Uniko Beautiful Blooms I & Dies Revisited Blog Hop & Giveaway

Good morning all, 

Who fancies a GIVEAWAY?! You do? Well read on… 

This year at Uniko we will be revisiting so older but still much loved Uniko products and doing a Brand Ambassador blog hop and giveaway as we go. The intention is to do this every other month.

This month we are revisiting Uniko Beautiful Blooms I stamp set and matching dies. These can be purchased as a bundle or as separate items. This is one of my favourite Uniko sets so I’m very pleased to be kicking off the year with it.

With my first card I wanted to create a bouquet of flowers so I used the smaller of the two blooms, stems and leaves and stamped each three times using various different colours or shades. For the bloom heads I inked the whole stamp in a lighter shade and the inner section in a darker tone. Once dry I die cut the elements and adhered them onto a piece of watercolour card which I had inked in one corner. Finally I stamped the sentiment in a bold black ink using Uniko Birthday Sentiments stamp set. It has such a lovely font it works well in the open space at the top of the card. 

Initially I was going to create a floating frame on my second card but then I remembered the last time I tried this and how it was quite tricky with the middle cut out so I opted to do the floating elements to one side instead. I wanted to ink the florals up in black as I knew they would still look superb. (I just love the style of this bloom!). I decided this would work well as a sympathy card so I took the sentiment from the Uniko Paw Print Hearts stamp set.

My final card uses only the smaller leaves from the set to show how you can make great cards using the smaller elements of a stamp set. Again I have used Uniko Birthday Sentiments stamp set for the fun sentiment.

Now as promised, here is the blog hop for you to leave lovely comments and you will be entered into a draw to win the Uniko Beautiful Blooms I stamp and dies (or an alternative prize to the same value if you already own this set):

Anita

Bev

Izzy

Julie

Steph - that’s me!

Vinita

Much love

Steph x

Happy New Year

Hi everyone,

Just a quick post to wish you all a Happy New Year. I hope you’ve had a peaceful Christmas and New Year and you have set your goals for 2024! 

I also wanted to let those of you who subscribe to my newsletter know that this will be ending from 1st Feb 2024. The newsletter host that I use is changing and I have taken the decision not to upgrade at this time. Thank you for being a subscriber and I hope you are still able to follow me via another route.

Much love

Steph x

Papercraft Challenges #101 - Christmas

Good morning, 

Welcome to the final challenge of the year for Papercraft Challenges. Challenge #101 has a theme of Christmas! 

This month we are using digital images provided by Mirtillamente. 

Looking forward to seeing your Christmas projects. Upload to the Papercraft Challenges #101 blog and check out the rest of the Design Team entries while you are there. 

The winner of this months challenge will get two digital images and the chance to be Guest Designer for a future challenge.

Much love

Steph x

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Uniko Brand Ambassador Inspiration - Slimline Christmas

Morning all, 

Since my waist is not looking very slimline this Christmas, I thought I’d better make my cards slimline instead! 

This card started out with the lovely bold sentiment from the Uniko Mid Century Modern Christmas stamp set. My next plan was to use the Christmas tree from this set but I managed to temporarily lose it (later found to have dropped into a desk drawer!). So, change of plan and to keep with the trees, I chose the Uniko In The Forest stencil and two shades of distress oxide ink. Finally a cute die cut bow to finish off the card.

Sticking with trees I selected the Uniko Pop Trees stamp set (sadly now discontinued) and teamed it with a sentiment from the Uniko Festive Sentiments stamp set. 

For my last card I used Uniko Background Blocks Scandinavian Christmas stamp to create a beautiful panel to the side of the card. I then added the doves and sentiment from the Uniko Peace on Earth stamp set keeping the rest of the card CAS. 

Much love

Steph x

Uniko December 2023 Reveal, Release & GIVEAWAY

Morning all, 

Thanks for joining us today as we reveal the Uniko December 2023 mini release and tell you how you can win a Uniko £20 eGift certificate. 

Background Blocks Layered Stripes

I have double stamped the Background Blocks Layered Stripes and coloured in between the lines using different colours. I then die cut the 'happy' using Uniko Big & Bold Happy dies and added the 'birthday' from the Uniko Big & Bold Happy stamp set.

Background Blocks Perspective

This is a fabulous stamp with such versatility. Here I have made a masculine themed card and it reminds me a little of 'Gotham City' and the Batman films! I also thought with a blue background we could be looking at a Spiderman themed card (my great niece is a big fan!). 

Ink & Flip Snowflake

Unlike my usual CAS style I decided to throw everything at this card (!) so I inked and flipped the Snowflake stencil using pink both times. Then I added the Uniko Let It Snow stencil also using the same pink ink. I then die cut the 'snow' from pink and white card using Uniko Big & Bold Snow die set and stamped 'Let It' from the Uniko Big & Bold stamp set. Little did I know that Vinita would create a near identical card for the introduction post yesterday! 

Now you have seen the new release in action we would love to hear what you think about it and of course you can join in our Brand Ambassador blog hop to have a chance of winning an Uniko £20 eGift certificate. 

Anita

Bev

Izzy

Julie

Steph - that's me!

Vinita

Much love

Steph x

Uniko December 2023 Introducing - Ink & Flip Snowflake

Hi all, 

Welcome back to the third introduction day for the Uniko December mini release. Today we have a stencil and it's a festive one. It is also another one of Bev's very clever 'ink and flip' designs.

Here I have inked the stencil using Broken China Distress Oxide ink and then made the edges slightly darker using Blueprint Sketch DO ink. After cleaning the stencil I flipped it over and inked it with Seedless Preserves DO ink, using Wilted Violet DO ink on the edges. I stamped the sentiment in black ink using Uniko Festive Sentiments stamp set. Finally I added some sparkle with metallic watercolours splattered across the card (and everything else in the vicinity!).

Of course my curiosity then wondered what this stencil would look like using texture paste and I managed to remember I had this magnificent glitter paste in my stash (I created my own last year using clear gloss paste and glitter having forgotten I had purchased this beautiful stuff!). Oh my...this card is so beautiful and sparkly but it's typically hard to catch all its beauty in a photo. The sentiment is from Uniko Christmas Wishes stamp set and I just love this scrawling script. 

Now head over to the Uniko blog and check out the beautiful creations by the rest of the Brand Ambassadors as they are simply gorgeous! 

Don't forget to come back tomorrow to see the full release and join in with the Brand Ambassador blog hop and GIVEAWAY! 

Much love

Steph x

Uniko December 2023 Introducing - Background Blocks Perspective

Hi everyone, 

Welcome back to day two of the Uniko December 2023 introductions. Today we have Background Blocks Perspective which I have to say has been lots of fun to play with!

As soon as I saw this stamp I knew I wanted to use a rainbow colour theme. This was actually my 'test' piece as you can see I've played with two different light perspectives on the left and right hand sides but I actually really liked it so decided to cut it out and use it against a backdrop of clouds which I created using the Uniko Cloud 9 stencil. It is of course, a city of high rise tower blocks rising above a cloudy sky. I have also added the tops of the tower blocks with foam pads for dimension so the finished card really does pop out at you. The sentiment is from the Uniko Simply Said Blocks stamp set.

Keeping with my rainbow theme, and this time adding even more colour, I die cut the panel and adhered it to a card blank onto which I had stamped the Uniko Background Blocks Linear. I'm so pleased with the effect these two stamps have together. I finished the card with a sentiment from the Uniko Anniversaire Arts Decoratifs stamp set.

Having played about with this stamp I can attest to its versatility. This is a great stamp to mix up with other products and for creating feminine or masculine cards (see release day for a more masculine version!). 

Check out the other amazing designs by the Brand Ambassadors on the Uniko blog and leave some lovely comments! Come back tomorrow for the final product introduction on this mini release.

Much love

Steph x

The Male Room Challenge #181 - Christmas

Good morning all, 

This month at The Male Room Challenge we are of course celebrating Christmas, so join in and show us your masculine Christmas makes.

I have made a Christmas gift box and although it incorporates pink, I think this is very suitable for a modern male. Lots of lovely die cutting and the stamp set is from Uniko called Background Builders: Winter Wonderland. 

Lots of very lovely inspiration by the rest of the Design Team over on The Male Room blog. Be sure to visit, leave some lovely comments and join in the festive fun! 

Much love

Steph x

Uniko December 2023 Introducing Background Blocks Layered Stripes

Hello all, 

Thanks for joining us today as we introduce the first product on the Uniko December 2023 release which is called Background Blocks Layered Stripes.

Here I have kept the design simple but I have inked the background stripes in various colours which turned out to be harder then expected as I kept forgetting to remove my ink mask before stamping and making a great big smudge everywhere!! 

My next card tones down the colour a bit and teams the background block with elements from Uniko Layering Stencil Zesty and Uniko Natures Treasure II stamps and matching die set. The sentiment is from Uniko Sentiments Outlined stamp set.

So how did this product introduction suit you?! We love to know what you think so please do leave a note below and head to the Uniko blog to see what the rest of the team created. And of course come back tomorrow for the next product introduction (easily going to be one of my favourite Uniko products!).

Much love

Steph x 

Uniko December 2023 Release Sneak Peeks

Good morning all, 

Here today we have the Uniko December 2023 release sneak peeks. This release is a mini one but no less fabulous than the previous ones. 

Here are the sneak peeks which consist of two stamps and one stencil.

Don't forget to come back each day for the next few days to see the full product introductions and then come back on the Friday for the full release, brand ambassador blog hop and GIVEAWAY.

Kind regards

Steph x

Papercraft Challenges #100 - Happy Birthday

Good morning! 

Welcome to Papercraft Challenges #100 for which we have the theme ‘Happy Birthday’.

I’m not lucky enough to know anyone who is about to turn 100 but nevertheless a 100th birthday card is the most appropriate make for this, our 100th challenge! 

For this card I have dry embossed a piece of cream card slightly smaller than the cream card base. Following this I die cut the numbers from pink and cream card using Spellbinders Stitched Numbers dies and sewed them with green and pink thread. I also die cut small flowers from pink and green card and placed around the embossed panel. 

Please join in the fun at Papercraft Challenges and you could win a surprise gift from our sponsor Little Crafts.

Much love

Steph x

Uniko Brand Ambassador Inspiration - Holly

Morning! 

Welcome to my Nov Uniko Brand Ambassador Inspiration post and this month I wanted to focus on Holly.

My first card uses Uniko Framed Holly stamp set and Uniko Most Wonderful stamp set for the sentiment.

I stamped the large frame stamp using very light ink and drew over the lines with an alcohol marker, colouring in the leaves as I went. I have coloured the background in light grey and added Wink of Stella all over for sparkle. I used the extra stamps in the set to stamp individual holly leaves, fussy cut and adhered these to the card front using foam pads. 

My second card uses Uniko Snowflake Serenade stamp set and inked it in light blue. I then used alcohol markers to draw in the holly and berries. The sentiment for this card is from Uniko Christmas Sentiments stamp set. Again I added some Wink of Stella to the holly leaves for sparkle. 

Finally I have used the holly stamps from the Uniko Winter Foliage stamp set and Uniko Festive Sentiments stamp set for the lovely large sentiment. I have added snowflakes from the Uniko Stunning Snowflakes stamp set and used the Wink of Stella on these. 

How are you all getting along with your Christmas crafting? The final card here today is very quick and easy to make if you need to get a few cards done in a short amount of time. 

Much love

Steph x

The Male Room Challenge #180 - Feathers

Good morning all, 

Welcome to this month's challenge at The Male Room where we are looking for your masculine cards featuring Feathers.

I have some lovely feather stamps which I decided to stamp in green, blue and orange before fussy cutting. To add a masculine feel to the card I stamped a wood effect background in the same colours and used some rope / twine instead of ribbon across the bottom of the card front. 

If you wish to join in the fun you can do so at The Male Room Challenge #180 and also check out the other Design Team members fantastic makes at the same time. 

Much love

Steph x