Operation Smile Spread the Love Blog Hop

Welcome to the Blog Hop and thank you for stopping here at Nina's Art Spot from Evergreen Memories and Art, Michelle Rowley's blog. If you get lost along the way, you’ll find the complete list of participating consultants on Melinda’s Blog.

Every year Close to my Heart comes out with an Operation Smile stamp set. They then donate a portion of the proceeds to Operation Smile, a non-profit organization that provides surgeries to repair cleft lips and palates in children. 

This year the stamp set is called

True Love
Set of 9 stamps
D1711 - $17.95
Cricut Compatible with the Flower Market Cartridge

recommended blocks: 2" x 2" (Y1003), 3" x 3" (Y1006) and the       4" x 5" (Y1012)

$7 of this set is donated to Operation Smile














Here is some more information about Operation Smile. 
Click Here for the video.

Here is a sample using the set:

Supply List

• D1711 True Love
• Z3240 Sea Glass Glitter Paper
• X5789 Sea Glass Cardstock
• X5787 Blossom Cardstock
• Z2810 Blossom Ink Pad
• 1386 Black Cardstock
• Z3248 Wood Slats Embossing Folder
• ShinHan Markers
• Happy Die Cut using a Cricut Cartridge or you could use the Z3258 Happy Thin Cuts

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Thank you for being apart of our Blog Hop. Next stop is Wendy Coffman's Blog, Stamping Rules.

October 2016 Stamp of the Month

Yuletide Joy, Set of 7 - $17.95 S1610 ~> Use with Cricut 

Art Philosophy Cartridge (indicated by red outline)

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. This set is only available October 1-31, 2016

Recommended Blocks: 1" x 31/2" (Y1002) and 3" x 3" (Y1006)

Here are some beautiful samples made with this set!

Created by Nina Fickett

Supply List

Stamping Technique ~ Background Stamping 

• S1610 Yuletide Joy Oct 2016 Stamp of the Month
• 1282 New England Ivy Cardstock
• 1386 Black Cardstock
• Z3239 Silver Glitter Cardstock
• 1272 Cranberry Cardstock
• Z2105 Black Ink Pad (used on the Noel dovetail and on the color me panel)
• Z891 VersaMark Ink Pad
• Z2088 Ranger Clear Embossing Powder
• Z555 Craft Heater
• Z679 Liquid Glass
• Z2216 Cranberry Re-Inker (mixed with liquid Glass and used on star as holly berries)
• Z3293 Shimmer Brush (Rubbed into Embossing after cooled to bring out the clear on black)
• Z3090 Red Enamel Gems
• Z3090 Vivid Green ShinHan Marker
• Z2448 Carmine ShinHan Marker
• Art Philosophy Cricut Cartridge (for the 2 1/2" star)

Technique ~ Mixing Liquid Glass with our re-inkers (aprox. 1/8 oz of liquid glass to 3 drops re-inker) to create matching color dimensional elements.

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Nina's Art Spot

Created by Robyn Holfeltz

Supply List

• S1610 Yuletide Joy October 2016 Stamp of the Month
• 1385 White Daisy Cardstock
• Z891 Versamark Ink Pad
• Z2067 Silver Embossing Powder
• Z3240 Seaglass Glitter Paper
• Z2873 Slate Ink Pad
• Z2013 Silver Sequins
• Z3274 Clear Sparkles
• Z2060 Thin 3-D Foam Tape
• Z3263 Uptown Fundamentals
• Z1912 Corner Rounder

Created by Kendra Halverson

Supply List

• S1610 Yuletide Joy October 2016 Stamp of the Month
• 1272 Cranberry Cardstock
• ShinHan Markers
• Z899 Memento Ink
• Z2066 Ranger Gold Embossing Powder
• Z1768 Metallic Markers
• Z3129 Gold Foil Tape
• X254 Value Pack Cards

Created by Marisela Plyler

Supply List ~ Inspiration from Holiday Expressions Pg 66

• S1610 Yuletide Joy October 2016 Stamp of the Month
• Z3246 All About the Gold Fundamentals
• Z3130 Silver Shimmer Trim
• Z2805 Black Cardstock
• Z3274 Clear Sparkles
• Z3293 Shimmer Brush
• Z2465 Turquoise Blue ShinHan Marker

Created by Kailee Littrell aka Kai's Page on Facebook

Supply List

• S1610 Yuletide Joy October 2016 Stamp of the Month
• X7214B Oh Deer Paper Pack
• 1388 Colonial White Cardstock
• Z4004 Christmas Thin Cuts
• Z3238 Gold Glitter Paper
• Z2105 Black Ink Pad 
• Z3274 Clear Sparkles
• Z3293 Shimmer Brush
• Z2465 Turquoise Blue ShinHan Marker
• Z2459 Pastel Green ShinHan Marker
• Z2060 Thin 3-D Foam Tape
• Z679 Liquid Glass
• Art Philosophy Cricut Cartridge (for the 2 1/2" star)

Supply List

• S1610 Yuletide Joy October 2016 Stamp of the Month
• Z3240 Seaglass Glitter Paper
• Z3246 All About the Gold Fundamentals
• X5789 Seaglass Cardstock
• Z3289 Uptown Ribbon Pack
• Z2066 Ranger Gold Embossing Powder
• Art Philosophy Cricut Cartridge (for the 2 1/2" star)

Provided by Close to my Heart Corporate Office

October Stamp of the Month Blog Hop

Welcome to our Stamp of the Month Blog Hop!  We will be featuring Octobers Stamp of the Month

Yuletide Joy, Set of 7 - $17.95 S1610 ~> Use with Cricut 

Art Philosophy Cartridge (indicated by red outline)

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. This set is only available October 1-31, 2016

Recommended Blocks: 1" x 31/2" (Y1002) and 3" x 3" (Y1006)

If you have come here from Darlys Recker's Blog, you are on the right path! The blog hop is a great big circle, so you can start here and work your way all around.  If you get lost along the way, you’ll find the complete list of participating consultants on Melinda’s Blog.

This month we have 37 Close To My Heart Consultants sharing their creations using this month's SOTM and other great CTMH products on their blogs. This is simple to do - just click on the link at the end of the post on each blog to move to the next one! Here we go!

Here are some beautiful samples made with this set!

Created by Nina Fickett

Supply List

Stamping Technique ~ Background Stamping 

• S1610 Yuletide Joy Oct 2016 Stamp of the Month
• 1282 New England Ivy Cardstock
• 1386 Black Cardstock
• Z3239 Silver Glitter Cardstock
• 1272 Cranberry Cardstock
• Z2105 Black Ink Pad (used on the Noel dovetail and on the color me panel)
• Z891 VersaMark Ink Pad
• Z2088 Ranger Clear Embossing Powder
• Z555 Craft Heater
• Z679 Liquid Glass
• Z2216 Cranberry Re-Inker (mixed with liquid Glass and used on star as holly berries)
• Z3293 Shimmer Brush (Rubbed into Embossing after cooled to bring out the clear on black)
• Z3090 Red Enamel Gems
• Z3090 Vivid Green ShinHan Marker
• Z2448 Carmine ShinHan Marker
• Art Philosophy Cricut Cartridge (for the 2 1/2" star)

Technique ~ Mixing Liquid Glass with our re-inkers (aprox. 1/8 oz of liquid glass to 3 drops re-inker) to create matching color dimensional elements.

Like what you see here at Nina's Art Spot?

Sign up for our Newsletter HERE or

Visit us on Facebook, Instagram, Etsy, Pinterest,

Periscope, YouTube, SnapChat or Twitter.

I'm on all things as

Nina's Art Spot

Want to see more artwork created with this stamp of the month? Click here!

Now hop on over to Tracey Pierce's Blog to continue the loop.

New Product Highlight: New Style Ink Pads and Other Color Tools!

The NEW style ink pads are available in all the NEW Adventure colors: Pansy, Emerald, Willow, Lemon, Tangerine, Blossom and Raspberry.

Click here to download the Ink Chart.

The description on these babies is very accurate. "Sleek" is the word but a written description is just not good enough. You have to see them and play with them to really get the feel for how different and much more "usable" they are.     

SIZE
NEW vs OLD

Overall size -        3  5/16" x 4  7/16" vs 2  15/16" x 1  1/16"

Pad size - 2  7/16" x 3  7/8" vs 2  7/16" x 2  15/16"

Here is some basic information on what type of inks all the CTMH products provide. You will see we are very diverse!

Here is a handy ShinHan Touch Twin Marker guide for you to use as well. Click HERE to download.

While were at it here is a wonderfully useful Watercolor guide that gives you formulas to match as closely as possible the CTMH colors using the Watercolor pallet.

Click here to download a copy for yourself.

I hope you find these documents useful in your color quest. Visit www.NinasArtSpot.ctmh.com to purchase your NEW Close to my Heart products or www.NinasArtSpot.etsy.com for your retired and gently used Close to my Heart products as well as kits, handmade items, planning items and more.

It's All in Your Perspective

Totally inspired by my friend MB who is on a social media hiatus, and who I think is off her rocker for doing something so silly. However, she is rockin' it old school and loving life off grid so much so, that she has actually removed all social media (SM) off her phone (except texting). This literally has nothing to do with paper crafting or stamping. However, it definitely has to do with creativity and has a bit of mixed media to it...not in inspiration but in how I choose to see my thought process through.

This goes out to all my vertically challenged (is that PC?) friends/family. You maybe closer to the ground than me but let me tell you, your view is enlightening. Your humor is up lifting. Your love keeps me going. I count you all as my favorite people....well, in all honesty I'd have to because you are over 3/4's of my family...yes its true I come from a short family...but a short Italian family...and it makes all the difference in the world. Short and Italian is like the best of the best.

The image I created came after a conversation I had with MB about the love of driving pick-up trucks. She was telling me about how much she loves feeling on top of the world and for a short person it was important to feel that way at least in one area of one's life. It really got me thinking about it. Things like what am I missing by "not" being short? So, I went to google memes about it to make her laugh and all I got was short girl problems and disadvantages. Now while some of them were wicked funny, like..... 

and

...but, some were downright horrid.

I was left feeling like I had to turn this injustice around. If not for MB than for my friends and family. 

or then again maybe it was because of the parking incident I had an hour after my conversation with MB? I had to park my Ford F250 Lariat King Cab truck in a compact car spot (well it was the only spot left available) for a 5 min run in and the only way I could make it work was to put her into reverse and back her in. I freaked out the guy sitting in the van parked crooked next to me and I'm sure the bush behind me got a bit toasty and heated by the exhaust...but it was aces if I do say so myself. Hey I even got a thumbs up by the little elderly lady sitting outside sipping her coffee and a wink from the guy  walking back to his car. All I'm saying is, It's All in Your Perspective so lets focus on a positive perspective and uplift everyone around us. 

The Journaling Prompt and your Scrapertunities!

Those of you who have been following Nina's Art Spot on the Facebook page know all about the Journaling Prompts that I post every Tuesday. I have gotten a lot of PM's (private messages) asking many questions about them and how they pertain to scrapbooking. In our last Journaling 101 ~ Stuck for Content? post I explained all about the journaling prompt and how it can be utilized to generate ideas, in site into yourself and your environment. However, I think many still aren't seeing how this can be utilized as mini Scrapertunities. So I'm going to show you. 

Whats In My Purse page from my book all about me

Many years ago I was asked at a party as part of a game what items were in my purse.  It dawned on me while playing that game I'd have loved to know what my Mom carried with her in her purse. Since I had my daughters mini digital camera in my purse I decided to take a picture of all the items dumped onto the floor. It was that moment all those years ago (actual date unknown because I never dated it) that I started my Scrapbook. You see each of my kids have their own baby album that I've scrapbooked. I had tons of events scrapbooked about our lives. However, I failed to scrapbook anything about who I was/am for my children/family to ever know the inner workings of me! Goodness knows most of those photos either don't have me in them or they are really bad pictures of me. Hence the book all about me was started. Now I can't say I didn't have some help along the way. I don't remember if I bought the book or if it was given to me by one of my scrapbooking friends, but its a gem. 

The Book of Me by Angie Pedersen

Things I have learned along the way are simple. You MUST date each time you write in your Journaling Prompt planner and each time you turn your Journaling Prompt into a Scrapertunity. Some of the best Journaling Prompts happen kind of spontaneously, just like that day when I dumped my purse out on the floor. Take some pictures of yourself...yes a selfie if you will. This gives you the opportunity to oversee the quality of the YOU IMAGE and your children/family members will eventually get to see a side of you they haven't, the YOU side.

Tip: Use SnapChat face morph as a method to take fun pictures of YOU. Also SnapChat face morph seems to make me look less droopy and "old". Its great! Take the SnapChat pic then screen shoot it and delete the image before posting. It never goes viral and you get the picture! 

Ok so lets take an actual prompt from the Facebook Page and put it into action. June 12, 2016 the Journaling Prompt was...

My Original Journaling: "The best advice I got was from my Dad. He told me that if I wanted to be a good cook the most important ingredient I needed to remember to include was my love. This taught me the importance of loving what you do. My Dad was a wonderful artist. He made incredible pieces of woodwork. Wood was his medium. His second medium was food. He was a wonderful teacher and a wonderful Dad."

"Birdy" my Journaling Prompt Journal

Now thinking about my Dad makes me sad because he has passed and I miss him so very much. When I wrote this it was because I have a  kids cookbook he gave me when I was about 6 or 7 years old. He inscribed the cookbook for me and I still have that cookbook. The cover has long ripped off but I've saved it. I think its time to turn this Journaling Prompt into a Scrapertunity and preserve a wonderful gift, an incredible sentiment and a lasting lesson. This is creating a lasting legacy at its finest!

Tip: Go small if big is overwhelming. Most of my family scrapbooks are done at the standard 12" x 12" size and at least 2 page spreads. My books all about me are 9" x 9" in size and usually only 1 page.

So I will now create a 9" x 9" Single page scrapbook page for my book all about me. I will use a copy of the inscription to replace an actual photo. I could possibly also add a photo of my Dad in the page. I will also include the journaling from my Journaling Prompt Journal along with the date I wrote the original journaling. 

If you are interested in the Journaling 101 in video format please keep an eye out for the Journaling 101 YouTube video that will be posted in the coming weeks.

New Product Highlight: Complements

New Pumped up Complements

Now we've had complements for a while now, however CTMH has "spiced" them up a bit. The packaging has changed and they now come with an insert piece showing everything that is included but they now include 4, 6" x 6" sheets of stickers plus two types of die-cuts. The type of die-cuts change depending on the style. For an example lets review the Baby Boy Complements Z3273 - $11.95. 

The Baby Boy Complements come with Silver glitter die-cuts  and silver foil vellum die cuts as well as the stickers

This is the Insert. It shows all the stickers and both sets of die cuts

These are the 4 sheets of stickers

The pack on the left are the silver glitter die cuts. The bag on the right are the Silver foil and vellum die-cuts

Complements that are now available are in the following styles:

Both the Baby Boy and Baby Girl match with the Whimsy colors.

The Good Life match the Adventure colors.

The School Complements both match the Enchantment colors.

The next two Complement packs are slightly less in price ($6.95) They only come with 2 sheets of stickers.

The All Together and You & Me match the basics colors and the color of the year Sea Glass.

I hope this has been helpful. I want to point out that these complements work wonderfully in more than just scrapbooking and card-making projects. They are wonderful for planner's as well especially the vellum pieces.

and with the release of the NEW Holiday Expressions there are four more sets of Complements that will be available this month through December 31st, 2016. These complements are slightly smaller and only have two sheets of stickers and one set of die-cuts.