Season's Greetings ....

... Hello from a very, very snowy Northville. We're all home today. The school district called a snow day last night, so Kat has spent the day just chillin! Jonathan's office also called a snow day, but he's had to work from home. The main thing is we're all safe and warm in the house. I've spent a large part of today in my craft room, but you'll have to wait until Sunday to see most of the cards!! But I do have a simple Christmas card to share with you this afternoon:

Stamps: Uniko - Winter Foliage, Big & Bold Wish, Rustic Wreath, Essentially Christmas, Simply Said Christmas
Inks: Gina K - Christmas Pine, Red Velvet; Versafine - Onyx Black; Delicata - Golden Glitz; SU - Emerald Envy
Dies: Die-namics - Pierced Oval Frames #2
Accessories: White Lustre Card; SU Card - Emerald Envy; Gold Canvas Finish Mirri Card; Copics; Shimmer Pen

I got the idea for this card from the inspiration photo over at Merry Monday - MM#276. The colours are from Your Next Stamp - YNS#82 and I'm also playing along with Addicted to Stamps and More! - ATSM#278 where they want to see Holiday cards.

I die cut an oval of white card and placed it into my MISTI. I stamped the holly leaves and berries, covered them with masks and then stamped the candles. I added some pine branches at the top of the image, added berries and lots of stars. I finished by colouring the candles in two shade of pink and added sparkle with my Wink of Stella brush. I adhered the finished panel behind the gold frame and attached the whole lot to the front of the card. I finished with a simple Christmas greeting. On the inside, I cut a mat layer of green card and on the white panel I stamped a greeting and added some branches and berries.

It's been snowing since about 3.00am this morning and we've got about 6 inches of snow on the ground. As it's not expected to stop until about 8.00pm this evening, we're likely to end up with about 8 inches on the ground. This is one of the times that I'm very, very grateful to have a company come round and clear the snow. However, I'm not expecting them until tomorrow!

I took a few photos of all the snow around the house:

This is a view from the back bedroom across the swimming pool - although you would never know it! The winter wonderland beyond the fence is Northville Commons, the park area behind our house. I have played a bit with this photo to bring out all the texture.

This is a view looking down onto our patio - I always leave the furniture out. I'll have to get new cushions in the spring - but you can see the piles of snow on the table, chairs, and sunbeds!!

This is the postbox over the road - I've played a bit so that you can see the snow falling and the texture of the tyre marks on the road. That's all for now. Do stop by on Sunday for a special celebration. 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.

52CCT - Stash .....

.... Morning! It's been a while since my blog was so busy!! We come to the last Saturday on November and that means it's time for our new challenge at 52 Christmas Card Throwdown - 52CCT47-16. Gill has been our host this month, and she has picked a Stash challenge for us. She wants to see GLITTER on your Christmas cards. I had so much fun with this one:

Stamps: Uniko - Background Builders Christmas, Pure Florals Poinsettia, Winter Foliage
Inks: Kaleidacolor - Fresh Greens; Stampin' Up! - Real Red
Dies: Winnie & Walter Cutaway - Joy
Accessories: White Lustre Card; Red Glitter Paper; Stick It; SU DP - Real Red; Wink of Stella - Clear

This is a really clean and simple card and I know that CAS is normally lots of crisp, clean white space, but here it's lots of sparkly red space!! I cut a panel of red glitter paper slightly smaller than the card and placed it on some Stick It adhesive. I like the glitter paper as the glitter doesn't come off! I placed the large word JOY die cut towards the bottom right of the card. I removed the word and attached the panel to the card and put the centre of the "o" back in place. I added a spring of holly and some berries to the top left corner. I stamped them on plain white card, cut them out and added sparkle with a clear Wink of Stella brush. On the inside I cut a mat layer of red design paper and on the white panel I stamped a line of holly and berries and a clean, crisp greeting.

I got the inspiration for this card from the graphic photo at Fusion Card Challenge - FUSION#62 - the die cut word is simple white, as in the picture. I'm also playing along with TIME OUT challenge - TOC#71 where the theme is CHRISTMAS with the optional twist of GLITTER - oh yes, there's glitter!!

As you've probably realised, removing the die cut word from the red glitter panel above meant that I was able to make another card:

Stamps: Uniko - Winter Foliage, Simply Said Christmas
Inks: SU - Always Artichoke, Cherry Cobbler, Tip Top Taupe, Chocolate Chip
Dies: Winnie & Walter Cutaways - Joy
Accessories: White Lustre Card; SU Card - Always Artichoke; Kaisercraft 12" x 12" DP - Silent Night; Gold Pen; Red Glitter Paper

This is one of the design papers that I got for last week's Old Fashioned Christmas challenge. The card was so quick and easy to make. I ran a gold pen around the edge of the paper panel and adhered it to the card. Then I attached the JOY die cut word. Simples!! On the inside I cut a mat layer of dark green card and on the white panel stamped a pine branch and cone along with a crisp greeting.

The challenge at Simon Says Wednesday Challenge - SSWC is to use a die cut on your card, so I'm submitting this card. And I'm also playing along with Addicted to Stamps and More! - ATSM#221 where it is the ANYTHING GOES week.

Do visit our blog to see more sparkling inspiration from the rest of the Design Team. You've got plenty of time to join us - deadline for submission is midnight (GMT) Friday 2nd December (that's 7.00pm EST).

Do come back later this morning when I'll be introducing another of the new Uniko release - Rustic Wreath. See you later!

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.