Nativity Inspiration

Good morning, friends! Welcome back to Day 5 of the Papertrey Ink September countdown! Anyone who loves the nativity story is sure to find joy in the sets we're showcasing today. The beautiful images and sentiments are perfect for meaningful Christmas crafting. If religious projects are at the top of your list this Christmas, you're sure to enjoy today's inspiration. Let's get right to it!

Despite having been in love with them since Tinsel & Tags released last year, I had yet to create a Petite Places dome. So to remedy that, I created a gift set featuring the Petite Places: Nativity collection as well as Dawn's new O Holy Night sentiment set.

I wanted the items in this set to coordinate, but I didn't want them to be exactly the same. I like giving gift and card sets with a little variety.

I began with the card. I die cut the Bethlehem scene from white cardstock and blended Fine Linen and Classic Kraft inks until I was happy. I then stamped that piece with a partial sentiment from O Holy Night using Enchanted Evening ink. The full sentiment was too long for the space I was working with, so I just masked off the part of the sentiment I didn't want to use before inking. I followed up with Versamark and clear powder to give the sentiment a shine and to make it stand out against the matte finish of the buildings.

Next, I die cut the starry Scene It piece from Night Sky Shimmer cardstock. I inlaid that into a panel of White Shimmer that I'd embellished with the new String Frames die and some metallic gold embroidery floss. I gold heat embossed the star from Petite Places: Nativity onto a White Shimmer card base and mounted the night sky panel using foam tape. I added the Bethlehem piece with more foam tape and embellished the star with a tiny self-adhesive rhinestone for a touch of added sparkle.

The ornament came next and I had so much fun putting it together that I see many more domes in my future!

I began by die cutting the night sky Scene It shape from Night Sky Shimmer cardstock and a Scene It: Basic Backer shape from White Shimmer stock. I gold embossed the star before adhering the night sky layer to the backer layer and set that whole piece aside. Next I went about creating the sand dunes. I xyroned pieces of Fine Linen and Classic Kraft cardstock before die cutting them with the Scene It: Bethlehem palm tree layer and the small hill in the Scene It: Everyday set. I removed the adhesive backing and sprinkled the sticky surfaces with decorative sand to give them a realistic appearance. I then die cut the palm tree layer from Ripe Avocado cardstock and adhered that to the back of the Fine Linen dune. I attached the dunes to the night sky layer with foam tape and then die cut the stable, people, and animals from Petite Places: Nativity.

I stamped the figures and stable with their coordinating images. I textured the straw roof with the Woodgrain Impression Plate before attaching it to the stable. I used foam tape and liquid adhesive to adhere the stable and figures into place in the Bethlehem scene. Once everything was in place, I embellished the star with another self-adhesive rhinestone. Finally, I secured the dome into place by running liquid adhesive around the bottom edge before pressing it to the backer layer. I used E6000 and it seems to be holding up quite well.

Next up, I have a quick tag that uses many of these same elements, but with a slightly more modern color scheme. Plus, it really couldn't be much easier. Bonus!

I began by die cutting two of the Tag Sale #8 shapes from white cardstock. I die cut the coordinating frame from one of the tags and textured it with the Cover Plate: Center Stage die (I just used the impression plate sandwich to make sure it didn't cut all the way though). I stamped the sentiment from O Holy Night and added a heat embossed star. I adhered the frame into place and added a rhinestone to the star. Easy as can be!

Finally, I have a set of packaging items that I created by pairing my Ribbon Slider Sentiments and die with Dawn's new Enclosed: Bell set.

First up is the frame tag. I love the simplicity. I just die cut the Ribbon Slider tag from Rustic White cardstock and stamped it with the Ripe Avocado frame. I die cut the holly and stamped it with the coordinating images from Dawn's set.

Next up is the pillow box.

I die cut the Essential Pillow Box shape from Rustic White cardstock and stamped the Ribbon Slider Sentiment onto the front with Ripe Avocado ink. Next, I added the holly that I'd inked with Spring Moss and Simply Chartreuse inks. I stamped the sentiment a second time, this time with Pure Poppy, onto a scrap of Rustic White and then clear heat embossed it for a bit of shine. I then punched out the "special" circle. I added that atop the circle on the pillow box with foam tape and embellished with a few wooden stars from Betsy's Make It Market Mini: Folk Holiday kit. Cute!

And finally we have the bell hostess tag.

I die cut the solid bell and holly from Rustic White cardstock and the outline bell and clapper from Spring Moss cardstock. I trimmed "joy" from the center of the bell outline and adhered it to the solid bell before stamping the sentiment from the Ribbon Slider set. I stamped the holly with the coordinating images and adhered it to the bell with foam tape. I embellished the berries with fine garnet glitter as a finishing touch.

Thank you so much for joining me today! I'll be back again tomorrow with this month's wrap-up post, but in the meantime Nichole, Amy, Ashley, Betsy, Dawn, Heather, Laurie, Maile, and Melissa all have projects to share with you. Erin is also sharing additional projects featuring her new Christmas Tree Change-Up set. I'll see you tomorrow!

Recipes:
Joy To The World Card
Stamps: Petite Places: Nativity, O Holy Night - Papertrey Ink
Cardstock: White Shimmer, Night Sky Shimmer - Papertrey Ink; white
Ink: Classic Kraft, Fine Linen, Enchanted Evening - Papertrey Ink; VersaMark - Tsukineko
Other: Scene It: Bethlehem Die, String Frames Die - Papertrey Ink; Foam Tape - Scotch; Metallic Gold Embroidery Thread - DMC; Gold, Clear Embossing Powder - Filigree; Self-Adhesive Rhinestone - Mark Richards

Nativity Ornament
Stamps: Petite Places: Nativity - Papertrey Ink
Cardstock: Ripe Avocado, Classic Kraft, Fine Linen, White Shimmer, Night Sky Shimmer - Papertrey Ink; white
Ink: Dark Chocolate, Classic Kraft - Papertrey Ink; VersaMark - Tsukineko
Other: Scene It: Bethlehem Die, Clear Tag Dome - Papertrey Ink; Foam Tape - Scotch; Gold Embossing Powder - Filigree; Self-Adhesive Rhinestone - Mark Richards; Xyron; Sand

O Holy Night Tag
Stamps: Petite Places: Nativity, O Holy Night - Papertrey Ink
Cardstock: white
Ink: Tropical Teal - Papertrey Ink; VersaMark - Tsukineko
Other: Tag Sale #8, Cover Plate: Center Stage - Papertrey Ink; Self-Adhesive Rhinestone - Mark Richards

Holly Gift Packaging Set
Stamps: Enclosed: Bell, Ribbon Slider Sentiments - Papertrey Ink
Cardstock: Rustic White - Papertrey Ink
Ink: Ripe Avocado, Pure Poppy, Spring Moss, Simply Chartreuse - Papertrey Ink; VersaMark - Tsukineko
Other: Enclosed: Bell Die, Ribbon Slider Tag Die, Essential Pillow Box Die, Rustic Jute Button Twine, Wooden Stars (Folk Holiday Mini Kit) - Papertrey Ink; Garnet Glitter - Martha Stewart Crafts; Foam Tape - Scotch