New Month, New Week, New Challenge!

EDIT: Please review the linking directions at the bottom of today's post. Thank you!
EDIT again - Sandra's prize is now posted below. Remember, you have all month to play along with these challenges!

Lots of new things going on this week including new prize sponsors, a new Guest DT and a new challenge! Woohoo! But first we have a couple of good-byes to send out -

To our January prize sponsors, Haley and Susan, THANK YOU for getting our year off to a great start! I do have the prize winners drawn and they are........drumroll..........for Haley's prize it is #44 from the color challenge week: THEDA MYER! and from this past week (animals/birds) is our second winner of Susan's prize: #26 JESS WATSON! Congratulations ladies! Please email me your mailing information so I can forward it on to our fabulous sponsors.

And as we start a new month, we have 2 new sponsors - they are Shirley Ross and Sandra Strickler - welcome gals! Shirley is offering a great prize package that you can see below:

It includes: 1 - Level 2 Paper Packet - Vintage Travel

1 - 9x9 My Creation Accordion Album
1 - Embroidery Floss - Green
1 - craft jar of brads - large and small
2 - D size stamp sets -Connections D1330 and Say It in Style D1283
1 - Dimensional Elements
1 - altered composition book (Olivia papers)

Awesome Shirley! You can stop and visit Shirley at her blog Mom 'n Me Scrap or at her website: http://shirleyross.myctmh.com/ Thanks Shirley!

Sandra has a great prize to offer too - take a look:

Be sure to stop by and visit Sandra at her blog: Stampin' and Scrappin' - and leave her a little hello while you're there!

Ok so on to our challenge for the week. One more goodbye, however - to our very talented Guest DT Vicki Vizniuk! Vicki took time out of her busy schedule (getting her new home in ship-shape!) and joined us for two challenges - today is her second and final contribution. But I am sure we will see Vicki around playing with our challenges just as soon as all her painting and moving is complete!  A new Guest DT will be introduced later in the week when we announce the Top Ten picks for January!!

Our challenge this week is a sketch - here it is:

And here is all the fabulous eye candy the DT - and Guest DT created based on this sketch - first up, Vicki:

Love how she rotated the sketch and that skirt - {swoon!}

Corina

Melinda

Debbie

Lorrinda

Jessica

Karen

Lisa

Aren't they incredible? A lot of pink on the DTs' minds this week :) Now we want to see what you can create with this sketch. Just a reminder: You MUST link to the specific blog page that your artwork is on, not to your blog as a whole! To do this, after you publish your post, click the title of your blog post. This will take you to a page that has only one post on it! If you link to your entire blog, we cannot always locate the artwork you meant for the challenge and it makes picking our top ten very difficult so please be sure to leave the correct link. ALSO, be sure to leave your link on the correct challenge. That way, we have all the entries for each challenge together in one spot. Thank you!

Ok - time to get creative!

New Scrapbook Layout Posted

I posted scrapbook layout #2 at the H2H Scrapbooking page - hope you will give it a try!

*NOTE - If you want to leave a comment on the scrapbooking posts, please do so at this post, not on the scrapbooking page. Since it is an additional page to this blog, all of the posts there are basically one long post and you can only leave a comment at the very bottom which makes it confusing for me to tell what the comment is referring to. So please leave any comments on this page of H2H - thank you!

Time to get wild!

We were so impressed with everyone's stamping spaces and organization ideas! Thanks to everyone who joined in the fun! There is still time to play along with the challenges and be eligible for this month's prizes from our two fabulous sponsors - Haley Dyer of The Inky Scrapper and Susan Winters of Winter Hearts Paper Arts.

The deadline to enter all of the challenges for this month will be this SATURDAY at 10:00 pm EST! After that, winners will be randomly drawn from the January challenges.

With that said, let's get to this week's challenge.

We want to see what you can create that features an animal or bird (insects are ok, too). Let's see how the DT got wild with this challenge starting with a special Guest today - our sponsor, Haley, is playing along with us this week! Here is her card to get us started:

Lovely, Haley!

Jessica

Corina

Melinda

Lisa

Mary

Karen

Lorrinda

Debbie

 Talk about a walk on the wild side - or, with all those winged creatures, would that be soaring through the wild side??

Now it's YOUR turn to show us the animal in you. Or at least in your artwork! Post your creation here by Saturday at 10:00 pm to be eligible for our monthly prizes!

From Your Heart to Ours

Thanks to everyone who played along with our color challenge last week - there were so many wonderful entries!!! Rmember to keep playing along all month until the last Saturday of the month to increase your chances of winning one of the two fabulous prizes being offered by our sponsors: Haley Dyer of The Inky Scrapper and Susan Winter of Winter Hearts Paper Arts.

Today we are starting a new challenge that is a lot different than the ones we have had before. We call this From Your Heart to Ours because we are going to ask you to share something that isn't artwork. This is a new feature that will pop up in our challenges every other month so you will find a From Your Heart to Ours challenge 6 times a year.

To start these challenges, we would like to ask you to share something on the theme of Organization. Maybe you are really proud of your stamping space and want to share the room with us. Or maybe, in all of your "creative disorganization" you have a fabulous way to store paper, or ink, or stamps. Whatever it may be, we challenge you to share with us. From Your Heart to Ours.

Here is a peek at what the Design Team is sharing - be sure to click on their name and follow to their blog to read all about their organization (and let me say, this challenge threw the DT for a loop as they all scurried to clean up their spaces.  LOL  You do not have to over-do this challenge - just think of a good organization idea that you can share with us. There is sure to be someone who will benefit from your knowledge and information)!

Debbie

Lorrinda

Jessica

Corina

Melinda

Karen

Lisa

Mary

Now it's your turn. Let's see what kind of organization ideas you have that will inspire us all! Post photos or a description and then link your post here. Have fun - we can't wait to see what you come up with!

Scrapbooking - Layout 1

Today is the first post for H2H Scrapbooking - I am excited to be getting back to scrapping and sharing my layouts and sketches with all of you. But even more, I am excited to be inspired by the layouts you share with me! And with all of us! So be sure to pop over to the H2H Scrapbooking page and play along. See you there!

Let's get this party started!

Welcome back to the Heart 2 Heart Challenges! We are all so excited to get back into the swing of things and I have such a talented team to inspire your creative spirit! And a lot of info to share with you so let's get to it!

First, our challenges are still the same format. The only difference you will find is that instead of a weekly top five, we will now have a monthly Top Ten. And 2 monthly prize sponsors, which you will see through out the month on our sidebar. <------- over there. So the more you play during the month, the more chances you have to win a prize or grab a spot in the Top Ten. And one Top Ten winner will be become a Guest DT member for a future month. So lots of changes but lots of things that are staying the same.

For instance, we will continue to bring you awesome artwork and we encourage you to tell your friends, family, neighbors and co-workers about our blog and get them to play along too!

To start off our new year, our prize sponsors for the month of January are HALEY DYER and SUSAN WINTER. Here is a little about the prizes these ladies are offering:

Susan will be giving one lucky player a $25.00 gift certificate to be used on any products in the current Close To My Heart Idea Book! You can stop by and say hello to Susan at her blog: Winter Heart Paper Arts. Thank you Susan!

Haley has a great prize package in store for one random winner - take a look at all the goodies:

I'll share the contents of this package of fun in a couple of weeks when Haley joins the DT for one of our challenges! Be sure to stop by and visit Haley at her blog: The Inky Scrapper. Thanks for sponsoring, Haley!

We are still in need of sponsors for February - if you are interested, contact me at mbryt1@bex.net.

Ok, on to the challenge - cause that's why you're here, right?

We are starting off the year with a color challenge:

You can also add a little Sorbet to this pallette, if you wish. If you don't have these exact colors, then choose colors that are close to these, ok? We don't want to leave anyone out!

Now on to our inspiration. First up, our Guest DT for the month, Ms. Vicki Wizniuk:

Beautiful as always, Vicki!

And now for the H2H Design Team!

Debbie

Melinda

Jessica

Lisa

Lorrinda

Corina

Mary

Karen

Is that a lot of eye-candy or what? You have to be inspired after that awesome gallery of artwork so we want to see what you create with these colors!  You can play along with this challenge all month, until Saturday, Jan. 29th at 10:00 pm to be eligible for the prizes and a place in our Top Ten. Post your artwork on your blog or in another public online gallery and then link your artwork to our site below in Mister Linky.

Are you ready? Let the creating begin!!

Let's meet our last two members!

Two more talented ladies to go - up first, returning as our Senior DT member, Jessica Moore:

"I am 31 years old, a Christian, a wife of almost 13 years to my most wonderful husband John, and mother to 5 children - the oldest is 7 and the youngest was just born on May 3rd. My life is everything I ever wanted and more, I am blessed to be a stay at home mom who will start homeschooling in the fall, we live in a tiny town in Upstate New York. I have a very full life and I wouldn't change it for the world!
I started scrapbooking in 2003 after my 1st child was born. I found Close To My Heart in the spring of 2007, signed up in September of 2007 and have loved every minute since! Papercrafting is very addicting and brings me a great deal of joy. I try to create something everyday! People often ask "how in the world do you find time to scrapbook with 5 kids?" Well I tell them it's easy, you always should make time for something you love. Since starting scrapbooking and cardmaking I have also started to sew as well as quilt, I love anything and everything related to homemaking, crafting, cooking, decorating, organizing and even cleaning, I was made to do these things! I am so excited to be able to share with others my love of papercrafts and Close To My Heart."

Welcome back, Jessica - we are thrilled to have you on board! Jessica will be helping me with various odds and ends as well as participating in the challenges every once in awhile. You can find her blog at http://jessicaspaperpetals.blogspot.com/.

Last but certainly not least is our uber-talented Guest Design Team member for the month of January - Vicki Wizniuk!

"A little about me... I’ll try to keep this short... lol

My name is Vicki Wizniuk and I live at Charlie Lake, BC, Canada. I’m a mom to three sweet kids, with my oldest two (visually impaired twins) grown and living on their own now – together, of course, as they are inseparable. My youngest is in Grade 5, so while he’s at school during the day, I’m usually able to find some sanity time to be creative. My husband and I are in the midst of building a new home on the other side of the lake, so that’s been keeping us busy since we broke ground last June, and we are hoping to move in around the end of March. I’ve been a “hobbyist” Consultant with Close To My Heart for 5 ½ years, and I’m so loving it! I LOVE to create with my paper and stamps, and I am honoured to be a guest DT in January for the Heart 2 Heart Challenge Blog! Come and visit me anytime at my blog: http://wizardshangout.blogspot.com/ "

And there you have it - a great group of talent, don't you agree?

Tomorrow is our first challenge of 2011 so be sure to come back and play along!

Last 2 DT to Meet and Greet

Today I would like to introduce you to the last two new members of the Design Team and to start off, say hello to Debbie:

"Hello, my name is Debbie Carriere. I live with my husband & 3 children 15 miles north of Boston, Massachusetts. Prior to becoming a stay-at-home mom when my oldest son was born nearly 6 years ago, I worked in Research & Process Development for a pharmaceutical company. My paper crafting journey began just after starting a family. It was love at first sight when I was introduced to Close to My Heart, and my 3 year anniversary as a consultant is this month. I was predominantly a scrapbooker until I started a blog just 5 short months ago. Now I am completely addicted to cardmaking & challenges, not to mention blogging! I also love creating altered projects, but don't do it nearly often enough. Having three children age 5 and under keeps me very busy, & it is wonderful to have a creative outlet that helps me relax. Most nights after my children are in bed, you will find me crafting in my "scrap room" until the wee hours. Lately, my go to techniques are embossing & stitching – I just love the texture it adds to a project. I also love lots of layers of paper & embellishments. I absolutely love to look at and be inspired by all the talented crafters in the blogosphere. I have made so many "blogging friends" - it is truly amazing. The wonderful comments people leave really motivate me to keep creating & learning new skills. I am so excited to be a member of the Heart 2 Heart DT. I love Close to My Heart & hope to help others fall in love, too!"

Debbie can be found at her blog Scrappin' My Heart Out. Welcome Debbie!

Our last but not least team member is Melinda:

"My home town is Pacific Palisades, California. I have 5 grown children and 5 grandchildren. I have been married to my husband for 10 years and he also has 5 grown kids and 11 grandchildren. My husband and I live with my daughter-in-law, grandson, and son as well as 3 cats (2 ragdolls) and 2 dogs in a suburb of Memphis, Tennessee .
I quit work about 5 years ago to help with the therapy for my 25 year old son who has Asperger’s Syndrome. I was bored silly staying home and needed a creative passion. My daughter invited a new friend to a crop. She was a Close to My Heart Consultant and she introduced me to a whole new world that I never knew existed. I wanted everything!!! So I joined Close to My Heart as a Consultant on September 1, 2007.

After about a year I was asked to vend at a crop and discovered that I love to teach. I also found that if I showed people how to use our wonderful product that it sold itself. Since returning from Convention this past year, I have started my own team and now have 9 downline. I participated in the Mentoring Program with my upline, Kimberly Williams-Wiltse and am very excited about the business part of being a Consultant, but still want to keep my creative roots.

I look forward to participating in the upcoming Heart 2 Heart Challenges and I would like to thank Mary for inviting me!"

Melinda blog, If You Bling it, They Will Come, can be found here.


And that's the team! Well almost. Tomorrow, I will be posting a little re-introduction of our Senior DT member and our January Guest Design Team member. Be sure to stop by these lady's blogs and welcome them to H2H! I think you will be wowed by their work!

See you again soon -

Another Design Team Member to meet

Thanks to everyone who replied and said they are looking forward to the new Scrapbooking area! I can't wait to get started there too!

Today I would like you to meet another member of the H2H team - Lisa Stenz:

Here is a little about Lisa:

"Hi there. My name is Lisa Stenz. I was a graphic designer for 10 years before becoming a “Stay-at-Home-Mommy” to my kiddos Ryan (7) and Hannah (4). I have been married to my wonderful husband Andy for 10 years. We live in Temecula, California which is just north of San Diego. I was introduced to D.O.T.S. in 1993. I hosted a party at that time and remember thinking how much fun it would be to someday become a Consultant. It wasn't until 10 years later after my son was born and I got more “into” scrapbooking, that I came across an ad on the back of Creating Keepsakes Magazine for a company called Close to my Heart. I had no idea that CTMH used to be D.O.T.S. and was excited to sign up. The rest, as they say, is history.


I absolutely love to create. If I go too long without creating something, I get antsy. I suppose being addicted to crafting is better than the alternatives out there. LOL! I was honored to be invited to be part of the new H2H Design Team and am excited to share my H2H Challenge creations with you. I can't wait to see what you create as well!"

Welcome Lisa - we look forward to your creations!
 
More introductions tomorrow!

I couldn't wait till the weekend!

So far, you've met three of the new Design Team. There's three more to go as well as a re-introduction of our new Senior DT member and our January Guest DT so watch for those posts in the next few days.

Yesterday, I mentioned that I would have something exciting to announce this weekend. Well, I couldn't wait and wanted to tell you all about it now!!

There is a new branch of Heart 2 Heart Challenges - look at the top of this page....see the link that says H2H Scrapbooking???  I hope you will pop over and read all about what's going to be coming to you every other Thursday at H2H!

Go on - go check it out! I'll be back tomorrow with more introductions!

More Introductions

Today I would like you to meet 2 more of the Design Team - 1st up is Corina Mitchell.

"My name is Corina Mitchell (39) and I live in Chula Vista, California, about 10 minutes from Tijuana Mexico. I am super happily married to Jim (Fire Captain) for 15 years we have three awesome kids; Victoria (10), Nathan (7), Hunter (4). For the last three years, I have had the opportunity to stay home in a full time capacity. This has allowed me to actively participate in my children education and extracurricular activities. I truly love being a stay at home mom and I am grateful everyday. Three years ago I left my 16 year retail career with Coach and found CTMH through a search on Google. I joined a club and loved every piece of paper and every tool instantly. I have been a part time consultant for about eight months and have enjoyed meeting a lot of new friends and being part of such a wonderful community. This past year, I have taken my art work to a new level and I feel so empowered when I see the reactions on my clients faces when I show them how to duplicate my layouts, that their reaction is reward enough. This past year, I have also created a partnership with diverse local artist in San Diego. My other passions are Yoga, cycling and reading."

Welcome Corina! You can visit her at her blog which is http://www.scrapbookingink.com/

Next up is Karen Day:

"Hello from Ontario! I've been a crafter since forever...you name it, I've tried it! I discovered stamping about 25 years ago when stamp stores were few and far between, but have literally made all my own cards since then. I started scrapbooking when I started a family, and joined CTMH just over 6 years ago when the company switched to acrylic stamps, and saw the amazing possibilities they would provide.

I am a clothing designer by trade, having worked in Vancouver, Calgary, New York and finally Toronto - designing golfwear, skiwear, ladieswear and uniforms. I married a Toronto boy (Mike) 16 years ago, and retired to be a full time Mom when Adam was born 15 years ago, with Paige arriving 2 years later. I now sew mainly on cards, and really love to knit - especially socks. I work part-time for a home staging company, and have volunteered in my children's schools for years.

I LOVE having a blog! Participating in challenges, and viewing artwork on other blogs has made me a better card maker. I'm thrilled to have the opportunity to be on the H2H Design Team, and hope that I'll get a chance to inspire a few others along the way."

And a big welcome to Karen also! Karen's blog can be found at http://kdaycreations.blogspot.com/

I hope you will all stop by and say hello to these talented ladies - you're going to love their work!!

So three intros down and three to go....and a little surprise I have in store for everyone that I will tell you all about this weekend :)

Stay tuned!

Introducing the new Design Team

Today starts the introductions of the new Design Team. But before I get to that - I have a prize to give away!

Our last challenge was to post your holiday cards and wow, was there ever a lot of fabulous inspiration! Sicne it was my week to be the 4 for 40 hostess, one player will receive, not only the 4 cards I created, but also a mystery package of goodies! So using Random.org, the winner is......#40 Liza M.!  Congratulations - please email me at mbryt1@bex.net and I will get your prize sent out!

This week we will be meeting the new DT and our 1st challenge of 2011 will be posted on January 10th.

First up, the talented Lorrinda Holman. Here is a little bio from Lorrinda:

"I have been following and playing along with the Heart 2 Heart Challenges since day 1, and I just love the ideas and creativity this blog inspires. This is such a great gallery of CTMH art, and the challenges really motivate the crafty mojo.

I have been a CTMH Independent Consultant for 2 years. I joined after attending a card workshop, where I fell in love with the products. I started lurking on the craft blogs to get inspiration and ideas, and I became addicted to blog land. At the beginning of 2010, I finally jumped in, and have found a whole world of crafty online friends who share my interests, you can find me at http://isntthatsweet.blogspot.com/

I have been married to Randy for 12 years, and am Mom to Jenna (11), Shane (9), and fur baby Bentley. We live in a small border town in East Central Alberta, in the heart of Canadian oil country. My hubby is an Oilfield Production Supervisor, and an avid hunter, which is great for me because his hobby costs way more than mine, so he never says anything about the "few" craft supplies I have :) I love to cook, and have quite the collection of wild game recipes because my freezer is always full of his hobby (not always a good thing). I also like to bake and I love cake decorating for family and friends. My kids stay busy with Taekwondo and their many messy hobbies (beads, legos, clay, paint, magnetix). As a family we like to go camping, hiking, ATVing, and if we're inside we all usually have a book in our hands.

By day I am a Dental Hygienist, but most nights you can find me in my "Rubber Room" crafting up something or other! You could say that I am overly detail oriented, and you'd be nice, because I am admittedly a pain in the @$$ perfectionist. I have been a crafter all of my life. You name it, I've done it...drawing, painting, sewing, crocheting, needlepoint. I have found my passion in paper, which started because I have boxes of photos to be scrapbooked, but I find that I'm spending more time on cards and other paper crafts. I am also a TV junkie, and am blessed to have a spare TV in my craft room. Now I can craft while I watch TV in the evenings so I don't feel like a couch potato! Life is good. My daughter is also a crafty girl, and she shares our craft room with me, but her side is much more glittery than mine:) We are planning a "Rubber Room" reno, and we can't wait to get some decent lighting and storage in there, but first we'll have to pack up our stash of products and tools, and that is a daunting task!"

Welcome Lorrinda - we are excited to have you on the team!

Tomorrow, another new member intro - come back and see who it is!

Happy New Year!!

Welcome to a brand new year of challenges with Heart 2 Heart! I hope you like the new, fresh look and will enjoy the changes we are making for 2011!

Here are the highlights:

* I will start to introduce our all-new Design Team tomorrow. These ladies are uber-talented and excited to share their artwork with you!

* We will now have 2 prize sponsors per month who will be with us for the entire month! That's right - you will now have the whole month to play along with the challenges and increase your odds of winning a fabulous prize! More on this when we kick off our 1st challenge of 2011 on Monday, January 10th!

* We have also changed the Friday Five program to a monthly Top Ten. At the end of each month, our favorite ten players from the month (as determined by the DT) will be posted and one of those 10 will be chosen as a Guest DT for a future month. This also increases your odds of being in the Top Ten - the more you play, the better your chances!

We have a great line-up of challenges just waiting for you so tune in this week as I introduce the Design Team and then get ready to play!

(If you would like to add our badge to your blog, we now have new badges for you to grab. See the sidebar for more details).

Happy New Years! I will be back tomorrow to award the prize from the last challenge. See you then!