Uniko Blog Hop!

Hello!

As we didn't have the chance to celebrate Uniko's fab June release, we have decided to do a blog hop to showcase these stamps to best effect.  Have you seen them yet?  I have to say that I am in love with the toucan, tropical leaves and hibiscus.  I genuinely couldn't stop making cards with them so apologies for the photo heavy post :)

Here is what I made.....

 

I simply inked through a square mask and added a lovely hibiscus and sentiment.

 

I looked up toucans online to see how their beaks are coloured - there are a number of variations and I went with a colourful combination of red and green here.  The leaves add some background interest.

 

This card features the outline hibiscus stamped in lilacs and purple with a die cut frame to create some texture/interest.  I like how this looks.

 

I paired the toucan with the outline hibiscus here and went with an orange and black beak!

 

Finally I simply stamped two hibiscus flowers and popped up a sentiment - a fresh, CAS card.

 

There are just so many ways to go with these stamps and sentiments.  Here are the sets; Paradise and Paradise Leaves:

 

 

 

 

Oh, and they work brilliantly with the previously released Uniko hummingbird too!

 

The rest of the DT have lots more to share with you and, as with all Uniko blog hops you can win prizes too!  Head over to the Uniko blog to find out more.

 

Thanks for bearing with me and for stopping by :)

 

Sarah x

Less is More #282

Hello!

Happy Saturday to you and time for another challenge over at Less is More.  This week we are asking you to use stencils in your CAS designs.  I love stencils - they are so versatile and I use them on my cards regularly along with dies and (of course) stamps.  There are such a wide range of stencils available these days which can be used both as focal images and backgrounds.  Here is what I came up with:

 

On this card I inked through a MFT stencil in Cracked Pistachio, Tumbled Glass and Peacock Feathers fading out as I went and combined with a sentiment from Hero Arts.  I inked around part of a cardstock panel to highlight the sentiment.  This design would work well in a range of colours.

 

 

Here I have used a lovely floral image in shades of purple.  I think the stencil is from Imagination crafts but I am not sure.  The sentiment is from Paper Smooches.

 

Finally I used a fab stencil from MFT inked in shades of pink, coral and warm yellows as the central panel with a die cut sentiment.  A few touches of black complete the design.

 

 

Of course, there are lots more ways to use stencils....I didn't even have time to break out my embossing paste!  I look forward to seeing your CAS designs and hope you will check out the inspiration that the rest of the fab DT have created for you over at Less is More.

 

Thanks for stopping by,

 

Sarah x

Aloha!

Hello!

It is ages since I have had the chance to blog other than for scheduled DT activities but there have been a few challenges that I wanted to play along with - particularly as I have some fab new stamps from Uniko to play with.

I have gone tropical to play along at Addicted to CAS current Aloha challenge and at Simon's Wednesday Challenge where the theme is Animal Magic. 

I used the toucan from Uniko's new Paradise set and coloured with pencils....there are some great colour combos on toucans' beaks!  This is a simple design with a circular panel and some colourful enamel dots to echo the beak.

I will be back at the weekend with a Uniko blog hop to celebrate the June stamp release so do stop by again for lots more tropical inspiration :)

Thanks for stopping by,

Sarah x

Less is More #281

Hello,

We have a fun technique for our theme at Less is More this week - faux bleach!  I had a look online for some info about what is involved and Jennifer Maguire has made some great cards using this technique.  Basically it involves stamping with water on distress inks to lift the colour and create a bleach effect.  This works well with both outline and solid stamps.

Here are some examples that I came up with when I gave the technique a go:

 

I genererously applied distress inks to the card in blues and purples and then spritzed the beautiful chrysanthemum from Uniko with water before stamping.  I love the white outline it gives against the rich colours.  The sentiment is a die cut from Penny Black.

 

The same technique but I used a solid fern stamp from Hero Arts and a fab sentiment from Stamplorations (one of our June sponsors).

 

For my last card I did actually use bleach to lift the colour out of the flowers as I was intrigued to see how effective it was.  I like the effect it gives.  The flowers are from Stamplorations and the sentiment is from Hero Arts.

 

I hope you like the faux bleaching technique and enjoy having a play with it this week!  The rest of the DT have more fab cards for you to enjoy over at the Less is More blog.

 

See you again soon,

 

Sarah x

re Uniko Challenge

Hello!

I am popping in with a quick post today to share a card that I have made for the new challenge over at Uniko.  We have a wonderful photo inspiration for our challenge this month:

I loved the colours, circles and scandi look.  I decided to use one of the elements from the Garlands Galore set:

Sorry about the photo - I don't know why it is so bleached out.  I randomly stamped the little circular element on the card base and used two on the central panel for my simple sentiment.  I love the little ribbon stamps and perfectly sized letters from the set.

I hope you can see how I was inspired!  The rest of the DT have great ideas to share with you over at Uniko and we are very lucky to have the lovely Anita from My Papercraft World as our GD this month.  She is so talented and her blog is full of wonderful CAS designs.

The challenge is open until 8 July and there are prizes too - check out the details over at Uniko!

Thanks for stopping by,

Sarah x

Less Is More #280

Hello!

This week at Less is More we are wanting you to get messy with splatters but still keep it CAS!  Oh, and did I mention that it is one layer card week as well?!

I do love a bit of splatter on my cards and there are so many ways to add them - stencils, stamps or free hand.  I used all of these techniques on the cards below....

I went all out on splatters for my first card using products from Stamplorations as Shery is the queen of grungy stamps and stencils!

 

I used a stencil with Blueprint Sketch and Hickory Smoke distress inks with some grungy stamped elements.  I had to walk away from the card as I was in danger of going past CAS :)

 

On this card I used a grungy style bee stamp from Inkadinkadoo with highlights of yellow.  I masked a square in the middle and added some Squeezed Lemonade distress ink to highlight the sentiment and added some yellow splatters.

 

Finally I have gone back to my stash of Stamplorations products and used a script stamp down the edge and a fab feather with a splatter stamp from WPlus9.  All in shades of blue.

 

Head on over to the LIM blog to see what inspiration the fab DT have to share with you!

 

Thanks for stopping by,

 

Sarah x

Less is More #279

Hello!

This week at Less is More we are all about purple which is a colour that I love.  We are also lucky to have 2 fab sponsors for June - Dies to Die For and Stamplorations. 

I love Shery's stamps and stencils so this seemed like the perfect opportunity to have a good play....

I masked off the bottom part of the card and brushed some distress inks on the top third before inking through the dotty stencil (Bubble Dance) in a darker purple.  I simply stamped this funky sentiment from the fabulous Big Greetings set in dark grey.  A simple one layer card.

I went even more CAS on this design:

 

Here I just picked out a few of the circles from Bubble Dance and inked them in shades of purple with another of the sentiments from Big Greetings.  Lots of white space here!

A less CAS card featuring Stamplorations below:

I love the grungy style of some of Shery's designs and stamped the daisy border at the top and bottom of the card with some grungy elements to add interest.  The sentiment is from a sweet little set - Grateful Beyond Words.  I added some soft inking over the Lots of Dots stencil to add to the loose feel of the design.

I have just realised that these are all one layer cards :)  Head over to Less is More for lots more inspiration from the fab DT!

                                      

Thanks for stopping by,

Sarah x

Honey I Shrunk the Kit!

Hello!

It is time for the Honeys to share what we have made with the latest mini kit from our little Honey I Shrunk the Kit club. 

I am so lucky to be part of this club with such fab CAS card makers and blog friends as Sandie from London Days, Hazel from Hazel's Paper Designs, Sarah from Sazzle Dazzle Crafts and Shona from Twine Around.  We take it in turns to come up with a mini package of stamped images, patterned papers and embellishments and this month's awesome travel themed kit was put together by the lovely Sandie!  She packed a whole lot of inspiration in to this kit and I had so much fun with it that I made 5 cards :)

Here goes.....

 

I inked round the fab panel with place names and dusted some perfect pearls round the edges combined with the strip of glitter tape that came with the kit and the fun sentiment.  I added a die cut skyline to compliment the sentiment along with a few wooden embellishments coloured in black.

This card is in honour of our lovely Sandie with the underground map paper in a polaroid die cut frame combined with a traditional red bus. 

Sandie included a fab globe die cut in the kit which I absolutely loved so I cut it in half to make 2 cards!  I combined this half with an inked stencil and some other embellishments.

I have gone with a Parisian theme for this card using the lovely Eiffel tower die cut and stamped skyline from the kit.

And finally if you are still there.....

I used the other half of the globe die cut, coloured it black and used it for a space themed card with a little rocket ship.

As you can see, I was very inspired by this fun kit - thank you, Sandie.  It worked so well with bits of my stash and I still have elements left over!

Do head over to Sandie, Hazel, Shona and Sarah's blogs to see what they have made. 

Thanks for stopping by,

Sarah x