Sending Love – A Wintry Polar Bear Card

This blog post is all about sending love and features a wintry polar bear.

Stamp Around UK Video Hop

On the 1st of each month a Video Hop launces over on You Tube featuring a selection of UK Demonstrators. I am delighted to be a part of this talented team.

This month the theme is Winter

You can see a full list of the products I have used at the end of the post, including links to my online shop.

Sending Love – A Wintry Polar Bear Card

When I started thinking about this theme, I knew I wanted something snowy and icy, but I didn’t necessarily want to make another Christmas card. Then I looked at the bears in the Woodland Wishes stamp set and wondered what would happen if I turned them into polar bears.

And this is the result!

I’ve kept the colour palette beautifully cool with Basic White, Cloud Cover and Secret Sea, and added lots of texture to create that frosty winter feel.

I started with a standard Thick Basic White card base, then created two mats using Cloud Cover and Secret Sea cardstock.

The Cloud Cover layer was embossed using the Rustic Check 3D Embossing Folder. To bring out that gorgeous texture even more, I lightly swiped White Craft Ink across the raised areas. You don’t need to cover the whole piece — the slightly uneven finish is exactly what gives it that snowy, weathered appearance.

For another little bit of texture, I took some Cloud Cover ribbon and used a Dark Cloud Cover Stampin’ Blend to add some simple snowflake-style marks. The ribbon was wrapped around the layered mats and secured at the back with Tear & Tape before the whole panel was attached to the card base.

Creating the snowy circles

I die cut three Basic White circles using the number 3 circle from the Stitched Shapes Dies.

Using a blending brush, I softly added Cloud Cover ink towards the centre of each circle, leaving plenty of white around the outside. It gives just enough colour to suggest a cold, snowy sky without overpowering the bears.

And then came my favourite part — turning the Woodland Wishes bears into polar bears!

I stamped two of the individual bears in Basic Gray ink onto Basic White cardstock. For the third bear, I used the polar-bear-shaped animal at the bottom of the stacked image.

I added just a little shading with Cloud Cover Stampin’ Blends, deliberately leaving most of each bear white. A touch of Wink of Stella gives their coats a lovely subtle sparkle.

The bears were then fussy cut very closely to the stamped outlines. This was particularly useful for the bear taken from the stacked image, as cutting closely allowed me to remove the parts of the neighbouring animal that I didn’t need.

Each bear was popped up onto its snowy circle with Stampin’ Dimensionals.

I then used a white gel pen to add falling snow around the bears and a little snow underneath their feet.

A sentiment with a twist

The sentiment comes from “Sending Love and Joy this Christmas”, but rather than use the whole greeting, I stamped it in Secret Sea ink and cut out just the two words:

Sending Love

I added “Sending” above the bear on the centre circle and “Love” underneath.

That simple change means the card still has all the atmosphere of winter, but it doesn’t have to be a Christmas card at all. It could be sent simply to let someone know you’re thinking of them during the colder months.

To finish, I arranged the three circles over the embossed panel and added some Cloud Cover Flat Pearls for a little extra shine.

Video

You can watch me creating this card on this video and don’t forget to hop around and see all the other videos.

How Can I Help?

I really love how all the textures work together on this one — the embossed background, the inked detail, the ribbon, the sparkling bears and those tiny snowy dots.

And I rather like my Woodland Wishes bears as polar bears too!

Don’t forget to follow the Stamp Around UK Video Hop to see what everyone else has created for our Winter theme. There will be lots more inspiration waiting for you.

Happy stamping!

Don’t hesitate to get in touch if I can help with your purchases, or if you have a crafty question.

Meanwhile stay safe and stay well

Helen xx

Product List