Christmas Cards 2012: Part One

The Christmas card factory in my craft room has opened for the season! LOL, I've been cranking out Christmas cards like crazy lately, and can't wait to share them all with you! I've decided to create a series of posts showcasing the different sets of cards I've been working on, rather than making a giant post filled with everything I've made. 

Today I'd like to share with you a set of 30 Christmas cards I made for my mom to send out to her friends and our family. I didn't want to make 30 of the exact same card, so I made 3 different cards in sets of 10. They're all the same size and shape, they just have different designs on the front. I tried to keep it simple, but I have such a hard time keeping things clean and simple! It truly is a challenge for me. 

Anyways... I'm not as pleased with the cards as I'd like to be, but overall I think they came out nice and are definitely very cheerful. The cards measure about 5" by 6.25" and all papers are from the "Bright Christmas" paper stack by Recollections.

Card #1

The stocking on this card is cut from Art Philosophy at 3" and the green and blue accents were cut from Elegant Edges. The 'Joy!' stamp is from the $1 bin at Michael's and is super cute!

Card #2

The tree is cut from Stretch Your Imagination at 4" and hand decorated using hole punches and ribbon from my stash. The 'Merry Christmas' stamp is from a Studio G pack and the accent pieces were cut from Art Philosophy.

Card #3

The ornament was cut from Art Philosophy at 3.5" and the background accent was cut from Elegant Edges. The 'Happy Holidays' sentiment is also from the $1 bin at Michael's and the background is from Art Philosophy as well.

Inside of each of the cards

The stamp on the inside of the cards is from the same clear stamp set from Studio G as the 'Merry Christmas' sentiment used on Card #2. I left plenty of room for writing and my personal stamp is on the back of every card. :)

How are your Christmas cards coming along? I'd love to see them! 

Leave a link and I'll make sure to stop by. :)

Sunshine Blogger Award

I'm very excited to announce that I am a proud recipient of the Sunshine Blogger Award! Thanks so much, Sandra, for passing it on to me - you're so sweet! :)

Here are the rules for the Sunshine Award:

1. Include the award logo in your post (check!)

2. Thank the blogger who gave it to you and link back to them (done!)

3.) Answer 10 questions about yourself that you have come up with (see below!)

4. Nominate up to 10 bloggers and let them know (on my way!)

1. When did you start crafting?
I started "seriously" crafting about a year and a half ago... but I have always been a crafter in some way, shape, or form. When I was kid my favorite thing to make was giant cards made out of poster boards for my friends' birthdays!

2. What's your favorite color?
Maroon :)

3. What's one fun fact about yourself?
I can't wink my right eye... only my left one. Oh, and I can't whistle.

4. What is your occupation?
I currently work two part-time library jobs but am studying to become an elementary school teacher.

5. What's your favorite food?
That's a tough one... anything salty/sweet!

6. Do you have any pets?
I have one dog named Cody, he's a soft-coated wheaten terrier and such a sweetheart.

7. What's your favorite part about blogging?
Being able to share the projects I've made with other crafters and being inspired by all the gorgeous work I see. :)

8. What are your favorite items to craft with?
Oooh! Anything sparkly... and my Cricut of course! 

9. What do you like to do when you're not crafting?
I love to read, and baking is fun, too!

10. Have any obsessions?
Paper, paper, and more paper!

Now to pass this award on to 10 fabulous bloggers....

Stacy from Vampire Craftin - For designing my awesome blog layout!

Tonya from Scrapping Fun with Tonya - For always being so helpful! 

Beckie from Just B Creative Crazy - For helping kick off the Made Especially For You challenges!

And as a whole... I would like to pass this award on to all of my design team members... Even though I'm so sad our challenges are coming to an end, I am so, so, grateful to have had the opportunity to work with and get to know everyone! They are such a fabulous team and their creations each week leave me in awe because of how gorgeous they always are! Not to toot my own horn or anything - but they're one of the most talented design teams I've ever seen!

Cyndy from Arcy Scraps

Eileen from The Scrapping Actuary

Jessica from Craftin' and Stampin'

Kristy from Scraptastical Kreations

Laura from Scrappin' Around the Clock

Pam from Scrappin' Fab Pam

Robin from The Cricut Scrapper

A big thanks to each and every one of you!

Education Thank You Cards

Hi everyone! I hope you are all having a great start to your week and having bunches of fun getting ready for Thanksgiving! I can't wait to hit up those Black Friday sales at all my favorite craft stores this weekend. :)

Today I'd like to share with you some education-themed thank you cards I was asked to make for an event at my college. We had an education panel featuring ten teachers of all ages and grade levels who were kind enough to take time out of their busy schedule to share their teaching experiences and answer questions. Unfortunately I couldn't make the event due to work, but I did have a lot of fun making these thank you cards!

The cards are pretty much the same with the exception of the background papers and ribbon, I decided it would be more fun to use a few different papers rather than making ten of the same card. The notebook paper and the A+ are cut from the Locker Talk cartridge, and the apple is cut from Create a Critter. The paper is from Recollections and the ribbon is from my stash. 

Thanks so much for stopping by today, have a great day and a Happy Thanksgiving! :)

Thankful Turkey: PKC Color Challenge!

I saw this fun fall color combo being used as inspiration for this week's Peachy Keen Stamps Challenge and couldn't resist making a card to enter! Since Turkey Day is just a few days away I thought this would be the perfect opportunity to make one last Thanksgiving project before I start on my Christmas cards.

Here's what I came up with:

The little guy in action with his Action Wobble!

This card was so fun and super easy to make! The turkey is cut at 3" from the Create a Critter cartridge and I of course used Peachy Keen stamps for his face, although I did include the cuts for beak and the wattle. :) He's also placed on an Action Wobble. All paper is Recollections and the buttons and ribbon are from my stash. The stamp was used with Tim Holtz Distress Ink in Black Soot and then the paper was distressed with orange ink. The feathers and hat are embossed with a polka dot embossing folder using my Cuttlebug.

Here's a complete list of the items I used:

~ Cricut Expression machine with the Create a Critter Cartridge

~ Cuttlebug machine with polka dot embossing folder

~ PKS-493 Everyday Character Face Parts and MORE! stamp set

~ Solid brown and white cardstock from Recollections

~ Action Wobble

~ Patterned paper from Recollections

~ White zig zag ribbon

~ Purple buttons

~ 'Thanks for Everything' sentiment

~ Tim Holtz Distress Ink in Black Soot

~ Orange ink

I'm off to work on a few more projects...

Have a great rest of your weekend!

Thanksgiving Place Cards

One side of my family celebrates Thanksgiving early every year the Sunday before Thanksgiving, and since it's at my house I decided to make place cards for everyone while also using them as my DT project for this week's home decor challenge at the Go Fish Challenge Blog. :)

The place cards are really simple and were made using the Artiste & Art Philosophy cartridges - both the base and frames were cut from Artiste and the leaves were cut from Art Philosophy. I also used gold Stickles to give them some sparkle. I had to make 15 total but only a few are pictured here.

Make sure to stop by Go Fish to share what other home decor projects the design team ladies have created to share with you! I'd love if you played along in the challenge as well. :)

Turkey Toe Blog Hop Winners!

Thanks to all who participated in the Turkey Toe Blog Hop this past weekend! Here are the winners from the hop:

Paper Piecings by Nikki

$15 Gift Certificate

WINNER: REXANN

My Thoughts Exactly

$15 Gift Certificate

WINNER: DENISE B

Floppy Latte Designs

$10 Gift Certificate

WINNER: MARIANNE

Prize Package from Scrappin' Fab Pam

WINNER: KATHY

Winners - Please email Ashley at especiallymadeblog@gmail.com to claim your prize no later than Tuesday November 20th. At that time another winner will be chosen.

Thanks again to all who participated!

Turkey Toe Blog Hop

Welcome to the Turkey Toe Blog Hop, brought to you by the design teams of Made Especially For You and Red Carpet Studio!

Today the design teams of Made Especially For You and Red Carpet Studio have teamed up to share with you all sorts of turkey-themed projects to help you get ready for Thanksgiving!

 If you're looking to start at the beginning of the hop, you're in the right place! :) While you're here make sure to check out my 600 follower giveaway, I'm only 20 followers away!

For today's hop, I made a quick Thanksgiving card using the Artiste cartridge:

The card is about 5.5 x 4.5 and cut from the Artiste cartridge, along with the turkey and the 'Give Thanks' sentiment. The papers are Recollections and the white stitching around the border is faux. I also used my Cuttlebug to emboss the turkey to give him a bit more flair. I love the shape of the card! Artiste is such a great cart for quick projects like these. 

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

My Thoughts Exactly

$15 Gift Certificate

Floppy Latte Designs

$10 Gift Certificate

Prize Package from Scrappin' Fab Pam

Participants have through Sunday evening to hop. The winners of the blog candy will be announced on Made Especially For You on Tuesday November 13th. Please make sure to leave your contact information when commenting to be eligible to win!

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

Ashley - http://especiallymade.blogspot.com
Robin - http://www.thecricutscrapper.blogspot.com
Chas - http://scrapinlizards.blogspot.com/
Eileen - http://scrappingactuary.blogspot.com
Tara - http://craftindesertdivas.blogspot.com/
Stephanie J - http://sthom97093.blogspot.com/
Candice - http://stampinpearls.blogspot.com/

Kristy - http://scraptasticalkreations.blogspot.com
Dawn - http://dawnsworldnz.blogspot.com/

Laura - http://scrappinaroundtheclock.blogspot.ca
Cyndy - http://arcyscraps.blogspot.com

Pam - http://scrappinfabpam.blogspot.com
Jessica - http://craftinandstampin.blogspot.com

Happy Hopping!

Out With The Old and In With The New!

There has been a lot that has gone on this past week and I felt it was time to make some necessary changes to Made Especially For You. I'm going to try and be as brief as I can but I hope you can handle reading my babbling. :)

Over this past summer I took on the hefty challenge of being on 8 design teams while managing one of my own. It was definitely fun, but a lot of work! When the semester began in August (I'm studying to become an elementary school teacher) I decided to resign from a few of the teams so that I could focus on school and not having to meet so many deadlines. Recently, one of the design teams I chose to stay on, My Cricut Craft Room, began to have some issues and I did not comfortable being part of a team that completely misrepresented a blog, store, and business, and so I decided to resign. It is with this resignation that I decided to make some changes to my own blog and crafty life.

For starters, as some of you may have noticed, my blog got a complete makeover! Thanks to Stacy from Vampire Crafts. :) I was on planning on publishing the makeover at the start of the new year but decided not to wait since I was too excited, lol! Plus it fits in nicely with the upcoming changes. :)

Aside from running the MEFY challenges and my other challenge blog, Red Carpet Studio, I actually only serve on one design team, and that is the Go Fish Challenge Blog. I love their challenges and will continue to serve on their team until my term expires at the end of December. After that my crafty attention will be focused on managing my challenge blog and creating for FUN. After being on so many design teams (which has been such an awesome experience) I realize I missed creating projects for fun and being able to enter other challenges, since having to create so many DT projects left no time for other projects. I'm really looking forward to being able to craft for fun and to play along in other challenge blogs for the first time!

I should also mention that as of the week before Christmas Made Especially For You will no longer be hosting weekly challenges. Up until then, though, we will continue with our regular challenges and prizes. :) I started hosting challenges to get a feel for what it would be like to run a challenge blog and since I've found that I really enjoy it, I started Red Carpet Studio, also earlier than planned. I am sad about ending the challenges but am also excited to give my blog a more personal feel like it had when I started it a year and a half ago. Having one less DT to manage will also give me more time to stop by and comment on all of YOUR blogs, which I am very happy about. :) With my hectic schedule I hardly have time to comment on your blogs and feel terrible about it, so that is going to change. :)

For those of you who have entered my 600 follower giveaway (if you haven't and would like to - click the picture on the left hand sidebar to enter) I will be adding some more items to the bundle (yay!) and posting updated photos of what's included, hopefully this week! I am so thankful for all of my followers !

Thank you for bearing with me! With the holidays coming up I have some projects I am planning to make and can't wait to share with you now that I have the time! If you leave a comment on this post I promise I will leave a comment on your blog's too (that's not a bribe, I promise :) - it's one of my new rules as a Blogger. Everyone deserves some commenting love!

Have a great day!

Gobble Until You Wobble!

This week's challenge at GoFish is a color challenge!

It's November 1st, which means I can officially start making Thanksgiving projects! Originally I was going to make a candy corn project for this challenge, but then I realized it would be November already and I could officially make Thanksgiving cards! Boy how this year has flown by. 

I decided to make a cute and simple Thanksgiving card using my favorite new toy... Action Wobbles!

Here's the little guy in action!

The turkey is cut at 3" from the Create a Critter 2 cartridge and 'Gobble' is cut at 1.25" from the Create a Critter cartridge. I embossed the background with the D'vine Swirls embossing folder using my Cuttlebug added a little bit of glitter to the turkey for some extra sparkle. :) The white paper is also inked with Tim Holtz Walnut Stain distress ink.

Thanks so much for stopping by - hope to see you playing along!
Ashley