Hello April 🌸

Hello April & Happy Tuesday. 

A shiny new month ahead and lots of inspiration in store. It's a jam packed month here at Uniko HQ with lots planned for the month. 

This weekend I have another show, here in the North East of the UK with Crafterama in Gateshead. I'm excited to be back on almost home ground & I'm looking forward to chatting & demoing on the Uniko stand. 

Next is the Uniko Stamping Retreat & I've a fun filled day of crafting in store and the attendees are super lucky, they get to see & craft with the new products coming at the end of the month. 

I'll be taking a little 'break' over the Easter weekend, I say 'break' more like getting out of the studio to help my husband install a new fence along the side of our house. Whilst I might add The Beans go off on their jollies with Grandma & Grandad! I often wonder what I agree to 😂

Then the final full week of April we will begin the countdown to the April 2025 Release which will be available on the website and at the Crafterama show in Lincoln. 

Anyway, enough chat, lets start the month as I mean to go on with inspiration...

My card today was totally inspired by THIS card by Kristina Werner. I've been a fan of Kristina's for many many years and I was delighted when she launched her own collection with Concord & 9th. I've treated myself to a few things, including this skinny frame die. You can purchase it HERE at Seven Hills Crafts.

Anyway, I saw this card, loved the layout and thought it would work wonderfully with the flowers from Organic Blooms.

I often forget about stamping on coloured card. So often I reach for white and a way of adding colour, which I am not always great at doing. But this is a fun and quick way of bringing all the colour.

The colours used are Wildberry, Honeysuckle, Sweet Pea & Pink Lemonade. I chose to use black for my frame and stamping instead of gold that Kristina has used, but I still managed to squeeze in a little white! 

Are you a fan of stamping on coloured card or patterned paper?

Crafty Hugs

March Meet The Maker - Making

Hello & Happy FriYAY! 

Today on March Meet The Maker it is all about making. So I made a card and created a little YouTube short of me making it, you can watch it HERE 😀

I chose Beautiful Blooms II to ink up today and here is my finished card...

I used my 'go to' colours, Buttercup, Honeysuckle, Oceanside & Parsley. My sentiment is a mix of the happy from Happy Succulents and the birthday from Birthday Sentiments.

AND before I go I am so late in randomly selecting and announcing the winner of the March Brand Ambassador Blog Hop (my apologies). 

Random.org selected lucky no. 

And the winner is Lucy E

Lucy E.11 March 2025 at 23:13

Fabulous cards! What creative ways to use the stamps!

Congratulations Lucy, please send an email to bev@uniko.co.uk to claim your eGift Code prize. Thank you to everyone who took the time to comment and hop along with us.

Crafty Hugs

March Meet The Maker - Favourite Collection

Happy Wonderful Wednesday.

Today on March Meet The Maker it's all about Favourite Collection. Now this is a little tricky, my favourites constantly change and well, I love everything I design! 

So far during March Meet The Maker I have given love to the products in the Organic series and I have also given a little love to the one of a kind Ink & Flip Stencils. So, it was only right that I let the Uniko Mid Century Modern Collection take the limelight today.

Whilst technically the Bauhaus design movement (1919-1933) was before Mid Century Modern (1945-1970), I've included them in the Uniko collection because, well they do work lovely together.

This collection is also a firm favourite with Uniko customers and often sells out quickly, I've had a recent rush on what *was* in stock, such as Mid Century Modern Florals which has had a flurry and sold out last week. 

With that, it is a collection I restock fairly quickly, more on that later though. Let's have a look at some of this collection in action, I've created a couple of cards using some of the products that are currently still in stock! 

I feel I've neglected the Stencil - Mid Century Modern Circle & Stars so chose that for some fresh inky love. As you know I love pink & orange together and so I chose to section off a little of the background to ink with Honeysuckle and then I placed the stencil and inked through with Marmalade to create this striking background inside the circle die.

I chose the Smile sentiment from Mid Century Modern Everyday Sentiments as this really does make me smile. And I finished with a few Marmalade enamel dots.

I had fun with circle die cuts that I created another fun card using more of a spotlight technique. I ink blended the stencil all over my base card using Blueberry, Fig and Grapefruit inks..

I then die cut circles from another layer before adhering using foam tape and finishing with another of the sentiments from Mid Century Modern Everyday Sentiments.

Along with making these new creations, I've been busy in the studio designing new products to expand this collection later this year and if you already love the collection, I think you'll love these new additions too 😜

Are you a fan of Mid Century Modern?

Before I go today I have some restock news, the following highly popular and requested clear stamps and stencils are now available...

Background Blocks Arts Decoratifs

Background Blocks Mid Century Modern

Background Blocks MOD Builder

Background Blocks Splatter

Background Blocks Wonky Stripes

Background Builders Diamonds

Bauhaus Blocks

Flower Power #2

Flower Power #3

Flower Power #7

Flower Power #8

Organic Blooms

Paw Print Hearts

Stencil - Geometric Happy Birthday 

Apologies for such a long post! 

Crafty Hugs

March Meet The Maker - Where

Hello & Happy Monday.

Today on March Meet The Maker it is all about WHERE. 

So where can you find Uniko?

Well, the obvious place is the Uniko website...

You won't find Uniko products available on any other website, unless they are an exclusive like I did a while ago with CraftStash for example. I don't wholesale Uniko products out to any other craft shops. 

Every now and then you will find Uniko at paper craft shows such as Stamperama & Crafterama. My next show is in Gateshead on April 6th 2025.

Even though this year I aim to venture further a field with Uniko, there are some shows that have been out of my reach and when I can't be there, Dies to Die For have a small selection of Uniko products on their stand. 

I'd love to know if there is a show you would like to see me at?

Inspiration wise you will find Uniko here on the blog of course, plus Instagram, Facebook, Pinterest and YouTube.

Talking of inspiration, today I thought I would share this week's Card Of The Week with you...

The fresh sunshine this morning inspired me today to choose this card using Organically Zesty. Plus Julie's recent inspiration HERE inspired me too. You never know, I *might* get round to inking this set up again if my plans this week go to plan! 

That's all from me today. I will be back later this week with more to share including restocks and a new video over on YouTube.

Crafty Hugs

Welcome Spring!

Hello 😃

Happy Spring to those of you in the Northern Hemisphere 🌷 It's such a delight to finally have the sunshine here, although still chilly on a morning and when it goes it, it really does help lift the mood. Even more so when today is also International Day of Happiness.

With it being a day of happiness I had to do things that make me happy. First up was making trio of cards using the Stencil - Layering Picked Posies that have been on my creative mind all week. 

Although this layering stencil is perfect all year round, it was screaming for spring colours. And of course I went for my usual colour palette that really makes me happy.

First up I went for a fun square layout using square die cuts. I made a similar card over on the Seven Hills Crafts blog today using this layout.

This partial inking on the squares is a fun way to use the flowers only and I left a space without the square to stamp my sentiment from Everyday Spring Sentiments.

Next up it was only right that I used all four layers for a focal point panel. This time I added in a little purple for the smaller flowers, of which I simply used the ink left on the blending brush for a softer look.

I adhered the stencilled panel onto my card base using double sided tape, leaving me to add the sentiment strip using foam adhesive. Again my sentiment is from the Everyday Spring Sentiments.

Lastly for today I wanted to use the full bloom on its own as a single flower. I used some simple masking to ink the leaves I wanted. 

I chose to have a little more dimension on this card by adhering the flower using foam adhesive and again, another of the sentiment choices from the Everyday Spring Sentiments.

Which layout do you like best?

I can't choose a favourite today as I had so much fun inking and making. 

As today is International Day Of Happiness and I know we can all do with a bit more happiness, so I have a HAPPY10 discount code over on the website today until 9am tomorrow 21st March 2025. No code necessary.

Crafty Hugs

March Meet The Maker - Aim

The Sky Isn't The Limit, It's Just The View.

Hello & Happy Monday.

Today on March Meet The Maker, it is all about aims. I've lots of aims this year, more than I will probably achieve! 

But I see it like this sentiment above which I used on my card today and how I interpret it. Why limit yourself?

Why should the sky be the limit? 

There is so much more beyond that, well that's what I think. That's why I included this sentiment in the Up & Away stamp set which I used on my card today.

Here's a few of my aims this year...

💕 Be authentically me.

To continue to be unique, true to my style, releasing products that are fun and spark creativity.

💕Be more visible.

It took me a few years to get out from behind the computer screen and take Uniko to paper craft shows. This year my aim is to take Uniko further a field in the UK and add a few more shows to my list. 

Along with that I want to be more visible across social media, and maybe even show my face a little more on camera! 

💕Learn & develop to improve.

This year I am invested in learning and developing my skills to improve how I showcase my products and design. From better photography to implementing and expanding features available on the Uniko website. 

That is just a little outline of some of my aims this year. I could probably write a dissertation on the subject of my aims in 2025. But I know the visual inspiration is what you'd rather have 😜

Today I used a Spellbinders die to create a frame mask to ink the Stencil - Cloud 9 through. I used 3 shades of blue, Powder, Harbor and Blueberry. 

I stamped the hot air balloon adding the basket and flag tail for a little bit of a different look and coloured with my Copic Markers. 

Finishing with my favourite sentiment. 

That's all from me today.

Crafty Hugs

March 2025 Non-Release Brand Ambassador Blog Hop & GIVEAWAY!

Welcome to the March 2024 Non-Release Brand Ambassador Blog Hop & GIVEAWAY! 

It's been a while, mainly because of so many recent new releases. But to fill in for the months where I need a beat to catch up and give your bank balance a rest! It's time for a non release inspirational blog hop & giveaway. 

For those of you who are new around these parts I will explain what this post is all about...

Here at Uniko HQ it is just myself behind the screen, blogging, designing, packaging stamps & orders through the Uniko online shop, customer service and all the things in between. I *usually* release new product every other month for a number of reasons, but mainly so I can keep up with everything!

On non - release months like this month I like to set myself and the Brand Ambassadors a challenge to look back at a previously released product and give it some more love. Plus, I think it's always nice to revisit older sets and provide more inspiration and not just from me.

So without further ado, lets see the product I decided upon for March.

Sunshine & Rainbows £11.50

Released in June 2022 I finally jumped on the rainbow bandwagon and released my version of a building rainbow stamp set. Not only is this stamp set perfect for up coming spring, but all year round sending hope and cheer. 

The set works wonderfully independently, but with so many new products since it was released there are so many creative possibilities and pairings. 

Let's have a look and see what the Brand Ambassadors have created. Don't forget to comment along the hop for your chance to win a £25 eGift code to spend in store. 

Anita

Bev

Izzy

Julie

Steph

Vinita

Such a cheerful and colourful hop. You know that I love a rainbow and rainbow colours, so this has set up my Tuesday well for sure. I hope it has added cheer to your day.

I hope you left some comment love along the way, I will randomly select a comment to win the £25 eGift code on Monday 24th March 2025. So be sure to comment before then.

Crafty Hugs