Uniko Jan 2023 Mini Release Day, BA Blog Hop & Giveaway!

Good Morning All! 

Welcome to the Uniko Jan 2023 Mini Release Day with the all important Brand Ambassador blog hop and GIVEAWAY! 

Firstly lets see the full product designs and more inspiration using them:

Background Blocks Mid Century Modern Linear & Mid Century Modern Frames

Previously I showed how these two sets can be easily used with existing Uniko sets and here I have used them together to show how well they work as a team too.

Mid Century Modern Purrfect Day

Here I have created a really CAS card. The cat reminded me of a cat shaped bottle of liquor I once came across in Italy many, many years ago! The liquor looked like strawberry milkshake, hence my pink cat! 

MOD Background Builder Circles Stencil

This card idea is curtesy of my 7 year old children who saw the stencil and were firing out ideas! One struck a chord with me; sand, sea and sunset! 

I hope you have enjoyed this mini release and are looking forward to getting your 'paws' on the products (sorry, I couldn't help myself!). 

Follow the blog hop below to check out the other Brand Ambassadors fantastic creations and leave comments along the way to be in with a chance of WINNING THE FULL RELEASE! 

If you get lost along the way you can always head back to the Uniko blog too.

Anita

Bev

Izzy

Julie

Steph - that's me!

Much love

Steph x

Uniko Jan 2023 Mini Release Introducing Mid Century Modern Purrfect Day & MOD BB Circles Stencil

Welcome back! 

If you missed the first two product introductions on the Uniko Jan 2023 mini release you can find them here and here.

Today's stamp set is another addition to the Mid Century Modern range and is Purrfect if you love cats! We also have a stencil today called MOD Background Builder Circles.

As the Purrfect Day set includes a solid cat stamp and an outline stamp I have used both here to create a patterned background and also a cat topper as a focal point for the card.

There's lots of fun to be had with this kitty cat and the font type with this and the Mid Century Modern Frames set from yesterday is a great addition to your stash. 

Finally we have a fabulous stencil to introduce called MOD Background Builders Circles.

I am loving this stencil! I only used part to stencil each corner and added a topper using Uniko Mid Century Modern Florals stamp set. These work together perfectly! 

Lots more fantastic cards to be purred over on the Uniko blog so head over and leave the Brand Ambassadors some love. 

Remember to pop back tomorrow for that all important Brand Ambassador blog hop and GIVEAWAY!

Much love

Steph x

Uniko Jan 2023 Mini Release Introducing Mid Century Modern Frames

Good morning, 

Hopefully you were here yesterday and saw the first product release on the Uniko Jan 2023 mini release schedule. 

Today we are introducing Mid Century Modern Frames. 

I had such fun creating this card! When I first saw these designs I was reminded of the film Back to the Future when Marty was sent back to the 80's. 

My card design features a long winding road created using a hand cut mask and Uniko Background Blocks Grid stamp. I have then used the Mid Century Modern Frames to create 80's style ‘road signs’ along the way. 

Check out the Uniko blog to see the other Brand Ambassadors fantastic creations using this new stamp set. 

Much love

Steph x

Uniko Jan 2023 Mini Release Introducing BB Mid Century Modern Linear

Good morning fans! 

Today we are introducing Uniko's Background Blocks Mid Century Modern Linear stamp. This design is not only an addition to the background blocks range but also the mid century modern range, both of which are super versatile in their uses. 

For my card I have teamed the Background Blocks Mid Century Modern Linear stamp with Uniko's Anniversaire Arts Decoratifs sentiment to show how the product works across other genres also. I think it gives a lovely Art Deco feel when heat embossed in copper. 

The Uniko Brand Ambassadors have done a fabulous job of showcasing this new stamp so head over to the Uniko blog and leave some lovely comments. 

Don't forget to pop back tomorrow to see the next Introduction on this mini release. 

Much love

Steph x

Uniko Jan 2023 Mini Release Sneak Peeks

Good Morning All, 

Happy New Year again and welcome to the first Uniko release of 2023. It's a mini release this month consisting of three stamp sets and one stencil which predominantly feature a Mid Century Modern vibe. So as a little teaser for you this morning we have the sneak peeks but come back each day this week for the product introductions and full release featuring the Brand Ambassador blog hop and of course a GIVEAWAY!

I hope those peeks have got your curiosity going...

Much love

Steph x

The Male Room Challenge #170 - Galaxy and / or Stars

Good morning everyone, 

As this will likely be my first post of 2023 let me wish you a Happy New Year! 

This month at The Male Room we are looking for Galaxy and / or Stars.

For my card I started off with some smooshing in various colours of Distress Oxide Ink on black card. 

Once I had the effect I was after I splattered the piece with white acrylic paint to create stars. To make the gold and sliver elements I painted black card with Gansai Tambi Starry Colours metallic watercolours before stamping and / or die cutting with My Favourite Things Space Explorer stamp and die set. Finally I stamped the sentiment in gold ink. 

Will you be inspired by the Galaxy or Stars theme, or both? Join in the fun over at The Male Room challenge #170.

Much love

Steph x

Uniko Brand Ambassador Inspiration - Stretch Your Stash

Morning All, 

Last year I used my Uniko non-Christmas stamps to make Christmas cards (see here) and I thought I'd give it a go this year with my Uniko stencils. It's always good to see what other ways we can use our products and stretch our stash with a little 'outside the box' thinking! 

My first card didn't take too much imagination as I thought the fabulous Uniko Layering Stencil - Zesty would fit beautifully as dried orange slices in a Christmas wreath. I teamed this with one of my favourite stamp sets, Uniko Winter Foliage. 

After a look through my Uniko stencils, I spotted that the Uniko Mid Century Modern Shapes stencil had the perfect shapes to 'build' a Christmas tree! A little stickles added some tree lights and a sentiment from Uniko Simply Said Blocks Christmas stamp set completed the card. 

For my final card I used one of my favourite stencils and certainly not one you would class as a Christmas stencil, but it's perfect for an animal print lover at Christmas time! The stencil is Uniko Tiger Print and I have teamed it with Uniko Sparkling Snowflake die.

The good thing about this card method is you get two for one! Here I have used the die cut snowflake to make a second card. 

I hope you have got your Christmas cards well under way but don't panic if not, all these cards are quick to make (but only if you like fussy cutting in the case of the first card!). 

As this may be my last post pre Christmas, I will sign off by wishing you all a very Merry Christmas!

Much love

Steph x

The Male Room Challenge #169

Hey all, 

Thanks for joining me today as we launch this month's The Male Room challenge. The theme for this month is Transportation. You have me to thank or blame for this theme, depending on your view point! 

When I first thought about this theme I was thinking about trains because my nephew is a huge train fanatic! However, as this was selected for the Dec challenge I was compelled to use my Santa's sleigh stamp from Clearly Besotted set Pop Up Christmas. 

First I started by making a card blank from teal card and stamping over it with the sentiment in Versamark ink. The sleigh and characters were stamped on white card and coloured using alcohol markers. The sleigh was cut into a rectangle and the corners rounded with a punch. The characters were fussy cut and added with foam pads for dimension.

I hope you are getting along well with your Christmas crafting, but don't worry, it's not too late! You could make a Christmas card for our challenge and use a sleigh like I have, or a truck carrying a Christmas tree. Or even a card piled high with presents! Whatever you decide, do be sure to take a look at the fabulous inspiration by the Design Team over on The Male Room blog.

Much love

Steph x

Uniko Brand Ambassador Inspiration - BB Scandinavian Christmas

Morning all, 

Thanks for joining me today as I showcase another great festive stamp from Uniko. For this month I decided to use Uniko Background Blocks Scandinavian Christmas because it has been sat in my stash unused and I just knew it would look great with some heat embossing. 

So straight on to my first card:

Who doesn't love a bit of gold and blue?! Here I have heat embossed the stamp using gold embossing powder on dark blue card. I have picked out the details by colouring in shades of blue which has given a really lovely elegant look to the card. The sentiment, from Uniko Festive Sentiments stamp set, is also heat embossed in gold and adhered over the background. I have used a mat of gold mirror card to frame centre panel and I felt a Kraft card base would look rustic, although a white one would work too. 

My second card is similar in layout however I went for red card and clear embossing powder this time.

To add some variety I use various colours for the details this time and felt the sentiment would be better in white.

Finally I had a little play about with my third card.

I heat embossed the Background Blocks Scandinavian Christmas using clear embossing powder on white watercolour card (my original plan was to use watercolour paints but I changed my mind). I then stamped Uniko Background Blocks Diagonal Stripes over the top alternating the colours between red and green ink. I was aiming for a candy cane look! Again the sentiment strip was added and the panel was framed with green card before being adhered to a red card base. 

So, which is your favourite?! 

Hope you are all getting along ok with your Christmas crafting and maybe I just inspired you to dig out the Background Blocks Scandinavian Christmas stamp (or stencil!) and have some fun! 

Much love

Steph x

 

Uniko Nov 2022 Stencil Release Day, Blog Hop and GIVEAWAY!

Here we are! 

The full release of the Uniko Nov 2022 stencils:

MOD Background Builder Stencil

I'm not sure if you can make it out but I thought the pattern looked like Christmas sweeties! Here I have simply inked red distress oxide through the middle stencil and added the white details using a gel pen. The sentiment is from Uniko Simply Said Blocks Christmas stamp set.

Flower Power #6 Stencil

This stencil very much reminds me of the Irish rose style painting you used to get on ceramics so I designed my card in that style. The sentiments from Uniko Birthday Wishes stamp set and Uniko Originally Organic stamp set not only match the style of my card but mix and match with each other beautifully too.

Large Snowflake One

As soon as I saw this stencil I knew it would look great with Uniko Background Blocks Cogs stamp and I was not disappointed! I love how this has turned out. First of all I used the mask to be able to stamp the cogs and leave a clear space in the centre. I used three shades of ink to give an ombre effect and stamped the cogs twice next to each other. I then swapped out the mask for the stencil and inked the inside, concentrating the darker colour to the edges. The sentiment is from Uniko Christmas Sentiments stamp set. 

Large Snowflake Two

And finally for today we have a softer edged snowflake. For such a simple looking card this actually has a lot of features but I don't think they have photographed well! I used the stencil to give me a shape to dot on some stickles. To try and give the snowflake more definition I then ran the piece (once dried!) through the die cutting machine but with the stencil in place and using an embossing mat. This is the detail that I don't think has photographed particularly well. I then die cut the panel as I wanted to just use part of the snowflake. the sentiment is once again from Uniko Christmas Sentiments stamp set. 

What a fabulous array of designs, I'm sure at least one must take your fancy! My favourite? Hard to say but I was very pleasantly surprised by how well the Uniko Large Snowflake 2 transfers to card and I can't wait to play about with it some more. 

Be sure to follow the blog hop and leave some beautiful comments along the way for your chance to win the entire release! 

Anita

Bev

Hannelie

Izzy

Jane

Julie

Steph - that's me!

Wiebke

Much love

Steph x

Uniko Introducing Stencil Large Snowflake 1 and Large Snowflake 2

Welcome! 

Today we are introducing two new stencils, Uniko Large Snowflake One and Large Snowflake Two. These are perfect to get your Christmas crafting started. 

The Uniko Large Snowflake One stencil makes a really great impact due to it's geometric edges. For this card I used the mask, rather than the stencil, and inked around this. I added a sentiment from the Uniko Christmas Sentiments stamp set.

For my second card I wanted to do a very sparkly snowflake. Not having any glitter paste (or so I thought until I discovered some in my stash after I had made my card!!), I mixed stickles with translucent gloss stencil paste. I wanted the Large Snowflake Two stencil to stand out so I kept the sentiment simple, using one of the strips from the Uniko Background Builders: Winter Wonderland stamp set.

Go check out the rest of the Brand Ambassadors inspiration on the Uniko blog and don't forget to pop back tomorrow for the full release, blog hop and GIVEAWAY!

Much love

Steph x

The Male Room Challenge #168

 Hello everyone, 

The theme this month for The Male Room challenge is to include a pop up element.

Oh gosh, I think I rather overthought this make and decided to try and make pop up weaved element. It was a nightmare!! I strongly advise avoiding trying to recreate this card and I am in awe of anyone who can just make one of these up with ease! 

So my pop up element is meant to be a bauble and would probably benefit from a hanging element but by the time I got to this stage I’d had enough. This was my third attempt to get the mechanism to work. Safe to say I’ll not be making anymore of these! 

Here’s a closer look at the pop up.

I left the outside of the card simple so that all the surprise is in the opening of the card. 

I did however get to play with my foiling machine for the sentiment on this card so it’s not all bad! This sentiment uses the ‘waste’ part of the foil as I have a solid plate which transferred this to the card and I was able to die cut it with the sentiment outline die. 

Now we want to see your creations with their pop-up elements over at The Male Room challenge. Please head over to the blog and give the rest of the Design Team some love. Join in the challenge and show me how it’s done! I need to see some inspiration for next time I come across a pop-up challenge as I can’t attempt this one again!! 😂

Much love

Steph x