The Great Outdoors in CAS

I have the privilege and honor of being the guest designer for Monday's Clean & Simple challenge at Splitcoast Stampers.  This simply means that my card will be linked with the challenge and that I got advance notice of the challenge topic.  I was thrilled when I got the challenge - it couldn't have been better for me - The Great Outdoors!

That can mean so many things and I am sure the gallery will be full of trees and beatuiful birds and butterflies but, being from Colorado and spending lots of time in our mountains, for me the Great Outdoors is all about the pine forests.

If you have never wandered through a pine forest - it is truly indescribable.  You might think of a pine tree as simply a prickly evergreen.  But when they are part of the forest, the light that filters through has a hazy green/yellow look and everything has a sparkle to it.  I have attempted to recreate this in my card.

These little scenes are amazingly easy to recreate.

Mask off the portion of the card that you want to leave white.  I like sticky notes with lines - it makes it very easy to keep your lines straight.

I don't like coloring directly on stamps - it takes too long - so I minimized the work.  I inked the tree completely with Old Olive.  Then I used a Chocolate marker down the trunk.  Then I "thumped" the tree with Always Artichoke - that's just randomly hitting the stamp with the marker, like playing drums. 

I stamped the tree once toward the front of the scene and, without reinking, once towards the back.  I repeated this once.

The I brayered (or you could sponge) Old Olive on the bottom of the scene, Soft Sky at the top and a touch of Daffodil in the middle.

Here's how the process looked:

Peel up the post-its and you have an amazing scene.

Instead of planning ahead, I did the scene and then went looking for a sentiment.  I know we are not near Father's Day, but when I saw this sentiment in a wonderful set by WPlus9 Design Studio, I knew it would be perfect!

A little linen thread, a simple button and I am happy!

• Stamps: Stampin' Up Lovely As A Tree, WPlus9 Woodgrain Silhouettes
• Inks: Stampin' Up Old Olive, Soft Sky, Daffodil Delight, Chocolate Chip pads; Always Artichoke, Chocolate Chip markers
• Paper: Confetti White
• Accessories: Stampin' Up Linen Thread, Bold Brights Buttons
• Challenges: Splitcoast Stampers Clean & Simple challenge: The Great Outdoors