Introducing our February Guest Designer...

Rachel Loesch!  We're excited to have her share her talent with us this month.  (You, too, could become a guest designer by playing along at H2H and being selected to the Top 10 for the month.)

Hello! My name is Rachel, and I live in Sacramento, CA. I’m happily married with a very supportive husband who understands my passion for crafting. Besides paper crafting, I enjoy baking sugar cookies and cake pops. It’s not so much the baking that I enjoy, but the decorating (and the eating)!

I consider myself more of a card maker than a scrapbooker since I rarely do layouts, although I really need and want to work on my scrapbooks. I got completely hooked on paper crafting with the introduction of the Cricut. I bought the original Baby Bug as soon as it came out and remember showing it off to my scrapping friends at our monthly crop. Now, I have an Expression, Cake and Imagine machines, plus everyone in my group has a Cricut, too!

I became a CTMH consultant almost 5 years ago, mainly as a hobbyist. I was so thrilled with the introduction of the CTMH Cricut Art Philosophy Cartridge that I decided to try to focus on building my hobby into a business. So last year, I attended my first CTMH convention in Dallas, Texas. WOW!! I sure had a blast and learned a lot, it was so exciting!

When the CTMH Cricut Artiste Cartridge was unveiled, I was beyond amazed at all it could do! I was rooming with my upline, Mary Thompson, during the convention and we stayed up until the wee hours of the morning chatting about how we couldn’t wait to get Artiste and play with it at home. We decided to start a blog devoted to projects made with the CTMH cartridges and products, and our “Cricut with Heart” blog was born! Our first post was on July 31, 2012. It’s still going strong today with over 160 projects posted. We’re getting new blog followers all the time and we’d love to have you join us. It’s so wonderful to get feedback from our blog readers!

I am super excited to be chosen as the guest designer this month. I’m in love with the new Spring/Summer 2013 Idea Book and all the new products, and can’t wait to see what the H2H All Star Design Team has to share. Thanks for having me, and I hope I can inspire at least one person with my creations. Happy Crafting!"

January Challenges End Saturday!

Just a quick reminder that the Linkies will close Saturday night for all our January challenges. We'll be back Monday with our first February challenge, and our January Top 10 will be posted mid-week. Thanks for joining us and showing your CTMH pride!

Final January Challenge-All that Glitters!

Time to get your bling on!  The challenge this week is All that Glitters...make your project sparkle with glitter!  The fabulous new glitter papers by Close To My Heart are sure to be a starting point for many!  Here is some Design Team inspiration for you, starting with our January Guest Designer-

Kim

Shirley

Allisa

Jayma

Katy

Melinda

Paige

Now it's your turn to show us what you've got! We hope Team B has given you some great ideas. You have until February 2, 2013 to join in the January Challenges!  Please remember a few simple rules:
*Our challenges are open to everyone!
*To enter, follow the challenge of the week and post your results to your personal blog or other online gallery.
*Be sure to come back here and direct link to your challenge post so we can see your artwork! (You can see our sidebar for some simple instructions.)
*In order to enter a challenge, you must use Close To My Heart products but your project does not have to be 100% CTMH.
*If you use something from another company, please consider including details in your project's description.
* You MUST mention H2H challenges in your blog post (and a link back to us would be appreciated).
*Spread the word about our challenge blog by including our badge on your blog.
*Most importantly, have fun creating - the Close To My Heart way!
Note: Any entries not following the above rules are subject to having their link removed.

 

*You have until this Saturday to enter ANY of the January H2H challenges!

 

3rd January Challenge: Fancy Fold Techniques

It's me, Angela from Angela's Craft Closet waking you up on this great Monday morning!  Is everyone enjoying their long weekend?  Are you ready for this week's H2H challenge?  Well get your fancy on, we want to see your most fantastically fancy folds!
(And the fold in the card base does not count. )

 



Our January Guest Designer, Kim, has created this beautiful card to kick off our Fancy Folds challenge!

 

This week, Team A will be sharing their artwork with you.  Take a look at all the fancy folding they've created!

Carol

 

 

Haley

 

Jody

Lucy



Tamytha

and me, Angela



 

Now it's your turn to show us what you've got! We hope Team A has given you some great ideas. Please remember a few simple rules:
*Our challenges are open to everyone!
*To enter, follow the challenge of the week and post your results to your personal blog or other online gallery.
*Be sure to come back here and direct link to your challenge post so we can see your artwork! (You can see our sidebar for some simple instructions.)
*In order to enter a challenge, you must use Close To My Heart products but your project does not have to be 100% CTMH.
*If you use something from another company, please consider including details in your project's description.
* You MUST mention H2H challenges in your blog post (and a link back to us would be appreciated).
*Spread the word about our challenge blog by including our badge on your blog.
*Most importantly, have fun creating - the Close To My Heart way!
Note: Any entries not following the above rules are subject to having their link removed.

 

We're on Pinterest!

You can now find your favorite challenge blog on Pinterest! Click HERE to check us out! (Please note that we are "under construction" and will get better & better!)

Also, if you already found us and started following us, I may have accidentally and totally unintentionally deleted you. I am soooo sorry! Please come back, because we LOVE our followers so much! Mwah! (Thank you from the bottom of my CTMH heart for understanding and having patience with me.)

Scroll down for the January challenges...

2nd January Challenge: Hot Cocoa!

Is there a chill in the air? How about some 'Hot Cocoa'? Well, that is our second challenge theme - a little Hot Cocoa.

Whether you share a cute cup of cocoa or a hot trendy Cocoa-color inspired creation, you will be right on target this week. Feel free to interpret our challenges how you like, but be sure to use CTMH products in your creation, mention H2H in your post, and then link directly to your project, not just your blog.  (See the sidebar if you need help with this.)  Also, you have until Feb. 2 to complete any and all of our January challenges, so get crafting this new year!

Here's what our January Guest Designer, Kim, has created. Now that is a hot cocoa trendy card.

This week is Team B's turn to share with you, and we look forward to visiting your blogs too.

Melinda Everitt

Jayma Malme

Katy Taylor

Allisa

Paige

And me, Shirley

Now it's your turn to show us what you've got!  We hope Team B has given you some great ideas.  Please remember a few simple rules:
*Our challenges are open to everyone!
*To enter, follow the challenge of the week and post your results to your personal blog or other online gallery.
*Be sure to come back here and direct link to your challenge post so we can see your artwork!  (You can see our sidebar for some simple instructions.)
*In order to enter a challenge, you must use Close To My Heart products but your project does not have to be 100% CTMH.
*If you use something from another company, please consider including details in your project's description.
* You MUST mention H2H challenges in your blog post (and a link back to us would be appreciated).
*Spread the word about our challenge blog by including our badge on your blog.
*Most importantly, have fun creating - the Close To My Heart way!
Note: Any entries not following the above rules are subject to having their link removed.

1st January Challenge: Snow Much Fun!

It's here!  Our first challenge for 2013!  This week's theme is "Snow Much Fun!"  If you're like me, it may not even be snowy where you are, but this is the perfect time of year to dig into your wintry Close To My Heart stash.  Feel free to interpret our challenges how you like, but be sure to use CTMH products in your creation, mention H2H in your post, and then link directly to your project, not just your blog.  (See the sidebar if you need help with this.)  Also, you have until Feb. 2 to complete any and all of our January challenges, so get crafting this new year!

Here's what our January Guest Designer, Kim, has created.  Can you see that sparkly snow fun?

This week is Team A's turn to share with you, and we look forward to visiting your blogs too.

Angela

Carol

Jody

Lucy

 

Tamytha

and me, Haley

Now it's your turn to show us what you've got!  We hope Team A has given you some great ideas.  Please remember a few simple rules:
*Our challenges are open to everyone!
*To enter, follow the challenge of the week and post your results to your personal blog or other online gallery.
*Be sure to come back here and direct link to your challenge post so we can see your artwork!  (You can see our sidebar for some simple instructions.)
*In order to enter a challenge, you must use Close To My Heart products but your project does not have to be 100% CTMH.
*If you use something from another company, please consider including details in your project's description.
* You MUST mention H2H challenges in your blog post (and a link back to us would be appreciated).
*Spread the word about our challenge blog by including our badge on your blog.
*Most importantly, have fun creating - the Close To My Heart way!
Note: Any entries not following the above rules are subject to having their link removed.