Hey Winter! – Holiday Bear

Can you feel the chill in the air? It’s beginning to look (well feel) a lot like Christmas (or your preferred winter holiday)! If you know me, you know that I love mixing styles, patterns, and/or mediums in a single project. This cute holiday bear card using Sugar Pea Designs Hey Winter stamp and die is a great example! And let’s face it, it’s almost Thanksgiving and if you haven’t started on your holiday cards yet, here’s your nudge, ha.

This card was fairly simple to put together, so I challenge you to play with these ideas and create your own version. I’d love for you to tag me on IG so I can see what you create! Let’s get to it.

When I started, I did not know exactly where I was going with my design. I usually sketch my cards first, but today I felt like just going for it. I knew I wanted a gift to be a focal point. I knew I wanted to use the sentiment ‘I come bearing gifts’ – I can’t resist a good pun. And I knew I wanted to use my new MFT Snowfall Stencil. The rest came together organically!

Trees, Accessories, and Bears, oh my. On Neenah 110lb cardstock, I colored and die cut each stamp with a variety of Copic markers. I can’t recall the exact colors because I colored the pieces days ago during the Kathy Rac 11 Day Coloring Challenge, but I know I used a mix from the E color family for the bear. I used the dot technique to add texture to the bear’s fur and some R20 and RV23 for rosy cheeks. I finished the bears by adding black gel pen to the eyes to make them glossy and bright. I also used a craft knife to cut a slit in the largest bear’s arms for the gift to slide in. The trees and gift boxes were colored with green and blue markers, respectively, and I added white pen for extra detail. I did not end up using all the pieces I colored so I can make another card later.

Pro tip: Try bringing your critters and accessories to life by adding folds and shadows to mimic shape, depth, and creases. Also add white ink to mimic light or fine detail. See the folds and shadows in the green scarf? See the big bear’s cute neck fluff? We’re all a little fluffy around the holidays. I am not a master colorist, but I am learning something new each time I color. I am still looking for my favorite white gel pen and will update y’all if I complete my quest. Let me know if you have suggestions!

Snowy background & “gift”. For the first time, I used a new heavy weight cardstock that Jennifer McGuire recommended. I really like it! It is very heavy and smooth to the touch. It stands up to multimedia very well and makes an excellent card base. I will try watercoloring on it later. Here’s a link. To create the background, I cut an A2 panel and masked half off at the diagonal. I positioned the Snowfall stencil and spread a thin layer of Ranger Texture Paste over the stencil.

While the paste dried (it did not take long), I prepared another A2 panel. I covered it with the red and white striped pattern paper. I then cut long two thin strips with the Pretty Pink Posh Simple Strips die from red foiled paper to mimic gift ribbon and glued it to the panel. Instead of cutting the excess off, I wrapped it behind the panel, again to give the impression of a wrapped gift. And what’s a gift without a bow?! The Mama Elephant Dainty Bow die is so cute! I cut it from the same red foil cardstock as a finishing touch to my faux gift. Lastly, I stamped the sentiment with Catherine Pooler Deck the Halls ink and die cut out a sentiment strip so it mimicked a gift tag.

Final assembly: I backed the bear with fun foam for dimension and glued the trees behind to give the impression of an outdoor scene. I finally assembled everything together with liquid glue on a side folded card of my new heavyweight cardstock. I added some sparkle to the bear’s hat and the gift in its hands. And that’s it! I love how this turned out. What do you think?

If you liked this card or have any feedback, please let me know on here or on IG! If you’re inspired by my piece, please tag me so I can see what you create. Thanks & happy crafting!

.Tiffany.