CIC - Theme ....

... Hello! I hope your weekend is going well. It's time for our new challenge at Cupcake Inspirations - CIC#359, and our theme is BUNTING. Our sponsor for this challenge is Paper Sweeties and the winner of the challenge will get a $25 Gift Certificate to spend in their shop. I have used a couple of their products on my card:

Stamps: Paper Sweeties - Birthday Banners; Uniko - Celebrate with Cake
Inks: Kaleidacolor - Spectrum; Versafine - Onyx Black; Stampin' Up! - Sahara Sand
Dies: Paper Sweeties - Sweet Cuts Birthday Banners
Accessories: White Lustre Card; Copics; Wink of Stella - Clear; SU Card - Black

I've gone for a fairly clean and simple card - echoing the pretty design on the graphic cupcakes. I liked the rainbow bunting on the cakes, so decided to play with my Kaleidacolor ink set. I stamped the bunting twice (turning the ink pad to make the colours go in opposite directions) and then cut them out with the matching die. I stamped a large cupcake on some scrap paper and inked up the frosting stamp with rainbow colours. I attached the cupcake to the card, added a greeting and finished by adding some star confetti. I attached the top bunting layer flat to the card, but used dimensional gel for the second layer to give a little depth. On the inside I cut a mat layer of black card and on the white panel I stamped some cupcake bunting which I coloured with Copics and added sparkle with a clear Wink of Stella brush. I finished the front with a sentiment stamped with the Kaleidacolor pad.

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

Uniko - April Release and Giveaway ....

.... Hello! It's release day at Uniko. You've seen the introductions and today both the new mini sets are available at the shop. Here's some more inspiration:

Stamps: Uniko - Celebrate with Cake, Simply Said Birthday
Inks: Versafine - Onyx Black; Stampin' Up! - Melon Mambo, Daffodil Delight, Calypso Coral, Soft Sky
Accessories: White Lustre Card; Kaisercraft DP - Sea Breeze

I got the idea for this card from Sarah's flower card which she shared yesterday; it reminded me of the Triple Stamping technique. I cut two panels of white card and two panels of design paper each slightly larger then the white card.  I used temporary adhesive to layer the white card on top of each other and then randomly stamped some cupcakes over the background. I filled in the gaps with the little star confetti stamp in several colours. Next I layered the stamped card on the design paper and attached both to the front of the card. I finished with a bold birthday greeting in the centre of the card. I used the colours from this week's Colour Throwdown - CTD#387 for the card. On the inside I cut a mat layer of the design paper and on the white panel I stamped another cupcake and a greeting.

My next card features Fun Flowers (which I was supposed to showcase yesterday, but didn't get chance to make a card). This one is quite clean and simple and uses the colours from this week's Colour Q challenge - cQc#336:

Stamps: Uniko - Fun Flowers, All Occasion Sentiments #6
Inks: Stampin' Up! - Rose Red, Pumpkin Pie, Lucky Limeade; Versafine - Onyx Black; Memento - Tuxedo Black
Accessories: White Lustre Card; SUDP - Pumpkin Pie; Copics; Wink of Stella - Clear, Pink, Orange

This is a really fun set where you can build up flowers using different layers. I started by stamping three larger flowers and keeping them mostly white. I stamped the word thanks on white card, coloured it with Copic markers, cut it out and added clear Wink of Stella to each letter for some sparkle. At this point I added the tiny flowers in black and coloured them with orange and pink Wink of Stella brushes. This card really shimmers. On the inside I is a mat layer of pumpkin pie design paper and on the white card I added another flower.

I'm also submitting this card to AAA Cards - AAA#62 where the theme is Anything Goes, but it must be CAS.

As is tradition, we have a Design Team Blog Hop with the chance of one lucky person winning the ENTIRE release AND a £10 eGift Certificate to spend in the store. You simply have to comment along the hop by midnight (BST) Sunday 17th April 2016.

Bev

Deborah (that's me)

Jane

Lindsey

Nicki

Sarah G

Sarah P

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

First up is Celebrate with Cake - such a versatile set with open and solid stamps for the cupcake case and frosting, so easy to line up too.  The little confetti stamps are just fab.

Second is Fun Flowers - another really versatile set - you can build all kinds of flowers with these images. You can colour them, paint them or stamp on design paper - the possibilities are endless.

That's all for now.  Thanks so much for stopping by - I really do appreciate it.  See you soon.

Uniko - Celebrate with Cake ....

... Morning! I'm back today to introduce the first set from Uniko's April mini release. It's called Celebrate with Cake and there are so many ways that you can use this set. I've made a very feminine birthday card:

Stamps: Uniko - Celebrate with Cake, Simply Said Birthday
Inks: Versafine - Onyx Black; Stampin' Up! - Pretty in Pink, Certainly Celery
Accessories: White Lustre Card; Kaisercraft DP - Cottage Rose; Peel off Borders; Glitter

I've used the sketch from this week's Freshly Made Sketches - FMS#231 (so nice to be playing again) for the layout. I cut out a panel of design paper with a soft grey flowers for the main part of the background and used a co-ordinating paper with pink flowers for the side portion. I added a strip of sparkly silver peel off to cover the join. I stamped the cupcake case on more of the pink patterned paper, cut it out and edged it with a black marker. I stamped the frosting image on white card and added star confetti in pink and green. I stamped the sentiment, added a black lace border (from the same paper pack), some more silver peel off and adhered it direct to the card. I used dimensional gel to attach the cupcake. On the inside I cut another piece of the grey design paper for the mat layer and on the white panel stamped another cupcake and added a simple greeting.

I took a close up photo of the cupcake to show all the lovely sparkle and it's such a cute cake - calorie free too!

Do visit Bev's blog to see what the rest of the team have created with this fun set.  I'll be back tomorrow to introduce FUN Flowers. Monday 11th February is release day and I'll be back to showcase both sets. That's all for now.