Erin Go Bragh... Card Challenge for Made Especially for You

The new challenge on the Made Especially for You blog is create a card using stitching (real or faux). I made my card using digital images from The Cutting Cafe (http://thecuttingcafe.typepad.com). I just love St. Patricks Day so I really enjoyed making this card.
The prize for this week's winner is a choice of 3 sets of images from The Cutting Cafe.

Graphic 45 design team 2012 audition

I was SO EXCITED to see that Graphic 45 is looking for their new design team members. I really love the quality, patterns and colors of their paper lines... and the paper is ALWAYS perfect for my projects. In this blog, I've posted some of the favorite projects I've made over the past couple of months. Best wishes to everyone who is applying.

Time passes WAY TOO quickly.

During the big January snow storm 2012, we were on our second day without power and trying to find any and all clothes/blankets to keep us warm. Sam found my husband's Russian-looking winter hat. As soon as he put it on, I was immediately taken back to a cold winter day, in a gondola in Venice. Sam was only about two years old at that point and was wearing a similar hat.  In fact, the picture of him wearing this hat has always been one of my favorite pictures of him.

I loved the color combination I was able to put together and loved being able to use some of my favorite Graphic 45 paper. I thought the vintage look went so well with the subject matter of the layout.

Trying something different

I've been playing around with some different craft ideas; I find myself inspired by the photos and projects I see on Pinterest. How fun is this project?! A baby clothes bouquet! I'm not sure if I had more fun making this bouquet or shopping for the baby clothes to use in the bouquet...

who knew that a pair of baby socks or bib could make such an adorable flower?

This week's challenge sponsor is...

3 Girl Jam (www.3girljam.blogspot.com) . 

It's 'especially three' week here at Made Especially For You. This week's challenge is to create a card featuring three papers.  No more, no less! :) Stop by the 'Weekly Challenge' page to submit your three paper card and also get some inspiration from the design team. :)

Trying out my new-found photo skills

I was VERY excited to try out the photography tips I recently learned; having my photos look a little more professional.

 I figured my recent challenge project would be a good place to start.

So I came to my dining room table armed with my camera, white posterboard and my new flower frog... Could I do it?

I'm pretty pleased with how it turned out. I'm really excited about trying out and continuing to advance my photo skills.

Be sure to stop by the blog (www.especiallymade.blogspot.com) for this week's challenge. You will find a description of the new challenge as well as some ideas for inspiration.

Stay tuned...

I'm having trouble posting to my blog; hoping I can get this cleared up soon and get back to posting.

Design challenge submission for 2/13

I just got my new card kit from Jillibean soup and my ribbon from 3GJ... I was so excited at the thought of incorporating these products for the new challenge at Made Especially for You (www.especiallymade.blogspot.com). From my choice of colors and patterns, you can see how excited I am about Spring!

Sometimes I get scrappers block when trying to create my design each week. Somehow, this time, things just seemed to flow. I even had the opportunity to incorporate some of my new baker's twine (one of my new favorite embellishments... is ribbon an embellishment?) Be sure to stop by the Made Especially for You blog and check out our new challenge.

Love what you do... Do what you love

Eat dessert first... Life is too short... Stop and smell the roses... It's not the number of breaths you take in life, but the things that take your breath away. These are all great philosophies to live by; one that makes us realize that we are not enjoying the things around us. There are some obvious things that make us just stop and say "WOW!"... things like a beautiful sunset or the miracle of life. But there are the not so obvious things... the things that we need to keep our eyes and hearts open to see. Things like a handmade valentine, a hug from one of my kids or... this morning its my kitten curled up in my lap. My wish for you today is that, today, you can find the things that take your breath away...