Friday, December 7, 2012

Simple Nativity Display

Last week Provocraft offered free cuts from the Cricut cartridge Christmas Village. At the last minute I took advantage of this generous freebie.  And now, included with your admission fee, I give you a sneak peak at my nativity scene.  I can't stress this enough; with my blog you get what you pay for.
 
 
 
 
I was really just playing without much thought to details, but surprisingly I like the final product.  I plopped the pieces on the table randomly, certain I'd be tossing the whole lot into the trash, but when I got positive feedback from the family I left everything as-is.  I'm sure I would have made a few changes to the pieces and layout if time (and energy) permitted, but that never happens.
 
I have a lot to say about this cartridge.  I love the concept.  There are so few Christmas items that actually reflect the true meaning of the holiday, so I applaud Provocraft for creating a cartridge that depicts the birth of Jesus.  However, did anyone give thought to providing some instructions to help us see the designer's vision?  For example, the four images used to create the town of Bethlehem appear to be intended for an Advent calendar, but I only count eight windows.  Admittedly, my math skills are in rapid decline, but even with a calculator it didn't add up.  Also, in the case of the people and animals, the proportions seem a little off.  While I commend the designer for giving the baby Jesus a powerful presence, I'm not sure He should tower over His parents at such a young age.  Also, the shepherd was giving the baby Jesus a run for His money (size-wise, at least).  But then again, his sheep was the size of building so maybe where they come from there was something in the water.  (The sheep didn't make the final "cut".  He was scary.)  Mary was bigger than Joseph, and I'm not talking about her place in history.
 
If you choose to cut a similar decoration, I suggest you use a very heavy cardstock, or maybe even adhere your cardstock cutouts to thin chipboard for stability.  All I can say is that when I woke up this morning it appeared Bethlehem had been under siege while I slept.  Buildings were toppled, and one kind-hearted wise man was carrying his fallen comrade on the back of his camel.  The poor oversized shepherd, despite his hefty appearance, was no match for whatever enemy had attacked overnight.  It was a bloodbath.
 
The backdrop of Bethlehem was cut at 12 inches, and the characters were cut at 6 inches.  And believe it or not, I had relative sizing selected when I designed the pieces in Cricut Craft Room. 

2 comments:

Dianna said...

This looks great! Thank you for posting this; it helps me a lot. I love your description. Thanks for giving me a good laugh.

Anonymous said...

You had me rolling in your description of the sizes!!! I needed that really good laugh! Love your post!!! I have the Christmas Village cart and cut a nativity scene out last year. I ran into the same problem and had to use Design Studio to figure out the sizes but it was a bit painful. Took quite a bit of time trying to guess at what size to cut what. I created a blog post just to help me remember what I finally came up with for the future! http://southerncricutlady.wordpress.com/2011/12/15/paper-nativity-scene-christmas-village/ I love the Biblical images on this cartridge but they could have planned the cartridge better. This seems to be a confusing cart and I haven't even attempted the buildings for the Victorian style or the Nativity style. Maybe one day! :) Your Nativity still looks lovely! Love the buildings and the angel too!