Distressed Bears...

Hi again!! :)

Now don't worry- no bears were harmed in the making of these cards!! ;) I shouldn't try to be funny- I've never been much good at it!! :S ;) So, I'm back to show you the first cards made with my my massive candy, as promised yesterday :) I'm trying to make a few extras at the moment for some little gifts and my 'little box for selling' which has gradually become less and less interesting a selection this year as those that were in there have been bought while I've not been feeling up to making more to replace them. So, with that in mind, I decided I'd try to make at least two of most of the cards I make- either identical or at least similar in style and components used- which should almost double the number I make without requiring double my energy!! That's the theory anyway- we'll see how long it lasts!!

The starting point, last Thursday, with these cards was stamping several images to practise my Promarker technique and test a few different papers to use them on, which left me with four out of six images that were good enough to use- not bad considering my previous record of one out of six, I thought!! ;) The other deciding factors in how the cards came out were wanting to use my candy stash and wanting to use my newest crafty purchases- namely my Tim Holtz Paper Distresser, which I'd seen used around blogland and just had to try, and my latest Distress Inkpad in Antique Linen :) Oh, and at least one of the cards needed to be suitable for giving to a friend's 5yr old grandaughter!! So, on Saturday, off I went to play- and these are what I ended up with...

I used a Daisy and Dandelion Bear Stamp, backing papers from a D&D decoupage set and the Promarkers (in Sandstone, Rose Pink and Lilac), of course, which were all a (small!!) part of the candy :) I decided the ones on the Letraset came out best by far- think maybe I'm just getting a bit more used to the pens, too!! :) (I also tried some on matt photo paper as I read somewhere that might work but not for me!!) I distressed the edges of all the paper layers with the Tom Holtz tool ( love this so much!! :) ) and then went around everything with the Antique Linen ink pad which is a lovely colour with the Sandstone marker and the paper colours :) A bit of Crystal stickles on the flower and papers and a bit of Sakura Clear Glaze pen on the nose- I cannot make a card with an animal without glazing the nose, just can't!!) finished them off!! Simple, fairly quick and fun to do and , I think anyway, a rather nice end result!! :)

A couple of close-ups of the colouring and of the greeting and ribbon on one of the cards :) The 'Thanks' is from a Dovecraft mini-set I've had for years and the swirls are from the D&D sets, stamped in Antique Linen then over the top but slightly off (terrible attempt at English there!! ;) ) with Vintage Photo Inks for a shadowed effect. The ribbon is coloured with the Sandstone Promarker :)

I'd like to enter them, as a set and as one entry if that's okay, in a couple of challenges: Craftalicious Card Challenges- Cute :) and Crafty Catz- Distressing :)

Hopefully this making multiples thing will work as well in the future as it has so far (I made two of the Black, White and Red one, too, for my gift box- if I can part with it cos I do really love it!! ;) ) and I'll have more cards to give away or add to my other little box to sell for Ayme :)

Thanks for looking and reading!! :) Not sure what I'll be back with next- probably my Grandparent's Anniversary Card...I did make another Black, White and Red one with a slightly adapted version of the same sketch for an order but I'm not very happy with it so will have to see if I can muster up enough enthusiasm to post it!!

hugs,