Heroes ~ "From Scratch ~ Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge"

Hello everyone...

Welcome to this week's fabulous new challenge over on the Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge Blog. This week the challenge was suggested by our very talented team member, Anna-Karin and it's all to do with making something from scratch. So, how about making something project element, or something oh so very homemade. Maybe it could be an embellishment, a rosette, a flower or perhaps you could build something or craft a piece by starting with little more than simple paper. Whatever you make from scratch ~ we would love to see it and hope you will join us for this week's fun challenge!

Now, for me...I love making things from scratch and in particular, as some of you know I love creating my own little shadow boxes. So for this week, I did just that and made a shadow box in celebration of all the heroes in this world. As always, I really hope you love what I've made...

To begin with, I needed to create my own box ~ from scratch and which measures H:15, D:2 and W:14. I created the box using some plain old chipboard and cut all my pieces of chipboard to size. I glued all the pieces together using Glossy Accents which I find is a wonderful adhesive to make these boxes.

To strengthen the sides of the box, I added some tissue tape, which also makes a really nice decorative addition. To complete my shadowbox, I die cut a further piece of chipboard using the Sizzix Star Cluster die from Tim Holtz and attached this to the top of the box. My basic box shape is now complete.

Once all the glue holding the box together is dry, now comes the fun part...painting it, ageing it and adding all that depth and texture onto the frame. To begin with I gave the outside a layer of Antique Linen Distress Paint, before applying some Tumbled Glass and Pumice Stone paint over the top. Using black Archival Ink, I then stamped onto the frame with the Cracks Stamp. After a blast with the heat gun to make sure that the stamping wouldn't smudge, I added some Wendy Vecchi Embossing Paste through the Dot Fade Layering Stencil, applying it onto random areas of the outside frame of the box and allowing the paste to completely dry, before adding some more colours of Distress Paint over the top, using my finger to apply it.

So, I was now happy with the overall finish of the box and needed to work on the inside and for this, I used a piece of Manila cardstock and swooshed the card through some Tumbled Glass, Antique Bronze, Pumice Stone and Antique Linen Distress Stains that I had applied to my craft sheet and spritzed with water. The card picked up all the gorgeous colours of the stains and I even picked up some of the remaining stain to create the small dots of ink that you can see on the background.

After distressing the edges of the card, I stamped the Tim Holtz verse directly onto the inked background and stamped the pointy finger underneath and attached the inked card to the inside wall of my box.

Now, I just needed to fill the box and decorate the outside and for this, I used lots of glorious Tim Holtz Idea-Ology pieces. I began by attaching a Ring Fastener onto the roof section on the inside and added a jump ring to attach the Union Jack which is found in the Ephemera Pack.

I then used the Alpha Chips to spell out the word "HERO" and placed these inside the box, together with a pen nib and a wonderful vintage photo, again found in the Ephemera Pack and which I aged and distressed slightly.

To decorated the outside of the box, I used more Ephemera pieces and added two of the Arrow Adornments, which I aged using Treasure Gold Gilding Wax.

...and that, completes my Heroes shadowbox!

But there was one more thing that every hero needs, and that is there very own trophy. So, using Tim Holtz's Tarnished Trophies die, I set about cutting six pieces of chipboard, which I then stuck together to create a free standing trophy. I then covered a piece of Grungepaper with Metal Foil tape and die cut another two trophy shapes and applied Alcohol Ink to the surface before using a sander to create a scratchy, tarnished appearance. I stuck one of the alcohol inked sections to the back of the freestanding chipboard trophy and then for the front piece, I attached a Number Brad through a die cut star, which I'd coloured gold and attached it through the centre of the trophy before sticking it onto the main section.

To complete this trophy, I added some offcuts of ribbon and twine to the handles before attaching the finished trophy to a cotton spool which I painted with Walnut Stain Distress Paint, with some twine wrapped around the centre.

...and that is my finished shadowbox and trophy, fit for a hero!!!

I really hope you've enjoyed my photo tutorial and loved my interpretation of our theme. As always, if you're looking for some more great ideas and inspiration, then you need to look no further than the blog to see all the wonderful creations from my very talented Design Team members and every week, one lucky random participant has the chance to win a $50 gift voucher from Simon Says Stamp. Good luck....

Thank you so much for all your visits today, I really do appreciate them all and I'll see you all very soon!!

Bye for now...love Emma xx

Products used:

Tim Holtz Sizzix On The Edge Star Cluster Die

Sizzix Tim Holtz Tarnished Trophies Bigz Die

Tim Holtz Stampers Anonymous Rubber Stamp ~ Cracks

Tim Holtz Stampers Anonymous ~ Finger

Tim Holtz Stampers Anonymous Rubber Stamp ~ Little Things

Distress Paints ~ Tumbled Glass, Antique Linen, Pumice Stone and Walnut Stain

Distress Stains ~ Tumbled Glass, Antique Linen, Pumice Stone and Antiqued Bronze

Tim Holtz Layering Stencil ~ Dot Fade

Idea-Ology ~ Ring Fastener, Number Brads, Pen Nibs, Arrow Adornments, Alpha Chips, Ephemera Pack

Wendy Vecchi Embossing Paste ~ white

Glossy Accents

Treasure Gold Gilding Wax ~ Classic Gold

Ranger Inksssentials Manila Card

Metal Foil Tape

Tim Holtz Sanding Tool

Tim Holtz Gold Mixative Alcohol Ink, Pitch Black and Hazelnut

Grungepaper

Archival Ink ~ Black

Chipboard, Cotton Spool, Twine and Ribbon Offcuts from my own stash