Uniko February Release ..... Introducing BIG & BOLD Happy

Happy Wednesday ......

It's the middle of the week already, and we're still having fun celebrating Uniko's 7th Birthday.

We've had the Birthday Blog Hop with the Linky Party .... which is still open by the way. Check out the Uniko Blog for all the details.
There's also the HUGE Giveaway from Bev at Uniko ...... one person will win Uniko stamps for a whole year!!!  How amazing is that!? Again, full details on the Blog
And then today ....... is time to start the introductions for the brand new Uniko Release, available to buy on the Uniko website from Monday, February 11th at 9pm (GMT).  I said we were celebrating!

Today we've got a fab new stamp set, the latest addition to the Big & Bold series ....... BIG & BOLD Happy ....

The name says it all ...... it's big, it's bold, and it's perfect for creating all those Happy wishes you want to send, whatever the occasion.  And guess what .... there's matching dies available too!!  These can be used either with the stamps, or without.

I've used a rainbow of coloured inks and just one of the smaller word stamps from the set to create this fun, all over design.

I then used one of the matching dies to cut out the 'happy' ....... twice from a piece of plain white card, one red, and also from the centre of my stamped piece of card.
The dies are great .... you get the one I've used above which cuts the word in detail, you also get a die that cuts the outline which is slightly bigger so you can layer it, and you get little dies for some of the  the accent images too.

I inlaid one of the white die cuts into the stamped card, filling in the centres of the 'a' and the 'p's with the bits from the stamped version (hope that makes sense!)
I then layered the rest of my die cuts on the top ...... another white, the red and then the stamped version to give real dimension .......

This is what I call the Hidden Word technique, or Camouflage Die Cuts as it's also known, amongst other things.

To finish off I added the cute little party hat from the same set ..... love it!

There are so many possibilities with this stamp set, and to have the matching dies means it'll work twice as hard for you ...... definite 'must haves' I think!

Don't forget to check out the ideas from the rest of the Design Team.

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

I'll be back tomorrow with more introductions from the new release.

Cheerio until then .....

There's a brand new release on the way from Uniko .......

Happy Tuesday ......

I said it was going to be a busy week!

Breaking news!!! As part of the 7th birthday celebrations going on at Uniko, there's a brand new release on it's way ....... whoo hoo!!
That means more gorgeous new craft stash,  and I've got a little tease for you of what to expect.
There's six fabulous new stamp sets .......

You can never have too many sentiments ...... and oooh! there might just be matching dies for one of these sets too!

Some really useful backgrounds .......

And of course the new release wouldn't be complete without some pretty new florals now would it!

Did somebody mention matching dies again!!!

If you're thinking I've lost the plot (again!) .... and that's only five new stamp sets well, there is one more but, you'll have to wait a little longer for that ....... it's a special one!

There is also a brand new stencil design though  ......  I can see this one becoming a favourite.

Over the next few days we'll be taking a closer look at the new release, and it will all be available to purchase on the Uniko website, on Monday 11th February at 9pm (GMT)
Get those shopping lists ready!

Thanks for popping by ..... enjoy the rest of your day, and I'll see you again tomorrow.
I'm off to the dentist later .... oh joy!  Nothing major, just the regular check up and stuff.  My dentist is lovely but, I wish I was going somewhere else!!!

Cheerio until next time .....

CAS Stencil Challenge ......

Happy Monday evening ........

I hope your week has got off to a good start.  It's going to be a busy one here .... lots going on in the craft room.  At least it's nice and cosy in there ....... although it's not as cold here in this part of the world as it is in some.  Stay safe and warm if you're in the artic blast!!

We're at the beginning of a new month so, that means new Blog Challenges.
Thank you to everyone that played along with the first CAS Stencil Challenge in January.  We had some amazing entries.  It was great to see you all having fun with your stencils.
Check out the January's Top Picks post if you played along ..... you might just be on there!

OK ..... time for February's CAS Stencil Challenge
This month the challenge is hosted by the lovely Nancy, and the theme is ...... Powdered Inks.

Now these can be things like ..... Brushos, Color Bursts, Infusions.  Magicals, Bisters, or Pixie Powders.  Little pots of magic as I like to call them.  Just add water and watch the magic appear.
They're great to use with stencils too.
If you've never used powdered inks before don't worry ...... check out this month's CAS Stencil Challenge post and follow the links to some great videos ....... and have fun!

Now for a little inspiration from me ...... and as it's February, it's time for Valentine's

I used Brusho's as my powdered inks, and a Tim Holtz stencil to create my background.
I sprinkled a tiny amount of the powders directly onto my stencil, spritzed with a little water to activate the colours and then laid the stencil on top of a piece of watercolour cardstock.
A quick press down with a paper towel and voila! ..... when I lifted off the stencil I had this pretty piece of cardstock .....

So easy to do, but so effective .... and you'll never get two backgrounds the same .....

A nice large sentiment stamped on the top .....

And I used a Stardust Gel Pen to highlight some of the hearts ..... just a little shimmer here and there when the light catches

And of course that all important Valentine's greeting

Another way of doing it is to simply place your stencil over your cardstock as you would normally, sprinkle a tiny amount of powdered ink through the design and spritz with a little water.  Quickly, and carefully lift off the stencil to reveal your design ........

You may not always get a nice crisp finish to your designs.  If you spritz with too much water then it  can sometimes bleed underneath the stencil, but I quite like that ..... it looks a bit arty I think

When I took the stencil off this one there was quite a bit of water/ink sat in places.  Now you know me,  I don't like to waste any of my precious colour so, I took a piece of scrap card that was on my desk and placed it over the top of the design ....... and look .... I got a background to use on another  project .....

A little Brusho goes a long way .......

Now it's your turn ..... time to have for some inky fun with your stencils.  I'm looking forward to seeing the results.
You'll find more fabulous inspiration from the rest of the Design Team on the CAS Stencil Challenge Blog

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

Cheerio until next time .....

Happy Little Stampers CAS challenge ......

Happy Saturday evening ......

I hope you're enjoying your weekend.

It's time to get February's Happy Little Stampers CAS Challenge underway.
We've got a great theme for you this month .... Friends

We were out with a bunch of friends last night ...... great food, nice wine, good times.  The perfect way to start the weekend.
I think my card says it all ........

I've used the new Squishy Cats stamp from Stamping Bella, coloured with ZIG markers and a waterbrush

The sentiment is from Polar Bear Pals by My Favourite Things stamped in a gold metallic ink

And I added a few dots of Liquid Pearls to finish off ...... very CAS!

Happy stamping!

Thanks for popping by ...... enjoy the rest of your day.
We're having a cosy night in tonight.  A delicious steak dinner, followed by an evening curled up in front of the TV I think ...... there's been too many late nights recently!

Cheerio until next time ......

Happy 7th Birthday Uniko!

Happy Friday ......

And welcome to February.  Pinch and a punch for the first of the month!

January's all done and dusted.  We've had birthday's, a wedding, and even some snow. We've booked a holiday .... for 2020!!! and we survived the Burn's Night celebrations last weekend ..... only just though!  All I'm saying is ...... we had a great night.  There were bagpipes and haggis, a wee dram or two, and Hubby was even reciting poetry.  And that was before the cocktails!!!

But we're into February now and it's a very special month over at Uniko Studio ....... it's their 7th Birthday!!!!

Happy Birthday to you, 

Happy Birthday to you, 

Happy Birthday to Uniko ..... 

Happy Birthday to You!!

To mark this very special occasion Bev and the Design Team are celebrating!  We're having a Birthday Blog Hop and Linky Party ....... so you can all join in the fun.

All you have to do is create a birthday card and link it up to the Uniko 7th Birthday Linky Party post on the Uniko Blog ...... easy!
It can be any style you like, you can use any products your like although it would be nice to see you using your Uniko stash (digi's included) and if you do, then you have an extra chance at winning one of the fabulous prizes on offer ...... but more about those later.

How about some inspiration .......

I've used one of the stamp sets from the last Uniko release for this pretty CAS design.  It's called Wonderful Day and is made up of some pretty florals to layer, and some great sentiments.

I started with the sentiment first, stamped onto a piece of white card using a gold ink .....

Then I stamped the flowers using various stamps from the same set, along with different colours of inks.
Once I was happy with the layout I die cut a stitched cirlce around the sentiment, cutting into some of the flowers too

I then used foam pads to lift the circle and give a little dimension to the card.

You can see that I over stamped some of the flowers using the co-ordinating outline image of the petals, and the gold ink.

The little added dots you can see are from the Uniko Birthday Bash stamp set.  I love these little filler stamps as I call them,  they're perfect for adding little accents to your card, great finishing touches, when you just need that little something.

I stamped them first in gold, then overstamped in green, slightly shifting the stamp a little to give a shadow effect.

I also followed the design through onto the inside of the card too ....

The rest of the Uniko Design Team have also been busy creating Birthday cards.  Continue on the hop for more fabulous inspiration.  You can find a full list of stops at the end of this post.

I mentioned prizes earlier.  Well ..... there's lots of ways to win

• create a birthday card and add it to the Linky.  There will be a main winner, chosen by the Design Team who will win a £35 Gift Certificate
• there will be a random winner chosen from those of you who use Uniko products on your cards.  They will win an in stock, Uniko Clear Stamp Set (any value) and they can choose which one
• a Top 4 ...... chosen by the DT will win an in stock £10 Uniko stamp set of their choosing
• and a randomly selected comment from all those left on the Blogs in the Blog Hop will win an in stock £5 Uniko Clear Stamp set of the winners choosing 

Go on ..... why not join in the celebrations.  The linky will be open until 23.59 (GMT) on 28th February 2019, and all the winners will be announced on March 1st.

Follow the list below .......... Happy Hopping!

Bev
Carol 

Izzy 

Jane 
Julie
Linda (that's me!)

Lindsey

Rahmat
Sarah G

Sarah P
Wiebke 

Thanks for popping by .... enjoy the rest of your day and have a great weekend.

Cheerio until next time .....