Two For Tuesday - Christmas Bauhaus

Hello & Happy Tuesday.

I've a couple of quick Christmas cards to share with you today using the Background Blocks Bauhaus. I came up with these couple of ideas when the stamp came back in stock at the end of November. I just needed 20 mins to make them!

Let's have a look...

I started with using the Background Blocks Bauhaus on the landscape orientation to create a one layer card. I used VersaFine Clair Nocturne ink and for my Christmas Sentiments, sentiment. 

I chose Dark Poppy Parade and Dark Granny Apple Stampin' Blends to randomly colour the stamp to create a festive look. You can watch this card being made over on YouTube HERE.

I had so much fun making this simple card, I went on to make another. 

This time I went for a similar look to a previous card I have made using this stamp, which I shared HERE. 

I used the same colours and a different sentiment from Christmas Sentiments and switched things up with using the block landscape and also mounting the stamped layer onto my base card using foam tape.

That's all I have for today.

Crafty Hugs

Celebrate With Background Blocks Bauhaus

Hello & Happy Tuesday. 

Today I have a quick card using the Background Blocks Bauhaus stamp which was released back in August. 

This stamp, like all the Background Blocks, is great for quick cards and adding fun patterns. 

I stamped the block twice across the top of my white card panel (9.5 x 13cm) in VersaFine Clair Morning Mist ink. 

I then used a trio of Stampin' Up! Markers in Pretty Peacock, Not Quite Navy and Grapefruit Grove to colour some of the semi circles. 

I finished by adhering the panel to a Concord & 9th Sorbet card base and added a fussy cut celebrate from Mid Century Modern Everyday Sentiments. Plus a trio of Midnight enamel dots.

A restock of this stamp, all of the July, August and the popular Mid Century Modern collection is due in the studio week beginning 22rd August, so not long to wait now. 

Plus I will have sorted the new USA shipping following the tariffs by then too.

Crafty Hugs

Wonderful Wednesday - A Winner & A Card

Hello & Happy Wednesday. 

I'm here to get you over the mid week hump with some inspiration and the winner of the August Release Blog Hop.

First up my card...

My card was inspired by being out in the garden this morning doing the outside jobs before we go on holiday, like mow the lawns, dead head the flowers in the baskets and sort the chickens too. 

I've not inked up the Layering Picked Posies for a bit, so I thought it would be nice to use for this quick, clean and simple card. 

I recorded a YouTube Short of me making the card, you can watch it HERE. 

I used random.org to select a lucky comment and the winner is...

Melissa Leftrick

Awesome cards!!!

Congratulations Melissa! Please send an email to bev@uniko.co.uk to claim your £25 eGift Code. 

Thank you to everyone who took the time to comment and hop along with us.

Before I go, a little friendly reminder.

Crafty Hugs

Quick, Clean & Simple 🌸

Hello & Happy Friday. 

With it being school half term here for The Beans, creative time has been limited. So I set myself a challenge of making a couple of cards, both in less than 15 mins from prep to finishing.

I'm still loving Originally Organic Flower Garden and had this fun fussy cut detail idea.

I shared a reel on Uniko's Instagram HERE making this card, time to make in real time was 11 minutes. And I also shared it as a short on YouTube HERE. 

Today a few stencil restocks arrived, including the Stencil - Layering Bright Butterflies. And I've been waiting to share this idea with you all.

I'm determined to use up lots of coloured card panels and both these layout ideas are good for that! The split panel adds a little interest to a flat card with no embellishment. And with the stencil having 3 different butterflies, instantly you have 3 different designs. 

If you want to see how quick I made this card you can catch the short on Uniko's YouTube Channel HERE. It took me 7 minutes real time. 

Stencil Restocks

These popular stencils are back and available on the website 😀

Have a lovely weekend & hopefully I will be back with more to share tomorrow.

Crafty Hugs

Clean & Simple Floral Celebration

Happy Wednesday.

Another week is zooming by, but I was determined to squeeze in a little creative time and give some inky love to the Stencil - Ink & Flip Layering Flower. 

It's been ages since I joined in on a card making challenge and today as my creative mojo had taken a wander a couple of challenges came to my rescue! 

Firstly I used CAS Colours & Sketches current sketch for the layout of my card. You can see the sketch HERE and below.

I then decided to use a challenge for my colour choice today and so I went to AAA Colourful for inspiration. Seen HERE and below.

I used Concord & 9th Sweet Pea and Dragonfruit for the stencilling and I added some Cranberry Enamel Dots to add a third colour. My sentiment choice is from Simply Said Blocks. 

Short(ish) and sweet from me today, thanks for stopping by.

Crafty Hugs

Uniko's Customer Top 10 of 2023 - Number 4

Hello & Happy Thursday.

I am here today to share Uniko's Customer Top 10 of 2023. Today we have the 4th most purchased product, Bauhaus Blocks.

This clear stamp set, perfect for masculine cards debuted in June this year. Again, due to its popularity it is currently out of stock, but don't worry, it'll be back early January. 

I have a few masculine birthdays in January & February, so it was a good opportunity to get creating with this stamp set. Here's what I made today...

I started by choosing a Mid Century inspired colour palette, light & dark teal, mustard yellow, chocolate brown and burnt orange. I then stamped and coloured the blocks.

I decided to stamp & fussy cut the middle block, adhering it to the card with foam adhesive. The birthday sentiment is also from the set and adhered using foam adhesive. 

A simple, yet (in my opinion) effective card. I hope you are having a lovely day, thanks for joining me again today.

Crafty Hugs

Autumnal Thanks & a Winner!

Hello & Happy Thursday, 

Apologies for my quietness around here and socials, its been a week of forced rest and recovery from a horrible chesty cold the Beans brought home from school and kindly shared with me and the whole family.

Anyway, luckily I made this card before I was poorly and saved it to share with you all for when I announced the winner of the October Release Blog Hop.

I've said it so many times before, but I always try to add in some smaller stamps to fill the gaps when designing stamp sets. These little accent stamps can create big impact, which I have hopefully shown on my card.

I revisited an old technique, of which the name has currently left my brain! Where you ink the stamp with a light shade and the roll the edges in a darker shade or even dap with a small blending brush. This gives aa natural looking effect to the image.

I used scotch tape to mask the section for the sentiment and then stamped the leaves. I used a variety of Concord & 9th colours with an autumnal feel. I then inked an acrylic block with a few of the colours to add watercolour splats before stamping my sentiment & accenting with two fussy cut leaves.

I've mainly used Autumn Serenade, but also the leaf from Big & Bold thank/s/ful from the October Release, which leads me on nicely to the winner.

Thank you for all the lovely comments here on the blogs and around social media, they are appreciated by us all. So with the help of random name generator, the lucky comment is...

cm7 October 2023 at 14:43

An array of beautiful cards, Steph; each one really highlights how wonderful this new release is. I'm especially smitten with your snowflakes; a pretty wintry wonderland, indeed!
~carol

Congratulations Carol! 

Please drop me an email at bev@uniko.co.uk along with your mailing address and I will get your goodies in the post to you.

We have another Release in Review Brand Ambassador Blog Hop coming at the end of the month for another chance to win & lots more inspiration. Plus, I will be back tomorrow with Day 5 of Uniko's 12 Days of Christmas inspiration and giveaways! 

Crafty Hugs

Festive Friday!

Happy FriYAY! 

I'm jumping on the early Black Friday bandwagon with our best discount code of the year. Save 30% on all orders of £10 or more, plus shop the sale and save up to 40%. Code is valid until Midnight GMT Saturday 26th November 2022. 

Royal Mail have planned postal strikes next weekend, so get in early to (hopefully) receive your order before then! 

Now onto my inspiration for the day...

Can you tell I am starting to panic that I've not made nearly enough Christmas cards, as usual?! I really need to get the international ones posted and probably the ones for family & friends in the UK ;)

Anyway, back to what I have made today. It's been ages since I inked up Winter Foliage, it's an oldie, but still a firm favourite.

I started off by stamping the holly leaves in Concord & 9th Clover ink. I then stamped the berries in Cranberry ink. The holly leaves are really easy to cut out, so I created a mask for each of them from Eclipse paper, so that when I stamped the pine branches they appear behind the holly leaves.

The pine branches are stamped in Evergreen ink and my chosen sentiment is from Christmas Sentiments and adhered to the card using foam adhesive. 

As I had all the colours and supplies out, I decided to make another quick and simple card using them. The layout is roughly the same, but I started by stamping the sentiment first and then building the cluster around it.

This time I started with the pine branches and I stamped them in both Evergreen and Altenew Espresso ink. The holly leaves and berries are fussy cut and adhered to the card using foam adhesive.

That's all from me today, I am sure you will be seeing more of this set in the coming days/weeks! 

Crafty Hugs 

Hello September!

 Hello & Happy September!

I can't believe we are in September already. The summer seems to have flown by in a flash. It is back to school chaos as The Beans return on Monday AND luckily they get to celebrate their 8th Birthday tomorrow with no school! 

In between baking cakes today I managed to squeeze in a little crafty time. As much as I have enjoyed the summer, I have missed my daily routine in the studio and getting creative. So as much as I would happily have the school holidays last a little longer, I will be glad to get back in the studio!

Todays card was a fairly quick make as I had already stamped and fussy cut the leaves from Natures Treasures II a few weeks ago. They've just been sat waiting to be used! 

I decided to pair them with BIG & BOLD Hello. Mainly as I wanted a Hello September / Autumn inspired card with a modern twist of using neutral tones, but not just browns. I added a little bit of dimension with the fussy cut hello and the upper most leaf using foam adhesive.

September is an exciting month as next week we have another batch of requested clear stamp restocks arriving next week. These include, Background Blocks Halftone, Background Builders Squared, Pure Florals Gerbera, Pure Florals Peony and Snowflake Serenade. These are all available on backorder over on the website and any orders containing a backorder will be posted 7th / 8th September. 

Orders over £25 are being posted via Signed For Delivery at no extra cost to you, due to the postal strikes. As well, please allow extra time for your orders to arrive due to the strikes. I have no control over this and if I used a courier I would have to increase postage costs and I don't want to do this. 

In other news, Uniko is super excited to be in Harrogate on the 10th and 11th at the Crafterama show. This will be our first time in Harrogate AND doing a two day show! You can purchase tickets HERE.

Before I go I have one more little announcement. I know times are hard right now and we are all feeling the pinch. So in celebration of The Beans 8th Birthday tomorrow I am offering 10% off all orders from today, until 10am Monday 5th September. 

That's all from me today! 

Crafty Hugs