Announcing Our All Star Alumnae Design Team!

Happy 2013!  All of us at Heart 2 Heart Challenges wish you the very best in this new year!  I am really excited to be leading the blog this year, and I certainly couldn't do it without our fabulous Design Team.  You will recognize all of the faces we're bringing back for the first half of 2013, and I hope you will enjoy working with these gals again as much as I have.  You're in for a treat with our first-ever All Star Alumnae DT.  You'll also enjoy the chance of being in the spotlight yourself as a guest designer!  More on that in the days to come...

Our design team has been split into two "teams" to help us provide you with more inspiration for each week's challenge.  Here are the wonderful ladies on Team A:

Angela Garcia:

Hi! I'm so happy to be a part of the Heart 2 Heart ladies again! It's been a while, so let me introduce myself again.  I'm a mother of 3 very active boys and a wife to one very patient and understanding man. These 4 guys are the most important people in my life!  Among other reasons, they are all very supportive of me and give me lots of inspiration for my crafting!

      I feel like I've been papercrafting forever, since I was a young girl. (I guess that just makes me an old amateur.) I've always been fasinated with color and love to find new favorite combinations.

While I do dabble a bit in other crafts such as jewelry-making and baking, paper and ink are my real passion. I love to open up new paper packs and breath in that fantastic new smell of CTMH paper! Anyone else??

      When I'm not being a mom, wife, or crafter, I'm usually reading (see, more paper and ink) or watching sci-fi movies and television shows.

      Here's to another great year with H2H!

 

Carol Labuski:
 I am 56 yrs. old...I have been married to my high school sweetheart for almost 37 years...although it has not always been rosy, it has been worth it...it is a work in progress...a mom of 2 grown children...a son (33) and a daughter (27)...grandma to 4 little girls...stepgrandma to 1 little girl...I have been behind a camera since the age of 8 and look at everything as if it were a photograph...I have been a serious scrapbooker for 14 years or so but actually started scrapbooking way back when I was very young...my granddaughters and my garden are the subjects of many of my scrapbook pages...I currently do not work outside the home as I chose to leave a retail job after 15 years of too much stress. I have been with this wonderful company for over 6 years now and can't imagine my life without it. I have met so many awesome people through this business - sister consultants as well as customers - and wouldn't change that for anything!

Jody Gustafson:
My real name is Barbara but you can call me Jody. I've been married to the best husband ever for 43 years. I'm a mother of 2 great children, Mikel and Carrie. I've been blessed to be a grandmother to 6 super wonderful grandchildren, Autumn, Joshua, Alicyn, Alexis, Ashley & Zachary. I have been an independent consultant with Close to my Heart since 1998. The reason I joined this company is because I was looking for a fun way to make a little extra money. When I saw my friends beautiful handmade cards and scrapbook pages I knew I could have fun with this business. My time with this company has been filled with special times and special people. It is a real privilege to work with the finest products in the industry.One of the greatest joys of the job is the people that I have met and that I now call "friend."

Lucy Kelleher:
     Hello!  I'm so excited to be part of H2H again!  I so enjoyed my first term.  It was my first design team and I learned a lot!  I can't wait to get started again.
     I live in southern California with my amazing husband of 11 years.  We met while training in Aikido, a Japanese martial art almost 20 years ago.  We now own our own Aikido dojo (school) where I teach our children's classes.  I became a trial paralegal right out of school but decided to change careers about 8 years ago.  I went back to school and became a teacher.  After 5 years teaching 3rd and 4th graders, I am now a full-time Close To My Heart consultant and am LOVING it!  I have traded in teaching my little guys for teaching and creating memories with my "big" kids.
     I have to admit I was never particularly crafty growing up.  I alwasy wanted it to be "perfect" the first time I made something.  Hardly a stress-free activity!  I began crafting over 12 years ago when I saw one of my student's mothers working on cards in her car while waiting on her sons.  She invited me to a card workshop, and the rest is history!  I've been with CTMH a little over 7 years now and am always amazed at all the new products they come up with.  Every new idea book inspires me.  I've been blogging for a couple of years where I love posting projects and ideas and getting feedback from others.  I am a firm believer that there really are no mistakes in crafting.  Anything can be fixed!  Absolutely anything!

Tamytha Jenkins:
     Hi!  This is my second time as being part of the H2H design team and I’m so excited to have this opportunity again.
     I live in Merritt Island, Florida with my habit-supporting husband of 20 years. I'm also a mom to a beautiful 16 year-old daughter and an imaginative 12 year-old son. I have been a middle school science teacher for 9 years and even though I still love teaching, I could do without all the other “stuff” bogging the profession down today. So my hope is that by the end of the summer, I will be able to work my Close To My Heart business full-time. In the meantime, stamping and scrapbooking helps to keep me relatively sane. :) When I'm not spending time with my family, working, grading papers (yuck), or creating, I pursue spiritual activities and enjoy playing around on the computer, including working on my blog… though not as often as I would like.

     I won’t bore you with how I discovered paper crafting, as it’s been mentioned before, but I can tell you that I’ve been scrapbooking and stamping for 15+ years. I only wish I could say that I have been with CTMH that long, but I’ve only been with this fabulous company for a little less than 3 years (and loved every minute). It’s better late than never though, right?  I hope my art will not only inspire you, but that it will motivate you to carve out time in your busy lives to create. I look forward to visiting your blogs and seeing your creations in the coming months.

...and me, Haley Dyer:
It is really exciting for me to lead the H2H blog this year!  (Feel free to email me suggestions at inkyscrapper @ gmail dot com.)  I truly could not do it without the help of Mary Vogel, former owner, and Shirley Ross, Team B Captain.  This year will be my 13th with Close To My Heart and is my 20th in an elementary school classroom (currently teaching 5th grade).  I've been married for almost as many years, and we have two daughters (14 & 11), a dog, and a cat.  We live in the beautiful north Georgia "alps" knows as Appalachia.  My family and friends (and a trip or two thrown in here and there) make up my favorite subjects to scrapbook.  I love all sorts of paper crafting and look forward to challenging myself- and you- this year!  I can't wait to see your creations, because you truly inspire me.

Our Team B amazing All Stars are:
Allisa Chilton:
Hello, my name is Allisa Chilton. I live in southwestern Wyoming. I started scrapbooking in 1995. I became a Close To My Heart Consultant shortly after. Scrapbooking soon lead to card making. I think I have now reached paper hoarder, stamping addiction status! I started blogging in 2011 which has lead to my new addiction of entering challenges. I love meeting all of the like minded crafty people and sharing creations.I am so excited to be joining such a talented group of stampers at Heart 2 Heart Challenges!

Jayma Malme:
Paper crafting is my passion, and I'm so excited to be back on board at H2H!  I'll be sharing more about me in the New Year, so come back please!

Katy Donaldson Taylor:
I am a wife and working mother of three boys and a little girl. I have been a Close To My Heart Consultant for almost ten years and I LOVE IT!! Since I work full-time and run after four very active children, Scrapbooking is a stress-reliever and a creative outlet that I enjoy SO MUCH!!

Melinda Everitt:
Hi, I am Melinda! I attended my first Close to My Heart gathering about 6 years ago. I was like a kid in a candy store and wanted EVERYTHING! I had always been crafty, enjoying quilting, sewing, crocheting, knitting and needlework and was now ready to try my hand at papercrafting. So I joined Close to My Heart as a Consultant in September of 2007 to get the discount and have been thoroughly enjoying creating ever since.

I am originally from Pacific Palisades, California and will always be a California girl in my heart. My husband and I moved to Memphis, Tennessee 9 years ago. I was a military wife and lived in Turkey and Germany. I have 5 grown kids and 5 grown stepkids and together my husband and I have more grandchildren than we can count. I "retired" from my profession, Medical Technology, about the same time I joined Close to My Heart. One of my sons had graduated from high school and because of his Asperger's, needed more structure in his life. Since then, my grandson has also been diagnosed with Autism. So I am an Autism mother and grandmother. Papercrafting gives me an outlet in my busy day and keeps me connected with my customers and friends.

I am so happy to be asked to return on this Design Team. We have spent the past 3 months looking for a new home and arranging to move. I need to get back to creating and love the challenges from H2H. I look forward to the coming 6 months!

Paige Dolecki:

I’m Paige Dolecki and I’m so excited to once again be part of the Heart2Heart Challenges Design Team! I had a blast the first time around getting my mojo revved up with the awesome challenges and Haley has put together such wonderful teams of designers that we are all sure to have lots of fun and get major inspiration over the next 6 months. It kind of feels like I’m on the Survivor All-Stars show!

      We live near Seattle, WA where the skies are gray, the weather damp and moss grows on roofs and cars but at least we have lots of coffee to keep us warm and happy. My husband and I have been married for the past 21 years (yay us!) and have three wonderful kiddos aged 17, 14 and 11 years. I earned my Black Belt in Tae-Kwon-Do last year and now teach and mentor others on their journey to Black Belt. I have three things in life that keep me in balance and happy – my family, martial arts and crafting. I firmly believe that everyone needs a good dose of creativity each week to nurture their soul. Close to my Heart has given me that weekly dose of creativity but most importantly brought so many wonderful people (my blessings) into my life. I’ve been a consultant or as I like to call myself, a Stampologist, for the past 5 years. I admit to being totally in love with my Cricut Expression 2 referred to with great affection as my “lil’ old crickey bug” at our house. I love seeing what you all create from the challenges and I’m looking forward to visiting with you and hope you’ll stop by my place at www.Stampologist.com!

and Shirley Ross (Team B Captain):
As a Close To My Heart consultant since March 2006, I have found my passion. As a caregiver to my Mom, I have found my calling. Hi, I am Shirley Ross, avidly obsessed papercrafter and passionate Close To My Heart fan. I found papercrafting late in life and am making up for lost time. I spend most days working on crafty ideas to share with my fellow Close To My Heart addicts and soon to be Close To My Heart addicts. I am a daughter, mother, widow and most of all happy to finally be doing what I love.

Please join me in welcoming these lovely ladies back to Heart 2 Heart Challenges!  Our first challenge will be issued next Monday, and we hope you'll play along.  For each challenge of each month, you will have the entire month to play, as long as you use some Close To My Heart products in your creations and link them up here by the end of the month.

Have a happy, crafty Close To My Heart New Year!