Uniko Ink & Flip Inspiration Week

Happy New Year to you all! 

My first blog post of 2026 and we are over a week into the New Year already! Back at work and the festive period is a distant memory…as are the chocolates.

Here at Uniko we are having a week of fabulous inspiration using Bev’s clever Ink & Flip designs. Bev was kind enough to let us choose which Ink & Flip stencil we wanted to use and I chose Uniko Ink & Flip Christmas Tree Pattern stencil because I just love it! Christmas may be over but as I’ve depleted my Christmas card stash I wanted to start on some cards for this year. And I decided to mix up the colours for a bit of fun. 

All three cards were made from one panel of inked trees and I just played about with the layouts to make it work. 

Make sure you head over to the Uniko blog to check out the wonderful work by Natalie today and also the rest of the Uniko Brand Ambassadors from earlier in the week and over the next couple of days.

Much love

Steph x

AAA Colourful Colourboard #23

Almost Merry Christmas! 

Everyone ready for Christmas? No me either! Anyway lets not dwell on that when we can be creating something lovely with this month's colourboard from AAA Colourful.

Don't forget you have until 14th Jan to join in so if you are too busy before Christmas, you still have time afterwards.

The colours made me think of ice and snowflakes so I used Uniko's Large Snowflake Two stencil and used three of the colours from the board to ink it up. 

Plenty of fabulous inspiration over on the AAA Colourboard blog and that's where you can join in the fun too.

Much love

Steph x

Uniko Mid Century Modern Baubles Stencil Release, BA Blog and Socials Hop

Welcome! 

Today is the release of the new Uniko Mid Century Modern Baubles stencil and mask set. This new product teams with the Uniko Mid Century Modern Baubles stamp set and can also be used on it's own.

For this card I have used the stencil to ink up the three baubles and with the stencil in place I have splattered them with white and gold paints. Once dry, I added the masks over each bauble and splattered the areas around each one with the colour they are inked in. I added the bauble hangers from the matching stamp set and the sentiment from Uniko Festive Sentiments stamp set. 

With this card I wanted to create the opposite effect to the first so I adhered the masks to white card stock and inked around them with Distress Oxide inks. I removed the masks and splattered the card with water (to activate the DO's) and gold watercolour paints. I stamped the hangers and bauble 'shine' using the matching stamp set and finally added a sentiment from the Uniko Most Wonderful stamp set. 

So as you can see, there is lots of fun to be had with the new stencil and by revisiting the stamp set. The rest of the Brand Ambassadors have been showcasing these product this week too and we now have a BA blog and socials hop for you to check out the inspiration. Leave some love along the way and you could be the lucky randomly chosen winner of a £20 Uniko eGift voucher.  

Anita

Bev

Izzy

Julie

Natalie

Steph - you are here!

Vinita

Much love

Steph x

Uniko Brand Ambassador Inspiration - Technique Tuesday

Good morning, 

I recently saw a great technique on @ardythpr1 Instagram page and decided to recreate it using Uniko products. 

First I selected three background or larger stamps and smaller stamp sets with matching details to the larger sets. I then inked three separate panels by directly rubbing the ink from Distress Oxide pads onto white card. The idea is to then ink the background (or larger) stamp onto the card with a muted ink, followed by white heat embossing the stamp from the smaller matching set over the top. Finishing off with a white die cut shape and a white and black die cut sentiment. 

Here I have used Uniko Large Background Tropical Paradise stamp for the background, inked up with Memento Espresso Truffle. The smaller stamp which has been white heat embossed is the Uniko Paradise Leaves stamp set. For the inked panel I have used Pine Needles and Peeled Paint Distress Oxide inks.

Thinking I needed a lighter background panel, I used Shabby Shutters and Speckled Egg Distress Oxide inks for this panel. I then used the Craftstash exclusive Uniko Picked Posies Fresh Cut Foliage stamp for the background, again using Memento Espresso Truffle ink. The white heat embossed stamp is from the Uniko Season of Beauty stamp set.

My final card is slightly different mainly because I had a 'moment' when inking up the larger Uniko Hello Lovely stamp set and inked it with embossing ink in error. Once I realised my error I decided to go with it and heat emboss in copper. I continued to heat emboss in white using the Uniko Pure Florals: Peony stamp set. The background for this inked panel uses three distress oxides which are Antique Linen, Spun Sugar and Victorian Velvet.

I've not had much time in the craft room lately and I'm finding a little frazzled for craft inspiration at present so seeing this video of Ardyth's was a great way to kick start me back into crafting. I hope you like my creations and also encourage you to head over to Ardyth's Instagram page to see the original inspiration.

Much love

Steph x

Uniko August 2025 Release - Introducing Layering Retro Stripes and Ink & Flip Mid Century Leaves Stencils

Morning all, 

Today we have two new stencils to introduce and we are starting with Uniko Layering Retro Stripes.

For some reason this stencil reminded me of a doll I used to own called Rainbow Bright. She definitely had a blue dress and I wonder if she had a rainbow similar to this design which is what triggered the memory. So, I used rainbow colours onto blue card but I had to ink all the layers in white ink first to help the colours show. 

For my next card I've moved the stencil around a bit to create a different pattern and added a stamped and die cut sentiment from the Uniko Big & Bold Wish stamp set with matching dies. 

Next up we are introducing Ink & Flip Mid Century Leaves stencil.

Here I have randomly inked the leaves and left spaces for flowers which I inked using another stencil.

For this card I used the stencil the other way and placed my flowers with the pointy part of the leaf facing upwards. I teamed the stencil with Uniko Mid Century Modern Florals stamp set for the flower heads and the leaf centres. 

Two really great stencils which we will all have a great time playing around with. And you can see lots more super inspiration over on the Uniko blog. 

Anita

Bev

Izzy

Julie

Steph - you are here

Vinita

Don't forget we have the full reveal, release, blog hop and GIVEAWAY tomorrow. See you then!

Much love

Steph x

The Male Room Challenge #201 - Universe

Morning all, 

Welcome to this month's challenge from The Male Room which is all about the 'Universe'.

Just like the universe, the theme is vast! 

I created a background using the smooshing technique and distress oxide inks in Black Soot, Hickory Smoke, Picked Raspberry, Wilted Violet and Broken China. I then stamped the stars, planets and sentiment from the My Favourite Things Space Explorer stamp set. 

Join in the fun over at The Male Room where you will see further fantastic inspiration from the rest of the Design Team. 

Much love

Steph x

Uniko Ink & Flip Stencil Masculine Brand Ambassador Inspiration

Good morning, 

Welcome to the Uniko Brand Ambassadors joint post today where we are using Uniko and Ink & Flip stencils to create masculine projects.

I have used two different shades of blue ink to create my star using the Uniko Ink & Flip Christmas Star stencil and added sentiments to the centre from Uniko Sparkle Sentiments and Uniko Reach For The Stars stamp sets. The sentiment is heat embossed in gold onto vellum before adhering to the aperture which I cut out using a craft knife.

Just before the Uniko Brand Ambassadors celebration of Bev's innovative Ink & Flip stencils, we found out that a well known US brand has taken some of Bev's Ink & Flip designs without asking permission. They recently showed some sneak peeks of their August release which featured designs which are an exact copy of Uniko's Ink & Flip Christmas Star and Uniko's Ink & Flip Geometric Christmas Tree. Hopefully when Bev reaches out they will see their error and rectify it. But in the meantime, a friendly reminder to support small independent businesses. 😊

Lots more lovely masculine inspiration from the Brand Ambassadors if you follow this blog hop and if you leave lovely comments along the way you will be entered into a draw to win your choice of Uniko Ink & Flip stencil.

Anita

Bev

Izzy

Julie

Steph

Vinita

Much love

Steph x

Coffee Lovers Blog Hop - Uniko

Good morning, 

The Uniko Brand Ambassadors are taking part in the Coffee Lovers blog hop today. My card uses Uniko I LOVE Coffee stamp set.

I stamped the coffee cups onto card I had previously stencilled using Uniko Layering Spring Blossom stencil set. I fussy cut them out and adhered them to a panel onto which I stamped the sentiment and the coffee beans. 

If you join in the Uniko Brand Ambassadors blog hop, you will be in with a chance of winning a £25 eGift card. Leave a lovely comment along the hop before 30th May to be in with a chance of winning. 

Anita

Bev

Izzy

Julie

Steph - you are here!

Vinita

Much love

Steph x

Uniko Brand Ambassador Inspiration - Watercolour Wednesday

Morning all, 

I'm here today with my Uniko Brand Ambassador inspiration and this month I wanted to practice my watercolour. I decided that Uniko Organically Zesty stamp set was a good one to use watercolours on and also needed a bit of a sunny lift! 

So for my first attempt I decided to do some ink blending onto the blank card first before stamping the lemon image and then adding more definition with watercolour pencils. 

For my second card I decided to use just the watercolour pencils but this time blend them using a water brush. This resulted in a much paler version of the previous card, not quite as 'zesty'!

Finally I switched to watercolour paints which was a scary prospect for me as I'm most definitely not a natural but I need the practice! I like the result other than the flowers which didn't turn out so well. I also think the green is a bit too bold and needed to be more yellow green like the other two cards. 

So, which version do you like best and what method do you prefer to use yourself? 

Much love

Steph x

Uniko Celebrating 13 Years - New Release, Brand Ambassador Blog Hop & Giveaway

 

Hooray! 

Uniko's 13th Birthday reveal, release, Brand Ambassador blog hop and GIVEAWAY is here! If it's felt like a long time in coming, that's because there are so many delightful products on this release the fantastic introductions have been keeping us in great anticipation all week. But here we are, lets get on with the reveal and a few more cards from me:

Uniko Geometric Happy Birthday Stencil

This is FREE with all Release Day orders of £15 or more while stocks last.

To create this card I inked up the new stencil and then masked it before inking up the Uniko Zebra Print stencil, however as this isn't currently available in the Uniko store I also created it using the new BB Waves stamp set below. 

Uniko Background Blocks Waves Stamp Set

Background Blocks Waves Clear Stamp Se £6.50

Copyright Uniko Ltd 2012 - To Date

www.uniko.co.uk

As with the first card, I started by inking the new Geometric Happy Birthday stencil. I then masked the words and tried to stamp over the top but even with the thinnest masking layer, I couldn’t get the Background Blocks Waves to stamp as neatly as I wanted around the edges of the stencilling. So I started again and stamped the BB Waves first. I took my original stencilled sentiment and cut it out, then layered it over the stamped BB Waves. 

Uniko Bright Butterflies Layering Stencil

Stencil - Layering Bright Butterflies £10.75

Copyright Uniko Ltd 2012 - To Date

www.uniko.co.uk

I have always been drawn to butterflies in display cases or frames so that was my idea for this card. Each butterfly is framed by the black card. What I really enjoyed about these stencils is that you can lay them down and ink them as they are or you can move the detail about a bit and create new patterns your butterflies. 

Uniko Spring Botanicals Primrose & Re-Introduced Uniko Bright Butterflies Stamp Set

Bright Butterflies Clear Stamp Set £6.50

Copyright Uniko Ltd 2012 - To Date

www.uniko.co.uk

Spring Botanicals Primrose Clear Stamp Set £11.50

Copyright Uniko Ltd 2012 - To Date

www.uniko.co.uk

I thought these two sets would work nicely together so I white heat embossed the primrose and used my inks to paint on the colour to create a watercolour effect. I then heat embossed the butterflies having a flutter above the flowers.

Uniko Alphabet Solid Stamp Set & Uniko Organic Blooms Stamp Set

Alphabet Solid Clear Stamp Set £16

Copyright Uniko Ltd 2012 - To Date

www.uniko.co.uk

Organic Blooms Clear Stamp Set £11.50

Copyright Uniko Ltd 2012 - To Date

www.uniko.co.uk

What I really like about an individual alphabet stamp is that you can create vertical sentiments. Perfect for this slimline style of card. I stamped the sentiment then masked it before stamping the Organic Blooms florals and stems around it. Finally colouring in with alcohol markers.

Uniko Layering Organic Blooms Stencil

Stencil - Layering Organic Blooms £13.75

Copyright Uniko Ltd 2012 - To Date

www.uniko.co.uk

This is what the stencil looks like complete...

Here I used parts of the stencil to create a frame around the outside of the card which was  cut to slightly smaller than the card base. I then stamped the sentiment from the Uniko Birthday Wishes stamp set in the centre.

Aren't these just amazing?! The layering stencils are always fantastic fun to play around and get inky with. Now don't forget there is lots more creativity over on the Uniko blog and the Brand Ambassadors blogs and if you leave lovely comments along the way you will be in with the chance of winning a £25 eGift Certificate.

Anita

Bev

Izzy

Julie

Steph - you are here!

Vinita

Much love

Steph x

Uniko Celebrating 13 Years - Introducing Stencil - Layering Organic Blooms and Organic Blooms Clear Stamps

 

Hi all, 

Welcome today as we introduce yet more loveliness on the Uniko 13th Birthday release. 

First up we have Uniko Layering Organic Blooms stencil, a very lovely floral which looks great in lots of colourways.

I love this image in the blues. Which led me to think of Monet's Water Lilles so for my next card I used light blue card to stencil onto (the lake) and chose water lily colours for the flowers.

We also have Uniko Organic Blooms stamp set to introduce which just so happens to coordinate with the above stencil as shown below!

I stencilled the florals first before using the stamp set to add the outlines but I'm sure it could be done the other way too. 

I wanted to show that it's easy to use the stamp set without the stencil too so I went for a more free flowing look with my next card and inked areas of watercolour card before stamping the outline stamps over the top. I went a bit 'artsy' and added some black ink splatters too! 

So now you've seen what I did with these great new products, you can also see what the rest of the Uniko Brand Ambassadors did over on the Uniko blog.

Much love

Steph x