Mary's Corner - Cute Cowboy Teddy Card

This cute Cowboy Bear looks great on this boot!  The boot was a free SVG several months ago, and we retired it, but it's available for download right here on this page.  Since the pieces of the bear are pretty small, I used solid-colored cardstock (by American Crafts, of course, which is my favorite because it cuts so well).

I wanted the boot to be all brown, but since it's not tiny, I saw that I could get away with using a pattern (albeit a subtle one).  So I chose this woodgrain and this dots pattern, and it worked out great.

SVG Collection Used

Jonathan's Bears SVG Collection
Cliff's Clubhouse Cards SVG Collection
Cowboy Boot Free SVG

Paper Used

AC Cardstock Neutrals (browns)
DCWV The Guy Stack (brown dots pattern)
DCWV All About Boys (envelope cowboy patterns)
DCWV Textures and Finishes (gold and rusty texture)

Video Tutorial

Dimensions

Here are the exact shapes, sizes, and colors I used. Size to dimensions shown below with “Keep Proportions” checked in the Shape Properties window, unless otherwise noted.

*  Copy, flip and weld to form card base (see instructions below)

Instructions

1. To form the boot-shaped card base, copy and paste your cowboy_boot_bottom.svg shape on your SCAL mat so that you have two on your mat.  Select one of them and click the Flip Horizontal button in the Appearance Palette in SCAL.  Position them on your mat to basically form the card shape.  Then with both of them selected, click the middle button next to "V Align" in the Position_Size Palette in SCAL to align them vertically with each other.  Then make sure they're overlapping each other at least a little bit by nudging one of them left or right with the arrow keys on your keyboard (not up or down).  With both of them selected, check the box next to "Weld" in the Appearance Palette in SCAL.  This welds them together into one shape so your machine will cut out one big card base which you'll fold in half to form a card.  Before you cut, you can press the "Preview" button to check it out.
2. Assemble your bear and ink the edges of pretty much all of the shapes with a brown ink pad.  I think these pieces are too small to emboss, but you can always feel free to experiment!
3. For the envelope, if you have a Scor-Pal, I've heard they are the perfect tool for making custom envelopes with odd dimensions (non-standard).  I don't have one and haven't used one, so I adapted an envelope from the Cliff's Clubhouse Cards SVG Kit.

Design Tips

Mary Rudakas

• Add a couple of sticky gemstones or bling to the three holes in the top layer of the cowboy boot.  It looks cute, and don't we all love any excuse to use bling?
• Draw the eyes low on the face, just above the nose and very close to the sides of the head.  Use a black marker or pen and do your best to make them symmetrical.
• Use 3D Pop Dots or Zots under the bear to add dimension and help him stand out from all the other browns behind him.
• On the back of the card I used a cute Pink By Design stamp to let whoever I give it to know I made it just for them.  It's from the Handmade by You collection, which is super cute.  Our Design Team has been playing with some new stamps from Pink By Design and everyone's saying they stamp really well and really clean, and I agree!

Hope you like him, and if you decide to make this card or something like it, I hope you share photos in our forum, on your own blog and/or on our Facebook Fan Page!  Happy Crafting!  ~Mary  🙂