Saturday 25 June 2016

Uniko Reveal, Release and GIVEAWAY - June 2016


Hi there friends, I'm back with the 'delayed' DT Reveal, Release 
and Blog hop following the June release of stamp sets from 
Uniko

There were 2 sets released earlier this month and there's been a few
sneaky peeks over the last few weeks but here's mine followed by
the images you'll need if you'd like to purchase the sets from HERE

Ok so super-girlie here in pink ...

This one uses images from both sets (Paradise & Paradise Leaves)
which I've used to create a background. There are some tone on tone
outline images to the plain stitched rectangle but not sure it's obvious 
in the photograph. The sentiment is from the Paradise set and I've fussy
cut one of the hibiscus and added some glossy accents for a little shine.

Yep I've gone a bit crazy here colouring Bob the Toucan and decided to 
make my Dad a father's day card. My thinking is it's my Dad sitting superior 
above all those other toucans! Hahahaha!



The sentiment is actually from a Paper Smooches set but thought it worked
well with the images. The 'bills / beaks' are coloured with Zig Clear Brush pens
and the leaves with Promarkers. I also added a little black spot with a
Promarker and and added some glossy accents for highlights.


Ooops perhaps I should show you the stamp sets here and then a few more examples.




Next up a mass-produced trio of tropical fun!

My inspiration came from THIS card by Yana Smakula
I love watching her You Tube tutorials and she makes lots of backgrounds 
using her stamps and typically on an A4 sheet of card to make multiples.

These didn't quite pan-out how I intended but here's two of them. 
Apart from the lime green the images are all stamped in Altenew inks.



So as tradition goes let's head to the blog hop ...

Sarah P (That's Me!)

If you haven't already visited each of the DT members please
hop along and leave a comment to be in with a chance of winning the

Giveaway prize which will be the entire June Release 
& the Paradise Hummingbird set (or a eGift Cert to the same value of any 
sets already owned/purchased). Comment by Midnight 2nd July 2016 to win.


Good luck with the hop and thanks as always for stopping by

Sarah

Addicted to CAS #91


Hello blog buddies I'm here to announce the latest challenge 
over at Addicted to CAS and sadly this will also be my last
Design Team post as I am stepping down from this awesome group.
I am sorry to leave and it's with mixed feelings that I've made the 
decision but sometimes life gets in the way of crafting and I feel I have
taken on a few too many DT commitments so something had to give!
I do hope to join in the challenges though as much as I can and wish
all the team lots of fun and success in the future. Catch up in blogland eh!
So I'm bowing out using a set from Happy Little Stampers, well 3 
in fact and a 'Thanks' for having me on the team Kylie - it's been fantastic!
Our host for this one is Jaydee who has chosen the codeword FLY



This uses:
Happy Little Stampers: Butterfly Birthday, Doodled Flowers
and Mish Mash for the little 'circles' berries perhaps.
Simon Says Stamp - Stitched Circle die
Images coloured with Promarkers.

Our sponsor for this challenge is Create a Smile
with the lucky winner receiving ...


It's a CAS theme over at Addicted to Stamps & More this week
so I'd like to head over there with a second entry for the challenge.


There's more flying fun created by my fellow teamies over on the 
main ATCAS blog HERE plus we have a fabulous guest designer
joining us for this one: Gemma of My Girl Lollipop she has some 
awesome CAS and clever designs on her blog so I do hope you'll pay
her a visit and leave some friendly comments and love!

I do hope you feel inspired to play along and thanks as always
for stopping by my blog. Have fun and enjoy the challenge!






Less is More #282


Can you believe we are back at Saturday again?
For some reason I think the calendar is on fast-forward these days! 

Anyway it's time to share our latest challenge over at 
Less is More
Lucky for you crafty folks it's an easy one too ... no excuses

We'd like you to use a 
Stencil

Before I show you my examples though I'd like to welcome our 
newest Design Team member and I'm sure you'll all know
Esther from The Carnelian Wood

and we are all thrilled and excited to welcome her to the team.
I do hope you'll visit her blog to wish her well as no doubt she's visited
your blogs many times in the last few months.

Ok so here's my cards and if you've not already visited the main
Less is More Blog HERE then please do as Esther is making her debut
plus my other fabulous teamies have some brilliant cards to share too.


All 3 cards use the same stencil from Memory Box called Texture Ornate.
Here I created a panel of cardstock using distress inks in rainbow colours through the 
stencil and after removing it I did my favourite spritz and flick of perfect pearls with water 
as it creates a wonderful shimmer as well as adding additional interest  to the panel. 
I sliced the stencilled card into sections to create the first 2 cards. 

The first one uses a homespun stitched border die from MFT Die-namics
plus a white heat embossed sentiment from Clearly Besotted: Brushed Greetings II
and some coordinating Sprinkles from Doodlebug ...


... and with this one still Doodlebug Sprinkles but of the glittery variety
with a sentiment from Happy Little Stampers: Everyday sentiments.
The stencil panel is adhered to cardstock then mounted on fun foam for 
added dimension and interest.

I'd like to pop this one in at Addicted to Stamps and More Challenge
where they are looking for CAS cards this week.



Last up but slightly less CAS and using the same stencil but in a different way! 
Here I've ink blended some of my favourite distress inks onto a piece of water colour 
cardstock first, spritzed and flicked with the  Perfect Pearl mix before placing
 the stencil over the top. Using a sponge dauber with Versamark ink through 
the stencil followed by clear embossing powder to create an ultra glossy outline 
(see close-up photo below)

The butterfly and sentiment are both from Happy Little Stampers sets;
Butterfly Birthday and Everyday sentiments. Both are heat embossed using
WOW Gold sparkle EP. The butterfly is then coloured using the same 
distress inks and coated generously with Glossy Accents. You know I can't
resist some bling so I've added gems and sequins from my stash


This week's challenge at Simon Says Stamp - Wednesday 
is to 'Add some Shimmer' so this card is shimmering to the max
with the flickers of water and perfect pearls to the distress inked panel,
followed by sparkly embossing powder and plus shimer and shine 
from the glossy accents too. 

Simon Wednesday Challenge Blog


I hope you enjoy this one and I can't wait to see what clever
techniques and ideas you introduce me to with your stencils this week.


Thanks as always for playing along and I'll be back shortly with my challenge post 
for Addicted to CAS plus it's the traditional Design Team Reveal, Release and Blog Hop 
over at Uniko following the release of the latest Paradise stamp sets.
Why not head over and you could be in with a chance of a prize!


Sarah

Friday 24 June 2016

Uniko Challenge #33 - Reminder


Hi Friends, I'm back with a little nudge and reminder for this
 month's challenge over at 
Uniko
where it's a photo inspiration - read on a little more to see it.

Here's my card using the recently released Paradise set.
I've picked out the colours as closely as possible to those in
the photo to create a background of blooms with a sentiment panel
in the centre. The wrap of grey twine is to incorporate the colours too.


Not only is there more inspiration from my fellow teamies over on the main Uniko 
blog HERE but also joining us this month is Anita of MyPapercraftWorld.
I do hope you'll pop along and leave some love on her blog as her creations
are simply fantastic and super elegant every time. 


THE PRIZES
The DT will choose a winner who will get a £20 gift voucher.
The DT choose a Top 3 who will each get 50 Loyalty Rewards Points 
added to their Uniko customer account.
We will do a random draw for all those who use A UNIKO stamp.
 This winner will get 150 Loyalty Reward Points added to their Uniko customer account.

You've got plenty of time to play along with this month's challenge.  
The deadline for submission is midnight (BST) on Friday 8th July (7.00pm EDT).


Thanks as always for calling by and I'll be back tomorrow morning with
the latest challenge information for Less is More.

Sarah

Sunday 19 June 2016

AAA Cards Challenge #67

Hello there friends, are you ready for another new challenge from
AAA Cards CAS Challenge
This one's a really fun idea especially if like me you go overboard
on cute little critters! I just can't resist those sets even if I've few people
to send them to these days!!!
So we'd like to see you use Googlie Eyes!
Here's my card which has already gone to my daughter's boyfriend to 
wish him luck with the A'Levels that they've been sitting this month!

I've used the Little Fella set from Paper Smooches along with a Frame die also 
from Paper Smooches. The 'Good Luck' is from Uniko: Simply Said and the 
'gritty spray' is from Stampin' Up: Need for Speed. The image is coloured with 
Promarkers and the grid stencil is My Favourite Things - Oh and Googlie Eyes 
from my stash of them!!!

I'd like to link this card up at Timeout Challenges where it's
'Masculine with optional twist of mixed media'

Not being a specialist in mixed media I'm not sure whether my
stencilling, googlie eyes and foam mounted frame qualify for the 
optional twist but it's certainly a masculine card!

I was having so much fun with this set from Paper Smooches that I couldn't
resist making another card too ...


this time with a watercolour background using Zig Clear Brush pens
and a splattering of white paint using the Gansai Tambi watercolours.
The sentiment 'Hey Dude' is from the Paper Smooches set and the 
'Happy Birthday' is from Uniko: Simply Said

I'd like to add this one to the CASology challenge where it's 
a masculine theme for this week and here in the UK it's Father's day 
so very best wishes to any Dad's out there who may be reading my blog!



As always we've got plenty more inspiration over on the main AAA Cards
blog HERE plus a super guest designer and one of our previous winners;
Patti of Stationery Styles. She's got some fantastic designs on her blog so
 I hope you'll pop along and leave her some love.



Our sponsor for this challenge is Stampendous


I hope you'll play along with this one and have some fun!
Thanks as always for calling by and I'll be back soon.
Sarah

Saturday 18 June 2016

Less is More #281

Morning LIMettes it's time for this week's challenge over at
Less is More
It's THEME week so we'd like to see some Faux Bleach for this one. 
Arrrgh! Actually I'm sure you'll all know what this is but there's plenty of ideas on
 You Tube and it's basically lifting the ink / pigment from a panel.

Here's my examples and first up I'm using the gorgeous Morning Glory
stamp generously provided by our sponsor for this month, 
Shery of STAMPlorations.
 

In fact  I should mention that we have 2 sponsors this month at Less is More
So if you've never visited the Dies to Die For then you are missing a trick 
because, amongst other things, they stock the popular Misti stamping tool. 
I use mine for practically every card which I purchased from Dies to Die For!



Firstly, I die-cut a banner die from Sizzix then inked it with my favourite
distress ink combos (reds, oranges and yellows) then stamped the image.
Using a wet paintbrush and dabbing away with a paper towel I removed 
most of the ink from the stem section of the flower leaving just the main
flower head in tact. I couldn't bear to remove that bit if I'm honest. To add a
little more faux bleach I flicked water with my paintbrush on to the panel 
and let it sit for 30 seconds before dabbing the excess up with the towel.


To finish a little glitter edging to the banner, a sentiment from Clearly Besotted:
Brushed Greetings II and some glitter gems from Happy Little Stampers.

I'd like to drop this one in at the Anything Goes with STAMPlorations Challenge

This time using a stencil to lift Distress Ink from the inky panel.


The stencil is one of my favourites and coincidentally it's by
My Favourite Things ... Concentric Circles. The inlaid die cut
Thanks is from WPlus9 and the scalloped die-cut border is by
Lawn Fawn with a few sequins from Lucy's Little Things to finish.

I'd like to link this one up at Happy Little Stampers: Anything Goes with dies


There are some wonderful tricks and techniques from my fellow teamies
over on the Less is More blog HERE so please pop along and pay them 
a visit and I hope you feel inspired to play along too.

Thanks as always for calling by and I'll be back tomorrow with
the latest challenge details for AAA Cards so see you then.


Sarah

Friday 17 June 2016

Uniko Challenge #33


Hi there friends, it's time for a new challenge over at 
Uniko

This month we've got a photo inspiration for you so I can't wait 
to see how you tackle this one. 

Sunglasses recommended for mine - it's almost Neon!


I started out using a pink and yellow Zig Clear brush marker on 
watercolour card then blending the 2 colours together with water to
create a coral / orange colour in between. Hopefully these reflect some
of the colours in the photo inspiration below. Next up using the previously
released Fun Flowers I randomly stamped them in Versamark ink before
heat embossing in Hero Arts White EP. 

Using the MFT Die-Namics Snowdrift dies I sliced my card panel in two, 
popped the painted panel in between then mounted the die-cut white panels 
on fun foam for added interest and dimenstion. The sentiment is a combination 
from Celebrate with Cake and All Occasion Sentiments #6


So here's the photo inspiration for you and please head across to the 
main blog HERE where there's links to my teamies blogs, who have been 
creating too with loads of yummy ideas for you, plus all the details you'll 
need about prizes and how to be one of our winners are there too.

We also have a fantastic guest designer joining us for this challenge.
Please pop along and visit Anita of My Papercraft World! You won't be
disappointed ... I am definitely swooning over her designs every time I visit.


Thanks as always for calling by my blog and hope you feel inspired
to join the challenge. I'll be back tomorrow morning with the latest
challenge info for Less is More too so hope you'll pop back then.

Sarah

Sunday 12 June 2016

AAA Cards - 2nd Birthday Prize Winners!

Hey there friends I've no card today ... well not yet anyway but this is 
a special post to announce my prize winner and feedback after the

2nd Birthday Blog Hop
at AAA Cards
you may even have spotted this photo around blogland 
So let's get to it ....
My question was: 
What's your go-to ink for stamping and why?
and I was overwhelmed and thrilled by all your responses and it really helped
 my own research and confirmed my suspicions - read on if you'd like to know more!
First up let's have our winner who was chosen using the good old fashioned
'names in a hat' (box) technique drawn by my son!
60 Comments, 60 Names and 60 seconds later ...
Dee Earnshaw (http://www.inlinkz.com/displayurl.php?id=28829593)
who said "My go to inks would be Tim Holtz distress inks - they are perfect for a whole range of
 different techniques from water coloring to sponging. LOVE THEM:)"
Congratulations Dee!
Please contact Jane at AAA Cards by email: aaacardchallenge@gmail.com
 for details on how to claim my prize which is a
£10 gift certificate from Buddly Crafts!


If you'd like to know more about my inky research here goes...
First up I'll tell you my own thoughts and experience
For black I always reach for Memento Tuxedo Black and
 Versafine Onyx or Ranger Archival Black when watercolouring.
(I'm a messy crafter so the Versafine smudges easily but is always crisp)
For Colours I've got most of the Memento dewdrops - for 
cheap and cheerful colours plus easy storage and since owning
a Misti they've come into their own as they repeat stamp brilliantly.
For techniques and watercolouring I LOVE Distress inks and again
cheap and cheerful mini cubes work for me.
My latest addiction though is the Altenew inks! Especially for 
layered stamped images. Cheap and cheerful in the cubes again and
what's more the Jet Black has now become my all time favourite black
although as their inks blend I'm thinking it won't be good for watercolours.
So what did you crafty experts think....
In first place for both colours and particularly Tuxedo black it's the good old Memento 
Dew Drops, followed closely by Versafine Onyx Black then Archival black by Ranger.
The next most popular inks were Distress Inks and Versamark being the only
embossing ink mentioned. Altenew got 3 votes but they are relatively new
with the following inks listed by number of votes ranging from 5 down to 1
Stampin' Up, PTI, Simon Says Stamp, Stazon, MFT Hybrid, Versamagic, 
Ranger Dye Inks & Hero Arts Shadow Inks.
(I have some of both of these last ones and my main issue is they 
stain my stamps terribly and I'm a bit fussy about keeping them clean!)
I hope you enjoyed the research and it proves useful and thanks to everyone
who played along in the challenge and blog hop.
Catch up with you all again soon and thanks for visiting me today.


Sarah

Saturday 11 June 2016

Uniko Reveal & Release - June 2016


Hi there friends it's time to reveal the super summer, tropical
 stamp sets to be released this month by
Uniko

If you missed the sneak peeks yesterday then just to keep you up to speed ...

It's a little different this month as following Bev's MEGA success at 
the Happy Stampers Festival in Port Sunlight she has been incredibly busy
 which means things have been a little delayed with posting out the DT stamp sets. 

So in order to give us a little more time to give these stamps the justice they deserve 
the DT reveal and blog hop posts are being delayed until Saturday 25th June 
BUT on the plus side, you guys can purchase them in store HERE from today!


If you are interested in seeing a sneaky peek of one card I've made using the
new sets then please head over to my Addicted to CAS post HERE. Without 
giving too much away the sets work brilliantly for this fortnight's challenge
so you may want to play along too!!!

For all the details please head across to the Uniko blog HERE 

Here we go and first up we have 'Paradise'

followed by Paradise leaves and an added bonus is that both sets team 
brilliantly with the Paradise: Hummingbird (previously released) 


I hope you feel the urge to go and check out the stamps at the Uniko blog
and don't forget to note the 25th June in your diaries when the full DT release
happens with the traditional blog hop!

In the meantime if you leave a comment on the Uniko blog before midnight
on 18th June 2016 you could be in with a chance of winning a £10 gift 
certificate to spend in the store.

Thanks as always for calling by and I hope you have a fun weekend.
Sarah

Addicted to CAS #90

Hello again friends and what a busy morning of posts I'm having and I hope you are
 keeping up. Now depending on Mr Blogger this could be my 2nd or 3rd post 
but either way I'm here to introduce the latest challenge at

Addicted to CAS

 Susan is our host for this one and she's chosen a fantastic, summer theme


It also happens to be the release day for the latest set of stamps from
Uniko which popped through my door just a few days ago so the 'full'
DT reveal, release and blog hop isn't until Saturday, 24th June although you
can purchase the sets HERE from today. 

Quite by chance the new sets are called Paradise and Paradise leaves and
in my imagination, Hawaii / Aloha brings visions of paradise to mind.
I'm not sure whether a Toucan is a native bird of Hawaii but I'd like you to
meet Bob the Toucan anyway!


The sentiments and images are all from the new stamp sets by Uniko
and the toucan is coloured using Zig Clear brush pens. I also used the pens
for my background sky with watered-down Wink of Stella to create a 
loose watercolour look which I kind of like. IRL there's lots of shimmer too!


I hope you feel inspired to play Aloha and there's plenty more inspiration
over on the main Addicted to CAS blog HERE by my fellow teamies plus
we have a super talented, cheery and happy guest designer joining us for this one.

Monika Reeck of Creative with Monika 
I'm sure you'll have come across Monika around blogland as she enters 
loads of challenges leaving lots of love and feedback as she goes!
Do pop along and take a look at her stunning cards and fun blog posts.

Last but not least our sponsor for this challenge is 

and our lucky winner will receive a $10 gift certificate to spend in the store.


Over to you crafty folk now and can't wait to see your versions of Aloha.

Thanks as always for stopping by and have a load of fun!

Sarah

Less is More #280


Morning LIMettes are you ready for the Less is More challenge?
It's that dreaded one ... ONE LAYER CARD!

Hopefully you won't find this one too bad though ... the theme is
Splatters


Once again using goodies from STAMPlorations and this time it's a
specially designed stencil featuring 'splatters' specifically for our challenge.
I decided to go spooky and grungy and although it's nowhere near
Halloween I decided the splatters work perfectly in gory black with spiders!


I started out by creating a watercolour wash with my Gansai Tambi watercolours 
in a slimey green colour! Followed by the stencils inked in Distress ink Black Soot.
The spiders and webs are from Clearly Besotted: Halloween Spirit with the 
sentiments also from Clearly Besotted: Boo To You. To finish I added glossy
accents to the spiders just to make them more scary for my nephews when they 
receive this one later in the year.

It's a Father's Day / For a Guy challenge at Simon Says Stamp: Wednesday Challenge
this week so as this card is for my 2 nephews and it's a pretty grungy masculine
card with not a pretty feature in sight I'm going to try my chances at SSS.

Simon Wednesday Challenge Blog

I'd also like to link up at the STAMPlorations: Anything Goes challenge.




This one is a little more cheery and bright and uses the same stencil
but in rainbow colours as a border. It's still one layer but I've followed 
the sketch from this week's CAS(E) This Sketch Challenge so I'd like to 
enter it there plus it's a 'sunshine' week at CASology so I'll pop over there too.
The sentiments and sun are from the WPlus9 set called Sending Sunshine.
I've added wink of stella plus glossy accents to the centre of my sun which
IRL glistens and sparkles but it's not obvious in the photo.

  


Hopefully you'll have visited the main Less is More blog and checked out
the fantastic splatter creations from my fellow teamies!

Thanks for calling in and go have fun with your splatters and make some mess!

I'll be back very soon with posts featuring the latest release from Uniko
and this fortnights challenge at Addicted To CAS so hope you'll pop back then!

Sarah