Uniko Studios Guest Designer

*I am a bit late with this post as I forgot to set it for going live on Friday, so sorry for the delay.

Hi all, I'm here today to share a card I made as this month's Guest Designer over at Uniko Studios Challenge! I was delighted when Beverly asked me, and of course I said Yes please!! This month, the theme is Autumn with an added twist of 'Thanks'. I find I never have enough thank you cards, so I set to. 

I made a centre step card using a new die I bought back in July at the Newbury Show, which has replaced the old Artstamps exhibition.

First I stamped the background onto kraft card using Antique Linen, Vintage Photo and Peacock Feathers Distress inks, using the clock faces from the Uniko Studios stamp set Today, Tomorrow and Always.

I then cut the panels using the co-ordinating dies from the card die set, and backed the panels onto some jade card. I then stamped cut the round sentiment using Label Love-Thanks stamp set.

I attached the panels to the card base, and added some jade ribbon, cream lace, and jade bakers twine, finished off with a white paper rose and two pins.

Do stop by the Uniko store, there is a 50% off sale this weekend until Sunday night, so grab a bargain before it all sells out!

Thanks for stopping by,

Pauline

Less is More - One layer Wishes

Hi all, I'm here today to share a CAS card, for this week's Less is More challenge, - this week it is a One Layer theme, plus to use the Sentiment of Wishes somewhere on the card.

I have stamped this lovely Penny Black Slapstick range image, 'Fragrant' in Memento London Fog, onto some cryogen card, it has a soft sparkly sheen. I wanted a soft subtle look, so went for pastel pinks and yellows, and used some very light strokes with my Polychromos pencils.

The sentiment is from Uniko Studios Birthday Fontiments set, one of my favourite sets, it's stuffed with Birthday greetings in a variety of fonts.

I added some stickles to the flowers for some gentle shimmer, and that was that.

I think i will give this to my colleague at work, who turns 25 on Monday (oh to be young again!).

Thanks for stopping by,

Pauline

Get Well

Hi all, I'm here today to share a card I made for the That's Crafty Challenge, and this week the theme is Leaves. I recently made a Get Well card for my Grandmother-in-law, who unfortunately broke her hip 4 weeks ago, and is still recovering in hospital. She is 93, so we are lucky she is still with us.

I used two lovely stamps from Serendipity Stamps, First, I gold embossed the large Fern image, and stamped another one on scratch paper to cut out for a mask. I then used the mask to stamp the smaller Fern image around the gold embossed fern, in Pine Needle and Evergreen Bough Distress inks.

I gold embossed the Get Well sentiment, also from S.S, and added some dark green gems.

Finally I mounted onto some dark green card, and added to a natural card base.

I would also like toi enter this into the following challenges:

Our Creative Corner - Shades of Autumn

Crafty Catz - Autumn Colours

Everybody Art Challenge - Earth Tones

Addicted to CAS - Leaves

Fantasy Stampers - Autumn Leaves

Thanks for stopping by today,

Pauline

Less is More - Green and Gold

Hi all, I'm here this morning with a couple of cards for this week's new challenge over at Less is More. The theme this week is Green & Gold. I have many butterfly stamps in my collection, but I haven't used these lovely ones from Uniko Studio before,  Bright Butterflies, so I pulled them out and had a play.

I stamped all the butterflies from the set in Versamark, and gold embossed, then cut using the matching dies. I cut a few panels in different green shades using MFT Rectangle dies, stamped the little cog image from the same set in Versamark Dazzle, and mounted onto some gold, glittered card.

I stamped the little swirl in Versamark and gold embossed. I added the sentiment from the English Country Garden set, also from Uniko Studios, and gold embossed.

For my second card, I stamped the little swirl in Gumnball Green ink...but dropped the stamp as I finished ARRRGGHHH!!! You can see there are a few dots showing above the sentiment below, and it doesn't look too bad thankfully!

Here they are together. I always like to make a couple of cards for this challenge, as just one is never enough!

I would also like to enter these into the following challenges:

Less is More - Green & Gold

Lil Red Wagon - CAS

Cards und More - CAS

AAA Cards - Embossing (CAS)

Thanks for stopping by,

Pauline

Less is More - Eyes

Hi all, it's been a week since my last post, I haven't felt very crafty this week, but I wanted to make something for the Less is More challenge, this week it is to feature eyes. This time I got to use a stamp set I had got with a magazine and had yet to use.

I have made a couple of cards using a Woodware set and it doesn't have a name on it. For my first card, I stamped one of the owls onto some copy paper, and cut him out to use as a mask.

I stamped the owls in Tuxedo Black, and coloured woth Staedtler Ergo soft pencils. To enhance their eyes, I added a large blob of glossy accents, and topped with silver glamour dust.

For my second card, I just used one owl, and the little branch that came with the set.

Again, coloured with pencils, and added gold glamour dust to his eyes.

I've enjoyed using these little cuties, thanks for stopping by today,

Pauline

Less is More..Again!!

Hi all, I'm back with some more Berry goodnes for the less is more challenge, I did say that I love creating with these colours hehe!

So, very quickly, both cards are made using Brushos in Purple and Scarlet, the first card was used sparingly, and the other card was made using much more water.

Once dry, I stamped the images from Stampendous called Bold Sprigs in Black Soot Distress ink. The watercolour card doesn't tend to stamp images well, so I smooshed the ink pad onto an acrylic block, then picked up the ink with a little water on my brush, and painted in the gaps on the berries and butterflies.  The sentiment is from Uniko Studios, stamped in Dusty Concorde Distress ink.

 Then I added some glue pen dots onto the sprigs and butterflies, and added some Glamour Dust.

For my second card, I cut a rectangular panel using an MFT die Cross Stitched Rectangles, and layered it onto another cut in Cherry Cobbler.

The die cut wording is also cut in Cherry Cobbler, and is a die from Serendipity Stamps.

I fancied a bit of sparkle on this one too, so I added some glue pen dots, and glamour dust to the panel.

Well I hope I haven't bored you this week with my berry inspired makes, but I have enjoyed making them!

I would like to enter these into the following challenges

Less is More - Berry Colours

That's Crafty - Purple

Inspiration Destination - anything Goes

Thanks for stopping by,

Pauline

Bleeding Tissue and some more Purple!

Hi all, I'm back with another card for this week's Less is More challenge, I love playing with purples and berry colours, and last night I thought I would try a new to me technique - Bleeding Tissue. I had mixed results at first, as I used too much water, and it basically 'bled' everywhere. So I tried again, and then again, and finally achieved the look I was after.

I cut some circles out of coloured art tissue, ( available from Opal Crafts) laid them onto some white card stock, and carefully painted water on top of the circles. The colour immediately bleeds out onto the cardstock and you get this effect. The colours are very intense and vibrant, although it looks pink in the photo, I did use a deep purple tissue.

Over the top of the circles (once dry) I stamped the inspirational quotes from Visible Image- Imagine dream Inspire- in Grape Jelly memento ink. I then sprinkled some White Shabby Embossing powder over the card, it has some little flecks of glitter in it, resulting in a gentle sparkle, but unfortunately I couldn't pick this up with my camera. I then used some purple Bazzill card for the mat.

I would like to enter this into the following challenges -

Less is More - Berry colours

That's Crafty - Purple

Inspiration Destination - Anything Goes

4 Crafty Chicks - Anything Goes 

Thanks for stopping by,

Pauline

Less is More, and a couple more...

Hi all, I'm back with some more berry coloured inspired creativity! Whenever I create with these colours, I just keep going! In my quest to use my stash rather than hoard it in a box, I thought I would use one of my sadly neglected Papertrey Ink stamp sets, called, appropriately enough, Harvest Berries.

First, I sprinkled some Purple and Violet Brushos from That's Crafty onto some plain white card, then spritzed with water for this magical effect. Everytime I use Brushos, it never fails to delight me! When it was dry, I stamped in Versamark the large sprig of leaves from the stamp set, and white embossed it. I didn't feel it stood out enough, so I then traced around some of the leaves and stem with a black fineliner.

I stamped the sentiment in Cherry Cobbler Stampin' Up! ink, and also used the same colour card to mat the panel. Before adhering to the panel, I sprinkled some Stampendous Shabby White embossing enamel over the surface, and heated from underneath. Although you can't see it in the photo, it's very sparkly in real life.

I would like to enter this into the following challenges:

Less is More - Berry Colours

Inspiration Destination - Anything Goes

Simon Says Stamp - Anything Goes

That's Crafty Challenges - Purple

4 Crafty Chicks - Anything Goes

Thanks for stopping by,

Pauline

Less is More - Berry Colours

Hi all, I'm sharing my little make today for this week's new Less is More challenge, to use Berry colours. Now, I love berry shades, especially deep purples and raspberry reds, and once I start creating with them, I can't stop!

For this card, I used some scraps left over from another project, which I still need to blog, and my new dies from MFT (available at Dies to Die for) Blueprints 20. I actually cut and assembled 7 of these mini quilts, and found it very therapeutic, like an extended jigsaw puzzle!

The main body of the quilt was made using some background paper I had made using a Visible Ink stamp, Flower INKcognito, clear embossed, then spritzed with some Deco Art paint sprays in Purple and Primary Magenta  for an embossed/resist technique.

As the  background card had already been made last week, all I needed to do was cut and assemble.

The raspberry mat was also cut using a cross stitched rectangular die, also from the Blueprints 20 die set. I added some purple twine and a deep purple button, and the sentiment is from Uniko Studios,  All Occasion Sentiments #1, stamped in Hero Arts new Ombre ink pad in 'Lilac to Grape Purple'.

I stopped short of adding any further bling or glitter, but it's difficult for me haha! I love the bling!

Thanks for stopping by today,

Pauline

Less is More, Uniko Studios

Hi all, I'm back today with a card made for the new Less is More Challenge. This week, it is Chrissie's birthday (challenge creator and owner) and to celebrate the theme this week is a card for Chrissie's birthday but using 'Snippets' or scraps as I call them! I also was inspired to make a card for this month's Uniko Studios challenge which is Black, White and a splash of colour.

To create this card I used Decorative Doilies and Time after Time set for the sentiment.

Here is the little snippet of white card I used to pop up my cut out pieces of doily - I was toying with which colour to use, as it needed to be bright against the black doilies. I went for Distress Ink Peacock Feathers in the end.

I stamped the doilies in Memento Tuxedo Black onto a large card base measuring 6 3/4 inches square!

I cut the little blue doilies out, and popped them up on foam pads for dimension.

For my favourite sparkle, I added some turquoise gems.
I have a few more ideas using these stamps, which I love, so pretty and crisply detailed.

 Happy Birthday Chrissie!

I am entering this into the following challenges -

Less is More - Snippets

Uniko Studios - Black White and a splash of colour.

Thanks for stopping by,

Pauline

Playing with Brushos..again!

Hi all, I'm a bit late posting this card, as I had finished it on Sunday, but I was waiting for some brighter weather to take a picture! I made this card for this week's Less is More challenge, and the theme this week is Beachy! I don't have many nautical style stamps, but I KNOW that I do own a Pink Paislee set...somewhere!  I've looked high and low for it, and I can't find it anywhere! I remember seeing it in a box that it shouldn't be in, and thinking 'Oh, I'll put that back in a minute!' Hmmm! That'll teach me to replace my stuff after use. Ho hum.

Anyway, I had bought a sea themed stencil from a craft fair ages ago, (may have been at the NEC last November) so I thought I would use that.

I used the seahorse image from the stencil, using Grunge Paste coloured with ultramarine Brusho pigment powder. I have done a little tutorial on how I created this card further down. The sentiment is one of my wooden stamps, by Hampton Arts which I haven't used before. I do find the Less is More challenge gets me to use my unused stash - this card has used a stamp and a stencil plus the luxe dust which I had bought but squirrelled away!

After the image was dry, I sprinkled more ultramarine Brushos onto the card around the seahorse, and a slight touch of leaf green. Then I spritzed with water, and used my hand held color spritzer to move the paint around the paper.

 When this was dry,  I felt the seahorse blended into the background too well, so I went around the raised paste with a fine liner pen. I added some Vintage Silver embossing powder and some Opal dust for some glittery shimmer.

Below are some pics of how I created this card, I thought I would leave it til last so you can just skip over it hehe!

 Here are my tools - Grunge Paste, Brushos, pallette knife, acrylic block, watercolour card, stencil.
The stencil is by The Crafter's Workshop.

I spread a little bit of the paste onto my block, I wasn't too sure how much to use, I did need to add a bit more.

I very lightly sprinkled ultra marine Brusho onto the paste, and mixed.

It came out a pale baby blue colour, so I added some more...

When I was happy with the colour, I wanted to add some shimmer, so I added a pinch of some Luxe Dust pearl powder. This made the paste really dry, so I spritzed it with some water.

Then I applied it to the stencil, I didn't tape the stencil to the card, which is advisable, but I got away with it this time!

When finished applying, I carefully peeled the stencil back...

I was really pleased with the clear definition of this lovely stencil. My only gripe is the luxe dust didn't really show up, so I either need to use more, or apply it topically to the top of the stencilled paste when dry.

Thanks for stopping by

Pauline

Playing with Copics and Cheshire Cats!

Hi all, I'm just sharing a fun card today, made using the Cheshire Cat image from Visible Image stamps, coloured with Copics.

I've taken the picture on my phone, as it's very gloomy here, and my camera is playing up. Quite impressed with how ok it looks! The background was made using Brushos in Emerald Green and Purple, onto a watercolour card, then spritzed with water. Finally I added some gems to the eyes around the card for some sparkle!

I stamped some random smiles around the edges in Dusty Concord Distress Ink, and layered with some purple Bazzill. This was my first play with Copics, and as such, although I like the colours, I don't like the brush nib - everybody else loves it, but I'm not a fan! Yet!

I would like to enter this into the following challenges:

Simon Say Stamp - Furry Friends

Crafting from the Heart - anything Goes

Thanks for stopping by,

Pauline

Less is More - One Layer - Masculine

Hi all, I made a couple of cards this morning with my new favourite toy - Brushos! They are so easy to use, and produce such pretty results, I love them!!

I've made a couple of masculine cards for this week's Less Is More challenge, and this week is the dreaded one layer plus the other dreaded Masculine! Hmm, well, that's handy, as my son is 11 next week, and I still have to make him a card. This is the card I made for him:

I have used the stamp set Robot Data Set, by Visible Image, and stamped the robot, the binary code and sentiment in Versamark and embossed in clear powder onto a large card base.

Then when it was cool, I sprinkled some Emerald Green Brusho over the binary code parts, and sprinkled some Black over the robot.

Then i lightly misted so the powder didn't get pushed around too much by the spray. When dry, I added some Stampendous Vintage Silver embossing pwder, and heated from underneath. This stuff gets everywhere, it looks like grit, but makes such a great addition to grunge stuff up.

I thought the sentiment didn't stand out enough, so I edged it in a black fine liner, not too pleased with it now, oh well, I will leave well alone next time!

As I was on a roll, I thought I would use a new mask I bought recently, and try the Brushos through it. It is more patchy than a thicker medium, but I like the effect.

I taped the stencil to the card base, then either side I also placed  two pieces of plain paper to shield the rest of the card from any stray powder or spatters.

Then I sprinkled some Olive Green and Terracotta onto the card, and spritzed gently.

I added some Glamour dust to the numbers and clockface shape to give it a bit more definition.

I tried to capture the sparkle, but it's a very dull day here.

And here they are together.

So a productive day all round, I made my son's birthday card (the robot) and I made a spare :-)

Thanks for stopping by,

Pauline