Beary Smart

It's Whimsical Wednesday challenge time! This week we have a sketch challenge for you:

Our sponsor this week is Shelly's Images and one lucky winner will receive a $9 voucher to her lovely digi shop. Shelly was generous enough to provide the design team with her "Beary Smart" image to use on our projects this week.

Papers are from Recollections and My Mind's Eye. The "You're A Star" sentiment is from the Whimsical Fun Vol. 1 stamp set. The star is a wood piece that I painted with dark blue acrylic paint and then embellished with Chipped Sapphire Distress Stickles. 

We'd love for you to join in our sketch challenge this week! :)

Star Dust Linky Party at All that Stickles

This week's linky party at All that Stickles is Star Dust! One of the most-used and versatile colors in my collection, for sure. :) 

One of my friends recently took her certification exam to become a CNA (certified nursing assistant) and just found out she passed! I'm so happy for her. Before she took the test I made her this good luck card using the "Raggedy Nurse" image from Bugaboo Stamps, who is one of the sponsors this month at All that Stickles.

The nurse is colored with my Prismas and sentiment is computer generated. Twine is from The Twinery and I used black and white Candi as accents on the card and also on the bow. All paper is from Recollections.

We'd love for you to stop by and link up any project you've made using Star Dust Stickles! While you're there make sure to check out the other wonderful DT creations. :)

Want to win a FREE rubber stamp?!

Here's your chance! In honor of their stamp release party happening at their physical scrapbooking store in Florida, The Paper Nest is giving away one rubber stamp of the winner's choice!

To enter to win, here's what you must do:

1. Become a follower of The Paper Nest Dolls blog

2. Leave a comment on this post on their blog letting them 

know what stamp you would choose if you win!

You can find The Paper Nest Etsy shop HERE! 

But wait, there's more! :) 

In honor of their stamp release party this evening, you can receive the 

same deals as those attending the party!

Stamps regularly retail for $7.99 each, BUT if you buy 2 they are only $7.50 each, 

and only $7.00 if you buy 3 or more! Orders of 3 or more stamps will get you entered in the store drawing basket for a chance to win more stamps!

Shipping is FREE for U.S. orders over $30 and international orders will receive a $5.95 shipping discount. 

To place an order please email Christine at thepapernest@yahoo.com with the stamps you would like and you will receive a PayPal invoice so you receive the stamps at sale price. 

And with my exclusive design team discount, you can receive 20% off your entire order of digital images! So not only do you get a great deal on the stamps, but an additional 20% off digital stamps as well. Just enter the phrase "I love paper" in the comments section when making your Etsy purchase, and you'll receive an invoice for 20% off. :)

You don't want to pass these great deals up!

Whimsical Wednesday Going Green Challenge

Happy Hump Day! Today I'm sharing with you a card I made for this week's "going green" Whimsical Wednesday challenge at Whimsical Designs. It's an easy one this week - all you have do is include a project including the color green!

Even though it's pretty simple, I am SO in love with this card! I always take pride in my work, but there are always those one or two projects every once in a while that just give me the feeling of "wow, I made that" every time I look at it. 

The base of the card is Kraft cardstock and it's bordered with Ocean colored twine from The Twinery. The image is from our sponsor this week, A Day for Daisies, and is colored with Prismacolor colored pencils. Washi tape is from Recollections and the pearls are from Miriam's Crafting Supplies. The "Just A Note" sentiment is from the "Everyday Sentiments" stamp set from Whimsical Designs.

A Day for Daisies is giving away a $12 gift certificate to the winner of the green challenge!

There's great inspiration from the design team on the blog today, make sure to check out. :)

Have a great rest of your week!

My First Paper Nest Dolls DT Post!

Today I'd like to share with you a couple of cards I made for The Paper Nest Dolls blog using the Avery Turns Three and the Sweet Friend digi stamps. Both cards are similar in style, so I thought it made sense to share them together. Plus, they're both super cute and sweet! :)

Avery Turns Three

What a fun image to color! Here's what I used:

-Prismacolor colored pencils

- 3 Girl Jam crinkle ribbon in 'Coral Crush'

- Solid coral cardstock from Recollections

- Cupcake paper from Recollections

- 'Happy Birthday To You' sentiment from Whimsical Designs

- Elegant Edges Cricut cartridge 

- Yellow Stickles

Sweet Friend

Another great image to color! Here's what I used:

-Prismacolor colored pencils 

- 3 Girl Jam crinkle ribbon in 'Aqua Splash'

- Solid aqua cardstock from Recollections

- Plaid paper from DCWV

- 'Sweet Sentiment' sentiment from Whimsical Designs

- Elegant Edges Cricut cartridge 

- Art Philosophy Cricut cartridge

- Green pearls and dew drops from Miriam's Crafting Supplies

And have you heard?! The Paper Nest images drawn by the very talented Christine (owner of The Paper Nest) are now available in rubber! How cool is that? You can purchase them here

 in The Paper Nest Etsy shop!

For 20% off your entire purchase, leave the code "I love paper" in the comments section and you'll receive an invoice with 20% off your order! Not only will you receive your adorable images, but you'll receive them for a great price as well. :)

All that Stickles "Think Spring" Blog Hop

Welcome to the Think Spring Blog Hop brought to you 
by the All that Stickles design team!

The All that Stickles DT is happy to share with you a variety of spring-themed projects created using Stickles, of course! Now that Valentine's Day is over and we're in the final weeks of winter (finally!) it's time to THINK SPRING! :)

If you've come from the All that Stickles 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 All that Stickles.

For my project, I created a fun little Easter basket. I'm thinking it just may inspire some place holders for this year's Easter dinner!

The box was cut from the Cricut Artiste cartridge using solid purple DCWV cardstock, it stands about 2.5" high without the handle. I was able to adhere the entire basket together using a Zig glue pen. Inside the basket is simple Easter grass that can be found at craft stores and even most grocery stores this time of year. If for whatever reason you can't find Easter grass or are making the project out-of-season, shredded paper works well, too. :)

The plastic egg is from our stash of Easter eggs we use to do an egg hunt every year. Can't decide if I'm going to use real hardboiled eggs or plastic eggs for the placeholders, though. Thinking that I could put adhesive monogram letters on hardboiled eggs, or have fun decorating the plastic eggs and putting some candy inside. Whatever I come up with I'll be sure to share it!

Aerial shot

The handle of the basket is embellished with Candi that I Stickled up using Firefly and Orange Peel Stickles. The Candi pieces are also placed on small pop dots to give them a bit of demention. The entire project probably didn't even take twenty minutes to make (other than waiting for the Stickles to dry), so I could definitely whip up a bunch of these for Easter!

And of course we have some fabulous sponsors giving away comments to those who comment on every stop of the hop AND become a follower of All that Stickles!

SK Digis

$6 gift certificate

Whimsical Designs

1 Stamp set of Winner's Choice

Bugaboo Stamps

10 Images of Winner's Choice

Wunder's Creations

Winner's Choice of Cricut or Cameo Cover

Winners will be announced on Wednesday February 20th at All that Stickles! Please make sure to leave your contact information in case you're a winner! Don't forget to comment on every stop of the hop and also follow All that Stickles if you aren't a follower already.

Your next stop is Tonya's blog. 

Here's the entire lineup:

All that Stickles - http://allthatstickles.blogspot.com

Ashley - http://especiallymade.blogspot.com

Tonya - http://scrappingfunwithtonya.blogspot.com

Cathy - http://wahoohaven.blogspot.com/

Melanie - http://afternoonscrapper.blogspot.com/

Sonia - http://skdigis.blogspot.com

Cynthia - http://princesscreations-cynthia.blogspot.com/

Hazel - http://didosdesigns.blogspot.co.uk/

Happy Hopping! We hope you find some inspiration for those upcoming spring projects or even some new ways to use your Stickles. :)

It's a Girl!

Before I share my All that Stickles linky party project for this week, I just want to remind everyone about the giveaway I'm having! The original post can be found here, but basically you have your chance of winning a $10 gift certificate to either Michael's, Hobby Lobby, or JoAnn Fabrics if you help me repin some images on one of my boards! The contest is hosted by Saturated Canary and is super fun. :)

 

Back to Stickles! This week's linky party color is Fruit Punch! Create ANY project using Fruit Punch Stickles and link it up this week for a chance to win prizes from our monthly sponsors, which are always located on the sidebar of the ATS blog.

 

I created a baby shower card using Fruit Punch Stickles. My mom is going to a baby shower for one of her friend's daughters and I offered to make a card for her - gotta promote myself any way I can, lol.

 

The stroller is cut from Stretch Your Imagination at 3.5" and the white doily is cut from Elegant Edges at 4 inches. The background paper is DCWV and the flowers are Petaloo. I used some Candi as the center of the flowers and accented them with Fruit Punch Stickles. The sentiment is from SK Digis and is distressed with Tim Holtz Spun Sugar Distress Ink.

 

We'd love for you to join us this week! Make sure to stop by and see the other wonderful DT creations as well. :)

 

Repin to Win!

Hi everyone! I'm taking part in an "About Me" Pinterest contest right now and would absolutely love and so appreciate your help! The contest is sponsored by Saturated Canary and ends this Sunday, February 18th. 

She's giving away 30 COPIC SKETCH MARKERS! How amazing is that? Thanks so much Krista for such a fun and great giveaway! :)

I've been wanting to start a Copic collection for a while now but unfortunately they're a bit out of my price range at the moment. I thought this contest would be a super fun way for me to try and win some, especially because I love Pinterest!

The way the contest works is you have to set up a board on your Pinterest account specifically for the contest, and then pin at least 1 image inspired by the prompts in the graphic above. So easy and fun! Then, the person whose contest boards receives the most total repins from all the pinned images combined wins the Copics!

To help me in the contest, all you have to do is REPIN images from THIS board on my Pinterest account! The board is about all of my favorite things, from crafts, to color combos, to food, and even my favorite animal. :)

Now... here's where it becomes fun for you, too!

One randomly chosen winner who helped repin pins on my contest board will win their choice of a $10 gift card to either Michael's, Hobby Lobby, or JoAnn Fabrics! 

I ask that you please repin at least any 3 of my pins (who knows, you may even find something you like!), but any repins are appreciated, it really only takes a couple minutes to repin everything on the board.

Please leave a comment on THIS blog post letting me know what images you repinned and also your email address so I can contact you in case you win! :) 

Thank you so much in advance! 

Enjoy the Magic of the Moment

Whimsical Wednesday's challenge this week is called "3, 2, 1" - Use three of something, two of something, and one of something on your project. 

On my card, I used three different patterned papers, two pearls, and one strip of adhesive lace:

The image is from the brand new Paper Nest Dolls digi stamp shop (on which I'm very proud to be a new design team member) and the adorable little girl was colored using Prismacolor pencils. All papers are from Recollections and the sentiment is from Whimsical Designs' Whimsical Fun Vol. 1 stamp set.

Our sponsor this week is The Robin's Nest! 

One lucky winner will receive a $10 gift certificate to their shop.

Make sure to stop by Whimsical Designs to see more wonderful inspiration from the design team!

Have a great day!

Banner Bonanza Blog Hop Winners!

Thanks so much to all those who took the time to participate in our Banner Bonanza Blog Hop this past weekend! We had so much fun making our banners and hoped you had fun viewing them as well. :) Maybe you even found an idea or two you'd like to try!

Our winners from the hop are...

Drum roll please...

3 Girl Jam

$15 Gift Certificate

WINNER: SARAH

Miriam's Crafting Supplies

Choice of 10 Sets of Pearls

WINNER: YVONNE

Hot Berry Designs

$10 Gift Certificate

WINNER: LINDA

Close to My Heart Consultant - Lucy Kelleher

$10 Gift Certificate

*Please visit and "like" her Facebook page as well as leave a comment to be eligible to win*

WINNER: TONYA

Winners should email Ashley at especiallymadeblog@gmail.com no later than Tuesday February 19th to claim their prizes.

Thanks again to all who hopped! :)

I'm a Paper Doll!

I'm super excited to announce that I am officially a member of The Paper Nest Dolls design team!

The Paper Nest is actually a scrapbooking store located in Fort Meyers, Florida, but recently the super awesome owner, Christine, took her love for her kids and drawing to the next level and started designing her own digital stamps! They are SO cute and so much fun to color. You'll be seeing them quite often here at Made Especially For You! AND guess what, they'll even be available in rubber at the end of this month! How exciting!

Right now all of The Paper Nest Dolls digis are available on Etsy, but soon they'll be available on their store website! I even have a special code for you to use to receive 20% off your entire purchase!

Leave the code "I love paper" in the notes section on Etsy when you make your purchase and you'll receive an invoice with 20% off your entire purchase. 

Super easy and such a great deal!

Thanks so much for stopping by, make sure to give The Paper Nest Dolls a follow and check out their adorable images! You won't regret it, I promise. :)

Have a great week!

Xmas Red Stickles Linky Party!

Looking for the Banner Bonanza Blog Hop? 

Please click here :)

All that Stickles is having an Xmas Red linky party this week! One of the best colors to use on all those Valentine's Day projects you've been working on. :)

It even matches our logo! :)

For my DT project this week, I created a money envelope. Last weekend as part of the Whimsical Designs blog hop I shared Valentine's Day treat bags I made for a fundraiser I'm doing. That post can be found here. I sold the treat bags for $1 each at work, and they've been gone like crazy! 33 of them were gone in a matter of, like, two days. (I'm actually off to make more of them after this post. :)

Using the Artiste cartridge, I made a really simple envelope to place next to the treat basket where my coworkers could put their money:

I used Xmas Red Stickles to accent a few of the letters and also to trace the hearts. The 'Thank You' was cut from the Sweethearts cartridge.

To seal the envelope I used adhesive Velcro and also dotted the trim with some more Stickles.

The envelope and the treat bags! 

And that's all there is to it! Simple quick and easy to make. :) We'd love for you to join the linky party! You can create ANY type of project as long as it has Xmas Red Stickles. Our monthly sponsors are Whimsical Designs, Bugaboo Images, SK Digis, Fresh Brewed Designs, Digital Delights by Louby Loo and Stinkin' Cute Paper Piecings. 

The design team also has some great inspiration to share with you! See you there!

Banner Bonanza Blog Hop

Welcome to the Banner Bonanza Blog Hop!

We're so glad you could join us today! If you're looking to start at the beginning of the hop, you're in the right place. :)

Today we'd like to share with you a variety of home decoration banners created for a variety of occasions! We hope you take home some inspiration and maybe even go create a banner yourself. :)

I created a banner for the Super Bowl party we had at our house last weekend! I chose to use the teams' colors, of course, which were red/gold and purple/gold, and I was so happy I had a matching color combo to work with! My fear was that I'd get two teams that had clashing color combos lol.. oh, the life of a crafter. :)

The banner pieces were cut at 7" each from the Birthday Bash Cricut cartridge, and the letters were cut at 4" also from the same cartridge. I accented the letters with some Candy Cane & Purple Stickles to match the team colors. The ribbon used to hold it together is just your basic white satin 3/8 ribbon, purchased at Michael's. 

Alongside the inner gold pennants are faux stitched with the Picket Fence distress marker by Tim Holtz. I thought it added a nice touch!

We also have some fabulous sponsors giving away prizes

 to those who comment on every stop of the hop!

3 Girl Jam

$15 Gift Certificate

Miriam's Crafting Supplies

Choice of 10 Sets of Pearls

Hot Berry Designs

$10 Gift Certificate

Close to My Heart Consultant - Lucy Kelleher

$10 Gift Certificate

*Please visit and "like" her Facebook page as well as leave a comment to be eligible to win*

Winners will be randomly chosen and announced on Tuesday February 12th at Made Especially For You. To be eligible to win, you must do the following:

1. Become a follower of each blog in the lineup (if you aren't already)

2. Leave a comment on every stop of the hop

3. Be sure to leave your contact information!

Your next stop is Angela's blog!

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

1. Ashley - http://especiallymade.blogspot.com

2. Angela - http://crazy3monkeys.blogspot.com

3. Teresa - http://freshandrenewed.blogspot.com

4. Sandy - http://scrapbookblessings.blogspot.com

5. Ashley - http://thebloghopprincess.blogspot.com

6. Daphne - http://craftyscrapsofstuff.blogspot.com

7. Cicily - http://pinkdalmationscrapper.blogspot.com

8. An'Jenic - http://anjenicgibson.blogspot.com

9. Connie - http://conniecancrop.blogspot.com

10. Julie - http://jk-littlebitofbling.blogspot.com

11. Elecia - http://creationsby-kahaulani.blogspot.com

12. Lucy - http://love2createitall.com

13. Robin - http://cutonedesignsbyrobin.blogspot.com

14. Lori - http://www.scrappinmystressaway.blogspot.com

Happy Hopping!