12 Days Of Christmas Inspiration & Giveaways - Day 10 Framed Fairy Lights

 

 Hello & Happy Tuesday.

Today I am bringing the light and the colours to hopefully brighten your day. I thought it was only right that I used another clear stamp set from the Uniko November Release, Framed - Fairy Lights. It deserves to shine and be in the limelight!

For my card today I wanted to show the lights used without the frame. I simply stamped the framed lights onto a smaller panel, heat embossed with my favourite sparkly EP Stardust and mat layered the panel onto black card. 

I coloured the lights with a rainbow of alcohol markers and added a sentiment from Festive Sentiments Outlined. I coloured the sentiment with a black fine liner and adhered to the card using foam tape for impact and dimension.

Question for you here on the blog, can you spot how many lights I missed adding colour to? You'll have to look carefully as with the loops of wire they are hard to spot! 

Today's prize is Framed - Fairy Lights and Festive Sentiments Outlined. 

I am still having technical issues and need my husband's help again with my video for today, so it'll be uploaded this evening when he gets home from work! 

Crafty Hugs

Countdown to Christmas Day 19 - Sparkle Saturday

 Happy Sparkle Saturday!

I'm a little later than I originally planned, but didn't want to get behind again. This evening we had a family film night and I introduced the boys to Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory (Gene Wilder) the classic. It started off well, then they got a little bored! BUT then they loved it, but the chocolate factory is the best bit! 

Anyway, the card I am sharing today is one I really had to get out of my head! Occasionally I will envision a card idea in my head, often when I am designing stamps, but this time probably about a week or so ago. So while the boys were watching something on You Tube before bed I sat down to make it.

Who remembers and even owns Christmas Sparkle? 

This little gem of a set retired a few years ago now, as much as I love all the stamps I design, a few years ago I needed to make room for newer designs and unfortunately this one got the bench. 

As it's retired I haven't used it for a very long time as I try to use just current and in-stock products. Anyway, today I am making an exception and as you have seen in the recent past, some retired stamps get a little re-introduction ;)

Anyway, how beautifully ornate does this gold beauty look?

Doesn't the Sparkle bauble pair with Framed - Holly wonderfully? Like it was designed to ;) I dusted off my Encore Gold pigment ink and also added gold heat embossing to add to the shine of these stamps. 

I really love how this turned out. 

That's all I have to share with you all today. I will be back tomorrow with another Stencil Sunday instalment, but until then, thank you for stopping by & I hope I have added a little sparkle to your day after the devastating news we were issued regarding Christmas. 

Sending Love & Crafty Hugs Bev x

Countdown to Christmas Day 7 - Merry Monday!

 Happy Monday!

Welcome to day 7 of the Uniko Countdown to Christmas. Today I am in a Merry mood as I feel like I am almost caught up on various things in the studio & with Christmas! So I am following suit with my Merry mood and sharing some BIG & BOLD Merry Christmas cards with you...

My first card is super CAS and is really easy to make when you have a stamping platform, so even though it looks time consuming, it isn't. It is a design easy to mass produce and with the Altenew layering ink collections, the colour varieties are easy and effortless too!

For this card I used Rouge, Crimson & Velvet from the Red Sunset ink collection and I also stamped and embossed the last Velvet layer with my favourite Stardust embossing powder. The layers of coloured card are what I had in my scrap box and they match the ink colours really well.

For my next card I again went CAS and this time with a non-traditional colour scheme. The BIG & BOLD Merry is stamped in Aqualicious ink from the Altenew Sweet Dreams collection. The coloured card stock layer is Concord & 9th Aqua Sky.

I drew two pencil lines to be able to stamp the little string of lights from the set and then used Nuvo Drops in pastel shades to colour the baubles.

That's all from me today, but I hope you're having a Merry Monday! I will be back again tomorrow with more to share.

Crafty Hugs Bev x

A Cracker of a Card

Hi, it's Lindsey here from the Uniko DT with a little "upcycling" inspiration for you!

I've used the card leftover from 2 Christmas crackers for my cards. 

The patterned glittery card was too good to throw away!

 I'm sure I'm not alone in the crafting community of hoarding lovely snippets of paper and card ...

My first card uses the upcycled card die-cut to provide a background for my the Uniko snowflake die set.  The sentiment is from the Christmas Simply Said Blocks set.

Quick, easy and simple is what I'm after for making a batch of Christmas cards!

For my second card, I stamped the bauble from the Christmas Sparkle stamp set onto the upcycled card and then "fussy cut" it out.

These cards would be perfect for the current Uniko challenge; we're looking for celebratory cards, with the optional twist of gold - and what better occasion to celebrate than Christmas?!

If you'd like to enter a card in this month's challenge, and why wouldn't you?  There's prizes to be had! You can link your card up HERE.  The challenge finishes on 21 December and winners will be announced on 4 January.

I look forward to seeing your cards in the gallery!

CAS Colours & Sketches #244 - Sketch

Hey!

I'm not as organised this week as there is SO much going on here at Uniko HQ! We are currently in countdown mode to our October Release and my energy levels are recovering post Happy Stampers Festival in time for Stamp Magic in Doncaster this weekend!

Not only do I have 5 new clear stamp sets being released, which the Design Team and I will start introducing tomorrow, we have a NEW product and TWO Designer Die collections - whoop!

Anyway, enough of that how about a new challenge over at CAS Colours & Sketches. This month Emily is our hostess and this week has this fun sketch HERE to inspire your creativity...

Here is what I came up with...

I've had so much fun using Stunning Snowflakes recently, that when I saw the sketch they seemed perfect to use and create a trio of hanging snowflake decorations :)

I used a trio of recently purchased Distress Oxide inks to stamp the snowflakes and fussy cut them out. The bow is from Christmas Sparkle and the sentiment from one of the October Release clear stamp sets. 

That's all from me today using the sketch, but if you need some more inspiration using the sketch be sure to pop by the CAS Colours & Sketches blog HERE and see how the DT and Guest Designer have used it.

I will be back again shortly with another post! 

Thanks for stopping by today.

Hugs

A Look Back At 2016!

Hey!

Welcome back to another 'Look Back At 2016! This year has been an amazing year for myself personally, but it has been a fantastic year for Uniko. We have had 5 fabulous releases, with 16 new clear stamps sets lining the Uniko HQ shelves. 

I don't know about you, but to me this year has almost passed by in a blur! With that in mind I thought it would be nice now the main seasonal festivities are over and as 2016 draws to a close, to take a look back at Uniko's 2016.

Apologies for the delay in posting and not posting yesterday, I had little sleep Wednesday night due to a Josh bean having nightmares, poor little fella. Then on Thursday I had to take Mr Cat to the vet and he had an operation to remove his eye as he had a large tumour in it. Another poor little fella that needed my attention and love post op last night.

Anyway, I am back today, I am taking a look back at the September/October 2016 Release and giving some fresh inky love to Originally Organic, Marvellous Mehndi, Simply Said II, Winter Foliage & Christmas Sparkle clear stamp sets.

First up a super CAS card using Originally Organic...

I was inspired by the current challenge over at TIME OUT Challenges HERE, which is an inspired by words challenge.

'With each sunrise we are given a chance for a new beginning'

I thought the sentiment I chose was appropriate and related to the 'new beginning' part of the challenge phrase. I then decided to accent the sentiment with the leaf cluster and a trio of sunny yellow buds to represent the 'sunrise'.

Next I dusted off Marvellous Mehndi...

For this card I got my distress inks out and enjoyed some relaxing ink blending! The sentiment is a mix of 'Happy' from Simply Said Birthday, which is partially stamped and the 'New Year' is from Simply Said II.

Lastly, I switched gears back to Christmas and combined both Christmas Sparkle & Winter Foliage. Plus I really gave my new MISTI a workout on this card.

I love this multi card layer stamping and lining up the bauble was SO much easier using the MISTI! I was also able to stamp the bauble in Altenew Cosmic Berry ink and then stamp over it again in VersaMark to be able to heat emboss it with Crystal EP.

I hope you will join me again tomorrow, when I will be taking a look back at the 2016 November Release and the last of 2016. Until then, thank you for stopping by.

Hugs

Introducing... Christmas Sparkle & Winter Foliage

YAY!

Thanks for all the lovely comments yesterday, didn't the Design Team do an awesome job showcasing the new clear stamps? If you missed it you can catch up HERE.

I'm SO glad that you have decided to come back today ;) as we have the last two product introductions for Sept/Oct product  release. That means tomorrow is release day!

Anyway, lets have a look at Christmas Sparkle and Winter Foliage. Both these clear stamp sets are awesome on their own, but they can be used together beautifully AND they work with other previously released Uniko Christmas/Winter themed clear stamps ;)

I had this card design in my head ever since I was designing the Christmas Sparkle bauble, so I had to recreate it for todays introduction!

The bauble is a two step stamp, which allows for a multitude of possibilities, however I decided to stamp both in Encore Silver ink and heat emboss with Stardust EP for a WOW of sparkle! 

The fussy cut sparkly raised bauble is hanging from the bough of holly embellished with the layered poinsettia and sparkly ribbon from last years Christmas clear stamp set Jingle Bells. 

My next card focuses on Winter Foliage...

This clear stamp set features a large pine bough and pinecones, you might recognise the images as they are larger versions of the pinecones from the previously released Background Builders: Winter Vines clear stamp setand the pine bough is from the previously released Jingle Bells clear stamp set. 

The pinecone stamp is a two step stamp and the large sentiment is from All Occasion Sentiments #4. Apart from the fussy cutting of the pinecones, this was a really quick and easily mass produceable Christmas card ;)

Ok, that's all I have to share with you here, but hop along the Design Team Blog links below for even more inspiration. I know for a fact you won't be disappointed, the team have created amazing projects showcasing how this set can be used...

CLICK HERE to see more from Bev

CLICK HERE to see more from Deborah

CLICK HERE to see more from Jane

CLICK HERE to see more from Lindsey

CLICK HERE to see more from Rahmat

CLICK HERE to see more from Sarah G

CLICK HERE to see more from Sarah P

The Design Team and I will be back tomorrow at 9am BST with the full reveal, blog hop & GIVEAWAY! All of the sets will be available for purchase at the same time HERE. 

Thank you for stopping by today and I'd LOVE to hear your initial thoughts on the introduction of this set!

Hugs

CAS Colours & Sketches #191

Hey!

This month over at CAS Colours & Sketches our hostess is Karen. Karen has come up with some fabulous challenges for us, including this weeks lovely colour combo HERE and seen below for you to try...

What a lovely colour combo, don't you think? It had me stumped for a while, but then an idea struck and I went with it. With a restock of lots of clear stamp sets today HERE in the Uniko store, including Peace On Earth that I have used on my card. I decided to make a Christmas card...

I thought the Delightful Dijon resembles a lovely old gold colour and one which I have the SU! card stock for, so decided to use that as my base. I then die cut a white panel stamped the sentiment and olive branch from the set in a close of a match green as I have to Cucumber Crush. Wrapped some Bermuda Bay bakers twine round the panel before adhering to the card base using foam adhesive.

The dove is stamped in Bermuda Bay, fussy cut out and embellished with glitter for a little Christmas sparkle! 

Ok, that's all from me for now, I hope I have inspired you to give these colours a go and join in on the challenge this week. Be sure to stop on over HERE and check out what the rest of the CAS Colours & Sketches DT have done using the colours and I hope to see you in the gallery.

Thanks for stopping by today.

Supplies:

Stamps: Uniko Peace On Earth

Ink: WPlus9 Mojito

Card Stock: SU! Whisper White & Delightful Dijon

Accessories: SU! Bermuda Bay Bakers Twine, Project Life Die, Foam Adhesive, Glitter