Uniko - Pure Florals Rose .....

....  Hello! I can't quite believe how quickly this week has gone by. Today is the last of the Uniko Introductions. We are showcasing Pure Florals Rose - a wonderful addition to the series. I've made a couple of cards for today, here's the first:

Stamps: Uniko - Pure Florals Rose, Simply Said, Fontiments
Inks: Gina K - Kraft, Black Onyx, Red Velvet, Jelly Bean Green; Versafine - Onyx Black
Dies: Die-namics - A2 Stitched Rectangles Set 2 #9
Accessories: White Lustre Card; SU Card - Crumb Cake; Clear Embossing Powder; Zig Clean Colour Brushes; Nuvo Aqua Shimmer - Clear; Uniko Stencil - Lattice; Tim Holtz Watercolour Card

So glad my parcel arrived on Wednesday, I was able to use the Lattice stencil to make this lovely background. I taped the stencil to the white panel and lightly sponged on some kraft ink, keeping it darker in the corner and fading out towards the top of the card. I adhered the panel to a kraft card base. I stamped the small rose and leaves on watercolour card with Versafine ink and heat embossed with clear powder, this gives a line which makes it so easy to colour. I used my zig clean colour brushes to lay down some colour which I blended out with a clear glitter brush - sadly you can't see the sparkle in the picture above!! I stamped the little birthday sentiment on the white panel and then used dimensional pads to adhered the rose and leaves. On the inside, I cut a white panel on to which I stamped a simple sentiment and the outline images.

I used the colours from this week's challenge at Global Design Project - GDP#117.

My next card is relatively CAS - well I think it is!!

Stamps: Uniko - Pure Florals Rose, Pure Florals Lily
Inks: Gina K - Black Onyx; Stampin' Up! - Smoky Slate; Distress - Hickory Smoke; Delicata - Silvery Shimmer
Accessories: White Lustre Card; SU Card - Smoky Slate; Uniko Stencil - Broken Lines

This is a one-layer card. I used my MISTI to stamp the outline rose towards the top centre of the card and masked the rose. I taped the stencil to the card and sponged on dark grey ink, then I shifted the card slightly to the left and sponged on light grey ink. I removed the mask and put the card back into the MISTI. Then I stamped the solid rose in silver ink. I finished the front with a sentiment. I picked sympathy because Kat said that the grey rose made a lovely sympathy card! I agree. On the inside, I cut a mat layer of pale grey card and added a sentiment and another rose to the white panel.

I'm submitting this to CASology - CAS#279 where they want to see GREY and this is much more CAS than the other one!

Don't forget to visit the Uniko blog to see more inspiration projects from the rest of the Design Team. And come back tomorrow - it's RELEASE DAY!!!

Yesterday was a snow day for Kat - she had a much-needed lie-in and spent the day working on a physics project. I was in my craft room making cards, but I did take the opportunity to get out my camera and take a photo of all the snow and the bright blue skies we had. I've hung large baubles from one of the trees in my front garden and it looks so pretty:

If you look closely at the ornament you can see my reflection!!!  That's all for now - see you soon.

Uniko - Polka Hearts and Big & Bold Hugs ....

.... Morning! We had the first major snowstorm of this winter yesterday. Kat's school was dismissed early and Jonathan decided to pick up his laptop and work from home. It was a really good decision, visibility was really bad by 4.30pm and it just kept snowing!!!

One really brilliant thing happened yesterday. My Uniko parcel was delivered!!!! So I spent most of the afternoon and some of the evening in my craft room getting inky!! So happy to have all the new release.

It's day three of the Uniko introductions. We're introducing Scattered Polka Hearts Large Background and Big & Bold Hugs. I have two cards to share - one that I made with the actual stamps and one that I made with a digi image. Here's the first card:

Stamps: Uniko - Big & Bold Hugs, Scattered Polka Hearts Lg Background
Inks: Kaleidacolor - Vineyard; Versamark; Distress - Black Soot; Versafine - Onyx Black
Dies: Die-namics - A2 Stitched Rectangles Set 1 #10, A2 Rectangles Set 1 #9
Accessories: White Lustre Card; SU Card - Basic Black; Clear Embossing Powder; Vellum; Shimer Spritz Frost

This is the card I made using the actual stamps - you can tell because I've been able to do various techniques. I used my MISTI to stamp the hearts using an ombre dye onto white card, I card in and restamped with Versamark and heat embossed with clear powder. I used a die to cut the panel to size and then sponged on some ink to make the front rather grungy. I carefully wiped off excess ink and revealed the coloured hearts. I spritzed the panel with some shimmer spray for a touch of sparkle. I layered the panel on to black card and attached it to the base. I didn't want to hide this background, so I stamped the large word 'hugs' onto vellum and heat embossed with clear powder, cut it out and adhered it flat to the card. I stamped a couple of the smaller words onto white card, cut them out and lightly sponged the edges before attaching to the card with dimensional pads. On the inside, I cut a mat layer of black card and added a simple sentiment (a sneak peek from tomorrow's stamp set) along with a couple of little hearts. I think this one is going to be for Jonathan - just because!!  I'm going to submit it to this week's CASology - CAS#279 where they want GREY and I know it's not nearly CAS enough!!

Here's the second card:

Stamps: Uniko - Scattered Polka Hearts Lg Background (digi)
Inks: Versamark
Dies: Die-namics - A2 Stitched Rectangles Set 1 #10, A2 Rectangles Set 1 #9; Winnie & Walter - Love Cutaway
Accessories: White Lustre Card; SU Card - Raspberry Ripple; Clear Embossing Powder; Nuvo Aqua Shimmer Glitter Brush; Glossy Accents

Bev very kindly sent me the digital images so that I could play along. I import the digital image into Word and it is easy to change colours by simply picking a different palette in design, you can also add different effects, but I didn't do that here. I picked a lovely pink colour and printed it best quality onto white card. I layered the panel on a dark red die cut panel and adhered it to the card base. I die cut the word 'love' from the same red card and layered it on to three other words to create my own chipboard word. I covered the word with lots of sparkle using my shimmer brush and then added a thick layer of glossy accents and set it aside to dry. Once dry, I used a strong adhesive to glue it to the card and added the little 'you' digi below it. On the inside, I cut a mat layer of dark red card and added a tiny rosebud to the white panel.

I'm submitting this one to Love to Craft Challenge Blog - LTCCB#17 where anything goes. I haven't added any words to the inside of this card, but I think it might be a card for my Mum.

Don't forget to check out the Uniko blog to see more inspiration from the rest of the Design Team. The release schedule is:

Introductions: 12th - 15th December

RELEASE DAY: Saturday 16th December 9.00am. The whole release will be available to purchase at the Uniko store and we will have our traditional Design Team Blog Hop and Giveaway. See you tomorrow for our last introduction - you've had a couple of hints here!!

Uniko - Spring Botanicals ....

... Hi! It's time to start the introductions for Uniko's December release. We have two sets today - Scattered Polka Dots Large Background and Spring Botanicals Snowdrop. Sadly, my parcel still hasn't arrived, so I'm going to let the rest of the team showcase the large background stamp, and I'm going to concentrate on the lovely snowdrop stamp. I made two cards, here's the first:

Stamps: Uniko - Spring Botanicals Snowdrop (digi), Reach for the Stars, Simply Said Blocks, Simply Said
Inks: Versafine - Onyx Black; Stampin' Up! - Lemon Lime Twist; Gina K - Black Onyx
Dies: Die-namics - Cross Stitch Rectangle Stax #5, A2 Rectangles Set 2 #9
Accessories: White Lustre Card; SU Card - Lemon Lime Twist; Copics; Nuvo Aqua Shimmer Glitter Brush; Clear Embossing Powder

I printed the snowdrop image on white card, heat set it and die cut a panel with the cross stitch rectangle. I used Copics to colour the image and added lots of sparkle to the flowers with a clear glitter brush - you can see the sparkle in the photo below. I layered the panel on bright lime green card and adhered it to the centre of the card. I stamped the sentiment in Versafine on green card, heat embossed it with clear powder, cut it out and adhered it to the card with dimensional pads. On the inside, I cut a mat layer of lime green card and added a simple, but fun, birthday greeting to the white card.

Here's the close-up photo showing the sparkle - I had to make the image quite dark in order to show the sparkle!!

I'm submitting this card to AAA Cards - AAA#105 where they want to see sparkle - hopefully!!!

My second card features the snowdrops left as an outline image, but printed in colour:

Stamps: Uniko - Spring Botanicals Snowdrop (digi), Simply Said Birthday, Happy Succulents
Inks: Versafine - Onyx Black; Gina K - Black Onyx, Blue Raspberry
Dies: Die-namics - A2 Stitched Rectangles Set 1 #9, Oval Stax
Accessories: White Lustre Card; Gina K Card - Blue Raspberry; Nuvo Aqua Shimmer Glitter Brush; Clear Embossing Powder; US Stencil - Scattered Polka Dots; Vellum

I printed the image in colour and carefully cut it out. I used blue cardstock to make the base and on the white oval, I lightly stencilled some polka dots to create a bokeh effect. I die cut a panel of vellum on which I stamped and embossed a birthday sentiment. I ran the vellum through my Xyron and adhered it directly to the card. I used a strong adhesive to attach the snowdrops over the vellum. On the inside, I added a white panel with a simple greeting.

I added sparkle to the snowdrop flowers with a clear glitter brush, but you can barely see it in the photo above. It really does sparkle!!

Now that you've seen what I've made with the snowdrop, do visit Uniko to see more inspiration projects from the rest of the Design Team. A quick reminder of the release schedule:

Introductions: 12th - 15th December

RELEASE DAY: Saturday 16th December 9.00am GMT. The whole release will be available to purchase in the Uniko shop. As always, we will have a DT Blog Hop and Giveaway - enjoy!!

See you again soon.

Uniko - Sneak Peeks 2 ....

... Hello again! It's very wintery here in Northville and these sneak peeks of the new Uniko release are making me long for spring!! Here's a glimpse of what's to come:

This is an addition to our Big and Bold series - such fun!!

Hearts abound! So useful for Valentine's day or any other occasion - just because!

And flowers - lovely flowers!

This is so pretty! You're going to love it.

Before I go, here's a reminder of the release schedule:

Sneak Peeks: 10th & 11th December

Introductions: 12th - 15th December - you'll get to see inspiration projects from the team.

RELEASE DAY: Saturday 16th December, 9.00am. Stamps and stencils will be available in the Uniko shop to purchase. There's also our traditional Design Team Blog Hop!

See you soon!

Uniko - Sneak Peeks 1 ....

.... Hello, and good morning! I do hope that everyone is keeping well in this very busy month. Uniko is finishing this year with a super fun release with some lovely spring flowers and great stencils. We're going to start of with our usual sneak peeks:

I really like this spring flower, so delicate, so pretty! It's sure to be a favourite.

I think you can guess what this is - I can see such fun backgrounds!!

Three different stencil designs - I can't wait to get my hands on them! I say that because I'm still waiting for my stamps and stencils to arrive. Posting product to the States is mostly good, but it's coming up to Christmas and I guess the system is under a bit of pressure! I'm still hoping that parcel Bev sent a while ago will get here so that I can make some samples for the Introductions and Release. Here's the schedule:

Sneak Peeks: 10th & 11th December - just to tease you!

Introductions: 12th - 15th December - a first chance to see the new release in action.

RELEASE DAY: Saturday 16th December, 9.00am.  The stamps and stencils will be available in the Uniko shop to purchase and, as usual, we will have a Design Team Blog Hop.

That's all from me today, but do stop by again tomorrow for a few more sneak peeks!