Sunday, February 23, 2014

My Cards and Tags: The Grand Explorer

PASTE!  Does that word conjure images of elementary school and that kid you sat by who would lick the paste jar from time to time?  Hopefully not!  But it is this week's theme at the Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge blog.   And so I decided to go with modeling paste through stencils, which I then heat embossed with silver powder to give the backdrop of my project some 3D metallic rays.  And here he is: the man I call The Grand Explorer:



Let's start with those paste-rays.  I used modeling paste and brushed it heavily on top of Tim Holtz's "Rays" stencil.  I peeled the stencil off and saw that the paste was white...too white!  So I waited for it to dry, then I used a makeup sponge to apply clear embossing ink to the rays.  Then I shook on some silver embossing powder, like so:



I adore silver embossing powder because once you heat it up, it turns into gorgeous shimmery silver.  Once I had my metallic rays, I dabbed on some ink to color them teal, green and brown around all the silver parts.  With my backdrop ready, I built my scene on top.

The image of the winged man is from Tim Holtz's "Winged Things II" stamp set.  I stamped him on an old encyclopedia page and colored him with chalk and inks.  I also gave him an "Explore" flag.  I attached him with 3D dots to give him a little more dimension.



I made him a traveling cart out of an alarm clock image covered with tickets and other travel ephemera.  The wheels are made from some vintage buttons I had and I added some Prima flowers, too.



I finished off the top by stamping on some text (from Tim Holtz's Urban Grunge stamp set) and adding a row of pennant flags made from the Simon Says Stamp banner die.  I also tied on some fibers, yarn and ribbon from my overabundant stash.


After all of that, I'd say this guy is definitely ready to hit the road.  His adventurous life was made possible due in large part to these products, which you can get from Simon Says Stamp:




So are you feeling the love of paste this week?  I hope so!  I love to see your creations on the Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge Blog.  Upload your masterpieces and you could win $50 to the Simon Says Stamp store.  That would buy an awful lot of paste!

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