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