Among Lions

Hello everyone! I hope you had a good weekend! It is Monday again and time for another Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge, this week our theme is lions and lambs. We are looking forward to seeing how you are inspired by animals this week (it doesn't have to be lions and lambs).

I knew exactly which photos to use for this theme, of meeting a new lion cub friend. This little guy was four months old and sleepy since it was a warm day. We had quite some time to sit with him. My favourite photo is the hand to paw one at the top. I made a mixed media background, aiming to create a lot of rough texture, reminiscent of the warm African soil. I made it into a tutorial. If you make a smaller version, the background fits great for art journaling and card making too.

I started out by die cutting quite many shapes using one of my new favourite Sizzix sets by Tim Holtz, Scribbles & Splats. I also used it in this post. Place a piece of wax paper between the die and the paper if you struggle to die cut the fine details.

Coat a 12 x 12 watercolour paper working one section at a time, placing the die cut shapes into the gesso and covering them with gesso too.

Paint with watered down Antique Linen and Pumice Stone Distress Paint. While the paint is still slightly wet, mist with Pumice Stone and Gathered Twigs Distress Spray Stain. Leave to dry.

Place the Wildflower stencil on the background and mist with Gathered Twigs. Continue with the Burlap stencil and Gathered Twigs and Pumice Stone.

Both the Mixed Media and the Shape Strips sets work great at stencils. I die cut them from Simon Says Stamp Masking paper.

Place your die cut stencils on the background and smear Ranger's white Texture Paste through them with a palette knife. The paste will pick up colour from the mist that is already on the background.

Dry brush Umber paint on the background, especially where the die cuts are, to highlight the shapes and add more texture. 

I stamped the background with a script stamp, which happens to have South African addresses, and a dot stamp, using Jet Black and Cobalt ink.

Finally, I couldn't help myself but to add some paint splatters too, this time with Chipped Sapphire paint.

The die cut pieces become a part of the background and add great texture. If you compare the look of the heart here, to the project I posted on Friday, you'll see two pretty different looks using the same die. I love the versatility of dies.

The title was stamped on a label die cut from manila cardstock. The cardstock had first been coloured with Distress Ink, by smearing Antique Linen, Frayed Burlap, Stormy Sky and Faded Jeans on my craft sheet, misting with water and pressing the paper into the ink.

I used the Handwritten Love set to die cut words for the layout. This set has words that are useful for many different themes.

The tickets were stamped on inky manila cardstock, cut out and distressed. They come from one of my favourite stamp sets, Odds and Ends.

I stamped some Hashtag words on more labels. The journaling is written behind the layout, since I needed lots of space.

This row of tiny hearts is so cute. Here you can see how the paste picks up colour from the background.

I hope you will join us in our animal inspired challenge this week, and as every week, one random participant wins a $50 gift voucher from Simon Says Stamp. 

Thank you so much for stopping by today!

Happy crafting!

Anna-Karin

Supplies:

Tim Holtz Sizzix SCRIBBLES AND SPLAT	Tim Holtz Sizzix MIXED MEDIA Thinlits	Tim Holtz Sizzix SHAPE STRIPS	Tim Holtz Sizzix HANDWRITTEN LOVE	Tim Holtz Sizzix LABELS Thinlits
Tim Holtz ODDS AND ENDS	Tim Holtz LIFE ADVENTURE	Tim Holtz ULTIMATE GRUNGE	Tim Holtz HASHTAGS	Tim Holtz WORN TEXT
Tim Holtz Stencil BURLAP	Tim Holtz Stencil WILDFLOWER	Ranger WATERCOLOR PAPER Inkssentials	Ranger Inkssentials 12 X 12 MANILA CARDSTOCK	Tim Holtz Core'dinations KRAFT CORE
Simon Says Stamp MASKING PAPER Label Sheets	Ranger Archival Ink COBALT	Ranger Archival Ink Pad JET BLACK	Tim Holtz DISTRESS INK STORMY SKY	Tim Holtz DISTRESS INK PAD FRAYED BURLAP
Tim Holtz DISTRESS INK PAD WALNUT STAIN	Tim Holtz DISTRESS INK PAD PUMICE STONE	Tim Holtz DISTRESS INK PAD GATHERED TWIGS	Tim Holtz DISTRESS INK FADED JEANS	Tim Holtz DISTRESS INK PAD ANTIQUE LINEN
Tim Holtz Distress Spray Stain GATHERED TWIGS	Tim Holtz Distress Spray Stain PUMICE STONE	Tim Holtz Distress Paint CHIPPED SAPPHIRE	Tim Holtz Distress Paint PUMICE STONE	Tim Holtz Distress Paint FRAYED BURLAP
Tim Holtz Distress Paint ANTIQUE LINEN	Dina Wakley Ranger UMBER Acrylic Paint	Ranger TEXTURE PASTE	Dina Wakley Ranger WHITE GESSO	Sizzix BIG SHOT MACHINE
Sizzix MAGNETIC PLATFORM	Ranger Inkssentials GLOSSY ACCENTS	Ranger Large 2 oz MISTER BOTTLE	Tim Holtz Tonic PAPER DISTRESSER	Ranger Inkssentials INK BLENDING TOOL
Tim Holtz Tonic CRAFT PICK	Ranger Inkssentials Non Stick CRAFT SHEET

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