Oh come all ye Faithful

It is almost Christmas and as promised I managed to squeeze in the time to finish the instructions for the two remaining pieces of my nativity scene.

When I created the shepherd I knew that I wanted to not only have him hold a shepherd's staff, but I wanted to add a little companion to his side. At first I had a bit of trouble coming up with a simple design for a very small sheep; but I persisted and the results are this adorable little lamb.

The angel was a simple process as I had created a similar one back in July. This time the angel is wearing heavenly robes tied with a silver sash. I also used switched out the white paper of her wings to vellum.

Supplies used:
Cardstock: Bazzill and Recollections
Die; Curvy Keepsake - SU
Punches - see individual instructions below for details
Misc.: silver rope trim, butcher's twine, white gel pen

Instructions for shepherd and his little sheep:

Instructions for heavenly angel:

Thanks for stopping by. I hope you enjoyed my nativity punch art. Merry Christmas!

We Three Kings

I'm trying hard to get these to you before Christmas. I managed to find the time last night to complete the instructions for the next three pieces so today I am sharing the three kings (wise men) of my nativity punch art.

We have Gaspar in his green cloak and golden crown:

Balthazar with a purple cloak and black beard:

Melchior in a golden cloak & crown and white beard:

Supplies used:
Cardstock: Bazzill, and Recollections
Die: Curvy Keepsake - SU
punches: various, for details see individual instructions below
Misc.: Gold foil paper, white gel pen, red rhinestone.

Instructions for: Balthazar:

Instructions for Gaspar:

Instructions for Melchior:

Thank you for stopping by! Make sure to come back for my next post which will contain instructions for the two remaining nativity characters (as well as the darling little sheep).

Nativity Punch art - Manger

As promised today I am sharing the instructions for the manger portion of my nativity punch art.
All characters are free standing as the base is made from the Curvy Keepsake die.

Baby Jesus in the manger is adhered to a base made from acetate. I made the bottom portion a little wider than I normally do for these treat holder so it can accommodate an electronic tealight. As you can see in the photo below, it's quite amazing how much light one of these little things can generate.

The manger uses the tall, pointed portion of the Curvy Keepsake die, which allows for the star to be overhead.

Both Mary and Joseph were made from the shorter, handled portion of the same die.

 

Supplies used:
Cardstock: Recollections and Bazzill
Die: Curvy Keepsake - SU
Punches: various, see individual instructions below.
Misc.: white gel pen, a little bakers twine, electronic tealight - optional.

Manger instructions:

Mary instructions:

Joseph instructions:

Thanks for stopping by. Hope you come back for my next post which will feature the three kings/wise man for this nativity.

Punch Art Nativity

I have been very busy with work and preparations for Christmas. Unfortunately this didn't leave as much time for crafting as I would have liked. I did manage to finish this sweet nativity this past week.

They are of course all made using the Curvy Keepsake die as the base. I did not intend these to be used as treat holder, although they can, but rather as a display. The Curvy Keepsake base allows each character to stand on it's own and in the case of the manger it doubles as a votive holder.
This would be perfect to do with the family. Kids can easily help with the assembly of characters, and even punch some of the shapes.

I will try my bets to finish the instructions for all over the weekend so that I can still post them before Christmas. My plan is to have three posts, the first with Joseph, Mary and the babe, then the three wise men and last the angel and shepherd.

Thanks for stopping by. I hope you come back early next week for the first set of instructions.

Holiday Luminaire

For the past few months I have been lucky enough to be able to enjoy an evening with a small group of crafty friends.
We get together in the first week of the month at one of our homes and just relax, chat and craft a little. Usually everyone works on a project they have already started but as it is so close to Christmas we discussed maybe organizing a specific craft for the holidays everyone would enjoy.

I can't take credit for the project idea itself, that was all Linda's. She came across a photo of a holiday luminaire made from a recycled jar featuring a paper silhouette scene around the outer edge. We then worked together to organize supplies and instructions.
The most difficult part was to find a template for the silhouette scene. We wanted to make the project simple but provide everyone with the opportunity to make it their own without needing the skill to draw a design themselves.
I looked through my various dies and large punches and came up with the idea to use some of these as stencils to create a scene of choice. This worked rather well and only required the windows to be cut free hand.

Here is one of my luminaries (yes, I made more than one)

These are the basic die (and bare tree punch) shapes we used:

I always find it such a pleasant surprise when I am able to use some of my paper crafting supplies in a new and unexpected way.

To create my silhouette scene I started by drawing a base line a few inches from the bottom of my black cardstock for the ground. I then placed various trees and houses along this line and outlined them with pencil. The scene was then cut out using scissors or a craft knife. I actually used both, scissors for the basic outline and my craft knife to cut out the  "in-between" spaces and windows.

The results were this lovely scene:

 

I used a strip of double-sided adhesive tape along the bottom edge of my jar to attached the paper. The top of the jar was then finished with paper raffia, a little gold wire and a Christmas charm.

  

I quite like how this turned out and made a second one for my sister. I could see several of these sitting on a fireplace mantel or window sill for a very pretty holiday decoration.

And these are not limited to Christmas. I am now thinking of making some for next Halloween changing the scene a little by adding bats and ghouls, maybe a witch. I'll have to see what dies and punches I have that will work best

Supplies used:
Cardstock: Recollections black
Dies used for templates: Happy Home - SU, small & large fir tee - Sizzix (original red)
Punch: Mega bare tree - EK Success
Misc.: mason jar, raffie/ribbon, brass charm, wire.
Thanks for stopping by! Hope to see you again soon.