Magnetic Build-A-Bear

I spent the majority of yesterday playing with my Big Shot and Build-A-Bear dies. At covention this year they showed magnetic Build-A-Bears (so I was told, I was unable to attend this year) and I thought I would do a Build-A-Bear workshop, where the mom and kid would make a bear and the clothes to go with it and all would be magnetic so it would kind be like magnetic paper dolls. I bought magnetic sheets that have one side with adhesive and started to play. I ran into a few bumps (okay a lot of bumps) along the way, but finally came up with a finished product. I created this one and stuck it to a tin can that I purchased at Micheal's. I was having fun and made my bear a cross-dresser with white tights and pink skirt.


I was working with my friend, and fellow demostrator Laurie and she came up with the idea of using the magnetic bear and clip board sold by Stampin' Up! to make a calendar board, where you could change the outfit on the bear to fit the season. Again, here she ran into a few bumps, but did have a final project to share. Laurie actually dressed her bear up more appropriately.



Finally, one last picture to share. I was using a lot of scraps cutting out the 4 bears and accessories and Laurie's cat (Oscar) decided that right then and there it was a good place to take a nap.



Things I Learned:
1. It took me almost 6 hours to cut and mount the four bears.
2. If the magnet it thin enough, the sizzlet will actually cut through it.
3. The more layers of clothing, the less chance of them staying on the bear with movement.
4. The magnets do sometimes "fight" with each other and so the layers won't exactly lay where you want them to. (The magnetic fields oppose each other).
5. To get the bear to hang vertically and have a chance of keeping clothes on them, it's best to stick magnets on the back to the bear that will also stick to the clothing. Laurie did this using little closure magnets and it kind of looked like the bear was in the hospital with electrodes on him all over.
6. It's best to run the whole sheet of magnet through the big shot and then cut the accessories separately and adhere to the magnet (at least to save magnet and ensure each accessory is the desired color).
7. A spin off number 3, consider gluing a couple of layers of clothing before adhering to the magnet. For example, I glued the jacket to the T-shirt and then made the combination one magnet to eliminate a layer.

I'm sure there are many more things that I forgot, but before I make this a class, I think I really need to simplify it, so any suggestions would be great.