Uniko February Release!

Hello!

Finally we have arrived at the release of the new stamps from Uniko :)  I think this is a very versatile and varied release from the graphic halftone stamps to the delicate organic heart and from the graphic Uniko Style to the Block Birthday....

I have been sharing cards with these stamps all week and have a few final designs to share with you today:

 

First up is Originally Organic - Additions which I have white embossed on to kraft.  I added touches of pencil colouring to highlight the images and left it fairly simple.  I thought the yellows and greens gave a look of spring:)

 

Next is Uniko Style which I stamped in vibrant colours.  I masked circles in the middle and paired the flowers with the stylised leaves from Doodle Flowers.  I love the way this stamp set can cover a card front in no time at all.

 

Finally I have another haltone creation.  I stamped the words over the top of the halftone background block and combined it with explosion stamps.

 

The Uniko DT have been working wonders with this release all week and today is no exception!  I hope you hop along and check out all of the inspiration - there are prizes too. There is a set in this release to suit every style :)

 

Thanks for stopping by,

 

Sarah x

 

 

Less is More #317

Hello! 

It is a busy day on my blog today :)  I have already posted our latest edition of Honey I Shrunk the Kit and will be back later with the release day blog hop from Uniko.  However, now we have this week's Less is More challenge which is a sketch:

It is a nice simple sketch (which is lucky as I am rubbish with sketches!) and can be flipped/rotated as you prefer.  The circle doesn't need to be a circle either :)

This week we are sponsored by the fabulous Uniko as part of Bev's birthday celebrations and her latest stamp release too - do check out the new release over at Uniko.  It is sure to inspire you!

Here is what I did with the sketch:

 

 

I stamped and masked this fun shark from Avery Elle and stamped a few lines to denote the water.  Just some soft pencil colouring makes the shark pop.

 

 

I used MFT dies and cut out chevrons and headphones in blue and dark grey.  The sentiment is from Papertrey Ink.

 

I hope you have fun with the sketch - the rest of the fab DT have come up with creative ideas to inspire you.  I look forward to seeing what you do with it.

 

Thank you for stopping by,

 

Sarah x

Honey I Shrunk the Kit!

Hello! 

It is time for another instalment of our Honey I Shrunk the Kit feature where a merry little band of cardmakers share a small kit of supplies to come up with their own CAS designs :) 

The Honeys are made up of Hazel from Hazel's Paper Designs (whose idea this was!), Shona from Twine Around, Sarah P from Sazzle Dazzle Crafts and Sandie Munro from London Days.  I am delighted to say that we have also been joined by Anita from Neet and Crafty another teamie from Less is More and a fabulous cardmaker.

It was my pleasure to put the kit together this time around and I came up with a range of heart and love based images and sentiments.  I shall whizz through the cards that I came up with:

 

I simply cut out some lovely floral images from Paper Smooches and coloured them with promarkers - they really pop against the black.  The die cut sentiment is from Simon Says and heat embossed sentiment is from Hero Arts (not in the kit).  I shall link up at Simon Wednesday's Challenge for a second time where the theme is Anything Goes and at Paper Smooches February Challenge where the theme is Love.

 

I watercoloured a few of the facets from the Neat and Tangled heart and combined it with a sentiment from Altenew.  I will link up for a second time at AAA Cards current challenge which is watercolour.

 

I inked a mini scene in the heart and popped the sweet bunnies from Mama Elephant over the top. 

 

 

I popped the red heart from Simon Says over a strip of the patterned paper.  I added a die cut sentiment (not in the kit)

 

Finally, I simply added 3 wooden heart embellishments over the patterned paper and combined with a sentiment from Hero Arts. 

Here is the kit:

 

As you can see, I didn't even use all of the elements! 

 

I can't wait to see what the other Honeys have come up with - do stop by their blogs to check out their ideas :)

 

I am back later this morning with a Less is More post and the Uniko release day blog hop so hope to see you again soon!

 

Sarah x

Uniko Introducing....Uniko Style

Hello,

Happy Friday :)  I am back with the final Uniko introducing post of the week which is a cool and funky set called Uniko Style.  I love the bold and stylised stamps that Bev has come up with:

 

I stamped the elements in blues and black in a kind of repeating pattern.  This reminds me of 60s style fabric.  I love the bright and fresh look it gives.  The card is finished with a sentiment from the Originally Organic set.

 

I went for a different look with this card, spritzing the stamps with water before I stamped them in a range of distress inks to give a watercolour look.  The leaf prints are from the Chrysanthemum set.  I really love the loose and artsy look this gives as the stamps are not particularly detailed. 

 

Hopefully this has shown how versatile Uniko style is - from a graphic style print to a watercolour look!

 

Tomorrow is release day :)  Do stop by as part of the DT blog hop.

 

Sarah x

Uniko Introducing....Explosion Additions

Hello!

Another introducing post today with a fab and fun stamp set which goes with Uniko's previously released Explosion and with yesterday's Halftone background.  Here is what I came up with:

 

I stamped the main explosion in black and blue and die cut a heart out of the centre.  I popped up one of the main sentiments and combined it with one of the other sentiments in the set.  I shall link this up at Simon Says Wednesday's Challenge where the theme is anything goes.

 

Continuing with the comic book theme I stamped one of the main sentiments on a die cut speech bubble and coloured it in red.  I offset it against a red speech bubble and popped it up over some of the halftone explosions which are just fab!

 

The rest of the DT have more great ideas for you over at the Uniko blog.  Tomorrow is the final introduction before the release goes live on Saturday :)

 

Thanks for stopping by,

 

Sarah x

Uniko Introducing....Background Blocks Halftone

Hello Again!

It is a busy week on the blog :)  I am back with our next introducing post which today is a very on trend halftone background.  This stamp can be used to create a variety of looks.  I have a couple of cards to share with you:

 

I used the stamp around the edges of the card base in light grey and die cut a heart out of the background in red/pink.  The sentiment is from a stamp set that we are going to be sharing with you tomorrow :)  I also inked around the edge of the square panel to provide a bit more definition.

 

 

I stamped the halftone background in dark grey and blue and die cut stars from them.  I white embossed a Uniko sentiment from All Occasions Sentiments #2 which goes perfectly with the stars. 

 

This stamp will go with lots of images - I particularly like the dimension you get from die cutting it!

 

I have another introducing post for you tomorrow.  In the meantime, there is lots more inspiration for you over at the Uniko blog.

 

Thanks for stopping by,

 

Sarah x

Uniko Introducing....Originally Organic Additions

Hello!

I love Uniko's Originally Organic stamp set and now we have a fun new additions set to play with.  The leafy heart shape is elegant and versatile.  Here are a few of my ideas:

 

I wanted to create a springlike card and white embossed the images before watercolouring them.  A touch of grey pencil around the outside adds a bit of definition.  I white embossed the lovely sentiment on light blue card and matted and layered on lilac and purple card.

 

I went with slightly more vibrant colours on this one layer card and added some of the stamps around the edges of the card too. 

 

This is such a pretty stamp set and it will work wonderfully with the first organics set too....check out what ideas the rest of the DT have come up with over at the Uniko blog.

 

Stop by for the next introducing post tomorrow :)

 

Sarah x

Uniko Introducing....Block Party Birthday

Hello!

We are kicking off this week's introducing posts with a fab, large stamp that will enable you to make birthday cards in an instant.  Bev has combined a selection of birthday images and sentiments in to a single stamp block:

 

I embossed the stamp and watercoloured some of the elements to spotlight them.  I have added some wink of stella too but that isn't showing up here.

 

To create a different look I smooshed a range of distress inks on to a card panel and white embossed the stamp on to that.  I coloured in the central birthday sentiment in a white acrylic pen.  I also added in some touches of pencil colouring on some of the images to give them more definition.

 

There are so many other things that you could do with this large stamp including using just a part of it or popping up elements to create dimension.  I am hoping to get more time this week to have more of a play with it.  However, the rest of the DT have great ideas to share with you over at the Uniko blog.

 

Thanks for stopping by and I shall see you again tomorrow to introduce another stamp set.

 

Sarah x

Uniko Sneak Peak #2

Hello!

Just popping by with a further quick sneak peak for this month's Uniko release....the sets we are teasing you with today are:

 



The fun starts with the introducing posts tomorrow so do stop by then.

Did you see that Uniko is also sponsoring the AAA Cards challenge this week which is about watercolouring?

You can see the card that I made for the challenge here.

See you again soon,

Sarah x

Uniko and AAA Cards

Hello!

The Uniko birthday celebrations continue with the fab AAA Cards challenge today....Uniko is sponsoring the new challenge:

I decided to use the new free digital stamps that Bev has designed for this special birthday week:

I resized and printed this gorgeous heart and watercoloured it with Inktense pencils:

 

I added a sweet little sentiment from Always and Forever to create a mini tag.  The blooms on the heart really pop in the pink and aqua colour combo.

I hope you like it and play along at AAA to be in with a chance to win the prize from Uniko.  I will also link up at Simon's Wednesday Challenge where the theme is Fantastic Florals.

Thanks for stopping by :)

Sarah x

Uniko Sneak Peek #1

Hello!

As part of Uniko's birthday celebrations we have a bumper release of fab stamps coming your way.  We will have sneak peaks today and tomorrow followed by some introducing posts through the week with the release on Saturday.

Today's sneak peaks are as follows:

 

AND that is not all!  Bev has also got another fab free digi image today:

Head over to the Uniko blog to download your copy.  I was running short on time this week to create something with the digi when I remembered my trusty minc machine.  I had to dust it off (literally) to bring it out to play.  Foiling images is such fun and these beautiful roses look fabulous in both gold and hot pink foil.  I had 3 cards made in no time at all:

 

I resized the images to fit my card, printed and foiled in hot pink.  The stripey washi tape and touches of black from the sequins add a touch of contrast. 

 

Photographing foiling is always tricky :)  However, I shall link up for a second time at Simon's Wednesday Challenge which is Fantastic Florals.

 

Next up I rotated the image to create a frame for the sentiment.  It is all gold foiled and matted on to mint card with a touch of mint with the heart.

 

Finally I gold foiled the image and popped it up over a strip of gold glitter tape.

 

This is a beautifully detailed digi and will look great coloured too.  It compliments the recently released organic blooms.  I am looking forward to having more of a play with it when I get the chance.

 

Do stop by for more sneak peaks tomorrow,

 

Sarah x

Less Is More #316

Hello!

Happy weekend to you :)  Here we are again with another challenge over at Less Is More as our birthday month continues.  This week the theme is Alphabet. 

I have a few ideas to share with you:

 

I white embossed a fab alphabet background stamp from Hero Arts and die cut a heart.  I inked the heart in a range of distress ink blues.  The sentiment is also from Hero Arts and I thought it played on the alphabet theme too.

 

 

I was having so much fun with the alphabet background that I did the same thing and die cut a banner from it which is inked in Picked Raspberry, Abandoned Coral, Spiced Marmalade and Mustard Seed.  Another Hero Arts sentiment completes the design.  I inked the various colours around a card base to tie in with the banner.

 

Finally, I created a Mother's Day card using a chipboard letter which I painted in white and then stamped with Altenew's Persian Motifs.  I watercoloured it on both the letter and the card base to create a camouflage look and used an Altenew Painted Butterfly to complete the design.  I stamped a few alphabet letters on to black card to complete the sentiment.  I think this looks really pretty!

 

I will link this card up at Simon's Wednesday Challenge where the theme is Fantastic Florals.

 

I could have carried on making alphabet inspired cards but ran out of time.  I hope you find time to play along with us this week.  We are sponsored by the fabulous Stamplorations this week which means that the lovely Shery Russ is our Guest Designer!

 

 

Thanks, as always, for stopping by :)

 

Sarah x

Uniko and CASology

Hello!

We are continuing to celebrate Uniko's 5th birthday this week by playing along with the challenge at CASology which Uniko is sponsoring.  The cue card this week is appropriately ROMANCE. 

 

And to add to the celebrations, Bev has produced a fab love inspired digital freebie which is just gorgeous:

There are 4 lovely hearts and the fab text too.  Head over to Uniko to get it :)

I was inspired to create with it:

 

I resized the text and printed it in grey and coloured the valentine heart in maroon/burgundy to match the card mat beneath.  I popped the heart up on foam to add a bit of dimension.

 

I love the different fonts on the text in the digital stamps so resized it and repeated it to create a patterned paper.  I then die cut a heart and layered up a smaller heart in the middle on red cardstock.  I inked around the edges with grey ink to give it additional definition.

 

I hope you like these romantic creations and play along at CASology.  Do check out the digital stamps from Uniko too :)

 

Thanks for stopping by,

 

Sarah x