Polar Bear Punch Art

Hello!  I'm so sorry I have been a bit lax about getting my posts up.  With preparing for Thanksgiving and my Stamp Club Christmas Event, I got a bit overwhelmed.  A weekend trip to Branson, Missouri, for some Christmas shows and shopping capped off Thanksgiving weekend for me.  Returning home, I was full swing into Christmas decorating and finishing preparing for the Holiday Boxes, Bags & Tags Event here on December 5th.  The day was filled with a variety of projects (14 to be exact) to make your holidays bright and festive.  After 5 hours of stamping, we shared a pot-luck meal of holiday favorites.  It was delicious!  Following that event, I was very focused on making my own personal Christmas cards and projects.

Unfortunately, I didn't have all the great holiday items photographed to show you and every day seemed to fly by so quickly.  Soooo, I didn't get my posts up on time.  So Sorry!

Here is one of the lovely cards I have been working on to send out for Christmas.  This is a sweet punch art card using Winter Wonderland Specialty Designer Series Paper as the background for my cute little polar bear family.  Some torn edges, a little sponging and a touch of Dazzling Diamonds Glitter adhered with the Fine Tip Glue Pen makes my card sparkle.  I like the Fine Tip Glue Pen for details like this because I can get a nice thick line of glue or spread it out and have just a touch.

The sentiment is from the Wonderland stamp set.  Isn't it amazing what some circle and oval punches can create?

Please leave me a comment and let me know what you think of my little polar bear family.

The response I have been receiving from my polar bear card is incredible!  Here are the much requested directions for making this card.  I hope they are helpful!

POLAR BEARS

STAMP:  Wonderland

PAPER:  Whisper White, Basic Black, Winter Wonderland DSP

INK:  Soft Sky, Smoky Slate

TOOLS:  Punches – Word Window, Owl, 1” Circle, 1 ¾” Circle, 1 ¼” Circle, ½” Circle, Stamp-A-Ma-Jig

Mama Bear Head & Body – 1 ¾” Circle X 2

Baby Head – 1” Circle X2

Baby Body – 1 ¼” Circle X1

Mama Ears – ½” Circle X2

Baby Ears – Large circle from Owl Punch X4

Eyes – Smallest circles from Owl Punch X6

*Mama Nose – Large Oval cropped with 1” Circle X1

*Baby Nose – Word Window cropped with Word Window X2

Mama Nose Tip – Largest circle from Owl Punch X1

Baby Nose Tip – Medium circle from Owl Punch X2

*Crop noses attaching a scrap of paper to the punched shape and sliding it into the punch.  For mama bear, crop with 1” Circle.  For baby bears, crop with Word Window Punch.

OTHER:  Fine Tip Glue Pen, Dazzling Diamonds Glitter, Dimensionals, White Gel Pen, Sponges, Sponge Daubers

  

DIRECTIONS:

Sponge all bear parts LIGHTLY with Smoky Slate

Mark eyes with pencil and glue on smallest black circles with Fine Tip Glue Pen

Glue on nose and ears

Highlight nose tip with White Gel Pen

Adhere DSP to top half of card front.

Tear Whisper White CS to make ragged edge.  Use both pieces to create look of snow drifts.  Trim bottom to fit.  LIGHTLY sponge edges with Soft Sky, including sides and bottom, and add glitter to edges using Fine Tip Glue Pen.

Stamp sentiment on smaller piece of Whisper White CS snow drift in bottom right corner.

DO NOT PUT GLUE UNDER TOP EDGE OF LARGE SNOW DRIFT.  Glue larger piece of snow drift to base putting glue at bottom and slightly up outer edges leaving room at the top for the bear bodies to slide underneath. 

Glue smaller piece of snow drift over first piece at the bottom of card front.

Place Dimensionals under mama bear’s ears and nose.  POSITION MAMA BEAR FIRST.  Slide her body in behind her head under the edge of the torn snow drift before attaching head with Dimensionals.

Attach 1 Dimensional to each baby bear head – One bear on right side of head and one bear on left side of head.  THE DIMENSIONAL ATTACHES TO THE SNOW DRIFT, NOT MAMA BEAR’S FACE.  Angle baby bear heads in slightly.  Attach baby bear heads to card front overlapping mama bear’s face. 

Slide right baby bear’s body in behind his head and under the edge of the torn snow drift.

Winter Wonderland Mini Treat Bag

This is the birthday gift I made for my son.  He wanted arrows for his crossbow and I really didn't know what to get, so I decided to just give him some cash and he could choose what he wanted.  Well, now I had to think of a nice way to present the cash!  Then I saw a sample of a Mini Treat Bag made with the Antler Paper from the Winter Wonderland Designer Series Paper.  Bingo!  What a perfect presentation for a deer hunter!  So I got busy playing with the Mini Treat Bag Thinlits and the DSP and this is my finished product.  I am really pleased with how it turned out.

I really like the effect you get with the Corrugated Paper found on Page 148 of the Annual Catalog.  It is kind of lost there, so be sure to check it out, along with all the other unique paper offerings on Pages 148-149.

The ribbon is Early Espresso Seam Binding and the Black Baker's Twine is left over from last year's Halloween Paper Pumpkin.  The cute little "for you" is a die that comes with the Mini Treat Bag Thinlit, as well as the flagged-end piece under the oval center.  Of course, I used the Ovals Framelits Dies to highlight the die cut sentiment that I sponged with Soft Suede ink for extra effect.  Inside I just created a little pouch from the Corrugated Paper to hold the money and tied it shut.  I cut the edges with the retired Angled Tag Topper Punch.  The simple Happy Birthday comes from the Guy Greetings stamp set.  A little ink sponging on the Corrugated Paper adds depth and interest to the project.

It's a perfect simple and masculine presentation for cash or a gift card.  Please leave me a comment and let me know how you like it!

Witches' Night

This is my truly elegant Halloween card.  The stamped images all come from Witches' Night stamp set.  Using our new Basic Black Archival Ink Pad works beautifully with these Photopolymer stamps, although I found the best way to get a really crisp image with these stamps was to ink the stamp, then placing the stamp face up on the table, put your cardstock on the stamp image and rub firmly with your hand.  It worked better than pressing the stamp down onto the cardstock, which often left me with little gaps or a blurred image from pressing too hard.

The paper used was Very Vanilla cardstock, Black Glimmer Paper, Gold Glimmer Paper, and Winter Wonderland Specialty Designer Series Paper.  I used the Lots of Labels Framelits Dies to cut out the main shapes, a 3/4" Circle Punch for the "31", and the 7/8" Scallop Circle Punch for the tiny bit of Gold Glimmer Paper that shows around it.  The crow was fussy cut out and popped up on a Dimensional.  I also used Dimensionals under the Gold Glimmer Paper that was cut out with the Lots of Labels Framelits.

The only ribbon accent is the Very Vanilla 1 1/4" Subtle Stripes Satin Ribbon.  It is oh so gorgeous and elegant!  I found the original idea for this card online, but the creator didn't label it with her watermark, so now I don't know exactly who first created it.  I did change it up a bit, though.

Please leave me your comments about this card.  I love to hear from you!