If you can read this, THANK A TEACHER!

Today's post is sadly my last one as a member of the Heart 2 Heart Design Team :(

It has been such a great experience to be in the company of such fabulously talented ladies for the past 6 months.  Each week the challenges have pushed me out of my creative box, and being on a Design Team with these gals has motivated me to bring my A game!  We've all become friends through our little chats behind the scenes, and I really hope to get to meet them all face to face one day.  I feel so honored to have had this design team opportunity!  If you get a chance this week, pop in to their blogs for a visit, and sign up to be a follower if you aren't already:
Debbie: http://www.scrapmyheartout.blogspot.com/
Haley: http://inkyscrapper.blogspot.com/
Jessica: http://www.jessicaspaperpetals.blogspot.com/
Jody: http://cre8nmemories.blogspot.com/
Karen: http://www.kdaycreations.blogspot.com/
Mary: http://www.mbryt1.blogspot.com/
Melinda: http://www.ifyoublingittheywillcome.blogspot.com/

I will continue to stalk their blogs on a daily basis :), but I will really miss being a part of this team.  However, our term is up and it's time to pass the torch on to some new talent!  Keep your eye on the H2H challenge blog for the new Design Team introductions, and please give the new designers a warm welcome.

Before I get all choked up, I better share the details of  this week's challenge.

This week H2H has a color challenge for us:

My kids have had really great teachers again this year, and today is the last day of school (Yay!...? This used to be such a happy day for me, before I became a Mom... just kidding...I think...)

 I wanted to include a little something to thank them for being a part of my kids' lives.  I made them each this cute bookworm card to go with a little gift:

Recipe: All product CTMH:

Stamps: B1380 Mayberry WOTG, C1322 Gratitude (Retired), and D1290 August Word Puzzle (Retired)

Paper: Bamboo, Barn Red, Blue from X7137B Lucky Paper Pack

Inks: Barn Red, Indian Corn Blue, Desert Sand, Sunflower

Z1371 Blue Button Assortment

Z906 Bamboo Waxy Flax

Z1099 Twill Ribbon (Retired)

and googly eyes from my stash :) 

Want to play along with us?  Now it's your turn to use these fabulous colors on a project.  Don't forget you must use some CTMH products...then link it up at H2H so we can all pop by for a peek.  Each entry has a chance to win a fantastic prize from our lovely sponsors, and a place in our Top 10 at the end of the month.

One last thing:

I want to share the inside of my card with all of you today:

Summer is always so busy for us, the kids are home from school, the yard needs maintenance, weekends are spent in our camper (with no internet), and just to make it extra crazy around here we've decided to begin a complete kitchen renovation.  I have no idea when I will get a chance to get into my craft room for the next few weeks, so I may not be posting to my blog very much this summer.  I will keep checking in with some of my favorite blogs that are in my Google Reader, and will try to leave some comments along the way.  Don't worry, I'm not abandoning this little blog...I'm just taking it easy where I can this summer, and am giving you fair warning that I'm gonna be a lazy blogger for a couple of months. 

A big THANK YOU to all my followers and to everyone who has taken the time to leave me a comment here. 

HAVE  A  GREAT  SUMMER!

Lorrinda

H2H BINGO!

Hi there!

Today the Heart 2 Heart Challenge blog is playing BINGO! 
We would love to have you come by and play:)


Here is the bingo card:

Draw a straight line in any direction, and use those 3 elements on your project this week. I had fun with this challenge :)

My bingo line goes through DOILY, FLOWERS, LACE:

After I posted the photo, I'm thinking that this card could have used some stitching around the edges...but I was too busy this week to get back into my craft room to add it. (Summer activities are gearing up and I don't have a lot of spare time to craft.)  So now this looks unfinished to me. Oh well, sometimes I have to remind myself that it's just a card and the recipient really won't care!  (I found a sign on Pinterest that says "Done is better than perfect", I think I need to make one for my wall.)

Here's a close up of the flower cluster, they are just simple rolled paper roses sitting on top of crochet lace flowers:

Stop by H2H to see what the other DT gals did with their bingo cards. Wanna play too?  Pick a bingo in a straight line in any direction on the card above, and create something with those 3 elements on it using CTMH products.  Post it on your blog and link it up at H2H so we can all pop by for a peek. Each entry has a chance to win one of the prizes donated by our generous sponsors, and we'll be picking our faves for the Top 10 at the end of the month.

Not only did I get to play bingo, but I got to finally use this stamp set to make a card for the Moxie Fab World "I'm Sew Excited" challenge.  (I love it when I can get one card to fit more than one challenge:)  But I still think I should have added some stitching...

Thanks for stopping by today!

Lorrinda

Recipe:

(All materials CTMH unless noted)

Paper: X7133B Miracle Level 2 Paper Pack

Stamps: C1442 Tailor Made, D1472 Simple Memories (Doily)

Ink: White Daisy, Desert Sand and Bamboo

Z1136 Crochet flowers from White Daisy Mini Medley

Z673 White Daisy Embossing Powder

Z1127 Stitched brown ribbon from Chocolate Ribbon Rounds Collection

Eyelet lace scrap and stick pins from my stash

H2H From Our Heart to Yours...Creating Background Paper for Dad

Hello there!

This week's Heart 2 Heart challenge is to create your own background paper for a Father's Day card.  The Design Team has made some fabulous cards with their own background techniques, and since this is a 'From Our Heart to Yours' challenge...we're sharing tutorials of what we did :)
Their links are over on my sidebar, or you can see all of their projects at once HERE.

I used a couple of different background techniques on my card this week:

Random Stamping on the Hawaiian shirt:

Started with a 4x6" piece of paper.

I stuck 4 small stamps on my block to keep the pattern uniform, and then just filled the paper with it:

To fold the shirt, just google origami shirt-fold and you'll get an assortment of tutorials to choose from.

Sponged Background Scene:

Start with your piece of blank cardstock. Mask off the sun with a circle of scrap paper and a temp bond tape that can be easily removed.  Then mask off the horizon with post-its, cover the bottom edge of the sun too.

Then I used a sponge and Sunny Yellow ink and dabbed and rubbed until it was even.

Next I used Smoothie ink, and filled in the rest of the sky.

Then I grabbed the Sunny Yellow again and went over the entire sky to blend them together.

Remove the post-its and you should have this. Leave the circle mask on for now.

Now use post-its to mask the horizon line, line them up right along the edge of the sky.

I sponged Sunset ink for the water, leaving a strip of white beneath the sun to look like a reflection.  Remove the post-its mask.

Then I sponged the edge of the reflection with Sunny Yellow, and blended the colors.  The trick with this sponging technique is to build up the color in layers so you don't get smears/blotches of ink.

To make the waves, I just cut a random wavy edge on a scrap of paper, and held it in place while I sponged with Smoothie Ink. Randomly move the edge and ink along it until you have a wave pattern.

Now you can remove the circle mask...

Cover the horizon line with the edge of scrap paper, and lightly sponge on Sunset ink to get the water line.

And there is your sunset scene!

The rest of the Design Team have more 'From Our Heart to Yours' goodness for you here.  Do go to each of their blogs to learn what they did, and leave them some love while you are there...we all love getting comments :)

We'd love to see what you can come up with!  Create your own background paper for a Father's Day project, and link it up at H2H so we can all see!  Each entry has a chance to win a prize from our June sponsors, and yours could make it into our Top 10 for a crack at a future Guest Designer spot.

Thanks for visiting today!

Lorrinda

All supplies used from CTMH unless noted:

Paper for shirt: from X7129B Hooligans Level2 paper pack

Cardstock: White Daisy, Black, Lagoon

Inks: Black, Sunny Yellow, Sunset, Smoothie

Stamps: D1470 Dreams Come True (flowers), B1376 Wings (leaves), D1423 Happy Forever and D1288 June Word Puzzle (Sentiments, both stamps retired)

Z1393 Black Mini-Medley (mini button brads)

Black hemp string

Sponges

Post-It notes and removable tape for masking.

H2H Wedding Challenge

Did ya miss me?
Sorry for being MIA, I had a little boiling water accident and kind of melted my right hand, so was unable to do much of anything last week (except whine and swear, I'll admit it. Burns really hurt! especially on the soft parts between your fingers.)  That's what happens when you try to do 14 things at once, life has a way of forcing you to slow down sometimes.  For the record, I'm not a big fan of the 'Pasta Express', one big burnt thumbs down.  I'm all good now, just a little peeling but no more pain and shouldn't be any major scars.  I apologize for not leaving comments on everyone's blogs, but I suck at typing as it is, let alone doing it with just my left hand.  I'll try to get around to everyone's blogs this week to catch up.

H2H has a new challenge up today...and the theme is WEDDINGS!  I loved this challenge :)

I went all out with the bling, but kept my color scheme very muted. I think the end result is very elegant, which is the look I was going for:

(You can click the pics to see them in more detail.  I highly reommend it for this card because I had a tough time photographing all the shiny/sparkly details.)

This is the folded card, it fits in a standard A2 card envelope. Why yes, that is embossing on the envelope, thanks for noticing!  It just seems to make it more formal somehow.

And here it is open:

Just google tri-shutter card fold and you'll find several templates/tutorials to make one.  It looks difficult, but is really very simple to make.

Here are some close-ups of each section:

Don't you just love the bling on the ring?

I left the top edge of this white panel open to create a little pocket for a gift card or cash, I should have taken a better picture of this but I think you can visualize it:)  I purposely left this area blank so there is a spot to write on.

All the stamped sentiments and images are heat embossed with silver, and I used rhinestone and silver accents. I love the way this turned out! The pattern paper is from the CTMH Bliss Level 2 paper pack, one of my faves from the CTMH Spring/Summer Idea Book.  If you don't recognize it, it's because I used the reverse side of the colored pattern to showcase the coordinating gray pattern.  For a complete list of the supplies I used, a recipe is at the bottom of this post. 

You should check out what the rest of the DT has made for this challenge, awesome stuff!  And, we have a new Guest Designer joining us this month, Jena from Live, Love, Laugh, Scrapbook...welcome to the DT Jena!  (Jena was our Top Chick for April.  Want to get a guest spot on the DT?  You just have to play along!  If your entry makes it to the top of our Top 10 you are in!)

Now it's your turn to play along.  Create something for a wedding, and link it up at the Heart 2 Heart Challenge Blog so we can all see! 

We have new sponsors for June: Michelle Owen of Cutezie Creations and Romaine Rancier of Bumbles n Bees who have generously donated some fabulous prizes!  Head over to their blogs and leave them some love.  You have until the end of June to play along with all the challenges this month! The more you play, the more chances you have to be a random prize winner or a future guest designer Top Chick!  Remember, Heart to Heart is a CloseToMyHeart challenge blog, to be eligible for any prizes your project must include CTMH products.

Thanks for visiting my blog,

Lorrinda

Supplies all CTMH unless noted:

Paper: X7132B Bliss Level 2 Paper Pack

Stamps: D1337 Love Always, C1227 Our Wedding Day (retired, used the sentiment for the envelope)

Z669 Silver Embossing Powder

Z1104 Clear Sparkles

Z1263 Bitty Sparkles

Z1366 Metal Brad Assortment

White flowers by Petaloo

White satin edge with silver organdy ribbon from Really Reasonable Ribbon