Handmade Dancing Teddy Bear Cards and Royalty in the House

Peek at One of My Handmade Dancing Teddy Bear Cards

Ever have one of those occasions when someone you know has done something really special and you were dancing with joy for them, but just couldn't find the right card to express that joy. I've had a few times like that where I was ecstatic for someone and was doing a little jig of celebration in their honor. I wanted to send a special card that would let them know how happy I was and to spotlight their event, but had difficulties finding just the right card. I took that difficulty as a challenge to make a dancing with joy card fit for any happy occasion.

Looking through my stamps I found the perfect stamp for my handmade card. It was a cute teddy bear dancing to music and he looked like he was dancing for joy to me. I decided to make him the focal point of my card and have him dancing in a spotlight. In fact, he was so cute I decided to make two cards using him. Both cards are from the same sketch, just slightly different in coloration. The architecture and the imagery of the cards make them very versatile so that they are fit for boys and girls of all ages and for a variety of happy occasions.

I kept looking at my stamp and thinking to myself: "You know...you have already created several different cards using teddy bear images". I thought about my other cards featuring teddy bears. There's my Teddy Bear and Roses Birthday Card. And my three I Love You Teddy Bear Cards; one teddy bear card in teal, one teddy bear card in pink, and one teddy bear card in yellow. Oh, and then there's my Lace Embellished Teddy Bear Card. And finally, my Sleeping Teddy Bear Baby Card. That's quite a few teddy bear cards, but the little dancing teddy is so cute and just right for my card idea that I said what the heck...here comes another couple of teddy bear cards.

Skip photography and challenge list and go directly to the detailed handmade card information.

The World Around Me

Speaking of dancing with joy, both of my cats are doing that right now. They follow me everywhere including in the computer room when I work on my computer. Over the past year they have been relaxing on a bunch of file boxes covered with folded mattress pads and a small micro fleece blanket. They have been sharing this space with each other and an older spare computer.

My Cats Bingo and Gracie on Their Original Make-Shift Perch

I shared this picture on my blog when I first set up this space for them so that they could keep me company in comfort. Well, look at them now!

My Cats Bingo and Gracie Enjoying Their New Window Perch

We call this the throne and Bingo and Gracie now think they are royalty. By chance we found the industrial 2 drawer file cabinet at our local thrift shop and brought it home. We sanded it down, primed it and painted it. My husband made a wood top for it that sits down over the top of the file cabinet and has a recess in the top. We went to JoAnn's and bought a piece of one inch cushy, washable foam to make a cushion to fit in the recessed top. As luck would have it, we stumbled across a dog blanket that has a faux suede on one side and a shag type fabric on the other side and it was washable. I sewed the dog blanket into a tube and slid the foam inside leaving both ends open. Tucking the open ends underneath the entire cushion gives a little hump at each end that Bingo and Gracie use as pillows. Fits perfectly into the recessed top and when it gets dirty all I have to do is pull the foam out and wash both pieces. There is quite a bit more space for the cats than what they were previously dealing with and it's much softer (not to mention nicer looking than stacked file boxes). I'm happy, they're happy and you can't beat that with a stick!

My Love of Papercrafting Challenges

I follow many challenge blogs and my handmade dancing bear cards reflect the following challenges:

• Southern Girls Challenge is about the boys. My handmade dancing teddy bear cards are definitely boy friendly.
• Simon Says Stamp Challenge is for a clean and simple creation. My handmade dancing bear cards are CAS.
• Truly Scrumptious is an anything goes challenge this week and I'm using my handmade dancing teddy bear cards as the anything.
• Crafty Creations Challenge is for a male birthday card. I think my handmade dancing bear cards are a great birthday card because we dance with joy in celebration of someone making it through another year in their life.
• Whimsy Stamps Challenge is an anything goes challenge and I've elected to use my handmade dancing teddy bear cards for this challenge.
• Shelly's Images challenged "show us what you got" and I've got a dancing bear on my handmade cards.
• Craft Your Days Away challenged "all creatures large and small" and my handmade dancing teddy bear cards meet this criterion.
• CropStop challenged to create a masculine birthday card and my dancing bear cards are for special celebrations and a birthday is definitely a cause for celebration.
• Stampin' with the Dragon challenge is "birthdays and boys". My handmade dancing teddy bear cards celebrate all manners of occasions including birthdays.

Handcrafting My Handmade Dancing Teddy Bear Cards

Card Statistics

• Final Card Size: 5.5" tall x 4.25" wide
• Tools: bear stamp, musical notes stamp, scoring board, cutting board, scissors, ruler, blending stumps, sponge pieces, computer
• Materials: cardstock, scrapbook paper, colored pencils, gamsol, spray sealer, inks, cover stock, adhesive, artists tape, painters tape, white gel pen
• Cards can be Purchased in My Polished Moxie Etsy Shop: Hatch Marked Dancing Bear Card and Crossed Petal Dancing Bear Card

Front View of My Handmade Dancing Teddy Bear Cards

Front - My First Handmade Dancing Teddy Bear Card

Front - My Second Handmade Dancing Bear Card

To start my cards I created the card based from black cardstock that I scored along the top to form a tent card that opens vertically from the bottom. I layered the top with a patterned paper matted with butterscotch cardstock.

Creating the Spotlight Background for My Card Image

For the focal point of my card I wanted my dancing bear to be in a spotlight. The first thing I did was determine what size I wanted my image panel to be and I cut a piece of white cardstock to that size. I stamped my dancing bear on it and on a piece of artists tape. I fussy cut my bear out of the artists tape and used it to mask the bear on my image panel so that I could create my background.  I burnished the mask well so that I wouldn't get ink leeching underneath it when I sponged the background.

Once my bear was masked I created a spotlight stencil from another piece of white cardstock the same size as my image panel. 

Pieces That Make Up My Spotlight Stencils

The image above shows the spotlight stencil. I hand drew the spotlight so that it covered my bear. You'll see in the next few pictures what I mean. I cut the stencil so that it was in two pieces: 1) the spotlight comprised of areas 1 and 2; and 2) the outer background orange area 3.

I started with the orange outer background area first and placed it on my masked image panel so that my bear showed in the spotlight opening. See the picture below.

Placement for Background Area 3 Stencil on Image Panel

With my background area 3 stencil held firmly in place I sponged in my spotlight background color. To hold the stencil in place I used painters tape.

Sponging to Create Spotlight Background

Of course the above picture is just a representation of what it's supposed to look like. I had ink on my masked bear too because I inked all around him. I took my background area 3 stencil off my image panel and allowed my spotlight ink to dry.

Once the spotlight ink was dry, I placed my spotlight stencil (areas 1 and 2) over my bear and inked spotlight. It acts as a mask for the inked spotlight area I have just created.

Placement of the Spotlight Stencil on Image Panel

I trimmed a tiny bit off the two sides and the bottom of the stencil so that there was a small amount of my inked spotlight showing. This is so that I wouldn't get a white halo around my spotlight. Holding my stencil firmly in place (I used painters tape) I inked in my background around the spotlight.

Sponging to Create Outer Background

Again, the above picture is a representation. I removed my stencil and allowed my inked background to dry. Once the background ink was completely dry, I added a few details to my spotlight. The first thing I did was to take my spotlight stencil and cut area 2 away from area 1. Next I placed the background area 3 stencil back on my image panel along with the area 2 stencil.

Placement of Stencils 2 and 3 to Add Details to Spotlight

Holding the stencils firmly in place (I used painters tape again), I sponged in a darker yellow ink along the top edge of my area 2 stencil and in a couple of other places in the spotlight area to add shadows. This darker tone added depth to my image which can be seen when the area 2 stencil is removed.

Example of Added Detail to Spotlight

When I was happy with the look of my spotlight area, I removed both stencils and allowed my inks to dry.

Completed Spotlight and Background

Coloring My Dancing Bear Image for My Card

Once all of my background inks were thoroughly dry, I removed the artists tape mask from my dancing bear image. I used gamsol and colored pencils to color him. Beginning with my lightest brown tones and working my way to my darkest brown tones I began layering color on him. I tried to layer the colors in such a way that my bear had visual depth. I used the same technique for his muzzle and ears. As finishing touches I gave him rosy cheeks and used a white gel pen for the whites of his eyes and the sparkle in his pupil.

Completed Dancing Teddy Bear Image

To complete my image panel I matted my dancing bear with butterscotch and black cardstocks. I affixed my image panel to the card front at a slight angle to give the perception of movement.

Angle Views of My Handmade Dancing Teddy Bear Cards

The only dimension on my two cards is the visual depth I created through my sponged backgrounds and the coloration of my dancing teddy bears. 

Angle Left - My First Handmade Dancing Teddy Bear Card

Angle Right - My First Handmade Dancing Teddy Bear Card

Angle Left - My Second Handmade Dancing Bear Card

Angle Right - My Second Handmade Dancing Bear Card

Inside Panels of My Handmade Dancing Teddy Bear Cards

Inside Panel - My First Handmade Dancing Teddy Bear Card

Inside Panel - My Second Handmade Dancing Bear Card

For the inside panels of my cards I printed "Dancing with Joy!" on white cardstock that I decorated with a strip of the patterned paper used on the front of the each card respectively. 

I also constructed handmade envelopes from heavy cover stock and stamped some musical notes in the lower left corners. To protect the images on the outside of the envelopes I sprayed them with matte sealer.

Final Handmade Dancing Teddy Bear Card and Handmade Envelope sets

My First Handmade Dancing Teddy Bear Card and Handmade Envelope Set

My Second Handmade Dancing Bear Card and Handmade Envelope Set

Here are my two dancing teddy bear card sets. I think the little guys are truly dancing with joy and celebrating a life.

Both of these card sets are available in my Polished Moxie Etsy Shop: Hatch Marked Dancing Bear Card and Crossed Petal Dancing Bear Card

Card Recipe Specifics for Handmade Dancing Teddy Bear Cards

• Cardstock: Wausau, The Paper Company, Embassy
• Cover Stock: Staples
• Scrapbook Paper: hatch marked by Debbie Mumm and crossed petal by DCWV
• Stamps: dancing teddy bear by Sugarloaf and musical notes by Rubber Stampede
• Prismacolor Pencils: yellow ochre, jasmine, light peach, peach, sienna brown, burnt ochre, terra cotta, beige, chocolate, crimson red, goldenrod, dark umber, pink
• Inks: black by Stazon, stucco and cocoa fluid chalks by Colorbox, parchment and marigold pigment inks by Colorbox
• Tools: scoring board, cutting board, scissors, ruler, blending stumps, sponge pieces, computer, stencils
• Misc Materials: artists tape, adhesive, spray sealer, gamsol, painters tape, white gel pen
• Techniques Used: gamsol, sponging, masking, stamping, stenciling

So ends another jaunt along my handcrafting card journey with my handmade dancing teddy bear cards. Unique cards designed for sharing the joy of a special moment in life. Thank you for visiting my blog and allowing me to share my handmade cards and photography with you. I hope you enjoyed your visit and will come back soon! 

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