Last month the ladies at Crafting for all Seasons Challenge Blog honored me with their I Inspire Award for my Tear bears. They also asked me if I would put together a tutorial on how to make the tear bears. I've never done a tutorial before. I figured this would be the perfect opportunity to try something NEW.
Here's my tutorial on how to make a tear cow....
I must warn you that these little devils are addictive and once you start making them you don’t want to stop!! These are my basic instructions for creating an adorable handmade mulberry paper cow ~ thought to try something different. These are just the basic instructions, but with practice and patience, you will be on your way to creating adorable little tear bears and critters in no time. I will include the pattern for the cow. Then you can make your own patterns for bears or other critters. Also I will provide you with eyes and noses. So let’s begin!
Basic Supplies
- Tear Bear or Critter Pattern
- Extra Thick Mulberry Paper (here we will use black and white)
- Pencil
- Glue Stick or other thick adhesive (Tacky Glue works well.)
- Paint brush and a cup of water OR water barrel brush.
- Scissors or small oval shaped punch for eyes and nose (Fiskars 5/16" Oval or Tear Drop punches work great!) ~ you can print the eyes and nose set I’m giving.
- Black cardstock for the nostrils
- Tweezers (helps to place your eyes and nose)
- White Gel Pen
- Fine tip black Pen
- An old tooth brush to fluff your cow (bear or other creature)
- Chalk (Artist Chalk or Cat’s eye Fluid Chalk for detailing. Use at least 1 shade darker than the paper you are working with) ~ if you don’t have Chalks you can use eye shadows~
- Brown paper for the horns
Tearing our Cow...
Now, let’s get on with the basic instruction...
1. Gather all supplies needed.
2. Tracing Your Pattern: Using your pencil begin tracing you pattern on the ~back~ side (smooth side) of your mulberry paper. NOT THE LUMPY SIDE. Using the back side will hide your pencil marks. Keep you parts about 1/4" apart between each pattern piece. You want to leave enough room between each piece for tearing. For an extra fluffy cow, trace 2 of each part for layering. The best tear bear artists layer their bears for the fluffiest appearance. (In our case Cow artist~ heh)
3. Now that your pieces are traced, go over the parts with your paint brush (or your water barrel brush.). Add some water in your brush and trace it around the pencil trace Make sure that you have wet your paper enough to tear. Only do a few pieces at a time. If you get too much water on the paper, don't worry... it will dry. Wetting the mulberry paper for tearing will enhance your cow's "fluff".
4. Once you've wet a few parts, it's now time to tear. Tear the parts 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 cow.
Now that you have all your "cow parts", let them dry completely before proceeding.
Fluffing, Chalking, Layering...
Now that your cow parts are dried it’s time to fluff, chalk and layer. Take the old toothbrush and brush all the cow parts from the lumpy side. You can pull some fibbers up if you want a "scruffy" look.
Next we will add some chalking details around the edges. This also helps add dimension and creates more visible "fluff".
After detailing, arrange all pieces and pose your cow. Once you’ve got a pose you like glue the pieces together and make your cow. After adhering all parts, allow them some drying time.
Now, add the eyes and nostrils to your cow. Put a dot of glue of your choice on the back. Using tweezers, position the nostrils first, then the eyes. Positioning the nostrils first helps make sure the eyes are evenly placed. Add the horns and glue them.
Next, add eye lashes and a mouth using your fine tip Pen. Add a "dot" of white to the inside of the eyes for sparkle. (This is a general instruction for all tear bears)
There you have it. Your own little cow.
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So hope you liked my tutorial! I want to say a BIG thank you to my very good friend Hazel who provide me the chalks. Thank you sweetie!! Please visit her amazing blog and leave her comments!! she loves to read them!!
Enjoy the tutorial!!
till next time
hugs
xMx
