[Uniko Studio] Challenge No. 6 - Sketch

Hi everyone - did you miss us? We enjoyed our much needed break, but it's a new year. We're back to the swing of things and are starting things off with a easy peasy challenge: a sketch.

None other than our talented Gayatri has put this together. So make sure to go leave her some love!

Mine is super quick. I was looking for a graphic look. I also loved the paper that I found floating on my desk. Isn't it great when we find a starting point?


Stamps: (Background Builders - Round in Circles; All Occasion Sentiments #3) Uniko Studio
Paper: (Paper Basics Card Stock - White) Papertrey Ink; (Corey Add-on Kit - pattern paper) Studio Calico
Ink: (Creative Color Pigment Ink - Winter, Ocean) Mama Elephant; (Memento - Tuxedo Black) Tsukineko
Embellishments: (Wood Veneer - Sundrifter) Studio Calico

I wanted to add layer on the pattern paper by stamping a bunch of circles from the Background Builder set. I love how Winter matches the paper so well and adds a subtle piece of interest. To match the sketch a bit, I picked another design from that same set and stamped it a more bolder Ocean color.



Finally I just added a sentiment and decided to "scatter" a few wood veneer pieces that also had triangles & circles to match the stamping and the paper. It felt quite good to go about the card without much plans and just "throw" stuff onto the card front. 



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 Feb 14th, 2013, 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!

[Uniko Studio] January Revisited Blog Hop - Accent Essentials: Arrows

Hello there - my first post of the year. So many things have been happening, all not very happy ones, but on the upside, it just means 2014 is only going to get better.

I'm here to show you a great fun older set: Accent Essentials: Arrows.

It's just a quick graphic card, where I used the arrows


Stamps: (Accent Essentials: Arrows) Uniko Studio
Paper: (Perfect Match Card Stock - White, Raspberry Fizz) Papertrey Ink
Ink: (Creative Color - Blush) Mama Elephant
Embellishments: (Hey Script Die) Memory Box; (Sprinkles - Lily White Assortment) Doodlebug Designs Inc; (Marker - Light Purple) Neopiko

I used the arrows to create a background and I'm loving how this pigment ink stamps! Nice coverage. I also have been dying to try this Hey script die cut. I decided I like the little cut outs and colored them up and inlayed them back into the sentiment.



A few enamel dots to finish off the card. Easy, peasey CAS...

That's all I have for you. Make sure to go visit the other girls' creations. They are sure to inspire you. A few more details, leave a comment by January 15, and Bev will draw a winner to win this set and £5 gift certificate. So make sure to comment on everyone's blog :)

Here is a list for easy navigation:

• Uniko Studio Blog (Bev)
• Amber
• Erika
• Gayatri
• Nicki
• Ren-Yi (you are here)
• Stacey
• Taheerah

[Little Tangles] Challenge #27 - Sequins, Sequins, and More Sequins

Hi there! The weather has been progressively getting colder here. We had snow a couple of times pour down in New Jersey. It looks great and I love it (from afar or from the safety of my house), but it becomes a road hazard when people underestimate their driving skills out there. Please slow down! As drivers we often forget that we're wielding easily a ton of metal on a skating rink. 

We happened to be in a car wreck two Sundays ago. Thankfully no one got hurt on both sides. And so far everything has been chugging along well with the insurances and so forth. We lucked out, and if things keep going well, I will get my car back this coming weekned.

Anyways, please be safe!

On another note, this will by me last Little Tangles post. A new Design Team is starting in January and I had a really grand time working with these fabulous girls. So we're going out with a bang with a challenge Sequins, Sequins and More Sequins. Isn't it a great way to pay homage to Neat & Tangled?


Stamps: (You + Me) Neat & Tangled
Paper: (Perfect Match Card Stock - Kraft, Royal Velvet) Papetrey Ink
Ink: (Perfect Match Pigment Ink - Vintage Cream) Papertrey Ink
Embellishments: (Sequins - Magenta Metallic) Neat & Tangled

I got my new stamps in the mail and I really wanted to play with the You+Me set. And I love how the overlapping Venn Diagram portion makes such a great flower petal. I also love how the colors can build ontop of each other. Works well with Pigment Inks.



I popped a few fun sequins on the flower and added a small sentiment along the card. That's all to it.

Since this is my last Little Tangles contribution, I just wanted to thank Danielle for bringing me onto her Little Tangles team a little more than a year ago. I really love creating with your beautiful products. Thank you for taking a chance on me!

And I had so much fun getting to know the girls on the Design Team! Thank you Amy, Barb, Charlene and June for being such great girls. I think these will be special friends that I will keep in touch for a long while. I have a goal to meet all of them in real life. Some of them I already had an opportunity to hang out with, but in the meantime, it will be great to see them online!

When the new girls start with Little Tangles, make sure to welcome them. They are fire-cracker talented team!

That's all I have for you. Make sure to go visit the other girls' creations. They have a few parting words too...

Here is the reader's digest version.

• Challenge ends Dec 29, 2013, 11:59p EST; Check back for the winners
• Prize is ONE Neat & Tangled Stamp set of your choice to a random player
• Neat & Tangled stamps are not required on your entry, but we would love to see you use them. If you would like to use some Neat & Tangled products but haven't had a chance to buy any, we have a couple of freebies on the Little Tangles site. Enjoy!

Can't wait to see your creations! :)

[Little Tangles] Challenge #26 - Color Challenge: White & Gold

Hi everyone! I can't believe it is already December. I have nothing checked off my to-do list for the holidays. How are you faring?

While I go run around like a mad woman, we have a color challenge for you this week Gold & White? Isn't it one of the loveliest color combinations for the holidays? Gold is so very in right now...


Stamps: (Merry & Bright, Santa's Tag) Neat & Tangled
Paper: (Perfect Match Card Stock - White) Papetrey Ink
Ink: (Brilliance - Galaxy Gold) Tsukineko
Embellishments: (Candi - Gold Wedding) Craftworkcards; (Ribbon Scrap) Michael's; (Sequins - Snow White) Neat & Tangled

This is just a super quick tag. With this time of year, I have to make super quick things. So This is my version of a white & gold tag, grabbing whatever was laying around on my desk. I think this tag is so stunning because of the ribbon scrap I used. It was a piece of leftover after we made out advents wreath this weekend, and I couldn't bear seeing any part of this ribbon trashed.



Since these sequins were laying around, I thought I'd pop a few white ones on along with those Candis. This took less than ten minutes! Whoop.

That's all I have for you. Go see the other girls' creations. They will surely have many inspirations for you...

Here is the reader's digest version.

• Challenge ends Dec 15, 2013, 11:59p EST; Check back for the winners
• Prize is ONE Neat & Tangled Stamp set of your choice to a random player
• Neat & Tangled stamps are not required on your entry, but we would love to see you use them. If you would like to use some Neat & Tangled products but haven't had a chance to buy any, we have a couple of freebies on the Little Tangles site. Enjoy!

Can't wait to see your creations! :)

[Little Tangles] Challenge #25 - Give Thanks

Hi everyone! It is already the end spurt of November. I can't believe that Thanksgiving is exactly a week ago. I'm not ready for this!

What better way to get into the game than to create a card Giving Thanks? And if you're not celebrating Thanksgiving, these is always a need for Thank You cards…!


Stamps: (My Heart Sings, A Lot to Say, Thankful Turkey) Neat & Tangled
Paper: (Brown Card Stock) Bazzill; (Perfect Match Card Stock - Vintage Cream) Papetrey Ink; (Fitzgeral AddOn Kit: (pattern paper: Blink of Life, Studio Calico)) Studio Calico
Ink: (Creative Color - Hazel) Mama Elephant; (Jenni Bowlin - No. 5 Chicken Feed, No. 9 Spice Tin) Ranger
Embellishments: (Fitzgeral AddOn Kit: (Wood Veneer Butterflies) Studio Calico, (Blue Enamel Dots) Freckled Fawn) Studio Calico

I found some pretty stellar pattern paper out of some Studio Calico kits lying out on my desk and stamped the speech bubble from A Lot to Say. I also stamped the bird in Spice Tin ink on some beautiful blue and green pattern paper from the kit, and decided to color him with my ink pads. Amazing what a little bit of water and ink does, right?



I also added a bit of orange color to the patter paper to make the foreground pop more.

That's all I have for you. Go see the other girls' creations. They will surely have many inspirations for you...

Here is the reader's digest version.

• Challenge ends Dec 1, 2013, 11:59p EST; Check back for the winners
• Prize is ONE Neat & Tangled Stamp set of your choice to a random player
• Neat & Tangled stamps are not required on your entry, but we would love to see you use them. If you would like to use some Neat & Tangled products but haven't had a chance to buy any, we have a couple of freebies on the Little Tangles site. Enjoy!

Can't wait to see your creations! :)

10 Minute Craft Dash - Snowflakes are Winter's Butterflies

Hello everyone! I had it forever on my bucket list to try the 10 Minute Craft Dash challenge, since Challenge #1 actually. Thirty challenges later, I have found the right "kick in the butt" - Uniko Studio is sponsoring this Craft Dash. And who can say no to playing along to this kind of mashup?

I'm so deathly afraid of this challenge, because I take a long while coming up with a card. I fuss around, I glue things on my own sweet time, it takes forever to fussy cut everything…but that's generally how card making is for me. It's the me-time where I get to relax and do something fun & creative, so I never feel like I'm in a hurry. 

This challenge tho had me shaking in my socks. So I planned, and I planned some more, and I bounced ideas with my dear friend Mary Dawn (big kudos to her for being an amazing inspiration) while hanging out with her on video chat. I sketched it out, I laid out all the items that I need in a neat little pile. And I checked over it again meticulously.



Then I took a deep breath and hit the "start" button my iPhone Stopwatch


Stamps: (Stunning Snowflakes) Uniko Studio
Paper: (Paper Basics Card Stock - Basic White, Raspberry Fizz) Papertrey Ink; (navy flecked card stock) stash; (Fitzgerald Add-On Kit: My Mind's Eye) Studio Calico
Ink: (Perfect Match Pigment Ink - Vintage Cream) Papertrey Ink
Embellishments: (Designer Dies - Snowflakes) Uniko Studio; (Twill Tape - Raspberry Fizz; Stamper's Select Vellum) Papertrey Ink; (Tiny Twinkle - Multicolor) Taylored Expression; (Creative Cuts - Dainty Bow) Mama Elephant

So confession time: I made the bow beforehand. I got this cute little die from Mama Elephant and I had never made one of those bows, so I played with it. I was putting it together, and don't think I would have made it under 10min if it wasn't already pre-made. So that was my cheat…don't tell anyone ;) But isn't it cute?

The rest was a mad dash - literally. Die cut snowflakes. Glue the yellow panel down, snip the snowflake top off to retro-fit for the ribbon, tape the ribbon down on the backside, glue the snowflake down. Glue the center in. Add the bow, add the twinkles (Thank heavens for Sakura glue pens and Tweezers), and stamp the sentiment on. Done.



Are you tired yet? That's how I felt after that. It was a challenge to fit as much as possible in the ten minutes allotted. I hope you give this a try - it's quite a fabulous, fun and refreshing way to make a card. It definitely shakes things up :) Thanks Paulina for having us along. Oh and I am sure you wanna see the time…Yikes. If I had to deal die cut and assemble the bow, I would not be very lucky.

Check out the amazing creations by the other girls by either going to Paulina's blog, or Bev's blog…! And in case you are wondering what is at stake?

[Uniko Studio] Challenge No. 5 - Christmas or Winter Holiday

Hi everyone - we're back with another challenge this month. It's perfectly themed for the upcoming holidays: Winter or Christmas theme.

by Pinterest

This beautiful picture inspired me to pull out my little christmas tree from the latest Uniko Studio release. And I love the lights, which inspired me to pull our my new stamps to play with and go with a golden, warm color.


Stamps: (Jolly Christmas) Uniko Studio
Paper: (Paper Basics Card Stock - Ocean Tides, Vintage Cream) Papertrey Ink; (Summer Stories) Teresa Collins; (Corrugated Card Stock - Green) stash
Ink: (Creative Color Pigment Ink - Orangeade, Sunshine, Winter) Mama Elephant; (Memento - Tuxedo Black) Tsukineko
Embellishments: (Signo Gelpen - White) Uniball; (Creative Cuts - Embellished Tags) Mama Elephant

I apologize about my pictures… the colors are a little bit of wonky because I was taking it under some yellow light bulbs. Didn't manage to catch the sunlight.

I stamped the little tree on the back of the corrugated card stock and cut it out, popped it on a tag with some stars and decided to stamp on the fun lyrics from a popular Christmas song.



The papers are from Teresa Collins Summer Stories. Yep a summer collection, but the gold was perfect for the extra bit of Christmas shimmer. Don't forget to check your collections, since there are always generic patterns in the mix, and they might just be the right color mix.

Anyways, that's all I have for you. 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 Dec 14th, 2013, 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!