Fa la la la ....

... Hi! I'm still in Christmas card mode! This morning I've a fun and cute Christmas card for you. The cue word at CASology - CAS#225 this week is SOFT. I had all sorts of ideas for this, but I was going through my stamp stash yesterday and came across this cute little teddy and decided to use him on my card:

Stamps: Docrafts - Forever Friends 9062900G; Happy Little Stampers - Mixed Christmas Sentiments
Inks: Versafine - Onyx Black; Stampin' Up! - Smoky Slate; Distress - Tumbled Glass
Accessories: White Lustre Card; SU DP - Melon Mambo; Tim Holtz Water Colour Card; Zig Real Brushes; Copics; Wink of Stella - Clear; Tim Holtz Stencil - Concerto THS067; Clear Embossing Powder

I started by stamping the sentiment in Versafine and heat embossing with clear powder. I used my stamp-a-ma-jig to position the image and stamped it directly on the card using the sentiment to ground the bear. I then lightly stencilled a music pattern around the bear - echoing the musical sentiment. I stamped the image again on water colour card, coloured him with Zig Real Brushes and some copics. I added a touch of sparkle to his hat, scarf and the gift. I edged the image with a black marker and then attached it to the card. On the inside I cut a mat layer of design paper and added a simple greeting to the white panel. And the bear is peeking in at the bottom too!

Finishing this card brings my Christmas card total to 97 - I'm getting there. That's all for now - I really have to make a start on some housework!! See you soon.

Snowmen ....

.... Good evening! We've almost come to the end of our long holiday weekend - it's been so nice to spend time with Jonathan and Kat. Mind, we still did our own things too! I think I've mentioned that I need quite a few Christmas cards as I send lots to family and friends in the UK. Well, I counted up the number I've made so far - 88 - and that's despite being on a Christmas card challenge!!! Go figure. Anyway I'm still about 30 short! So I spent yesterday making cards. I made a set of 8 cards featuring my all-time favourite snowman:

Stamps: Funstamps - Scribble Snowman; Clearly Besotted - All Occasion Sentiments; Penny Black - Majestic; Uniko - Most Wonderful
Inks: Stampin' Up! - Daffodil Delight, Crushed Curry, Wisteria Wonder, Emerald Envy, Peekaboo Peach, Melon Mambo, Cajun Craze, Pacific Point, Green Galore, Lucky Limeade, Smoky Slate; Distress Archival - Black Soot
Dies: Die-namics - Oval Stax #4
Accessories: White Lustre Card; SU Card - Daffodil Delight, Wisteria Wonder, Emerald Envy, Peekaboo Peach, Melon Mambo, Cajun Craze, Pacific Point; Bazill Card - Lime Crush; Wink of Stella - Clear; Zig Real Brushes; Tim Holtz Water Colour Card; Sizzix/SU EF - Softly Falling

I had so much fun making this set of cards. I stamped the snowman on water colour card and used my Zig Real Brushes to add colour. Once dry I fussy cut them out, edged them with a black marker and added sparkle to all the snow areas with a clear Wink of Stella brush. I made cards to match the colour on the hats and scarves and then stamped the tree to match. Next I cut white card slightly smaller than the base and used my MISTI to stamp the sentiment at the bottom. I cut out an oval on each card and then embossed some snow falling. I adhered each panel directly to the card and then used dimensional gel to adhere the snowmen. On the inside of each I cut a white panel on which I stamped a Christmas greeting in the matching ink and added a little snowman peeking in at the bottom. Here's the inside of the yellow card:

I'm submitting the yellow card to this week's Addicted to Stamps and More! - ATSM#221 where it's ANYTHING GOES. I'm submitting the blue card to Cardz 4 Guyz - C4G#147 where they want to see snowmen (and where I got the idea) and also to Inkspirational - INK#122 where the cue word is CHILL. Finally, I'm submitting the lilac one to TIME OUT Challenge - TOC#71 where they want Christmas cards with the option of glitter/sparkle - and I think you can see the sparkle best on this card.

Edited to add: I've been wandering around blogland and found a new challenge - well, new to me! It's called A Gem of a Challenge - AGOC#183  and this week's challenge is SNOWMEN/WOMEN - I'm going to add my card there too - it's a perfect fit! :)

 Here's a look at them all together - they look fab - bright and colourful!

I now have 96 cards with this set - still a few more to make. I think I'll be concentrating on some quick and easy cards. Last posting date from the States to the UK is Thursday 8th December - so I'd better get my skates on!! That's all for this evening.

Uniko - November Release, Blog Hop and Giveaway ....

.... I do hope that you've enjoyed seeing all the sneak peeks and the introductions to the new Uniko release. Today I'm here to showcase a few more cards using the new sets. Bev designs fabulous images and they all work so well with her previous releases. I'm going to start off with my card featuring Christmas Pop - a tree building set:

Stamps: Uniko - Christmas Pop, All Occasion Sentiments #4, Simply Said Christmas
Inks: Versamark; Versafine - Onyx Black; Delicata - Golden Glitz
Accessories: White Lustre Card; Tim Holtz Watercolour Card; Gold Vellum; Gold, Clear & White Embossing Powder; Twinkling H₂O - Honey Amber, Solar Gold, Egyptian Gold

I got the idea for this card from this week's City Crafter Challenge Blog - CCCB#339 where the team would like to see lots of golden glitz! I had so much fun. I started by giving a piece of water colour card a light gold wash with Twinkling H₂O and allowing it to dry. I stamped the outline tree in black and embossed with clear powder. On one I added lines to divide the tree into sections and heat embossed them. In the other outline I stamped the geometric blocks in Versamark and heat embossed with white powder. I used three different gold paint to colour the trees. Once dry I cut them out. I stamped another outline tree, some stars and a greeting on the watercolour card and heat embossed them with Gold powder. I then adhered the cut trees. On the inside I cut a mat layer of gold vellum and on the white panel added a simple greeting in gold and a tiny tree. I'm submitting this to Addicted to Stamps and More! - ATSM#221 where it's ANYTHING GOES.

My next card features the mini-sentiment set - Most Wonderful. This has fast become one of my very favourite sets!

Stamps: Uniko - Most Wonderful, Background Builders Round in Circles
Inks: SU - Peekaboo Peach, Crushed Curry, Cucumber Crush, Pacific Point, Perfect Plum; Versafine - Onyx Black
Accessories: White Lustre Card; SU Card - Basic Black

This one is so clean and simple and also so colourful. I got the idea of the rainbow circles from the challenge graphic at AAA Cards - AAA#78 where the team would like us to use CIRCLES. I started by repeatedly stamping one of the full sentiments in black on white card. Then I added circles using rainbow colours. I layered the finished piece on some black card to make the colours pop. The layout of this card is based on the sketch over at CAS Colours & Sketches - CASC& S#201. On the inside I cut a mat layer of black card and on the white panel added a greeting and some more rainbow circles.

My final card uses Rustic Wreath and is another quick and easy card:

Stamps: Uniko - Rustic Wreath
Inks: SU - Certainly Celery, Hello Honey, Lost Lagoon; Versafine - Onyx Black
Accessories: White Lustre Card; SUDP - Moonlight

The colours are from Colour Throwdown - CTD#420 and the layout is from Freshly Made Sketches - FMS#264. Going through my stash of design papers I came across this fun piece which I cut to size and adhered to the card. I stamped the wreath in the corner of the card, adding some blue berries and pine cones in the centre. I finished the front with a simple greeting. On the inside is another mat of design paper and on the white panel a greeting and some more wreaths.

So that's my cards showcasing the new releases. We have a fun Blog Hop today - so do visit the rest of the team.

As is tradition with Uniko, we have a Design Team Blog Hop where the rest of the team can share more inspiration with you. We also have a Giveaway and it's really great. You must comment as you make your way along the Blog Hop and you will be in with the chance of winning the ENTIRE Release. You have until midnight (GMT) on Friday 2nd December.

Bev

Deborah - that's me!

Jane

Lindsey

Rahmat

Sarah G

Sarah P

Finally here's a complete look at the sets available today at Uniko:

First up is Christmas Pop - full of fun Christmas Trees - but the geometric design means they can be used throughout the year too!

Most Wonderful is a mini set with two complete sentiments and lots of other words to build your own greetings.

Finally we have Rustic Wreath which coordinates perfectly with Rustic Christmas and pretty well all the other stamp sets too!

That's all for now. It's the last day of our long holiday weekend. We've had a lovely time - all relaxing and enjoying time on our own and also together - perfect family time! See you soon.

Uniko - Rustic Wreath ...

... Hello again! I'm back to introduce the last of this mini release at Uniko. Today I'm sharing a card made with Rustic Wreath. This is a fun clean and simple card, with lots of Christmas sparkle:

Stamps: Uniko - Rustic Wreath
Inks: Kaleidacolor - Fresh Greens; Stampin' Up! - Real Red, Early Espresso
Dies: Winnie & Walter Cutaways - Joy
Accessories: White Lustre Card; Red Glitter Paper; SU Card - Emerald Envy

Once again the inspiration for this card comes from the Fusion Challenge - FUSION#62. I created the word by stamped the Rustic Wreath in shades of green in the middle of the card. I added some pine cones and berries to the wreath. I die cut the word JOY from red glitter paper and then separated the letters using only the J and Y on this card. I added the centre of the O in the middle of the wreath. On the inside I cut a mat layer of dark green card and on the white panel stamped another simple wreath and added a greeting in red.

I'm also submitting this to TIME OUT Challenges - TOC#71 as it's Christmas and there's sparkle too!

Now, don't forget to visit the Uniko blog to see more inspiration from the rest of the team. Here's a reminder of the release scheudle:

INTRODUCING: 25th and 26th November - the DT will give you a closer look at the new sets being released with a daily blog hop.

RELEASE DAY: Sunday 27th November 9.00am GMT - you get to see the products in their entirety and purchase them from the Uniko website. As usual there is a Design Team Blog Hop and a Giveaway.

As this is the last release of 2016 - Bev is giving away some random prizes throughout the release countdown. To be in with a chance of winning a random prize, be sure to join in commenting along the Introducing Hops and joining in via social media such as Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and Pinterest. Winners of the random prizes will be announced on Bev's blog on Sunday 27th November at 8.00am GMT.

That's all for now - have a great weekend and do come back tomorrow to see the entire release and lots more inspiration from the team!

52CCT - Stash .....

.... Morning! It's been a while since my blog was so busy!! We come to the last Saturday on November and that means it's time for our new challenge at 52 Christmas Card Throwdown - 52CCT47-16. Gill has been our host this month, and she has picked a Stash challenge for us. She wants to see GLITTER on your Christmas cards. I had so much fun with this one:

Stamps: Uniko - Background Builders Christmas, Pure Florals Poinsettia, Winter Foliage
Inks: Kaleidacolor - Fresh Greens; Stampin' Up! - Real Red
Dies: Winnie & Walter Cutaway - Joy
Accessories: White Lustre Card; Red Glitter Paper; Stick It; SU DP - Real Red; Wink of Stella - Clear

This is a really clean and simple card and I know that CAS is normally lots of crisp, clean white space, but here it's lots of sparkly red space!! I cut a panel of red glitter paper slightly smaller than the card and placed it on some Stick It adhesive. I like the glitter paper as the glitter doesn't come off! I placed the large word JOY die cut towards the bottom right of the card. I removed the word and attached the panel to the card and put the centre of the "o" back in place. I added a spring of holly and some berries to the top left corner. I stamped them on plain white card, cut them out and added sparkle with a clear Wink of Stella brush. On the inside I cut a mat layer of red design paper and on the white panel I stamped a line of holly and berries and a clean, crisp greeting.

I got the inspiration for this card from the graphic photo at Fusion Card Challenge - FUSION#62 - the die cut word is simple white, as in the picture. I'm also playing along with TIME OUT challenge - TOC#71 where the theme is CHRISTMAS with the optional twist of GLITTER - oh yes, there's glitter!!

As you've probably realised, removing the die cut word from the red glitter panel above meant that I was able to make another card:

Stamps: Uniko - Winter Foliage, Simply Said Christmas
Inks: SU - Always Artichoke, Cherry Cobbler, Tip Top Taupe, Chocolate Chip
Dies: Winnie & Walter Cutaways - Joy
Accessories: White Lustre Card; SU Card - Always Artichoke; Kaisercraft 12" x 12" DP - Silent Night; Gold Pen; Red Glitter Paper

This is one of the design papers that I got for last week's Old Fashioned Christmas challenge. The card was so quick and easy to make. I ran a gold pen around the edge of the paper panel and adhered it to the card. Then I attached the JOY die cut word. Simples!! On the inside I cut a mat layer of dark green card and on the white panel stamped a pine branch and cone along with a crisp greeting.

The challenge at Simon Says Wednesday Challenge - SSWC is to use a die cut on your card, so I'm submitting this card. And I'm also playing along with Addicted to Stamps and More! - ATSM#221 where it is the ANYTHING GOES week.

Do visit our blog to see more sparkling inspiration from the rest of the Design Team. You've got plenty of time to join us - deadline for submission is midnight (GMT) Friday 2nd December (that's 7.00pm EST).

Do come back later this morning when I'll be introducing another of the new Uniko release - Rustic Wreath. See you later!