Bear Necessities!

There is a wonderful new collection of dies that go by the collective name 'Winter Wonderland' which have just been released for all you crazy people who like to make your Christmas cards six months in advance.

I know it's a little early for the rest of us but I love this die so much that I couldn't resist sharing it with you. The die in question is a Bigz die called Loving Bear..... isn't that sweet?

Bigz dies mean BIG possibilities, especially when it comes to cutting a ridiculous range of materials. I attached an off-cut of natural calico to a piece of mount board and die-cut the bear and his snout.

 Next, I attached more calico to a piece of ivory card and die-cut the parts to make the scarf, the nose and the inside of the ears. I applied my Broken China and Shabby Shutters Distress Ink pads directly onto a craft mat and spritzed with clean water before dipping the parts of the scarf into the ink.

Next, I applied Old Paper Distress ink around the edges of the die-cuts. 

To add a little more texture I rolled out a pea sized blob of white chalky paint with my brayer before applying to the die-cuts. Always start off with a little paint, you can always add more if you need to.

I die-cut the eyes from black card and assembled the various bits & pieces before mounting onto a pink base card using adhesive foam pads. It's really simple but the effect is pretty cool. I do hope you share my enthusiasm for this die because I will probably be using it quite a bit between now and my 51st birthday, or Christmas as most of you call it!