Tuesday, October 30, 2012

Telephone Blog Hop Winners!

Thanks so much to all those who participated in our Telephone Blog Hop this past weekend! We hope you enjoyed seeing our projects as much as we did. :) 


And now it's time to announce our winners from the hop!

Scraptastical Kreations
$15 Gift Certificate
WINNER: JANEA

Scrappin' Fab Pam
Blog Candy Pictured Below


WINNER: TRACEY SABELLA


Winners should email Ashley at especiallymadeblog@gmail.com to claim their prizes. Winners have until next Tuesday, November 6th, to claim their prize before another winner is chosen. 

A big thanks again to all those who took time to hop! We'll see you in a few weeks for our Turkey Toe Blog Hop on Friday November 9th. :)

at 2 comments:

Monday, October 29, 2012

R is for... Raccoon!


Believe it or not, I had such a hard time coming up with something that starts with the letter R for today's post at My Cricut Craft Room! I thought R would be such an easy letter, but apparently, I was wrong. After flipping through many cartridge handbooks, I came across the raccoon in Create a Critter and knew that was what I wanted to make!



The raccoon is cut at 3" from Create a Critter and the tree is cut at 4" - a little bigger than I expected, but that's okay. All paper is from Recollections and I decided to add some detail to the tree by using Stickles to create berries. The raccoon is also on an Action Wobble... my first time using one! :)

Make sure to stop by My Cricut Craft Room to see what other projects the DT ladies have created for today's letter of the day!
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Saturday, October 27, 2012

UnBOOlievable Blog Hop

Welcome to the UnBOOlievable Blog Hop!


Today a great group of crafty ladies have teamed up to share with you some super spooky and cute projects, just in time for Halloween! If you've come from Teresa's blog, you're in the right place. If you've just come across the hop and would like to start at the beginning, please visit Lisa's blog. 

October has been an insanely busy month for me, and all of my projects have been kept fairly simple. For today's hop I decided to make some party decorations that could be used to accent a Halloween centerpiece.




I've seen these paper straws a lot around the blogosphere lately and was so happy when I finally saw some at Michael's! I purchased a pack of 15 (there were three of each color - black, orange, and purple) for only $1.99! They're super cute and I can't wait to come up with some other project ideas for them. 

The main shapes are cut at 4" from the Elegant Edges Cricut cartridge and the spooky pumpkin and bat are cut at 2.5" from the Teresa Collins Chic & Scary Cricut cartridge. I blinged them up a little bit by adding some adhesive rhinestones around the border. Super cute and easy, and they can even be reused if they don't get damaged during the chaos of the party. :)

Before you head to the next stop of the hop, please check out my 600 follower giveaway! I'm only 35 followers away from reaching 600 followers. :)

Your next stop is Christine's blog!

1. Lisa - http://honeybearzdesigns2011.blogspot.com/
2. Dena - http://missdjones.blogspot.com/ 

Happy Hopping!


at 18 comments:

Friday, October 26, 2012

Telephone Blog Hop

Welcome to Made Especially For You's 
Telephone Blog Hop!


If you've never heard of the "Telephone" game it's a game most often played by kids that simulates how a story can change from person to person, or how a rumor can start. For example, I may tell Susie that at lunch today I had a peanut butter sandwich, an apple, and some milk, and she may go tell Jackie that I had a turkey sandwich, an apple, and some milk. Although only one small detail was changed, over time the entire story can change. The game is played by starting with a story and whispering it from one person to the next in a circle and seeing how the story changed once the last person has told it. 

We decided to play this game as a design team, not with stories, but with cards! Our DT leader Ashley started with a photo of a card, emailed it to someone, who then created a card based off her card, and sent a photo of it to the next person. As a design team, this is the first time we're seeing the progression of the cards! 

I started off the game with a photo of a card I originally created for another design team I'm on and then sent a photo of it to the next person in the lineup. Here's the card that inspired the entire game, and the hop:


I thought it was a cute and fun card that could inspire so many different things. :) Between the colors and the ladybug and the 3D flower, the possibilities are endless! It's true when they say a picture is worth a 1000 words, but it's even more true when a card is worth 1000 ways of inspiration. :) 

What fun is a blog hop without blog candy?! A couple of our design team members have donated some blog candy for those who comment on EVERY stop of the hop!

Scraptastical Kreations
$15 Gift Certificate

Scrappin' Fab Pam
Blog Candy Pictured Below


Please make sure to leave your contact info when you comment to be eligible to win! Participants have through this Sunday, October 28th, to comment. Winners will be randomly chosen and announced on Tuesday October 30th at Made Especially For You.

You're next stop is Eileen's blog. 

Here's the complete lineup in case you get lost along the way:

Ashley - http://especiallymade.blogspot.com
Eileen - http://scrappingactuary.blogspot.com
Robin - http://www.thecricutscrapper.blogspot.com
Cyndy - http://arcyscraps.blogspot.com
Pam - http://scrappinfabpam.blogspot.com
Laura - http://www.scrappinaroundtheclock.blogspot.ca
Kristy - http://scraptasticalkreations.blogspot.com
Jessica - http://craftinandstampin.blogspot.com

Thanks so much for hopping with us! :)
at 30 comments:

Tuesday, October 23, 2012

Card Creating Tuesday - Pink Cards


This week's Card Creating Tuesday at My Cricut Craft Room is all about creating pink cards in honor of breast cancer awareness. My life has been super hectic lately, this week especially since I am preparing to go on vacation next week and trying to get everything caught up, so I decided to keep this week's card clean and simple. 



Both the background paper and the solid cardstock are from Recollections, and the adhesive pearls are from my stash. The stamp is an {ippity} stamp and one that I absolutely love, it actually says love within the butterfly and there's a ribbon on one of its wings, perfect for breast cancer awareness or any other type of awareness. Had I owned pink ink I would've stamped it in that, too. :)

Make sure to stop by My Cricut Craft Room to see what other pink cards the DT ladies have made for you today. :)
at 7 comments:

Thursday, October 18, 2012

600 Follower Giveaway! :)

I'm so excited to finally have the chance to host another follower giveaway! I CANNOT believe I'm already at almost 600 followers. It's hard to believe that it was only a little less than a year and a half ago that I first started blogging. It's been such an amazing experience and I can't wait for it to continue. :) Now on to the giveaway!

 I went through my stash (which is still tiny, but definitely growing!) and found a little bit of everything to giveaway. There's a full picture of everything, and then I break it down a bit so you can see it better.




- 50 sheets assorted 6x6 Recollections paper (no two sheets are the same)
- 1 Verve Fringe Flower stamp (unused and unopened)
- 1 yard Maya Road pink ribbon
- 2 feet light purple wired ribbon
- 2 feet green sheer ribbon
- 1 small container of assorted buttons
-  2 feet of green ribbon with pink stitching
- 8 Action Wobbles :)
- 48 small adhesive silver rhinestones
- 1 yard of Blue Lagoon colored Baker's Twine
- 1 yard of Lollipop colored Baker's Twine
- 1 yard of Limeade colored Baker's Twine
- 20 assorted chipboard tags
- 2 red glittered clothespins, 1.75" long

*NEWLY ADDED*
- Diamond Stickles (never used)
- Heart rubber stamp
- Winter mouse rubber stamp
- 20 journaling tags from My Mind's Eye
Verve Stamp, Buttons, 20 Chipboard Tags, and 8 Action Wobbles
Baker's Twine, Rhinestones, Clothespins, and Ribbon
50 assorted 6x6 sheets of Recollections paper


Ready to learn how you can win?
1. You must be a follower of
 Made Especially for You
2. Leave a comment on this post 
with your contact info

For extra entries...
1. Post about this giveaway on your 
blog/sidebar (Please leave a link)
2. "Like" the Made Especially For You 
Facebook page
3. Become a follower of my new 
challenge blog, Red Carpet Studio
4. "Like" the Red Carpet Studio Facebook page

The giveaway will end as soon as Made Especially For You reaches 600 followers. The winner will be chosen randomly and will have one week to claim their prize before another winner is chosen. 

Thank you so much for all of your support! If you have any questions about the giveaway, please email me at especiallymadeblog@gmail.com. Have a great day!


at 74 comments:

Wednesday, October 17, 2012

Trick or Treat!

This week's Would You Ever Guess Wednesday at My Cricut Craft Room is all about using the Create a Critter cartridge, without using a critter! Sounds sort of difficult at first, but with the phrase and accessory features, it's actually pretty easy to come up with something. I created this Halloween card using the Create a Critter 2 cartridge:





Both the treat bag and the 'Trick or Treat' phrase are cut at 3 inches. The papers are from the DCWV Halloween & Fall 180 sheet paper pack and the green buttons are from my stash. I decided to try something different and distress the buttons to match the distressed treat bag/candy, and I think it turned out okay. Had the candy not been cut with the treat bag, I would've made the candy bigger and not used the buttons. But I needed something to fill that corner spot and the green buttons matched the patterned paper perfectly, so I decided to give it a try. Sometimes a little improv is all a card needs! :)

Make sure to stop by My Cricut Craft Room to see how the other design team members used their Create a Critter cartridges without the critters. :)

Have a great day!
Ashley

at 9 comments:

Tuesday, October 16, 2012

Monster Mash Blog Hop Winners!

Thanks so much to all those who participated in our Monster Mash Blog Hop this past weekend! 



Here are the winners from the hop:


Paper Piecings by Nikki
$15 Gift Certificate
WINNER: MARG0006

Saturated Canary
$15 Gift Certificate
WINNER: GAIL

Memory Works
$10 Gift Certificate
WINNER: KATHY


Please email Ashley at especiallymadeblog@gmail.com no later than Tuesday October 23rd to claim your prize.

Thanks again to all our hoppers! See you during next month's hop! :)
at 4 comments:

Monday, October 15, 2012

3D Halloween Coffin

When I found out the next challenge over at the Go Fish Challenge Blog was going to be to create a 3D Halloween item, I knew just what to make for my design team project!

I've been eyeing this fun 3D coffin in the Artiste handbook for quite some time now, and couldn't wait to finally make it. It was actually a lot simpler to make then I thought it was going to be. :)




The skeleton is cut from the Artiste cartridge as well, I cut him out and then adhered him to black cardstock so that he was all one piece, and then cut around the black cardstock leaving a tiny layer around the skeleton. He's laying on a bed of Reese's peanut butter cups - I was originally going to make these for the 25 third graders I'm student teaching this semester, but because October is such a busy month for me I just don't have enough time, and think I'm going to make a simpler treat bag instead. 

The RIP letters are actually cut from the Pooh Font Cartridge (about as far away from scary as you can get) but they were the "spookiest" letters I had, and didn't want to use just a plain font. The coffin itself is cut from gray cardstock and measures at about 6 inches long and 1.5 inches high. It's inked with Tim Holtz distress ink in Black Soot to give it a spookier, aged effect. I'm so happy with the way it turned out!

Stop by Go Fish to check out the other 3D Halloween projects made by the design team!

Thanks so much for reading!
Ashley

at 6 comments:

Friday, October 12, 2012

Monster Mash Blog Hop

Welcome to the Monster Mash Blog Hop, brought to you by the design teams of Made Especially For You and Exploring Cricut!

Today the design teams of Made Especially For You and Exploring Cricut have teamed up to share with you all sorts of spooktacular monster-themed projects to help get your crafty gears turning for all those upcoming Halloween projects!

 If you're just starting the hop, you're in the right place!

I decided to make some fun monster-shaped cards using the Mini Monsters Cricut cartridge. :) It's not a cartridge that gets used often since it's Halloween-themed, but it's perfect for this time of year. And every cut can be made into a card! I knew I couldn't pass that feature up when deciding what to make for the hop. I decided to make two cards since we all know two is better than one. :)

Open card

Close-up

Not sure why he only has one arm, lol!

Inside of the card

Close-up

Both cards are cut at 5.5" and I didn't do anything to the inside these were also test cards to make for the third graders I am student teaching this semester for their Halloween party, so I left them blank to decide if I was going to use them or not. I used Recollections cardstock for the solid colors and then DCWV and Recollections patterned paper for the stomachs and ears. And yes, those are googly eyes. :) I thought these turned out so cute and they were SO easy and quick to make!

We also have some wonderful sponsors giving away prizes to those who comment on every stop of the hop!
Paper Piecings by Nikki
$15 Gift Certificate
Saturated Canary
$15 Gift Certificate

Memory Works
$10 Gift Certificate

Participants have through Sunday evening to hop. The winners of the blog candy will be announced on Made Especially For You on Tuesday October 16th. Please make sure to leave your contact information when commenting to be eligible to win!

Your next stop is Diane's blog. Here's the complete lineup in case you get lost along the way:


Happy Hopping!
at 25 comments: