Da Bear and a Couple of Boats

I think bears are making a comeback, and I couldn't be happier cuz I love 'em! Isn't this the cutest little guy, a digital image I "picked up" this past weekend at the Doodle Palace on Etsy. I don't even know how I got there ... saw something somewhere. You know how the blog surfing goes.

OK. About my cards. You can't even see how cute this top one is, because the photo doesn't reveal that I printed it twice, cut the bear out and attached him to the card with 1/16-inch foam tape. That little bit of dimension adds so much. I colored the image with Prismacolor pencils and Gamsol odorless mineral spirits. I colored around the edges of the bear that is underneath, too, so that from an angle, you don't see a brown bear plopped on top of a white bear. As for the round metal tag (also mounted with foam tape), it wouldn't be there had I not totally screwed up the sentiment when stamping it in the corner. It's OK, because I like the little ribbon accent that wouldn't be there otherwise. I'm thinking those brads that match the dots on the paper are kinda cute, too.

Materials & Tools: White Daisy and Tulip cardstock; Animal Cookies paper packet; Clover Meadow ink pad; Doodle Palace digital image; Sweet Baby stamp set; Round metal-rimmed tag; Topiary, Sunflower, and Tulip mini brads; Cranberry gingham ribbon; Prismacolor colored pencils; Gamsol odorless mineral spirits; Blending stumps; 3M foam mounting tape.

This second image is a cute one, too, although I'm not crazy about my coloring (Prismacolor pencils again) on this one. I do love the Animal Cookies paper. It's fun to make a baby card that isn't pastel, and it's great paper for kids' birthdays, too. What the camera isn't showing you on this one is the fact that the image is adhered to the card with foam tape. Not only does it give the card a little more dimension, but one doesn't have to deal with the lumpy corner created by the spiral clip.

Materials & Tools: White Daisy, Dutch Blue, and Clover Meadow cardstock; Animal Cookies paper packet; Clover Meadow ink pad; Doodle Palace digital image; Sweet Baby stamp set; Green spiral clip; Ribbon from Wal-Mart; Prismacolor Colored Pencils; Gamsol odorless mineral spirits; Blending stumps; 3M foam mounting tape.

Hi, friends! How was your Monday? Mine was pretty good, particularly in light of the fact that we had a day off. Tonight, Bjorn and Mathias are staying with us. From the greeting we received (as in two little boys flying into our arms), I'd say they missed us as much as we missed them. Currently, however, Mathias is mad at me - the bedtime battle thing ... and he's losing. After dinner, we went to the park where they played on the playground and threw rocks in the river, a favorite activity. Grandpa had his fishing rod with, too, and cast a few lines but didn't get any bites. Bjorn appears to have it all figured out, telling Marv, "Grandpa, you don't catch fish every time you go fishing." On that bit of wisdom, I'll sign off for tonight. I hope your day was a good one and tomorrow is even better. Later ...