Uniko Brand Ambassador Blog Hop & Giveaway .......

Good morning .......

Happy weekend! I hope you have a good one.

Because there are no new releases coming from Uniko this month, Bev and the Brand Ambassadors are having a Blog Hop today.   We're featuring the gorgeous Pure Florals - Gerbera stamp set.

I do love this set ...... it's full of beautiful, large blooms, in both solid images,  so if you're not that keen on colouring in your stamped images, you can stamp the flowers using different coloured inks. You also get the outline images which allows you to colour using markers, pencils, inks, whatever is your favourite. You also get some great words and sentiments in the set too.

I've used the outline stamps to create my card ...... simply stamped in black ink and then coloured using Distress Ink and a water brush.

I also used the stamp on a piece of co-ordinating coloured card, stamping with a similar colour of ink and masking the flowers as I stamped, to create a pretty all over design .....

I attached the stamped coloured panel to the front of my cardblank.
I die cut the bottom of the white panel using a stitched edge die, and attached that over the top adding a cute little twine bow

I stamped my sentiment and finished with a few dots of Nuvo Crystal Drops.

As with all the Uniko Blog Hops, there is a Giveaway.  To be in with a chance of winning this gorgeous stamp set all you have to do is visit the blogs in the hop and leave a comment ...... simple.
You've got until midnight (GMT) on the 22nd of March. 
Your next stop on the blog hop is the lovely Rahmat ........ Happy Hopping!

Thanks for popping by ..... enjoy the rest of your day and have a lovely weekend.
Mine's going to be spent playing with our new toy I think.  Getting to know the motorhome a little better .... in other words reading all the manuals that came with it!!

Cheerio until next time ......

Products used:
Stamps: Pure Florals - Gerbera (Uniko)
Inks: Versafine Clair - BlueBelle, Nocturne; Distress Ink - Mermaid Lagoon
Other: Fancy Stitched Edge Die (CUTplorations by STANMPlorations); Nuvo Crystal Drops, White twine

A festive Twofer for their last challenge of the year ........

Happy Tuesday evening ........

I hope you're having a good week.
Six weeks today and it'll be Christmas Eve ...... just saying!
Only 42 days to go ...... and I still haven't decided on a design for this year's 'family' Christmas card ........ now I'm beginning to panic!

The festive spirit seems to be a little late arriving this year, although I have started gift shopping, I've bought a few new baubles for the tree, and Michael Buble is at the ready! 
I've also got the Christmas workshop coming up this weekend so hopefully it'll be all Ho! Ho! Ho! by then ........ mince pies all round!

I'm also taking advantage of the the twist in this month's Twofer Card Challenge .....

The prompt this month is Holiday Greenery ...... perfect, that's one Christmas card.  But wait ..... The twist is ...... BOTH cards this month can be for the same occasion ..... whoo hoo!!!  that's two  Christmas cards.  They just have to made using the same stamp, die or stencil and they have to be different.

I hope these are different enough ........

A new size of card for me ....... five and a half, by four and a quarter inches (I've been watching too much Jennifer McGuire!).  I've got to say,  I do quite like it ...... it makes a change from my usual seven by fives.

I used a Penny Black stamp for both of the cards, one that's been in my NBUS box for a while.
First off I simply stamped the image using a green DOX ink and then watercoloured the open leaves with a green Distress Ink .......

A pale wash of colour to the background using the acetate smooshing technique ......

A few splatters of gold ink, a sprinkling of Chunky White Embossing Powder, and red glitter glue on the berries

And a simple festive greeting to finish .....

Now the Twofer ..... same stamp, different design

This time I used my MISTI to stamp the wreath using gold ink, and coloured the open leaves with my green Distress again

I stamp the wreath over opposite corners, top and bottom of my card and added my greeting across the centre

A little bit more acetate smooshing on the background, some splattering with the gold ink, and more of that chunky white embossing powder.  The berries this time I made white, using Enamel Accents sprinkled with some fine glitter.

Well that's two more done, maybe I'll make some more of these.
First though I'd better get the dinner on, I hadn't realised the time.  We're having venison and mushroom stroganoff tonight courtesy of Mr Jamie Oliver. 
The recipe said I needed a mix of exciting and robust mushrooms ..... all I could find in the supermarket were wild and chestnut mushrooms along with some porcini, so they'll have to do!

Thanks for popping by ..... enjoy your evening.

Cheerio until next time ........

Products used:
Stamps: Tweet Wreath (Penny Black Cling); Poinsettia Wreath (The Ton) for the sentiment; Merry Christmas is an old Penny Black wooden stamp 
Inks: Distress Oxide Ink - Forest Moss; Antique Linen (Backgrounds) Distress Ink - Peeled Paint; Deliata Golden Glitz; Versafine Clair - Nocturne
Others: Chunky White Embossing Powder (Stampendous); Red Glitter Glue; White Enamel Accents; Fine Crystal Glitter

Uniko Challenge #47

Good morning!

It's almost the weekend .......... have you got that Friday feeling yet?

And what a weekend it's going to be ....... there's a royal wedding to attend,  well join in the celebrations with a glass or two of something bubbly, from the comfort of the sofa.
And when all that's over, there's a football match to watch ......... it's the FA Cup Final!  Let's see if my boys in blue can follow the Chelsea women and lift the trophy! Good luck boys!

Let's get things started today though with the latest Uniko Challenge

It's Challenge #47 and we have a little Photo Inspiration to get you started.  There's also an optional twist, which this month is ....... Birthday

The challenge runs until midnight (GMT) on Friday June 22nd so there's lots of time to play along, and the winners will be announced on Friday July 6th on the Uniko Blog.

I took the colours from the photo as my inspiration and this is what I came up with ....... pretty pink roses

I've used the Nature's Treasures II stencil from the brand new release and teamed it up with the pretty stamp set Pure Florals - Rose

I stamped the beautiful blooms using Versamark ink and then heat embossed the images with white detail embossing powder.  I coloured them using Picked Raspberry Distress ink and a water brush to give them this delicate watercoloured look ..... so pretty!

I then created masks for the roses, just from simple Post-It notes, covered them over and added in some rosebuds (which I also created masks for)

With the masks still in place I added in the leaves to the background, using the stencil and two shades of green Distress Oxides (Twisted Citron & Mowed Lawn - I think)

A few splatters of ink around the roses and the odd dot of glitter glue adds a bit more interest

And to finish off I stamped one of the sentiments from the Simply Said Blocks, fussy cut it and attached it to the front of my card, along with a few sequins

I like to decorate the inside of my cards ...... keeping with the design on the front

Stamped and embossed as before, and coloured using the same ink

Stenciled the leaves and spattered a little more ink

I'm looking forward to seeing how the photograph inspires you.

Thanks for popping by ..... enjoy the rest of your day, and have a fabulous weekend.
Good luck and best wishes to the bride and groom for tomorrow too!

Cheerio until next time ......

Be You ......

Happy Thursday ......

It's challenge time again.
As you know the challenges over on the STAMPlorations Blog have been running a little differently lately.
To give Shery and her family time to catch up with things, and get used to daily life with a brand new baby and a toddler (I don't know how she does it!) instead of all the different monthly challenges that run, there's only ONE!

There's still a challenge theme, and as long as you follow the theme then any type of project is welcome ..... so anything goes really

This month the theme is ..... FOCUS ON THE SENTIMENTS ....... let the words take centre stage.  Make a feature of your sentiment, either on it's own or alongside another image.

There's so many fabulous large sentiment stamps around at the moment ....... check out the Typografia range or the Say it Big series from STAMPlorations, which is where the sentiment that I've used on my card comes from ......

It's called Be You and I've used it here alongside the pretty Radiant Roses from the In Bloom collection (which by the way is in the Spring Sale!)
Oh Yes! there's a fantastic Sale event going on at the moment ...... the STAMPlorations Spring Fever Super Sale.  It's running from April 1st through to the 8th so there's still a few days left to grab a bargain.
You'll find gorgeous stamps, stencils and dies in the Spring section on the website, all with 25% off.  Just use the Code SPRING25 at the checkout.  See the website for full details

Anyway ...... back to the card ......

I stamped the roses using Versamark ink and heat embossed the image with gold embossing powder.

I then coloured the flowers with various shades of Distress inks and used a water brush to blend the colours.
A few ink splatters on the background with the same inks, add a bit more interest

I stamped the sentiment in Black Versafine straight onto my card ...... I used my MISTI to do this so that I could re-stamp until I got a really deep, crisp image.

I stamped it again onto a seperate piece of card, this time in a deep pink shade, to co-ordinate with the flowers, and heat embossed with a clear powder.   I did a little fussy cutting around the word 'You' and attached this over the top of the black version, slightly off set to give the look of a shadow. You can also see that it's had a coat of Glossy Accents, this brings the colour out even more.

To finish off I added the flowers to the inside of my card .....

Heat embossing in gold again, and using the same Distress inks as before to add the colour.

Now it's your turn .... can't wait to see your designs in the challenge gallery.

Check out all the challenge details, along with prize information, over on the STAMPlorations Blog.  You'll also find some amazing inspiration pieces from the rest of the Design Team on there too

Happy stamping!

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

It's been lovely here today, the sun has been shining ..... and dare I say Spring has finally arrived!
My back seems to be getting better too ..... fingers crossed!  I'm OK stood up now, and I can walk around fine, it's just sitting or lying down I'm still having trouble with!   

Cheerio until next time .....