Uniko - Sneak Peeks 1 .....

.... Morning! I'm here today to share a few sneak peeks from the upcoming Uniko release. May is a very busy month for Bev - not only is there a new release, but it's Bev's birthday in May and Uniko will be at the Happy Stampers Festival too! So lots going on! But first, let's have a look at the sneak peeks!

If you like Simply Said Blocks, you're going to love this new addition to the range:

Next up is a new stencil - I love that the stencils coordinate with Bev's existing stamps, you might recognise the set too. If you know the name of the matching stamp set - visit Bev's blog and leave a comment - there's a prize!

Here's a look at a lovely new stamp set - I can see this one beeing very popular:

The last sneak peek today is of another new stencil, this will be fun:

Now that you've had a quick look at some of the new products, I thought I'd give you details of the Release schedule:

Sneak Peeks: 1st - 4th May - a quick look at what's to come!

Introductions: 5th - 11th May - a daily blog hop with the Design Team to have a closer look at the new products in action.

RELEASE DAY: Saturday 12th May, 9.00am BST (4.00am EDT). You'll be able to see the whole release and purchase them at the Uniko Website. And we'll have our traditional Design Team Blog Hop & Giveaway!

More details about the prizes can be found on Bev's blog.

That's all for now - don't forget to come back tomorrow to see more sneak peeks!

TMR - Anything but a card ....

...... Hi! I've done it again, it's been ages since I posted here. But I've a good excuse - I've been away at a crafting retreat (more of that in the new week or so), and since being back I've been busy with the school's drama production. I'm here today with my project for our new challenge at The Male Room - TMR#84 - Anything apart from a Card. I do have to own up to the fact that this is an old project that I made towards the end of 2017, but I just haven't had time to make anything new. However, it is in use every day:

Stamps: Visible Image - Somewhere in Time, Ahead of our Time, Rays of Light
Inks: Stampin' Up! - Smoky Slate, Emerald Envy
Accessories: White Lustre Card; Vippies Designs - Large Self Adhesive Calendar Pad

You can find full details of how I made the calendar here. This one is in our dining room. I also have a calendar in my craft room and on my office desk.

That's all from me for today as I'm still trying to get back to my normal routine. For more inspirational projects - none of them a card - check out The Male Room blog to see what the rest of the team have created. You have until midnight (BST) on Tuesday 8th May to play along - that's 7.00pm EDT in the States. Have fun!!

TMR - Theme ......

.... Hi! I'm sorry, I thought I was going to get back on track with regular posts, but then Easter arrived and spring break. So we went away for a week and had a super fun time with pretty much no Internet! Anyway, I'm back today with my card for our new challenge at The Male Room - TMR#83. For the next couple of weeks, we want your masculine projects to feature SYMMETRY! I'm sure that word brings back memories of finding lines of symmetry in shapes during maths lessons - it did for me!! So that's what I played with - shapes and lines! I actually made a set of four cards, but only finished one:

Stamps: Paper Smooches - Hip to be Square
Inks: Versafine - Onyx Black
Dies: Winnie & Walter Cutaways - Hugs
Accessories: White Lustre Card; SU Card - Basic Black, Tranquil Tide; Copic Markers; Wink of Stella - Clear

I really like this stamp from Paper Smooches (now discontinued) as it makes super simple cards. You can leave the squares plain or colour them in a pattern, which is what I did. I used two shades of purple and created a symmetrical pattern. If you ignore the sentiment, you can fold the printed image vertically or horizontally and it will be symmetrical. I layered the finished panel on some green card and adhered it to the front of a white card. I finished this card by adding a simple greeting - I die cut it several times, in green, white, and black and layered them. I offset the white and black die cuts to create a shadow effect. I also added a touch of sparkle to the green word - just because it's a card for a guy, doesn't mean you can't have sparkle!!! On the inside, I cut a mat layer of dark green card and attached a white panel but have left it blank for my own message. I'm submitting this card to The Paper Players - PP#388.

I mentioned earlier that I made four cards - here are the other three:

I had fun colouring in the squares and creating different patterns. These cards have all gone into my stash and I'll add greetings as I need them. Don't forget to visit our blog to see more cards from the rest of the Design Team and also from our guest designer Majda. You've got plenty of time to play along with the challenge, submission deadline is midnight (BST) on Tuesday 24th April (that's 7.00pm EDT in the States). See you soon.

TMR - Technique ....

.... Morning! We've had the most spring-like weather for the past week or so - we've had blue skies and sunshine, but somehow the temperature still feels like winter!! And then yesterday the temperatures went up, but the rain came too! Anyhow, enough of that, it's time for our new challenge at The Male Room - TMR#82. We want to see you use watercolours on your masculine projects. I had lots of fun and got really inky!! Here's my card:

Stamps: Visible Image - Fibonacci, Son Definition, Father Definition; MFT - Because You; Lawn Fawn - Happy, Happy, Happy
Inks: Versafine - Onyx Black; Gina K - Powder Blue, Jelly Bean Green, Wild Lilac
Accessories: White Lustre Card; SU Card - Basic Black; Brusho Crystals - Lime Green, Cobalt Blue, Violet, Leaf Green; Clear Embossing Powder; Shimmer Spritz - Frost; Tim Holtz Watercolour Card; Copics

I cut a panel of watercolour card to fit my card, sprinkled on some Brusho crystals and spritzed with water. I love the way these crystals bloom into colour and move with the water. I dried the panel carefully and then stamped this wonderful Fibonacci image in Versafine and heat embossed it with clear powder. I added a touch of sparkle to the whole panel by spritzing on frost shimmer spritz. I attached the panel to a black mat layer and then added it to the front of the card. I stamped a selection of words from several different sets, embossed them with clear powder and cut them down to get the words I wanted. I attached the words to the front of the panel. On the inside I cut a mat layer of black card and on the white panel stamped the Fibonacci image again, using several shades to echo the watercolour panel. I finished by stamping a greeting. This card is for my wonderful husband on our anniversary next month - it'll be 17 years!!!

I took another photo of the front of the card to show all the wonderful sparkle:

I'm submitting this card to Love to Craft Challenge Blog - LTCCB#20 where it's Anything Goes.

Before I go, I'd like to say goodbye and best wishes for the future to Cathy who, sadly, is leaving the DT. And, at the same time, I'd like to welcome Lynn (aka Linby) to the team - so glad to have you join us. Don't forget to visit The Male Room and see lots more inspiration projects from the rest of the Design Team. You've got plenty of time to join in the fun - deadline for submission is midnight (BST) Tuesday 10th April, that's 7.00pm EDT in the States.

That's all from me for now - see you soon.

Uniko - Blog Hop and Revisit ...

... Hello! Thanks so much for stopping by. It's time for our Uniko Blog Hop & Revisit. On months when there is no new release, we revisit a previously released stamp set. This month Bev has picked Fun Flowers and the newly released Fun Flowers Stencil. I had fun with both the stamp set and the stencil and ended up making two cards. Here's the first:

Stamps: Uniko - Birthday Sentiments, Fun Flowers
Inks: Gina K - Lovely Lavender, Wild Lilac; Versafine - Onyx Black; Versamark
Dies: Spellbinders - Classic Scallop Border (E8-001)
Accessories: White Lustre Card; SU Card - Elegant Eggplant; Vellum; Clear Embossing Powder; Cosmic Shimmer EP: Mallow Flame Aurora, Pink Violet Blaze, Tropic Violet Lustre, Tropic Bilberry Blaze

I started by taping the stencil to white card and tapping a Versmark pad all over the panel. I removed the stencil and added several different embossing powders and heat set the powders. You can't see it in the photo, but the embossed images have a lovely lustre to them. I cut a strip of shimmer vellum on which I stamped and embossed the sentiment. I used some Spellbinder dies to cut the scallop border. I attached the sentiment strip and then layered the panel on dark purple card and adhered it to the card base. On the inside, I cut a mat layer of dark purple card and added a simple birthday greeting and some more fun flowers in lilac. I'm submitting this card to The Flower Challenge - TFC#18 where it's Anything Goes.

My second card is smaller, being a 4-bar card:

Stamps: Uniko - Fun Flowers, Simply Said
Inks: Gina K - Blue Lagoon, Jelly Bean Green; Versafine - Onyx Black; Distress - Spun Sugar, Festive Berries
Accessories: White Lustre Card; Copic Markers; Dylusions Paint Pen; Uniko Stencil - Fun Flowers; Nuvo - Aqua Shimmer Brush; Gem

I put the stencil on the card and lightly brushed on some pale pink and red inks, concentrating the colour towards the bottom right. I stamped a flower and some leaves, cut them out with my Scan'N'Cut and added colour with Copic markers and a red Dylusion paint pen. I covered them all with a light layer of clear shimmer. I added the flower and leaves with dimensional dots. I finished the card by added a sentiment and a little gem to the centre of the flower. I was going to submit this to Less is More as they want us to use stencils, but I forgot that they also want it to be one layer!!! Oops! I've not done the inside of this card as yet.

Don't forget to visit the Uniko Blog and the rest of the Design Team, comment along the way for your chance to win a £15 eGift Certificate.

Bev
Carol 

Deborah 
Izzy 

Jane 
Julie
Linda

Lindsey

Rahmat
Sarah G

Sarah P
Wiebke 

You have until midnight (BST) Saturday 7th April to comment. That's all for now - see you again soon.

Good Luck ....

.... Good afternoon from a beautifully sunny, but very cold, Northville. I've had a fun morning playing in my craft room. It's St Patrick's Day today and in honour of the day, I've used a very old stamp set called Celtic Heritage to make a Good Luck card:

Stamps: Waltzingmouse Stamps - Celtic Heritage; Uniko - Simply Said
Inks: Gina K - Jelly Bean Green, Christmas Pine
Accessories: White Lustre Card; SU Card - Garden Green; WRMemory Keepers DP - Travel Light; SU Punches

This is a 4 bar size card - so a bit smaller than my usual. I started by stamping a lucky four leaf clover (with a hint of Celtic design) on a white circle and layered it on a scalloped dark green circle. I cut a panel of dark green card onto which I adhered some pretty patterned paper from my stash. I attached the panel to the card and added the clover panel on top. I finished the front by stamping a simple 'good luck' sentiment using words from two different stamp sets. On the inside, I cut a mat layer of the patterned paper and on the white panel added some more Celtic design elements, but left it blank for my own message. I'm submitting this card to CAS-ual Fridays Challenge - CFC#195 where they want to see greens, and also to MFT Wednesday Sketch Challenge - MFTWSC#376.

A few weeks ago I sold a load of my old stamps at the annual yard sale at Scrappy Chic. It was both very sad and lots of fun going through my stash. I parted with many old wood mounted stamps that I've had for years and made room for new stuff. In the process, I rediscovered some of my old favourites - this being one! The stamp set came from Waltzingmouse Stamps (sadly now closed) that was owned by Claire Brennan. While Claire doesn't have her own company anymore, you can still get Claire's stamps from Gina K. It was so nice to rediscover some old favourites and you're probably going to see more old sets soon.

As a result of recycling so much of my stash, I have to update my catalogue system and I'm going to take the opportunity to set up an electronic catalogue too. I'm going to use the Evernote system - I've been watching an excellent video about the system by Kat Driggers - as I'll be able to see all my stash on my PC, phone and tablet! It's going to take a while, but I think it'll be worth it.

That's all for now - enjoy your weekend!

Uniko Challenge - Colours ....

.... Hello! Can you believe that we're halfway through March already? No, neither can I! Only a few more days until it's officially spring and then it'll be Easter before you know it. That sort of leads into today post - I'm sharing my card for the new Uniko Challenge - USC#46 where we want you to use some or all of the colours in the graphic photo and we have the option of making an Easter card. Here's my card:

Stamps: Uniko - Some Bunny, Happy Succulents, Birthday Sentiments
Inks: Distress - Twisted Citron, Mowed Lawn, Salty Ocean; Versafine - Onyx Black
Accessories: White Lustre Card; Stampin' Up! DP - Daffodil Delight; Uniko Stencil - Scattered Polka Dots; Copic Markers; Spectrum Noir - Sparkle Brush; Clear Embossing Powder

As you can see, I used all the colours and made an Easter card too. I stencilled the polka dot background on the card using distress inks. I stamped the bunny on white card and coloured it with Copic markers. I put it back in the MISTI and restamped in Versafine and heat embossed with clear powder - I really like that you get a super crisp line using this method. I carefully cut out the bunny and adhered him flat to the card. I added lots of sparkle to his feet, chest, inner ear and bow tie. I finished the front by stamping a bold and simple greeting. On the inside, I cut a mat layer of yellow design paper and on the white panel added more polka dots and finished with a bold greeting. I'm submitting this card to Creative with Stamps - CWS#24 where they want us to use a bunny, and also to City Crafter Challenge Blog - CCCB#403 - they want bunnies too!

Don't forget to visit the main Uniko blog to see more inspiration from the Design Team (well, some of us!!) and also from our Guest Designer Michele. You'll see more from the rest of the DT when we do our reminder post in a couple of weeks.

Do you feel inspired? Well have fun, you've got plenty of time to join in, the deadline for submission is midnight (BST) on Friday 20th April, that's 7.00pm EDT in the States. And we have prizes too:

PRIZES

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

That's all for now - see you again soon.

TMR - Theme ....

... Hello! I can't quite believe that it's been two weeks since I posted anything!! Time is going by so fast. Anyway, it's time for our new challenge at The Male Room - TMR#81. We have a fun theme, we want to see Space/Science inspired masculine projects. I actually ended up making two cards, here's the first with a science theme:

Stamps: My Favourite Things - LLD Undeniable Chemistry
Inks: Distress - Cracked Pistachio, Evergreen Bough, Lucky Clover; Versamark
Dies: Die-namics - Chemistry Set
Accessories: White Lustre Card; SU Card - Garden Green; Copic Markers; Spectrum Noir - Clear Sparkle Brush; White and Clear Embossing Powder

I'm submitting this card to AAA Cards - AAA#110 where they have an Ombre theme, to The Card Concept - CC#88 where they want shades of green, and to CAS(E) this Sketch! - CTS#262. I die cut several different flasks from white card and coloured them with shades of green - moving from the most concentrated to the least. I stamped some 'molecules' in Versamark on to the card base, heat embossed them with clear powder and then inked over with soft shades of green. I also stamped some little hearts in the same shades of green. I stamped a sentiment on green card in Versamark and heat embossed with white powder. I added lots of sparkle to the 'chemicals' in the flasks and adhered them to the card. On the inside, I cut a mat layer of dark green card and added a fun sentiment on the white panel with more 'chemical' symbols!!

I was on a bit of a roll, so I made a second card, this time with a space theme:

Stamps: Altenew - To The Moon, Happy Dreams; Uniko - Reach for the Stars
Inks: Versamark; Delicata - Silvery Shimmer; Gina K - Moonlit Fog, Dark Sage
Dies: Die-namics - Circles Set 2 #5
Accessories: White Lustre Card; Stampin' Up! Card - Basic Black; Shimmer Spritz - Frost; White Embossing Powder

I made the card base from Stampin' Up! black card. I used the multi-step moon image from To The Moon to create the focal image, stamping in silver, pale grey and dark grey, and cut it out with a circle die. I spritzed the card with frost shimmer spray to give the impression of a galaxy of stars. I stamped the sentiment in Versamark and heat embossed with white powder. I finished the front by added a few larger stars in silver. On the inside, I cut a panel of white card on which I stamped another moon and added a greeting. I'm submitting this card to Less Is More - LIM#366 where they want a monochromatic card.

That's all from me for today. But do visit The Male Room blog to see lots more inspiration from the rest of the Design Team and also from our Guest Designer Lynda from Lynda's Crafty Hall. You've got lots of time to play along with this challenge, submission deadline is midnight BST on Tuesday 27th March, that's 7.00pm EDT in the States. Have fun!!