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!

Looking for sponsors for 2011

If you would like to sponsor the H2H blog with a prize in 2011, please contact me. I am setting up a schedule for sponsors and would like to get a few months filled. There will be a few changes to the sponsorship program and it will be outlined to all potential sponsors, with a post for all about the changes after the 1st of the year.

* If you have been a sponsor previously, please do not request to be a sponsor again at this time. We would like to give the opportunity to new sponsors first and will contact past sponsors if we have spaces to fill.

To find out more, send me an email at mbryt1@bex.net. Thank you~