If you are making cardstock piecings, you can now cut out your piecings with scissors and advance to the “Assembly” Section.
Here is what your patterns should look like when transferred to the mulberry paper using the “Beary Creative” Tool:Of course you can do this using a pencil. You may have to manipulate your tearing a bit more to get a good clean edge.*** TIP ***
Label each piece with the matching letter on your pattern with your pencil. This will help you distinguish each part, and it's orientation for easier assembly. You can see an example in our Reindeer Tutorial.
Prep to Tear:
Begin by re-tracing a few parts that you had drawn or scored on the back side of your mulberry paper with your watertank brush. Try not to over saturate the paper. You want the paper to by damp, but not sopping wet. DO NOT TEAR MULBERRY PAPER IF IT IS SATURATED. Your paper needs to be damp enough to tear, but not so wet that it falls apart. If you happen to get too much water on your paper, don’t worry, it’s only water and it will dry. Just let that part sit for a bit before you tear it. Only dampen a few parts at a time. I usually wet 3-5 parts then tear them out and repeat the process.TEARING IT UP!
If you used your Beary Creative Tool, you will find this to be very easy to do. For those of you that have used a pencil, you may need to manipulate your tearing a bit to stay on the path.
Using your fingers, begin tearing along the line. Tear each part very carefully towards you. You will notice that tearing the part towards you will leave more scruffy fibers behind. This is important if you want a fluffy bear.
Continue tearing each piece until all pieces are gone. If you have positioned all of your parts correctly on your full sheet of mulberry paper, you should be able to get 2 full size double layered bears out of 1 sheet of paper.
ASSEMBLING LAYERS:
When assembling your layers, be careful not to get too close to the edges. Your paper will not fluff well with glue on it. See illustration below:Match up your pieces and glue each one together. Glue each piece directly on top of one another with both smooth sides down and both textured sides up.
Allow some time to let your glue dry before proceeding to the next step.
Time For A FLUFF!
You will need your FLUFF ME! Brush Set in order to follow through with this section.
After the glue has dried, it is time to Fluff!. Please be VERY careful using our Fluff Me! Brush. This tool is not meant to be used by children as it has very sharp stainless steel bristles that may pick your fingers.
Basically, you only want to brush the edges of your pieces enough to loosen up some of those fibers left from tearing. You may do this on a protected flat surface, or by holding your piece in one hand and brushing with the other. I find I have better control over the brush and the mulberry paper if I hold it. The mulberry paper tends to bend a bit with each stroke pulling out even more fibers and making the edges even fluffier.
Gently brush the edges of each piece in a “C” or circular motion. I find quick short strokes work best to achieve a super fluffy appearance.
More detailed instruction are available in our Guide to Great Fluffing Manual.
Adding Details
I prefer to use Colorbox Fluid Chalks to add depth and dimension to my critters. You may use artist chalk or another brand of liquid chalk that you have on hand. Just make sure it is archival safe if you will be using it in your scrapbook pages. I do not recommend pigment inks for detailing your critters.
Select a shade of chalk that is a bit darker that the color of mulberry paper you are working with. You may want to use 2 different shades. Remember to begin with your lighter shade first and then advance to your darker shade.
TIP: If you are using Caramel or Mocha Mulberry Paper, I suggest using Creamy Brown Fluid Chalk and/or Chestnut Roan Fluid Chalk.
If you are using liquid chalk, try using a “used” ink pad. I find that brand new pads are saturated with ink and often leave unattractive blotchy marks on your mulberry paper. If you are using a brand new pad, dab it on a paper towel a few times to remove some of the excess ink.
Holding the chalk in one hand and your bear part in the other, start going around each part of your bear just as you would when you distress or chalk the edges of your scrapbook paper. You don’t need a lot, just enough to add dimension. You only want to chalk up the edges of your bear.
THERE IS NO NEED TO CHALK THE MUZZLE IF YOU ARE USING WHITE MULBERRY PAPER.
*** I'll insert a picture as soon as I have one ***
Assembling Your Bear
First and foremost, when assembling your bear, be careful not to get the glue too close to the edges. Your critter will not fluff well with glue on it.
Well, I have pictures for this part, but my camera needs to be charged so I can get the images off it.... so for now, I will just post the instructions. I'll add the pictures later on.
- Place the head of the bear down on the table. Now, get the muzzle. Apply a bit of glue to the back (smooth side) of the muzzle and attatch it to the bottom portion of the head. I attatch the muzzle first as it is easier to place your ears evenly.
- No, take the ear and apply a small amount of glue to the bottom of the "lumpy side". This is where it is okay to glue on the wrong side of the paper because the ear will be attached to the back of the head. Do this to the other ear. Make sure your ears are evenly placed.
- Next, glue the head to the body. The body should be behind the head.
- Next, Apply adhesive to the very top of the narrow side on the front of the legs and attach them to the back of the body.
- Apply adhesive to the back side of the feet and attach them directly on top of the legs. You may do this prior to attaching the legs to the body if you want to manipulate the height of the bear.
- The arms look a bit like kidney beans. The curve of the arm will follow curve of the body. The narrow portion of the arm is the side closest to the head. Apply a little adhesive to the inside edge of the front of the arms and attach them to the back side of the body as shown. If you want the arms to be infront, apply glue to the back of the arm and attach to the body.
- If you want to add paw, then this is the final step. Apply a bit of adhesive to the back side of the paws and attach them directly on top of the lower portion of the arms overlapping the body. If you want to have your bear holding an object such as a flower, you will want to position the object on the bear and then attach the paw on top.
Quick recap:
The order in which you attach your pieces doesn’t matter as much as their positioning. Whether you start from the feet and work your way to the head, or you start your way from the head and work your way to the feet. For this particular pattern, remember the following:
- Muzzle always on top of the Head
- Ears always Behind the Head
- Head always on top of the Body
- Legs behind Body (if not sitting sideways)
- Feet always on top of Legs
- Arms can go behind or on top of the body
- Paws always to on top of the arms.
Until I get the images uploaded, here is an example you can follow:
Facial Features Tips
Creating the facial characteristics is probably the most difficult part of making your torn critter; however, they make a huge difference in the overall appearance of your little masterpiece. I can hear you gasp already. I know… the eyes. Don’t worry. With a little patience and practice, it really isn’t all that difficult.
You will need your Black Fine Tip Pen and your medium/fine tip White Gel Pen. Jelly Roll by Sakura is perfect. I personally don’t like the Uni-ball as I find it bleeds into the paper, the tip gets clogged and the flow is terrible. But, that is my own personal experience. If you are using a Pigma Micron Pen, I find that either 02 or 03 tips work well. I personally like the 02, but any of the 2 will work perfectly fine. Anything thicker will create eyelashes that are much too chunky and blotchy.
If you purchased a pattern from us, then you received some basic eyes and noses to get you started. These eyes have been designed in my cutting machine and are a perfect fit for this pattern. We now have pre-cut eyes and noses available to purchase in our store.
Downloadable .pdf files of pre-made noses and eyes (available in blue, green and brown) are available on our website for FREE at http://thebearyscrap.com/pages/printables.htm. Simply print these on heavy cardstock and cut them out. You can use a small oval paper punch on these if you like. The nose you will need to hand cut. This is where the Cutterbees come in handy.
Another thing that works well for the eyes is the Paw Punch from EK Success. When inverted, the paw pad makes a great nose, and the little pads make great eyes.
Finally, Fiskar’s makes a 5/16” oval hand punch that works for the eyes and the nose. This works perfectly and I had used this tool for years before getting my cutting machine.
We will have precut eyes and noses available on our website.
Bringing your Bear to life:
Position the nose top center of the muzzle. This will help you with proper placement of the eyes. If using textured cardstock, I usually flip it over so that the textured side is down and the smooth side is up. This is just my personal preference when it comes to adding “twinkles”.
Next, decide where you would like your eyes places. I usually tuck the eyes a bit beneath the muzzle. This helps to add dimension to your bear. Again, I will apply a bit of adhesive to the textured side of the cardstock and using my tweezers; carefully slip the eyes a bit beneath the muzzle.
If you would like to add depth to the eyes, use the tip of your fluid chalk ink pad and shade around the outside edges of the eyes. If you are not comfortable with this method, you can use a Tsukineko Fantastix Brush Tip. Simple dab the Fantastix tip into the ink pad, pat it onto a paper towel and then color in the area that way. These can also be used with regular artist chalks too.
Next, you need to add the eyelashes. Use your black fine tipped micron pen begin at the eye and with one motion whisp up and out in a curved motion, lightening up on your pen pressure. Add as many lashes as you like to achieve different results.
***TIP*** I find turning my critters head upside down to create the lashes works better for me.
***TIP*** I find turning my critters head upside down to create the lashes works better for me.
Outline around the eye with your black pen for added depth. Keep the tip of the pen as close to the cardstock eye as possible, especially if you are outlining along the insides of the eye.
Using your white gel pen, add a small dot in the upper portion of the eye. Keep both dots even and lightly off center… both should be closer to the inside (or center) of the critters actual face.
Using your white gel pen, and trace the very thin line along to the base of the eye. You may need to lift the muzzle a tad to do this.
Draw a small line from the tip of the nose to the mid portion of the muzzle.
Add pink chalk to the cheeks if you like. A small cluster of dots within the cheeks always looks adorable.
Don’t be afraid to experiment with different poses or facial expressions. You should be able to come up with at least 6-7 poses using our patterns. With a little practice, you’ll have a unique look all of your own. Most importantly, just have fun with it.
