Sneak Peek: Introducing Nativity Scene Builder Craft Dies

Hello, and welcome to day 4 of our Holiday Sneak Peek Week!  All this week, I am sharing cards showcasing our newest collection, which will be available for purchase tomorrow!

Card No. 1: I've been wanting a versatile Nativity die set for years. I own a couple of different sets that you cut out in one pass, but I was longing for something with more flexibility to create a variety of scenes, and with that, our newest Nativity Scene Builder Dies were born!

For my first card using the set, I started by die-cutting small circles from masking material, which I positioned randomly across the center to give the look of bokeh with the out-of-focus lights of Bethlehem in the background. To achieve this look, I inked a bit, then moved the dots and inked some more using Scattered Straw, Wild Honey, Salty Ocean, Prize Ribbon, Chipped Sapphire, and Black Soot Distress inks. I then added the stable and layered it with the Mini Grass Border Dies, which I ran through my machine twice to line up and achieve the dip in the center I was after. I then arranged Mary, Joseph, the baby Jesus in the manger and the adoring animals around them. For my sentiment, I split up the sentiment in two parts using our Inside Greetings Christmas Stamps and stamped the first portion in black ink onto a Brilliant Banner 4 Dies and then the second half, heat-embossing it with White Detail Embossing Powder onto the black cardstock.

Card No. 2: For my next card showcasing the Nativity Scene Builder Dies, I started by inking my sky with Scattered Straw, Kitsch Flamingo, Salty Ocean, Prize Ribbon, and Chipped Sapphire with Black Soot Distress Ink in the far corners. I then stamped the palm trees on each side from our Beach Bus Stamps and layered in the village dies from the set, adding small rectangles of yellow inked cardstock to fill the window and door openings for the bottom layer. Next, I added stitched hills cut from navy cardstock using our Slimline Nature Border Dies, inked with Black Soot Distress Ink, and tucked in a couple of palm trees from the set. I flipped the shepherd to fill in as Joseph and put Mary on the back of the donkey. I added some highlights with my white gel pen to make them stand out against the dark background, but then felt the white was too stark and walked it back by coloring over them with a dark grey Copic marker. Lastly, I heat-embossed a greeting from those same Inside Greetings Christmas Stamps.

Card No. 3: Next up, I have a slimline Christmas card featuring the Nativity Scene Builder Dies. I started with an unexpected color scheme for Christmas and inked up my 8" x 4" slimline panel with a blend of Picked Raspberry, Seedless Preserves, Wilted Violet, and a tiny bit of Villainous Potion Distress Inks. I kept the spot where I wanted my shining star to be much lighter to give a glowing appearance. I then stamped some tree branches along the top edge using the fir tree sprigs from the Classy Christmas Stamps and Christmas Trimmings Stamps, using Versafine Onyx Black Ink. I added a simple stitched hillside with the Slimline Nature Border Dies and tucked the building from the Nativity Scene Builder dies to form Bethlehem in the distance. Lastly, when I was certain the background and border along the top were fully dry, I heat-embossed a sentiment from the Inside Greetings Christmas Stamps.

Card No. 4: For this card, using the Nativity Scene Builder Dies, I switched up my color palette a bit, selecting warm tones. For this vertically oriented card, I wanted to have the stable scene in the foreground with Bethlehem behind it, like it's up in the hills. To do this, I started by inking the sky with Lumberjack Plaid, Candied Apple, and scattered straw in the center (mostly hidden by the buildings). For my hills, cut using the Slimline Nature Border Dies, I inked them up using Tea Dye Distress Ink and then inked the star and the area glowing behind Jesus with Scattered Straw ink. Initially I had just the one hill, but I felt like the buildings were standing a little too tall and stark against the red, so I added in the hills behind them to look like they are in a bit of a valley. I wasn't left with very many places to squeeze my greeting, so I repositioned my elements so they would fit around the greeting from the Inside Greetings Christmas Stamps set and be framed by the stable. I was happy with how the scene came together, and I think this could be reimagined with a variety of different color schemes.

Card No. 5: I couldn't create a card with the new Nativity Scene Builder Dies without taking our Sunburst Embossing Folder out for a spin. I found a digital nativity scene that provided the inspiration I needed for my background, and I've walked you through the steps of how I recreated that background below. I was really pleased that it turned out the way I was envisioning!  To complete my card, I cut a stitched hill using the border die from our Slimline Nature Border Dies and added a heat-embossed sentiment from the Inside Greetings Christmas Stamps.

The create my sunburst background I started with a piece of 5.5" x 5.5" 120 pound white cardstock. I first inked up the raised surface of one side of my embossing folder using the brayer with the Colorbox blue pigment ink from my stash. In hindsight, the Versafine Clair Paradise or Bluebell inks would also work well for this. You need to use a pigment ink that can stick well to the plastic surface without beading up like dye ink would. Even though I don't need a full square piece of cardstock on my final card, I thought it would give me more options for rotating, if I messed up one corner. In the end, I felt all the corners were usable, but now it also has the added bonus of 1/3 being leftover to use on a future card.

After rolling the ink out on the surface of my embossing folder, I took a Q-tip with a bit of rubbing alcohol and carefully removed any portions of ink that accidentally got onto the recessed portions of the folder. I then laid my white cardstock on the un-inked side of the embossing folder and carefully closed the inked "lid" down onto my paper and held it tight so it wouldn't shift before running it through my die-cutting machine. When I removed the panel, there were some areas that didn't ink up as well as I would have liked to I zapped it with my heat gun and then filled in the lighter spots with a coordinating Copic Marker in the same color.

Next, I inked up the entire outside edges with a medium to light blend of Prize Ribbon Distress Ink, followed by Chipped Sapphire and Black Soot on the most outside corners. While I never used Distress Ink on the centers, I still wanted to lighten the raised rays that had been inked in my first step with the pigment ink, so I smooshed some of my Hero Arts Unicorn Pigment Ink onto my glass mat and then rubbed it around the center and into the rays using my finger. I decided I would have more control that way, and it would be easier to wash my finger later than sacrifice one of my precious brushes to become filled with pigment ink that was tinted with blue.

Card No. 6: For my last card today using the Nativity Scene Builder Dies, I switched gears and this time went a bit lighter and airier for my scene, cutting the pieces from white cardstock. For my background, I blended Salty Ocean, Shaded Lilac, and Spun Sugar Distress Inks before adding a grassy border cut from white cardstock, using the Mini Grass Border Dies (running them through twice to span the distance), and inking the bottom with a blend of Bundled Sage and Twisted Citron Distress inks. I splattered the background with water before adding stars with a white gel pen and scattering small die-cut stars across the sky using the mini dies from the Nativity set. Lastly, I stamped the "O Holy Night" in black ink using the Holy Night Stamps.

That wraps up today's sneak peek. I'm so happy you joined me today! I'd love to give a $40 gift code to one lucky winner, who will be randomly selected from comments on this blog post and on our Facebook and Instagram posts. Our daily contests will run through Saturday, August 29th, at Midnight PST, with winners announced here on our blog on Sunday, August 30th.

Here's a closer look at our new Nativity Scene Builder Dies, which will be available for purchase starting tomorrow.

Other Supplies Used:

Christmas Trimmings Stamps Shop at: Sunny Studio	Christmas Trimmings Dies Shop at: Sunny Studio	Brilliant Banner 4 Dies Shop at: Sunny Studio	Slimline Nature Borders Shop at: Sunny Studio
Classy Christmas Stamps Shop at: Sunny Studio	Classy Christmas Dies Shop at: Sunny Studio	Holy Night Stamps Shop at: Sunny Studio	Holy Night Dies Shop at: Sunny Studio
Inside Greetings-Christmas Shop at: Sunny Studio	Mini Grass Border Dies Shop at: Sunny Studio	Beach Bus Stamps Shop at: Sunny Studio	Beach Bus Dies Shop at: Sunny Studio
Sunburst Embossing Shop at: Sunny Studio	Spellbinders Masking Sheets Shop at: Sunny Studio	We R Nesting Circles Dies Shop at: Sunny Studio	Hero Arts White Detail Shop at: Sunny Studio
VersaMark Watermark Ink Shop at: Sunny Studio	Versafine Onyx Black Ink Shop at: Sunny Studio	PinkFresh Studio Blending Brushes Shop at: Sunny Studio

Sneak Peek: Introducing Alpine Adventure Stamps & Dies

Hello, and welcome to day 3 of our Holiday Sneak Peek Week!  All week, I am sharing cards showcasing our newest collection, which will be available for purchase this Friday!

Card No. 1: Today I am showcasing our new Alpine Adventure Stamps and Dies, which feature a pond surrounded by fir trees and distant mountains, and include five adorable penguins and a polar bear engaged in winter activities such as ice skating, sledding, and skiing. As you will see from my card examples today, the "pond" portion can be colored in various ways to enhance this set's versatility. It was also designed to work beautifully for both portrait and landscape A2 cards, 5.5" square cards, as well as vertical 5x7 cards.

For my first card, I started by inking the sky and card base along the top with Tumbled Glass and Spun Sugar Distress inks to create a beautiful glow around the snowy mountains in my scene. I then added a greeting from the set and heat-embossed white snowflakes around the sentiment, using the six small snowflakes from the set as well. I just adore how crisp the details came out.

For all of my cards today, I stamped and fussy-cut a mask from Spellbinders Masking Material, and I was able to reuse the same mask over and over for every card shared here today. While the majority of my scene was colored with Copic Markers, I colored the frozen pond using more of that Tumbled Glass Distress ink, keeping it lighter towards the center and darker on the edges to stand out against the white snowy banks. I then positioned three of the ice-skating penguins from the set onto the "ice" and colored their winter accessories pink to match the sky's glow. Lastly, I added a small strip of pink plaid-patterned paper from the All is Bright Paper pack and a stitched edge using the Ribbon & Lace Border Dies.

Card Set No. 2: Next up is a card set I created using a single stamped scene from the Alpine Adventure Stamps, carefully cut exactly down the center to use on two cards. I love that this kept any of my precious coloring from ending up on the cutting room floor, and that the simple way I colored these images would be fast enough to mass-produce for your Christmas card list! 

For both of these cards, I repeatedly stamped the same six little snowflakes for my background, and this went surprisingly fast because I used my MISTI tool to stamp them in one corner, then flip my panel to the opposite corner and stamp the same six snowflakes. I was then able to repeat my stamping on my second card, with the images already in place. This made the process go surprisingly fast. I also used Versafine Clair Veri Peri ink, which stamped the snowflakes very crisply on the first pass, without the need for double-stamping to get a solid image.

Ice Skating Polar Bear Card: When it came to framing my scene, for my first card I used the same pink plaid paper from the All is Bright Paper pack and die-cut a scalloped mat using the Mini Mat & Tag 2 Dies. To add the stitching to my snowy scene, I carefully laid my background down on the same Mini Mat & Tag 2 Dies, using washi tape to hold the die in place before running it through my die-cutting machine. When it cut out, there were tiny bits of the scalloped edge remaining, so I used my paper trimmer to trim them down smoothly and layer them over the pink scalloped mat. This sky on this particular card felt a bit unbalanced by the visually heavier sentiment in the bottom left, so I remedied that by stamping three small snowflakes from the set with Versafine Clair Baby Pink Ink.

Skiing Penguins Card: For my second card in the set, I used the Mini Mat & Tag 3 Dies to create the scalloped frame. I love how the Alpine Adventure Stamps have a snowdrift on the right side, perfect for placing critters. It was just what I needed to make it look like this pair of penguins had just skied down the mountain. For both of these cards, I stamped shimmery greetings using Versafine Clair Veri Peri ink and then heat-embossed them using Hero Arts White Satin Pearl Embossing Powder.

Card No. 3: For my next card using the Alpine Adventure Stamps, I focused on the penguins without utilizing the alpine scene from the set. I started by trimming an A2-sized panel from an aqua multi-dot print from our Joyful Holiday Paper pack. I then layered it with a pink scalloped frame, cut using the Fancy Frames Rectangle Dies, and a piece of white cardstock, cut just a hair smaller to adhere below it. I inked the center where my penguins would go with some Tumbled Glass Distress ink and then stacked the smallest Stitched Heart 2 Dies and Scalloped Heart Dies to layer beneath my penguin on the sled. I flanked that penguin with two different ice-skating penguins on each side, pointing inward to face him. 

For my greeting, I used the large "Winter Wishes" sentiment from the set, stamped using Versafine Clair Bali Blue Ink. There was something about the card that still fell a bit flat for me, so I dressed up the greeting with a pennant strip, which I elongated using the die from the Notebook Photo Corner Dies and the blue snowflake print that was trimmed off and left over from the back side of the paper I used for my background.

Card No. 4: Next up is a card using almost only the images, scene, and greeting from the Alpine Adventure Stamps and Dies in a light and airy red, white, and blue color scheme. The only other product I utilized was the stitched trail from the Sweet As Can Bee Stamps, which I stamped using Gina K. Blue Sky Ink.

Card No. 5: Next up is a card using the snowy scene and greeting from the new Alpine Adventure Stamps, but this time I added in the snowmen from our Feeling Frosty Stamps. I die-cut the scene into a square using the largest die from the Stitched Square Dies and then matted it with red plaid patterned paper from the All is Bright Paper pack, die-cut with the Scalloped Square 1 Large Dies. Lastly, to add a touch of sparkle to my snowy trees, I applied Stickles Stardust Glitter. 

Card No. 6: Up next is another card pairing different critter images with the scene from the Alpine Adventure Stamps. This time I mixed in the reindeer, gifts, and greeting from the Reindeer Games Stamps, with the Santa, Sleigh, and gifts from the Santa Claus Lane Stamps. I love how fun and festive it turned out with the fir tree backdrop!

Card No. 7: Switching gears, I have a couple of cards that show how the new Alpine Adventure Stamps aren't limited to just winter scenes. I was able to color the ground to look like rocks and dirt rather than snow, and color my mountains a majestic purple, perfect for a fall card. For my focal point, I used the vintage trailer from our Happy Camper Stamps and the car from City Streets Stamps, coloring them in a fun, retro-inspired pink. I completed my card with a "happy retirement" banner using the greeting from the Happy Thoughts Stamps, which I heat-embossed onto a pink print from the Gingham Pastels Paper pack and die-cut with the Brilliant Banner 3 Dies. The patterned paper wasn't the perfect shade to match my Copic markers, but I was able to make it work by inking it up with a light blend of Saltwater Taffy Distress ink.

Card No. 8: For my last card of the day featuring the Alpine Adventure Stamps, I colored the scene to look like a day at the lake, adding the kids from our retiring Beach Babies Stamps. I realized after finishing this card that we only have a handful of these sets left in stock, but the kids from our Coastal Cuties Stamps and Kiddie Pool Stamps will also work for a card like this if you have trouble getting this particular set at some point. In fact, I ended up using the greeting from our Kiddie Pool stamps, even though the Beach Babies set has the same one in a different font. I also added the water splash images from that set, stamping them in dark blue ink and adding white highlights with a gel pen. I LOVE how much mileage I got from this one stamp set!

That wraps up today's sneak peek. I'm so happy you joined me today! I'd love to give a $40 gift code to one lucky winner, who will be randomly selected from comments on this blog post and on our Facebook and Instagram posts. Our daily contests will run through Saturday, August 29th, at Midnight PST, with winners announced here on our blog on Sunday, August 30th.

Here's a closer look at our new 6x6 Alpine Adventure Stamps and Alpine Adventure Dies, which are now available for purchase.

Other Supplies Used:

Mini Mat & Tag 2 Dies Shop at: Sunny Studio	Mini Mat & Tag 3 Dies Shop at: Sunny Studio	Notebook Photo Corners Dies Shop at: Sunny Studio	Fancy Frames- Rectangles Shop at: Sunny Studio
Stitched Square Dies Shop at: Sunny Studio	Scalloped Square 1 Large Die Shop at: Sunny Studio	Scalloped Heart Dies Shop at: Sunny Studio	Stitched Heart 2 Dies Shop at: Sunny Studio
Santa Claus Lane Stamps Shop at: Sunny Studio	Santa Claus Lane Dies Shop at: Sunny Studio	Reindeer Games Stamps Shop at: Sunny Studio	Reindeer Games Dies Shop at: Sunny Studio
Feeling Frosty Stamps Shop at: Sunny Studio	Feeling Frosty Dies Shop at: Sunny Studio	Sweet As Can Bee Stamps Shop at: Sunny Studio	Happy Thoughts Stamps Shop at: Sunny Studio
City Streets Stamps Shop at: Sunny Studio	City Streets Dies Shop at: Sunny Studio	Happy Camper Stamps Shop at: Sunny Studio	Happy Camper Dies Shop at: Sunny Studio
Kiddie Pool Stamps Shop at: Sunny Studio	Kiddie Pool Dies Shop at: Sunny Studio	Beach Babies Stamps Shop at: Sunny Studio	Beach Babies Dies Shop at: Sunny Studio
Gingham Pastels 6x6 Paper Shop at: Sunny Studio	Joyful Holiday Paper Shop at: Sunny Studio	All Is Bright Paper Shop at: Sunny Studio	Brilliant Banner 3 Dies Shop at: Sunny Studio
Versafine Clair Ink- Bali Blue Shop at: Sunny Studio	Verafine Clair Ink- Very Peri Shop at: Sunny Studio	Versafine Clair Ink- Baby Pink Shop at: Sunny Studio	Versafine Onyx Black Ink Shop at: Sunny Studio
VersaMark Watermark Ink Shop at: Sunny Studio	Ribbon & Lace Dies Shop at: Sunny Studio	Hero Arts Ultra Fine Clear Shop at: Sunny Studio	Hero Arts White Detail Shop at: Sunny Studio
Tsukineko Jumbo Dauber Shop at: Sunny Studio	PinkFresh Studio Blending Brushes Shop at: Sunny Studio	Stickles Stardust Glitter Shop at: Sunny Studio