Artistry Is now available.

The brand new Artistry cartridge is now available. I hope you have enjoyed my countdown projects. This cartridge is truly awesome. if you have not, stop by my {Facebook group} and my {Instagram}.  I am posting all the details one those cards here on my blog on the next few days.

It is time to share my special for this month. When you buy the Artistry cartridge, you will get an extra little something to go with it. It will be secret until you receive yours. This is how it works.

1st person to purchase will get the brand new Zoe paper pack.

2nd person to purchase will get an exclusive paper pack or kit. These are all retired specials that you no longer purchase.

3rd person to purchase will get one of the exclusive hostess only stamp set.

4th person to purchase will get an exclusive stamp set. These are retired stamp sets that you can no longer purchase.

5th person to purchase will get 50% off one item. That is any item the Close To My Heart sells, even the Cricut cartridges.

Once we hit the 5th person, it starts all over again. These items value at $9.95 and up. And many of them are no longer available, so this is the only way to get them. These items will be sent on their own, please do not try to add these items to your order. I will be sending these out on the 1st of September, once I have tallied all the purchases.

This special is only through myself, and is not a special through Close To My Heart or any other consultant. Please place your order under the Artistry Special gathering. It should automatically place you in the gathering, but please double check. Your order will not count for the special if it is not in this gathering. This special is only available until August 30th, so make sure to place your order as soon as you can.

We have to versions of the cartridge for you. One is the physical cartridge with a cardstock pack and three coordinating stamp sets for $99. We also have a digital option for you for $79. You still get the cardstock and the stamps, but a digital code will be sent with your kit. The digital option is only available for the Explore family. Sorry, but the digital option is not a instant download. You will have to wait for your order to arrive.

Place your order at {nikkageers.ctmh.com}

Look at all the images that come with the cartridge. Plus it has a regular font and a writing style font. Yay.

   

Place your order at {nikkageers.ctmh.com}. I can't wait to send out your goodies.

To make sure you don't miss out on any new tutorials, artwork, videos or members only specials, as it is easy to miss posts on Facebook and I don't post to all of them, join my {Facebook group}.

Follow me on {Instagram}

Subscribe to my {Youtube Channel} for updates on new Create Your Card videos.

I offer one on one classes for Cricut Design Space. Stop by for more {details}.

Life Is A Highway At Heart 2 Heart

Welcome to this weeks challenge over at {Heart 2 Heart}. 

This month is a Life Is series. This week is Life Is A Highway. I have spent my fair share of time on the highway. Going back and forth between Cali and Michigan. And just drove down to Texas and will going back to Michigan in November-ish. So I did a layout. It is weird to do a layout without actual pictures, this is the second one I have done. And both are map related. 

I did struggle a bit because there was no pictures. I knew I wanted to play with my embossing paste on a layout. I came across this {pin} and loved the strip of paper with some spots of embossing paste.

If you have been looking at my blog, I have done this stamp and map B&T before. I cut inside the stamped image so there was no outline. But I needed something to make this pop so I used the Explore to cut out the white image with no stamp outline. 

I used some old product on this project. The map B&T is from a paper pack called Cruisin'. The highway sign and tire treads are from that wotg. The map outline and places we went are from Adventure USA. The states are from Kraft Keyboard Alphabet, but you can make these using Keyboard Alphabet stamp. The bottle cap was the coordinating embellishments for the Cruisin' papers. I started to use the foam tape we carry, but it would have to use about 6 pieces. So I grabbed some foam tape I had that was a lot thicker, but they don't stick very well. I used liquid glass to make sure everything stayed together. 

I made my own stencil using image #M3CF40 from Artbooking. I welded two together to get the size I wanted. If I would have changed the size itself, the circles would have been bigger. This way it kept the small size of the circles.

The embossing paste was homemade. Found the same recipe on numerous pins. Cornstarch and white glue / mod podge and white paint. Works great. I haven't used other embossing paste tho. 

I hope you join us for this challenge. You have all month to play with all the challenges. Stop over at {Heart 2 Heart} to check out the challenges. Remember, you must use some sort of Close To My Heart  product to play. 

Don't forget about this month's special. Spend $25 in stamps and get either the stamp of the month for free, or any of our hostess only stamps for $5. 

To make sure you don't miss out on any new tutorials, artwork, videos or members only specials, as it is easy to miss posts on Facebook and I don't post to all of them, join my {Facebook group}.

Subscribe to my {Youtube Channel} for updates on new Create Your Card videos.

Follow me on {Instagram}

I offer one on one classes for Cricut Design Space. Stop by for more {details}.

If you would to like to recreate any of my projects, you can order the materials at {nikkageers.ctmh.com}.

Recipe :

Stamps -

   E1030  Handwritten Print

   Adventure USA (retired)  
   Cruisin'  (retired)

Paper - 

   1385  White Daisy Cardstock

   X5930  Slate Cardstock

   X7191B  Wanderful

   Cruisin' (retired)

Ink -

   Z2173  Slate Ink Pad

   Z2117  Crystal Blue Ink Pad

   Z2162  Honey Ink Pad

   Z2105  Black Ink Pad

Other -

   Z1921   Metallic Bakers Twine

   Z1906  Artbooking Cricut cartridge 

   Z679  Liquid Glass

   Bottle Cap (retired)

   Kraft Keyboard Alphabet (retired)

Jump on it

Welcome to our special blog hop. 

For this special blog hop, we will be using Hostess Only stamp sets that you can get for $5 during this special.

If you did not start here, you will be coming from {Lauren Moore}. Next in the hop is {Michelle Loncar}.  If you get lost along the way, you can find the list of the hoppers {here}.

I have had this card in progress since I got this stamp set last year. Kept getting distracted by other projects. This hop made me finally finish it. 

I used the stand from Here We Go to make my Christmas globe. The let it snow sentiment was larger than the globes that came with the stamp, so I bent the stamp to fit my globe. I love our clear stamps, You could not do this with rubber stamps. I did have to fussy cut the stand out. But it wasn't too difficult. The circle was cut using my Explore at 2 inches. 

I used clear embossing powder and inked the globe using Glacier ink.

The card itself is pretty simple. The globe is a pretty large image and I didn't want a busy card. Now that I look at the red paper, I should have cut it different so you could see the whole snowflakes. Although, it is kinda cool this way too.

Be Jolly Hostess Stamp

You can also get the stamp of the month for free with this Jump On It July special. You can check out the stamp of the month in action at the {SOTM Blog Hop}. 

Here a few other projects using the Hostess stamps.

{Tweety Bird using Cuddly Salutations}

{Merry Christmas using Sing Glory}

{Disney Album using Happy Hexagons}

 I hope you enjoyed today's post. Keep on hopping for more great artwork. Next is {Michelle Loncar}

To make sure you don't miss out on any new tutorials, artwork, videos or members only specials, as it is easy to miss posts on Facebook and I don't post to all of them, join my {Facebook group}.

Subscribe to my {Youtube Channel} for updates on new Create Your Card videos.

Follow me on {Instagram}

I offer one on one classes for Cricut Design Space. Stop by for more {details}.

If you would to like to recreate any of my projects, you can order the materials at {nikkageers.ctmh.com}.

Recipe:

Stamps -

   B1455  Be Jolly (Hostess Only)

   D1600  Here We Go

Paper -

    X7188B  Snowhaven Paper Pack

   1385  White Daisy Cardstock

   X254  Cards And Envelopes

Ink -

   Z891  Versamark

   Z2015  Black Ink Pad

   Z2641  Glacier Ink Pad

Other -

   Z2013  Silver Sequins

   Z2085  Clear Embossing Powder

   Z1686  Art Philosophy Cricut Cartridge

New goodies coming soon

Right now, it is like Christmas for us consultants. Our yearly convention has just started. We get to see all of the new goodies that will be available for you all in Sept. Sadly, I was not able to attend. But I will be glued to my Facebook during this whole convention. I will not be able to show any artwork on my blog until Sept, but I will be able to show sneak peeks in Facebook. And I am going to  start using Instagram to share as well.

I do have some good news tho. In Aug, you can get the brand new paper pack, and the brand new Cricut cartridge.  Once it get closer, I will share my special and other goodies. 

Join my {Facebook Group} or  

Happy Everything Blog Hop

Hello. We have a special blog hop for you guys this week. We are featuring Happy Everything. This hop is a circle, so keep hopping until you come back to where you started. If you have been hopping, you will be coming from {Kathleen Androlewicz}. Next in the hop is {Priscilla Gotham}. If you get lost along the way, you can find the whole lineup {here}

Happy everything is a special stamp set that will only be available until August 31. It is special because every stamp purchased, Close To My Heart donates $3 to Operation Smile. Plus every stamp set you purchase, a portion goes towards Operation Smile. Stop by {Operationsmile.org} to find out more about this organization and how to donate. 

I have a friend who loves bees. So when I saw the bee in this stamp set, I knew I had to make a card for her. I kept playing around with ideas but never had a great idea to use.  Then I had an idea of a bee in the jar. We have a cute Hostess Rewards stamp that has jars, but none of them worked in my head. I kept wanting a mason jar. We have a mason jar in Artfully Sent, but it had spring on it and just wasn't the look I was going for. So I found a pic online and uploaded it into Design Space. I wanted the fireflies in the jar look, but couldn't get it to look right. I think I really needed bees in both directions for it to look good. 

While I was looking for jar in Pinterest, I saw a couple projects where the jar was on the top, pouring out whatever was inside. I kept trying to put the bees in the jar that way, but still wasn't getting what I wanted. Then I had the idea a honey dripping out of the jar and a couple bees on the ground. I still think maybe I should have gone with sponging ink for the honey instead of the markers. The markers make the honey very bright. Oh Well. It still works. 

I put vellum over the jar to give it more of the glass look. To get the vellum on the card without seeing the glue, I used double sided adhesive sheets. The glue is all over the vellum so you can't see it. The setting I used on the Explore was not the right setting. It didn't cut all the way through. I had to cut along the cut lines. I had already ejected the mat, so it couldn't get it to line up again to cut the second time. And I didn't want to waste the adhesive. The kind I got only has 2 sheets for $5. I did get it for 40% off, but still. A little too much to waste. Once I figure out the right setting, I will let you know.

I have also used this stamp on the following cards:

{Happy Everything}

{Oh My Happy}

I hope you enjoyed this special hop. Please keep hopping. Next is {Priscilla Gotham}.

To make sure you don't miss out on any new tutorials, artwork, videos or members only specials, as it is easy to miss posts on Facebook and I don't post to all of them, join my {Facebook group}.

Subscribe to my {Youtube Channel} for updates on new Create Your Card videos.

I offer one on one classes for Cricut Design Space. Stop by for more {details}.

If you would to like to recreate any of my projects, you can order the materials at {nikkageers.ctmh.com}.

Recipe ;

Stamps -

   D1653  Happy Everything Operation Smile Stamp

Paper -

   1385  White Daisy Cardstock

   Z2032  Adventure Fundamentals (Honey)

   X254  Cards And Envelopes

   Non Ctmh Vellum, Adhesive Sheets

Ink -

   Z2105  Black Ink Pad

   Z2452  Golden Yellow ShinHan Marker

   Z2457  Marigold ShinHan Marker

   Z2467  Warm Grey (WG4) ShinHan Marker

   Z2469  Colorless Blender ShinHan Marker

Life Is A Picnic At Heart 2 Heart

Welcome to the first challenge with a brand new Design Team at {Heart 2 Heart}. This month has a theme. All of our challenges will be "Life Is". This week is Life Is A Picnic.

I am redoing all my old layouts. And I mean old. I started crafting back in the late 90's early 2000. Before Cricut. About the same time that Sizzix came out with that old heavy, red, lever die cutter. This layout was made before I got my machine. So all of the letters were hand cut with an Xacto blade. I am pretty impressed with myself. I started making 8.5 x 11 layouts. And 90's style paper. This layout isn't that bad. There was no mulberry paper. "shudder"  And the only crazy pattern paper was cut out to be individual images. 

 I started scrapbooking because I wanted to showcase all my pageant photos. I did beauty pageants before the fad. No tv shows, no murders. I did northern pageants. Which are completely different than southern pageants. Just believe me. As a queen, I did many appearances wearing my crown. Parades, helping out with games or collections. I did two events on the 4th back in 1996. Yes, that is little old me. Almost 20 years ago. I did a matching two page layout for each city on one page.  I knew I wanted to redo this page for this challenge.

We have no papers currently that can be used for a 4th of July layout. None. So I had to make my own. I used image #M44B64 from Artbooking. I used contour to removes some of the stripes. I really like hows this looks.

 This was my 3rd attempt. First, I wanted to sponge the background using the cut as stencil. Was going to take a while. Plus, I need to work on my sponging. Take two. Decided to just use cardstock. Trying to lay that pattern to the background onced glued, is near impossible. It bunched up and was impossible to separate. The third wasn't perfect, but I made it work. I kept the overlay on the Cricut mat. Added the glue and placed the cardstock on top. Found out the cuts weren't lined up on the mat, so the edges were not even. But I made it work by cutting the white part off and adding it to another piece of cardstock.  

The title was just as much of a pain.  I used the double sided adhesive sheets again. Pulled of the wrong side of the adhesive. It wouldn't stick to the mat. So placed cardstock on the mat. I forgot to mirror the cut. Had a hard time cutting the backing. Once I got it to start cutting through, found out that once I mirrored it, it changed the position so it did not cut on the piece. Ugh. Try two. Pulled the right side so I didn't have to mirror. Found the right setting, fabric +. Still messed up on the position. Finally got them done. I cut them all in white. I was going to put the cities right on the blue mat, but I wanted the mat to be smaller so you could see the stripes more.  So I made banners. Since I didn't want to recut the letters, I sponged them red. 

The layout needed a little extra. I had to add fireworks. It is a 4th of the July layout. I used an expired stamp set for the fireworks.

I wanted to use this stamp set, it is a Cricut stamp so it is still available. I got the stamp back when it was a stamp of the month. But I could not find it, anywhere. So I had to use the retired set. 

I wanted a pop of color, so I used the ShinHan markers to color the white sequins. I had to use other colors than red and blue. Fireworks are always colorful.

I wanted to do a different layout. The original layout isn't horrible, but I wanted something more interesting. I found this {pin} and it worked perfect for my photos. I didn'thave to change a size. 

We hope you join us for our Life Is A Picnic challenge. Stop by {Heart 2 Heart} to play along. You have all month to play along. You will need to use some Close To My Heart product to play along. If you do not have any, go to {nikkageers.ctmh.com}.  Then come back to play along. 

To make sure you don't miss out on any new tutorials, artwork, videos or members only specials, as it is easy to miss posts on Facebook and I don't post to all of them, join my {Facebook group}.

Subscribe to my {Youtube Channel} for updates on new Create Your Card videos.

I offer one on one classes for Cricut Design Space. Stop by for more {details}.

If you would to like to recreate any of my projects, you can order the materials at {nikkageers.ctmh.com}.

Recipe:

Stamps - 

   Kaboom (retired)

Paper - 

   1385  White Daisy Cardstock

   X5927  Ruby Cardstock

   X5759  Pacifica Cardstock

Ink - 

   Z891  Versamark Ink Pad

   Z2170  Ruby Ink Pad

   Z2452  Golden Yellow ShinHan Markers

   Z2466  Vivid Green ShinHan Markers

   Z2448  Carmine ShinHan Markers

   Z2453  Lavender ShinHan Markers

Other -

   Z2068  White Embossing Powder

   Z3024  Coral Reef Sequins (White)

   Z1906  Artbooking Cricut Cartridge