Beautiful Nativity Sets...Vintage, Paper...and Living!

Good evening, everyone! I'm freezing tonight, and I'm in California! How's everyone else doing? I've got my flannel Nick & Nora vintage print jammies on (my favorites!), some thick socks, and I'm still cold!

I love Nativity sets! Whether they're vintage or modern, reproduction or made of Play-Do, they always touch my heart...

...and I just have to have them! I love them so much, that I leave one of mine out year round...

...a couple of years ago, when putting all my Christmas decorations away, I thought...this isn't Santa Claus, it's commemorating the birth of Christ--why not leave it out all year to help us remember? So, I do...and I love it!

This nativity is by Nicole Sayre--I love her work! Kind of a mix of vintage and folk art--just beautiful! Lovely pastel colors...just a little sparkle...perfect!

Here's another of the sets I love...this one is by another favorite artist of mine...Teena Flanner. She does these beautiful papier mache' figures using antique chocolate molds--so they really are vintage pieces in a way--I love that!

If you're at all interested in the history of nativity sets, as I am, I found this great site that has tons of information...

Since I was thinking of nativities today, that's what I used as the subject for my card...

This beautiful image is from Crafty Secrets' "Christmas" Images & Journal Notes--you know I love using this booklet!

Isn't the image just gorgeous? I love the calligraphic font used underneath--beautiful! I remembered I had a pack of brads that I've never used that were perfect for this--can't remember who made them, though--got them at Michael's...

...perfect, aren't they?! The flourishes around the letters are so similar to those in the image!

Finished things off with my new favorite Martha Stewart "White Gold" fine glitter...I'm telling you--this stuff shines like you wouldn't believe!

Did some hand drawn flourishes along the border...added some ribbon and lace, and that's about it!

Once a year here in our town, a local church puts on a HUGE nativity--live! They work on it all year long--have even altered the church itself and the surrounding area to accommodate the show and all the people who come every year.

I took a lot of pictures of the Bethlehem street scenes, Joseph and Mary being turned away at the different inns--on a real donkey, mind you! Angels singing over the hills of Bethlehem--using cranes--they're really up there! But I thought I'd limit my picture for the evening to this...

...what can I say? Just perfect--peaceful and beautiful--the reason for the season...

Sweet dreams!

Just a Reminder About new Vintage/Retro Design Team Call!

Good afternoon! I wanted to re-run this post to let you know about an exciting new challenge coming up soon! I think it got lost in all the posting I did yesterday, and I don't want anyone that's interested to miss out! This will be a vintage/retro-themed challenge group, and we're looking to have a lot of fun with this!

Julie Ranae is the head designer of this new challenge group, and has kindly asked me to join her as a designer in this new adventure...and we're looking for more talented, vintage-inspired artists to join us!

***Classic Vintage***


Here's what Julie posted on her blog:


DeSiGn TeAm CaLL......

There is always something new going on and
now we are looking for some new designers with a vintage edge.
Are you a vintage girl or guy?
If so, then we want to hear from you!

We are looking for designers who would like to participate
in a brand new challenge beginning in January 2010 which
focuses on a style reflecting pre-1975.

Call it vintage...call it retro...are we calling YOU?!?


Here is all you need to do:

Send me an email with your name and blog link.

If you would like, you can send up to 3 JPEG files
of favorite projects you have done which reflect your vintage-style.

Send a list of any online galleries you participate in
such as Splitcoast, Graphic45, The Play Date Cafe, etc. and please let us know if you have been or are currently on any other design teams.

We are asking a 6 month commitment to the team contributing one project per week
with possible hosting once per month.

SEND YOUR SUBMISSIONS TO:

julieranae@hotmail.com

Deadline for design team submissions is Sunday, Dec 20th.

We welcome designers from all over the world!



***Fabulous Retro!***


...and...

DESIGN TEAM CALL

If you hadn't heard, The Open Window has announced a design team call for those who specialize in vintage/retro paper arts. There are so many wonderful places to draw inspiration from for lovers of vintage and we have a new challenge blog that we want to include in that list.

To get more details, click HERE!

Some of my favorite vintage-style blogs are: A Vintage Chic, Iralamija, Lilybean's Paperie.

Some of my favorite retro-style blogs are:
Gauche Alchemy, Just Add Glitter & Stir, A Vintage Spirit and Chronically Vintage.

Visiting these blogs may help you to know if you have THE STYLE!

Well, I can't say it any better than that, so if this strikes you as something you would enjoy, please get in touch with Julie right away! We're looking forward to hearing from you!

The Play Date Cafe' Challenge #7--Classic Santa

Hello again! Two in one night once again--makes me look very chatty, doesn't it?!

It's time once again for The Play Date Cafe' Challenge! This week our host is the lovely Sandi, and here are the colors she chose:

Wonderful, classic Christmas colors, aren't they? So, of course I had to do a little something like this...

It just had to be vintage Santa, didn't it?! This beautiful image is from Crafty Secrets' "Christmas" Images & Journal Notes booklet--I've been using it alot this season!

Made some more of my chunky, glittery snowflakes with Martha Stewart's lovely snowflake punches, topped them off with crystal rhinestones for just a bit more sparkle...some crisp white lace and plaid ribbon, and that's it!

Love that German gold glass glitter--so wonderfully sparkly--especially in person!

Can't wait to see what you all come up with! Make sure to link your creations to The Play Date Cafe site so we can all come and see what you've made!

Sweet dreams!