Two For Tuesday.

Happy Tuesday.

Today I have two cards to share. The first I pretty much made during the Background Blocks Swiss Dots YouTube video HERE. And during the video I promised I would share a card made exactly the same, but using the Taylored Expressions Perforated Paper. 

So I had this idea, basically wondering if I could achieve a similar look to perforated paper using the Background Blocks Swiss Dots. 

I started by stamping the background using Pebble ink and then I stencilled the Layering Picked Posies over the top. 

I finished with a sentiment from Everyday Sentiments adhered using foam tape and a trio of enamel dots. I absolutely LOVE the result, but I wanted to see how it compared to using the same stencil in the same colours and layout on the TE Perforated Paper. 

So off camera I made it.

This challenged me to finally cut into the paper! It's a little on the pricey side and you only get a few sheets, so something you would want to use sparingly. 

I love how it turned out and it was easy to stencil onto. 

In comparison to my first card the perforated paper has more of a yellow/off white colour compared to the Simply The Best 280gsm card from Limetree. 

With there being a lot more holes in the perforated paper compared to dot cover on the stamped card, the detail layer of the stencil is a little more subtle on this second card.

Personally I prefer the stamped version, but it doesn't mean I won't be trying the perforated paper in another project. 

I'd love to know which you perfer.

Crafty Hugs

Floral Friday 🌼

Hello & Happy Friday 😃

I've had the rainbow colours out again today while I was working on some inspiration coming soon 😉 so I couldn't resist putting them to work with the Stencil - Pure Florals Chrysanthemum, which came back in stock recently.

I thought that this cheerful card would be wonderful as a Get Well Card, so I added the sentiment from Everyday Sentiments to a strip of paper and adhered it using foam tape. I finished off with a trio of white enamel dots.

A couple of bits of news in case you missed it, I have a new video up on the Uniko YouTube Channel. 

AND there are only a few hours left of the End Of Summer SALE, so be sure to take advantage of these FAB bargains.

That's all I have for today, I hope to pop in with more inspiration over the weekend 🤞🏻 

Crafty Hugs

Technique Tuesday - Blackout with Uniko Stamps

Hello & Happy Tuesday. 

In between our new furry addition, Cali (the Calico kitten) playing and napping, I've managed to record a new video for you all and it's now available to watch HERE on the Uniko YouTube Channel.

Last Wednesday I shared THIS card over on the website blog and social media. I used the Stencil - MOD Background Builder for the same technique. 

I then realised that you might not know this technique, or you might. But all the same I thought it would be a fun video. 

Here's a look at the card I made in the video... 

I thought I would use this weeks Card of the Week products, Background Blocks Splatter, Balloon Bash and Everyday Sentiments. 

Have you seen the new feature on the website? 

Every Monday I upload a new card and all the products used are 15% off until the following Monday.

For the background colours I used Honeysuckle, Sorbet, Creamsicle, Sea Foam and Oceanside. For the balloons I used Peacock and Dragonfruit. 

I do hope you'll pop on by to watch the video. 

Crafty Hugs

 

Uniko's Customer Top 10 of 2023 - Number 2

Happy New Years Eve Eve! 

I'm back today this cold wet Saturday to share number 2 of Uniko's Customer Top 10 of 2023 most purchased products. It makes my heart happy to see the Stencil - Layering Bauhaus Blocks in the top 10. I was half expecting it to be number 1, but it was pipped at the post. You'll have to wait for tomorrow though to see which product topped it. 

I'm biased, but this product is one of my faves and I enjoy creating with it. Here's what I made today...

I am inspired to incorporate peach into my colour schemes at the moment with it being Pantone colour of 2024. So today I paired Grapefruit with Aqua Sky and Pebble.

I masked off the top and bottom of my card panel, as well as the top and bottom squares of the stencils to have just the middle section. I then inked it to create a band across my card.

 

I then used the Thank You sentiment from Everyday Sentiments and then decided to add a flower from Mid Century Modern Florals.

Thanks for joining me again today.

Crafty Hugs

Throwback Thursday - Doodle Flower

Hello & Happy Thursday!

Today I thought I would do a little Throwback Thursday.  I chose the Doodle Flowers clear stamp set as my muse and this card...

Do you remember this card? 

On it I used the heat embossing, masking and blending technique and too those to create this new version. 

What do you think?

This time I went for a different layout and different colours. I used scotch masking tape, stamped and embossed the Doodle Flowers and then I used Catherine Pooler Serene, Sparkling Berry and Merlot. 

I finished off the card with these foam mounted sentiments from Everyday Sentiments. A simple design, but I think it has impact. 

It was certainly fun to revisit and give a new spin on a card I have made before.

Crafty Hugs

Slimline Thank you!

Happy Saturday.

Autumn is here, I love the change in season. The cozy nights, the crisp air & change in colours. But I am still all for the bright rainbow colours!

With The Beans out for the day with their grandparents, I've been in the studio preparing for the Autumn & Winter season, but I also had some creative time. It's been a while since I used this set, so decided to ink up the Just Because clear stamps to create a rainbow slimline card. 

I enjoyed inking, stamping & fussy cutting to build this card. But dies are definitely on the mind for this set! 

I used Concord & 9th Ballet Slipper, Honeysuckle, Buttercup, Aqua Sky and Oceanside. I then added a the Thank You sentiment from Everyday Sentiments and finished off with some sparkly clear Nuvo Drops. 

What's coming up?

October sees a fresh batch of show prep with the Stamping Together show in Port Sunlight first on October 8th, just 2 weeks away! 

This is one of my favourite shows and I can't wait to get back & see some of you there. AND I am excited to have a little giveaway for one of you to win.

WIN A PAIR OF TICKETS TO ENTER THE SHOW

AND 

£10 spend at the Uniko* stand! 

Simply comment on this post here on the blog, Instagram or Facebook. I will choose a lucky random winner from those left across the platforms next Saturday 1st October 2022. 

* The £10 spend is gifted by myself as a little extra. Please only comment to win if you are able to attend the show. The winners name will be given to the show organisers to enter for free.

You can purchase tickets HERE too.

THEN...

Sunday 9th October 2022 Uniko will be 'almost' on home turf at Newcastle again for Stamperama! All the details and ticket purchase can be found HERE. 

On Sunday 16th October I will be demoing on the Dies to Die For stand at Stamp Magic in Doncaster. There will be a small selection of Uniko products available to purchase on their stand. 

A busy, but exciting month ahead! So watch this space for a bunch of restocks arriving next week.

I think that is all I have to share. Thanks for stopping by.

Crafty Hugs

Brand Ambassador Inspiration - grid-paper in different styles

Hi there,

here in Germany, in my federal state Brandenburg, the summer vacations will end soon... so I thought about getting crafty with some school relevant things - one of the first subjects in my mind was math - and grid paper!
Do you know the great Background Blocks Stamp with Grid pattern?

I made three different cards in different styles, but every one is made with this great background stamp and with grey as basic colour.

 

The first one is a masculine card, combined with the Background Blocks Cogs. Both Blocks I havn't used in the full size - I added a masking tape to my paper to keep the rest of the paper clean.
In the focal point I used a cool glaucous colour and different greys.

The upper half of the card is stamped with the patterns, in the lower part I added three times the same sentiment, embossed it in two different colours, fitting to the cogs.
To give the card a bit "more" I added some black dimensional dots in the centers of the cogs.
A quick card to make, anyway with some specials for guys!

As occasion for the other two cards I've choosen "Get well soon".
In the first one I affirmed the stenciled and pencil coloured bloomy eyecatchers with two sizes of rhinestone drops and a metallic nuvo drop in the middle. The sentiment is embossed in silver - so it's a bit sealing with the grey wiped background and isn't dominating the scene.

And for the last card for today I used similar stamps but in a different colour scheme. I returned to the more masculine colours light green, light blue, petrol.
The accents are big glittered half globes and hand drawn stamina.

The half globes are made out of selfadhesive clear rubber bumpers (or antishock dots?) from the DIY store (they are used to protect furnitures and/or doors from damages) and pure glitter.
They are bigger than usual crafty accents and you can mix your own choice of glitter or just use clear glitter and a coloured background to make them fit perfectly to your project!
Making them was a fun little extra crafting time!

What kind of design you can imagine with a grid paper background?
Hope I was able to inspire you and try something new!

Have a creative time! 

Greetings from Wiebke

BA Inspiration, Combining sentiments from more than one set

Good morning all, Julie here with some Brand Ambassador inspiration. 

Do you find masculine cards difficult? I love making cards for blokes just as much as for the girls, until recently the boys outnumbered the girls in our family! My go to style for masculine cards is CAS and the choice of colours also plays a part, bold bright colours work well for masculine cards. So here's a simple idea that you can use over again, just change the sentiment!

Over at Cardz4Guyz their new challenge theme is something beginning with D, so I chose Die Cuts and used some Uniko sentiments to create my card focal point. As I made quite a few extra die cut shapes, I decided to make a few more cards with them and share them with you here.

Here are the first two, the bright one on black I used for the challenge at Cardz4Guyz and the other I made with the more pastel tones on white for a feminine take. The layout of the die cuts is slightly different but the sentiment is the same.

To begin, I selected a few different sentiment stamp sets which I could combine to make my sentiment phrase. For these two cards I selected Everyday Sentiments, Doodle Flowers and Happy Days. Using a speech bubble die set, I cut a load of colourful shapes from card scraps, waste not want not.

On the long speech bubble, I arranged the sentiment then stamped with Versamark and heat embossed with white EP. I find it easiest to use a jig for stamping on small items, so for this I cut the shape from a piece of scrap card which I placed in my MISTI and arranged the sentiment stamps in the opening. Try test stamping on some scrap to ensure you don't waste the die cut!

Using this stamped bubble as the start, I arranged the die cuts over my A6 base cards, trimming off anything that was overhanging. You don't need to make up your own sentiment phrases, there are lots of ready made ones that Bev has released, but I thought it would allow me to fill the long thin speech bubble.

As I had a few leftover die cuts, I went with a different sentiment phrase and layout, this time using a mix of Doodle Flowers and Floral Vines.

It was the same process as for the other two cards, except that the sentiment was in a different place.

This card could be for a male or female recipient really. If you don't have speech bubble dies, you could use other die cut shapes to get the same effect, balloon dies would work well.

OK,  that's all from me for the moment, but I hope I've given you some ideas to create masculine cards and get more use from your sentiment stamps.

Stay safe 'til next time and keep crafting!