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NEW Month, NEW Stencils, Giveaway AND an Offer!

Hello! 

Happy Monday and happy November 😊 What a lovely end to October at the weekend with the Stamping Together Festival. It was strange, but super lovely to be back at the show after two years. Seeing new and familiar faces and sharing our love and passion for paper crafts and stamping.

On Saturday I shared this peek on Instagram of two NEW stencil designs I took to the show. I was intending on releasing them yesterday on the website, but exhaustion from the weekend caught up with me. AND the Beans were super excited about Halloween 😂

Anyway, I am excited they are now available on the website HERE. So let’s have a look at the newness with a formal introduction and some samples…

First up is the next addition to the Flower Power series of stencils and Flower Power #5. I am loving the larger size of these modern florals and they definitely breathe new life into the stamps too. 

Then we have Mid Century Modern Shapes. This stencil is the next product in my love for all things Mid Century Modern. I have more up my sleeve that will be coming soon 😉 but for now this is a fun addition to the previously released Mid Century Modern stencils and stamps.

So, now I have done the ‘formal’ introduction to these two beauties, how about some creative inspiration as to how I have used them…
First up some flower power…

For this first card I kept things really simple. I love offsetting these larger blooms off the edge of a standard size card. I love how it draws focus. 

I used Concord & 9th inks in Buttercup, Marmalade and Honeysuckle to blend through the stencil and added a simple sentiment from Simply Said Blocks and Simply Said Blocks III.

For my second card using this stencil I revisited a technique I’ve used before. Creating a ghost outline by inking through with white pigment ink first. Then removing the stencil and offsetting before inking with your chosen colours. 

It creates this lovely shadow effect. I used Distress Oxide Inks in Kitsch Flamingo and Picked Raspberry. Added a sentiment from Floral Vines (back in stock 22nd November) and some clear Nuvo Drops.

Then I had some fun with the Mid Century Modern Shapes and combined it with a few stamps from the collection, that will be back in stock 22nd November.

For this first card I layered two of the same shape to create a base for my focal point using two shades of pink from Altenew, Pink Diamond and Pinkalicious.

I then created a mask of the smaller shape I had used, rotated the stencil and placed the mask inside the large shape to create a framed image. I accented this with some explosions from Mid Century Modern Florals and a sentiment from Simply Said Blocks. 

Lastly for today I created a super CAS masculine congrats card. Again I used a masking technique with another of the shapes to create this fun design.

I love this starburst / explosion image, which you can also find in Kindness Blooms 😉 and again added a sentiment from Simply Said Blocks.

So what do you think? Which is your favourite?


I do hope you like these two new additions to the Uniko Stencil line up 😊  So how about a GIVEAWAY?! 


Simply leave a comment on this post or HERE on the Uniko Blogspot post (or both) for your chance to win these two new stencils plus 1 of your choice from the store. You have until midnight GMT Sunday 7th November 2021 to comment. 


Now, that’s not all for today. I have a Stencil Offer from NOW until 5pm Friday 5th November.

Visit the Stencil section on the website HERE 😊 

Crafty Hugs 

Uniko Challenge #67 – Anything Goes + optional twist Autumn Colours

 Hello & Happy Friday!

Welcome to the September/October 2021 Uniko Challenge. We have the super simple theme of Anything Goes, with an Optional Twist of using Autumn Colours.

And for this challenge we are delighted to welcome Nonni as our Guest Designer.  

How beautiful do the Uniko butterflies look in their glorious autumnal colours! I know you’ll want to pop over to Nonni’s blog to let her what an awesome design she’s created – HERE.

The Uniko Brand Ambassadors have also been busy creating cards to inspire you to play along, you can check them out HERE on the challenge post & link up.

Here’s how I was inspired by the challenge…

I’ve said it a lot recently, but I really do love all the seasons and seeing the subtle changes in the world around me as they merge from one to the next. I feel they all bring their different kind of joy.

For my card I chose some subtle Autumn colours, that start when leaves start to fall, but there is still all the greens and more earthy tones around, before the oranges and reds start to appear.

I used Natures Treasures II for my leaf, Background Builders Squared and Background Blocks Graffiti for the background with some subtle ink splattering and a sentiment from Season Of Beauty. Some Nuvo Drops and thin twine to finish.

So are you ready to play?

Well, just in case you need some more incentive to play along with the challenge here are the details of the prizes.

Due to the current chaos around the world and here in the UK, I have temporarily reduced the value of the prizes. This is so that I can keep my small business afloat during these uncertain times. I hope you understand and will still join in on the fun.

Thank you for your continued support & joining in with the fun at Uniko.
THE PRIZES

  • Main Winner Chosen By the DT – £15 eGift Certificate
  • Random Twist Winner – £5 eGift Certificate
  • Random Uniko Stamps Winner – Â£5 eGift Certificate
  • Top 3 Chosen By DT – 150 Loyalty Reward Points

There is plenty of time to join and play along with this challenge. The deadline for submission is midnight (GMT) on Friday 22nd October 2021.
Crafty Hugs,

Uniko Challenge #66 – Flowers + optional twist Slimline

 Hey!

Welcome to the July/August 2021 Uniko Challenge.
We have the super simple theme of Flowers and an optional twist of Slimline.

We’re delighted to welcome Dhruvika (Cardogram) as our Guest Designer. Dhruvika is very active on Instagram and her wonderful cards can be found HERE.

It’s the last day of school for The Beans today and I needed some Thank You cards for their teachers, so I thought I’d use the opportunity of making a card for the challenge. This is what I came up with…

It’s been a while since I used the Alphabet Outlined, so I dusted it off to spell out the THANKS part of the message and coloured with Copic Markers. I wanted to keep it modern and graphic, so chose the loopy floral blooms from Kindness Blooms to frame the sentiment.

I decided to keep them simple and stamped in black, just adding a little bit of White Gloss Nuvo Drops to the centres. I finished off with the ‘So Much’ sentiment, which is a peek at something coming in the July Release 😉

Be sure to head on over to the Uniko Blogspot Blog for all the details of the challenge, the prize info and the link up. I look forward to seeing you in the challenge gallery.

Crafty Hugs 

Uniko Challenge #65 – Anything Goes + Optional Twist Use Die Cuts

 Hey Happy Friday!

Welcome to the May/June 2021 Uniko Challenge. Hopefully you have hopped on over from HERE.


We have the super simple theme of Anything Goes and an optional twist of Use Die Cuts.

This challenge we’re delighted to welcome Elaine as our guest Designer. I’m sure many of you will know her well and been inspired by her wonderful cards. A visit to her blog is always a pleasure, find it HERE.

Such a beautiful card using Uniko’s Pure Florals Peony stamp set.

My card today doesn’t use the optional twist, instead I have been having a creative play with a fun colouring technique.

I recently rediscovered this fun colouring technique through Jennifer McGuire and she shares a fab video HERE. There are so many creative options using it and I think the think I love most about it, you can do it how you want and each time the results will be different depending on the size dots you use.

I think the toughest part of this creative process was choosing a stamp set to use and try it with. For my card today I selected the silhouette from Just Because. I then just went to town with a rainbow of Copic Markers!

Are you ready to play?

Well, just in case you need some more incentive to play along with the challenge here are the details of the prizes.

Due to the current chaos around the world and here in the UK, I have temporarily reduced the value of the prizes. This is so that I can keep my small business afloat during these uncertain times. I hope you understand and will still join in on the fun.

Thank you for your continued support & joining in with the fun at Uniko.
THE PRIZES

  • Main Winner Chosen By the DT – £15 eGift Certificate
  • Random Twist Winner – £5 eGift Certificate
  • Random Uniko Stamps Winner – Â£5 eGift Certificate
  • Top 3 Chosen By DT – 150 Loyalty Reward Points

There is plenty of time to join and play along with this challenge. The deadline for submission is midnight (GMT) on Friday 25th June 2021. The link up for the challenge can be found HERE.

Crafty Hugs 

2021 Spring / Summer Coffee Lovers Blog Hop

Hey & Happy Friday!

I’m super happy you have stopped by today, Uniko is yet again honoured to be invited by the lovely Amy from Tsuruta Designs and proudly sponsoring another fun blog hop and challenge…

Friday 19 – 26th March 2021


The winner of the Uniko prize will receive a £20 eGift Code to spend on Uniko Website. There is also a Flash Prize up for grabs AND for the duration of the hop you can use the code COFFEE10 to receive 10% off your order.


Anyone is eligible for a Super Sponsor prize if they link up a newly created Spring/Summer Themed Coffee, Tea & or Cocoa project, no back-linkng please. Random.org will be used to draw the winners.


To link up your projects and more details about the hop and Super Sponsors pop on over to the Coffee Loving Carmakers Blog HERE.


To kick this FABulous hop off I’ve created my own Spring / Summer themed coffee card…

I started with a super quick card using a selection of Spring green inks to blend a background and the Block Party Coffee Love stamp.

The Block Party Coffee Love stamp is then simply heat embossed over the top in white. With the detail in this stamp I think it makes a wonderful impact with minimal embellishment.

For my second card today I wanted to use the recently released Framed – Floral Vines clear stamp.

I am all for quick colouring at the moment and for this card I decided I wanted to keep my ink blending inside the frame. To do this I stamped the Framed – Floral Vines onto my card base and heat set to avoid bleeding of the black ink.

I then masked around the edges so that I could blend a selection of Spring green inks with a pop of pink for the flowers. I embellished the card with the coffee cup from I LOVE Coffee also stamped with a flower from Framed – Floral Vines. The sentiment is a mix and match from I LOVE Tea and the coffee part masked from the main sentiment in I LOVE Coffee.

A few of the Uniko Brand Ambassadors are joining me too and have created beautiful cards to inspire you…

Hannelie

Izzy Scrap

Jane Taylor

Before I go I have one more GIVEAWAY for a lucky commenter on this post! The lucky person will WIN a Uniko Coffee / Tea stamp bundle! Simply leave a comment on this post by 6am (PST) 26th March 2021, to be in the chance of winning!


I look forward to hopping by and seeing all your wonderful creations, have fun!

Crafty Hugs 


Be Your Own Kind of Beautiful Blog Hop

Happy International Women’s Day

As a business owned and run by myself a woman, Uniko is super proud to be one of the many sponsors of this event celebrating creative women around the world.

Hopefully you have hopped on over from HERE the start of the hop and event on the Women BeYoutifully You blog. If not be sure to head on over and read all about the hop and all the places/chances of winning one of the many sponsor prizes.

To celebrate the hop myself and a couple of the Uniko Brand Ambassadors have created some inspiration to share with you…

For my first card I couldn’t resist using the recently released Floral Vines clear stamp set to create this super CAS card with a Spring feel.

I stamped the floral vines along the edge of my card & coloured with Prismacolor pencils. I added a sentiment from Beautiful clear stamp set and added some Nuvo Drops to finish the design.

For my second card today I kept to the same colour scheme, but this time I decided to use Framed – Floral Vines.

I’m not sure if my ‘shading’ attempt ruined it a little bit, trying to step out of my comfort zone and experiment more with colouring!

This time I added a sentiment from Just Because and I masked the ‘you are amazing’ to be able to stamp it either side of the ‘s’ in because.

Now I have some inspiration from a couple of the Uniko Brand Ambassadors. Be sure to head on over to their blogs for all the details and leave some comment love.

Loving this colourful creation Jane has made using the recently released Background Blocks Solid Wonky Stripes paired with the popular silhouette and sentiment from Just Because.

Izzy has used our beautiful Pure Florals Gerbera for this stunning card and it looks like we have a unintentional colour theme of purple going on today 🙂

Be sure to follow the links to both Brand Ambassador blogs and leave some comment love. I will be randomly selecting a comment at the end of the hop on the 16th March to win an extra Uniko prize from the comments left on the Uniko blogs.

Thank you for stopping by today & joining in on the celebrations.

Crafty Hugs 

Happy 9th Birthday Uniko!

HAPPY 9th BIRTHDAY UNIKO!

Welcome to Day 1 of the Uniko Birthday Celebrations 🎉  This month Uniko turns NINE and I am amazed after 2020, that I am still here! We have a month full of celebrations and a NEW release coming at the end of the month. 


Today is party time 🥳 it wouldn’t be a celebration without a Party, right?! It has become a bit of a tradition to hold a linky party.


Simply create a birthday card, any theme, any style and using any product you like and link it up via the linky below. You don’t have to have a blog to enter, you can link your card from your Instagram, Facebook, Pinterest or like with ALL Challenges you can email me your entry to add.


You don’t have to use Uniko products, but I’d LOVE to see you using your Uniko stash (including Uniko Digital Freebies via the link above or ones from Magazine Features) AND there is an extra opportunity to win a prize if you do 😉

Hopefully you have hopped over from HERE, but if not be sure to pop on over and see the inspiration from the Uniko Brand Ambassadors. You will also find the link up for your entries 😉

Of course I made sure I got a little inky time in to create a card and made a super CAS design, inspired by a fave card challenge…

It’s a party so confetti was required! I inked up the Uniko Stencil – Party Confetti and I had to use Uniko colours too 😉

As I was inspired by the current challenge over at AAA Cards HERE, I used a balloon from Balloon Bash for my silhouette. The sentiment is from Birthday Sentiments and one of my favourite simple sentiment combinations.

Be sure to check out all the Brand Ambassadors inspiration HERE and don’t forget to leave a comment, there are prizes up for grabs!

Have an awesome Tuesday, Crafty Hugs


Uniko Super Sunday Guest Brand Ambassador – Anita from Neet & Crafty

Happy Sunday & Happy End of January!

I don’t know about you, but January has been the longest YEAR ever! But we are going out of January and heading into February (our birthday month) in style at Uniko.

Today on the blog we have a new monthly feature, Super Sunday Guest Brand Ambassador. Kicking off this fun feature is a super creative, talented, valued friend and customer of Uniko, Anita from Neat & Crafty

Be sure to head on over to the Uniko blogspot blog HERE to see ALL the amazing cards Anita has made and of course to leave some comment love.

Tomorrow we start the Uniko 9th Birthday celebrations, there will be lots of fun happening for the whole month, so be sure to pop in regularly!

Crafty Hugs Bev x

January 2021 Non-Release Brand Ambassador Blog Hop & GIVEAWAY!

Hey & Happy Weekend!


Welcome to the January 2021 Non-Release Brand Ambassador Blog Hop & GIVEAWAY! With a New Year in full swing I thought it would be a good time to bring back some of the fun and inspiration that has slipped away in recent months.

Hopefully you have hopped on over from HERE where, if you are new I share a bit about todays post. Be sure to pop on over and leave a comment as you got to comment to be in the chance of winning 😉

I am super happy to be bringing these regular post back and I am delighted to be kicking things off by revisiting this beautiful floral set, Hello Lovely.

Hello Lovely was a follow on set from the popular Pure Florals Peony. The blooms featured in this spray are smaller versions of the Peony clustered together to create this beautiful spray.

Below are a couple of cards made when this stamp set first came out.

I was undecided as to what I wanted to create, but after a busy week of juggling what seems like chaos, it was nice to actually sit & colour.

There is a lot of detail in this stamp, which sometimes can be a little scary when it comes to colouring. As you know I can be a little impatient when it comes to colouring, but I actually find this one fairly quick and I use just two shades of one colour. The detailing on the petals and leaves really helps to adding the darker shades.

It can also be used with no colour added, just embossed or even just a section used. My wonderful Brand Ambassadors have SO much beautiful inspiration to share using this set. Be sure to click on the links below, admire the inspiration and leave some comment love along the way.

Carol 

Izzy 

Jane 

Julie

Rahmat

Sarah P

Wiebke 

I hope you have enjoyed the blog hop today and feel inspired to get stamping & making. I know I certainly am and I am looking forward to some much needed downtime & spend some time in the studio this weekend.

Thanks for stopping by today.

Crafty Hugs Bev x

Uniko Challenge #63 – Anything Goes + Optional Twist Use A Stencil

 Hey!

Welcome to the January/February 2021 Uniko Challenge.


We’re kicking off the year with a simple main theme of Anything Goes and have added in a popular twist of Use A Stencil(s).

I love an anything goes challenge, but sometimes you still need a starting point to get going!

My starting point, one which I use quite often is dusting off stamps I haven’t used for a while that have just come back in stock. AND now as I type this post, I could have been subconsciously influenced by the challenge graphic!

Marvellous Mehndi is a stamp set that features this large focal mandala along with smaller accent stamps inspired by Mehndi, a form of body art and temporary skin decoration originating in ancient India. The set also has a flavour of Paisley patterns, which were also influenced by Indian imports back in the 18th and 19th Centuries.

As you can see I decided to use the optional twist and combined the Stencil – Mehndi Mandala with the Marvellous Mehndi mandala.

I started out with a piece of white card 10.5 x 14 cm and I used ink daubers to bad through my chosen Concord & 9th ink colours, Midnight, Eggplant, Honeysuckle, Marmalade and Buttercup. I purposefully off centred the design for a little interest and to possibly add a sentiment.

I’ve then stamped and coloured the mandala in similar Copic colours, fussy cut the mandala out and layered it over the stencilled design, again off centre. I adhered it using 1mm thick foam adhesive for added interest and depth.

I’m really please how this turned out and I feel it conveys the beauty, depth and detail that can be seen in Mehndi.

Okay, enough prattling on from me. As you can tell I am in my element when talking about pattern and design 😉

Be sure to head on over to the Uniko blogspot blog HERE to see all the stunning Brand Ambassador inspiration. You will also find the link up for the challenge at the end of the post!

Need a little more inspiration to join in…?

THE PRIZES

  • Main Winner Chosen By the DT – £15 eGift Certificate
  • Random Twist Winner – £5 eGift Certificate
  • Random Uniko Stamps Winner – Â£5 eGift Certificate
  • Top 3 Chosen By DT – 150 Loyalty Reward Points

There is plenty of time to join and play along with this challenge. The deadline for submission is midnight (GMT) on Friday 19th February 2021.

Thank you for stopping by today and I look forward to seeing you in the gallery!

Crafty Hugs Bev x