Nativity Inspiration

It's Day Five of Papertrey Ink's September release countdown. Welcome, and thank you for joining us! 

Today we are featuring two more holiday product collections, both with some truly beautiful religious imagery and sentiments. This month's addition to the Petite Places series is a Nativity scene. As we've come to expect, Betsy has packed both the stamp set and the die set with the most amazing details. Also featured today is O Holy Night, an elegant sentiment set designed by Dawn McVey. They pair beautifully!

Today's featured products, along with the rest of the September release, will be available at 10 pm EST September 15 in the Papertrey Ink store.

I've got three Nativity projects to share with you today, beginning with a Christmas card.

 I used the Sentiment Splits: Curve Vertical die to cut a mask out of scrap card stock. I taped it to the bottom and did some sponging along the top edge of the mask to create a horizon line. Next I stamped the Mary, Joseph and baby Jesus image in black, as well as the tree and the Star of Bethlehem, also in black, leaving room for a die-cut stable. Before adhering the stable, though, I used the Star of Bethlehem layer from Scene It: Bethlehem as a stencil and sponged the stars. With all the sponging and stamping complete, I then adhered the stable. 

I actually stamped this stable with one of the O Holy Night sentiments. I know that probably seems random, but I originally stamped it to go with a different project. That one didn't work out, but I liked the pop from the black ink on the Kraft, particularly with the other elements stamped in black, so I decided to use that die-cut here. 

Below the stable is a three-layer stacked sentiment die-cut from Christmas Cheer. I had to do some hunting in my stash for the word "blessings" in a size and font that would work here. Of course, I could have used one of the many sentiment components from Christmas Cheer, but for some reason, the nativity scene had me fixated on the word "blessings." I found this one in the Etched Easter Eggs set, and it is perfect. (Yes, sometimes I can be a bit OCD about these things!)

STAMPS: Petite Places: Nativity; Etched Easter Eggs, O Holy Night

DIES: Petite Places: Nativity; Christmas Cheer, Scene It: Bethlehem

INK: Soft Stone, True Black, Classic Kraft

PAPER: Fresh Snow Linen card stock; Stamper's Select White card stock; Classic Kraft card stock

OTHER: liquid glue, sponge dauber, foam adhesive

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Next up is a tag specifically designed for mass production. I'm feeling so ahead of the game with Christmas tags this year!

The how-to on these: First, I used the Minute To Make: Holiday Tags die to cut three tags out of the new white heavyweight tag stock. I forgot to mention the tag stock yesterday, but I used it for those tags, too. I can't say enough about it! It's soooo thick and sturdy (perfect for tags) and it stamps beautifully. And I think its heft just makes it feel that much more luxurious.

Anyway, cut three tags from white card stock (remember this die set comes with three identical tags wired together, so you can cut three tags with just one pass through your die-cutting machine), and three tags from Sheer Basics Vellum Patterned paper.

On the white tags, stamp sentiments from O Holy Night in Versamark and heat emboss in silver (or to make things go along even quicker, stamp in metallic silver ink). Stamp the Mary/Joseph/Jesus image and the Star of Bethlehem in True Black. Adhere a Soft Stone stable die-cut and a Soft Stone roof layer. String one stamped tag and one vellum tag together with True Black baker's twine.

And here's how it looks in action, tied to a kraft milk carton gift box. (I found 2-packs of these, in both kraft and white, in the Target Dollar Spot pretty recently.)

STAMPS: Petite Places: Nativity; O Holy Night

DIES: Petite Places: Nativity; Minute to Make: Holiday Tags

INK: True Black, VersaMark

PAPER: 160# Tag Stock, Soft Stone card stock, Sheer Basics Vellum Patterned Paper

OTHER: Target gift box, Smokey Shadow ribbon, True Black baker's twine

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Last project for today: a nativity Christmas ornament:

I've had this empty PTI twine spool strung up as an ornament since last Christmas, but the spool was still just bare wood waiting to be decorated. As soon as I started thinking about ways to use the Nativity products, I thought a nativity silhouette might be just the thing for my sweet little ornament. Turns out, this was super easy to make - bonus!

I cut a piece of holiday-themed newsprint from my patterend paper stash (maybe Echo Park or My Mind's Eye?) to fit the spool, then stamped the different nativity images in black all the way around, and adhered the paper around the spool. That's it - really!

Oh wait, I did wrap some silver tinsel around the spool below the scene. And I adhered some greenery and a pinecone to the top. And I did give it a coat of matte multi-medium to help protect the paper from wear and tear.

I do like the simple, rustic look here -- it fits the nativity scene quite well.

As I said above, I had already turned the spool into an ornament sometime last year, so I don't have any assembly photos for you. But here are the basic instructions. (There may be a better way to assemble -- I'm known to overthink things!)

1. Sponge Classic Kraft and Dark Chocolate ink onto the spool to age it.
2. Take a length of rope or twine, approximately 18-20" long. Fold it in half. Thread the top, fold first, through the middle of the spool, stopping just when the fold peeks out from the bottom. (You might have to use a paper piercer or pair of tweezers to help pull it through, depending on how thick your rope is.)
3. At the fold, tie on some jingle bells (buttons would work too) using some thread or lightweight string or twine. Knot securely and trim off the ends closely so they don't show. This will keep the rope from pulling back through the middle of the spool.
4. On the top of the spool, you'll have what looks like two pieces of rope. Make a small loop from one piece of rope. This will be your hanging loop. While pinching the loop to keep it in place, use the remaining rope, as well as the other length of rope, to tie off in a bow. Trim the ends, and embellish as desired.

STAMPS: Petite Places: Nativity

INK: True Black, Classic Kraft, Dark Chocolate

PAPER: holiday text print (source unknown)

OTHER: empty PTI twine spool, rope, tinsel, rusty jingle bells, matte multi-medium

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For more Nativity Inspiration, be sure to visit the Papertrey team:

Nichole Heady

Ashley Newell

Betsy Veldman

Danielle Flanders

Dawn McVey
Erin Lincoln

Heather Nichols

Laurie Willison

Lizzie Jones

Maile Belles

Melissa Phillips

Thanks for visiting!