hey there, friend

hey there, friend, a photo by eatzycath on Flickr.

I love Popcorn the Bear stamps, but I must say that the images are a challenge to color.... especially the furry shades of brown, yellow and orange. 

This stamped image is actually a combination of 4 stamps, with some masking work done on the bear, to position the picture frame, table and teaset, and finally the lying dog just behind the bear - the positioning of the stamped images was made a little easier with the help of a stamp positioner - a nifty little gadget that is very useful especially when combining stamped images.

Coloring was done using Caran D'ache NeoColor II wax-based water-soluble pastels - love the vivid colors of the pigments.

* Bear with tray and dog with flowers : Crafter's Companion - Popcorn the Bear - Floral Delight stamp set

* table with tea set : Crafter's Companion - Mulberry Wood - Tea for Two stamp set

* Roses and leaves : die-cuts from CheeryLynn Designs - Large and Medium Rose and Stacker Flower 1 Leaf designs

* 'hey there friend' sentiment : Paper Smooches Sentiment Sampler stamp set

Card was submitted for Crafter's Companion Challenge - August Challenge: Animals

a beary birthday

a beary birthday, a photo by eatzycath on Flickr.

I love the incredibly cute range of Popcorn the Bear stamps from Crafter's Companion - why? because the stamps are big (around 4 to 5 inches), so they fill up a card perfectly and the size makes it so easy to color .....

This is the first of my Popcorn the Bear cards - the cute bear with balloons come from the Smile stamp set.

* the bear stamp was stamped twice on white cardstock, and then stamped again on a piece of white paper

* the stamped piece on the thinner white paper was then cut out, and used as a mask over the stamped piece on the cardstock

* the background was then stamped using Hero Arts - Newspaper Background wood-mounted stamp (one of my favourite background stamps)

* the whole image was then colored on the cardstock with the stamped newspaper-background

* only the balloons were colored on the second image stamped on the white cardstock - then cut out and affixed over the main image with foam tape

* edges of the white cardstock was then distressed and inked before affixing to the blue polka-dotted pattern paper (also inked around the edges) and then affixed to the orange card base

* birthday sentiment was stamped on orange cardstock, cut and affixed - final touch, a stripy ribbon in matching colors!