Bear Cards and 3D Decoupage.
I have always loved cardmaking and from as long as I can remember designed my own cards for friends and family. I wanted to design my own 'Bears of Bath' cards by characterising my bears getting up to all sorts of adventures.
I discovered decoupage while we spent a fantastic year on the island of Cyprus. Greetings cards were hard to come by, every kiosk had them but they all had badly faded in the hot sunshine. I went to our local market and found a craft stall which sold A4 sheets which could be cut out to form 3D cards. I tried one and was impressed.
I was soon sitting down with my bears (they sneaked into the suitcase at Bath!) and sketched them in pen and watercolour and then transferred into digital to produce the sheet.
How To.. Bit
Just a quick rundown if you have no idea what to do with your sheet. If you do, please skip the next paragraph, and happy cutting!
Each sheet is numbered. You naturally start with (1) which will be the background to your image and the main bit you will stick all the other parts too. I usually include a (spare). This can be used either to give the backgound a more 3D look or it could be stored away for future use. It's entirely up to you! Just cut out numerically and stick down to the previous layer.
Printing
I personally find that photo paper is great for printing these cards onto, especially glossy as it has a good bit of weight to the paper, cuts reallly well and gives a good 3D look.
Sticking
For my earlier cards I used double sided foam pads which I could cut and shape, but I've now started using Silicone Glue which should come with an applicator (mine did... but didn't fit, it just kept falling off!) I find it's rather smelly (strong odour of vinegar) but if you can put up with that it's great, especially as you can shape the pieces as you glue them down. ie an arm can be higher at the shoulder than at the arm, just by a little bit of squashing. This is more difficult with a foam pad.
Anyway, happy decoupaging and I hope you have as much fun making them as I did designing them.
Best wishes
CarolB