Masculine

Uniko 12th Birthday NEW Release, Brand Ambassador Blog Hop & GIVEAWAY !

Hello, Happy Sunday AND Happy New Release Day!

I hope you have enjoyed all the celebrations and the introductions this week and I’m super excited you have stopped by so I share these new products with you. They are NOW available to purchase HERE on the website.

Now let’s see some more creative inspiration using these new products. Be sure to hop along & comment along the way before 29th February 2024 to win a £30 eGift Voucher to spend in store. Hop links and formal introduction to the newness can be found HERE.

I started with Background Blocks MOD Builder and had an idea to stamp it over an ink blended block of yummy colours. These are Creamsicle, Watermelon and Wildberry, from the new Concord & 9th collection.

I then accented my card with a flower from Mid Century Modern Florals, but add the leaves from the Background Block MOD Builder set for a different look!

Next I had some more fun with a couple of the new colours and the big HAPPY sentiment from Mid Century Modern Birthday.

Originally I intended for a more rainbow colour scheme, but I ended up with a pink, red to orange colour combo!

This is a fairly quick and fun card to make if you’re in a hurry or stuck for an idea. The colours can be easily changed to suit the recipient too. I added the little Asterix element from the Mid Century Modern Birthday set and added a Midnight enamel dot to the centre too.

For my final card for today I did go rainbow, it just had to be done! I’ve done a rainbow version of every Ink & Flip Stencil so far, so I needed to continue with the Ink & Flip Layering Geometric Heart.

I just went with the one layer today and leave the heart open for a sparkly birthday sentiment. But don’t worry, you’ll see more using this stencil in the coming days 😃

Thank you for joining in on all of the Uniko celebrations so far. There is still time to join in on the celebrations, our 12th Birthday Card Linky Party HERE. Enter to Win Stamps For a Year HERE and Win Enter to Win Stencils For a Year HERE.
Along with all the birthday fun and new stamps, there are a few clear stamp restocks available on backorder & due in the studio 21st February. These restocks include Background Blocks PerspectiveBauhaus Blocks and Everyday Sentiments.

Crafty Hugs

Celebrating 12 Years – Introducing… Mid Century Modern Birthday

Happy Thursday 😃

Welcome to Day 2 of the 12th Birthday/February Release product introductions. This release we are adding to Uniko’s ever popular Mid Century Modern Collection, along with our unique Ink & Flip Stencil series, which we kicked things off with yesterday HERE


Today however, we are Introducing… Mid Century Modern Birthday. Let’s have a look at this clear stamp set in action.

For my first card I was excited to combine Mid Century Modern Birthday with the popular Background Blocks Linear.

I started by stamping the block along the edge of my card and after selecting a trio of colours, Lilac, Marmalade and Grape Soda. I matched as close as I could to Copic markers and coloured random blocks.

Next I stamped my little gifts and actually chose a sentiment combination from the clear stamp set being introduced tomorrow 😉 and assembled my card. A bit of fussy cutting, but you know how I love it!

My second card today I chose to go bold and sentiment only. My chosen colours also give it a masculine feel.

As you can see I repeat stamped the HAPPY sentiment across my Dove card panel in black ink. I then stamped the BIRTHDAY in Oceanside ink and again in VersaMark to be able to heat emboss with some WOW Sparkle EP.

The result, a simple card that packs a punch of impact.

You know me, when I can’t decide on a colour combo, I go rainbow! That’s what I used for my next card.

This clear stamp set features elements intended to ‘build’ gifts. But really the creative possibilities are endless. The Brand Ambassadors have demonstrated this perfectly. We all see things in different creative ways. Here I decided to create a geometric design down the edge of my card. Simply just having fun with the shapes and colours.

I finished this one layer card with the large WISHES sentiment and opted to pair it with the fancy script happy from Happy Days.

During my YouTube introduction video HERE, I created my next card. I had an idea in my head and just went with it.

I built my stamped gifts with colours and black ribbon and bows. Finishing off with some Cobblestone enamel dots and Copic colouring to the middle bow. My sentiment choice is from Simply Said Blocks.

That’s all I have today using this clear stamp set. But I will be sharing more later this week.

This clear stamp set, along with all the products being introduced this week will be available 9am GMT Sunday 18th January 2024. 

Crafty Hugs

Introducing… Background Blocks Perspective

Happy Wednesday. 

Welcome to day two of the December 2023 mini release introductions. Myself and the Uniko Brand Ambassadors are here to get you over the festive mid week hump with LOTS of beautiful inspiration.

This release we are adding to the popular Background Blocks series and the next addition to the series is  Background Blocks Perspective, let’s have a look at it in action…

This background block is such a fun design and perfect for masculine cards. I was scrolling through Pinterest the other week and came across lots of Zentangle and I was inspired to add this to the background. Along with a rainbow of colours of course!

This was not only fun to make, but also relaxing. My sentiment choice is from Simply Said Blocks II and Simply Said Blocks III.

Next up I went for something a little more clean and simple, but still with a masculine vibe.

I chose a bold red and grey to colour the block. I then fussy cut the block out and sliced it in two along the longest length. This was so I could frame the Happy Birthday sentiment from Floral Vines.

That’s all I have today using this new background block, I will be sharing more on Friday and I have some non masculine makes! To see more, be sure to hop on over HERE and see what each of the Brand Ambassadors have made.

Crafty Hugs

2023 July/August Reveal, Release, Brand Ambassador Blog Hop & GIVEAWAY!

Hello, Happy Sunday AND Happy New Release Day!

I’m super excited to share these new products with you and they are now officially available to purchase over HERE on the website. For the formal introductions and all the Brand Ambassador blog links, head on over HERE.

Be sure to leave some comment love either on their blogs or social media. I will be randomly selecting a winner to win the entire release and will announce the winner Saturday 26th August 2023.

Let’s have a look at these products in action a bit more…

I’m starting with Mid Century Modern Wreath Builder and I wanted to show how these clear stamps have more than a festive use to them. The wreath as you can see can be used for more than just Christmas, I also see sunshine rays!

And I was inspired to pair it with our Stencil – Cloud 9 and a sentiment from Sunshine & Rainbows.

This lead me onto my next card.

Still thinking of sunshine, it reminded me of flowers and sunshine, so I had to pair it with Mid Century Modern Florals.

And I think they pair pretty nicely, even if I do say so myself. As you can see I added some glitter to the inside of the outline wreath.

Keeping with the non festive theme and wreaths on the brain, I turned the Mid Century Modern Christmas triangle geometric into a rainbow wreath for this fun birthday card.

It’s not very often I make a slimline card, but I had so much fun making these wreaths I made two! The centre is decorated with the bow from Mid Century Modern Wreath Builder which are stamped in black and hear embossed with stardust embossing powder.

My sentiment is from Floral Vines paired with the NEW Everyday Family.

For my second card I wanted to recreate this card HERE, paring the same stamp as above with the Bauhaus Blocks.

I overhung the triangles off the edge of my card, keeping them the same size on the left, but altering the size on the right. I then left space at the bottom for one of the blocks and a sentiment.

Lastly for today I had to get festive with my cards. First using Mid Century Modern Baubles, firstly creating a monochrome one layer card.

A simple bit of masking and Copic colouring finished with some clear Wink of Stella.

My next bauble card was inspired by Vinita’s second card HERE, to combine the Stencil – MOD Background Builder.

I started by lightly stencilling the design in the background using Pebble ink. I then stamped and coloured 3 baubles using the reverse masking technique again.

Finally I embellished the baubles with some more elements from the set and mixed and matched a sentiment using the Happy from Mid Century Modern Frames.

One last card as I couldn’t not use the new Ink & Flip Stencil or the Background Block Arts Décoratifs Christmas, so combined them on one card. This was inspired by one of Steph’s cards today HERE.

I started by inking the stencil just the once on my standard size card 10.5 x 14 cm in Poppy ink. But I wanted it slightly darker so went over softly with Cranberry ink.

I then inked and stamped the background block twice so I could colour and fussy cut the main focal Christmas tree out. Which after selectively colouring some of the second stamped background block red, I adhered the Christmas tree with foam tape. And lastly added the fussy cut bow from MCM Wreath Builder, coloured in red.

My aim was to create a card that looked like a gift with a gift tag & bow.

Phew! What a mammoth post. I hope you have enjoyed this release?

Happy shopping and hope to see you over on Facebook at 7pm this evening. I will be taking a look at the new products, along with making a card or two in the live. Don’t worry if you can’t make it or you don’t do Facebook, I will be saving and uploading the video to YouTube.
Crafty Hugs 

Introducing… Background Blocks Arts Decoratifs Christmas & Everyday Family

Welcome to Day 4 of the product introductions for our July/August Release. 

Hopefully you didn’t miss day 1, 2 or 3 product introductions, but if you did you can catch up HEREHERE and HERE.

Today myself and the Brand Ambassadors are showcasing a fun addition to the Art Deco inspired products with a new background block AND a new addition to the Everyday Sentiment series.

First let’s have a look at the new Background Block…

As you can hopefully see, I designed this new block to coordinate with the previously released Background Block Arts Décoratifs.

On this first card I have used the Background Block Arts Décoratifs on my Evergreen base card, heat embossing n gold ink.

I then stamped and heat embossed in gold the new Background Block Arts Décoratifs Christmas. I fussy cut the block out leaving a small border and adhered to my card using foam adhesive.

For my second card using the new block, I went colourful…

I stamped the block in black and coloured with alcohol markers. I then fussy cut the block out and adhered to a piece of Poppy card stock before adhering to my card base with foam tape. My sentiment choice is from Mid Century Modern Wreath Builder.

Lastly for today I finished the rainbow card I started during my Facebook Live demo of the Ink & Flip Stencil – Christmas Star.

The second product we are introducing today is a new addition to the Everyday Sentiments, with Everyday Family.

This clear stamp set doesn’t need a huge explanation. It contains a HUGE variety of family sentiments with some clever mix and match options to cover a variety of spelling options! Here I used the Nephew paired with a sentiment from Birthday Sentiments.

That’s all from me today.

Crafty Hugs

Introducing… Bauhaus Blocks Clear Stamps

Happy Wednesday & Welcome to Day 2 of the product introductions for our May/June Release. 

Today myself and the Brand Ambassadors are showcasing a new clear stamp set called Bauhaus Blocks. If you’ve been here at Uniko for some time, you will know that I am inspired by a lot of design period styles.

One of my most recent obsessions is Bauhaus! Hence the clear stamp set being introduced today…

The name of this clear stamp set literally says it all, Bauhaus Blocks. It features 5 block designs and 4 sentiment options in this fun font.

I’ve used 4 of the blocks on this first card choosing a colour combo I came across during my research. A little unusual from my usual ‘go to’ colours, but I rather like it.

Next up I kept with the same colour scheme, but opted for a single focal point card.

I die cut a square window to expose my dark grey card base. I’ve then stamped, coloured and fussy cut one of the squares to put inside.

The white frame panel is adhered using foam adhesive & I’ve popped a sentiment from Simply Said Blocks on with foam adhesive too.

That’s all from me today. I can’t wait to share more using this stamp set and I know the Brand Ambassadors have worked their magic with it, so be sure to hop along with them all HERE.

We will be back tomorrow with more to share. This clear stamp set, along with all we are introducing this week will be available on Friday 2nd June 9am GMT. 

Crafty Hugs 

Introducing… Mid Century Modern Frames

Hello & Happy Wednesday,

Welcome to Day 2 of the January 2023 Release Introductions.

Today the Brand Ambassadors and myself are here to get you over that mid week hump with some fun inspiration. There is no denying that I love the shapes and patterns of this era in design & I think this frame set with mix & match sentiments brings another fabulous addition encompassing this.

Let’s have a look how I have used this new clear stamp set…

First up I opted for a Kraft card base over my usual white. I wasn’t lying yesterday when I said you would see more of the Background Block Linear! I’ve stamped that lengthways across the top section of my card in black ink.

I’ve then stamped and fussy cut one of the three frames from the set, added my sentiment and coloured the frame using Copic Markers. I’ve adhered the frame using foam adhesive and added a few enamel dots from my stash to finish.

For my second card I chose another of the frames and sentiment choices. This time I stamped the frame onto a white card panel. I then used a pencil & ruler to mark a column to trim of a section and around the image to reveal my stencilled base card pattern.

I opted for the Stencil – Mid Century Modern Squares, that I have stencilled with Concord & 9th Sorbet ink onto Sorbet card for a tone on tone effect. I used Copic Markers to colour the frame and in hindsight I wish I had left a little more white on the frame.

The white panel is then adhered to the sorbet card base using foam adhesive.

Just the two cards today showcasing this set, but I know the Brand Ambassadors have created wonderful inspiration to share. Be sure to hop along HERE and check out their socials to see.

We will be back tomorrow with more to share with the final two products and all the products will be available at 10am GMT Friday 13th January 2023.

Crafty Hugs 

July 2022 Reveal, Release & Brand Ambassador Blog Hop!

Hello, Happy Friday and Happy Release Day! 

I do hope you have enjoyed the fun this week as myself and the Brand Ambassadors have shared inspiration using the new products in this mini release. The day is here and we can now officially introduce you to the 4 new products lining the shelves here at Uniko HQ and they are all available to purchase HERE.

Now, let’s get to the inspiration as I know that’s what you’ve come for!

For my first card today I used Background Blocks Rays and paired it with the previously released Nautical Treasures, which is back in stock.

This card was inspired by my husbands recent work on a project for Hartlepool Council, they are hosting The Tall Ships Race again in 2023 and I’ve been lucky to get the inside scoop on promotional material and videos!

I thought the rays would be an awesome backdrop to the sail boat sailing off into the sun set. I think it creates an awesome CAS masculine card.

Next, I wanted to use Stencil – Tropical Leaf #2 to create another CAS card with some fussy cut detail.

For this I lined up my stencil with the edge of my white mat layer. I used a trio of green inks to blend through the stencil and then simply fussy cut around the leaf just in this one corner.

I used pink & aqua ink to blend onto my base card and by adding the leaf panel to the card base with foam adhesive creates interest by allowing the ink blended background show through a little more in this one area. I used texture paste to add the leaf detail and the sentiment is from Paradise clear stamp set.

Lastly for today I used Paw Print Hearts with the previously released Sunshine & Rainbows.

Again, this was another idea I had in my mind when I designed the stamp set, so it felt good to get ink to stamp and to card!

I stamped the rainbow direct onto my mat layer using my stamping platform and then used the same colours to ink and stamp the paw print heart. I’ve adhered this using foam adhesive.

The sentiment is from Simply Said Blocks II and the tiny heart accents from Sunshine & Rainbows.

That is all from me today. Be sure to check out what the Brand Ambassadors have created, you can find the links HERE.

I hope you have chance to leave comments along the way, I will be randomly selecting one lucky from all that are left during the week to win a £20 eGift Certificate to use in the Uniko store. I will announce the winner here on the blog Friday 5th August.


Thank you for all the support and for joining in on the fun this week. I will be back tomorrow with more inspiration!
Crafty Hugs

Introducing…Background Blocks Cogs, Background Blocks Splatters and Everyday Sentiments

 Hello & Happy Hump Day!

Welcome to Day 1 of the 10th Birthday February 2022 Release product introductions. Myself and the Uniko Brand Ambassadors are here to cheer up your mid week with some fabulous creative inspiration.

Today we are introducing three new stamp sets that I am sure you will want to add to your Uniko collection, Background Blocks Cogs, Background Blocks Splatters and Everyday Sentiments.

I am delighted to be adding to this growing series of Background Blocks and especially ones that lend themselves to masculine makes. The addition of these sentiments open up so many options too. The ways the Brand Ambassadors have used these are genius and inspiring, so be sure to hop along with us. You can find the start of the hop HERE.

All the products will be available for purchase at 10am GMT Sunday 27th February 2022.

Okay, lets get to the good stuff!

My first card today uses Background Builders Cogs and I built my sentiment using Everyday Sentiments.

I started by stamping the cog block onto my Concord & 9th Mushroom card stock base in VersaFine Clair Nocturne ink. I then stamped it again onto white card and fussy cut a few of the cogs out.

The mix of sentiments are heat embossed embossed onto a strip of PTI Smokey Slate card and adhered using foam adhesive. I’ve then scattered the fussy cut cogs and added some Nuvo Drops in Gloss Ebony.

For my second card I used Background Blocks Splatter. I started by inking the background with a mix of Concord & 9th Sorbet and Honeysuckle.

I then accented my card with the two balloons from Balloon Bash and another sentiment from Everyday Sentiments. This time some White Blizzard Glitter Nuvo Drops to finish.

Next I wanted to show how both these ‘masculine’ orientated backgrounds can be feminised. So I created two matching cards, just switching out the background.

It’s been ages since I last inked up Beautiful Blooms III, so I chose this as my floral. I used the same Concord & 9th ink colours for both cards, Ballet Slipper, Sorbet & Honeysuckle for the flower. Sprout, Parsley, Clover & Evergreen for the backgrounds & foliage.

After fussy cutting the stamped floral I adhered it to my card using foam adhesive. I added then stamped the Thank You sentiment from Everyday Sentiments and a few enamel dots to finish.

I then repeated everything for this second card, though I did switch up the sentiment layout and enamel dot placement.

I can’t decide which I like best as they both turned out really pretty! That’s all from me today using these three products. I will be back tomorrow with more to share.

Crafty Hugs

Introducing… Stencils Flower Power #8, Rainbow & Clouds, Squared & Tropical Leaf I

Hello & Happy Friday!

Welcome to Day 4 of the July 2021 Release Product Introductions. I can’t believe it’s Friday already & week 1 of the summer holidays is almost over.

Today we have another inspiring blog hop and we are introducing FOUR new stencil designs. A bit of a mix with hopefully something for everyone.

I have four cards to show you today, so let’s get to it…

First up I have this sparkly colourful card using the Flower Power #8 stencil. I recently purchased the Altenew Detail Blending Brushes and had to give them a whirl by colouring each of the flower segments a different colour!

I then applied some Gina K Designs Glitz Glitter Gel over the top to get this beautiful sparkle. I messed up a little, so I trimmed the flower to go over the edge of my card panel. I added a sentiment from Simply Said Blocks III and a trio of sparkly Nuvo Drops to finish.

Next up is a card using the Rainbow & Clouds stencil. The stencil contains 2 sizes of rainbow and 4 different sized clouds. Here I chose to use the smaller rainbow.

I am slowly stepping outside my comfort zone and this time I used some Gina K Pastillage Texture Paste. I removed the stencil, cleaned & when the paste was dry reapplied the stencil and used the detail blending brush to apply ink.

I love the subtle dimension of this texture paste. For the clouds I used Gina K Designs Glitz Glitter Gel and simply fussy cut the clouds out when dry. Again a sentiment from Simply Said Blocks III and a little glitter heart from my stash finished the card.

Another CAS card up next, this time using the Squared stencil. Again testing out the detail blending brushes I was able to selectively ink various squares to create a frame round my Birthday Wishes sentiment.

I’m looking forward to having another play with this stencil and paring it with Background Builders Squared!

Lastly for today I have another simple design using Tropical Leaf I. Here I used the detail blending brushes to add different shades of green for a interesting effect with it being a CAS design.

This time I added the Thinking of You sentiment from Simply Said Blocks II and a trio of Bottle Green Nuvo Drops to finish.

Just a quick look at all four stencils from me today, I know I will be sharing more in the coming weeks with these as well as all the new products I’ve introduced this week. Be sure to hop around the Brand Ambassador blogs for more inspiration and don’t forget to  leave comments along the way. I will be randomly selecting comments left in the lead up to Release Day on 25th July to win Uniko goodies! 

Until tomorrow, Crafty Hugs