"My Favorite Things" - December Stampin' Pretty Pals Blog Hop

Good Morning Fellow Stampers ~

It's the 2nd Wednesday of December!  I'm trying to figure out how we got here!!  It seems like, despite all the twists and turns of 2020, that the days and weeks have flown by!!  Christmas is just weeks away, which means those last details, shopping, mailing, and baking need to be winding down! 

I'm excited about this month's Stampin' Pretty Pals Blog Hop - This month our Design Team is showcasing each designer's “Favorite Things” from our current catalogs; or, you might even get a "sneak peek" at something wonderful coming in the new Mini Catalog in January.  So be sure you check out what each Designer has to offer and I hope you will be inspired!!

You may be starting the hop here or you may be hopping over from Tricia Chuba at ButterDish Designs.    Either way, you’ve come to the right place.  When you're done perusing today's project, you’ll find the the full line-up below to help you move or “hop” along your way from Pal-to-Pal.

I think one of my "favorite things" that Stampin' Up! does so well, is beautiful products for the religious aspect of Christmas.  And this year's Peaceful Nativity Bundle really hit it out of the park for me.

 

Today's project is a framed piece of artwork created using this bundle and other products.

This first picture isn't the greatest, but I wanted you to see how I added LED lights in the "hills" for effect and to make the artwork glow in the evenings.  I love it!!

 

Let's take a closer look at the piece out of the frame.

This is a 9" x 9" shadowbox frame which works out perfectly for a project like this; not too big ~ not too small!  It also allows for the popped dimension of the pieces, as well as the LED lights tucked behind the "hill" to shine on the project.

I used a piece of navy with copper stars from the Brightly Gleaming Specialty DSP.

I created "sandy hills" using the dies from the new pre-release of the Curvy Dies, adding some "dimension" with a Stampin' Blends marker.

It's behind the lower "hill" that I tucked my little LED light string that is brought in from the back of the frame.

 

The stable background is cut from a piece of our In Good Taste DSP; and is backed with a piece of Soft Suede cardstock to give it a big of thickness and support.

The stable front was stamped on Sahara Sand cardstock with Memento Tuxedo Black ink and colored with Stampin' Blends; then attached to a Foam Adhesive Sheet before being cut out with the coordinating die.  This allowed for some great dimension.

I did similar with the palm trees.  Some are just backed with a coordinating piece of cardstock; others not only have the cardstock backing to the Designer Series Paper they were cut from, but also have the Foam Adhesive Sheet.  This means some trees can lie flat to the background while others can be popped up for fabulous dimension!!!

Finally all the animals and Mary/Joseph/Baby Jesus were all stamped on Sahara Sand cardstock with Memento Tuxedo Black ink and colored with Stampin' Blends.  A tip here ~ alcohol ink coloring on "colored" cardstock like this gives a very different effect to your coloring from being on plain white cardstock.  It can really be fun!  So give it a try!

Each piece is cut with the corresponding die and popped with dimensionals.  I added Clear Wink of Stella on each character to give lots of shimmer to the piece.  The star is die cut from Champagne Foil; and I added Champagne Rhinestones across the background designer paper for lots of added sparkle.

 

It's a fun piece and I hope you have enjoyed it!

 

This set will not survive the retirement of our catalog at the end of the month, so if you don't have it, be sure you snag it today!!!

More inspiration awaits!  Use the Blog Hop Line-up below to visit the rest of this month’s Design Team.  My fellow Pals are excited to show you what they’ve created!  Mark your calendars for our next blog hop, which will be Wednesday, January 13th when our theme will be “Time to Sale-a-Brate!”  Now won't that be fun!!  I can hardly wait to share all the new fun with you in a few short weeks!  See you then!!

I Love to hear from you.  Leave your questions or comments below!!

Until Next Time . .  Puppy Hugs, . . .

Pals Blog Hop Line-Up:

1. 1. Mary Fish at Stampin’ Pretty
   2. Mary Hanson at Up North Stampin’
   3. Debbie Mageed at Secrets to Stamping
   4. Tricia Chuba at ButterDish Designs
   5. Wendy Klein at Doggone Delightful Stampin’
   6. Jackie Beers at Blue Line Stamping
   7. Sue Jackson at Just Peachy Stamping
   8. Melissa Seplowitz at The Stamping Ninja
   9. Jeanie H Stark at Just Stampin’
   10. Lisa Ann Bernard at Queen B Creations
   11. Debbie Crowley at expressivelydeb…
   12. Stesha Bloodhart at Stampin’ Hoot!
   13. Jennifer Roque at Stamp Camp with Jen
   14. Lori Pinto at LollyPop Paper and Ink
   15. Pamela Sadler at Stampin Pink Rose
   16. Beth McCullough at Stamping Mom
   17. Su Mohr at Aromas And Art
   18. Jennifer Michalski at Stamping Serenity
   19. Deb Walker at Deb Stamps Life
   20. Peggy Noe at Pretty Paper Cards
   21. Rae Harper Burnet at Wild West Paper Arts
   22. Lori Webb at Clever Copies
   23. Renae Novak at Blessed By Cards w/Renae Novak
   24. Lisa Milligan at Stamp a Rainbow