C24C - Christmas Greetings ....

.... Hello again! I wasn't around much for the second part of June, and today - two posts!! The first of the month means that it's time for our new challenge at Christmas 24 Challenge - C24C#13 and we want to see Christmas Foliage on your cards. I made a very clean and simple card:

Stamps: Waltzingmouse Stamps - Festive Foliage; Uniko - Christmas Sparkle, Simply Said Christmas
Inks: Gina K - Jet Black Amalgam, Fresh Asparagus; Memento - New Sprout, Bamboo Leaves
Dies: WMS - Mistletoe
Accessories: White Card; SU DP - Pear Pizzazz; Glitter

I'm submitting this card to a couple of challenges - Less is More - LIM#422 where they want us to use an Outline image and a solid image, and to Perfectly CAS - PCAS#10 where the theme is Sparkle.

 

I went back to my old Waltzingmouse stamps for this card - so sad that Claire is no longer making stamps, but I still use them often!! It was either the holly or the mistletoe, in the end, the simplicity of the mistletoe won. I stamped the outline image in a dark green ink and used a couple of different shades of green for the solid image. I cut them both out with the matching die and then added some fine glitter to the mistletoe berries. I stamped a bow at the top of the card and adhered the mistletoe and used a fine black marker to draw in the bow. I finished the front with a simple greeting. On the inside, I cut a mat layer of green texty paper and on the white panel stamped another of the solid mistletoe images and added a Christmas greeting.

Before I go, I should mention that we have a DT call for Christmas 24 Challenge - if you're interested please add DT by your name when you upload your cards. Thanks.

Don't forget to visit our blog to see more inspiration from the rest of the design team. Christmas Foliage is an easy challenge, and I look forward to seeing your takes on the theme. That really is all from me for today - see you soon.

Uniko - Background Blocks Halftone ....

.... We're halfway through our introductions and I'm here today with the next one from Uniko's new release. This time it's a solid stamp called Background Blocks Halftone - it's a very on-trend stamp and can be used for all sorts. Here's my card:

Stamps: Uniko - Background Block Halftone, All Occasion Sentiments #4, Winter Foliage, Christmas Sparkle; Waltzingmouse - Woodgrain
Inks: Stampin' Up! - Crumb Cake, Real Red; Versafine - Onyx Black
Accessories: White Lustre Card; SU Card - Crumb Cake; Clear Embossing Powder

I've made a simple Christmas card. My colours are from this week's Just Us Girls - JUGS#281 challenge and I got the idea of a wood background from Addicted to CAS - ATCAS#105. I made the card from kraft card and stamped the wood grain background using the same colour ink for a soft tone-on-tone look. I used black ink to stamp the branch, thread, ribbon and sentiments directly on the card. I used a scrap of white card for the Christmas ornament. I stamped the half-tone background in bright red and then stamped the outline ornament shape. I carefully cut out the ornament, coloured in the little cap and attached it flat to the card. I finished the front by adding the ampersand in bright red. On the inside I cut a panel of white card on which I stamped a Christmas greeting and added another red half-tone ornament.

A quick reminder of the release schedule:

Introductions: 20th - 24th February - the team have some fab inspiration for you

RELEASE DAY! Saturday 25th February - lots more inspiration from the Design Team, your chance to buy the stamps from Uniko's shop and, as always, a Design Team Blog Hop and Giveaway!

That's all for now! See you tomorrow.

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

Click here for my 52CCT post

.... Hello again! It's World Card Making Day and this is my second post of the day. It's also RELEASE DAY at Uniko - which is kind of fun! You've seen the introductions and now it's time to provide some more inspiration with Bev's wonderful new stamp sets. There are five in total. As you know from my previous posts, I don't actually have the clear stamps - they're currently in Customs at Chicago! Bev kindly let me have the digital images so that I could join in - and it's been great fun.

I'm starting off with a clean, simple card featuring Originally Organic:

Stamps: Uniko - Originally Organic, All Occasion Sentiments #6
Inks: Stampin' Up! - Strawberry Slush; Versafine - Onyx Black
Dies: Lil Inkers Dual Stitched Squares
Accessories: White Lustre Card; SU Card - Strawberry Slush; Copics; Wink of Stella - Clear; Glossy Accents

I created this in Publisher to combine the leaves and flowers into one image and then add the sentiment. I printed the image on white card and  used a stitch edge die to cut out the panel. I used Copics to colour the image and added some sparkle to the flowers and blue dots. I also added some glossy accents to the blue dots for dimension. I used dimensional tape to adhere the finished panel to the card. On the inside I cut a mat layer of dark pink card and added a simple greeting. I used the colours from this week's Colour Throwdown - CTD#412 for this card.

My next card is bold and bright and was so much fun to colour! It features the large mandala from Marvellous Mehndi:

Stamps: Uniko - Marvellous Mehndi, Simply Said, Background Builders Round in Circles
Inks: Hero Arts Neon - Pink, Green, Orange; Versafine - Onyx Black
Accessories: White Lustre Card; Burlap Paper; SU Card - Smoky Slate; Copics; Kaisercraft Pens; Gem

I printed the mandala on white card and coloured it with a mixture of Copic markers and Kaisercraft pens - glitter and neon! I then fussy cut it out - took a while, but was so worth it. I created the horizontal panel by repeated stamping the circles in bright neon colours. I used my MISTI to make this a very simple process. I finished by adding a simple sentiment. I used the sketch from Fusion - FUSION#58 for the layout and the colours are from Card Concept - CC#58. On the inside I cut a mat layer in pale grey and on the white panel added some more neon colour circles.

My final card is a clean and simple Christmas card using images from both Christmas Sparkle and Winter Foliage:

Stamps: Uniko - Winter Foliage, Christmas Sparkle, All Occasion Sentiments # 4, Rustic Christmas
Inks: Versafine - Onyx Black; SU - Garden Green
Accessories: White Lustre Card; SU Card - Garden Green; Copics; Glitter

I had so much fun creating the pine cones and ornaments. As before, I used Publisher. I added the various elements and then recoloured them. I scaled them to size, printed them off and added extra colour with my Copic markers. I decided to add glitter to the word sparkle - it wasn't totally successful, but I do like the shimmer! I finished the front with a big, bold greeting. On the inside I cut a mat layer of dark green card and on the white panel added another sentiment along with a Christmas tree. I'm submitting this card to Addicted to Stamps and More! - ATSM#213 where they want to see holiday cards.

So, that's my cards showcasing the new stamps. 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 (BST) on Sunday 9th October.

Bev

Deborah - that's me!

Jane

Lindsey

Rahmat

Sarah G

Sarah P

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

First up is the mini set Christmas Sparkle - I think the outline is such a lovely shape.

Next is Marvellous Mehndi - that mandala is wonderful and such a joy to colour.

Here's Originally Organic - full of fabulous sentiments and lovely images.

Here's Simply Said II, an addition to the Simply Said range. Lots of very useful sentiments and words.

Finally, another mini set - Festive Foliage. Perfect for Christmas, but can work for masculine cards too.

All the above sets are available today here at the Uniko shop.

I'm planning on spending some time in my craft room today to celebrate World Card Making Day!

Have a fun day and I hope you drop by again soon. Bye for now.

Uniko - Christmas Sparkle ....

..... Hello! I'm here with my last introduction card for the new Uniko release. Today I've got a very clean and simple Christmas card:

Stamps: Uniko - Christmas Sparkle, All Occasion Sentiments #4, Wonderful Washi Christmas, Background Builder Vines Winter Additions, Rustic Christmas
Inks: Versamark; Stampin' Up! - Rose Red, Pink Pirouette; Memento - London Fog; Delicata - Silvery Shimmer
Accessories: White Lustre Card; Vellum; SU Card - Rose Red; Silver Embossing Powder; Wink of Stella - Silver

I still don't have the actual stamps, but I've been able to play with the digital images. I printed the outline ornament, in three different sizes, on plain white card. To create the pattern I used the tiny stamps from BB Vines Winter Addictions. I used a silver Wink of Stella brush to paint the ornament hanger. I stamped the snowflake washi image on vellum, heat embossed with silver powder, cut it out and adhered it direct to the card. I used my MIST to position and stamp the greeting. I finished by adhering the ornaments. On the inside I cut a mat layer of dark pink card and on the white panel I added a greeting and some more snowflakes. I've used light and dark pink, along with silver and grey so I'm playing along with this week's Merry Monday Challenge - MM#215.

Don't forget to visit the Uniko blog to see more inspiration from Bev and the rest of the Design Team. We've reached the end of our introductions and tomorrow is RELEASE DAY. We'll be providing more inspiration, show the sets in their entirety, we've got a Blog Hop and there's going to be a Giveaway too! See you tomorrow!