Uniko - Sneak Peek .....

..... Hello, good morning! I'm here today with a couple of sneak peeks of the new release from Uniko. Bev has two super fun sets for us this month - they will be available tomorrow! First up is this set:

You can probably guess the theme - tropical - it's very on-trend set with so many possibilities. This set works really well with Hummingbird - a previously released set. And here's a look at the second set:

Love these lush looking leaves; Bev draws the most gorgeous leaves and these tropical beauties will work perfectly with many of her sets. Full details of the release schedule are as follows:

Sneak Peeks - today - a few hints of the pretties to come! And you can see more on Bev's blog here!

Release Day - Saturday 11th June, 9.00am BST (that's 4.00am for those of us this side of the pond). You will see the the full sets and can purchase them at the Uniko website. You might get to see a few more sneak peeks. And there's also the chance to win an eGift Certificate to spend at the store - check out Bev's blog.

Design Team Blog Hop & Giveaway - For various reasons the DT Blog Hop & Giveaway has been scheduled for Saturday 25th June, 9.00am BST. There will be a chance to win the entire June release and the previously released Paradise Hummingbird clear stamp sets, or an eGift Certificate to the same value.

That's all for now - do stop by tomorrow to see both sets! Bye!

Dad's day ....

.... Hello again! I'm back with another Father's Day card to share with you. I CASEd my own card for our new challenge at The Male Room - TMR#37. I made this one for my father-in-law:

Stamps: Stampin' Up! - Watercolour Wash, Words of Truth; Uniko - Nautical Treasure
Inks: Versafine - Onyx Black; Kaleidacolor - Vineyard
Dies: Lil Inkers - Dad
Accessories: White Lustre Card; SU Card - Basic Black; SU DP - Always Artichoke

After I'd made the blue/green card, I decided to make a similar one with different colours. I stamped the watercolour wash with another Kalediacolor pad - love the more muted shades here. This time I die cut the word 'Dad' in white and black card and stuck them together to give some dimension to the work. I stamped the two lines of text and added the die cut word. On the inside I cut a mat layer of green design paper and added some decoration to the white panel. Once again, I'm going to submit this card to CAS(E) this Sketch! - CTS#175 and The Paper Players - PP#298.

That's all for today. See you soon.

TMR - Theme & New DT ....

.... Good morning! Time is marching on - Kat only has one more week at school and then she's on summer vacation! It does mean that it's time for our new challenge at The Male Room - TMR#37. Our theme for the next couple of weeks is FATHER'S DAY. I've made a really clean and simple card:

Stamps: Stampin' Up! - Watercolor Wash, Words of Truth, Layered Letters Alphabet; Uniko - Nautical Treasures
Inks: Kaleidacolor - Caribbean Sea; Versafine - Onyx Black
Accessories: White Lustre Card; SU Card - Tempting Turquoise

The layout of this card is based on the sketch at this week's CAS(E) this Sketch! - CTS#175, and I'm also submitting to The Paper Players - PP#298 - as they also have Father's Day as their theme. This card was so easy to make. I stamped the watercolour wash image using a Kaleidacolor pad in shades of blue and green; love the ombre effect. I completed the card by stamping the word DAD and adding a suitable phrase. On the inside I cut a mat layer of turquoise card and on the white panel added some decoration.

Do visit our blog to check out more inspiration projects from the rest of the Design Team. Before I go, I must welcome to the team our new members - Andreja, Buffy, Faith and Shawna - do drop by to say Hi! See you soon.

CIC - Theme ...

... Morning! I hope your weekend is going well, I'm having a great time. It's time for our new challenge at Cupcake Inspirations - CIC#363. We have a theme for you - UNDER THE SEA. Our sponsor this week is The Greeting Farm and I've used some of their products on my card:

Stamps: The Greeting Farm - Love and Friends, Digis - Coralina, Leela, Chibi Diver; Dylusions - Under the Sea, Ocean Backgrounds
Inks: Versafine - Onyx Black; Stampin' Up! - Pool Party, Bermuda Bay; Memento - Grey Flannel
Dies: Die-namics - Pierced Oval Frames #3
Accessories: White Lustre Card; SU Card - Pool Party; SU DP - Wisteria Wonder, Pool Party; Copics; Wink of Stella - Clear; Gems

I've used the sketch from this week's My Favourite Things Wednesday Sketch Club - MFTWSC#283 for the layout. I cut a panel of aqua card smaller than the base and cut out an oval shape. I stamped an under the sea scene on the white card using a variety of stamp sets. I die cut the oval border from lilac design paper and adhered over the aqua card. I printed several digital images from The Greeting Farm on white card, coloured them with Copics and fussy cut them out. I added sparkle with a clear Wink of Stella brush to the mermaid tails and their hair ornaments. I stamped the sentiment directly to the card. I finished the front with some frosted gems. On the inside I cut a mat layer of aqua design paper and on the white panel added some seaweed and a tiny fish from another of The Greeting Farm digis.

Do visit our blog to see more inspiration cards from the rest of the design team.

The winner of this week's challenge will get a $50 gift certificate from The Greeting Farm to spend at their shop - go have fun! That's all for now.

52CCT - Sketch ...

.... Morning! This week has flown by. It's the first Saturday of the month which means it's time for our new challenge at 52 Christmas Card Throwdown - 52CCT22-16. Our host this month is Jacqueline and she has a fabulous sketch for us. Here's my take:

Stamps: My Favourite Things - Grand Holiday Greetings; Uniko - Stunning Snowflakes
Inks: Versafine - Onyx Black; Stampin' Up - So Saffron, Blushing Bride
Dies: Memory Box - Snowflake Arch
Accessories: White Lustre Card; SU Card - Rose Red; SU DP - Blushing Bride, So Saffron; SU Glimmer Paper - Silver; SU Punch - Blossom Punch; Gems; Vellum; Clear Embossing Powder

As soon as I saw this sketch I knew I wanted to use this lovely snowflake arch die. The weather in Northville is so summery that I decided to make a card with non-traditional colours, these come from CAS Colours & Sketches - CASC&S#176. I made the base from Rose Red card, cut a panel of Blushing Bride design paper for the side of the card and die cut the arch from silver glimmer paper. I punched some "snowflakes" from yellow design paper, added some gems and adhered them to the card. I finished the front with a bold sentiment stamped on vellum and heat embossed with clear powder. On the inside I cut a panel of white card on which I stamped pretty snowflakes and added a greeting - simple! The theme at Addicted to Stamps and More! - ATSM#196 is Anything Goes, so I'm playing along with them.

Do visit our blog to see more inspiration cards from the rest of the team. You've got lots of time to play along, deadline is midnight (BST) Friday 10th June - that's 7.00pm EDT in the States.

The reason I've not blogged anything last week is that I had my birthday on Thursday - 56 years young! I plan on celebrating for as long a possible and today I continue with a craft class at my local shop in Northville! Enjoy your weekend! Bye for now.

CIC - Colours ....

..... Hello! I'm here this morning with my card for our new challenge at Cupcake Inspirations - CIC#362. We have some really pretty colours for you to play with this week, and I made a clean, simple and pretty birthday card:

Stamps: A Random Fan Digi - Angel & Cloud; Stampin' Up! - Watercolour Wishes
Inks: Versafine - Onyx Black
Accessories: White Lustre Card; Vellum; SU EF - Cloudy Day; Copics; Wink of Stella - Clear; Gems; Clear Embossing Powder

Our sponsor this week is A Random Fan and I've used one of their images on my card - it's one I've had a while and I really like it. I printed her on white card, coloured with Copics and used a scalpel to fussy cut her out. I add lots of sparkle to the clouds rainbow and her wings with a clear Wink of Stella brush. I cut a panel of white card slightly smaller than the card, embossed it with clouds and adhered it to the base. I stamped a birthday sentiment on vellum, heat embossed it with clear powder and attached it to the cards. I used dimensional gel to attached the angel image and finished off with a few gems.  I based this card on the layout at Freshly Made Sketches - FMS#238. I've not done the inside yet!

The winner of this week's challenge will get 3 digital images from A Random Fan - they have wonderful images! Do visit our blog to see more inspiration from the rest of the team.

52CCT - Stash ....

... Morning! I can't quite believe that it's already the last Saturday in May! Fabiola has a stash challenge for us this week at 52 Christmas Card Throwdown - 52CCT21-16 - she wants us to use our dies and/or punches. I actually made two cards! Here's the first:

Stamps: Waltzingmouse Stamps - Compliments of the Season II
Inks: Versafine - Onyx Black
Dies: Poppy Stamps - Mod Snowflake Background
Accessories: Stampin' Up! Card - Basic Black; SU Glimmer Paper - Silver; SU DP - Basic Black; White Lustre Card; SU Punch; Craftwork Cards - Sentiment Label

This is the first time I've used the snowflake background die - it's fabulous. I cut it from silver glimmer paper and used my precision cutting plate (which helps) on the Big Shot. I ran the die through several times to make sure that it cut through all the paper, but I still had a bit in the middle that didn't cut (can you guess where?) I adhered the die cut to a black card and simply added a greeting to the front. On the inside I cut a panel of white card and stamped a greeting, and added a punched snowflake in black design paper.

I'm submitting this card to a couple of challenges - Jingle Belles - JB:16:11 where they don't want to see any blues (done), and Fab 'n' Funky - FNF#306 where they want to see Christmas cards (done).

My next card is very clean, crisp and simple:

Stamps: Waltzingmouse Stamps - Compliments of the Season II
Inks: Versafine - Onyx Black
Dies: Poppy Stamps - Celestial Star Border
Accessories: White Lustre Card; SU Glimmer Paper - Silver; SU DP - Basic Black; SU Punch

I used Jenni's card over at Muse - MUSE#167 as the inspiration for this card. I changed my card to portrait and opted for a monochromatic colour scheme. I die cut the stars from silver glimmer paper and adhered them directly to the card. The sentiment is bold black and contrasts beautifully with the silver stars. On the inside I cut a mat layer of black design paper and, on the white card, stamped a sentiment and punched out a snowflake to reveal the mat paper beneath.

As there are stars on this card, I'm going to submit it to the current challenge at Left of Centre - LOC#131 where, if you're not making a left of centre card, then the team want to see stars.

Do visit our blog to see more inspiration from the rest of the team. That's all for now!

Uniko - Masculine ...

... Morning! I'm here with my card for the Uniko Challenge - USC#32R where we have a theme of

MASCULINE WITH THE OPTION OF FATHER'S DAY

I've made a masculine birthday card:

Stamps: Uniko - Time, Extra Time, Simply Said
Inks: Versamark; Versafine - Onyx Black; Brilliance - Galaxy Gold
Accessories: White Lustre Card; Stampin' Up! DP - Basic Black; Couture Creations EF - Work Shop; Stampendous Frantage - Aged Black Enamel, Aged Gold Enamel

My card is reasonably clean and simple. I cut a panel of white card slightly smaller then the base, embossed it and edged it with a gold pen. I stamped the cogs in Versamark; heat embossed them with aged black and aged gold enamel, and then cut them out. I attached them to the card with dimensional gel. I added a very simple greeting. On the inside I cut a mat layer of black design paper and on the white panel added a greeting and gold clock.

I used the layout from this week's CAS Colours & Sketches - CASC&S#175 and, as this is a birthday card, I'm also submitting it to AAA Cards - AAA#65 where they're celebrating their 2nd birthday.

Do visit the Uniko blog to see more inspiration cards from our Guest Designer, Tanja, as well as the rest of the team. And before I go, there are prizes - so do play along. Here are the details:

THE PRIZES

• The DT will choose a winner who will get a £20 gift voucher.

• The DT choose a Top 3 who will each get 50 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 150 Loyalty Reward Points added to their Uniko customer account.

• We will do a random draw for all those who twist with us and create a Fathers Day creation. This winner will get 100 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 (BST) on Friday 10th June (7.00pm EDT).