[Uniko Studio] April 2013 Release - Introducing Uniko Studio Designer Dies: Bright Butterflies

Hello Uniko friends! First off let me apologize for being late to the introduction parties! I'm in the middle of moving and packing things up and for some reasons I completely spaced on the date. So I'm playing catch up here! So forgive my tardiness...You should be hopping along from Nicki's blog. If not, you can start at Bev's blog to not make sure you don't miss out on all the inspiration. 

I hope you are enjoying the Sneak Peeks at the Uniko Studio Blog. If you were trying to guess what Sneak Peek Day 1 was all about, and you guessed dies, then you're right on the money. Isn't it exciting that Bev is introducing dies? I can think of many dies that I would want to complement my Uniko Stamp sets: doilies, gerberas, poinsettias just to name a few. What are you wishes? Leave them in the comments and I will pass them along to Bev.

Let's get started with showcasing our first Uniko Studio die. They complement the Bright Butterflies stamp set.

I'm choosing to showcase just the dies, because if anyone chose to just buy the dies,  they could get a lot of mileage out of these. (Ok i cheated and needed a sentiment, but you get my point.) I have a soft spot for butterflies, and I have to say that between all the Martha Stewart butterfly punches, other dies and the ones from Uniko that I own, I really have fallen in love with the Uniko ones. They are my fav from the perspective of shape, size and silhouette. They also but smoothly like butter into some pattern paper. I haven't tried thicker card stock yet, but I will let you know. And just to set the record straight, Bev didn't pay me to say this. This is just my honest opinion ;)


Stamps: (Bright Butterflies) Uniko Studio
Paper: (Paper Basics Card Stock - Dark Chocolate, Kraft) Papertrey Ink; (Woodgrain 01) Studio Calico
Ink: (Perfect Match Pigment Ink - Vintage Cream) Papertrey Ink; (Tim Holtz Distress Ink - Vintage Photo) Ranger
Embellishments: (Designer Die - Bright Butterfies) Uniko Studio; (Impression Plate - Linen & Canvas) Papertrey Ink

We have unfortunately someone at work who lost a family member, so I was in need of a sympathy card for a guy. So I tried to stick with a conservative color scheme and used the Bright Butterflies sentiment to convey a sympathy message.

I die-cut the butterflies out of woodgrain paper, created some texture on the card panel with my linen & canvas impression plate and mounted the butterflies along the spine onto the page. This way they add dimension to the card. Then a quick sentiment (from Bright Butterflies) to convey our sympathies. 



Hope you are loving these dies as much as I am. Bev is drawing mystery prizes along the way during the Introductory posts from April 6th - 10th, so leave us your comments. Don't forget to come back for our Release Day on April 11, where you can win the entire release!

In the meantime, check out what Stacey has in store for you. And if you need the entire blog hop list, check below. Otherwise, see you back tomorrow for another introductory post!

Here the whole list for easy navigation ...

• Uniko Studio Blog (Bev)
• Aimes
• Amber
• Erika
• Nicki
• Ren-Yi (you are here)
• Stacey
• GDT Taheera

Have a fabulous day.

A Merry Christmas To You

I haven't been too diligent with my crafting cards and haven't pulled out a Sweet Stop Sketch for a while. Can't believe they are #84. Where has the time gone?!

Another fun place to check in on are the weekly wee Memories Challenges. This week's theme is "Ribbons."

I had thought of all the fun things to do with ribbon, and immediately thought of Vera's awesome Ribbon Fish Tutorial. Isn't it amazing? It is still on my list of things to CASE. But I was not feeling the summery, fun vibe. At least not recently when the windy cold has been hitting my face and my fingers have that cold, numb feeling when leaving for work in the morning.

So I decided to do a ribbon wreath, in spirit of Christmas creeping up. I can't believe this weekend is already Second Advent! Half way there, right?


Stamps: (Musical Backgrounds,  Compliments of the Season, Around Christmastime) Waltzingmouse Stamps
Paper: (Brown Parcel Wrap) Scotch; (Paper Basics Card Stock - Kraft, True Black) Papertrey Ink; (Boxer) Basic Grey; (Basic Card Stock - Cream) Recollections
Ink: (Earth Elements - Ruby Red) Stamping Up!; (Momento - Tuxedo Black Green) Tsukineko
Embellishments: (Inkssentials - Glossy Accents) Ranger; Value Ribbon - Green (Michaels);

I took two twisty ties and created a shady-looking circle (it was not much of a circle) and wrapped and glued ribbon at strategy locations. The wreath should have a full, 3-D effect. The berries are stamped, cut, and glossied up.



This is my first time playing with Glossy Accents and I was surprised how long that thing requires to dry! In addition, I decided to stamp a background onto the Kraft-colored background, but decided that I could not let the wee, little bit of parcel paper go to waste, that was lying around due to my Wine Label project.

Interestingly, it tends to absorb ink and bleed more. But I like the un-even, vintage-like look. I guess more reason not to throw out my other brown parcel paper.



Well, then, hope you enjoyed this post. I'm off to go back to my sweat shop to create tags for my upcoming cookie swap.

Get Well Wishes

Have I mentioned how excited I am to start as a full-time Scrap our Stash DT Member? So much that I wanted to celebrate with you all and send out some candy to everyone that participates in both the August Flower challenge and the Pagerize This #1 challenge.

So, hurry off and go create something. If you need inspiration for the August Flower challenge, I suppose I could share something ;)



This flower was made using a tutorial posted by Nichole Heady's blog. I have totally fallen in love with these flowers and as a crochet-avid love how simple these are. The DMC floss is also perfect, since they are cheap and varied in color. These flower embellishments can be simple or decadent, depending on how their centers are chosen.

Stamps: Pic-Nic Patterns, Fancy Phrases (Waltzingmouse Stamps)
Paper: Paper Basics Card Stock - Kraft (Papertrey Ink)

Ink: Earth Elements - Chocolate Chip (Stamping Up!); Perfect Match Pigment Ink - Fresh Snow, Raspberry Fizz (Papertrey Ink)
Embellishments: Crystal Stickers Strip - White Pearls (Mark Richards); Vintage Buttons - White (Papertrey Ink); Embroidery Floss - ? (DMC); GellyRoll - Glaze Clear Opaque (Sakura)

So, now it's your turn. Remember, that if enter both the August Flower challenge and the Pagerize This #1 challenge, I will send you a little surprise participation candy. Just leave me a comment on this post and how to get in touch with you.

Feel Better Soon

My mom has a dear friend that just got out of surgery. Unfortunately they are not within driving distance and my mom, being the sweet person that she is, wanted to cheer her up. But Mom is in driving distance to her obsessive paper crafting daughter...surely, she has a stock-pile of hand-made "get well" cards, right? Or so one would think...

So, somewhere between this sketch in my head and my Mom's requirement of "fun & witty" to "make someone feel better," I brought out Elly, the Elephant, to play.

Elly was begging to be paper-pieced. Really. So, I had no choice.

Stamps: Elly & Friends (Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps), Asian Garden (Waltzingmouse Stamps)
Paper: Basic Card Stock - Cream (Recollections), Card Stock Scrap Pack - Light Blue  (Recollections), Embellishment Paper - Cosmopolitan (Making Memories) 
Ink: Earth Elements - Chocolate Chip (SU!), Pigment Ink - Black (Colorbox)
Embellishments: Vintage Buttons - Brown (Papertrey Ink), Hemp Cord (Darice), Sewing Thread - Brown (Sewing Basket), Border Punch - Apron Lace (Fiskars), Spool 'o Ribbon - Brown (Michael's)

Unfortunately, by the time I finished Elly on my blue background, I realized I could not add another layer. So, Elly is at a slight angle. And a fun triple stripe of ribbon to anchor her down and I was pretty much done. Tried to make this as mail-friendly as possible.