Thursday, September 18, 2014

[Uniko Studio] Challenge No. 14 -


We have a lovely challenge today on the Uniko Studio blog. Yep, still trying to get back into the swing of things and still being slow at making a card.

Photo Credit: Design Seed

And our theme this challenge is Clean and Simple. I completely bombed this challenge, but at least I sort of tried to follow the color palette.

Wish Upon a Star

I decided to whip out one of the newer Uniko Studio sets Big & Bold Wish. When the sentiments cover up the entire card, it become a nice focal point and I love that it will stand out so well. All we need is a die for that *hint hint Bev* to cut it out nicely.

To create a background I decided to stamp the candles in Versamark and clear embossed them. I then took some Inka Gold Turquoise metallic color, diluted it with water and decided to color the candles in. It behaves similar to water color when it is diluted, only that the color is metallic and shiny. After it tried, I also rubbed it down with some paper towel to polish to a shine. It's one of the special properties of this medium. See the shimmer?

Wish Upon a Star

I think one happy accident is that the clear embossed candles came out metallic and almost gold after applying the Inka Gold Turquoise. I also like how rocking the huge sentiment onto the ink pad and applying more on the top gives it a bit of an ombre effect. My purple happens to be a pigment ink.

One last "upcycled" item on this card is the tissue paper. It was lying around and came with a gift that I unwrapped, but thought I would use the gold stars in something sooner or later. So when I read the sentiment "Upon a Star" it gave me right shove to use it up. I accordion folded the tissue paper and the messily adhered it with some liquid glue.

Wish Upon a Star

I was thinking of running my sewing machine over the tissue paper portion, but turns out that my sewing machine is still packed away. So I better just let it be ;) Not as clean and simple as it could be, but still a fun card.

Please also check out the rest of the girl's cards and leave them a sweet comment or two. Remember you don't have to use all the colors - any or all as an inspiration.

Lastly, a few helpful things to remember:
  • Challenge ends Oct 14th, 2014, 11:59p BST; Check back for the winners after
  • Prize is £10 Gift Certificate to the random Winner & a Guest Design spot on our following challenge
  • Three people will win a spotlight
  • We would like you to use a Uniko Studio product; If you don't have any, check out the freebies here
I hope to see you play along, so that I can pop in on your lovely blogs! See you soon.

Supplies
Stamps: (Big & Bold Wish) Uniko Studio
Paper: (Fresh Linen, Plum Pudding) Papertrey Ink
Ink: (Jenni Bowlin - No. 9 Spice Tin) Ranger; (Versamark) Tsukineko; (Eggplant) Mama Elephant
Embellishments: (Inka Gold - Turquoise) Viva Decor; (Creative Cuts - Femme Frames) Mama Elephant; (
Stamp 'n Stuff Embossing Powder - Detailed Clear) Stampendous!; (Tissue Paper) recycle stash;

Thursday, September 11, 2014

[Uniko Studio] September Revisited Blog Hop - Peace On Earth

Hello everyone! It has been forever since I have made a card. And it took me ever so long to come up with one. We won't ask how long, since it would be too embarrassing. With all this wedding-schmedding-palooza, I haven't really had a chance to get creative and I feel like the creative muse has left me high and dry - probably frustrated that when I did get hit with an idea, I never sat down to do it, or worst, not even write it down. Instead I just steamrollered on with my mass production craziness and kept telling her to leave me alone...Well serves me right. So just be gentle when looking at this card...:)

This month we are re-visiting a set, just in time to start thinking of the holiday (oh dear, another mass production in sight!) Peace on Earth. I love how this gem of a set is only $8 and has some great elements to make an arsenal of cards.



I decided to see if i could convince the branch to be a wreath. So I gathered up all the green inks that I have in my tiny ink collection and went to work.

Season's Greetings

I stamped a complete circle first, and then tried to find the right sizes in my Spellbinder Small Circle die to cut out a "wreath." Since I wanted this more for dimension, I knew I had to fill in the white space with a bit more green stamping. This is where all the shades of green came into. With a bit of offset here and there, some stamping off and then stamping, I was able to stamp onto the cut out circle as well as the base card stock.

Season's Greetings

I have a ton of sequins in my stash, so I thought it would be appropriate to pop them onto the wreath. The dove is embossed in gold, shaded with color pencil and Gamsol, and then popped onto the wreath. Any of the sentiments work quite well here, and I was debating about stamping it in the center or on the bottom edge of the card. Here the card again slightly angled so that you can see the dimension that the wreath gives this card.

Season's Greetings

Hope you feel inspired with some samples. Bev is going to draw a winner for this lovely stamp set or a gift card of equivalent value. You have until 11:59p BST September 25 to leave comments along the blogs. In the meantime, I'm sending you off to fabulous, amazing Taheerah. Here the whole list for easy navigation ...
I hope you like what you're seeing. Again, be gentle. I feel like a newbie, but hope to get back into the swing of things!

Stamps: (Peace on Earth) Uniko Studio
Paper: (Rustic White, Kraft, Basic White) Papertrey Ink
Ink: (Jenni Bowlin - No. 6 Stick Candy) Ranger; (Versamark; Mememto - Tuxedo Black) Tsukineko; (Shadow Ink - Forever Green) Hero Arts; (Creative Color - Mojito) Mama Elephant
Embellishments: (Creative Cuts - Femme Frames) Mama Elephant; (Embossing Powder - Gold) Ranger; (Sequins - Raspberry Red Satin) Neat & Tangled

Friday, September 5, 2014

Bev's Bouncing Baby Boys Blog Hop


Today we are celebrating huge huge huge milestone in dear Bev's, owner of Uniko Studio and sweet dear friend. She became a mum just a few days ago to two beautiful boy twins and we want to celebrate this momentous occasion with a small blog hop. So some of us design team girls have hijacked her blog ;)

So here is a card to wish the mum and dad all the best...

Congratulations

Josh and Ben are very, very lucky to have you both as parents. And I know you will be make an amazing mum. You are kind, sweet, loving, patient, and generous...and all of these qualities will the key ingredients to raising those boys!

Congratulations

Remember to get some sleep and enjoy every moment. I hear they grow up fast ;)

Congratulations

Here a list of the girls joining on the blog hop for easy hopping. 
For all of those who love Bev as much as we do and want to join in on the fun, head back to the Uniko Studio Blog - because there is a link up for all of you join in and the link up will remain open for a month. We know everyone is getting back into the swing of things with school starting up and coming back from vacation, but you will have plenty of time to join in on the fun. Spread the word, too, while you're at it? :)

Wednesday, June 18, 2014

[Uniko Studio] Challenge No. 11 - A Little Something...


Hi everyone - I can't believe the amazing turn-out on the last challenge. I hope we see a bunch of entries like we had last time. Let' see what you think of this month's challenge and color combo...

Photo Credit: Design Seed

And our theme this challenge is Happy Birthday
. I decided to pull out a fun, older Background Builders: Squared set.

A Little Something

I only inked up a portion of the squares on my bock and then masked off any parts to make sure I got a nice clean 8x8 grid - stamped it a total of 4 times and lined them up. A tip is to take your time when lining them up. I absolutely love clear stamps exactly for this reason. I also wanted to color the grid in both violet and blue hues (for some reason, I only remembered the violet geode rock from the picture - and that's what I went with ;)

I wanted to play around with some mosaic and tiling concept, picked 2 hues of blue and 2 hues of violet. Then I added some interest by shading in each square slightly different.

A Little Something

The card is finished by adding a little wood veneer piece that I inked up with some pigment ink and then placed as a visual and spatial break, followed by a simple sentiment. Voila and I call it done!

A Little Something

Please also check out the rest of the girl's cards and leave them a sweet comment or two. Remember you don't have to use all the colors - any or all as an inspiration.

Lastly, a few helpful things to remember:
  • Challenge ends Jul 14th, 2014, 11:59p BST; Check back for the winners after
  • Prize is £10 Gift Certificate to the random Winner & a Guest Design spot on our following challenge
  • Three people will win a spotlight
  • We would like you to use a Uniko Studio product; If you don't have any, check out the freebies here
I hope to see you play along, so that I can pop in on your lovely blogs! See you soon.


Tuesday, June 17, 2014

Danielle's Special Delivery Blog Hop - Special Delivery

Hello there - today is a special blog hop for a special someone. Danielle from Neat & Tangled is one the sweetest persons I have ever met. And we are getting together to celebrate her sweet self and the delivery of Baby Everlyn. I can't wait to see pictures! And all the best wishes to you, Danielle, and the rest of the family.

You should be hopping over from talented, amazing Christine Drogt, who organized all of this!

Initially I wanted to make a card with lots of Neat & Tangled products, but I started to make a baby onesie and ended up making a card to match. Here it is

Special Delivery

This onesie is super easy to make. Just find a shape as a template, adhere some heat bond to the fabric, trace around it and then you have yourself a fun appliqué. Then just iron the appliqué onto the onesie. If anyone is interested, i can make a tutorial... it's so easy peasy and we used this technique at the recent baby shower I organized.

Special Delivery

I ended up making a matching card out of complimentary fabric. This fabric is just glued down onto some card stock, and then onto some wood veneer pattern paper. The rest is just some fun white doodling to go along with the white sentiment. So that's all from my side. Your next stop is Miriam Prantner - another amazing, talented designer. She even designed a few sets for Neat & Tangled ;)

Special Delivery

Here the entire blog list in its entirety for easy of navigation...
Hope you enjoyed hopping along on this fun occasion!

Wednesday, June 11, 2014

[Uniko Studio] June 2014 Release - Release Day

Hello Uniko Studio fans - are you ready for the big day? Uniko Studio is releasing four fabulous stamp sets today. Here are the four in it's entirety.

Hopefully you're hopping over from Nicki's fabulous creations... if not, start at the beginning at Bev's blog, because you don't want to miss out on prizes and inspirations.

First up, Classic Alphabet set, where the frames can be use by itself to make a pattern, or to use with the alphabet to make monogrammed, personalized cards. Or just spell out fun things (see project for today).


Then English Country Garden - Butterflies is another lovely must-have. The largest butterfly measures 2.75" x 2" whereas the small ones measure 1.5" x 1".


Flower Power #5 is the newest family member to the Flower Power series, and I love the series of Thank You sentiments. Wouldn't it pair up nicely with the frame from the Classic Alphabet set?



The last and one of the most stunning sets Bev has ever designed is a beautiful hummingbird image. The bird measures 3.5" x 2.75" and there are two wonderful sentiments to go along with this set. The flowers can easily be used to also create a beautiful background pattern.


So for today's Design Team blog hop, I have created a simple card using the Classic Alphabet set. And I decided to jump onto the nautical trend...

Ahoy

So here is very straight forward card with some washi, die cutting some circles and stamping the frame out. It's easy enough to fill in the border of the frame to give the frame and alphabets a different look. And when in doubt, just add Wink of Stella.

Ahoy

You are off to *amazing* *talented* *i wanna be her when i grow up* Taheerah ;)

Here the entire blog list in its entirety for easy of navigation...

Remember that Bev is going to draw prizes. You have until 11:59p BST Jun 15 to comment. 

(I'll add a supply list by the end of the week - things have just been super crazy here - thanks for understanding)

Tuesday, June 10, 2014

[Uniko Studio] June 2014 Release - Introducing Paradise - Hummingbird

Hello Uniko Studio fans - thank for all your blog love and sweet comments. I hope you're enjoying the samples so far by the team. So what do you think about this month's release so far? Are you excited? What is your favorite set so far?

Before you make any decisions on your favorite, we're going to show you the last of four sets being released this month.


I decided to work with an unassuming part for yesterday's sneak peek set. So today I thought I'd work with an obvious part of the sneak peek. You know, just to change it up a bit ;)

Is there a kind of card that you dread making? I have one particular kind: for me they are sympathy cards. And I know those are the ones that people need the most, but I don't really know how to express my empathy. Probably because I dread writing something inside of them. What do you say? How do you take the pain or loss away from someone? Most of the words sound so generic, mass-produced, repeated... But alas, when friends of yours lose someone, the right thing is to send them a card and let them know your thoughts are with them. And I have been procrastinating on the ones I should be sending  :*(

So here is my very simple (and yet not very simple) sympathy card.

With Sympathy

I tried photographing this card on white background and it was not very flattering. And the best light in the middle of the night is unfortunately the undergoing kitchen space. But hopefully you get the gist with this card.

It's simple and effective: Versafine Onyx Black on White card stock. It's back to the very beginning where I bought my first black ink pad, bought myself some white card stock, and a clear stamp set...And yet, it can be quite striking, and impacting. What do you think?

I started by making my own frame. I cut a panel to 5.25" x 4". Then measured from each edge 3/8" and made a light pencil park. Then I took a fine liner black pen and drew my frame. After that I took my Prismacolor Double-ended Art Marker and made a thicker border. The next part is to mask off the borders to stamp the bird inside the frame. I decided to use some handy dandy washi tape that was lying around and made sure to tape the edge right up and onto the border, like so...

With Sympathy

One humming bird stamped, one sharp craft knife, and one hour later, and here is the finished product up close.

With Sympathy

To come to think of it, it looks like the sneak peek all over again, doesn't it? But I assure you this one is not a digital file ;) Also another great tip is to use a black marker, fine liner or the brush tip of your Copics, and run it around along the cut edge. It's very hard to cut cleanly, and the cross section of the card stock is white when you cut into it. So running that marker along the cut area jet finishes off the bird more cleanly. 

Just a word of warning that this card is not a quick one, and the tiny bits and pieces are slow to cut out. But I'd like to think it's worth your while.

Hope you liked this rather serious card. I just wanted to show you another aspect how to use your stamps even for those sombre occasion. Make sure to stop by the other girls' blog to see some more upbeat version of this stamp set. 

And make sure to stop by tomorrow, because it's finally Release Day here at Uniko Studio. I'll have something new whipped up by then...Ta for now.



Monday, June 9, 2014

[Uniko Studio] June 2014 Release - Introducing Flower Power #5

Hi everyone - remember me telling you one of the famous series were back? Have you guessed it yet?

It's the release of another fabulous set to the Flower Power series. Lots of fun elements and here is the sneak peek again.


I've been in a crafting mojo rut - probably with all the running around for wedding prep and kitchen renovations. But that I'll get to in another post, or so I hope ;)

I always am trying to find interesting ways to use the stamps in our sets. I used two litte parts in this stamp set - probably the smallest untypical parts of the set. They are suppose to be used to stamp the stamen or pistil of the flower's center. I like how those little outlined circles or solid circles could be interesting texture. And bubbles or circles make me think of water and ocean. Anyone else have this association?

So I went wild and searched all blue and blue-like ink pads in my stash and went wild. Turns out I had a few when put together... ;) After playing around for bit, here is my work in progress.

Many Thanks

Here is an up close picture. See the outlined circles and the solid circles? Love the texture that it creates.

Many Thanks

And here is my outcome of my little tag. Good thing I started with a small canvas, cause if I tried to stamp a whole card panel I might still be stamping furiously and not be done by the time this blog post goes live ;)

Many Thanks

I added some drops of gold confetti across and used Candi Gold Wedding pieces as air bubbles. The Thank You sentiment is also from the set, and I am loving the font.

Many Thanks

Another quick detail I want to show you is the Hero Hues Unicorn white across the tag to add a bit of texture. Adds another layer of dimension that changes the tag.

Many Thanks

Hope you liked this little tag. We will be back tomorrow for another preview of another set being released. See you then?





Related Posts with Thumbnails