Valentine

Hello!

I recently got some new stamps from Concord and 9th thanks to my fab blog buddy, Hazel from Hazel's Paper Designs.  They have some really cool designs (and for those of you in the UK, you can get them at Seven Hills Crafts).

I stamped the gorgeous tree trunk and watercoloured with distress inks.  I die cut a heart and combined it with a word die from Simon Says Stamp.  A bit of pencil shading around the outside adds some depth.  I really like how this valentine worked out as it isn't too pretty and will work for my hubby!

 

There are lots of love and valentine inspired challenges on the go at the moment so I shall link my card up at Simon's Wednesday Challenge - Have a Heart, AAA Cards - Love Me Like You Do, Time Out - Love is the Flower You've Got to Let Grow and Inkspirational where I was inspired by the woodgrain, the heart and love theme.  I will also join in at CASology where the theme is Valentines too :)  That is me loved up enough for one year!

We have another Uniko set to share with you tomorrow.....its all go :)

Sarah x

Uniko Studio February Release - Simply Said

Hello!

Today we are focusing on an essential stamp set that Bev has put together for the Uniko February release which goes live on 11 February.  Simply Said is a fab collection of sentiments in a plain font which can be used for a range of occasions and styles. 

As February is the month of romance I have made two valentine style cards featuring the sentiments.  Uniko is sponsoring CASology this week and this first card is for this week's challenge:

I have stamped words from the sentiment set in soft grey ink through a heart aperture and added a touch of ink around the edges to give definition to the shape.  The red always is from a previous Uniko set - All Occasion Sentiments #5.  I will also link up at this week's Simon's Wednesday Challenge where the theme is Have a Heart and at AAA Cards which has another romantic theme - Love Me Like You Do.

I stamped the sentiments in a similar format to create a panel on this second card.  The little heart is from the forthcoming Some Bunny set and the red heart from I Love Tea.  The sentiment in red is also from All Occasion Sentiments #5.

I have used these sentiments on other cards over the past few days and think they will be a go to set!  Here they are:

 

The rest of the DT have other fab creations to share with you featuring these sentiments over at the Uniko blog where you will also find details of the giveaways that Bev has generously provided for the release and Uniko's 4th birthday.  Drop by tomorrow for some more Uniko goodness!

 

Sarah x

Less Is More

Hello!

I am back today with my third post :)  After a slow blogging start to the year I think that my creativity has slowly started to kick back in.  Even though we are in the middle of the Uniko release, I had to take some time out to play along with this week's Less Is More Challenge to celebrate their 5th birthday.  LIM is one of my favourite challenges and I am always in awe of the inspiration that Chrissie, Sarah, Anita and Anne come up with every week.....Happy Birthday and thank you!!

The theme this week is white on white with metallics or neutrals.  Here is what I came up with:

I got this butterfly die from a craft show in Manchester at the weekend where I met up with the lovely Sarah P from Sazzle Dazzle.  She has been such an amazing and supportive blog friend - it was great to be able to natter away in person :)

I cut the die twice - once in white and then in gold mirri.  I slightly offset them when sticking them down to provide a hint of contrast and bling.  The gold embossed sentiment is from WPlus9.

Thank you for stopping by.  I am back tomorrow with our next set from Uniko!

Sarah x

Uniko February Release

Hello Again!

Today we are sharing creations made with Uniko's fab new February release - in particular I Love Tea which is the perfect complement to the coffee set that Bev released before Christmas.  I love the open tea cup design which offers lots of options combined with the sweet sentiments. 

I made two very different cards to showcase the set today - one soft and vintage and the other using much brighter colours:

 

On this card I masked the cup stamp to stack them and coloured with my zig watercolour pens.  I added a bit if wink of stella to sparkle them up too.  They are nice and vibrant!  A bit of pencil shading at the bottom grounds the tea cups.  The sentiment from the set is just so lovely....

This second card uses some soft, vintage looking papers to create a more traditional china tea cup!  I paper pieced the cup, inked round the edges of the panel and matted with some coordinating paper. 

Two different looks with the same stamps!

Here is the set:

The beautiful floral motif fits in to the tea cup too!

The release goes live on 11 February and I will be back tomorrow with more cards to share from another of the sets.  There are giveaways throughout the pre release build up and a blog hop and giveaway on release day too!  Head over to Uniko to see more details and the inspiration that the rest of the talented DT have to share with you :)  We are joined by the super talented Uniko alumni Taheerah Atchia today too!

See you again soon,

Sarah x

Honey I Shrunk the Kit

Hello!

Every few months a few blog friends put together a mini kit and share the creations that they have made with it. 

The idea, originated by the lovely Hazel from Hazel's Paper Designs, was to put together a small A6 size kit which wouldn't be too costly to post and she, Shona from Twine Around and I have been sharing our mini kits for a year.  It has been a lot of fun and this year we been joined by 2 more blog pals....the amazing Sarah Platt from Sazzle Dazzle and Sandie from London Days.  They are both amongst my fave cardmakers so I am really excited to see what they come up with :)

I put the kit together this time with the theme 'You Are A Gem' and it was full of sparkly themed items!  I managed to make 4 cards and here they are:

 

I watercoloured the Hero Arts starry background die and combined it with the sentiment (from WPlus9) and some glitter tape. 

 

 

I added some blue watercolour to the card base to set off the sparkly diamond die (Lil Inkers).  A strip of patterned paper and glitter tape along the edge.  The die cut shine is from WPlus9.

 

I watercoloured lots of gem stamps from WPlus9, cut them out and created a pile of gems combined with the punny sentiment.

 

 

Before watercolouring it I inked through the Hero Arts die cut to create a starry panel and added some splatters and ink along the edges.  A few die cut stars frame the sentiment from WPlus9.

 

Here is the kit that we have used this month:

 

 

 

 

I hope you check out the fab designs by Hazel, Shona, Sandie and Sarah.

 

Thanks for sticking with me through all of these photos!

 

See you again soon,

 

Sarah x

 

 

Uniko February Release - Beautiful Blooms III

Hello!

Spring is just around the corner (honest) and what better way to welcome it than with a beautiful layered floral stamp set from Uniko?  This is the first of the sets that we are going to be sharing with you over the next few days leading up to the release going live on 11 February!

I do love florals but don't use them very often as I always think that other people's cards look so much better :)  However, I love the way that this easy layering set can give you real depth and the flowers are an easy enough shape to cut out masks for as I have done with this first card:

I used the fab Altenew inks on this card as the tones work perfectly together for layered florals.  I masked the flowers to create the cluster in the corner and the sentiment is from a REALLY useful set, Uniko's Simply Said range of sentiments which are part of this release.

I will also link my card up to Time Out's current challenge where the word inspiration is:  Love is the Flower you've got to let Grow.  Obviously I have used flowers on my design and as a mother's love is one of the main ways that we all grow, the sentiment seems to fit well too.

I did more masking on this card:

I combined the lovely layered flowers with leaf stamps from a previous Uniko release - Natures Treasures II.  The Celebrate sentiment is from All Occasion Sentiments #6.  A strip of black patterned paper helps the florals to pop.

Here is the Beautiful Blooms III set:

 

 

Head over to the Uniko blog to check out what the lovely DT have made.  There are also prizes and giveaways to celebrate the February release and Uniko's 4th birthday!  I will be back tomorrow with another set to introduce :)

 

Sarah x

CASology Guest Designer

Hello!

I am so excited to be able to play along with CASology this week as the GD after my recent win.  The cue card this week is Glitter so it was time to get my sparkle on :)

 

I stamped and silver embossed sequins from My Favourite Things in different sizes and added white, pink and blue glitter.  The die cut sentiment is from WPlus9 and I cut it twice from white and silver glitter card.

It is a very glittery creation for me but using the white and silver with only a few touches of pink and blue kept it looking CAS - what do you think?

The fab DT team have lots more inspiration to share with you and I hope you have fun with this week's glittery cue card!

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

Thanks for stopping by,

Sarah x