At long last, the final forty Build-a-Bear cards destined for the Las Vegas Ronald McDonald House are ready to go! The first ten were mailed last October, and if you'd like to take a peek at those cards, they are in this post.
To save your scrolling finger a bit of work, I've posted smaller pictures of each card. If you'd like to see details in a larger picture, just click on any of the photos.
The Build-a-Bears and their clothes and accessories were cut by Cynthia Ferenz at Stampin' Dragon -- and that alone was quite a project! I'd like to give a shout out to Cynthia for the donation of time and materials for this undertaking. Thanks, Cynthia! Without you I couldn't have done any of this!!I had to rely on Cynthia for bear parts because I don't (yet) have the Build-a-Bear dies. I still got to use my Big Shot quite a bit, though, in the making of textured backgrounds, layers using the Top Note die, and lots of butterflies using the "Beautiful Wings" embosslit. The Build-a-Bear dies are shown on pages 216-217 of the current catalog. Beautiful Wings can be found on page 215. If you'd like to see all of the wonderful Big Shot stuff, check out pages 204-217. I can't say enough good things about this fabulous tool!
To keep myself from getting bored with the bears (forty is a lot, you know, even if they are cute!), I pulled out other stamps and accessories to make things more interesting. Here's a card with a background made using a Stampin' Up! wheel:
Of course I had to do a lot of paper piercing because... well, because it looks cool! ...
I discovered that border punches can be used to make nifty corners, too!
The vast majority of supplies used were from Stampin' Up! However, I couldn't resist adding a little bling here and there from my stash. I squealed with delight when I got my new SU! catalog because we now carry self-adhesive rhinestones and pearls (page 188)!
Here' s an oddball card. Most of the bear cards were made using colors in the Pawsitively Prints DSP and some retired DSP chosen by Cynthia. In a brief moment of ennui, I grabbed a piece of Kaleidoscope DSP and threw in some turquoise on this one:... and here's some Rich Razzleberry thrown in for good measure:
Don'tcha just love the Perfect Polka Dots embossing folder?
Here's one with some more detailed paper piercing...I just realized that I didn't take any pictures of the insides of the cards. Most of them have coordinating decorations -- such as stars or hearts or butterflies -- on the inside to help make the messages the parents write for their kids there all the more special.
Is it even possible to do a project of this magnitude without throwing in some Stickles?
I experimented a bit with both natural hemp and twine for the shoelaces.
And that's the final bear waving goodbye! I think these bears are just as excited as I am about their upcoming trip to Sherrill Graff and the kids in the Las Vegas Ronald McDonald House!
I'd like to thank my friends in the Stampin' Up! Late Night Stampers Yahoo! group for all the support and encouragement they've given me on this project. I'd also like to acknowledge my dear friend Cathy for wanting "in" on this project and covering the postage for this final shipment!
Fifty Build-a-Bear cards later, I'm being asked if I'd do a project like this again. To be honest, I think I would consider making more bear cards in smaller batches... especially if I had the Build-a-Bear dies and had more freedom in my choice of cardstock and DSP colors.
I definitely plan on making more cards for the Ronald McDonald House kids, but I will most likely be supporting Children's Hospital here in Columbus, Ohio rather than the House in Las Vegas. Once I move and get settled into my new place, I'm hoping to have friends over to make cards for kids with me -- because stamping is so much more fun with others!
Have any questions about this Build-a-Bear project or cards for kids? Leave a comment and I'll be sure to get back to you!
And now, back to packing. Ugh!
Smiles,
Joyce Spear a.k.a. StamperJoyce
