The Male Room Challenge #165

Hi everyone, 

Welcome to this month's challenge at The Male Room. This time we are asking specifically for ATC's or Artist Trading Cards. 

I'm not one for making ATC's I must admit but once I got started on mine, I ended up enjoying the process and making three in the same style. 

What I enjoyed about making these was having to think about how to get as much interesting stuff on there as possible given that they are quite small (2.5 x 3.5 inches). I used some lovely masculine patterned papers and matching toppers that I have had in my stash for quite a while. I also got to use my corner punch as I liked the idea of them being rounded on the corners. As I didn't do any stamping or die cutting these were actually really quick to make. But, as I don't 'trade' my cards I'm not really sure what I'll do with them now! I will likely make them into tags or cards!! 

Hopefully you have a better idea of how to make ATC's and what to do with them so I'd love to see yours and find out more. You can join in the fun over at The Male Room challenge blog. Whilst you are there, check out the fabulous creations by the Design Team and leave them some love on their blogs. It really does brighten a day. 😊

Much love

Steph x

Uniko July 2022 Mini Reveal, Release, Brand Ambassador Blog Hop & Giveaway!

Yay you’re here! 

A short week of introductions, we are at release day for the Uniko July 2022 mini release and it’s very exciting. 

Here are the full product images plus another taster of what you could do with them…

I couldn't resist teaming the new Background Blocks Rays with the recently released Sunshine & Rainbows stamp set. I heat embossed the BB Rays in clear onto water colour card (which is why it looks a little flecky, but I like it!) and ink blended between the rays with the rainbow colours. 

Here I have teamed the new Tropical Leaf #2 stencil with the previously released Tropical Leaf #1 stencil and I am totally in love! I used the mask from the TL#2 stencil set under the TL#1 stencil to ink it first. Then I removed both and lined up the TL#2 stencil to ink the larger leaf. 

Another matching of the new Paw Print Hearts stamp set with a geometric which works so well for me! This time I have used both the large paw print as well as the heart stamp and teamed it with Background Blocks Pinstripe. 

I have teamed the new Scattered Polka Hearts stencil with the Marvellous Mehndi and Birthday Sentiments stamp sets. For this card I took inspiration from Arjita Sepaha Singh.

That's the end of the Uniko July 2022 Mini Release but I think you'll agree it's a good selection. Which is your favourite? Did you pop over to the Uniko blog and check out the fantastic inspiration from the Brand Ambassadors? There's a £20 eGift voucher up for grabs on the Brand Ambassador blog hop if you leave everyone some love...but that's just the icing on the cake right as you are already off to congratulate the team anyway right??!! 😊

Anita

Bev

Hannelie

Izzy

Jane

Julie

Steph - that's me

Wiebke

Much love

Steph x

 

Uniko Introducing - Paw Print Hearts and Stencil Scattered Polka Hearts

Hi everyone, 

It’s a double introduction today on the Uniko July 2022 mini release.

First we have the Uniko Paw Print Hearts stamp set. This set had definitely filled a gap in my collection. I kept my card CAS and teamed the new Paw Print Hearts set with Background Blocks Grid. 

Next we have the Uniko Scattered Polka Hearts stencil which would work perfectly with the stamp set above too, but I chose to make a heart shaped shaker using a shadow effect with white and red ink.

Head over to the Uniko blog to see more fabulous inspiration from the Brand Ambassadors and leave them some love to match the heart theme of both todays products.

Much love 

Steph x

Uniko Introducing - Tropical Leaf #2

Welcome back! 

Today we have a stencil on the Uniko July 2022 mini release and it’s my new favourite Uniko product! I love it!! 

This is called Uniko Tropical Leaf #2 stencil (which teams perfectly with Tropical Leaf #1 stencil but you’ll have to come back on release day to see that beauty in action!). 

Now how many of you are already thinking this is a must buy?! Not yet convinced? Check out the rest of the amazing designs by the Brand Ambassadors over on the Uniko blog and you will be! 

Much love

Steph x

Uniko Introducing - Background Blocks Rays

Hi all, 

Welcome to the first introduction of Uniko’s July 2022 mini release.

Today we have Uniko Background Blocks Rays. This stamp is going to be such an asset to have in anyone's stash. 

Just check out the inspiration from the rest of the Brand Ambassadors over on the Uniko blog to see how versatile this stamp is!

Come back tomorrow for another lovely introduction. 

Much love

Steph x

Uniko July 2022 Mini Release - Sneak Peeks

Good morning everyone!

I don’t know about you but I’m finding July a very busy month…even so, we’ve found some time to bring you an Uniko mini release!

Here are the teasing and tempting sneak peeks!

Which one tickles your fancy? Or are you intrigued by all of them? Which ones are stamps and which ones are stencils???!

Pop back tomorrow for the start of the introductions.

Much love 

Steph x

Color My Heart Color Dare Challenge #506

Good afternoon! 

This week's Color My Heart Color Dare Challenge is a lovely one and provided a great colour base for some very special cards I needed to make. 

Lots of beautiful colours to work with here. Remember to use only the colours in the photo plus the free colours of black, white, greys and silver. 

As you can see, I made two cards, similar but different. These are my twin girls 7th birthday cards. The girls are similar (identical) but definitely different!!

The first card uses pink, yellow and purple whilst the second card uses pink, purple and blue.

The clouds are stencilled using Distress Oxide inks and the unicorn is coloured using alcohol markers.

Let us see what this lovely photo inspires you to make and enter it over at Color My Heart Color Dare challenge #506. Check out the fabulous inspiration from the lovely Design Team whilst you are there and leave them some love on their blogs / instagram / Pinterest accounts.

Much love

Steph x

Color My Heart Color Dare Challenge #504

Good afternoon everyone, 

I'm here today to bring you Challenge #504 from Color My Heart Color Dare. 

We reference Close To My Heart colours but you are free to use any brand as long as the colours are a VERY close match. 

I took the visual as my inspiration and started off with four coloured squares. From these I die cut various masculine elements and swapped the pieces about to colour contrast. 

So, what will you be inspired to make with these colours? Need more inspiration before you begin? Head over to the Color My Heart Color Dare Challenge blog and check out the wonderful creations by the rest of the Design Team. 

Much love

Steph x

The Male Room Craft Challenge #164

Morning All, 

Thanks for joining me today as we go live with this month's challenge at The Male Room and the theme is 'Monochrome'. 

Hmm, a tricky challenge this one, and what one colour will you choose? I went with shades of grey. 

This is a really cute die set from Sugar Pea Designs called Polaroid Journal. I have simply die cut the camera, sentiment and circles and fit them all together. In addition I used three strips of card to lay diagonally across the card front. 

There's some fantastic inspiration over on The Male Room blog so pop over and leave some love. I'm looking forward to seeing what you create! 

As a bonus, I also created this card in purple to see how it would look and because I rarely use purple. 

Much love

Steph x

Color My Heart Color Dare #502

 Afternoon all, 

We have a great challenge for you this week at Color My Heart Color Dare:

Can you restrict yourself to just two colours?! We reference Close to My Heart colour names but you can use any brand as long as you make a VERY close match. 

After much deliberation, I dug out the patterned papers and noticed this lovely yellow one which I thought would look great on a black card base. I used a fancy edged die to add interest. The pattern in the paper reminded me of my very cute die from concord & 9th so I cut that from blue and black card before piecing together. Finally I die cut and added the Lawn Fawn sentiment also in blue.

Now head on over to the Color My Heart blog to get even more fabulous inspiration from the Design Team and start to plan out your entry. 😊

Much love

Steph x

Uniko Brand Ambassador Inspiration - Pure Florals: Lily

Good morning all, 

Welcome to this month's Uniko Brand Ambassador inspiration. This month I decided to focus on the beautiful Pure Florals: Lily. 

My preferred method of colouring is alcohol markers so that's where I started. Initially I was going to use a white card base but I felt the Kraft base really lifted the florals. I added a simple embossed border before heat embossing the sentiment and adhering the florals with foam pads.

I wanted to push myself and try out colouring with coloured pencils too, and see how different the result was.

As you can see the result is much more subtle. Now, I don't have the best set of colouring pencils. I've always resisted investing in the very expensive ones as I just don't think I'll get the use out of them like I do with my alcohol markers. 

Which version do you prefer and what is your preferred method of colouring? I'd love to be better with water colours too...maybe I'll try that soon and share with you too.

Much love

Steph x

Uniko June 2022 Reveal, Release, Brand Ambassador Blog Hop & Giveaway!

Morning all, 

The day has arrived where we get to show you the new Uniko release products in full as well as share some more inspiration with you. I love this day, it's such fun!! 

So here we go:

This stamp set is huge! So it’s a bargain priced at £16.

When I first saw the lemon stamp I knew I wanted to heat emboss it onto vellum. I then coloured it on the reverse side with alcohol markers. It didn’t show up well enough on the green panel so I backed it with white card stock before fussy cutting out. 

Now, not only a Zesty stencil but a layering one too. Priced at £13.75 there are four layers to this set but you don’t have to use them all to get fantastic results. Check out my earlier card here which only used three of the layers. 

I love how fresh this panel looks using the Zesty layering stencils. To make the details stand out I heat embossed the smallest elements first before ink blending the light and dark yellows. 

An addition to the Background Builders sets in the form of hearts next.

So much fantastic inspiration shared earlier in the week for this £11 stamp set. 

Here I took design inspiration from the Background Builders Hearts stamp set itself and added the cascading hearts over the cascading hearts strip stamp. 

Just a single stencil next but probably my favourite item on this release for its impact and the ease with which a quick and fantastic card can be created. This one is priced at £4 and a must buy in my opinion!

Simple ink blending with Distress Oxides and a sentiment from the Sunshine & Rainbows stamp set (also on this release) and this card was done! 

And now for the final stamp set (it’s a good one too!) also priced at £11.

I moved away from the traditional rainbow for this card and used every other arch stamp leaving slightly larger gaps between. I love the result!

Wasn't that just the best?! As you can tell, I am loving this release and can't wait to play some more with the sets. 

As always, there is absolutely loads of amazing inspiration for you over on the Uniko and Brand Ambassadors blogs. If you visit each one be sure to leave a lovely comment along the way and you could win yourself a £20 eGift voucher.

Anita

Bev

Hannelie

Izzy

Jane

Julie

Steph - that's me

Much love

Steph x