Uniko New Release - Introducing Christmas Sparkle & Winter Foliage

The last two Uniko new release stamp sets are being introduced today and I'm here to share a couple of cards to whet your appetite.

    

Ok I'm guessing you've picked up on the theme - Christmas! Well what could be more timely than that - only 86 days left after today!

My first card uses elements from both sets plus the addition of an older sentiment set.

I chose some traditional Christmas colours  and stamped a border down the left hand side and slightly round the bottom of my card. I nestled the sentiment in the bottom corner to complete the swerve.

Supplies:
Stamps: Uniko, Winter foliage, Christmas Sparkle, All Occasion Sentiments #4
Ink: SU, real red, pear pizzazz, old olive

My second card uses stamps from just the Christmas Sparkle set. 

Well you knew it had to happen! When do I ever pass up the chance to include some purple? And this card is very sparkly too. Not only is the purple mat all shiny and glittery, but the stamped bauble has been treated to a liberal helping of Wink of Stella and really lives up to its name.

Supplies:
Stamps: Uniko, Christmas Sparkle
Ink: Memento, grape jelly
Die: MFT Die-namics, double stitched rectangles
Wink of Stella, clear

Have you already seen the rest of the Uniko DT cards? Really something aren't they? 

And now all you have to wait is one sleep and all the new release sets can jump happily into your shopping basket. Be sure to come back tomorrow when they'll be more DT inspiration and a chance to win the whole release - so exciting!

Thanks so much for visiting my blog today, it's made my day.  And keep crafting! 

CAS Colours & Sketches #193

Five Thursdays in September, so the last CAS Colours & Sketches Challenge this month is THE DELIGHTFUL DOUBLE!

So you need to use BOTH the colours AND the sketch. But that's not a problem when they're as fabulous as this!

First up I tackled the left hand strip and used a stencil to get that ragged edge. I then stamped the grungy spots over it and added a ribbon using the third colour.

I stamped the large Happy Birthday on another piece of card so that I could add it on top of the ribbon to make it narrower. The rest of the stamping was done with second generation ink to enhance but not overpower the main sentiment.

Supplies:
Stamps: Uniko, All Occasion Sentiments #2, Classic Numbers,; SU, Touches of Texture
Inks: SU, rich razzleberry, mint macaron, tangerine tango
Ribbon: SU, rich razzleberry
Stencil: Prima Marketing

How will you use the sketch and colours? Go see what the CC&S DT have done -  here - and be INSPIRED!

So pleased to have you drop by today, your visits make my day.  So please keep visiting and of course crafting!

Uniko New Release - Introducing Marvellous Mehndi & Simply Said II

Oh my! You're so going to love today's introduction of two new Uniko stamp sets.

      

I'm so besotted with them I made three cards for today's post - and I'm really short of time this week getting organised for a family holiday, so that's an indicator of how much I love these sets!

My first card is actually the last card I made, but it's my favourite so I'm sharing it first.

I was really get comfortable with the stamps and had fun creating my own pattern. And it's just so relaxing to sit and colour - perfectly peaceful.
  

Supplies:
Stamps: Uniko, Marvellous Mehndi, Simply Said II
Inks: Memento, tuxedo black
Pens: Spectrum Noir Colorista, rose red, sandstone, maple 

 My next card uses the largest stamp from the first set and a couple of sentiments from the second set.

I stamped and heat embossed the stamps - I thought this would help keep the colouring inside the lines, but it also gives the stamp a wonderful shiny look in real life.

I hand cut the curved corner - I used a saucer to draw the curve - and then curved the sentiments on the stamp block to fit round it.

Supplies:
Stamps: Uniko, Marvellous Mehndi, Simply Said II
Inks: Versamark + Ranger superfine black embossing powder
Pens: Spectrum Noir Colorista, lipstick, gold, cyan
Ppaer: Lawn Fawn, Beachside 6x6 pad

My last card today was inspired by the idea of sharing the colouring with the recipient. I'm thinking it would be a cool thing to include some uncoloured cards in the envelope anyway.

I randomly stamped the smaller stamps from the set and then put a strip of washi about a third of the way down the die cut card. I then coloured just the top third of the stamps.

I'm wishing now that I had also heat embossed this card because I did just smudge a little bit of the ink - lesson learnt for another time. I added a corner mat to lift the uncoloured portion of the card before adhering it all to a card base.

Supplies:
Stamps: Uniko, Marvellous Mehndi, Simply Said II
Ink: Memento, tuxedo black
Pens: Spectrum Noir Colorista, denim, cyan
Die: MFT Die-namics, double stitched rectangles
Embellishment: Washi from my stash - think it's SU 

Another introduction to the Uniko new release all completed - but yes there's two more sets to make their debut tomorrow, so please come back.  

And of course the rest of the Uniko DT have been busy making intoductory cards for today's two stamp sets, check them all out here.

Huge thanks for dropping by today, I really appreciate you taking the time.  And keep crafting! 

Uniko New Release - Introducing Originally Organic

Yay! The day to really start to get a better look at the Uniko new release has finally arrived! And you're so going to love today's stamp set!

I've made a couple of cards which both reveal a bit more of the stamp set - full reveal comes on Saturday 1st October.

For my first card I took inspiration from Ceal, a fellow teamie at AAA Cards. I stamped and heat embossed the flowers and leaves and then added patches of watercolour.

I sliced the card diagonally and adhered it to a base card. Then I stamped and heat embossed one of the sentiments from the same set and coloured the tiny dots with a pen.

Supplies:
Stamps: Uniko, Originally Organic
Inks: Ranger distress, wilted violet, picked raspberry, mustard seed, spiced marmalade, shaded violet, evergreen bough; SU, pear pizzazz; Versamark
Embossing: Ranger superfine, black 
Pen: Spectrum Noir Colorista, magenta

My second card also uses one of the sentiment stamps from the set - in total there are four to choose from!
 

I stamped and coloured the seed heads and leaves in the top left corner. I then placed a strip of washi and the sentiment at the bottom right to balance everything out. I picked up on the pink to mat the whole thing.

Supplies:
Stamps: Uniko, Originally Organic
Inks: Memento, tuxedo black
Pens: Spectrum Noir Colorista, orchid, nectarine, pear green; Promarker, marsh green
Embellishments: Washi from my stash

Well that's the first of the introductions to Uniko's new release all wrapped up. More cards and reveals can be found by visiting the rest of the Uniko DT - find their links here.

Come back tomorrow for a big peep at the next two sets - they're totally amazing and you're going to have such a long wish list!

Thanks for your time today. And keep crafting

The Male Room - #45 Leaves And Or Trees

A really topical and easy theme at The Male Room for the next fortnight - what's not to love?

And it had to be amazing Autumn colours for my card. Autumn is just so awesome colourwise and definitely my favourite season of the year. I love the idea of getting all cosy again and wearing boots before it really gets too chilly.

So I got out my brushos - can't be beaten for intense colour - and had some messy fun creating an Autumn coloured backdrop.  I then sprayed it with sparkle to add a lovely warm glow.

The wonderful tree is from Visible Image and looking at the photos I'm wishing I'd embossed it to make it pop more - in real life it looks far better.

Supplies:
Stamps: Visible Image, Four Every Season
Inks: Brusho, crimson, brilliant red, orange, yellow; SU, early espresso
Die: lil'inker, stitched mats rectangles
Embellishments: Crafters companion, Spray & Sparkle iridescent

Ok, so go gather your leaves and have fun making something to fit this theme. The rest of tMR DT cards can be seen here - glorious aren't they?

Huge thanks for taking a look at my blog today, as always your time is really appreciated.  And keep crafting!

Uniko New Release - Sneak Peeks 4 & 5

The last of those, oh so teasing, sneaky peeks at Uniko's new release on Saturday 1st October.

 

Two must haves for your Christmas stash!

Tomorrow sees the reveal of the first DT sample cards using the new Uniko stamps, so be sure to call in again.

Thanks for looking and keep crafting!

Uniko New Release - Sneak Peeks 2 & 3

Here I am again with the next two sneaky peeks at the upcoming Uniko release.

  

Bet you've already got your crayons on standby!

Thanks for looking and keep crafting!

Uniko New Release - Sneak Peek 1

Just popping in today to announce there's a new Uniko release coming up on Saturday 1st October and today is the first chance to get a sneaky peek.

Pop back tomeoorow when there will be more sneak peeks!

Thanks for looking today and keep crafting!

AAA Cards - #74 Masking

Hey! And welcome to the beginning of a brand new challenge over at AAA Cards. This one's going to be a theme that you'll all love - MASKING. Just remember it has to be CAS!

So I set myself a personal challenge to mask out a sentiment word and add a two tone stripe. Here's how it looks:

The THANKS was stamped and then each letter was masked - a bit of a time consuming process, but I love how clear and white and empty this process makes it look. Next I applied a mask - on top of the letter masks - to reveal just a thin line through the middle of the sentiment and brushed across some hot pink ink. I then moved these masks out to line up with the top and bottom of the sentiment and brushed some more ink over the whole thing which gives the deeper shade to the middle.

Once all the masks were removed a few sparkly enamel dots were added to finish off and highlight the focal sentiment.

Supplies:
Stamps: Uniko, All Occasion Sentiments #6
Inks: Ranger dustress, picked raspberry
Embellishments: Doodlebug Sprinkles, love glitter asst.

I'm really excited about this challenge and know you'll adore all the wonderful DT's CAS cards, check them out here.

Thanks so much for dropping by today, your time and company is always appreciated.  And keep crafting!

Uniko - Challenge #36 Reminder

Just popping in today to remind you about the challenge going on over at Uniko. The theme is Autumn with the optional twist of thanks.

I decided to go with a Halloween theme for my card - Halloween happens in Autumn - right? Nothing to do with indulging my love of using purple at all!

And we all need lovely things to eat and give as treats for Halloween celebrations, don't we? So I coloured the cake in Halloween colours and used the circle from Uniko's Fun Flowers with some hand drawn legs to make my spider. Looks like he's dangling down after a sweet treat!

The little spiders on the frosting were created using the hearts from Celebrate With Cake with a few hand drawn legs - oooh spooky!

Supplies:
Stamps: Uniko, Celebrate with Cake, Fun flowers
Inks: Mement, tuxedo black, grape jelly; SU, cucumber crush
Promarkers: peach, violet, pine, burnt orange, ivory
Die: Lil'inker, stitched mats rectangles

OK I'm done with all the frightful fun - your turn now! The rest of the Uniko DT have also made cards to help you on your creative journey, check them out here.

Thanks for knocking today, hope you liked my treat.  And keep crafting!

CAS Colours & Sketches #192

Time for a new challenge at CAS Colours & Sketches and this week it's a sketch.

I decided to keep to just two colours and one of my favourite large sentiment stamps.

I stamped the row of candles first meaning them to be perfectly placed in a straight line. I wish! That idea lasted only to the second stamping - and anyway I like the jiggly line. The 'wish' was stamped straight on top of the candles.

I lightly drew round the inside of the rectangle die and then stamped my background flourishes before popping the die cut onto pads and adhering over the top.

Supplies:
Stamps: Uniko, Big & Bold Wish, Balloon Bash; SU, Touches of Texture
Inks: SU, smoky slate, delightful dijon
Die: MFT Die-namics, double stitched rectangle stax

Another great sketch from Karen, the CC&S hostess for September. Hope you'll be playing along.

Thanks for your time today, I do appreciate it. And keep crafting!