[Fusion Challenge] One Year Celebration Challenge

Hello there! Happy New Year to all of you. I hope 2015 brings each of you good health, big and small successes, happiness, lots of laughter, much time with family, friends and other loved ones, and a healthy dose of creative mojo.

Last year 2014 was a really busy with many high highs and many low lows. Somewhere between normal work and life balance, I switched roles in my job, undergone some massive home renovations, planned a baby shower (not mine :P), planned a wedding and had a wedding in another country (let alone another continent). I've been exhausted and all the commitments seemed to hit at one. I needed to take a step back, take a breather, and re-calibrate my scale. 2014 seemed like a year in constant over-drive, and "normal" load of commitments wasn't that normal anymore.

During my breather, I took a bunch of lazy days. Took some weekends to stay in my jammies, binge watched some shows, neglected cleaning, gained 5 lbs, and didn't touch anything in crafting room (but it didn't prevent me from shopping for more crafting supplies ;)

Well, that being said, I am so happy to be back in blog-land, starting the first day of this year with a guest designer post for Fusion Card Challenge. I have heard so much of this group, so I am honored to be asked to play along.

It is Fusion's First Birthday and their design team member Betty invited me along. So make sure to stop by the Fusion Card Challenge blog and wish them a very merry Birthday.

I'm so happy that Betty asked me along and we decided, since we were both home during the holidays to have a FaceTime craft date. With a six hour difference, I scrapped in the late morning and Betty in the early evening. And this is what it looks like...

So after lots of catching up and brainstorming for the challenge, here is what I came up with...




A bit of pink, some gold glitter paper (which looks way too orange in this picture, and more lovely in person), chalkboard, and a bit of gray. Then I took the sketch and interpreted it, and made the oval my focal point, dropped the banner, because I couldn't find a good place for a sentiment, and then added the star part as paper clips.

And since this is a birthday, you need sequins, right?



Well make sure to hop over to the Fusion Card Challenge blog, and of course to my friend Betty's blog. Here is a sneaky peek of her card...

And here is us waving our cards to each other after we're done... :)



Thank you for having me as a guest designer! And hopefully I will be back with some cards soon.

Supplies
Stamps: (Birthday Blackboard) Hero Arts
Paper: (Smokey Shadow, Basic White Cardstock) Papertrey Ink
Pattern Paper: (True Love) Basic Grey; (Summer Stories) Teresa Collins
Ink: (Stamper's Select Vellum) Papertrey Ink; (Sequins - Cotton Candy, Raspberry Red) Neat and Tangled, (VÄLBEKANT - star clips, silver) IKEA

[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.



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?



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.



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;

[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.



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.



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!



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.

Background Builders: Squared -	A Gift For You	Papertrey Ink - Paper Basics - Stamper's Select White Cardstock (40 Sheets)	Perfect Match Enchanted Evening Cardstock (50 sheets)
*Tsukineko MEMENTO Full Size Ink Pad TUXEDO BLACK	Mama Elephant Creative Color EGGPLANT Ink Pad ME-EGG	*Prismacolor PREMIER COLORED PENCILS 72	*Studio Calico TRIANGLES & DIAMONDS Wood Veneer Shapes Darling Dear 331219

InLinkz.com

[Uniko Studio] June 2014 Release - Introducing English Country Garden - Butterflies

Hi everyone - if you're stumbling onto this blog post, we are in the midst of our Uniko Studio release and we're introducing the second of four sets being released this month.

I really am loving this set. Just by its name it sounds divine: English Country Garden - Butterflies. Bev has released a pretty lovely Butterfly set and die in the past, but this one has some fantastic details. It has three butterfly images, and a lovely phrase. All the girls on the design team are already begging for the matching dies.

I decided to pull out the biggest butterfly image and stamp the image on Versamark on vellum. And embossed it in white. I kind of had a stained glass in mind, and here is the finished product.

Then I pulled some inks out and went to town coloring this little butterfly. I also dropped some Heidi Swapp Gold color shine onto white rustic card stock. Here is an up close picture of the butterfly and I may like how it came out ;)



I decided to adhere the butterfly onto a strip of scrap pattern paper and Moonlight Lavender card stock. (I will eventually remember from which collection this came from, and will update the supplies list.) The panel is then adhered on a white card stock made with gold washi strips. 

Here is a work in progress with the washi gold strip background.



A quick tip: I lined my first washi strip across the longest diagonal line. Then I worked from the middle towards the outside one strip at a time. This ensures that my strips are straight and at the right angle.



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

*Love My Tapes GOLD Japanese Washi Tape	Papertrey Ink - Perfect Match Lavender Moon Cardstock (50 Sheets)	Papertrey Ink - Paper Basics - Rustic White Cardstock (50 Sheets)	Papertrey Ink - Paper Basics - Stamper's Select White Cardstock (40 Sheets)
A Gift For You	*VersaFine ONYX BLACK Ink Pad Pigment	Simon Says Stamp Premium Dye Ink Pad SLATE Gray	*Tim Holtz DISTRESS INK PAD PEACOCK FEATHERS Ranger SPRING
Tim Holtz Distress Ink Pad TUMBLED GLASS Blue Ranger TIM27188	*Hero Arts Shadow Ink Pad BUTTER BAR Mid-Tone 2012 AF207	*Jenni Bowlin For Ranger CHICKEN FEED DYE INK PAD JBP28543	*Jenni Bowlin For Ranger LEMON DROPS DYE INK PAD
*Jenni Bowlin For Ranger LAVENDER SACHET DYE INK PAD	*Versamark WATERMARK Rubber Stamp Emboss Chalk Resist INK PAD	*Stampendous STAMP N STUFF Fine Opaque White Embossing Powder DP100	Marvy Uchida - Decocolor Liquid Gold Paint Marker Extra Fine
Heidi Swapp GOLD LAME Color Shine 00791	Papertrey Ink - Paper Basics - Stamper's Select Vellum Cardstock (24 Sheets)

InLinkz.com

[Uniko Studio] May Revisited Blog Hop - Background Builders: Round in Circles

Hello everyone! Before we get started, I have a little video to share...



In the US, we are celebrating Mother's Day and we know that is one the toughest jobs out there. I'm so grateful for my mum - she's my rock and she's always there for me! And I'm so lucky to be friends with many of you who are already amazing mums. You are all an inspiration and role-model... But to get back to why we are really here...Uniko Studio is re-visiting their set today Background Builders: Round in Circles. I decided to just work with one of the stamps in this set and pair it with a sentiment from A Gift For You.

I always love to see how to stretch my stamps and the little vertical striped circle is full of possibilities. Stamp it one way, then stamp it the other way...and you have yourself some gingham patterns. I stamped me some balloons and carefully masked a bunch of them, and then shaded them in with some color pencils. If you are interested in a tutorial, let me know and I will post one up



Each balloon also got some Wink of Stella treatment, but my camera is not really picking up any of this fabulous shimmer and bling! For good measure there are also some mint colored sequins. Because sequins just make everything happy.



Hope you feel inspired with some samples. So some housekeeping: Bev is going to draw a winner for the stamp set AND the matching digital designer paper. You have until 11:59p BST May 14th 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 ...

• Uniko Studio Blog (Bev)
• Amber
• Erika
• Gillian
• N@ Ali
• Ren-Yi (you are here)
• Taheerah

I hope you like what you're seeing. Hope to see your creations soon! PS. Simon Says has a new fabulous website, but in the process some of the inlinkz pictures are not quite fixed. But the links work, so feel free to click along to see the products.

*Mama Elephant FEMME FRAMES Creative Cuts Steel Die MEL-001D	*Mama Elephant OCEAN Creative Color Ink Pad ME-OCE	*Mama Elephant BLUSH Creative Color Ink Pad Me-BLU	*Mama Elephant WINTER Creative Color Ink Pad ME-WIN
*Mama Elephant EGGPLANT Creative Color Ink Pad ME-EGG	*Mama Elephant BUBBLEGUM Creative Color Ink Pad ME-BUB	Perfect Match Raspberry Fizz Cardstock (50 sheets)	Paper Basics - Vintage Cream Cardstock (50 Sheets)
*Becky Higgins American Crafts Project Life 3 PACK Journaling Pen Set	*VersaFine ONYX BLACK Ink Pad Pigment	A Gift For You	Background Builders: Round In Circles Clear Stamps
*Prismacolor PREMIER COLORED PENCILS 72

InLinkz.com