Uniko - 6th Birthday Treasure Hunt ...

.... Good morning! It's Uniko's 6th birthday today and we're having a treasure hunt to celebrate. I've been a Uniko fan since I first found Bev's wonderful stamps in 2012, and I think my first order included Decorative Doilies The Hands of Time (still available). It was then, and still is one of my favourite stamp sets. I was lucky enough to join Bev's Design Team in December 2014 and I always look forward to the new stamps and now new stencils too! Since Bev started the company in 2012, Uniko has released 104 (not including 2018 sets) clear stamp sets.

We hope that you will not only be inspired by the projects you find along the Treasure Hunt, but also take part by finding the NAME of a clear stamp set from each of the six years Uniko has been going, from 2012 - 2017.  Each person along the hop has created a project using a clear stamp set from the year they were allocated. They will also mention the year that the clear stamp set was released somewhere in the blog post.

There are 11 of us in the Design Team, and one of our number has made two projects - so 12 projects in all. There are 2 stamp sets from each year to be found - should be a piece of cake!!! More about how to enter can be found at the end of this post.

I was given the set Beautiful Blooms I, released in June 2013, and I've made several cards. Here's the first one:

Stamps: Uniko - Beautiful Blooms I, Simply Said Blocks, Fontiments Birthday
Inks: Gina K - Red Velvet, Dusty Rose; Versafine - Onyx Black; Distress - Black Soot
Accessories: White Lustre Card; Gina K Card - Red Velvet; Uniko Stencil - Broken Lines; Little Things Gems - Iridescent Clear; Clear Embossing Powder; Shimmer Spritz - Frost

I've used the colours from Colour Throwdown - CTD#479 and the sketch from Fusion - FUSION#91 in the design of this card. I started by covering the card base with the stencil and lightly brushing on black ink for a soft grey look. I stamped the large and small flowers and cut them out with my Scan'N'Cut. I attached the large red flower flat to the card and used dimensional tape to add the two pinks flowers. I stamped the sentiment in black, heat embossed with clear powder, cut it out and added it to the card with dimensional pads. To finish the front I added some shimmer spritz all over the card and some tiny gems. On the inside, I cut a mat layer of red card. On the white panel, I stamped the large flower in the centre and then added a greeting on top in black.

I was having such fun with Beautiful Blooms I that I made some more cards. Here's the second:

Stamps: Uniko - Beautiful Blooms I, Background Block Horizontal Stripes, A Gift for You
Inks: Versafine - Onyx Black; Delicata - Golden Glitz; Versamark
Dies: Die-namics - Zig-Zag Stitched Rectangles #2, Stitched Sentiment Strips
Accessories: White Lustre Card; Gold Glitter Card; SU Card - Basic Black; Clear and Gold Embossing Powder; Vellum

For this card, I've used the colours from the inspiration photo at TIME Out Challenge - TOC#102 and used the sketch from My Favourite Things Wednesday Sketch Challenge - MFTWSC#371 for the layout. I cut a piece of gold glitter card slightly smaller than the card base and adhered it to the card. I die cut four panels from white card and used my MISTI to stamp the stripes. Using the MISTI meant that I was able to position the card in exactly the same place each time. I heat embossed all the stripes with clear powder. I adhered the panels using collage medium. I stamped the large Beautiful Bloom in gold ink - using my MISTI meant that I was able to repeatedly stamp the image to build the colour and shimmer. I cut it out and attached it to the card using dimensional tape. I cut a sentiment strip from vellum using a die, stamped the sentiment and heat embossed it with clear powder. I stamped two small sequins in Versamark and heat embossed them with gold powder. On the inside, I cut a mat layer of black card and on the white panel stamped the large bloom in gold and added a sentiment.

And here are the final two cards I made:

Stamps: Uniko - Beautiful Blooms I, Essentially Christmas, Marvellous Mehndi, Flower Power #6, Bright Butterflies
Inks: Gina K - Innocent Pink, Passionate Pink, Jelly Bean Green; Versafine - Onyx Black; Versamark
Accessories: White Lustre Card; SU Card - Basic Grey, Smoky Slate; White Embossing Powder; Vellum

I used the sketch from Freshly Made Sketches - FMS#323 for the layout and the colours are from CAS Colours & Sketches - CASC&S#258 (although it might not be CAS enough)! Originally I was going to use some of my vast stash of design paper for these cards, but I decided to make my own paper using the smaller bloom from Beautiful Blooms I. I cut two pieces of white card exactly the same size and used my MISTI to do the stamping. I think for this, it is essential to have some sort of positioning tool. I started by positioning the flower at the top right of the card and stamping it in pale pink. I removed that piece of card, put in the other piece and stamped the same flower in dark pink. Next, I positioned the leaf and stamped it next to the dark pink flower. I removed the card, replaced the other piece and stamped the leaf again next to the pale pink flower. I carried on like this until I covered both pieces of card. I used some smaller stamps to fill in some of the white space. Next, I cut both pieces of card in half and then again across. Then I created two panels with alternating pieces. I layered the finished panels on grey card - one dark and one light. I attached the panel to a white card and finished the front by adding sentiment strips. On the inside I cut mat layers in grey to match the front of the card and added some flowers to the white panels:

In order to enter the Treasure Hunt, you need to visit all the Design Team blogs and find the name of stamps sets released in each of the years 2012 to 2017. Here's the blog hop list:

Bev
Carol 

Deborah 
Izzy 

Jane 
Julie
Linda

Lindsey

Rahmat
Sarah G

Sarah P
Wiebke 

Jot down your answers in an email, for example:

2012 Pure Florals Poinsettia/Pure Florals Gerbera
2013 Background Builders Round in Circles
2014 Explosion!
2105 Balloon Bash
2016 Originally Organic
2017 Reach For The Stars

Then email your answers to bev@uniko.co.uk by 9.00am GMT, Sunday 18th February 2018 (that's 4.00am EDT). All the correct answers will be entered into a prize draw and there are super prizes!!

The Prizes

Bev will randomly select THREE winners from all the correct entries that name six clear stamp sets from each year (2012-2017), to receive an in stock clear stamp set of their choice.

For all those who correctly name all 12 clear stamp sets from each of the 6 years and emails them to Bev, she will randomly pick ONE lucky winner to receive a £60 eGift Certificate to spend in the Uniko store!

Thank you so much for stopping by to see my projects. Happy Hunting!!

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 - DT Inspiration - Those Small Stamps ....

.... Hi! I'm here this morning with a close up of a couple of cards that I've made for my DT Inspiration spot over at Uniko. I used the stamp and ink layers technique that Jennifer McGuire shared with us earlier this week. Details of how I put the cards together can be found on the Uniko blog.

I'm submitting the set of four Christmas cards to Love to Craft Challenge Blog - LTCCB #19 where the theme is Anything Goes.

Stamps: Uniko - Background Blocks Falling Snowflakes, Simply Said Christmas, Rustic Christmas, Winter Foliage, Background Builders Vines Winter Additions, Jingle Bells
Inks: Distress - Tumbled Glass, Broken China, Mermaid Lagoon, Shabby Shutters, Twisted Citron, Crushed Olive, Milled Lavender, Wilted Violet, Dusty Concord, Spun Sugar, Worn Lipstick, Picked Raspberry; Hero Arts - Unicorn Pigment; Versafine - Onyx Black
Dies: Concord & 9th - Trim the Tree
Accessories: White Lustre Card; Little Things - Clear Gems

I haven't done the insides yet, but I'll add photos in due course.

I made a couple of 'love' theme cards too. There are lots of challenges about at the moment that have love as the theme. My first card has a gorgeous green heart for my sweetie:

Stamps: Uniko - Large Background Scattered Polka Hearts, Balloon Bash, Marvellous Mehndi, Pure Florals Rose
Inks: Distress - Cracked Pistachio, Evergreen Bough, Lucky Clover; Hero Arts - Unicorn Pigment; Versafine - Onyx Black
Dies: Concord & 9th - Heartstrings
Accessories: White Lustre Card; We R Memory Keepers Next Level EF - Gemstone; Clear Embossing Powder

I kept the card simple, just made an embossed background panel and added the heart on top. I stamped the sentiment on white card and tied the words together with a hand-drawn heart, embossed it with clear powder and used my Scan'N'Cut to cut out the phrase. Love that machine!!! I'm submitting this card to the following challenges:

• Just Us Girls - JUGS#426
• Happy Little Stampers CAS challenge - HLSCAS#02
• AAA Cards - AAA#108

Finally, I have another heart card, this is a little more Valentine in feel as it's pink, red and has lots and lots of hearts!

Stamps: Uniko - Large Background Scattered Polka Hearts, Balloon Bash, Strike a Pose, I Love Tea, Big & Bold Hugs
Inks: Distress - Spun Sugar, Picked Raspberry, Festive Berries; Hero Arts - Unicorn Pigment; Versafine - Onyx Black
Dies: Concord & 9th - Heartstrings
Accessories: White Lustre Card; We R Memory Keepers Next Level EF - Gemstone; Clear Embossing Powder

Again, kept it simple to allow the heart to shine, along with the large hugs sentiment. I'm submitting this one card to the following challenges:

• Creative with Stamps - CWS#23
• Sunday Stamps Challenge - SSC#171
• CAS-ual Fridays Challenge - CFC#192

That's all for now. Thanks so much for stopping by - see you again soon.

Uniko Challenge Reminder .....

.... Morning! Wow, it's February already and it's also time for a reminder about our challenge over at Uniko - USC#45. We have a fun theme of SOMETHING OLD, SOMETHING NEW and there's the option of adding LOVE as the theme. I skipped that last time, but today's card has a love theme:

Stamps: Uniko - Marvellous Mehndi, Pure Floral Rose
Inks: Versafine - Onyx Black; Gina K - Black Onyx
Accessories: White Lustre Card; SU Card - Bermuda Bay; Copics; Clear Embossing Powder; Gems

I've used the gorgeous Mandela from Marvellous Mehndi for the main image on my card - it's such a lovely image to colour! I stamped it on white card, coloured it with Copics, stamped with Versafine, embossed with clear powder, and then cut it out with my new Scan'n'Cut machine (more of that later). I used the sketch and colours from this week's CAS Colours & Sketches challenge - CASC&S#257, and as I've attached the images to this card I'm also submitting it to Inkspirational - INK#153 where the keyword is Attachment. I cut a panel of aqua card, stamped on the greeting, and adhered it flat to the card. I attached the large image flat to the card and used dimensional tape to attach the little flower. I finished the front by adding some small black gems to the centre of each image. On the inside, I cut a mat layer of aqua card and on the white panel finished the greeting and added a couple of little images from the stamp set.

For more inspiring projects from the Design Team, and from our guest designer, Anita, do visit the Uniko blog. There's still plenty of time to join in the fun - deadline for submission is midnight (GMT) Friday 23rd February, that's 7.00pm EDT. We have prizes too:

• Main winner, chosen by the Design Team - £25 eGift Certificate
• Random twist winner - £4 in stock clear stamp set of winner's choosing
• Random Uniko stamps winner - £4 in stock clear stamp set of winner's choosing
• Top 3 chose by the Design Team - 150 Loyalty Reward Points

My mum got me a Scan'n'Cut for Christmas. I opened up the box earlier this week and had a quick play. I cut out the following images:

All the images above are Uniko designs; some are digital and some are stamped. The rose, the large Mandela, the paisley images, and the time doily are all stamped and embossed. The smaller Mandela, the heart, hugs, and the snowflake are digital images that Bev sent me. As you can see the Scan'n'Cut works brilliantly. I did have a small mishap with the snowflake as the grey lines on the digital were so pale that it looked one of the flowers was separate - it should work perfectly when I stamp the image. I'm thrilled with the machine and will be doing lots of stamping this weekend!!

That's all for now - I'm looking forward to checking out your creations - have fun!!