Uniko - Christmas Pop & Most Wonderful ....

.... Hello again! Welcome to the first of our Introduction posts for the Uniko mini Christmas release. Today we are introducing you to two sets. This time I've been lucky enough to get the actual stamps in plenty of time to play with them - in fact you may already have seen some of these sets!! So first up is the fun Christmas Tree building stamp set. Here's my card:

Stamps: Uniko - Christmas Pop, Pure Florals Poinsettia
Inks: Stampin' Up! - Brocade Blue, Bashful Blue, Pretty in Pink, Regal Rose, Strawberry Slush; Versafine - Onyx Black
Accessories: White Lustre Card; SU Card - Pink Pirouette; Wink of Stella - Clear

I really like the clean, geometric look of this stamp and I had lots of fun playing with different inks. I used the colours from Merry Monday - MM#223 - pink, light blue and dark blue. As this is a nice clean, simple card I'm going to submit it to Paper Players - PP#322 too.  I stamped the tree many times. I used my MISTI to stamp as it makes it so easy to repeat stamp. The simple pink tree was inked twice with Pretty in Pink. For the ombre pink tree I used three shades of pink. I did a simple pale blue and dark blue tree - both stamped twice, and the ombre blue uses both shades of blue. I then stamped the outline tree around each image and cut them all out. It's hard to see in the photo above, but I added some sparkle to the white stripes on all the trees - so pretty in real-life! I adhered all the trees flat to the card for ease of posting. I finished the front with a simple Christmas greeting. On the inside I cut a mat layer of pink card and stamped another of the tree images - this one has words. I used a pale pink and the pale blue.

My next card showcases the sentiments from Most Wonderful - this is a fabulous mini-set that comes with two complete sentiments and words to make even more:

Stamps: Uniko - Christmas Pop, Most Wonderful
Inks: Stampin' Up! - Dapper Denim, Tempting Tuquoise; Versamark; Delicata - Golden Glitz
Accessories: White Lustre Card; SU Card - Dapper Denim; Gold Tinsel Embossing Powder

On this card I used a technique that I learnt from Jennifer McGuire to create a sentiment background. I love the font in this set. Once again I used my MISTI to create the card. I started by inking the tree and first sentiment in Versamark and heat embossing with gold tinsel embossing powder. Then I masked the tree and stamped the sentiment repeatedly in two shades of blue. I cut a mat layer of dark blue card, adhered the panel and then attached the lot to the front of my card. On the inside I cut another mat layer of dark blue card and on the white panel I used one of the complete sentiments, added a tiny tree and some stars in gold. I used the colours from a recent Cupcake Inspirations - CIC#384 which I missed! This card could easily be made in lots of different colourways.

Here's a quick reminder of the release schedule:

INTRODUCING: 25th and 26th November - the DT will give you a closer look at the new sets being released with a daily blog hop.

RELEASE DAY: Sunday 27th November 9.00am GMT - you get to see the products in their entirety and purchase them from the Uniko website. As usual there is a Design Team Blog Hop and a Giveaway.

As this is the last release of 2016 - Bev is giving away some random prizes throughout the release countdown. To be in with a chance of winning a random prize, be sure to join in commenting along the Introducing Hops and joining in via social media such as Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and Pinterest. Winners of the random prizes will be announced on Bev's blog on Sunday 27th November at 8.00am GMT.

That's all for now - don't forget to come back tomorrow and see our next introduction! Bye for now.

Uniko - Christmas reminder ....

... Good morning! I'm here with my reminder card for this month's Uniko challenge - USC#38R. Our theme this month, not surprisingly, is CHRISTMAS. After our lovely Thanksgiving brunch yesterday, I spent the rest of the afternoon in my craft room making Christmas cards - more to follow in the next few days. However, here's my reminder card for this month's challenge:

Stamps: Uniko - Rustic Christmas, Christmas Sparkle, Most Wonderful, Simply Said Christmas, Christmas Pop; Waltzingmouse - Woodgrain
Inks: Versamark; Stampin' Up! - Early Espresso, Cucumber Crush; Distress - Tumbled Glass
Dies: Lil Inkers - Stitched Rectangles
Accessories: White Lustre Card; SU Card - Chocolate Chip; Tim Holtz Watercolour Card; White & Silver Embossing Powder; Zig Brushes; Wink of Stella - Clear

My inspiration for this card came from the lovely photo over at Jingle Belles - JB:16:24. I took inspiration from the turquoise baubles, the word Noel and the lovely tree. I cut a panel of brown card and stamped it with a wood grain finished and adhered it to the card. On some watercolour card I used Versamark to stamp a tree, the lovely ornament and greeting. I added some colour with my Zig brushes. I covered the tree and ornaments with some sparkle from a clear Wink of Stella brush. On the inside I cut another mat layer of brown card and on the white panel I added a simple greeting and another Christmas tree.

There's still plenty of time to join in with this month's challenge and we have prizes too - details here:

THE PRIZES

• The DT will choose a winner who will get a £15 gift voucher and opportunity to Guest Design.
• The DT choose a Top 3 who will each get 100 Loyalty Rewards Points added to their Uniko customer account.
• We will do a random draw for all those who use A UNIKO stamp. This winner will get 200 Loyalty Reward Points added to their Uniko customer account.

You've got plenty of time to play along with this month's challenge. The deadline for submission is midnight (GMT) on Friday 16th December (7.00pm EDT).

Do come back again soon for my introduction post for Christmas Pop and Most Wonderful. To be fair - you've already had several previews - but there's lots more to come. See you soon.

Happy Thanksgiving ....

... to all my American friends. Even though we've been in the States for 4 years, we still can't quite get used to this holiday! However, it is a huge event and I want to wish all my American crafting buddies the very Happiest of Holidays!

I also want to share with you a card that I made for Kat's voice teacher - Dorothy. Kat gave the card to Dorothy last Sunday at the music recital, so I'm safe to share it now:

Stamps: MFT - Lots of Dots; Uniko - Rustic Christmas; Stampin' Up! - Water Colour Wishes
Inks: SU - Pumpkin Pie. Chocolate Chip
Accessories: White Lustre Card; SU Card - Old Olive, Hello Honey; Photoplay - Falling Leaves; Wink of Stella - Clear

This is another card made from the sheet of 12" x 12" design paper. I think this is such a fun image of a turkey - he looks sort of bemused!!! I used the sketch from Your Next Stamp - YNS#52 and the colours are from Colour Q Challenge - cQc#368.  I cut a panel of yellow card and stamped these fun dots in orange. There was a scrap of green card on my desk so I used that for the greeting. I used dimensional tape to add the image. I also added a touch of sparkle with a clear Wink of Stella brush to the words and the turkey's feathers. On the inside I kept it very simple with a mat layer of yellow card and a greeting on the white panel.

That's all for today. We are going to have a quiet morning watching the Thanksgiving Day Parade from Detroit on TV and then later we're going out for lunch.

Happy Thanksgiving!!!

Uniko - Sneak Peek 2 ...

... Hello! I'm back again this morning with another sneak peek from the November release at Uniko.

This is a lovely set that you will find works perfectly with Rustic Christmas and many other Uniko sets. Here's a quick summary of the release schedule:

SNEAK PEEKS: 23rd and 24th November - just a few teasers for you!

INTRODUCING: 25th and 26th November - the DT will give you a closer look at the new sets being released with a daily blog hop.

RELEASE DAY: Sunday 27th November 9.00am GMT - you get to see the products in their entirety and purchase them from the Uniko website. As usual there is a Design Team Blog Hop and a Giveaway.

As this is the last release of 2016 - Bev is giving away some random prizes throughout the release countdown. To be in with a chance of winning a random prize, be sure to join in commenting along the Introducing Hops and joining in via social media such as Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and Pinterest. Winners of the random prizes will be announced on Bev's blog on Sunday 27th November at 8.00am GMT.

TMR - Theme ....

.... Hello again - I hope you like the sneak peek from Uniko's November release - more of that tomorrow! I'm here now with my cards for our new challenge at The Male Room - TMR#49. Our theme for the next couple of weeks is ???SCAPES! By that we mean cityscapes, seascapes, landscapes - you pick! But your project must have a masculine feel. I ended up making two cards for the challenge. Here's the first:

Stamps: Stampin' Up! - Travel Sketchbook, Beautiful Ride
Inks: Versafine - Onyx Black; Memento - London Fog
Dies: Lil Inkers - Stitched Rectangles
Accessories: White Lustre Card; SU Card - Basic Grey; Tim Holtz Water Colour Card; Clear Embossing Powder; Zig Brushes

I stamped this lovely sketch scene of Venice on watercolour card, heat embossed it with clear powder and added some colour with Zig paint brushes. I finished the front with a simple sentiment and attached the panel to a grey card. On the inside I cut a white panel and simply stamped the scene again in pale grey. I think this card has a lovely vintage feel and, as it's still quite CAS, I'm submitting it to this week's challenge at Less is More - LIM#303 where the team want Vintage CAS.

I made another card featuring a cityscape - it's one of my favourite cities - New York:

Stamps: Stampers Anonymous Tim Holtz - Cityscapes; SU - Beautiful Ride
Inks: Kaleidacolor - Vineyard; Versamark; Memento - London Fog
Accessories: White Lustre Card; SU - Elegant Eggplant; White Embossing Powder

This one is ultra clean and simple. I stamped the image of New York city using a Kaleidacolor pad - love these colours for a guy card. I cut a strip of purple card on which I stamped a simple sentiment and heat embossed it with white powder. On the inside I cut a mat layer of purple card and on the white panel I added another cityscape - this time my favourite city - London, along with a greeting.

For more inspiration with out theme - do visit our blog to see more from the rest of the Design Team. That's all for now. Drop by tomorrow to see another sneak peek from Uniko!

Uniko - Sneak Peek 1 ...

... Morning! So glad you've dropped by. I'm here this morning with a quick sneak peek of some new stamps sets being released by Uniko on Sunday 27th November.

The eagle-eyed among you might recognise one of those stamps from my recent Christmas card post - here! This is a fun set Christmas tree building set and you'll see more of them soon.

Next up is another very useful set of stamps:

Again - you'll recognise some of those sentiments. This is a mini set from which you can build sentiments and there are a couple ready made too! I hope you find them interesting - here's the release schedule:

SNEAK PEEKS: 23rd and 24th November - just a few teasers for you!

INTRODUCING: 25th and 26th November - the DT will give you a closer look at the new sets being released with a daily blog hop.

RELEASE DAY: Sunday 27th November 9.00am GMT - you get to see the products in their entirety and purchase them from the Uniko website. As usual there is a Design Team Blog Hop and a Giveaway.

As this is the last release of 2016 - Bev is giving away some random prizes throughout the release countdown. To be in with a chance of winning a random prize, be sure to join in commenting along the Introducing Hops and joining in via social media such as Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and Pinterest. Winners of the random prizes will be announced on Bev's blog on Sunday 27th November at 8.00am GMT.

Christmas tree ...

.... This has to be one of the quickest cards I've made recently. It started life as part of a 12" x 12" scrapbook page. While at Stampeddler last Saturday I got a few large sheets - not what I usually do, but they are just lovely. Here's my card:

Stamps: Waltzingmouse - Compliments of the Season II
Inks: Stampin' Up! - Real Red, Emerald Envy; Memento - Tuxedo Black
Accessories: White Lustre Card; Copics; Wink of Stella - Clear; Gold Marker; SU Card - Pool Party

I simply cut out the section of design paper to fit my card. I edged it with a gold marker and attached it to the card. I added some sparkle using a clear Wink of Stella and I also added some actual glitter for the snow on the branches of the tree. On the inside I cut a mat layer of pale aqua card and on the white panel stamped some holly and a greeting. I'm submitting this one to Christmas Card Challenges - CCC#49 - I'm not playing along with the optional colours, just making a much needed Christmas card. I'm also submitting to Winter Wonderland Challenge Blog - WWCB where the team want to see poinsettia or falling snow. I think this might pass - it has snow on the branches.

Oh yes, it more than meets the requirements of our current challenge at 52 Christmas Card Throwdown - 52CCT46-16 where we want to see Old Fashioned Christmas. That's all for now!!

Old Fashioned Christmas ....

.... Hello again, good afternoon! Over at 52 Christmas Card Throwdown - 52CCT46-16 we have a theme challenge for you - OLD FASHIONED CHRISTMAS. Now you can interpret that in many ways - vintage Christmas, retro Christmas - just have fun! I was at a card class last Saturday in Northville where we used some fun and funky retro Christmas papers. So here are a few more cards that I've made:

Stamps: Uniko - Stunning Snowflakes, Most Wonderful
Inks: Stampin' Up! - Mint Macaroon, Tempting Turquoise, Real Red, Pool Party, Crumb Cake
Accessories: White and Cream Lustre Card; Carta Bella DP Snow Fun - 12" x 12" papers & 6" x 6" pad; Glitter; Sentiment sticker; Thread

The top card is the largest of the three at 5" x 7" and the other two are 4¼" x 5½". The largest card uses lots of layers and some super die cut trees. The two smaller cards were really quick and easy, simply some of the design paper with embellishments. I did add lots of glitter to the finished cards. On the inside I cut mat layers in coloured card and added some sentiments.

That really is all from me today - I've got so much to do in the house!! But I've got a few posts scheduled, so do drop by! See you!

Thankful ....

.... Morning! I hope you all had an enjoyable weekend. Ours was lots of fun. We saw Kat perform in her first public recital. She was so nervous, but she sang beautifully. Yes, I know that I'm somewhat biased, but it was good. In fact, all the singers were excellent. I think Kat is going to do it again!!!

It's Thanksgiving this week, and Kat will finish school mid-morning on Wednesday and be off until the following Monday. It's the only break she gets between starting in September and stopping for Christmas. She's very much looking forward to the break. I've a Thanksgiving card to share with you today:

Stamps: Stampin' Up! - Day of Gratitude
Inks: Kaleidacolor - Creole Spice; SU - Chocolate Chip
Dies: Die-namics - Zig Zag Stitched Rectangles Stax #4 and #5
Accessories: White Lustre Card; SU - Hello Honey, Photoplay 12 x 12 - Falling Leaves; Wink of Stella - Clear

I used the colours from this week's Colour Q Challenge - cQc#368. Over at CAS-ual Fridays Challenge - CFC#161 they have the theme of Being Thankful.

I bought a really lovely sheet of 12" x 12" design paper on Saturday with lots of large panels that are just the right size for making cards (or using in Project Life scrapbooks). I cut out all the panels and picked this one for the focus. I stamped the background using a Kaleidacolor pad - just lvoe the ombre effect with the inks. I layered the panel on some warm yellow card and adhered it to the card. I stamped some leaves, cut them out and attached them with gel. I finished by adding a touch of sparkle to the words. On the inside I cut another mat of yellow card and added a simple greeting on the white panel.

That's all for now - see you soon!