USC - Love and Friendship II ...

...  Good morning all!  Having a day off on Monday (for Martin Luther King Jr Day) has really thrown my week, not only was I late yesterday, but today too!!  Hey ho!  It's time for a reminder about our challenge at Uniko Studio - USC#17 where we have the theme of

LOVE & FRIENDSHIP

Last week I made an anniversary card, always needed in my stash, and this week I've a simple card for a friend:

Stamps: Uniko Studio - English Country Gardens: Butterflies, All Occasion Sentiments #3
Inks: Stampin' Up! - Chocolate Chip; Memento - Rich Cocoa
Dies: Memory Box - Cross Stitched Frame Borders #7
Accessories: White Lustre Card; SU Card - Crumb Cake; Copic Markers; Vellum; Clear Embossing Powder; Wink of Stella - Clear

There are lots of challenges around blogland at the moment with the theme of friend - weird how that happens, but fun as it means I can link this card up with the following challenges:

• Colour Q - cQc#276 - colours
• Happy Little Stampers - HLSJanSk - layout
• CASology - CAS#130 - cue word FRIEND
• Less is More - LIM#207 - theme - FRIEND

I made the card base from a sheet of crumb cake card.  I used the Memory Box dies to cut a white panel for the front and inside of the card - I love the cross stitch detail.  I used my Fiskars Stamp Press to stamp the butterfly and sentiment on the white panel.  I stamped the butterfly again onto scrap white card and vellum, and used clear embossing powder on the vellum image.  I used Copic markers to colour both images, fussy cut them out and then added sparkle to the top of the image on the card and to the underneath of the vellum image, then I adhered the layered down the length of the body.  Once dry I curled the vellum wings to give some dimension and adhered the butterfly to the card base over the stamped image.  I finished the card by stamping a little butterfly on the panel inside the card.  I also took a photo to show the dimension and sparkle on the butterfly.

You still have plenty of time to join in with the Uniko Studio challenge - deadline is Friday 30th January, 8.00am GMT (3.00am EDT).  You don't have to use Uniko stamps to play along, but if you do and could win a £10 voucher to use in our store.  Do pop over to the Uniko Studio blog to see more inspiration from the team and our guest designers, Lucy, Lynn and Kitty.

By the way, I've a film recommendation for you.  I was out with friends last night and we went to see Wild, starring Reece Witherspoon (Oscar nominated).  It's about a woman who has lost her mum, got divorced and lost hope.  She starts to hike the Pacific Crest Trial - 1,100 miles.  It's a fantastic film based on the true story of Cheryl Strayed.  Well worth a visit.  And that's all for now.  Have fun crafting - see you soon.