Back To The Beach - Again!

Hello!  Today I am sharing a few more beach-themed projects I worked on this week - with summer in full swing, and another oppressive heat wave upon us a return to the beach seemed appropriate!  For my projects this week I used images and a sentiment from the Stampin' Up! Beach Day stamp set (item 162797) and die cuts made using the co-ordinating Beach Day dies (item 162799).

Beach Day dies - 162799

For additional die cuts I used the following dies:

• Country Birdhouse (item 163400);

Country Birdhouse dies - 163400

• Country Flowers (item 163410);

Country Flowers dies - 163410

• Simply Zinnia (item 163479);

Simply Zinnia dies - 163479

• Delicate Forest (item 162679);

Delicate Forest dies - 162679

• Garden Meadow (item 162740);

Garden Meadow dies - 162740

• Beauty Of The Deep (item 161236);

Beauty Of The Deep dies - 161236

• Adventurous Sky (item 163446) - I just really like these clouds!;

Adventurous Sky dies - 163446

• Stylish Shapes (item 159183) - circles; and

Stylish Shapes dies - 159183

• Perennial Postage (item 162607);

Perennial Postage dies - 162607

Just a brief note regarding the basic tools and supplies I used to complete my projects this week:

• Paper Trimmer (item 152392) - for trimming paper and cardstock - can also be used for scoring;
• stylus and scoreboard (Simply Scored Scoring Tool - item 122334) - for scoring card fold lines - to ensure crisp folds I also burnish all folded scored lines using my Bone Folder (item 102300);
• Stampin' Cut & Emboss Machine (item 149653) - for all die cutting and embossing;
• Paper Snips Scissors (item 103579) - these sharp little scissors are great for trimming die cuts - sometimes you just need to shorten a trunk or separate a few leafy sprigs!  Of course they are also perfect for fussy cutting!;
• Take Your Pick Tool (item 144107) - the paper piercer, mini spatula, and tacky putty tips are a great help for picking up and placing small die cuts; and
• for the main adhesive, Multipurpose Liquid Glue (item 110755).  

I used Stazon Jet Black Ink (item 101406) to stamp the sentiment and all images that were coloured.  The beach umbrella, chair, and ball images were stamped on watercolour paper and watercoloured using Classic Stampin' Inks mixed with a little water and applied with a small paint brush.  The seagulls were stamped on Basic White Thick cardstock (item 159229) and coloured with Basic Gray ink (item 149165) that was mixed with a very little water and applied with a small paint brush.  

Two techniques I used this week:

1. For the sky/water/sand background panels I used Blending Brushes (item 153611) and Small Blending Brushes (item 160518) to apply the following inks to Basic White Thick cardstock (item 159229) panels: Misty Moonlight (item 153118) for the sky; Pool Party (item 147107) for the water; and Crumb Cake (item 147116) and a little Early Espresso (item 147114) for the sand.  I used a torn edged piece of copy paper to mask off the shoreline, and a trimmed strip of Stampin' Up! Masking Paper (item 155480) to mask off the straight horizon line for the water. 
2. For the red and white horizontal strips (there is definitely something "beachy" about red and white horizontal stripes!) I cut Basic White cardstock (item 159276) and Poppy Parade cardstock (item 119793) into 1/4" wide strips.  The Adhesive Sheets (item 152334) have adhesive on two sides:  before removing one of the backing sheets from one of the Adhesive Sheets I trimmed the Adhesive Sheet to the approximate sizes needed for my frame panel and die cut.  I laid the alternating cardstock strips onto the one exposed sticky side of the Adhesive Sheet - butting the cardstock strips up to each other.  After I had covered the Adhesive Sheet with the cardstock strips I embossed the cardstock strip panels using the Timber 3D Embossing Folder (item 156406) before die cutting and doing the final trimming of the cardstock strip frame panel.  For the cabana/beach house used on my first project I used the birdhouse die from the Country Birdhouse dies - trimming off both ends of the birdhouse base after die cutting.  I cut the circle opening in the embossed frame panel used on the second project using the largest circle die from the Stylish Shapes dies - the circle itself I used on the "Enjoy Today" card project.  Rather than peeling off the second backing sheet and using the adhesive on the back side of the Adhesive Sheet to secure the embossed frame panel and die cuts onto their respective projects - which you certainly could do of course! - I applied Multipurpose Liquid Glue to the second backing sheet to secure the frame panel and die cuts.

On with the projects!

The 8 3/4" x 4 1/2" x 7/8" deep wood panel used as the base for my first project is actually the compartmented wood box packaging for holding small wood shapes sold at the dollar store turned over!  I used Crumb Cake Ink Refill (item 121029), applied with a small sponge, to "paint" the panel - wanted it to look like a piece of wood picked up from the beach!  The inked background panel was trimmed to 8 1/2" x 4 3/16" and matted with an 8 5/8" x 4 5/16" piece of Basic Black cardstock (item 121045).

I used the following additional supplies to complete the project:

• Basic White Thick cardstock (item 159229) for the clouds (lightly shaded with Basic Gray ink - item 149165 - applied with one of the Small Blending Brushes); cabana decorative roof trim; one life preserver die cut (second cut from Poppy Parade cardstock and the two glued together so the Poppy Parade showed through the openings in the Basic White layer); two shells (shaded with Calypso Coral ink - item 147101 - and Crumb Cake ink - item 147116 - and lightly spritzed with water [Stampin' Spritzers - item 126185]); palm trees - trunks shaded with Crumb Cake ink (item 147116) and Early Espresso ink (item 147114), and leaves shaded with Old Olive ink (item 147090) and Mossy Meadow ink (item 147111); leafy sprig cut using the Delicate Forest dies, spindly "grasses" cut using the Simply Zinnia dies, grass clumps cut using the Beach Day dies, base grass cut using the grass border die from the Garden Meadow dies, and large bush cut using the coral die from the Beauty Of The Deep dies - all shaded with Old Olive and Mossy Meadow inks.  The spindly and base grass die cuts were also lightly spritzed with water (Stampin' Spritzers);
• Lemon Lime Twist cardstock (item 144245) for the two leafy clumps cut using the Country Flowers dies - shaded with Old Olive and Mossy Meadow inks;
• Smoky Slate cardstock (item 131202) for the cabana roof inset piece, and the fence cut using the life guard tower railing die from the Beach Day dies (shaded with Basic Gray ink); 
• Basic Black cardstock - cabana roof; 
• Crumb Cake cardstock (item 120953) for the sand castle - stamped using Early Espresso ink and shaded with Crumb Cake ink; 
• Basic Gray Ink Refill (item 149166) to "paint" the small wood anchor (probably one of the wood shapes that came in the wood box panel . . .); and
• one strand of Linen Thread (item 104199) for the anchor's bow.

For this project I used a slightly distressed Dollar Tree white plastic arched easel frame sized to accommodate a 4" x 6" photograph, with the glass removed.  The embossed cardstock strip frame panel was trimmed to fit the frame's 4" x 6" back opening before I die cut the circle opening.  The inked background panel was trimmed to fit behind the 3" diameter circle opening.  As with the previous project I used Basic White Thick cardstock (item 159229) for the cloud (lightly shaded with Basic Gray ink - item 149165); palm trees (Crumb Cake ink - item 147116 - and Early Espresso ink - item 147114 - to shade the trunks; Old Olive ink - item 147090 - and Mossy Meadow ink - item 147111 - to shade the leaves); and the spindly grass cut using the Simply Zinnia dies, the trimmed leafy sprigs cut using the Delicate Forest dies, and the base grass cut using the Garden Meadow dies (all shaded with Old Olive and Mossy Meadow inks) - the base grass was lightly spritzed with water (Stampin' Spritzers - item 126185).  The sand castle was stamped on Crumb Cake cardstock (item 120953) using Stazon Jet Black Ink and shaded with Crumb Cake ink.

Additional supplies used to complete this 4" square top-fold card:

• Crumb Cake cardstock (item 120953) for the card base, and sentiment banner (cut using the Perennial Postage dies);
• Basic White Thick cardstock (item 159229) for the 3 5/8" inside panel, and palm tree (trunk shaded with Crumb Cake ink - item 147116 - and Early Espresso ink - item 147114; and leaves shaded with Old Olive ink - item 147090 - and Mossy Meadow ink - item 147111); 
• Basic Black cardstock (item 121045) for the 3 3/4" square front and inside matting panels;
• Crumb Cake ink to shade the edges of the sentiment banner; and
• 3" diameter circle die from the Stylish Shapes dies to die cut section of inked background panel so it would line up with side of embossed cardstock strip circle - after gluing the palm tree to cover the straight edge of the inked background panel circle I trimmed the bottom edge of the trunk to correspond with the curve of the circle.

And finally . . .

Additional supplies used to complete this 5" x 5" top-fold card:

• Basic White Thick cardstock (item 159229) for the card base; embossed 4 3/4" square panel with 3" diameter circle opening; four birdhouse roof pieces (cut using the Country Birdhouse dies and used to create a frame on the embossed panel); clouds (cut using the Adventurous Sky dies and lightly shaded with Basic Gray ink - item 149165); stamped and die cut seagulls; three die cut palm trees (trunks shaded with Crumb Cake ink - item 147116 - and Early Espresso ink - item 147114; and leaves shaded with Old Olive ink - item 147090 - and Mossy Meadow ink - item 147111); and two grass clumps (shaded with Old Olive and Mossy Meadow inks, and lightly spritzed with water - Stampin' Spritzers - item 126185);
• Basic Black cardstock (item 121045) for the 4 7/8" square matting panel;
• Timber 3D Embossing Folder (item 156406) to emboss the Basic White Thick cardstock 4 3/4" square panel - after embossing I used the largest circle die from the Stylish Shapes dies to cut the window opening;
• Basic Black Stampin' Write Marker (item 162481) to add splatters to embossed panel by flicking the brush tip against the marker lid;
• Crumb Cake ink and Crumb Cake cardstock (item 120953) for the stamped and die cut sand castle - shaded with additional Crumb Cake ink;
• Pumpkin Pie ink (item 147086) to colour the beach chair;
• Daffodil Delight ink (item 147094) and Pool Party ink (item 147107) to colour the umbrella;
• Daffodil Delight ink and Granny Apple Green ink (item 147095) to colour the beach ball; and
• two Mini Stampin' Dimensionals (item 144108) - one behind the umbrella and one behind the leaves of the taller palm tree on the left side.

Thank you for visiting my blog!  I had a lot of fun going back to the beach with these projects!  

If you are interested in purchasing any of the available Stampin' Up! products I have used in my projects, and you live in Canada and do not have a Stampin' Up! demonstrator, please do not hesitate to visit my online store found on my website https://archiesatelier.stampinup.net/ at your convenience, or simply click under the "Shop With Me" tab on the right sidebar of my blog, which will take you directly to my website and online store.  I very much appreciate your business, and if you need any assistance please do not hesitate to contact me (lmccoyarchie@gmail.com) - I would be very pleased to be your demonstrator!  The digital version of the May 2024-April 2025 Annual Catalogue is available for you to access at your convenience on my website (https://archiesatelier.stampinup.net/).  When visiting my online store don't forget to check out all the products now available as Online Exclusives - including lots of exciting new products just introduced on July 3!  Just a reminder that the annual Stampin' Up! Bonus Days also started on July 3:   

There are two parts to Bonus Days:  During the Earning Period (July 3, 2024 - July 31, 2024) you will earn a $6.00 CDN coupon for every $60.00 CDN you spend (before shipping and taxes), and of course there is no limit as to the number of coupons you can earn!  Upon submission of a qualifying order Stampin' Up! will send you an email with the coupon code - if multiple coupons are earned on a single order the email to you from Stampin' Up! will include all the coupon codes.  All coupons are then redeemable on orders submitted during the Redemption Period (August 1, 2024-August 31, 2024) - so be sure to save those emails from Stampin' Up!

Have fun creating!

Laurel

*It has come to my attention that quite often email correspondence from me is delivered to the recipient's spam or junk mail folder - if you have corresponded with me I have replied so be sure to check your spam or junk mail folder!  Thank you!! 

Even those of us confined to the indoors still get the Rainy Day Blues!