Uniko Blog Hop for Sandie

Hello!

The Uniko DT are having a blog hop to say goodbye and thank you to the lovely Sandie.  Sandie does so much behind the scenes and keeps us all organised alongside making fantastic cards so we will miss her lots!  Thank you for all of your hard work, Sandie :)

Here is my card:

I have seen Sandie make some beautiful cards with this elegant Uniko butterfly so I wanted to make something with it too.  I watercoloured the butterfly in Evergreen Bough distress ink and added some watercolour to the card base too.  Enamel dots are another signature of Sandie's cards and of course the sentiment is perfect for our super talented teamie!

I combined this with some mint and grey cardstock (a fave colour combo).  This design was also inspired by the lovely photo inspiration over at Addicted to Stamps so I shall link up there along with the Anything Goes Challenge at Simon's Wednesday Challenge.

Thanks for stopping by and I hope you will hop along to see the other fabulous cards that the DT have made using lots of Uniko goodies.

Sarah x

Uniko Challenge Reminder

Hello,

Here is my reminder card for the Uniko Challenge which is Anything Goes with the optional twist of masculine:

I used the fabulous Awesome sentiment from All Occasion Sentiments #2 and the Accent Essentials: Arrows.  They were both embossed in blue. I die cut a tag for the sentiment and added a few yellow elements for a bit of extra pop!

I think this is the kind of clean, no frills type of design that would work great for a guy :)

We have two awesome GDs with us for this challenge - Anita from My Papercraft World and Melissa from HoneyBeeLane and of course more inspiration from the lovely DT. 

Details of the prizes on offer are:

Our DT will choose a winner who will get a £10 gift voucher

Our DT will choose a top 3 who will get 50 Loyalty Reward Points added to their customer account.

We will do a random draw for those who used a Uniko stamp and this winner will get 150 Loyalty Reward Points added to their customer account.

We will do a random draw for those who twist with us (masculine card) and they will receive 100 Loyalty Reward Points added to their customer account.

The challenge is open until July 3rd 8am BST so I look forward to seeing you over at Uniko.

 

Thanks for stopping by :)

 

Sarah x

Pretty Paste

Hello,

Another very quick post from me to share another card I have made using stencils and embossing paste. 

You probably can't even see the embossing paste although it is a light peach colour.  I coloured some embossing paste with distress inks to give a really subtle touch of colour and part pasted through a flower stencil (may be Heidi Swapp) to create a base for my PTI butterfly which is inked in shades of distress.  The sentiment from WPlus9 is gold embossed to reflect the warm colours on the card.

I will link up for a second time at Less Is More and AAA Cards which are both featuring stencils and for a second time at Simon's Wednesday Challenge which is the ever popular Anything Goes :)

That's it for me.  I've got loads to do so don't tell anyone that I was here with you....

Sarah x

Time Out #34

Hello!

Our latest challenge at Time Out is a photo inspiration:

I was initially a bit stumped by this one but did really like the geometric shapes and the hot oranges and pinks combined with the pops of black.  That is what I focused on for my card:

I inked a piece of cardstock with Spiced Marmalade, Worn Lipstick and Picked Raspberry Distress Inks and popped a panel of card over the top from which I had die cut a geometric squares die from Memory Box.  A label love sentiment from Altenew and a few black pearls bring in the black elements of the inspiration photo.

As always, we have another great GD joining us for this challenge - the lovely Sue from Foleys Friend.  Her blog is full of fab cards and inspiration.  I have just become a follower :)  The rest of the awesome DT also have lots of inspiration to share with you over at the TO blog too.

I should end with an apology as I have been really rubbish at keeping up with commenting on your fab entries and I have had a word with myself (it wasn't pretty!).  So I am looking forward to stopping by to see what you come up with for this photo inspiration.

I will also link up at the Anything Goes challenge over at Simon's Wednesday Challenge.

Thanks for stopping by :)

Sarah x

Crows

Hello!

Just a quick post to share a card I have made featuring embossing paste and stencil.  I have had this Dreamweaver crows stencil forever and have just got some glossy black embossing paste which I thought would work well with it:

I inked the card base with some sunset colours fading out towards the bottom and embossed the birds across the top.  The glossy black really pops against the sky.  A sentiment from Altenew finishes the design.

I will link up this card at Less Is More's stencils challenge, AAA Cards stencils/embossing challenge and at Simon's Wednesday Challenge to use favourite products/techniques.

Thanks for stopping by, I hope you are having a great week!

Sarah x

A Few Challenges Before Bedtime

Hello!

A fairly quick post today with 2 cards to share that I have made to play along with some fave challenges.  First up is CASology where the cue card is Kids.  That seemed a great excuse to pull out the cute kid stamps from Mama Elephant.

 

I stamped and coloured this little lady with Spectrum Noir pencils and combined her with a Lawn Fawn die cut speech bubble which I filled with hearts.  The sentiment is curved around the speech bubble and a bit of shading grounds the little figure. 

I also wanted to play along with the Clean and Simple challenge over at Addicted to Stamps which is celebrating 3 years of fabulousness!  I love seeing the wonderful designs from the DT :)

I used a neglected set of Clearly Besotted stamps and a sentiment from Avery Elle.  The jug is watercoloured in yellow and covered in glossy accents and popped up over some pale blue inking so the silhouette flowers can stand out.  I will also link up at Simon's Wednesday Challenge to use your favourite products or techniques.  I do love a touch of watercolouring on my cards (although I still need a lot of practice) and glossy accents is a great product for adding some glaze.

I hope to be back later this week with more cards to share although it is slow going at the moment :(

Have a great week,

Sarah x

Uniko Challenge #22

Hello!

Here we are with the Uniko Challenge for June which is one that we can all play along with - Anything Goes with the Optional Twist of a Masculine Card.

I went with the gorgeous sailboat from Nautical Treasures white embossed on to red card.  The patterned papers and cork die cut anchor add to the masculine style of the card.

The challenge runs until 3 July so there is plenty of time to link up your creations and there are prizes too with the winner receiving a £15 voucher, the top 3 receiving £5 vouchers and there are also random prizes of £10 for someone who uses Uniko products and someone who goes with the twist.  Lots of reasons to get creative :)

We also have some fabulous guest designers joining us for this challenge.  Anita from My Papercraft World is one of my all time favourite cardmakers and a wonderful blog friend too!  There is so much inspiration on her blog that you can lose whole days in there.  And we are spoiling you with another GD - Melissa from Honey Bee Lane who has a fabulous style.  She has just joined the DT over at Happy Little Stampers so will be inspiring us all over there too.  Of course the talented DT have lots of Uniko inspiration to share with you as always!

I look forward to seeing what you come up with.

Thanks for stopping by :)

Sarah x

Bits and Pieces

Hello!

I am just stopping by to share a few cards that I have made recently but not got around to posting.  Things are a little bit hectic at this end whilst I wrap things up at work but I am hoping they will calm down over July so I just need to hang in there and look forward to the changes that I am planning for :)

Here is a CAS card that I made inspired by the ombre challenge over at Virginia's View:

I simply inked shades of green on a piece of cardstock and popped it behind the negative of a Memory Box die cut.  It looks lovely and fresh with all of that white space.

I will also link up at Simon's Wednesday Challenge regarding favourite products/techniques.  This card features two of my fave products/techniques which are distress inks and die cutting!  I have found myself using dies more and more over recent years and love the clean lines it gives.

Next up is a card I used featuring the waste from a previous design:

I had watercoloured a panel using the Tiny Flags stamp from Hero Arts and used the central panel on a previous card.  I used the remaining frame on this card and layered it with an inner kraft frame along with a Hero Arts sentiment.  The triangle stamps are from WPlus9.

I will link up at the Hero Arts tic tac toe challenge - I have gone with the horizontal row of heat embossing, watercolouring and birthday.

That's it from me.  I promise to come round and visit you at the weekend but in the meantime, thanks for stopping by!

Sarah x

WMS PJ Party

Hello!

A super quick post with my second card for the last few hours of this month's Pajama Party over at Waltzingmouse Stamps.  I had an idea for a third card but ran out of time and energy :)

I went with the coffee tones from Challenge #2 again but this time paired it with the beautiful vintage roses:

This is definitely a much more milky coffee than my previous cowboy creation but I love the elegant look of the creams and browns.  The scalloped die cut base is from WPlus9.

Thanks for stopping by!

Sarah x

Waltzingmouse PJ Party

Hello!

It is time for the June PJ Party over at Waltzingmouse Stamps:

I always love playing along and giving my WMS stamps a workout! Claire has done an amazing job revamping the website and the new WMS release is pretty fabulous too :)

Anyways, here is a card that I made for Challenge 2 to feature a colour combo of coffee tones.

 I immediately thought of woodgrain and the cowboy stamps from Back in the Saddle:

I will also link up at Simon's Wednesday Challenge too where the theme is Friends/Superhero as I have featured a get well sentiment and cowboy hero :)

I hope to have something else to bring to the party later on today!

Thanks for stopping by,

Sarah x

Home Sweet Home

Hello!

We are having a miserable, wet weekend here so I have treated myself to a few hours in my craft room which is just what I need to recharge the batteries after a busy week :) 

I have made a big decision to leave my job at the end of the summer and return to being a full time student in the autumn.....it has taken a lot of time to reach that decision and I am so relieved now that I have finally made up my mind!  The prospect of spending a year focusing on the boys and my own development is really exciting although it means that we will have to make lots of changes as a family with one less income coming in.  It will definitely mean that I can spend less money on craft supplies but I have so much already it will just encourage me to be more creative with what I have :)  I am very lucky to have such a supportive family to enable me to take this time out....

Anyway, all of this soul searching has been very much about family and home so I had to play along with this week's one layer challenge at Less Is More where the theme is Home.  Here is what I came up with:

 

I used my new Reverse Confetti stamps - The Buzz to stamp this sweet beehive and coloured in with Spectrum Noir pencils.  The sentiment is from Avery Elle.  I like how this simple scene turned out :)

I also made two cards for the latest Muse Christmas Visions.  I used a similar layout as the fab design from Chris Blagrave but went with kraft and white for my design:

 

I really liked the offset wreath and the bold sentiment so that is what I focused on.  I coloured the wreaths in with white pencil and the white sentiment is die cut from glitter card although that doesn't show up well here.

Here is the original card from Chriss which is so crisp and fresh - I hope you can see how I was inspired!

I will also link up at the Holiday theme at Addicted to Stamps.

Thanks for stopping by - sorry it is such a long post!

Sarah x

Uniko Revisited

Hello!

I am back again with a revisit of a fab Uniko stamp set which I know has been really popular - Pure Florals: Gerbera.  It is an absolutely gorgeous set and the DT have all created cards using these stamps to inspire you! 

Talking of DT members it is fantastic to have our newest DT member - Jane from PurpleJetLovesCrafts hopping along for the first time.  Many of you will know her work already from other DTs and her blog and it is great to have her inspiring us at Uniko too :)

Anyway - here is what I made:

I stamped the gerbera in yellow and cut it out with a couple of stitched square dies which I then matted on black and layered back up.  Really simple but creates a focal point of that lovely flower image.  The sentiment is from the set too.

I nearly forgot to mention but if you comment along the hop you will be entered into a random draw to win this set or a gift voucher of an equivalent value.  You have a week to leave a comment.

I hope you like my revisit of the gerbera set and enjoy the other designs from the DT :)

Thanks, as always for stopping by,

Sarah x

Time Out #33

Hello!

We are back with our next fab challenge over at Time Out....are you ready to be inspired by words?  Here is our inspiration phrase:

Happy is the bride that the sun shines on

As we are heading in to the warmer summer months (apparently) it is time to look forward to wedding season and balmy sunny days.  You can use all of the phrase or any part of it to inspire your design.  For my card I focused on the sunshine rather than the bride :)

I used a stencil from Clarity and inked through with Squeezed Lemonade, Mustard Seed, Worn Lipstick and Spiced Marmalade distress inks.  The sentiment is a combination of a Mama Elephant die and Papertrey Ink.

Head on over to the Time Out blog to see what the talented DT have come up with.  We are joined this week by the lovely Sue from Sue's Card Craft as our GD for this challenge.  There is a lot of great inspiration over at Sue's blog - it is well worth a visit :) 

I look forward to seeing how you are inspired by the phrase!

I will also link up at Less is More where we are using sunset colours.  I hope my oranges and yellows have enough sunset in them :)

Thanks as always for stopping by,

Sarah x

GD at CASology

Hello!

I hope you are having a great day...today I am very excited to be the GD over at CASology.  I love this challenge and play along as often as I can to exercise my CAS muscles :)  Here is the cue card for this week:

 

 

I was a bit stumped at first as I haven't needed to make graduation cards (yet) and my supply of specifically graduation themed stamps is non existent.  Then I thought about blowing the dust off my Brother Scan n Cut machine to find a graduation themed cut file.....this is what I came up with:

 

 

 

I found a free mortar board cut file and sized it for my card front before popping it up over some black glitter card.  The sentiment is from Waltzingmouse Stamps.  It really is as simple as that!  I think the black glitter card adds a bit of visual interest and I like the clean lines of the icon. 

One of the boys asked if I would give it to them for their graduation but given that is about 10 years away I might make something else before then!

I hope you like my attempt at a graduation card and play along at CASology this week.  The DT always have lots of amazing inspiration to get you started :)

Thanks for stopping by,

 

Sarah x

 

Ombre Butterflies

Hello!

Things have been a bit hectic over the last few weeks and it has definitely taken its toll on my mojo :(  However there are a few challenges currently going on in blogland which gave me just the nudge I needed to venture in to the disaster zone known as my craft room. 

In particular I wanted to play along with Virginia's View - ombre challenge and over at Addicted to CAS where the code word is butterfly.  I decided to play with a fabulous butterfly heart die from Memory Box and this is what I came up with:

I created a cheat's ombre by die cutting the butterflies from some ombre paper that I had in my stash and then cutting them out and sticking them to the white base.  It took a little while but I love the effect with a few of the wings slightly lifted.  The sentiment is from Avery Elle.

I also wanted to play along at the new tic tac toe challenge over at Hero Arts and at Simon Wednesday's Challenge where we are making masculine cards.

This is what I came up with:

 

I used the fabulous tiny flags background stamp white embossed and watercoloured it in using some of my favourite greens and blues,  The sentiment is also from Hero Arts.  A bit of black and kraft card give the central panel some definition.  I went for the middle row - background stamp, birthday theme and die cutting but it would also work with a few of the other lines as well!

Thank you for stopping by - I really appreciate your visits and comments!

Sarah x

Time Out #32 Reminder

Hello!

Back again with a reminder that there is still time to play along with our current challenge at Time Out.  We are asking you to CASE with your own twist this gorgeous card by Deepti from Dee's Art Utopia:

 

This time I wanted to focus on the black base and patterned paper:

 

 

I die cut a flower out of patterned paper which I felt echoed the check that Deepti had used and popped that up over a black base.  The sentiment and die cut banner are from Papertrey.  It is a really simple design but one that I wouldn't have come up with out the inspiration card to get me started :)

 

I love seeing how many different card designs can come from the same starting point and hope you will share your twist with us over at Time Out.  There is more inspiration from the DT over at the blog and from our fabulous GD, Maura.

 

Thanks for stopping by :)

 

Sarah x

 

 

Honey, I Shrunk the Kit!

Hello!

I have a fun blog post to share with you today :)  The lovely Hazel from Hazel's Paper Designs came up with a great idea to post a little kit of C6 sized goodies to a few blog buddies and see what we all came up with. 

Hazel sent this little bundle of joy to me and our good friend, Shona from Twine Around:

It was like receiving an envelope full on sunshine :)  The kit included cute stamped images, some cheerful patterned paper, kraft card and twine.  I have made two cards to share with you:

 

 

First up I die cut the patterned paper and kraft to create the layered border and cut the sweet birds with a heart.  I coloured them in with Spectrum Noir pencils and popped the heart up.  A bit of the twine at the top of the card with an enamel dot completed the card.

 

 

 

 

For my second card I watercoloured the girl with Inktense pencils and cut her out with a stitched square.  I inked the CASual Friday's bubble label die cut that was in the kit in yellow ink to match the card and popped it behind the image.  This was layered up on some kraft card.  It looked a bit lost on my card base so I decided to doodle another frame around the edge to go with the girl's striped socks.  It adds a quirky touch to the design but I definitely need to practice my doodling :)

 

I can't wait to see what Haze and Sho came up with - they are both such creative, CAS cardmakers!  Check out what they made on their blogs.  I have just sent out my kit to them so stay tuned for our next Honey, I Shrunk the Kit creations :) 

 

I will also link up at Less Is More where this week's challenge is 2 or 4 legs and at Simon's Wednesday Challenge which is Anything Goes.

 

Thanks so much for stopping by,

 

Sarah x