves and added more dots of colour both freehand and with the small stamp from the Floral Vines set.

My sentiment, again from the same set was stamped in matching green on an ancient Spellbinders die cut ribbon tag. Some matching pink grosgrain ribbon was threaded through the tag and the fussy cut blooms added so that they hung over the edge of the tag, the whole lot was then popped up on pads over the outline on the card.

This third card uses the Framed - Floral Vines stamp, which I stamped onto a white base card, masking off the top right corner.

I extended the frame and leaf with a black fine liner, coloured the leaves and flowers with Copic markers and added the large sentiment from Birthday Wishes. A simple OLC!

My final card uses the fab large gerbera stencil and Background Blocks Solid Wonky Stripes.

On a panel of white card I inked through the stencil with Picked Raspberry DI and Black Soot for the center. Once I removed the stencil I went back in to give the petals some definition with a matching Zig watercolour marker brush. The stencil is so large that it is easy to add extra details like this. To create the detail in the center, I added some Hickory Smoke DI to the stencil details.

On a scrap of white card, I stamped Background Blocks Solid Wonky Stripes in black to create the end panel. To finish I added a sentiment from Pure Florals Peony of white heat embossed on black.

So what do you think of the new release? There's lots more inspiration on the Uniko blog from the rest of the BAs as well as all the details about the hop.

So for a chance to win the whole release leave a comment here and then check out the rest of the team and leave some love there as well!

 Bev

Hannelie

Izzy

Jane 

Julie - that's me

Rahmat

For all the details and to get back on track if you get lost along the way, check out the Uniko blog here.

Happy hopping!

I'd like to join in over at:-