Beside Me for As You See It Challenge #306

Our next As You See It Challenge is a theme challenge and the theme is At the Beach! I've done so many beachy or sea themed cards lately that I was stumped trying to come up with something new. I searched my stamp cupboard until the set, Beside Me, caught my eye, and when I took it out, I realized that I had not used it yet! It's time had come!

Here is the Challenge #306 Banner:

When my children were young, I could almost guarantee myself a day of relative ease by taking my kids to the seashore. They kept themselves totally amused, running back and forth between tide pools, fascinated by all the life they found in each different puddle. They collected shells, rocks and sea glass, and...there was NO fighting! I'm reliving those days with this card. It's depicting a dad taking his toddler son to show him the ocean for the first time. I can see him pointing out the waves, the gulls, and dangling him in the water to get his little feet wet.  Here's what I came up with:

• On a piece of FLUID 100 watercolour paper, using a water painter, I water coloured a background beach for my image. I started by deciding where my horizon would be and taping it off on the water side using painter's tape.
• Using Azure Afternoon ink, I added water from the Water Painter tool, then washed that on above the tape. I left some white areas for clouds. I dried it with the Heath Tool
• After removing the tape, you could add it to the sky area at the horizon, or you could just carefully add the water. I used Coastal Cabana, Pool Party, and then Lost Lagoon for depth. I dried it with the Heat Tool.
• Using Crumb Cake, I added the sandy beach at the bottom and dried that.
• Using the white Craft Ink refill, I used a Blender Pen to add white caps and clouds. These take forever to dry and I wanted them to have some 3D effect, so I put this background aside for a day to fully dry.
• In the meantime, I stamped the image from Beside Me on Basic White cardstock using Memento Tuxedo Black ink as well as the sentiment from the same set.
• I coloured in the toddler image carefully using the Azure Afternoon and Poppy Parade Stampin' Blends Combos and the SU1000 Stampin' Blends Marker.  The father image was coloured in using the Wild Wheat, Copper Clay, Gray Granite Stampin' Blends Combos and the Ivory Stampin' Blends Marker. I used the Pool Party and Lost Lagoon Stampin' Blends Combos to colour in the water between them and between their legs, and the Crumb Cake Stampin' Blends Combo to create the sand under their feet.
• I fussy cut the image carefully and mounted it with dimensionals onto the dry watercoloured background, stamped the gulls right onto the sky and added some Faux Sea Glass Shapes. These are now retired but I had so many left because I loved them and ordered too many.
• I die cut the sentiment using a banner from the Stylish Shapes dies and mounted it using dimensionals. 

The overall appearance is cool because of the focal image on dimensionals, which creates a 3D look.

You have until Aug. 31st to take advantage of this promotion. Shop online 24/7 at my Online Store in the Kits Collection section. There is a new kit to check out, too. It's the Festive Tags Kit! (Note: Don't forget to cash in your Bonus Days coupons before the end of August!)

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If you live in Canada, and don't have a Stampin' Up! demonstrator, I'd love to be yours. I can help you with ideas, get you catalogues and provide you with Stampin' Up products. You can leave a message in the comments or contact me using any of the methods listed in the right side bar at the top of the page. You can shop with me from anywhere in Canada by clicking on the SHOP NOW button in the top menu or clicking on any of products below from my Online Store.

Product List

Beside Me Cling Stamp Set (English) [160780] $36.00	Fluid 100 Watercolor Paper [149612] $12.25	Basic White 8 1/2" X 11" Thick Cardstock [159229] $12.25	Basic White 8 1/2" X 11" Cardstock [159276] $14.50	Azure Afternoon 8 1/2" X 11" Cardstock [161719] $13.75
Tuxedo Black Memento Ink Pad [132708] $9.00	Azure Afternoon Classic Stampin' Pad [161663] $12.25	Coastal Cabana Classic Stampin' Pad [147097] $12.25	Pool Party Classic Stampin' Pad [147107] $12.25	Lost Lagoon Classic Stampin' Pad [161678] $12.25
Crumb Cake Classic Stampin' Pad [147116] $12.25	Uninked Stampin’ Craft Pad & Whisper White Refill [147277] $14.50	Azure Afternoon Stampin’ Blends Combo Pack [161672] $13.75	Poppy Parade Stampin' Blends Combo Pack [154958] $13.75	Natural Tones Stampin’ Blends Collection [160940] $61.25
Wild Wheat Stampin’ Blends Combo Pack [161661] $13.75	Copper Clay Stampin’ Blends Combo Pack [161662] $13.75	Gray Granite Stampin' Blends Combo Pack [154886] $13.75	Bronze & Ivory Stampin' Blends Combo Pack [154922] $13.75	Crumb Cake Stampin' Blends Combo Pack [154882] $13.75
Pool Party Stampin' Blends Combo Pack [154894] $13.75	Lost Lagoon Stampin’ Blends Combo Pack [161680] $13.75	Water Painters [151298] $18.00	Blender Pens [102845] $18.00	Paper Snips [103579] $15.00
*Faux Sea Glass Shapes [158139] $11.00	Stylish Shapes Dies [159183] $41.00	Stampin' Cut & Emboss Machine [149653] $175.00	Mini Stampin' Dimensionals [144108] $6.00	Multipurpose Liquid Glue [110755] $7.50

* Retired Product: no longer sold by Stampin' Up!

Earthen Elegance Suite for New at SU

Welcome to our August NEW AT SU! Blog Hop! We love to share creative card ideas from Stampin' Up! with you. Today we have projects featuring all the suites in the new 2023/24 Stampin' Up! Annual Catalogue. The suite I chose to highlight is the Earthen Elegance. This suite was love at first sight for me because of the the colours, textures, and due to it being inspired by pottery. I love making pottery when I get a chance, especially throwing it on the wheel. Unfortunately, it's pretty expensive, so I don't get a chance very often, but there is an underlying craving that was partially satisfied by this Earthen Elegance Suite. It's so versatile, too. There are endless projects you can do. I decided to do a fun fold: a side step card:

On the left side of this side step card there is only one fold, as there would normally be, at 4 1/4". The card base of Copper Clay is partially slit so that the left side is 2 1/2" and the right side is 3". The right side is scored to the slit, from the front edge at 1", 1 7/8", 3 1/4" 4 3/4" and 6 5/8". When folding those score lines, you start at the back and fold down to make a mountain fold, then up to make a valley fold of the next score line, then down again at the next score line to make a mountain, then up again to make a valley, and finally down to make a final mountain. That will give you a configuration that looks like in the next photo:

(There is a panel glued to the back mountain, so that's why it looks so much higher.)

Take a close look at all the panels here:

• On the front of the left hand panel, I adhered a piece of Earthen Elegance DSP in Pretty Peacock, measuring 2 3/8" x 4 1/8". On top of that I added another design of the DSP in Copper Clay
• On the right side, on the furthest step back I added a panel of Basic White cardstock, embossed using the Painted Texture 3D embossing folder, measuring 2 13/16" x 4 1/8". It is backed with a Copper Clay panel measuring 2 7/8" x 4 3/8".
• On the front of the second step is a piece of the same Pretty Peacock pattern from the Earthen Elegance DSP measuring 1 1/4" x 2 7/8".
• On the front of the third step is a piece of the Copper Clay pattern measuring 7/8" x 2 7/8".
• I stamped 3 of the large vases, 1 each in Copper Clay, Pebbled Path, and Pretty Peacock. I stamped 2 of the smaller vases, 1 each in Copper Clay and Pretty Peacock. I also stamped the feathery grasses in Copper Clay and Pretty Peacock, and a small tree in Copper Clay. I die cut all of those with the coordinating dies from the Earthen Texture Dies.
• I stamped the sentiment in Pretty Peacock and die cut it using the smallest Deckled Rectangle die.
• I die cut a small vase from DSP, handles for it from Copper Clay cardstock, as well as macrame trim, a big palm leaf from the copper Brushed Metallic cardstock, other grasses from Basic White and Silver Foil.
• I assembled all the contents and decor on the vases and adhered them to the left front of the card and to the back and middle step on the right as shown in the photo. The sentiment goes on the middle of the front step as shown.

I hope you enjoyed this project made with the Earthen Elegance Suite available in the 2023/24  Stampin' Up! Annual Catalogue, pages 70 - 71.

Please take a moment to comment at the bottom of this post and let me know how you liked my project or ask me a question about the technique used. Don’t forget to scroll back up and keep hoppin’ with us! – Thank you!

Keep Creating!

Heather Cooper

Please contact your Stampin’ Up! demonstrator if you have any questions or to make a product purchase. If you do not have a demonstrator, I would be happy to answer any questions about products, or the techniques shown here. 

Here's the list of bloggers in our New At SU August Blog Hop to help you keep on track:   

Product List

Earthen Textures Cling Stamp Set (English) [161504] $36.00	Earthen Textures Bundle (English) [161514] $75.50	Earthen Elegance 12" X 12" (30.5 X 30.5 Cm) Designer Series Paper [161503] $17.00	Brushed Metallic Cardstock [153524] $21.00	Silver Foil 12" X 12" (30.5 X 30.5 Cm) Specialty Pack [156457] $13.75
Copper Clay 8 1/2" X 11" Cardstock [161721] $13.75	Basic White 8 1/2" X 11" Cardstock [159276] $14.50	Copper Clay Classic Stampin' Pad [161647] $12.25	Pebbled Path Classic Stampin' Pad [161648] $12.25	Pretty Peacock Classic Stampin’ Pad [150083] $12.25
Painted Texture 3 D Embossing Folder [154317] $13.75	Deckled Rectangles Dies [159173] $41.00	Earthen Textures Dies [161513] $48.00	Stampin' Cut & Emboss Machine [149653] $175.00	Multipurpose Liquid Glue [110755] $7.50
Stampin' Seal [152813] $11.00