Sweet Stampin' ~ Bunnies or Bears

Hey there lovelies, it's time for a new challenge at Sweet Stampin' and we have such a lovely one for you today. Our theme is 'Bunnies or Bears', simple! Just share your cards with us that have either a bunny or a bear (or multiple of these) on it. I am a little bit besotted with the gorgeous animal characters drawn by Kristy from Some Odd Girl. They are my favourite images in her range. I just LOVE their enchanting faces. This lil' bear is one of my favourites. This adorable 'Winter Friends' stamp set is out of stock now at Some Odd Girl, but Kristy has some super cute 'Critters' as digital images. So check out her store for more details. You might recall the card I made using this lil' guy and a couple of his snowy pals last year. Click here if you want a peek back at that. I've only ever coloured him up as a Polar Bear, but I wonder now if he might look just as cute as a Brown Bear, I'll have to try that next!

I made a shaker card for this challenge (and this time actually remembered to add the acetate at the right stage!) Hehe. I created a lil' snow-mound by masking a circular shape in the bottom left corner of the card and then stamped this cutie on top. I then masked the bear as well, so the mound and bear were both masked and then added distress ink to the background to create a Northern Lights effect. Okay, not the best Northern Lights, but a pretty sky at least, don't you think?

I added just a hint of colour to this sweet bear, some pale cast shadows and some pink to his nose and cheeks. It always looks so much brighter to me in reality but pales in photos, so clearly I have to be more confident about laying down heavier shading! You can barely see the pink in his ears, but it's there. LOL.

The sentiment I stamped quite a while ago, I have a wee box that I keep some prestamped sentiments in and I thought this one was lovely to finish this card, but not thrilled with the stamped finish. Now I would use my Stamp platform to stamp it over again and make sure there was a crisp finish, not so back when I stamped this. It makes me happy I bought that bit of kit now! 

I decided to do a two layer circle but never thought about the wee shaker elements getting caught between the layers! Hehe, this card seems to have a few 'lessons' for me in it. Notably that I didn't 'ground' my bear! Hehe, I never noticed until it was all put together, that I'd forgotten to add shadow under his paws. Oh well, hopefully this goes unnoticed by most. 

I hope you'll come and share your Bunny or Bear creations with us this week at Sweet Stampin'. We'd love to see what that inspires you to create. Do head over to the challenge blog for some further inspiration, my teamies have created some gorgeous cards for this theme. I'll be back again soon with another crafty adventure, hopefully one with a few less mistakes, hehe. Hugs to you all and happy crafting, Wends xoxo

Challenge Entries:
Aud Sentiments: #203 ~ Cute + A Sentiment
Winter Wonderland: Christmas In The Snow
Colour Crazy Challenge: #20 ~ Anything Goes
Creative Inspirations: May ~ CAS or Fussy & Fancy

Addicted To Stamps & More: #292 ~ Make Your Mark
Cupcake Inspirations: #446 ~ Colour Challenge ~ Pastels
Christmas at Sweet Stampin': May ~ Anything Christmas
613 Avenue Create: #209 ~ Anything Goes + Mainly Blue Option
The Merry Christmas Challenge: #20 ~ Anything Christmas Goes
Cute Card Thursday: #530 ~ The Great Outdoors (you can't get much more outdoors than the poles! hehe)

Update: I was chosen as one of the 'Sweet Select' at Cupcake Inspirations. Thank you Ishani for choosing my wee Winter Bear card. So delighted.