Challenge Archives - Page 2 of 23 - Clear Stamps Sets for Cardmaking & Paper Crafts

23 Sep

Wednesday Wishes!

Hey & Happy Hump Day!

Today’s cards were meant for yesterday, but due to technical issues last night, I wasn’t able to get onto my website to type my post. Them when hubby had sorted the issue out, I was already tucked up in bed and had called it a night!

Anyway, I’m here today with two Wednesday Wishes instead. With it being the first day of Autumn yesterday I was inspired to dust off Organic Wishes. It’s been a while since I used this set and it was nice to have a play 😉

For this first card I used some Autumnal colours and blended the background with Altenew Sand Dunes ink and then stamped the dandelion heads in Espresso. I hand drew in the stems and added the leaves.

The marker pen I used for the stems was a slightly darker shade of Espresso and so it didn’t stand out like a sore thumb, I went in and added some hand drawn details to the dandelions. Super simple but I think it adds depth and interest.

For my second card I loosely followed the sketch over at CAS Colours & Sketches seen HERE and below.

I started by stamping the stems in Altenew Cloudy Night ink and added the dandelion heads afterwards. I added a little bit of sparkle to the dandelion heads with some White Blizzard Nuvo Glitter Drops.

It’s a really wet and windy one here today, so lovely excuse to stay tucked up inside! I’ve a batch of restocks due in the studio this week, so lots to keep me busy too 😉

Have a wonderful Wednesday.

Crafty Hugs Bev x

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18 Sep

Uniko Challenge #61 – Anything Goes With Optional Twist Thanks

Hey & Happy Friday!

Welcome to the September/October 2020 Uniko Challenge.

This month we have the always popular Anything Goes theme for this challenge and as it’s the time of year when we says thanks for the harvest of Summer and start to think about Thanksgiving we’ve added in the optional twist of Thanks.

We are delighted to welcome Ishani the winner of Uniko Challenge #60 as our Guest Designer. Her card is an autumnal delight of pretty colours and leaves.

I don’t think I have a favourite season, as I always find something I like about each of them! Autumn is the changing of the colours in nature and the low Autumn sun that shines through the tress on an afternoon. So try and picture this in your mind as this is where the inspiration for my card came from.

Like many of the Brand Ambassadors I reached for the Stencil – Natures Treasures II. I inked it up using a Autumn inspired colour combination and to make the background a little less stark white, I blended over the top with Distress Oxide Pumice Stone.

I’ve then stamped the word ‘thank you’ using Alphabet Outlined and then my favourite, fussy cut the letters! I do find fussy cutting relaxing. I’ve then popped each letter up onto the card using 1mm thick foam adhesive.

I’m thankful and blessed with an amazing team of Brand Ambassadors who have hung in there with me & Uniko these past few difficult months and as always they’ve an abundance of inspiration over HERE on the challenge post.

Be Sure to head on over for all beautiful inspiration, details, PRIZES and link up to join in on the fun!

I look forward to seeing you in the gallery 🙂

Crafty Hugs Bev x

By uniko Cards, Challenge, Stencils, Uniko Challenge 0 Comments Read more...

16 Jul

Uniko Challenge #60 – In My Garden + optional twist Hot Summer Colours

Hey!

Welcome to the July/August 2020 Uniko Challenge.

We are delighted to welcome Anushree as our Guest Designer for this challenge. Her card is an absolutely magical mix of Uniko products and is an total stunner!

Guest Designer – Anushree

Thank you so much Anushree for being such an amazing Guest Designer!

And here is what I was inspired to create for this months challenge…

With a bunch of clear stamp restocks due in the studio 27th July (all restocks are available on backorder), including ones from the February Birthday 2020 Release, I was inspired to dust off the Happy Days clear stamp set for my card today.

In the past I was never a lover of green, but as I have gotten older the colour is more appealing to me! As you can see I went with all the greens for my card and I used the Altenew Tropical Forest collection to make matching shades easier.

My garden is pretty green this summer with not many flowers as with lockdown I didn’t take my usual trip to the garden centre for bedding plants. So this card also pretty much sums up what’s in my garden!

As usual the Uniko Brand Ambassadors are sharing such beautiful, creative inspiration. Be sure to hop on over HERE to the challenge post and find links to each of the Brand Ambassador blogs and also the link up to the challenge.

I look forward to seeing you in the gallery!

Crafty Hugs, Bev

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14 Jul

Restocks & a Card!

Hey!

Happy Tuesday, I hope your week has begun well. I’ve been busy here at Uniko HQ getting a lot of the requested restocks ordered and at the weekend the stencil restocks arrived, YAY!

The following stencils are back in stock… Mid Century Modern, Mid Century Modern Squares, Natures Treasures II, Party Confetti, Winter Foliage, Seeing Stars and Abstract Triangles.

AND I am happy that a bunch of clear stamp restocks will be arriving in the studio on 28th July. These include the following… Alphabet Outlined, Anniversaire Arts Décoratifs, Background Blocks Arts Décoratifs, Background Builders Arts Décoratifs, Happy Days, Just Because, Explosion! Explosion Additions, Background Blocks Mid Century Modern, Background Blocks Wonky Stripes and Kindness Blooms. They are all NOW available on backorder for those who want to get their orders in 😉

So with all these happy restocks arriving and arriving soon, I was inspired to create…

For the layout of my card I was inspired by the sketch over at Freshly Made Sketches seen HERE and below.

It has been a while since I’ve inked up the Mid Century Modern Squares stencil, so I decided to give it an outing and thought mixing the squares with the triangle layout would give a fun eye catching impact.

I used masking tape to mask the triangle sections one at a time and then simply inked through the stencil with Altenew Aqualicious ink. I then added the HB2U sentiment using the Alphabet Outlined clear stamp set. Which is available on backorder! I stamped the letters using Catherine Pooler Midnight ink, coloured with Copic Markers and fussy cut the letters out.

A fairly quick but fun design that is perfectly suited for those men in our lives!

Thank you for all the lovely orders, it’s Post Office run day this afternoon! I hope I have given you some crafty inspo to dust off those stencils and have fun!

Thanks for stopping by today.

Crafty Hugs Bev x

By uniko Cards, Challenge, Masculine, Stencils 0 Comments Read more...

20 May

World Bee Day – To BEE or not to BEE Blog Hop!

Hey & Happy HOT Hump Day! It’s a scorcher here in the UK today and up North we are recording temperatures of 27 degrees celsius!

Welcome to the 2020 BEE or not to BEE Blog Hop!

Hopefully you have hopped on over from the official start of the hop on Milka‘s blog and all the participants can be found at the end of this post.

The purpose of this blog hop is to celebrate World Bee Day, to support bees and to raise public awareness of the importance of bees and apicultural products.

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Source: https://www.worldbeeday.org/en/

And this is what I have created for the occasion…

My creative mojo and time has been seriously lacking these past 5/6 weeks in lockdown here in the UK, but I managed to whip this card up using some AAA Cards challenge inspiration! You can check their challenge out HERE and below is the challenge cue.

I have gone over up to one third of my card slightly 🙁 I should have overlapped the bees onto the yellow and black stripes a little more perhaps. It was the inspiration I needed to create though! Oh, and BTW Uniko is the current sponsor!!

As it’s World Bee Day, the Uniko BEE Happy clear stamp set had to be featured and I have paired it with the Background Blocks Horizontal Stripe.

I’m pretty pleased with how this turned out considering my lack of stamping recently!

Happy BEE Day!

ALSO…

For your 1 in 19 chance to win one of the sponsor prizes seen in the graphic above, hop along blogs of the participating designers and sponsors listed in blog hop list below and leave comment on each blog hop stop.

After commenting, return back to Milka’s blog and add your name to InLinkz, but prior you do, please read Blog Hop details, terms, giveaway rules and privacy policy which are shared in Milka’s blog post below InLinkz.

InLinkz closes on May 27th 2020, 11:59 PM CEST. Winners’ names will be announced on Milka’s blog on May 31st 2020 during the day.

There will be couple additional giveaways along the hop. Details about additional prizes and giveaway rules can be found on blogs that offers additional prizes.

Giveaway is opened Worldwide (+18) only.

Happy Hopping & Crafty Hugs!

Bev x

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29 Mar

Hello Sunshine

Happy Monday!

I thought I would pop by and share a Spring themed card to brighten up your day, put a spring in your step and start the week off on a positive note.

This is one of the cards I made over the weekend, when I found some creativity 🙂 I was totally inspired by the comments left on my Sending Hugs post HERE and it got me to thinking about ‘enjoying what we have’ and not what we don’t or want.

So, I took that on board and looked through my favourite challenges online and then to my stash for something I haven’t used for a while. One of the challenges I love to join in on is Freshly Made Sketches. So I decided to join in with the sketch seen HERE and below.

As you can see I was inspired to ink up the heart wreath from Originally Organic Additions. I love this set for Spring & Summer themed cards and I chose to use some yummy The Stamp Market inks, Leafy, Bubble Gum & Melon.

The ‘Hello Sunshine’ sentiment is from Spring Botanicals Tulips and I added some of my favourite Nuvo Drop embellishment to finish my card off. I stocked up on some stamps prior to lockdown & we have a post box just around the corner, so I hope to send some happy mail out this week to spread some cheer.

I hope you have a lovely day & thank you for stopping by.

Crafty Hugs

By uniko Cards, Challenge, Floral, Stamp Focus 0 Comments Read more...

28 Mar

Sending Hugs

Hello!

How are you? I do hope you are well and tucked up safe at home. I thought I would pop by today with some virtual hugs and to check in with you all.

I feel I ‘up and left’ abruptly and I didn’t give any warning about suspending ordering on the website. I apologise for that, especially as I had started a sale and extended the discount code.

Last Saturday I was feeling optimistic and hopeful. That I could ‘carry on as normal’ through this weird and crazy time. But then, as the weekend continued, we watched the news and maybe I read too much on social media.

My optimism dwindled and the reality of it all came flooding in. From Monday I would be doing home learning with The Beans. I would be responsible for making sure that a form of education continued. That they both continue to progress with their speech. AND on top of that, I have a home to keep in check, meals to prepare & cleaning to keep on top of.

I talked it all through with hubby and with the uncertainty of his work, people scaling back on non-essentials and not wanting to risk bringing the virus home on going out when we don’t really need to, we took the decision to suspend orders on the website on Monday morning.

We had a feeling that the news that evening would be a ‘lockdown’. To only leave the house for essential shopping. We were right and since posting my last few orders (thank you) and buying a few essential items from the supermarket, we haven’t left our property.

So here I am, almost a week into not leaving the house & garden and having survived a week of home learning! As much as it has been a joy to have my boys home, to spend time seeing how much they have learn’t since they started school. It’s been stressful and exhausting! But they have thrived on the 1-2 learning environment, I’ve seen so much progress in such a short time with their speech and we’ve even done some fun tasks like drawing & painting, pizza making & junk model making!

I had envisioned that I would just go back to my once working on a night once they are in bed and continue with daily creating, blogging & working on new designs. Oh how wrong I was! This week I have simply been too tired once I have got them tucked up and settled and just collapsed in a heap on the sofa or in bed!

I am hoping that as we all adjust to the new routine, I will find the energy to do more of what I love and sharing it with you 🙂

Like today, I have spent most of the day Spring cleaning my studio space, organising and I actually sat down to make the card I am sharing with you. It’s funny how you come across things to put aside to use at a later date.

I came across an ink blended piece of card I had stamped with Background Blocks Graffiti Texture. Part of it had not stamped well, so I had put it aside to use for a different purpose. Like most times, these get ‘buried’ and forgotten about. Until today when I came across it and decided to die cut the largest loopy flower from Designer Dies Kindness Blooms.

I was even inspired to play along with a card challenge! I used the current sketch over at CAS Colours & Sketches seen HERE and below.

The website will be back once some form of ‘normality’ resumes in the UK and we are no longer in a lockdown situation. You never know, I might even have a shiny new website to reopen with and a bunch of new products ready and waiting! I will however have a discount code & a sale on. So there is something to look forward to!

Sorry for such a LONG post. I didn’t think I had that much to say! I do hope you are all well, safe and finding things to keep yourself busy. I will do my best to check in & share more creativity this week.

Take Care & Crafty Hugs

By uniko Cards, Challenge, Floral 0 Comments Read more...

19 Mar

Uniko Challenge #58 Spots & Stripes with Optional Twist to use a Stencil

Welcome to the March/April 2020 Uniko Challenge.

For this, our second challenge of the year we’re asking for spots and stripes on your cards and an optional twist of using a stencil.

This month we’re delighted to have Mac Mable as our Guest Designer. She is well known for her creative use of techniques and you’re going to love her interpretation of the theme.

Isn’t that just an awesome use of spots and stripes? If you get time please pop over to her blog and tell her how very impressed you are – HERE.

Today I opted for a clean & simple design with a rainbow of colours. I chose not to use a stencil this time but mixed up a few Uniko clear stamp sets to create my card.

I recently saw someone use some colourful striped and spotty designer paper and I wrote the idea down to have a go at recreating it with stamps. I used Background Builders Classics to stamp the stripes in a rainbow of Altenew ink colours. I then went in and used the Santa nose stamp from Jolly Santa to stamp the dots in-between, colouring them with a black fine liner to make them solid.

I ‘ve then combined the flower from Flower Power #5 with the leaves from Flower Power #6 and added the bee and sentiment from Bee Happy.

I love how colourful and cheerful this card turned out, it is more than ever needed at this time of uncertainty and worry around the world.

As usual the Uniko Brand Ambassadors have been creative and have inspiration for you too. Be sure to head on over to the Uniko blogspot blog HERE for links to their blogs & also the prize and link up for the challenge.

I hope that you find some creative time to join in on the fun & look forward to seeing you in the gallery.

Crafty Hugs,

By uniko Cards, Challenge, Floral, Uniko Challenge 0 Comments Read more...

14 Mar

March 2020 Non Release Brand Ambassador Blog Hop & GIVEAWAY!

Hello & Happy Weekend.

This month is non-release month at Uniko and on non-release months myself and my awesome Brand Ambassadors revisit a previously released clear stamp set.

This month we are revisiting Pure Florals Gerbera and giving it some fresh inky creativity.

As usual we have our GIVEAWAY, so be sure to comment along the hop for your chance to win both the Pure Florals Gerbera Clear Stamp Set. An alternative prize will be offered if the winner already owns this.

You have until midnight Sunday 22nd March 2020 to comment along the hop.

I thought I would start with a pretty pink card and use a quick colouring technique. It’s a good one if you’re not one for spending ages on colouring, but you can achieve colour depth and shading.

I started out by stamping the solid Gerbera stamp onto a panel of card stock using The Stamp Market Fresh ink to create an all over background.

I then stamped a single image onto a small scrap of card using the same colour of pink. Selecting a slightly darker colour of pink I shaded in areas of the petals to create depth and make it look realistic.

I repeated my process for the leaf using The Stamp Market Leafy and a slightly darker shade of pencil.

The flower is adhered to the card using foam adhesive and then I have tucked the leaf in and adhered using double sided tape.

Lastly for today I have a simple Copic coloured bloom. I have been getting some practice in with my Copic markers (still have a long way to go), and I had some Coral pinks I wanted to play with.

The layout of my card is from this weeks Freshly Made Sketches seen HERE and below.

As you can see from my photo I have coloured around the edge of my bloom. The matching dies are currently out of stock (sorry) and so I didn’t cheat and went back to basics with some fussy cutting. I have seen this technique used a few times around social media and I love the effect it gives.

Apart from my base card, this card was made from scraps I had left over from other projects. Having a coloured block like the navy card is a great way of using up pieces, as it the piece I have used for the sentiment. The sentiment is from Birthday Sentiments.

That’s all I have to share with you today, but be sure to stop by all the Uniko Brand Ambassador blogs and comment along the way for your chance to win.

Thanks for joining in on the fun.

Hugs

By uniko Blog Hop, Cards, Challenge, Floral, Revisited Clear Stamp Sets 0 Comments Read more...

22 Feb

Introducing… Happy Days and Background Blocks Pinstripe II

Hey!
Welcome to Day 5 and the last of the product introductions for the February 2020 & 8th Birthday Releas. If you missed day 1, be sure to catch up HERE , for Day 2, HERE, Day 3 HERE and Day 4 HERE.

Today we have two more clear stamp sets to introduce to you, Happy Days and Background Blocks Pinstripe II. I’ve combined them both on my first card.

I love stripes and silhouettes and combining them both on this card was so easy. I used my MISTI to position and stamp the background, and I used a lovely Sunshine yellow.

I decided to stamp & fussy cut the silhouette foliage & adhere it to the card using foam adhesive. The sentiment is from Spring Botanicals Tulip, which we introduced yesterday.

For my second card I was inspired by two challenges. Firstly CAS(E) this Sketch! HERE for the layout and for the colours Color Throwdown HERE.

Such a simple design, but I really like how the colours work together and the foliage looks so pretty.

I’ve added one of my favourite and ‘go to’ sentiments from Simply Said Blocks and also some of my favourite embellishment, Nuvo Drops to finish the card.

I hope you enjoyed all the inspiration and the hops & left some comment love along the way. I will be randomly selecting some comments left on the Introducing hops to win prizes!

Thank you for stopping by today & I hope you will come back tomorrow for the full reveal, blog hop & GIVEAWAY! All the products you have seen over the past few days will be available to purchase at 9pm GMT.

Crafty Hugs

By uniko Blog Hop, Cards, Challenge, Introducing, New Release 12 Comments Read more...

Challenge (Page 2)