Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge - Pet Corner

Hi Everyone! Thanks for stopping by today for the Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge where our theme this week is, Pet Corner. We're asking you to use your pet or "adopt one" as inspiration. For this challenge, I created a layout using my dog Nilla. She is a rescue dog that we got 9 years ago when she was a 1 year old pup. She was found in the desert starving and alone with several coyote bites all over her body. It took a while for her to gain weight and for her coat to fill in but she thrived very quickly after joining our family. You would think after living in those conditions she would be a dog with behavioral or emotional problems, but she is the sweetest dog you'd every meet. She was a gift to my daughter for her birthday but she has captured the hearts of the whole family! I hope you enjoy seeing the process I used to create the layout and that you join us for this challenge. Enjoy!

Nilla loves to sit in the yard and chase leaves in the winter. Yes, the picture above was taken in the Winter because I live in Arizona. The grass is green year round and the leaves don't fall from the trees until January. She also loves to chase butterflies so I included them in the layout. She has a leaf in her mouth and she's full of joy as she captures one of the leaves blowing in the wind. In the bottom picture she is sitting in the sun in our living room. It's her favorite place when the sun shines through our front window in the afternoon and I can always find her there sunbathing.

I begin by cutting a 6" x 8" piece of white chipboard and cover it with Dina Wakley White Gesso.

I add the Simon Says Stamp Ring Cluster Stencil to the top left and bottom right corner of the layout but before adding the bottom portion, I place the photos on the layout to see where I want the stenciling and mark it lightly with pencil marks.

Here you can see the pencil marks where my picture will be placed on the layout. I do this so I know where to keep the area blank.

I finish adding the bottom stenciling. I use Ranger Texture Paste because I want the stenciling to pick up the color of distress crayons and inks which I will be using to color that area.

For all the other areas of the layout I want crackle texture so I add Distress Crazing Collage Medium with a palette knife. This will create tiny cracks like those found in old china. I allow the crazing medium to air dry over night.

Here you can see the tiny crackles and texture from stenciling. This will give my background a fun and textured look.

I begin adding color to the background by going over the edges with a Vintage Photo Distress Crayon. I rub the pigment in with my finger tips and spray on water so I can easily move the pigment around.

I add Broken China Distress Crayon using the same process to blend it in.

Here, I add Spiced Marmalade pigment.

I spray on some Broken China and Spiced Marmalade Distress Ink and allow the colors to run down the background. I add one color at a time making sure that the first color is completely dry before adding the second color. You can speed up the drying time by using a heat tool.

To add flowers to my layout, I use some old fabric flowers from my stash and go over them with gesso so I can color them to coordinate with the colors of my layout.

The gesso painted flowers are dry and ready to be colored in coordinating hues for my layout.

I use Spiced Marmalade, Tumbled Glass, Mermaid Lagoon and Carved Pumpkin to color the flowers. When they are dry I gently spritz them with Vintage Photo Distress Spray to give them a vintage look.

Before adding all the elements to the background of the layout, I inked the edges with Ground Espresso Distress Ink. I then added the flowers that I colored to coordinate with the layout plus some others from my stash. I added some burlap ribbon to give the background added texture, framed the pictures on a brown matte and added some metal photo corners. Because Nilla loves to chase butterflies, I thought it would be nice to add some of those too. I added her name to the bottom of the layout using the Tim Holtz Block Talk Lowecase die set cut out of chipboard and "rusted" them with Prima Rust Effect Paste.

I hoped you enjoyed seeing the process I used to create the layout featuring our dog, Nilla. Please join us in all the fun and add your project to Simon Says Stamp's Monday Challenge Blog for your chance to win a $50 gift voucher to their amazing store.

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You can find all the following supplies I used to create this project at Simon Says Stamp:

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