Uniko - Blog Hop & Giveaway ....

.... Hello again! I'm back with another of my scheduled posts. Today is the Uniko Design Team Blog Hop and Giveaway. The rest of the team are showcasing the new release stamps. Sadly, my stamps didn't get to me before we flew back to the UK, so I'm showcasing Paradise Hummingbird instead - I'll get to play with the new stamps when I go home to the States.  Here's my card:

Stamps: Uniko - Paradise Hummingbird
Inks: Versafine - Onyx Black
Accessories: White Lustre Card; Kaisercraft DP - Fiesta!; Clear Embossing Powder; Stadtler - Aquarell Pencils

This card was really quick and easy to make. I wanted the hummingbird to be the focus of the card, but still to have a nice tropical feel. I cut some pretty design paper to cover the card. I stamped the hummingbird in black and embossed it with clear powder. I added some colour using my Aquarell watercolour pencils, giving the bird a lovely warm pink breast. I finished the front of the card with a simple sentiment. On the inside I added a strip of the design paper.

Here's the Blog Hop list - do drop by and visit the rest of the team:

Bev (Uniko)

Deborah (that's me!)

Jane

Lindsey
Sarah G

Sarah P

Nicki

There's the opportunity to win the entire June release along with the Hummingbird set - visit Bev's blog for full details.  That's all for now!

52CCT - Stash/Technique ....

.... Morning! I'm here with a scheduled post for our new challenge at 52 Christmas Card Throwdown - 52CCT25-16. This week Jacqueline has a combined Stash/Technique challenge for us. She wants us to use the Triple Stamping technique to make the card and add a brad or two! I added lots!!! Here's my card:

Stamps: Stampin' Up! - Wonderland
Inks: Versafine - Onyx Black; SU - Gumball Green
Accessories: White Lustre Card; SU Card - Gumball Green; Brads; Sequins

I cut two panels of white cards each smaller than the main card and stamped the pine trees in black. I cut a couple of green mats each slightly larger than the white panels. I decided to have the little brads act as snow, making some larger with the addition of sequins. On the inside I cut a mat layer of green card and stamped a greeting and more trees.

For more inspiration, do visit our blog to see more cards from the rest of the design team. You've got plenty of time to play along, deadline for submission is midnight (BST) Friday 1st July - that's 7.00pm EDT.

When this post goes live, we'll be half way through our visit to the UK. Hopefully, we'll be enjoying a nice English/Welsh summer!  See you soon.

Uniko - Photo Inspiration reminder ...

.... Good morning! This is one of my scheduled posts - we'll be in North Wales today, visiting with friends and checking out our house.

This is a quick reminder about our current challenge at Uniko - USC#33R where we have an inspiration photo for you. Here's this week's card:

Stamps: Uniko - Sweet Baby
Inks: Distress - Evergreen Bough; Stampin' Up! - Pool Party, Smoky Slate; Versamark
Accessories: White Lustre Card; SU Card & DP - Pool Party; Clear Embossing Powder; Sequins

I've made a very clean, simple card this week. I masked off a 1" border all the way round the card and then stamped the large bear and tiny bear - I picked the soft blue and grey from the inspiration photo. I added a touch of colour to the edge of the stamped panel. I stamped the onsie in Versamark and heat embossed it with clear powder to give a tone-on-tone look, and then fussy cut it out. I stamped the sentiment beneath the panel, adhered the onsie and finished off by adding some sequins. On the inside I cut a mat layer of design paper and added another bear to the white panel.

Don't forget to visit our blog to see more inspiration from the rest of the team. That's all for now.

TMR - Stash ....

.... Hello! This is one of my scheduled posts as I'm currently visiting family and friends in the UK. It's time for our new challenge at The Male Room - TMR#38. For the next two weeks we want you to use BUTTONS - many buttons - on your masculine themed projects. I'm sure that like me, many of you have far too many buttons in your stash - I only managed to use three on my card, but I'm sure I'll think of more ways to use the rest of my buttons!!

Stamps: Stampin' Up! - Starburst Sayings, Endless Birthday Wishes
Inks: SU - Tangerine Tango, Bermuda Bay; Versafine - Onyx Black
Dies: SU/Sizzix - Starburst Framelits #1 and #3
Accessories: White Lustre Card; SU Card - Bermuda Bay (from Tin of Cards); SU - Buttons; Copics; Baker's Twine; Glossy Accents; Wink of Stella - Clear

I wanted to make a bold, vibrant birthday card so picked orange and turquoise. The striped card is a special that comes from last year's Tin of Cards set - I think the subtle strip is perfect for a guy card. I stamped the images in orange and cut them out with the matching dies. You can't see it in the photo above, but the centre of the celebrate image was attached with gel glue for some dimension. I found some matching buttons in my stash, threaded them with bakers twine and adhered them to the card. I finished the front by adding glossy accents to the little dots in the words Happy and drawing a border around the card. On the inside is another mat of striped card and on the white panel a birthday greeting.

Do visit our blog to see more inspiration projects from the rest of the design team. Have fun with this challenge - be creative! Deadline for submission is midnight (BST) Tuesday 5th July, that's 7.00pm (EDT) for those in the States.

52CCT - Theme ....

.... Morning! It's time for our new challenge at 52 Christmas Card Throwdown - 52CCT24-16, and this week it's our theme challenge. Jacqueline has picked CHRISTMAS LANDSCAPES for us. I had fun making my card:

Stamps: Stampers Anonymous - Tim Holtz Crazy Talk; Kanban - Christmas Trees
Inks: Distress - Weathered Wood, Chipped Sapphire, Pumice Stone, Antique Linen, Aged Mahogany, Cracked Pistachio; Versafine - Onyx Black; Stampin' Up! - Crumb Cake
Dies: SU/Sizzix - Sleigh Rides Edgelits
Accessories: White Lustre Card; SU DP - Crumb Cake; SU Card - Crushed Curry; Glitter

I started off by sponging on Distress inks at the top of the card to create a night sky. I used the dies to cut the trees, houses and sleigh. I used Distress inks to colour the die cut images. I adhered some yellow card behind the houses to suggests lights and then I adhered the panels to the card. I finished off the front with lots of glitter and a simple sentiment. On the inside I cut a mat of design paper and added a very simple greeting.

Over at Addicted to Stamps and More! - ATSM#198 the theme is Holiday, so as this is a Christmas card - I'm playing along with them this week.  Do visit our blog to see more inspirations cards based on Christmas landscapes from the rest of the team. You've got plenty of time to play along, deadline is midnight (BST) Friday 24th June - that's 7.00pm EDT.  Have fun!

Uniko - Photo Inspiration ...

..... Morning! It's time for our new challenge at Uniko - USC#33 and this month we have a super fun photo inspiration challenge. Check out the image and use it to inspire you - but tell us how!  Here's my take:

Stamps: Uniko - The Hands of Time, Extra Time
Inks: Distress - Squeezed Lemonade, Cracked Pistachio, Rusty Hinge; Versafine - Vintage Sepia; Versamark
Accessories: White Lustre Card; Stampin' Up! Card -Baked Brown Sugar; Clear and White Embossing Powder

The elements in the our inspiration photo range in size and are also quite graphic - so I did something similar using Uniko stamps. I started by masking a ½" border all round the card with masking tape. I stamped the white image using Versamark, heat embossed with clear powder and then added yellow ink which caused the white elements to pop. After ensuring that the Distress ink was dry, I stamped the spiky circle in Versamark and heat embossed with clear powder. After adding a layer of green ink the yellow circles appeared. I added some smaller circles to the panel, heat embossed and then added brown ink. At this point I decided to stamp a large doily in brown ink and realised that the ink wouldn't dry over the embossed elements. So I took off the embossing powder by pressing the card with a hot iron between several sheets of plain paper. This had the effect of removing the embossing powder as well as the stamped image, so making the large doily appear as it it was stamped behind! Result! After removing the masking tape, I edged the image with a brown marker and finished with a simple greeting. On the inside I cut a mat layer of brown card and on the white panel added some more circular elements and a greeting.

I got the idea for layering the stamps like this from the current Muse - MUSE#170 challenge, so I'm playing along with them this week. And the colours are from Colour Throwdown - CTD#397.

Do visit the Uniko blog to see more cards from the design team using our inspiration photo. Our guest designer this month is Anita of My Papercraft World, do visit her too. As always with our challenge, we have some prizes to encourage you play along. Here are the details:

THE PRIZES

• The DT will pick a winner who will get a £20 e-Gift Certificate to use in the shop.
• The DT will select a Top 3, who will each get 50 Loyalty Points added to their Uniko customer account.
• Finally, there's a random draw for all those using Uniko stamps - the winner will get 150 Loyalty Points added to their Uniko customer account.

There's plenty of time to play along with this month's challenge. Deadline for submission is midnight (BST) on Friday 8th July - that's 7.00pm EDT in the States.

It's been another quite week on my blog, but I've been busy in my craft room. I had some shelves put on the walls so that I can display some of my finished pieces and also to have some of crafting goodies close to my desk. I also covered my desk with craft sheet so that I can, more easily, do mixed media work. Here are a few photos:

I really like having the big border punches easily to hand. You can see the craft sheet on my desk top too. I've also got some Copic refill inks stored in the punch holder - it's the perfect size and place. You can just about see the two shelves to the left of my desk - I keep ink refills along with embossing powder, gems and a few other bits and pieces here.

Here's another view of the desk and you can see the shelves here.  The pictures above were made at my first workshop with Amy Flowers - I had so much fun making this triptych, and it's so nice to be able to display it properly.

The two photos above show the other shelves - each showing off more art projects that I've made since being in the States.

Edited to add: Thanks for all the comments about my "tidy" craft room. There's a reason I've taken photos of the walls - you should have seen the floor :)))

That's all for now. I've got to get back in my craft room and finish making my DT cards for some upcoming challenges.  See you soon.

CIC - Colours ...

.... Hello and good morning! It's time for our new challenge at Cupcake Inspirations - CIC#364 and we have some really lovely colours for you to play with - Grass, Black and Goldenrod. Here's my take on the colours:

Stamps: Impression Obsession - Damask Flower; Clearly Besotted - A Little Sentimental
Inks: Versafine - Onyx Black; Memento - Tuxedo Black, Grey Flannel
Accessories: White Lustre Card; Stampin' Up! Card - Crushed Curry; Copics; Wink of Stella - Clear; Clear Embossing Powder; SU Circle punches

I stamped the image on some white card and coloured it with Copic markers. I stamped it again on the card and heat embossed it with clear powder to give a crisp, bold image. I used several circle punches to select parts of the image which I then adhered to the card - spotlighting certain areas. Over at Just Us Girls - JUGS#347 - they want to see the spotlight technique, so I'm playing along with them. I used a clear Wink of Stella brush on all the coloured areas. I finished the front of the card by stamping a simple sentiment and added a hand drawn border. On the inside I cut a piece of dark yellow card for the mat layer and stamped a portion of the image in grey on the white panel.

You can see the sparkle on this photo:

For more inspiration using these colours, do visit our blog to see more from the Design Team. Our sponsor this week is Pickled Potpourri Designs and the winner of the challenge will receive a $7 gift certificate for use in their shop.

The Cupcake Inspirations Design Team is taking a two week summer break - we'll be back on 3rd July with more fun challenges for you! Thanks for stopping by!

Uniko - July Release and Reveal ....

... Good afternoon from a tropically hot Northville! We've got blue skies, brilliant sunshine and building humidity! The temperature at the moment, 12.30pm is 30C (86F), and the weatherman says that it'll get to 32C (89F) by late this afternoon. So it's nice to play in my craft room where I've got air conditioning! I'm busy making DT cards for upcoming posts.

It's release day for Uniko's new stamp sets and they have a distinctly tropical theme! First up is a large set featuring lush flowers and Bob the toucan!

This is such a versatile and fun set and Bev has made some lovely cards which you can see here. This set will work for both masculine and feminine style cards. My first thought when I saw the images was a toucan on a beer mug - does anyone else remember the Guinness ads? See end of post.

Bev has also got a smaller set of wonderfully lush tropical leaves that will work with Paradise (above) and also with the super Hummingbird set.

The Design Team will be showcasing this release on a special date - 25th June, when there will be the chance to win the entire June release as well as the previously released Paradise Hummingbird.

But, in the meantime, you can get a sneak peek of some finished cards on Bev's blog and also on Sarah P's blog.

Now, before I go, here's that link to one of the Guinness adverts - from 1981 - I'd forgotten they were that old!

52CCT - Colours ....

.... Morning! It's time for our colour challenge at 52 Christmas Card Throwdown - 52CCT23-16. Jacqueline has picked a monochromatic theme of BLACK, GREY, WHITE AND SILVER - she wants us to use only these colours on our cards. I had fun with this one:

Stamps: Clearly Besotted - All Occasion Sentiments, Dandelion Dreams
Inks: Versafine - Onyx Black; Brilliance - Starlite Silver
Dies: Spellbinders - Fleur de Lis Squares (S4-318) #4; Waltzingmouse - Snowflakes #2, #3
Accessories: White Lustre Card; Silver Mirri Card; Stampin' Up Card & DP - Black; Anita's DP - Classic Black Christmas Papers; Gem

I really like these classic colours - they make for a very elegant card. I die cut a large ornate square from from silver mirri card - I know it looks copper in the image! I cut some text design paper which I layerd on black card and adhered inside the frame. I die cut some snowflakes from card and design paper and attached them to the card. I added a single gem to the front. On the inside I cut a mat layer of the same design paper and on the white panel added a greeting and some silver snowflakes. I'm submitting this card to Inkspirational - INK#110 where the word is TEXT and also to Jingle Belles - JB:16:12 where they want to see Snowmen or baby snowmen (snowflakes)!

Do visit our blog to see more inspirational cards from the rest of the team. Have fun with the challenge!

Simple flowers ...

... Hello again, and Good Afternoon! I'm a bit later with this card than I expected to be, but that's because I've just been out to buy some garden furniture. It looks like it's going to be a long hot summer, and I need a table, some chairs and a parasol for shade - all being delivered tomorrow! Yea!

Anyway, I've a very clean, simple card to share today:

Stamps: Clearly Besotted - Dandelion Dreams, Sweet Little Sentiments
Inks: Stampin' Up! - Rich Razzleberry, Wisteria Wonder, Perfect Plum
Accessories: White Lustre Card; SU DP - Wisteria Wonder; Glitter

I really like these pretty dandelion flowers and I've stamped them in shades of purple. I drew the stems by hand and finished the front with lots of glitter and a simple sentiment. On the inside, there's a mat of purple design paper and a simple greeting on the white panel.

I'm submitting this card to several challenges - Less is More - LIM#279 where the colour is purple, Addicted to CAS - ATCAS#89 where the word is Petals and to CAS-ual Fridays - CFC#149 where they want florals.

It's warming up nicely here - we expect to get to a high of 26C today and tomorrow even higher! Kat will probably spend most of the weekend in the pool - between revising for her finals. It's her last week of school next week.

Edited to add: I made this for Kat, but couldn't say anything until I gave it to her this afternoon - she's thrilled to bits with it!

I still find it strange that schools finish so early over here in the States! Kat is more than ready for her vacation.  That's all for today - do drop by tomorrow!