Coffee Time ...

... Hello again! I've had a super afternoon, playing with stamps and ink - something I've not done for a while. I've got a couple of cards with coffee theme to share. My first card also celebrates the 9th birthday of one of my favourite stamp companies - Uniko. I've been a fan of Bev's designs since she started the company and I've also been lucky enough to be on her design team too. This card is for Bev:

Stamps: Uniko - I Love Coffee, Originally Organic

Inks: Versamark; Gina K - Stormy Sky

Dies: Honey Bee - Coffee Cup Card

Accessories: White Card; SU Card - Crumb Cake; Vellum; Copic Markers; Silver Embossing Powder

I'm submitting this card to Bev's Uniko 9th Birthday Bash - US9BD.

I used Honey Bee's large coffee mug die to cut out the card. I used some kraft card for the cup lid and stamped lots of little coffee beans over it in Versamark. On the main mug I stamped the beautiful Originally Organic flower - this is a favourite of mine. I coloured it with Copic markers paying homage to Uniko's house colours. I embossed the finished image with silver powder. I cut the cup holder in vellum as I didn't want to hide the pretty image when it is put over the mug. On the inside, I stamped a simple and heartfelt sentiment in grey.

My next card kind of sums up how I feel at the moment. This third lockdown has really gotten to me, as it has to many, and this just made me feel better:

Stamps: CAS-ual Friday Stamps - Cup of Coffee, Hot Coffee, Peace, Love & Coffee; Stampendous - Coffee Background

Inks: Gina K - Warm Cocoa; Memento - Rhubarb Stalk

Dies: CFS - Coffee Cup

Accessories: White Card

I'm submitting this card to Caffeine Fueled Paper Play - CFPP#02 (a challenge I've been meaning to play along with for ages), and to Never-Before-Used-Schtuff - NBUS#23.

I've not used any of the coffee themed stamp sets that I have from CAS-ual Friday, so it's been fun to give them an outing! I stamped the background image using soft brown ink - it has lots of wonderful coffee quotes. I stamped the coffee mug on white card and added this brilliantly snarky sentiment. Absolutely perfect for how I'm feeling! I used the matching die to cut out the mug and adhered it to the front of the card. On the inside, I simply stamped another sentiment and added a tiny coffee mug.

I really do think that's it from me today. The sun is just starting to go down behind the houses over the road. It's been a beautiful bright day and I've played inside - my idea of fun. See you tomorrow!

Uniko - Autumn/Fall ....

.... Morning! I'm here with a card for our new challenge at Uniko - USC#43. The timing of our challenge couldn't be more perfect - today is that start of Autumn - and our challenge is to create an Autumn/Fall theme project with the optional twist of Halloween. My card is relatively clean and simple:

Stamps: Uniko - Originally Organic
Inks: Versamark
Dies: Memory Box - Cross Stitched Frames Borders #6 and #7; Uniko - Originally Organic
Accessories: White Lustre Card; Copper Satin Mirri Card; Copics;p Wink of Stella - Clear; Copper Embossing Powder

I got inspiration for my card from the current challenge at Inspired by All the Little Things - IBALT#64. I used the colours of copper and blue and used autumn seed heads on my card. I die cut some copper satin mirri card and white card with this lovely cross stitched edged die. I stamped the greeting directly on the white panel in Versamark and heat embossed with copper powder. I stamped using my MISTI - I did a light stamp, coloured it with Copics, put it back in the MISTI and restamped with Versamark and then heat embossed. I cut out the finished image with the matching die. I added a touch of sparkle to the image with a clear Wink of Stella brush and finished with some pale aqua gems. On the inside I cut mat layer of copper card and added some more of the flowers to the white panel - I've left a space for me to write my message.

Do visit the Uniko blog to see more inspiration cards from the rest of the team. You've got plenty of time to join in with this challenge - deadline for submission is midnight BST, Friday 27th October - that's 7.00pm EDT for those of us in the States.

That's all from me today - see you soon.

Uniko - Revisit and Blog Hop ....

.... Hello! It's been a while since I posted anything, but I've a good excuse - I've been away on holiday. I'm now trying to get back into my routine and I'm here this morning with my card for the Uniko Revisit and DT Blog Hop. We are revisiting the Marvellous Mehndi which contains a wonderful mandala style image and a selection of super paisley stamps. While we were in Minnesota, Jonathan and I visited Paisley Park, Prince's home and studio. It was truly a fabulous experience. When I got married I walked down the aisle to Prince's song, The Most Beautiful Girl in the World (see video at the end of this post), so you can see where I got the inspiration for this card:

Stamps: Uniko - Marvellous Mehndi, All Occasion Sentiments #6, Originally Organic
Inks: Versamark; Stampin' Up! - Concord Crush
Accessories: White Lustre Card; SU Card - Concord Crush; White Embossing Powder; Spectrum Noir Sparkle - Clear; Gems

I made the card base from some of my precious purple textured card (now discontinued). I dusted it with an anti-static buddy, put it in my MISTI and arranged the stamps until I got a layout that I liked. I inked up with Versamark and stamped the images a couple of times to make sure that it covered the textured card properly. I heated embossed the pattern with white powder. I wanted to keep the card really simple, but you have to have glitter, so I used my clear Spectrum Noir brush to add touches of glitter to the paisley patterns. I finished the front by added a few gems. On the inside I cut a panel of white card and stamped the large mandala image off to the side and added a greeting.

I'm submitting this card to Less is More - LIM#336 & 337 where the team want us to use a coloured card background and make a one layer card - done! LIM is teaming up with AAA Cards - AAA#94 this week, so I'm playing along with them too.

While I had these stamps on my MISTI I decided to make another card - this time I went for a monochromatic pink theme - taking my colours from the challenge at The Paper Players - PP#352. Apart from the addition of a mat layer of pink card on the inside, this one is much the same. Using the clear glitter pen on this one caused the ink to move on the paisley patterns - I rather like this soft, sparkly colour.

And here's the inside of the card:

Now, don't forget to visit the rest of the team and follow along the Blog Hop. We have a prize for one lucky winner. To be eligible to win, you must comment along the Blog Hop (we all love to get some comments) by midnight Tuesday 18th July. The prize is the stamp set Marvellous Mehndi or, if you've already got the set, an eGift Certificate to the same value. Winners will be announced on the Uniko blog on Wednesday 19th July. Now here's the Blog Hop list:

Bev

Deborah (that's me!)

Jane

Lindsey

Rahmat

Sarah G

Sarah P

Let me know which is your favourite card? Thanks so much for stopping by today. I'll be back again soon. Before I go here's that song - The Most Beautiful Girl in the World by Prince:

Uniko - Blog Hop and Revisit ....

... Hi! Good morning! Surprise, a post two days in a row :)))) I'm here today with the Uniko DT Blog Hop, Revisit and Giveaway. Bev releases new stamps every other month, and in the month where there is no new release the Design Team gets to revisit a previously released set. This month we're revisiting ORIGINALLY ORGANIC - one of my favourite stamp sets - and Bev has released matching dies too. Here's my card:

Stamps: Uniko - Originally Organic, Originally Organic Additions
Inks: Versamark; Versafine - Onyx Black
Dies: Uniko - Originally Organic
Accessories: White Lustre Card; Kaisercraft DP - Bombay Sunset; Copics; Wink of Stella - Clear; Gold Embossing Powder; Alton Glitter Tape

I used the sketch from the current Your Next Stamp - YNS#66 challenge along with all the colours too. My new Kaisercraft design papers were just the right colour and I do like the opulent gold border. I used my MISTI to stamp the flower bouquet in pale grey and coloured it with Copic markers. Then, using the MISTI again for accurate stamping, I stamped it in Versamark and heat embossed with gold powder. Then I used the matching die to cut it out - so much quicker and easier than using scissors!! I stamped the sentiment and then adhered the flower image using dimensional tape. On the inside I cut a may layer using more design paper and on the white panel, stamped a portion of the flower image and a greeting. I added a touch of sparkle to the flowers on the front and on the inside using a clear Wink of Stella brush.

I'm also submitting this card to The Flower Challenge - TFC#09 where this month it's ANYTHING GOES.

Now do visit the rest of the team, follow the links below:

Bev

Deborah

Jane

Lindsey

Rahmat

Sarah G

Sarah P

Don't forget to leave comments as you go along the Blog Hop - you've got until midnight (BST) Sunday 18th June.  You'll be in with the chance to win the Originally Organic clear stamp set and the matching dies. If you already own the prize, then you will get a £15 e-Gift voucher. Have fun!!

Uniko - Happy Succulents ...

.... Hi! Did you see those wonderful projects from the rest of the team using the Background Blocks - I am so looking forward to getting the actual stamps - I want to emboss!!!! Anyway, I'm here today to introduce another new set from Uniko - Happy Succulents. This set has a similar style to Originally Organic and Originally Organic Additions - which is great and they work so well together - as you will see! I had such fun with these stamps that I ended up making 5 cards for today!! Yes, five!!

I'm going to start off with a pretty note card for my stash:

Stamps: Uniko - Happy Succulents (Digi), All Occasion Sentiments #1, Originally Organic Additions
Inks: Versafine - Onyx Black; Stampin' Up! - Pink Pirouette, Smoky Slate
Dies: Lil Inkers - Diamond Lace Coverplate
Accessories: White Lustre Card; SU Card - Pink Pirouette; Copic Markers; Spectrum Noir Sparkle - Clear

I'm not exactly sure how big the main image is in this set (and I think I've made it a bit smaller) so I guessed and printed the image on white card. I coloured it with Copic markers, added some sparkle and then fussy cut it out. I wanted to keep the focus on the lovely image, but still add some interest to the card base, so I used a coverplate to die cut an overall pattern on the card. I adhered some pink card to the inside and then attached the coloured image with dimensional gel. I finished the front with a bold sentiment cut into a flag banner and attached it with dimensional tape. On the inside I cut a mat layer of pink card and added some flowers to the white panel. I'm submitting this card to the Simon Says Wednesday Challenge where they want to see a hint of pink! Done!!

One of the things I like about digital images is the ability to change the size and to flip them as necessary. In this stamp set there is a lovely solid succulent image which appears black when you import it on the computer. I use Word for my documents and there's an area under the design tab where you can change the colour theme for your documents, and the good thing about this is that you can then change the colour of the imported image really easily. I set up an arrangement of the succulents, sized them, flipped them and changed the colour a number of times, and created a set of cards:

Here's a more detailed look at each card. I'm starting with the most clean and simple of the set - the green one:

Stamps: Uniko - Happy Succulents (Digi), All Occasion Sentiments #6, Originally Organic
Inks: Versafine - Onyx Black; Distress - Lucky Clover, Twisted Citron
Dies: Lil Inkers - Stitched Ovals #3
Accessories: White Lustre Card; SU Card - Emerald Envy; Spectrum Noir Sparkle - Clear; Brick Stencil (free with magazine)

I used a stitch edge die to cut out the image and then stamped a bold sentiment on the panel. I used a brick stencil to create a softly stencilled background and then adhered the panel. On the inside I cut a mat layer of dark green card and on the white panel added an image from Originally Organic. I'm submitting this card to Paper Players - PP#342 where they have a Tic-Tac-Toe grid and I used the centre line going down - green, die cut, leaf/leaves.

Next is the smallest card of the set. I switched up the colour of the image and used co-ordinating washi tape to decorate the card base:

Stamps: Uniko - Happy Succulents (Digi), Originally Organic, Originally Organic Additions
Inks: Versafine - Onyx Black; Stampin' Up! - Peekaboo Peach
Dies: Lil Inkers - Dual Dotted Circles #3
Accessories: White Lustre Card; SU Card - Peekaboo Peach; Washi Tapes; Enamal Dots

I attached the die cut panel with dimensional tape and added some large enamel dots to the front. On the inside I cut a mat of peach card and added a few flowers to the white panel. Lots of space for my message.

Next is another very quick and easy card:

Stamps: Uniko - Happy Succulents (Digi), Originally Organic
Inks: Versafine - Onyx Black; Stampin' Up! - Sweet Sugarplum
Dies: Lil Inkers - Dual Dotted Circles #4
Accessories: White Lustre Card; Kaisercraft DP - Be-YOU-tiful

I changed up the colours again and this time cut out the image with a larger circle and added the sentiment at the top. I found some lovely design paper in my stash that works really well with the image and covered the card with it. I used dimensional tape to attach the die cut panel and on the inside I cut another piece of design paper for the mat and added a white panel on which I stamped a flower.

The final card in the set is square. Again, it's relatively quick and easy to make:

Stamps: Uniko - Happy Succulents (Digi), Originally Organic, Originally Organic Additions
Inks: Versafine - Onyx Black
Dies: Lil Inkers - Dual Dotted Squares #4
Accessories: White Lustre Card; Stampin' Up! DP - Print Poetry; SU Vellum - Botanical Gardens

So this time I opted for a blue colour scheme and cut out the image with a square die. I found some pretty design paper in my stash and cut a panel of blue patterned paper for one side of the card. On the other side I added some patterned vellum - which you can just about see. I attached the finished die cut panel directly to the card. On the inside I used another piece of design paper for the mat layer and on the white panel stamped a tiny flower. I'm submitting this card to Time Out Challenges - TOC#82 where they want to see Flowers (with the option of the Kiss technique).

I had such fun with this set. Do visit the Uniko blog to see more inspiration projects from the rest of the team. Finally, a quick reminder of the release schedule:

Introductions: 3rd - 5th May

RELEASE DAY! Saturday 6th May, 9.00am BST. The stamps will be available to purchase from the Uniko Shop and there will be our usual DESIGN TEAM BLOG HOP AND GIVEAWAY!!

See you tomorrow for our final introduction! Bye for now.