Uniko - Revisit & Blog Hop ....

.... Good morning!  So pleased you stopped by today as it's time for the first Uniko Design Team Blog Hop of the year.  If this is the first time you've come across Uniko - here's some information for you.  Bev "normally" releases new stamps every other month, and in the "off" month we revisit one of Bev's older sets - and have a play.   It's not long until Valentine's Day, so Bev decided we'd all revisit - Always and Forever.  Before we get to my card, we also have a new member to the Design Team - Lindsey from Doodlings is joining us, so please do say hi.  And now, here's my card:

Stamps: Uniko - Always and Forever, Beautiful Blooms 1, Background Builders Lattice, Time
Inks: Versamark; Memento - Tuxedo Black; Versafine - Onyx Black; Stampin' Up! - Melon Mambo, Blushing Bride
Accessories: White Lustre Card; SU Card - Crumb Cake; Copic Markers; Wink of Stella - Clear

I had so much fun creating this card.  I combined several of Bev's sets with the wonderful flower heart being the focal image.  The colours are from this week's Colour Q - cQc#323 challenge.  I started by making a base from Crumb Cake card and stamping  the smaller flower from Beautiful Blooms in Versamark to create a tone-on-tone look.  In the small gaps I stamps one of the sentiments from Always and Forever.  I cut a panel of white card and stamped this pretty lattice border on a diagonal and coloured it with Copic markers.  I stamped a birthday sentiment above the lattice and then carefully cut along the border.  I stmaped the flower heart in bright pink - I used my MISTI so was able to stamp the image twice to give really good definition to the image.  I then carefully cut it out and adhered it to the card with dimensional tape.  Prior to adding the heart to the card I used my clear Wink of Stella brush to add some sparkle to the coloured parts of the lattice and also to the white flower in the heart, sadly you can't see it in the photo!  On the inside I cut another white panel and added another flower along with a simple greeting.

Now, I mentioned earlier that this is a Design Team Blog Hop.  You should have come here from Bev's blog and the next stop is Jane, but you can follow along by clicking on the links below:

Bev - Uniko

Deborah (that's me!)

Jane

Lindsey

Sarah P

Here's a quick look at the stamps in Always and Forever:

Before I go I should mention that we have a wonderful GIVEAWAY too.  Simply comment along the Hop to be in with a chance of winning this featured set along with an eGift certificate for £10 to spend in store.  Or, if you win and already own this set, an eGift certificate for £15 will be awarded. You have until midnight (GMT) Sunday 17th Janaury to comment, and the winner will be announced on Monday 18th January.  That's all for now!

USC - Birthdays ...

...  Good morning!  It's time for our new challenge at Uniko Studio - USC#18.  This month our theme is

BIRTHDAYS

You can make any kind of birthday card you like - fun, silly, layered, CAS, masculine, feminine - whatever takes your fancy!!  Here's my take:

Stamps: Uniko Studio - Background Builders Lattice, Flower Power #2
Inks: Stampin' Up! - Blackberry Bliss, Raspberry Ripple, Wisteria Wonder
Dies: Memory Box - Cross Stitched Frames Borders #4
Accessories: White Lustre Card; SU DP - Wisteria Wonder; Gem; Gold Marker Pen

I've made a pretty, feminine card - I need to build up my stash of feminine styled cards.  I decided to use some stamps that I've had for a while, but not actually used much (at all!!).  I've used the colours from this week's Colour Q - cQc#280 which are all shades of purple.  That works out really well as the cue word at CASology - CAS#134 is monochrome.  I'm also submitting this to Addicted to CAS - ATCAS#57 as this week's cue word is mask, and I've used masking on my card.

I masked off the rectangle and bottom corner of the card and then stamped this pretty lattice pattern to create a background.  I removed the masking tape and embossed the cross stitch frame - for some reason in the photo above it looks debossed, but it is in fact embossed!!  I stamped the flower in the centre of the rectangle and added a touch of bling.  I used a ruler to add a thin gold border to the background stamping and finished the front with a simple sentiment.  On the inside I cut a mat layer of lilac design paper and on the white panel added a single flower.

For more inspiration with our Birthdays theme, check out the blog to see what the rest of the team have made.  Our Guest Designer this month is Tracey McNeely, do check out her card too. 

The challenge runs for the next two weeks.  You can use any stamps in our challenge, although we do love to see designs with Uniko Studio stamps!!   You can enter as many times as you want and can combine with other challenges too.  You have until Friday 6th March to play along with the challenge.  Have fun!!