The bears are usually made of a thick Mulberry paper. Until recently I used Bazzill Handmade paper but I heard they stopped making it. I now get all my mulberry paper from Funscrap.com and have been very pleased with their papers and their friendly service. Each side of the paper has a different texture so keep this in mind when you are tearing out your pattern pieces. Make sure you trace all of your pieces on the same side of the paper! One side is bumpy and crumpled looking. The other side has a uniform, almost cloth-like texture and can be brushed to look softer.

You can either tear the paper dry or outline your pattern pieces with water. I do both, depending on the project. Tearing dry paper is a little harder on the fingers but it makes the process a little quicker because you don't have to wait for everything to dry. On the other hand, tracing your pieces with water before you tear gives the outer edges a more furry appearance. It does make the paper more fragile so tear carefully! Most people use a Q-tip or a paint brush to outline the pieces. I've found that the paint brushes that have the handle that can be filled with water are perfect for this purpose! These brushes allow you to use a minimum of water so the pieces dry faster and you can get on with your project!

Once you have traced your shape, hold your paper firmly between your thumb and forefinger and begin tearing very carefully with SHORT tears. Mulberry paper has fibers running through it that may keep the paper from tearing smoothly. If you tear too quickly you may run into one of these fibers and it will tear along the fiber rather than along the line you have traced! Sometimes it is necessary to cut through a fiber to avoid ripping the whole piece. Try not to cut the fuzzy edges around it or it will look like your bear has a bad haircut!

Sometimes the paper just seems to have a mind of it's own. You will find varying thicknesses and strengths and fiber content in each sheet of paper. If there is a particularly lumpy spot in the paper I will try to avoid tearing through it at all. Don't be surprised if you end up with lots of fuzzy little spit balls while you are learning to tear things out! It takes some practice.

VERY IMPORTANT: If you trace your pieces with water to tear them out, let them dry COMPLETELY before doing anything else with them!

If you want a really soft, fuzzy looking bear you need to brush all of your pieces with a toothbrush. The less textured side of the paper makes a much softer looking bear than the bumpy side. I know I said this already but I can't stress this enough- Do NOT try to brush it if it is even the least bit damp! The paper will peel off and the piece will be ruined.

The next step is chalking. If you haven't tried chalking, it is so easy and will really bring your bear to life! See the picture sheet to get an idea of where to put the chalk. (I've used a dark brown chalk to make it easier to see in the pictures. If you are going for a softer looking bear use a lighter shade of brown.) Basically, I just chalk in a darker color where there would be a shadow. Some chalking will have to wait until the bear is assembled but it works best to chalk what you can before you put it all together.

Next I make the face. This is the trickiest part of the whole project and I just have NOT found any easy way to do this! I made a face on the pattern that can be colored and cut out for those who can't or don't want to fiddle around with tweezers and tiny little bits of paper for eyes and noses. However, if you want the more detailed, layered look, there are several options. This is an area where you can really develop your own style! This is also the part most likely to drive you crazy if you don't enjoy obsessing over details!

For the first bears I made, I used black cardstock and Fiskars hand punches, an oval punch for the nose and a tear drop punch for the eyes. I trimmed the points off of the teardrop shapes to make them more natural looking. Now I sometimes make more detailed handpainted eyes and noses. These need to be painted BEFORE they are cut out so I use tiny detail scissors on these.

At this point I should probably interject a few quick comments about glue. Do NOT use anything very wet or it will soak right through the paper and leave a stiff, dark spot on your bear's "fur" when it dries! I have used acid free glue stick. If you goof something up it's easier to repair if you have used glue stick. I have also used Aleene's Quick Dry Tacky Glue sparingly for things that don't have to be acid free. It's very hard to pry the pieces apart without damaging them if you use tacky glue. (Take it from someone who has a lot of experience at goofing things up!) I have also used a Zig 2-way glue pen for eyes and noses. My new favorite for all of the above is Scotch Quick Dry Adhesive. It's not too wet, it's acid free, and it has a small tip so you can even do little details with it.

This next part will be much less frustrating if you have some tweezers handy! I put the face together in two parts. First I pick up the nose with the tweezers, rub on a little glue with the glue pen, and glue it to the muzzle piece. Then I experiment with the eye placement a bit. I put the eyes on the head and put the muzzle/nose piece on over it to see how it will look. When I get the look I want, I glue the eyes to the head. If you are going to add a little white paint highlight to the eyes this is the time to do it! Then you can glue on the muzzle and add a little white highlight to the nose.

The next step is gluing on the ears. The ears are normally placed BEHIND the head. You will notice the ear pattern pieces have a little point. That is where you will need to put the glue. Surprisingly, the ears are very expressive so experiment to see what will give you the look you want. I generally try to avoid putting the ears too high or close together because it makes the poor things look stressed out, but that is just my personal preference.

Now you MIGHT want to make the mouth. Or just a dot. Or nothing. Most of the bears I've seen just have a dot. This is one of those "If it ain't broke, don't fix it" kind of situations. I can never leave well enough alone and I goof up mouths more than anything else. When I do make a mouth I usually use a Zig size 01 pen or a very sharp colored pencil. (Be careful about using pens in chalked areas because the chalk can ruin your pen!) Draw lightly, slowly, and carefully. If you want to make a smile, draw a small line and increase the size gradually until it looks right.

Now that you have the head done you can start arranging the rest of your pieces. Just rearrange the pieces until you like how it looks and start gluing it together! I've taken some pictures of several different possible arrangements that I made from the various pattern pieces. You can glue the bear directly onto your project piece by piece or put the bear together before you glue it on. The only time I glue pieces directly to my project is when the pose is integrated with another feature such as a matted photo or some other shape that I need to work around. Otherwise it is safer to just glue the pieces together first and then put it on on your project. Then if it doesn't turn out quite right you can peel it apart and rearrange it again without ruining your whole project.

When it is all glued together I usually give it a quick touch up with the chalk. Sometimes I also brush it again to get all the fuzzies going in the right direction. You may like the effect of the bear looking a little less groomed and more "loved" so it's not necessary to brush it out again. All of the bears on the picture sheet were made out of the same pieces which were handled repeatedly and were not brushed out between poses so they are not as fuzzy as they could be. I think they look great both ways, depending on the project.

You can leave the paws as they are like a teddy bear or draw in the soles of the feet like a real bear. I draw in the soles of the bear's feet with a pen and add some chalk. I have also used a paw print rubber stamp with black ink. Just do NOT try to stamp on damp paper or brush the paws AFTER you draw or stamp on them! Yes, I am sure YOU are too smart to do something like that but I have done both of those things...

One final hint: If you have a problem that affects ONLY the surface of the paper such as glue residue, mistakes coloring the paws or mouth, etc, you can sometimes fix it by scraping it off gently with a craft knife and re-chalking and brushing it. I've also used the craft knife to pry pieces apart to reposition them when the glue had already dried. Mulberry paper is pretty forgiving!

Good luck with your bears! You may find yourself not needing a pattern at all after you have done a few of these. Then you can move on to all kinds of other critters. I've done dogs, cats, bunnies, pigs, etc. It really is addictive once you get the hang of it! I learned most of this through trial and error so I'm always interested if anyone comes up with a better way of doing things! And if you find the pattern useful I would love to see the bears that you made!

Yours Truly,