Just a tad more vintagey than usual...

Hey!

I hope you're all having a lovely, relaxing weekend! Mine has been manic: trying to cram in all the things I'd told myself I do during my week off - ha!

During one of my many indulgent inky sessions this past week, I've been having more fun with my Uniko Studio stamps. I really wanted to play with the time-sheet image from Extra Time:

I think I was still be on a bit of a vintagey/distress inks phase when I made this...! I promise you I've created some more, pure white CAS creations since making this....mind you, never hurts to experiment I guess!

Anyways, back to the card: This card uses a really simple masking technique. I simply cut a few masks of this image and stamped away to create a background. Easy peasy when the image to mask is so easy to trim :)

To apply the ribbon, I used my craft knife to cut two slits either side of the focal point and threaded the ribbon with an aim to give this one layer-card a bit more depth.

Finally, I couldn't resist using Chompy! (my corner chomper) to round all four corners of the card to match the original shape of the time-sheet image. Now I see the pic of my card I wished I'd used the smaller corner setting now...hmmm....hindsight - it's a wonderful thing! *sigh*

Now if you fancy these stamps for yourself, then be sure to check out this new company: Uniko Studio and if you fancy the chance to grab some of these fabulous stamps for free, I recommend you check out the Uniko Studio blog *wink*

Right then - those books aren't going to mark themselves for Monday morning so I'm arming myself with my red pen and hiding for a couple of hours...!

Thank you so much for stopping by today - I love your visits!

Catch ya later!






Card Deets
{Thank You}
Stamps: Extra Time (Uniko Studio)
Ink: Antique Linen (Distress Inks)/Rich Cocoa (Memento)
Cardstock: Vintage Cream (Papertrey Ink)
Accessories: Dark Chocolate Twill Ribbon and Buttons (Papertrey Ink)

CAS-ual week = CAS-ual Fridays

Hey!

Woah, Wednesday already...where is this week flying by to?

I hope for those of you that celebrated it, you had a *lovely* Valentine's Day! When asked by my gorgeous geek what I wanted, I replied:

• No perfume (My scrummy showergel does the job just fine!)
  

• No flowers (I have hayfever....and come to think of it, no vases!)

• No chocolates (I'm on a diet!)

I simply requested his undivided attention for a whole evening. Our lives seem so busy at times; it's like we hardly have a moment to pause and live for the moment. We spent our time together well: he was sweet enough to make some surprise cake pops! I was totally gobsmacked! He even presented them in a box - such attention to detail!

***Edited to insert piccy before I scoff 'em!***

What a guy! :)

I can happily report that my week so far has included lots of inky time as well as scoffin' - I'm wishing my mojo was more on form, but time won't wait for a moody mojo so I'm inking regardless :)

Seeing as I'm having a pretty CAS-ual week, it seems only right playing along with current CAS-ual Fridays Challenge...


...and try my hand a spot of paper-piecing:

I find paper piecing pretty therapeutic - even the fiddly cutting keeps me happily occupied. I simply rooted through some of my scrap DP (admittedly there's not much of it as I try to face my hoarding of the stuff!) and pieced away!

I hope you're all having a fabby week so far! Stay tuned for tomorrow's CASE Study post - I'll warn you now that you'll wonder whose blog you're visiting once you see what I've whipped up - eek!

Thanks so much for stopping by today!

Catch ya later!






Card Deets
{Celebrating you on your special day}
Stamps: Celebrating You (The Craft's Meow)
Ink: Tuxedo Black (Memento Ink)
Cardstock: Kraft (Papertrey Ink)
Patterned Paper: Scarlet Jewel Distressed Dots, Sweet Blush Bitty Box Basics, Turning a New Leaf (Papertrey Ink)

Clock hands in disguise...

Hey!

I hope you're having a super weekend! It's a little less white around here compared to last weekend but still kinda chilly (getting the most from my mittens I guess!)

Thank you so much for the positive and overwhelming response to Uniko Studio! I just knew that you'd love those two sets and as a head's up for those across the pond: shipping info is now on the website for ya!

As you've probably guessed, I've been very inspired by both sets: inking 'em up like there's no tomorrow! Today I'm sharing a couple of cards that make the most from the smaller images in the sets.

First up, a spot of masking using the clock hand from Extra Time:

This card features the 'Happy Birthday' sentiment from Time partially inked to set it out at a right angle. I then inked up the circular pivot point of the clock hand in the lower corner and finally, I applied a post-it note vertically up from the 'Happy', inked up that clock hand in various colours and stamped. When I removed the post-it note, the hands turned into decorative arrows - ta dah!

More fun with a clock hand features on this next card:

Nope, there's not snowflakes or decorative mini-medallion stamp in the set Time, but a simple rotation of the decorative clock hand creates these cool patterns. I couldn't resist stamping them in grey - probably had something to do with the snow that was falling outside my window at the time :)

So there you have it: Clock hands disguised as decorative arrows and snowflakes/medallions! I hope you likey and if you do, be sure to keep up to date on the Uniko Studio Blog and Uniko Studio's Facebook Page and take a peeky at the store too of course!

Wishing you all a relaxing Sunday! I'm off to complete the chores I've been putting off, but the good news is that I have this week off to indulge in more inky time and catching up with everyone and everything in Blogland...yay!

Catch ya later!






Card Deets
{Happy Birthday}
Stamps: Sentiment from 'Time', Clock Hand from 'Extra Time' (Uniko Studio)
Cardstock: White and True Black (Papertrey Ink)
Ink: London Fog, Tuxedo Black (Memento)/Pure Poppy, Orange Zest, Simply Chartreuse, Aqua Mist, Plum Pudding (Papertrey Ink)

{Hello Friend}
Stamps: Sentiments and Clock Hand from 'Time' (Uniko Studio)
Ink: London Fog, Tuxedo Black (Memento)
Cardstock: White (Papertrey Ink)
Accessories: Linen and Canvas Impression Plate (Papertrey Ink)/Cuttlebug/Washi Tape (MT Tapes)/Gems (Zva)/Chompy! (Corner Chomper - We R Memory Keepers)

It's show and tell TIME! :)

Hey!

Happy Saturday! Happy weekend! Happy half-term (for me anyways!) AND...

A happy welcome to Uniko Studio!

Hooray! The day has finally arrived that Uniko Studio is here for real and can reveal to the world its first two stamp sets called Time and Extra Time! I can't wait to show you what inky adventures I've been on with these two sets.

These stamps take ink and stamp like a dream! They take both dye and pigment/chalk inks very well and give fabulous results. Rest assured that here on my blog, I'll never endorse anything doesn't meet my own high (and at times perfectionist!) inky standard.

So that's enough gushing on how fabulously well these beauties stamp; lemme show you what I've made!

For today's post I want to share projects that give you a good idea of the main images in these sets:

So in keeping with the theme of time, how about a clock?

OK, OK so that's not exactly the clock from the set, but it's actually the clock in my living room. Both my guy and I adore our huge timepiece (the pic doesn't show big it is but believe me, it's big...and heavy!) and as soon as I laid eyes on 'Time' and 'Extra Time' I just knew I had to re-create my living room :)

This would make a not only a super classy birthday card, but an invite too methinks.

Now check out how well this set has been designed: You can actually set this clock to *any* time you desire as the clock hands and fingers are separate stamps and easy to position due to the clear nature of 'em. Sweet! As you can see, I decided that 8 o'clock is party time at my place *wink*

I used a simple masking technique here: I stamped the clock on a post-it and cut it out to create a mask. Then I covered my stamped clock on my card before inking up my large Hero Arts stamp and stamping the background. It just adds a touch more interest to a CAS design and still reminds me of my living room :)

Next up a card that I originally stamped as a friendship card, but the more I look at that sentiment, the more I think this would make a lovely sympathy card too:

I simply inked up those different clocks with different colours to create the background and stamped the sentiment over the top. To finish I mounted the card onto some scrummy, polka-dot Pink Paislee paper I've been hoarding to tie in with the circular clock faces.

Now one stamp that I just *had* to ink up from this set was the cool cogs! My immediate thought was Father's Day (I realise it's a way off yet, but it's good to be prepared when it comes to cards for the guys)

Now to tie in with the whole idea of those cogs being the internal workings of an instrument, I decided to brave a vellum card-base to echo that kinda internal feeling. PTI Vellum works pretty well for this as it's very sturdy and I kinda like the extra dimension it adds.

And seeing as I've covered a card for the guys, lemme share one for the gals:

Doesn't get much girlie than this, right? :)

I couldn't resist inking up the three different sized geometric flower designs from 'Time' in Versamark on vellum, dusting each one with chalk and cutting a layering them to create a pretty embellishment.

I'm loving how versatile 'Time' and 'Extra Time' are proving to be; They can cater for just about any occasion! I hope you can check out the new Uniko Studio store and pop across to the Uniko Studio Blog and say hi. I know this new business would really, really appreciate your welcome :)

Be sure to check back here tomorrow when I'll be sharing some designs with these stamps that are a little more out-of-the-box...

Thank you so much for stopping by today!

Catch ya later!








Card Deets
{It's Party Time}
Stamps: Clock from 'Extra Time', Sentiment from 'Time' (Uniko Studio)/ Classic Fabric Design (Hero Arts)
Ink: Latte (amuse ink)/Tuxedo Black (Memento)
Cardstock: True Black, Vintage Cream (Papertrey Ink)


{In Good Times and Bad Times}
Stamps: Clocks from 'Time' and 'Extra Time', Sentiment from 'Time' (Uniko Studio)
Ink: Aqua Mist (Papertrey Ink)/Buttercup (amuse)/London Fog, Tuxedo Black (Memento)
Cardstock: White (Papertrey Ink)
Patterned Paper: News - Daily Junque Collection (Pink Paislee)

{Happy Father's Day}
Stamps: Cogs from 'Time' (Uniko Studio)/Sentiment - Daily Design Sentiments (Papertrey Ink)
Ink: London Fog, Tuxedo Black (Memento)
Cardstock: Vellum Cardstock (Papertrey Ink)
Patterned Paper: Basic White 6x6 Collection - Basic Grey

{Happy Birthday}
Stamps: Geometric Flowers x3 and sentiment from 'Time' (Uniko Studio)
Ink: Versamark/Tuxedo Black (Memento)
Cardstock: Pink (amuse card blank)/White (Papertrey Ink)
Accessories: Canvas and Linen Impression Plate (Papertrey Ink)/Cuttlebug/Jewelled Brad (Maya Road)

A new kid company in town...

Hey!

Happy Tuesday! (It's the final week of term here so I'm on countdown to the half term *wink*)

Sorry to disappoint but I've no card today. Instead, I'm sharing some news that I've wanted to shout from the rooftops for about a month now! It's been sooooo hard keeping quiet about it, but now I can say with pride that I'm going to be designing for a fabulous, new company: Uniko Studio

Uniko Studio officially opens Saturday 11th February (mark that date!) with the release of some super, new stamps!

Uniko Studio is owned by the lovely & talented Beverley Parish. I was beyond flattered & honoured when she emailed me to ask if I would join her on an inky adventure; it didn't take me long to say yes! :D

Now lemme just say that Beverley's design background combined with her own stamping passion has resulted in some seriously fabby stamps. These beauties are designed by a stamper for stampers. I can't wait to share with you some of the cards I've rustled up with 'em!

But in the meantime be sure to visit the Uniko Studio blog & bookmark the store for it's opening on Saturday!

Thank you for letting me spill the beans & I hope that like me, you're looking forward to checking out a new stamping company in town!

Catch ya later!