Pages

Wednesday, August 31, 2016

Ready for a CHALLENGE and a National Stamping Month special offer?



Kindness Changes Everything

This year in honor of National Stamping Month (September) we are featuring an exclusive card kit containing everything you need to create a set of twenty-four thoughtful 3" x 3" cards themed around acts of kindness.

The Create Kindness card kit is available for $46.95, which is a 15% discount off the retail value. The item number is CC1145. The kit is available September 1 - 30, 2016 while supplies last.


Come get in on the spirit of the kit and fill the world with a little more kindness. We here at Nina's Art Spot are taking it a step higher and hosting our very own Random Act of Kindness (RAK) Challenge. You can pair the cards from the Create Kindness Kit with thoughtful words and put them to action. 


You may ask what is a RAK or Random Act of Kindness?  A Random Act of Kindness is a non-premeditated, inconsistent action designed to offer kindness towards the outside world. However, for our challenge we won’t be so much Random and non-premeditated.



Download your copy of the challenge today



So here is the September line up. Do what you can when you can and when you do make sure you share out your random acts of kindness at the hashtag #RAKNAS and if you use a card from your Create Kindness kit use hashtag #createkindness as well. Also anyone who places an order on the Etsy store (www.NinasArtSpot.Etsy.com) or on the Close to my Heart store (www.NinasArtSpot.ctmh.com) during the month of September will receive a Nina's Art Spot RAK challenge kit to give you a boost in your RAK endeavors. I will also be handing out locally, RAK Challenge kits just to start off the on the right foot! Now remember this challenge is a challenge in part because no one can know what you've done for them.  See how awesome you will feel after finishing off the month. 

Nina's Art Spot RAK Challenge kit contents:

1 - Complete RAK Challenge Sheet
10 - Take A Smile post ups
1 - RAK cookie recipe
1 - Envelope of flower seeds
1 - Coupon toward your next Nina's Art Spot purchase



Create Kindness card kit contents:

24 – 3" × 3" pre-printed card bases with envelopes
24 – Pre-cut 1 ¾" white circles
8 – Exclusive M-size stamp sets
1 – Archival Black Exclusive Inks™ mini stamp pad
1 – 2" × 2" My Acrylix® block
1 – My Acrylix® mini stamp organizer

TIP: Take this event and turn it into a scrapbooking opportunity! Record your RAK's and scrapbook them. Just another Journaling Prompt Scrapertunity.

I will be sharing out my own RAK adventures on the Instagram account come follow along in all the fun. Nina's Art Spot is on all things Social Media as NinasArtSpot. 
Join today and become an RAKtivist. Plus....Did you know...



Monday, August 15, 2016

Crafted with Love Christmas Countdown Continued




Ok...it's been three weeks since we last conversed about getting organized, getting creating and working our way towards Christmas prepared with what we have planned for heartfelt handmade gifts.

Have you made your list of whom you will gift? I have but knowing how busy these coming months are for me and my family I have decided not to make the usual 30 gift boxes this year and have drastically paired down my list to half of it's original size. I hate being realistic when it comes to creating but I know I want to be 100% involved in my gift making and 100% successful in completing everything I've set out to complete. Every year we give gift boxes to our family and friends full of handmade goodies. Last year I canned 30 jars of spiced peach butter and baked over 25 dozen (yes you read that correctly) cookies. I made 150 handcrafted Christmas cards and created a handmade ornament to top off all the boxes. 

Now the real work begins. Its time to calculate the remaining time left until Christmas (132 days) with how long it will realistically take to finish the decided project(s). For my project I have lots of experience with timing. I will use it as an example on how to calculate the time. I know it usually takes me 2 months to make 150 Christmas cards. So I need to start those in October. I've already decided on the design and what supplies I will need and I plan to place the order September 1st. Over the years of doing these gift boxes I have set aside the tried and true recipes for the baked goods. I need to in the next 2 weeks choose what recipes I will be making this year and make a list of the grocery items I need to prepare. I premix those recipes that the dough can be frozen. Usually I will get that done by mid November. I still need to decide how I will be packing the gift boxes. 

What are the breakdowns for your project? What needs to be accomplished first? How much time do you need to get each breakdown finished? 

TIP: Document your progress and turn it into a scrapbooking opportunity. Just another Journaling Prompt Scrapertunity!

Follow Nina's Art Spot on Instagram and get monthly, weekly then daily countdown reminders to help keep you on track to your Crafted with Love Christmas! ðŸ’Ÿ



Sunday, August 14, 2016

September Planner Pack Release

Are you a Planner Girl?


The first ever Nina's Art Spot Planner Pack is ready to be revealed. It will be available September 1st, 2016 in limited quantities at http://www.ninasartspot.etsy.com./ (or go to the tab from the home page)

Contributing Businesses:
SewNannaSew ~ Offering a variety of hand-sewn items
Best Packaging Co. ~ Offering pretty packaging options
Nina's Art Spot <~ Helping you leave a lasting legacy and find your inner artist along the way
Double Cross Productions <~ Bridging the gap between the artist and the crafter
Susan Gantz Artist

Each pack includes the following items: 
  • 2 Printable sticker sheets (5 1/2" x 8 1/2", 1 functional & 1 design printed on matte non-re-positional label stock, 89 images) 
  • 1 large polymer planner clip (4 1/4" tall designed to peek over your planner at you)
  • 1 planner charm/place keeper (12" with lobster claw clasp)
  • 1 planner pen bag (gusseted to sit up for easy use)
  • 2 vellum accessory envelopes (4 1/2" x 6 1/4")
  • 2 rolls of sparkle tape (in two theme matching colors)
  • A dimensional quote card 
More about the September planner pack will be revealed on Instagram. Pop over for all the coming details!
All September etsy orders will also receive a FREE Nina's Art Spot RAK challenge kit. More will be revealed about the RAK challenge in the coming weeks.

Friday, August 12, 2016

New Product Highlight: Rustic Home Fundamentals

Today I want to highlight the Rustic Home Fundamentals. I was floored by the quality and diversity of these papers. This paper pack comes with 12 sheets of 12" x 12" paper (2 each of 6 designs). Some are in Kraft paper, one on vellum with copper foil accents.

I immediately fell in love with them. For my first attempt at playing with this paper I tackled a 24 card Thank You workshop. 

24 Thank You Card Workshop Created by Karen Pedersen

Now of course I had to spice it up a bit from the original intended workshop. I will of course list the changes I made so you can make your own decisions if you want to recreate these for yourself. I still made 24 cards but instead of using the Hearts Thin Cuts (Z3260, pg 79 of your AI) I used my Cricut.



Here is my Supply list:
  • Rustic Home Fundamentals - Z3262, pg 29
  • 24 White Daisy Cards & Envelopes - X254, pg 101
  • 2 Sheets White Daisy Cardstock - 1385, pg 95
  • 1 pk Enchantment Cardstock - X5781, pg 98
  • Versamark Ink Pad - Z891, pg 106
  • Ranger White SuperFine Embossing Pwd - Z2068, pg106
  • Pearl White Embossing pwd - CTMH no longer carries
  • Happy Hearts Stamp Set - A1192, 49
  • Art Philosophy Cricut Cartridge - no longer available
Now the Art Philosophy Cartridge is no longer available for sale but I'm sure there are other cartridges with equally usable hearts for this project. On page 26 of the Art Philosophy book I found one that will cut an outline and do a solid. I chose my large heart to be 3", my medium heart to be 2 1/2" and my small heart to be 1 1/2". Because the cricut cuts out the center on the outline you can spice it up and use the slightly different heart shape as well. 

Here are each of the cards close up from this work shop doing it My Way = Spicy!



I choose not to do any distressing on the card stock pieces. I carried that throughout the entire workshop.





On card #3 I choose not to back the vellum with the Peacock cardstock. I felt it looked too dark. 


In this image of card #4 you can really see the raised design on the kraft paper.


On card #5 I left off the white strip at the bottom. I felt it was too distracting. You can see I choose a different size poppy and saffron hearts for the focus.





On card #7 I tried using some old pearl embossing powder on the stamped hearts I wasn't thrilled with how it looked against the bright of the White Daisy cardstock and White embossing powder. On the 3 of this design I changed out and played with the die cut hearts getting a variety of different "looks" out of each of them. 


On card #8 was the only place where I found a bit of a cutting discrepancy on the workshop instructions. They call for these each to be cut at 1 1/4" x 1 1/4" but doing that as you can see left no room to leave space between each of the square's. I choose to butt them up to each other rather than trim each of the pieces down to 1" x 1 1/4".

I hope you have enjoyed this New Product Highlight! It sure was fun creating and playing with these new products!

Tuesday, August 2, 2016

Basically the Best.....Constant Campaign


Brand new scrapbooking papers are here, and you can get some FREE!*

What could be better than treating yourself to brand new scrapbooking paper? How about getting even more paper for FREE!

During the month of August, when you order our Whimsy, Adventure, and Enchantment Fundamentals paper you can choose to get either the Rustic Home or Uptown Fundamentals for FREE! Both of these Basics packs feature foil designs and specialty materials for making your artwork unique. Yep, this deal is basically the best!


Whimsy Fundamentals ~ Z3255
thistle, crystal blue, glacier, juniper, sweet leaf, canary, flaxen, sorbet, pixie and smoothie

Adventure Fundamentals ~ Z3253
pansy, pacifica, lagoon, emerald, willow, lemon, tangerine, blossom, raspberry and cranberry

Enchantment Fundamentals ~ Z3254
eggplant, sapphire, peacock, new england ivy, fern, saffron, goldrush, poppy, pomegranate and ruby

The Fundamentals come with 24 sheets of 12" x 12" paper, that's 2 each of 12 double-sided designs as shown in each of the color pallets.

So purchase each of the above and pick one of the following for FREE!

Rustic Home Fundamentals ~ Z3262
black, slate, whisper, cocoa, chocolate, saddle, cashmere, champagne, desert sand, bamboo, kraft paper, vellum and copper foil accents

or

Uptown Fundamentals ~ Z3263
black, slate, whisper, cocoa, chocolate, saddle, cashmere, champagne, desert sand, bamboo, vellum and gold foil accents

The Rustic Home and Uptown Fundamentals come with 12 sheets of 12" x 12" paper, that's 2 each of 6 designs.

Our new Fundamentals papers feature incredibly versatile patterns in a wide selection of colors, so they can be used for any and every project! Because they come in our exclusive colors, you can mix and match them with the themed paper packets from the Seasonal and Holiday Expressions. 

But the bonuses don't end there: Workshops have been created using these products and you can download them here for FREE! To complete them, you'll just need a few extra items and then you can follow their cutting diagrams, patterns and instructions to replicate the artwork or spice it up a bit and make it your own!


Bonus to the Bonus: When you take advantage of this campaign, you'll automatically qualify for the Stamp of the Month for only $5.

*with qualifying purchase. Offer valid August 1, 2016 (9:00am MDT)- August 31, 2016 (11:59 pm MDT) while supplies last. Shipping/handling rates are based on the full retail price of free items. Tax is not charged for free items.



Monday, August 1, 2016

August Stamp of the Month

Purr-fect Halloween


Purr-fect Halloween SET OF 17 for $17.95 S1608 ~~~~> Use with Cricut Cartridge Art Philospohy
Each month you can purchase a new D-size stamp set, available for that month only, for just $5! When you place an order of $50 or more in Close To My Heart products, you qualify for this special Stamp of the Month pricing.

Here are some samples using the August stamp of the Month ~ Purr-fect Halloween


Artwork provided by Close to my Heart Corporation


Artwork provided by Close to my Heart Corporation




"Well Hello Beautiful...."


Every year in August the new Annual Inspirations comes out. This as you may or may not know is Close to my Heart's annual idea book and catalog. It is chocked full of ideas, new and fun products and many inspiring projects. Just seeing that front cover when it finally comes out always brings out that statement for me..."well hello beautiful" and then I can't wait to get my hands on it.

For me its a ritual. I first write my name on the cover with the words Master and the Year. I then create a Key on the first page. Yellow highlighter is always HAVE and blue highlighter is always NEED. Because I'm a consultant the lines of want and need are very much blurred. Upon that initial peruse through that blue highlighter focuses on "all the things" I must have...the wants. As I look back through my "OLD AI" (Annual Inspiration from last year) I see I've added items I feel I need to expose my customers to, have been asked to demonstrate or I've discovered a new use for. That darn old blue highlighter seems to grow and many turn green as time moves along through the year. Green on the key are those items I wanted but then purchased and are now haves...because blue plus yellow does make green. ðŸ˜‰ Once this ritual has been complete I then trek to the nearest copy center and have my binding cut off and have the entire thing spiral bound with a clear plastic front cover and a black plastic back cover. It is now ready to survive the onslaught of the new Close to my Heart year and I and filled with a sense of satisfaction. Temporary satisfaction but satisfaction all the same. 

So how can you get yours you may ask? There are multiple ways you can get yours. 

  1.  You can purchase an Annual Inspirations. The item number is WC1171 for $6 by either clicking on the CTMH store tab from the blog or click HERE and join the current online order and place your order.
  2. You can host a Facebook online gathering and get your Annual Inspiration FREE. Contact me at Nina@NinasArtSpot.com for details.
So lets peek at some of the awesome NEW items in the 2016~2017 Annual Inspirations. 

Welcome to a NEW thing called the 
Color of the Year

The color of the year is available for this Annual Inspirations only, this trendy color comes in a variety of products. Such as Ink Pad, Re-Inker, Mini Pigment Pad...just to name a few.

Can you guess what the AI 2016~2017 Color of the Year is?


  1. Dandy Essentials Acrylic Stamp Set ~ M1151
  2. Sea Glass Mini Pigment Pad ~ Z2507
  3. White Daisy Cardstock ~ 1385
  4. Sea Glass Glitter Cardstock ~ Z3240
  5. Raspberry Cardstock ~ X5788
  6. Hello & Thanks Thin Cuts ~ Z3259

This year's color is....... 
Sea Glass

Welcome to the NEW ADVENTURE line up

New on the ADVENTURE scene is Pansy, Emerald, Willow, Lemon, Tangerine, Blossom and Raspberry. Bright and bold they are welcomed new friends to come play. Having new ink color friends means an update on an old friend. The CTMH Exclusive Ink Chart needed a revamp. Here it is and see even mine needs some of our new friends to be added. 



Stay tuned here for more breaking news on whats NEW from the AI all August long.