The Stamp Review Crew: By the Tide

Welcome to another Stamp Crew Review Blog Hop!  We share our take on a selected stamp set every first and third Monday.  This time we are hopping along with one of my favorite masculine sets, By the Tide.  Originally in the 2013 Spring Catalog, I immediately fell in love with this versatile set.  With a change of colors, you can go from a Northeast lobster card to a warm water snorkeling card.

If you are hopping around in a circle, you have just come from Ann's blog.  Ann always has such gorgeous, elegant and sophisticated projects!   Myself, I've used this set extensively in the past, so again the challenge is to come up with a new project.  I was prepping for the recent interactive card class, so I folded this set in for a shaker card.  I stayed mostly with the 2013-14 In Colors for a soft, Caribbean look.

I used a layout by the fabulous Amy O'Neill as the starting point of my card.  Using the Gorgeous Grunge splatter image to stamp Baked Brown Sugar card stock, followed by the Fringe Scissors, it is a quick and easy way to make fun sand confetti.  Add a few sequins for sparkle.  I love how both the sequins and the background embossing are reminiscent of air bubbles.

I reworked the second card a bit, brayering the background instead of sponging.  Which one do you like better?

Stamps: By the Tide, Four You, Gorgeous Grunge, Paper Pumpkin Hey There kit; Paper: Coastal Cabana, Crisp Cantaloupe, Baked Brown Sugar, Whisper White, Fresh Prints DSP; Ink: Coastal Cabana, Crisp Cantaloupe, Daffodil Delight, Baked Brown Sugar, Black Stazon; Accessories: Gold baker's twine, Window Sheet, Banner punch, Boutique Details, Fringe Scissors, Aquapainter, Sponges, Brayer, Perfect Polka Dots EF, On Film framelits, Big Shot, Dimensionals.

It is always fun to create a 3-D item.  How about a nautical-themed favor or little gift for Dad?  Maybe even a pillow gift for a Northeast trip this summer.  Here is a little treat pouch, filled with a bag of almond nuts.

The smallest Envelope Liners framelit resembled a suitcase, so I started there.  To create, run both ends of a 3 x 8-3/4" piece of card stock through the Big Shot with the smallest Envelope Liners framelit as shown below.

Tips for coloring and cutting the lobster:

• Stamp the lobster with Cajun Craze classic ink, followed immediately by Clear embossing powder, in order to keep the outline from bleeding during watercoloring.
• Watercolor with Cherry Cobbler classic ink and an Aquapainter for perfect shading.
• Make sure you have sharp Paper Snips (#103579) for careful and precise trimming.
• After trimming, make sure to color the edges with an Aquapainter for a polished look.

Stamps: By the Tide, Teeny Tiny Wishes; Paper: Cherry Cobbler, Crumb Cake, Early Espresso, Very Vanilla; Ink: Night of Navy, Cajun Craze, Cherry Cobbler; Accessories: Natural Chevron ribbon, Linen thread, Silver Mini brads, Clear embossing powder, Large Oval punch, Word Window punch, Modern Label punch, Aquapainter, Square Lattice EF (retiring), Envelope Liners framelits, Big Shot.

A side note - our Stamp Review Crew group was chosen to create a display board for the Stampin' Up! Convention in July.  I'm so excited!  I'm not sure how much I'll be able to help, as we are traveling in June, but I know these ladies & gentleman will be great!

Now make sure you check out the next stop to see what our fearless leader and fabulous stamper Tanya at Tinkerin in Ink put together with the set.  If you get lost along the way, visit the Stamp Crew Review landing page for the entire hop list.