Forest Sympathy

I've been itching to play the Splitcoast Sketch Challenge SC300 ever since it was issued last week, and I finally got the chance to do so last night!! Wow, 300 weekly sketches--that's quite a milestone. It was perfect for a CAS sympathy card I'd been picturing in my mind for a while.

This is a SNEAK PEEK of a new clear stamp set scheduled to be released by Mark's Finest Papers next week. This time I am using A Walk in the Woods (along with the birch tree trunks from an older set, Stinky Situation). A Walk in the Woods features a variety of gorgeous tree images (I used one in the background stamping on the saffron panels) and a variety of comforting sentiments, including this "with Sympathy" sentiment. My inside sentiment reads "Peace be with you."

I just adore the birch trunks image! And so versatile--it can be used as a background, or, because it is so detailed, as a focal point, as I did here. I stamped them in Versamark on watercolor paper, covered with black embossing powder, and heat set. Then I had a lovely time watercoloring, the coloring method that makes me happiest!!

I also incorporated these challenges:

• Embellish Magazine: Background Stamping Color Challenge
• Stamptacular Sunday: Challenge #79, Layer It On, to use at least 5 layers
• Stamps R Us: Challenge #6, an All Nature Theme

I never got a chance to tell you about our geocaching adventures on Saturday. We had a blast!! We found two caches hidden in a nearby conservation area that we'd never even heard of. It is tucked in a residential area about a mile and a half away. I was amazed by the forest we walked through--nicely groomed, well-marked, wide forest paths through really tall, widely spaced pines and hardwoods. It was so peaceful!! It seemed like we were miles from civilization, yet in reality we were only a stone's throw from folks' backyards. We found our geocaches without too much trouble; the kids loved checking out the trinkets stashed in each one, exchanging swag from their personal collections for cool finds in the geocache; and we all enjoyed an easy hike. A restorative afternoon!

Thanks for dropping by to check out my little slice of happy!

Card Recipe:
Stamps: Mark's Finest Papers: A Walk in the Woods & Stinky Situation
Paper: SU basic black, SU so saffron, The Paper Company grey, Canson watercolor paper
Ink: Versamark, SU so saffron, Marvy LePlume II black marker (sentiment), Rubber Stampede black (for watercoloring)
Accessories: black embossing powder, heat tool, watercolor brush, dimensionals
Techniques: watercolor painting