New Brand Ambassador - A Warm Welcome to Steph!

Happy Thursday! 

I am delighted today to be giving a warm welcome and introduction to our newest Brand Ambassador, Steph Mortimer. I'm sure you are familiar with Steph's work around blog land as she is on a few challenge design teams and is a frequent participant in previous Uniko Challenges. If not, I am passing you over to Steph for a little introduction....

Hello, my name is Steph and I am over the moon to be joining the Uniko team as a Brand Ambassador. It has been a dream of mine for a while so I don’t think it’s really sunk in yet! So, here’s a little about me by way of introduction. 

I live in Derbyshire with my husband and twin girls. Like many crafters I have been creating in one form or another since I was a child but what first captured my heart was cross stitch. It wasn't until I was looking for wedding stationary that I caught the paper crafting bug. Not being able to find anything that I liked, I purchase a Big Shot machine and a few staple items and set about making my own. 

My first papercraft obsession was stamps, quickly followed by dies, but I have since managed to amass ink pads, alcohol markers and now it seems patterned papers a plenty! My natural cardmaking style is CAS, but I am always looking to learn new techniques and push myself out of my comfort zone so I do occasionally like to throw everything at a card in a very un-CAS like way! 

I was first introduced to Uniko by Brand Ambassador Alumni, Lyndsey Bowe and I have spent many a happy hour crafting in her dining room and routing through her Uniko collection. I now have an impressive Uniko collection of my own and I’m so happy I will be using them even more now I’m part of the team.

Welcome Steph! 

I asked Steph to choose a few of her favourite Uniko makes so that I could share them with you to give you a flavour of her style if you are unfamiliar with her creations. Let's have a look...

Absolutely love this combination of Uniko Peonies and English Country Garden Butterflies. I think you would agree with me that the colouring and colours are stunning.

Simple Art Deco elegance with this card using our Background Builders Arts Decoratifs and Arts Decoratifs stamp sets. 

And lastly but by no means lease this beautiful starry sky CAS card...

Now you can see why I am delighted to have Steph join us here at Uniko and I am sure you are all as excited as I am to see Steph in action, so keep your eye out for Steph's first inspiration post coming soon here on the blog.

I would love it if you would leave some welcoming comment love and be sure to pop back tomorrow for the start of our next challenge - yay! 

Until then, thank you for stopping by today.

Crafty Hugs

 

Festive Featured In Friday!

Happy Friday!

It's been a strange week here at Uniko HQ, it feels as though Friday has come round quick, but at the same time it has been a long week!

Today I am sharing about another Uniko feature, this time in the NEW issue of Die Cutting Essentials magazine which hit the stores yesterday.

For this feature Kirstie the editor of the magazine wanted something festive, but as I didn't have my newest Designer Die release to hand, I set to using the super popular BIG & BOLD Happy Designer Dies which I released back in February this year.

With this die collection being released when Uniko was celebrating their 7th Birthday and the majority of projects shown using this product have been birthday related, it was the perfect opportunity to show how they can be used for other occasions, including Christmas!

Here are a couple of the cards from the feature in the magazine...

For this first card I used the die which cuts out the word happy and I have paired it with the holly from Winter Foliage and the Christmas sentiment from Most Wonderful. As I didn't have any glimmer or foil card to die cut the word from the match the heat embossed Christmas sentiment, I used VersaMark ink to smother the die cut and heat emboss with the same powder. I repeated until I achieved a lovely smooth coverage.

Next, I couldn't resist making a shaker card! 

For this card I used the coordinating BIG & BOLD Happy clear stamp set for the stamped background and sentiment.

I'm HAPPY to report that the BIG & BOLD Happy Designer Dies are back in stock and available on the website :)

That's all from me today, but I do hope you will pop back tomorrow at 9am to join myself and the Uniko Brand Ambassadors for the October Post Release Blog Hop & GIVEAWAY!

Until then, thanks for stopping by today!

Crafty Hugs 

Introducing... BIG & BOLD Happy Clear Stamps & Designer Dies

Hey!

Welcome to Day 1 of our 7th Birthday & February 2019 Release product introductions.

I've been waiting for this day for AGES and now this is the fun part where myself, my guest designer and the design team get to show you LOTS of inspiration! You get to see all the sneak peeks I shared yesterday in action on cards & projects over the next few days leading up to 11th February, Release Day! 

Anyway, let's get to it, as today we are introducing the next clear stamp set in the BIG & BOLD series and this clear stamp set has matching Designer Dies too  - YAY!!

So I introduce to you BIG & BOLD Happy Clear Stamps & Designer Dies...

This photo only shows a snippet of the FUN I have had with this Clear Stamp Set & coordinating Designer Dies. Though I think I have created more cards with the dies alone so far, as they are so versatile! 

The clear stamp set itself contains the large happy, 10 mix & match sentiments, plus 5 accent stamps. 

The die collection consists of one that cuts out the large happy as seen in the photo and then there is a shadow die to layer it with. This opens up so many options for techniques and possibilities within your card making & crafting. Plus there are dies to match the 5 accent stamps.

Now, it wouldn't be a release without a daily blog hop full of inspiration! As usual my AWESOME Design Team have worked their magic with todays products, so be sure to hop along & see them...

Bev

Ruth

Carol 

Izzy 

Jane 

Julie

Linda

Lindsey

Sarah G

Sarah P

Wiebke 

WOW! That was a phenomenal inspirational hop, so many new ideas of how to use this new clear stamp set and collection of dies. I hope you enjoyed the hop & will come back tomorrow for the next product introductions.

Also, don't forget the enter the HUGE giveaway HERE to WIN Stamps For A Year! If you need help entering the giveaway as you don't have a blog or social media to link, send me an email and I will assist you :)

Hugs

7th Birthday & February Release Sneak Peeks

Woohoo!

It is finally time to share the 'official' sneak peeks for the 7th Birthday February Release! With so much FUN & excitement already, it has been hard to keep these till now & you might have already spotted LOTS of peeks at the new products being released around social media AND over on the website blog! 

Anyway, this month I have 6 new clear stamp sets, 2 designer die collections AND 1 stencil design being released on February 11th at 9pm GMT. 

Let's have a look at the peeks...

Do you recognise this font? Did you see the Guest Designer card I made for "Less is More" which I shared HERE! 

Yep, it is the next addition to the BIG & BOLD series AND to top it off rather nicely this clear stamp set has a collection of coordinating Designer Dies - WOOHOO!! 

Next I have a peek at a new sentiment clear stamp set...

When I design for releases I often look at what is missing from the Uniko inventory and what I would use and need as a stamper & card maker! I was missing sentiments that could be used inside my cards as well as on the outside, so here it is! 

You know I can't resist a new floral set! So here is my modern take on the Passiflora (Passion Flower) AND this clear stamp set also has a collection of coordinating Designer Dies - YAY! 

Lastly for the clear stamps in this release I have 2 new designs to add to the growing Background Blocks series...

BUT, wait.... that is only 5 sneak peek pics, where is the 6th I hear you ask?! 

Well, I am keeping the 6th under wraps a little longer! You will have to keep an eye out during the introductions for its 'formal' introduction and the reason for keeping it 'secret' for a little longer ;)

And lastly, but by no means least I have a new stencil design...

That is all the sneak peeks for this release, which means tomorrow the FUN starts!! Myself, our Guest Designer Ruth & the Design Team will be back to start the product introductions with lots of inspiration. 

I'd LOVE to know what you are most excited to see in this line up of products and what your favourite is! 

Win Stamps For A Year! DON'T FORGET to enter the HUGE prize giveaway on THIS post too! 

Thank you so much for stopping by today & I do hope you will come back & see what these sneak peeks can do?! 

Hugs

Lots Of HAPPY!

Hey!

I hope you are all having a lovely weekend & finding some creative time too ;) With hubby still home I have been able to fit chores in whilst he plays with the beans so during their decent nap time this afternoon and now they have gone to bed I have had a good chunk of creative time  - YAY! And I have actually made good progress with making four cards. I will be sharing the other three later next week, but here is todays card...

I haven't played along a "Less is More" in what seems like forever, this week they have a colour challenge HERE which is Neutrals. They have a fabulous sponsor this month too, so be sure to join in on the challenges to be in the chance of winning.

Keeping on with my current HAPPY theme & state of mind I created a birthday card. This one will be 'winging' its way across the Atlantic for a friends birthday. It has been an age since I last inked up BRIGHT Butterflies, which is sadly retiring this year. There are a couple of sets due back in stock this week & so if you want a set before they're gone for good you'll have to be quick! 

For my neutral colours I used a mix of SU! inks, Chocolate Chip, Soft Suede & Crumb Cake and added VersaMagic Wheat ink for the lighter shade. The sentiments are a mix from Simply Said Birthday and the notebook die is from Papertrey Ink. 

That's all from me today, short & sweetish tonight. Time to go chill with the hubby and catch up on the TV series Luther. I'll be back tomorrow with more to share & until then, thank you for stopping by today.

Hello 2016!

HEY & HAPPY NEW YEAR!

I do hope 2016 has begun well for you all and I wish you all a healthy, happy and creative New Year. 

We saw in the New Year quietly at home and watched the fireworks in London on the TV, with a hot chocolate then went to bed! So rock 'n' roll these days - LOL! 

I also had a little creative time before the New Year arrived and I made two cards to share with you this evening...

First up a 'Hello 2016' shaker card. Again I used the current ColourQ challenge colours seen HERE and below & this time I added in the current Freshly Made Sketches sketch seen HERE and below.

To make my shaker window I used a die from SU! Square Pillow Box collection and the shaker mix is from Little Things From Lucy's Cards. I used Uniko Classic Numbers to stamp the 2016 inside the shaker frame & the 'hello' die is from Mama Elephant die cut in gold CS and mounted over the top of two glittered stripes of double sided tape. You can never have too much glitter & bling to ring in a New Year :)

As I was on a creative roll I decided to make another New Year card, there were a few people I really wanted to send Christmas cards to, but I simply ran out of time. So I plan on sending New Years cards instead :)

This time I went for a mail friendly flat card. I started out by drawing a grid on my white CS layer & stamped the 4 squares from Uniko Classic Alphabet in black ink. I then stamped and heat embossed the 2016 in gold. 

Before rubbing out my grid I stamped 'Happy New Year' in the remaining squares. Once all my stamping was dry I erased the lines, added some glitter to the square outlines and adhered a few white heart dome stickers.

Today has been fairly quiet, this morning was spent with the beans just playing with their Christmas toys and me & my husband joining in ;) Then this afternoon I hosted New Years Day dinner for my husbands Mam, Dad & brother which was lovely. The beans love spending time with their grandparents :)

Now the beans are in bed and the family have left I am enjoying some more creative time & preparing my cards to mail out tomorrow. One of my many New Year resolutions is to send more of the cards I make!

Ok, that's all I have to share with you today. I will be back over the weekend (fingers crossed) with more to share, but if not 'normal' scheduling & work will resume on Monday as the holidays are 'officially' over then! 

Until then, thank you for stopping by & here's to another FABULOUS & EXCITING Year, with many Uniko creations & surprises ;)

Negatives, Positives & Balloons!

Hey!

What a scorcher here in the NE of the UK! Summer has finally arrived :) I am not a sun worshipper as I burn easily, but I do love it when the sun is out. Then a good thunderstorm to go with it is just as good. 

The beans & I took a lovely sunny walk this morning into our local market town - Yarm. Then this afternoon after the thunderstorm had cooled things down for a while at least, the new paddling pool was christened...

The beans LOVE bath time and even cry when it is time to get out so they thought it was fabulous when they were stripped naked and plopped into the pool! 

Anyway, now they are fast asleep in bed I have snuck off to the studio office for a little creative time :) I had this idea in my head for another card for CAS Colours & Sketches before the challenge closes tonight...

My idea took a little creative turn and instead of using the positive die cut which I had planned on I decided to use the negative instead. HERE and below is the sketch as a reminder...

I placed the string bow of the balloon where the ribbon bow is on the sketch and stamped the word happy to complete the line of the sketch. I also used the current colours over at The Card Concept HERE and below for my card.

Balloon Bash was the top seller on the website last month and it was the perfect set to use for my card along with a partial sentiment from A Gift For You.

Now I have caught up and got my creative fix I am going to go flop with hubby in front of the TV and watch an episode or two! Thanks for stopping by today & I will be back tomorrow with more to share :)