Sneak Peeks of the brand new Uniko release ........

Happy Wednesday ......

It's a bit of a special day today ....... fancy adding to your craft stash?  Are you looking for some brand new stamp designs? Well ....... you're in luck because today I have some sneaky peeks to tease you with, of the brand new launch from Uniko Studio ... Whoo hoo!!

There's five brand new stamp sets for you ...... and you're going to love them.

There's a funky new floral design, which is going to become a firm favourite I think ......

Another pretty floral with some great words and phrases ....

Fancy something big and bold ..... well, we have that too .....

And there's even something to create fabulous backgrounds with .......

And I think some of you Uniko fans may have already seen this one in full ...... another gorgeous floral.

Over the next few days each of the new stamp sets will be introduced in full, along with a look at what the DT (including me) have been creating with them.  The official release day is Sunday 19th August when all the new stamps will be available on the Uniko website

Thanks for popping by .... enjoy the rest of your day.
I'll be busy in the craft room!

Cheerio until next time ......

More Sweet Poppy Stencils .......

Hello there ......

I hope you've had a nice Tuesday.
I've heard from hubby ........ he's arrived safely in Melbourne. Only 16 days before he's home again!

 I've had a lovely day today, with Lauren and the little man. We had a nice walk around the beautiful gardens up at Milntown.  Alex tried his hand at wood carving .... and loved it. He was a little nervous at first but soon got the hang of it.
There was a local wood sculptor, Gavin Carter, in the grounds running a workshop where kids could 'become part of Milntown's history' by carving out their own handprint on a beautiful piece of reclaimed wood from the Milntown Grounds. 
The sculpture will be finished by Gavin himself and then it will permanently stand inside the grounds, displaying all the handprints of the children that took part.  I thought it was a fab idea. Lauren has the photos ..... once she shares them with me I'll put them on here.
We had a nice lunch whilst we were there, of course,  and then ventured to the shops in Ramsey.  I may have purchased a few bits and bobs ..... oops!

I'm back today with a few more of my Sweet Poppy Stencil makes for you ....... and not a festive design in sight!

It's all about the pretty Star Blossoms today, and one of my favourites, the Chinese Lanterns. I do love this design.

 
It looks great with the Glossy Black Paste,  over a simple background.

I made myself a mask using plain old copy paper and a deckle edged rectangle die.
I also used a circle punched from a Post-It note to create the moon.

With both masks in place I used two or three shades of blue Distress ink to create the sky, tyhen I removed the circle mask and added a touch of yellow Distress for the moon.

A touch of crystal glitter just along the edges of the blooms gives a pretty sparkle

I finished with one of the sentiments from the Sweet Poppy stamp set Smile

I used the same stencil to create a pretty wall hanging, but this time with a little colour ......

I know I keep saying this but, you don't have to use all of a stencil design.  Sometimes you might only want part of a flower, or you may just want the leaves off one of your designs, just mask off the bits that you don't want or, do like I've done here and go off the edges of your card

I did my stenciling first, using various shades of Distress Ink to build up the colour.  In case you haven't noticed I do like to work on diagonals ....... opposite corners always work for me!

I die cut the stitched frame from the stenciled card, and I took the inside panel and stamped the poem in the centre (from the same Sweet Poppy stamp set as before .... Smile)

I die cut the frame a couple more times from plain white card and inlaid one of them back into the die cut piece.  I put the centre panel back in place and then layered the remaining frames with the stenciled one top ...... this gives a little dimension and you don't lose any of the design

A few dots of glitter glue, and a little bit of natural twine add the finishing touch

The Star Blossoms is another pretty stencil ......

Looks great over a really simple background ...... I've used the Glossy White Paste and a pretty burgundy glitter .... in fact I think it's called Bordeaux

A few splatters of metallic ink make the background ......

And a simple sentiment to finish ....... (from the Sweet Poppy stamp set Just to Say)

It also looks great in black ..... and the other way up!

Here I've used it over a piece of 'mop up' card from my stash (you know, one of those pieces of card you use to pick up any left over ink, and then stash away for later)

I added clear crystal glitter over the wet black paste ...... look how it sparkles

And finished off with a sentiment (again from the stamp set Just To Say) and a few dots of glitter glue

Check out the Sweet Poppy show on HOCHANDA for more beautiful stencil designs, great ideas, lots of tips and techniques, and don't forget, I think there's some brand new Sweet Poppy Stamp sets launching.

When? ......  Thursday 16th August
What time? ....... 12pm and 4pm
Where? ..... Sky Channel 673 ..... Freesat 817 ..... Freeview 85

And just in case you can't wait until Thursday to see the new stamps, they are available now on the Sweet Poppy Website

Thanks for popping by .... enjoy the rest of your evening.

Cheerio until next time .....

A date for your diary .......

Happy Monday evening ........

I hope you're all well.  It's been a busy few days over here but, finally I can put my feet up, grab a cuppa and check in with you guys.
We've had family gatherings, dinner's out, a get together with hubby's work pals, the decorators have been in and the in-laws have been across, which was more evenings and lunches out.  And ....... on top of all that, hubby's gone to Australia this morning, with work.  He's going to be away for nearly three weeks!!!!
As we speak, he's on his way to Dubai, for a quick stopover before his flight to Melbourne.  I can't believe he's gone without me!  He'd better bring me something nice back.
Next time ..... if there is a next time ..... I guarantee  I'll be on that plane with him!

I know I've been a little quiet on the blog front recently but everything is fine, just life taking over as it does from time to time.   I am getting back into the craft room though ........ and I think my mojo is returning, although it's taking it's time! There's been a few new goodies arriving though and I'm looking forward to having a play!

One job on this month's to do list was Sweet Poppy Stencils ..... always a pleasure to use.
The lovely Lucy is back on our TV screens ........Thursday 16th August on HOCHANDA (Sky Channel 673/Freesat 817/Freeview 85) and I think the time's are 12pm and 4pm but you might want to check the TV schedule.
There's no new stencil designs however, I believe there's some new stamps.  So new in fact that the DT haven't had chance to use them.
There's lots of favourite stencil designs on the show along with the pastes, glitters etc., and of course Lucy will be sharing lots of tips and techniques on how to get the most from your Sweet Poppy stash.

Here's a quick look at what went in the post at the weekend .....

Are there Christmas cards there ..... oh yes!  Well, it is August after all. We need to think festive at some point!

The beautiful Mehndi Snowflake makes such gorgeous Christmas/Winter designs ........

I simply took a blue Distress Oxide ink pad and swiped it a couple of times, across a piece of white cardstock, and then used a damp baby wipe to spread the ink over the whole card

I let this dry for a little while and then used the stencil with the Glossy White paste over the top of the colour, and finished with a sprinkle of crystal glitter ...... so sparkly!

You can see I've kept the snowflake on the corners of the card, and used different amounts of the stencil design, leaving space in the middle to stamp my sentiment ......

I also added in a few dots of White Enamel Accents here and there

Here's the same stencil, this time I've used the whole design and inked through with Distress ink instead of using the paste ......

I die cut the snowflake using nesting circle dies, cutting a larger circle to mat each layer on to ......

It looks as though I've used glitter card for the layers, but I didn't.  It's just plain white cardstock and I've used a Quickie Glue Pen around the edges and sprinkled Crystal Glitter

I used foam pads to layer up the snowflake to add dimension ......

and added a touch more glitter here and there for extra sparkle .....

A little bit of Distress Ink brushed around the edge,  a simple festive greeting, and a few sparkly gems to finish off ..... so simple

One more quick and easy design ...... I love black white and gold!

Snowflake done using the white paste again along with the crystal glitter ...... slightly off the edge of the black cardstock

A sentiment stamped and embossed in gold ......

And then I used gold and silver metallic ink, mixed with a little water and then splattered across the card with a paintbrush

Have you started your Christmas cards yet?  No, either have I!!  There's loads of time ........

I'll be back tomorrow with a closer look at a few more samples ..... don't worry they won't be Christmas.

Thanks for popping by ...... enjoy the rest of your evening.

I think it's an early night for me ........ it's been a long day.  It's going to be a VERY long three weeks,  I don't think hubby and I have been apart for so long before .... sigh!

Cheerio until next time .......

It's time for this month's Craft Stamper challenge .......

Happy Friday ......

It's the first Friday of the month and you all know what that means ...... yes, the latest copy of the Craft Stamper magazine hits the shelves today so ........ it's also time to get this month's Craft Stamper challenge underway.

As always the theme is Anything Goes ...... cards, tags, journal pages,  the list is endless.  Just remember ....... include some actual rubber stamping on your project and you're good to go.
You can enter up to three different projects into the challenge, but each one must have its own blog post. And speaking of blog posts, please keep to just the one project per post ..... thanks

We've got 2 fabulous prizes for you again this month ....... there's the regular Design Winner, chosen by the DT and they get their winning project published in the magazine along with a Winner's Profile and a GD spot. 
And there's also our monthly, randomly chosen, Challenge Winner.  What a treat we have for them this month ...... they will receive the brand new Alcohol Lift-Ink Pad and Re-inker!!!

If you haven't already tried this brand new product, you have to give it go ..... it amazing!!!

Like I said,  you NEED to try this.  It's a whole new way of using your Alcohol Inks and you'll love it!  I do ..... the effects are fantastic.
Use it like you would any ink pad onto your stamps, stamp your image and lift off the alcohol ink leaving your image behind, a bit like the ghosting effect.  Without cleaning your stamp, stamp the image again straight onto normal cardstock and voila!....... such a pretty effect, and no wasting the alcohol ink.  How clever is that!!

See what I mean ........ I've used the Alcohol Lift-ink for my inspiration piece  ....... see what you think

I applied various colours of Alcohol Ink onto a piece of YUPO paper (mainly shades of blues on this one) and used a blending tool to spread the ink around and cover the card.  I spritzed a little bit of blending solution on there too, just to help move the ink around.

Once I was happy with the background I left it to dry.

I inked up my stamp (You Are Forever Beautiful from Unity Stamps) using the Alcohol Lift-Ink and then stamped the pretty floral image across two of the corners of my coloured panel .....

Without cleaning the ink off the stamp, I stamped again, this time onto a piece of regular white cardstock ....... how pretty does this look

Use a clean paper towel to remove any ink residue from the coloured panel ...... lightly dab away first, using a clean piece of towel each time you dab, then once all the ink has been carefully removed, buff over the image to make it really pop!

Remember .... each time you lift the alcohol ink, have a piece of cardstock ready to stamp your image again ...... don't waste all that gorgeous ink

I added a simple, layered die cut to the centre of both cards ...... and a touch of rubber stamping

and finished off with some sparkly sequins and a few dots of glitter glue

It's two for one really ..... both the same, but different if you know what I mean!

Check out the Craft Stamper Blog today for more inspiration from the rest of the Design Team.

Happy stamping!

Thanks for popping by .... enjoy your Friday, and have a lovely weekend.
We've got a BBQ planned tomorrow so I'm off now to marinade a lamb shoulder!  Let's hope the sun's back by then too!

Cheerio until next time ......