Hero

Ever since discovering that Simon Says Stamp and Show's theme this week is "Hero", I've had that old 80s Bonnie Tyler song playing in my head. Aaargghhh. :-) I like a good, old-fashioned hero myself, so here's "The Professor"...

"Inside"

The basic construction is a book card. The background panels are made using the resist technique, and the "stamps" are a bit unusual since all the "stamping" was actually done with parts salvaged from an old tape dispenser!

"Background stamps are parts from an old ds tape dispenser"

There were some great cog & gear shapes and odd circles, and I also used some straight edges. Each part was pressed onto a clear versamark inkpad, stamped onto white card, then heat-embossed in white embossing powder. After embossing, the card is inked using Tumbled Glass and Milled Lavender distress inks with some Chipped Sapphire and Dusty Concord around the edges. You can see the background quite well on the front cover.

"Front cover"

The sentiment is stamped in black archival and heat-embossed in clear. The professor himself is stamped in black archival, then a paintbrush dipped in water used to "faux bleach"his face and the front of his shirt for some highlighting.

The balloon is stamped separately onto scrap white card and heat-embossed with blue glass embossing powder, then inked with Milled Lavender and Dusty Concord before carefully cutting out with scissors and craft knife, shaping, and mounting with Pinflair onto the front of the card for some added dimension. The struts are quite hard work to cut without breaking them - you need a good, sharp knife. An alternative method would be to stamp the balloon straight onto the front of the card, and just cut the balloon and basket to place over the top.

A few watch parts are added to the background with Matt Multi Medium (this stuff is great for adding tiny bits since it doesn't leave any glossy smears on your work!)

"Inside left panel"

I just love this Paper Artsy stamp set! I wanted the whole project to look really industrial, so have used a ribbon that resembles a silver chain for the binding, to hang the sign from (together with some metal eyelets from an old 1970s fabric set), and as a "road surface" under the tyres.

"The car"

Every self-respecting hero needs a car and a pretty heroine to scream and feint whenever trouble beckons (or kick ass, whatever takes your fancy :-).

"The car, dimensional view"

The car is stamped and heat-embossed a few times using black and blue glass embossing powders, then cut, shaped and decoupaged using Pinflair to separate the layers. The windscreen area is filled with glossy accents, and I found two hemispherical glass shapes that make fabulous 3d headlamps.

"Man and Machine"

 So this is the machine with which the Professor transports himself to that parallel dimension. It was stamped onto the background using black archival ink, then stamped again onto scrap card and various pieces cut out and decoupaged for extra dimension. Lengths of silver thread are used for the balloon struts and chains around the pulleys; lots of watch parts are added as gears and cogs; all the parts are stuck with matt multi medium. A gold aquamarker was used to add a little colour to parts of the machine.That chap really reminds me of my Dad - is that weird? lol! I've left him pale and mysterious like all the best heros should be :-)

"Inside right panel"

The back panel is fitted behind the book construction before gluing into the book card, then a length of clock spring is coiled amongst the book "pages". The top border is decorated with more of that chain-like ribbon and some washers and watch parts.

"Parallel World"

This "parallel world" features purple grass (eyelash ribbon) and a weird industrial landscape (Tim Holtz Townscape die cut with wire chimney emissons). The distress ink on the houses is graduated light to dark from right to left for shadowing, and some extra highlights added with white ink pen.

"Box"

I don't often blog this, but I usually make a box for the dimensional cards using the same cardstock. The top is decorated with card left over from the background sheet, and the box is lined with tissue paper stamped with matching stamps in black archival. A bit of matching ribbon finishes the whole thing off. I didn't make this card with anyone in mind, so have left the label blank for now.

Ingredients:

stamp set: Paper Artsy Hot Picks HP1106

Sizzix Tim Holtz On The Edge Townscape

parts from ds tape dispenser

versamark ink pad

embossing powders: white, black, blue glass, clear

archival ink: jet black

distress ink pads: Tumbled Glass, Chipped Sapphire, Milled Lavender, Dusty Concord

cardstock: purple 300gsm, white 160gsm, white 300gsm, silver holographic

Letraset Aquamarkers: gold, silver

2 glass hemispheres

watch parts & washers

eyelets from an old 1970s fabric set

ribbon: silver chain, purple eyelash

thin wire

silver thread

adhesives: glossy accents, Pinflair, PVA, matt multi-medium

Entered for the following challenges:
Simon Says Stamp and Show - Hero
Top Tip Tuesday - Recycle it (washers, watch parts & stamps from old ds tape dispenser)
Sweet Stamps - for the guys
Dream Valley - Something Old (washers, watch parts, stamps from old ds tape dispenser, inks), Something New (Paper Artsy stamps)
By The Cute & Girly - Boys / Men September Challenge