Uniko - September Release, DT Blog Hop and Giveaway ....

.... Good morning! Today's the day! The new stamps from Uniko are available to buy today over at the Uniko shop. I've got a few cards to share with you this morning. I'm going to start with a clean, simple and bright card:

Stamps: Uniko - Background Blocks Stars, Reach for the Stars
Inks: Gina K - Black Onyx , Red Velvet; Versamark
Dies: Lil Inkers - Stitched Stars #1, #2 and #3
Accessories: White Lustre Card; Copics; Silver Tinsel Embossing Powder; Wink of Stella - Clear; Vellum

I got the inspiration for this card from the graphic on the Colour Throwdown Challenge - CTD#459 - the stripes on the vase reminded me of the striped stars on the Background Blocks Stars stamps. The layout is based on the sketch from Freshly Made Sketches - FMS#304. As I coloured the stars with my markers, I'm submitting this one to CAS on Friday - CASOF#116. I stamped the image using my MISTI, then coloured it with Copic markers. Once coloured I stamped the image again in Versamark and heat embossed with silver tinsel embossing powder - I do think stars need to sparkle!! I layered the image on some black card and adhered it to a 4 bar card - it's a bit smaller than an A2 card, but it fits the background block size perfectly. I die cut three stars from white card and coloured two of them to match the stars on the panel and then I added sparkle with a clear Wink of Stella brush. I layered the stars with dimensional pads. I stamped the word "stars" on white card, cut it out and then layered it onto some vellum. On the inside I cut a mat layer of black card and on the white panel added some stars down the side. There's plenty of space for a message.

My next card features lots and lots and lots of little stars:

Stamps: Uniko - Background Builders Seeing Stars; Beautiful Blooms I; Simply Said Blocks; Happy Succulents
Inks: Gina K - Onyx Black, Cherry Red, Red Hot, Sweet Mango, Wild Dandelion, Jelly Bean Green, Blue Lagoon, Blue Raspberry, Wild Lilac, Lovely Lavender; Versamark
Dies: Uniko - Beautiful Blooms
Accessories: White Lustre Card; Stampin' Up! - Basic Black; Clear Embossing Powder; Simon Says - Moonshine Confetti

The current challenge at TIME OUT Challenge - TOC#91 is to CASE our very own Beverley Brown - and I had to play along with that challenge. Bev's card has a lovely rainbow of solid colours with the pretty lily outline flower, so I played on that. On my card I've stamped a somewhat larger rainbow of stars and my flower is solid black, as is my greeting. I stamped the flower on white card, cut it out with the matching die and then "enamelled" it using Versamark mark and clear embossing powder. It has a lovely shine. I layered the rainbow panel on black card and finished the front with some clear sequins. On the inside I cut a mat layer of black card and kept the white panel fairly simple with a fun greeting and lots of rainbow stars!

My last card today has dots and flowers:

Stamps: Uniko - Background Blocks Polka Dots, Simply Said Blocks, Beautiful Blooms II, Reach for the Stars
Inks: Gina K - Black Onyx, Jelly Bean Green, Sweet Mango, Cherry Red
Dies: Die-namics - Pierced Circle Frames #2
Accessories: White Lustre Card; SU Card - Basic Black; Vellum; Wink of Stella - Clear

I've used the sketch from FUSION - FUSION#81 for the layout of this card, and the colours are from CAS Colours & Sketches - CASC&S#239. I created the dotty panel by stamping the polka dots in all three colours, trimming the panel to size and then covered it with some shimmery vellum to soften the colours. I used the ink direct to paper to colour some card green and then die cut the circle frame. I stamped the flowers and added a touch of colour to the insides. I finished the front with a simple sentiment. On the inside I cut a mat layer of black card and added a greeting and some stars to the white panel.

It's traditional when we have a new release to have a Design Team Blog Hop - so follow along and leave some comments for your chance to win! You have until midnight BST Saturday 16th September to leave your comments. The winner will be announced on Sunday 17th September. Here's the Blog Hop list:

Bev

Deborah (that's me)

Izzy

Jane

Lindsey

Rahmat

Sarah P

Before I go - here's a look at each of the sets being released today:

Background Blocks Scattered Polka Dots

Background Builders Seeing Stars

Reach for the Stars

Background Blocks Stars

Simply Said Blocks

It's been a long post - thanks for staying with me to the end! I hope you've enjoyed my projects. I think this is one of my favourite releases - I just adore all those stars! There really is endless possibilities with these stamps.

That's all for now - see you soon.

Uniko - Polka Dots and Word Blocks ....

... Good morning! You've seen the sneak peeks, and now it's time to introduce the new stamps from Uniko. Today we are introducing two new sets. The first is an addition to the Background Blocks series and it features POLKA DOTS - just love them!! The second set is an addition to the Simply Said series - this time the words are in blocks. I've combined them both on this card:

Stamps: Uniko - Background Blocks Polka Dots, Pure Florals Gerbera, Simply Said Blocks, All Occasion Sentiments #3
Inks: Gina K - Onyx Black; Delicata - Silvery Shimmer
Accessories: White Lustre Card; Stampin' Up! - Basic Black; Copics; Wink of Stella - Clear; Silver Shimmer Washi Tape

When I made this card, I hadn't received the actual stamps - Bev kindly sent me the digital images and I was able to print them off to size. I used the sketch from Sunday Stamps Challenge - SSC#160 for the layout. I cut the polka dot panel to size and layered it on some black card and attached it to the card base. I forgot to add some silver string, so used a strip of silver shimmer washi and and thin strip of the polka dot panel to make my own. I stamped the gerbera image on white card and used Copics to create a rainbow coloured flower, cut it out and added some sparkle all over with a clear Wink of Stella brush. I attached the flower with some dimensional tape on the side that over hangs the dotty panel. I finished the front with a simple sentiment - I think there are some super words in this set. On the inside I cut a mat layer of black card. On the white panel I stamped the polka dots in silver shimmer ink and added a bold word in the centre, I finished the panel by adding a couple of rainbow gerbera daisies. I wish you could get daisies like this for real!!!

You've seen the peeks, and you've used seen how I've used the stamps. Do visit the Uniko blog to see how the rest of the team have used these sets - they're fabulous!!! Before I go, here's a quick reminder of the release schedule:

Introductions: 6th - 8th August - your chance to see how these stamps are in action

RELEASE DAY: Saturday 9th August, 9.00am BST. You get to see the whole release and see how the Design Team have used them on their projects. As is traditional, there will be a DT Blog Hop - do leave comments as you go along as there's a GIVEAWAY too! You can get the stamps at the Uniko Shop.

That's all from me today - do come back tomorrow to see more introduction cards! Bye for now.