The Manger

A charming Nativity scene that is great fun to make. It makes use of watercolours to colour in the design, and the deep blue background makes the perfect night sky.

Materials and Tools

1. The first step will be to make the Nativity scene. "The Manger" stamp is perfect for this, though you could also try using the "Shepherds" design instead.

Stamp the design onto some good quality white card, such as our watercolour paper, using black Stazon ink. This is a waterproof ink so it won't smudge when we start colouring in the design.

Now the fun part is colouring in the design. We find the Embossing Pens are perfect for watercolour effects like this. Pick a colour and scribble a bit of ink onto a plastic or glass surface (we have a old plate we use here, but the lid of an inkpad or an acrylic block will work perfectly well). You can now mix a little water with the ink using a paintbrush or the Aquaflow brushes to adjust the shade - use more water for a more subtle colour. Before you start colouring directly onto your masterpiece, test the colour on a scrap of card.

Handy Hint: If you find the colours wash into each other when you apply them, allow each part to dry a bit before changing colour.
To create a shading effect, start with plenty of ink at one side, and gradually water things down as you move across for a lighter shade. You can also try adding a tiny amount of a dark colour while it's still wet for really deep shadow effects. Experiment and have a bit of fun! You can always stamp a new one if it goes a bit wrong!

2. When everything is dry, carefully cut out the design, cutting the stars away in the process. Next stamp the design a second time, only this time use a silver ink onto a rectangle of blue card (we used the Arabian Blue card which is perfect for a night sky background). We also coloured in the Guiding Star using some gold glitter glue to make it extra special.

3. Finally, we need to put everything together. Using mini-mounting pads, attach the cut out coloured in nativity scene to the blue card, making sure the design exactly lines up with the silver version you stamped onto it. Mount the blue card onto a slightly bigger rectangle of silver mirri card and finally stick that onto a card blank. Double sided tape or glue can be used to do this.

You're done!

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