Blast from the Past blog hop

This is one stop of a fantastic blog hop! If you didn't start on the Vva Las VegaStamps! blog page you might want to go there first.  If you comment on all the stops you will be entered to win an unmounted plate o' rubber of your choosing!  The list of all the blogs is at the bottom of the page!

Blast from the Past Comic Page

Blame it on Dickens and Gold Key comic books!

Each Blast from the Past Blog hop members was sent one of VLVS! older images, and challenged to use it.

When I received the Sourpuss stamp I definitely felt challenged.  I knew I wanted to evoke visions  of the Christmas Carol and the old Twilight Zone comics I used to read--those oddly philosophical and strangely terrifying stories.  I had a vision of my Sourpuss as the lead-in to one of those storytime gems from the past.

But that's all you get--the lead-in.  You'll have to come up with the rest of the story yourself. ...BWaaaaHAAhaaHAAA!

There were three components to creating this comic page--the stamped images, the printed comic panel/frame and the background.

The background sheet was started with a liberal spray of Colorwash and Dylusions inks onto a sheet of Kromecote cardstock.  

Then I went to my computer and created the comic page.  DeeDee, our team leader, had created a really cool banner for the hop, and it fit perfectly with my idea.  I printed the page, and cut away the bits I didn't want.

I used three tricks in stamping my images.  

First off, let me explain the function of a reverse stamp.  It's a blank piece of rubber.  You ink up the image you want reversed and stamp it on the rubber.  Then immediately stamp the rubber on the page to get your reversed image. Afterwards you need to clean the rubber with the appropriate stamp cleaner (Stazon cleaner for this project) so it will be blank the next time you want to use it.

I stamped both the Sourpuss and his reversed image onto ghostly green vellum and cut them out.  

The second trick was using the Sourpuss image to create a stencil.  I stamped the image onto a piece of scrap printer paper, and cut it out carefully. Then I threw the image away!  It was the outline I wanted!

After deciding on placement, I laid my makeshift stencil down, and used a Fantastix tool to rub jet black and timber brown stazon ink along one side of it.  Then I flipped it and placed it to create the second small shadow for the reverse image.

For my third trick, to make the background more dramatic, I stamped the flowery background image with Versamark clear ink and heat embossed with Ultra High Gloss Embossing powder. 

Both timber brown Stazon and Brilliance Moonlight White were rubbed around the embossed image to bring out the detail and make it look misty.

To put the pieces all together, I did a careful cut and peel of sections from the 2 sided adhesive Miracle sheet--first cutting to the shape of the printed comic page.  I used one of the cut-out panels to make the vellum shapes and word balloons sticky, leaving me with about 2/3 of the Miracle sheet left over for another project another day.  I peeled off the other side and stuck it all onto the background.

The last step was to add the large shadow.  I rubbed some of the timber brown Stazon onto one of the Fantastix coloring tools (they're essentially a stick with a pointed sponge tip, so you can use them like a pen) and colored in the shadow shape.  Then I added some of the Stazon Jet Black to the tool, and darkened the shadow to give it some features.

Since inquiring minds usually want to know, here are the supplies I used to create my comic page.

VLVS! stamps used: Sourpuss, Reverse Image Stamp, Flowery Background 

Other supplies:
Miracle Sheet 8.5 x 11
Kromecote Cardstock 8 1/2 x 11 
Ultra High Gloss Embossing Powder  
2 Pieces green Vellum paper 3x3 inches
Adirondack Colorwash-Meadow & Butterscotch
Dylusions Ink Spray-Lemon Zest
Printer paper 8.5 x 11 
Piece of scrap paper 3x3
Fantastix coloring tools
Stazon inkpad-Timber brown & Jetblack
Stazon ink cleaner
Brilliance Inkpad-Moonlight White
Versamark Inkpad-clear
Ink blending tool
Heat gun
Digital banner created by DeeDee Catron for this blog hop

I hope you've enjoyed my blog hop offering

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