Nativity Stair Step Card Recipe & Instructions

I am extremely excited to share that I won my first Close To My Heart contest this weekend! I entered into the holiday card contest this weekend at the Close To My Heart Regional Celebration in Minneapolis and I won! The CTMH Corporate Staff chose their favorite 5 cards from all of the entries, and then the 300+ consultants who attended the contest voted for their favorite. I won $50 in Close To My Heart products!!! How cool is that?

Thank you to everyone who voted. I received many requests for the recipe and instructions. In exchange, my only request is that upon creating your card, you post and link it back to my blog so that I can see what you were inspired to create. I am constantly inspired by other paper-crafters creations. I found the original idea for creating a stair step card on www.splitcoaststampers.com. They have hundreds posted on their site to inspire us all!

Basic Instructions for a Stair Step Fold Card:
The card can be made portrait or landscape.
1. Cut a piece of cardstock to 10½” by 5”
2. Score the cardstock at 1¼”, 2½”, 4¼”, 6”, and 8¼”
3. Fold and burnish with your bone folder accordion style
4. Decorate your card; you can use dimensional elements, cut-out My Acrylix® Stamps, My Stickease®, etc.

Recipe:
Desert Sand Textured Cardstock
White Daisy Cardstock
Chocolate Cardstock
Dimensional Elements Framed Fun
Natural Hemp
Watercolor Pencils
Waterbrush
Micro-Tip Scissors
Sanding Kit
Sponge
Memory Book Glue Dots®
Liquid Glass
Brown Stazon® Ink Pad
Stazon® Cleaner

Exclusive Inks™:
Chocolate
Cocoa
Créme Brulee

My Acrylix® Stamp Sets:
Christmas Story
Christmas Melodies
Card Chatter—Christmas
Angel Sent
Shining Star
Campin' Fever

Instructions for this stair step card:
1. Sand and then sponge the Desert Sand textured cardstock base with Brown Stazon® Ink.
2. Stamp images with Brown Stazon® Ink on White Daisy cardstock multiple times so you have a few to play with while you are coloring them with your Waterbrush and Watercolor Pencils. Let them dry, then cut out your favorite images and attach them to the card using Memory Book Glue Dots®. For the smaller parts of the images, such as the donkey’s legs, you may want to us liquid glass to attach.
3. Sponge the 7¼” Dimensional Elements Framed Fun frame completely with cocoa ink, then stamp the tree branch image from Campin' Fever using Brown Stazon® Ink to cover the whole surface.
4. To create the back wall of the stable, cut a piece of Desert Sand Textured Cardstock 5” square, sponge heavily with chocolate and cocoa ink. Place a corner of the Dimensional Elements Framed Fun frame in the center of one of the sides. Cut off the top two corners of the cardstock. Cut the edges of the frame about ½” past the edge of the cardstock on both sides, then sand the ends to shape. Stamp the tree branch on white daisy cardstock 4 times with Brown Stazon® Ink, cut them out, and create the side beams, tucking the tops under the roof frame, and cutting off the bottom flush with the bottom of the cardstock.
5. To create the beam, cut the dimensional elements frame to the corners, the remaining pieces from the cut-off corner. Cut one 5” straight edge of the frame. Sand all of the ends to shape. Adhere the 3 pieces together using Memory Book Glue Dots®, and then tie the corners with natural hemp. Use Memory Book Glue Dots® to attach the beam to the card.
6. To create the shining star in the window, swipe the corner edge of your crème brulee ink in stripes randomly starting at the same spot on a scrap piece of white daisy cardstock to create the rays. Then stamp the window image from Campin' Fever using Brown Stazon® Ink with the top point of the rays in the corner of the window. Cut out the window and attach it to the back wall with Memory Book Glue Dots®, this will give it a little more dimension.
7. If your card gets too weighed down, you can create wings to place underneath so that the accordion doesn’t open too far and lay flat. Cut 3-5 pieces ½” by 3”. Fold in half, and then fold the side halves in half the opposite direction creating a “W”. Attach the sides of the “W” to each section on the underside of the base. The inside will fold up into the card when it is closed, and hold it from opening all the way. I also used a 1” x 3” W to place the Baby Jesus image between the accordion folds so it appears in between Mary and Joseph and the animals in the manger scene.
8. Remember to finish the back of the card with a sentiment and an area to sign. I used an angel and the “Glory to God …” sentiment stamped on white daisy cardstock, which was first cut to the size and shape of the backside of the roof. Then I stamped the sentiment from the Christmas Story set, cut it out, matted it on chocolate cardstock, and placed it on the left side of the back piece of the base.

I hope you enjoy creating your card; I’m looking forward to seeing your creations! If you have any questions, leave a comment or send me an e-mail.

Thank you for looking!
Jen