.:| Elle's Studio |:.

A Love Story Inspiration

2012-01-30T12:19:00.000-08:00

Hi everyone! I hope you had a great weekend! We are back today with MORE Design Team inspiration using our latest kit, A Love Story!

First we have a layout from Stephanie:

She used the exclusive doily stamp in our kit and a FABULOUS way. What a great back drop, and the colors perfectly match the kit. Such a beautiful layout Stephanie!!!

We also have another beautiful layout from Kim:

She just rocked it with that splash of yellow against the pinks! I love the way she tied the envelope with the the twine and used the circle tags-- so many great details AND she used four photos-- perfection!

We have another beautiful layout from Val:

I just adore her neutral tones here with a space of pink, red, and blue. Such a fun design and the tags look fabulous as a border and journaling spot at the bottom of her page.

Isn't our design team amazing!? We have another day in store for you with more inspiration so stay tuned!

Our "A Love Story" Kit is currently in stock, but hurry, it won't be here for long!!! When it's gone, it's gone, and we will not be reprinting the exclusive Elle's Studio tags or stamp. So be sure to get yours today!!

January Guest Designer : Kelly Purkey

2012-01-30T08:00:00.000-08:00

We are beyond thrilled to have one of our favorite scrapbookers on board and guest designing for us this month! Kelly Purkey has been a huge inspiration for me with my scrapbooking layouts over the last year I was beyond thrilled when she said she could guest design for us - I couldn't wait to see what she'd do with our tags!

Here's just a tiny peek at two of her amazing layouts - you can check out the rest of her layouts in the Inspiration Gallery!

Kelly took some time to answer some fun questions for us:
name : Kelly Purkey
location : New York City
blog : www.kellypurkey.typepad.com
twitter : kellypurkey

What/who inspires you?
Pinterest has absolutely changed my life. I am constantly checking the site during the day and pinning or repinning amazing inspiration. And even when I'm away from my computer, all the ideas have infiltrated my mind and I'll still be thinking about all the great projects or recipes or outfits that I've seen. It keeps my creativity on its toes - and I love that.

I am always inspired by my fellow design team members at Studio Calico. This is such an amazing group of women... seeing what they do with the exact same supplies that I'm given each month never fails to blow my mind. There is so much talent on that team and I'm so honored to be a part of it. They inspire me in so many ways.

Do you record every moment or just special ones?
I don't record every little moment but I am a the type of scrapbooker who likes to document everything - not just special occasions or happy memories. I try to be authentic - in my life, on my blog, in my layouts - and if that means admitting that I had a bad day or feel sad or am stuck. It's all part of my life and so it all goes into the scrapbook.

What is your favorite thing about scrapbooking?
My favorite thing about scrapbooking is that besides the layouts and photos I'll have forever, is the friendships that I will have forever. Recently I had a thought... someday when I get married, the majority of the friends sitting on my side will be scrapbookers. That is amazing. This hobby has given me some of the best friends and most supportive people that I am so lucky to have in my life.

What are three facts about you that others might not now?
The only pet I've ever had was a hamster that my friends gave me for my birthday in Jr. High. Oh and some short lived fish along the way too!
I had my gallbladder removed when I was six years old and have a wicked scar across my stomach.
I can fall asleep anywhere and at anytime of day. Sleep is my friend.

And now it's time to give away Kelly's favorite Elle's Studio items:

Just leave a comment to be entered to win: Layered Number Cut Outs, Handmade Layers Date and Place Strips, and Handmade Layer Pennants - blank! One comment per person, please. We'll draw the winner this Wednesday, February 1st, 2012.

Make It Sunday with Gail Lindner - 01.29.12

2012-01-29T12:02:00.000-08:00

I'm Gail Lindner and I'm so excited to be back on the Elle's Studio blog today! I live in Queensland, Australia and am a stay at home mum to two: an almost four-year-old girl and a six-month-old baby boy. I've been scrapbooking for over 12 years now and love it just as much today as the day I started! I'm so passionate about recording stories, moments and thoughts for my children!

Here in the southern hemisphere we are in the midst of our hot summer, so my layout today is celebrating that!

Here's how this layout came together:
1. Start by trimming down yourpatterned paper blocks to create the background. I've used a couple offavourite patterned from Crate Paper.

2. Distress the edges of thepatterned paper and use your sewing machine to stitch them on the background,also from CratePaper. Add a few splatters of brown and white mist to your backgroundnow.

3. Run a length of ribbon acrossyour layout and tie a bow to the right, leaving room for your photos on yourleft.

4. Adhere your photos to the layout.I've given mine a thin mat of white cardstock first.

5. Add your Elle's Studio journalingtags - I've cut tags fromLil' Snippets Beach and Lil'Snippets Explore and layered them above the photos and an EverydayJournaling Large Circle Tag and 2011Monthly Pennant to the bottom right corner, overlapping a photo. I'velightly sanded the edges of all the tags.Photo -

6. Add your title (a mix of olderBasic Grey stickers and chipboardletters) as well as a chevron badgeand punched flowers. I've trimmed the tiny flowers from a strip from a borderpunch and added tiny pearls to the centre.

7. To finish off the cluster nearthe photo, add another tiny flower, fabricyo-yo and chipboard flourish. I've also typed the location on a CratePaper label sticker and added it.Photo - The Shore b

8. I realised that I had quite a bitof journaling to add but didn't want to clutter up the layout so I wrote thejournaling on a SummerMemories Large Journaling Tag and added a patterned paper tab to the top.

9. I then trimmed an envelope, addeddouble sided tape to the back and adhered it to the back of the layout. It's soeasy now to pull out the extra journaling

It's time for a giveaway! We are giving away the Elle's Studio products Rebecca used on this layout:

Lil' Snippets Beach, Lil'Snippets Explore, EverydayJournaling Large Circle Tag, 2011Monthly Pennant, and SummerMemories Large Journaling Tags.

Just leave a comment to be entered to win - one comment per person, please! Then, check back next Sunday to see if you have won!

Congrats to last Sunday's winner:

Monique Liedtke, please email us the info below to claim your prize to info@shopellesstudio.com

Name:
Address:
Prize: January 22nd

A Love Story Inspiration

2012-01-29T03:00:00.000-08:00

We hope you are enjoying this week of inspiration with our "A Love Story" exclusive kit! Isn't our Design Team the best!?

Today we are excited to share this fabulous layout by Meghann"

She pieced together all the colors of this kit in a gorgeous layout. I also love how she used the exclusive Elle's Studio tags and the stitching with the twine!!

We also have another wonderful layout by Rahel:

I love how she uses bright colors against the white space, and how that makes her photo pop. Such a lovely layout!!

We hope you are enjoying the daily inspiration-- there is more to come!!

"A Love Story" Exclusive Kit is available (but probably not for long!) here in the shop. Be sure to check out the shop for extra card stocks, pattern paper, punches, and mists that compliment this kit as well. Thanks for stopping by today!

Love Story Inspiration

2012-01-28T03:00:00.000-08:00

We have more inspiration from our DT using "A Love Story Kit" today! I wanted to share with you two layouts and a card that really show off the amazing exclusive Elle's Studio doily stamp in the kit:

First from Valerie:

I just adore how she used the stamp on this layout and added so much layering with the tags and embellishments--so gorgeous.

We also have another layout from Ursula:

How fun are all these bits and pieces and the gorgeous bright colors? I love how she used the stamp on kraft envelope!

And check out this sweet card by Kimberly:

Another great example of how to use this stamp in a layout or card. Isn's that stamp great!?

Thanks ladies!

"A Love Story" Exclusive Kit is still available (but probably not for long!) here in the shop. Be sure to check out the shop for extra card stocks, pattern paper, punches, and mists that compliment this kit as well. Thanks for stopping by today!

Love Story Inspiration

2012-01-27T03:00:00.000-08:00

We are back, continuing our week of inspiration using our Exclusive Kit, "A Love Story". Today we have three new layouts by our fabulous design team. Let's take a look!

Kimberly Neddo created this gorgeous layout:

I love what she did with the twine, and those photos as the banner?? Love!

I also love how she subtly incorporated the doily stamp!

Next is this fun layout by Meghann Andrew:

I love how she incorporated so many tags in this layout and also the exclusive stamp. I also love how she layered pattern paper under the polaroid tag-- there are so many options with that tag!

The tibits in this kit are wonderful, and Meghann shows them off quite well.

Finally for today we have a sweet layout by Kim Jeffress

Oh how sweet is that photo? I love the layering that Kim did in the bottom portion of the layout with all the exclusive Elle's Studio tags. There are so many great tags to work with in the kit and they all look fabulous layered with one another

Thank you so much ladies for these beautiful layouts!

Sketch Thursday 01.26.12

2012-01-26T00:01:00.000-08:00

Hello and happy Sketch Thursday! This is the last sketch of the month and it’s a fun one full of layers and texture… This one is based on Leslie’s S&S layout from the December inspiration gallery.

Once again two of our very talented designers created layouts using the sketch and this is what they came up with:

Kim said: The 3 photo blocks on the sketch were perfect for the 3 photos I had taken recently of my son playing lego, they were the perfect orientation. I wanted to create a bright layout with primary colours which matched the lego pieces so I chose some bright tags including the Today will be foreveer treasured tag. I replaced the circle element with a lil snippets days of the week tag to house my typed journalling and then created a blocked feel with the remaining tags!

ES products used: Lil' Snippets: Days Of The Week - Today - Red, One And Only Strips, Everyday Tiny Tags

Megahann said: When I saw the sketch, the two things that really drew me to it were the grouping of photos and embellishments, which I do quite regularly, as well as the strong vertical axis along the side. I used these two aspects of the sketch to create my layout, The Rock.

ES products used: Handmade Layers Cutouts, Handmade Layers Date and Place Strips, Handmade Layers Pennants - Blank, Lil' Snippets- Travel

And we have a bonus for you this week :) I also played along with the sketch and created this layout using January's kit: A Love Story. I turned the sketch sideways and was inspired by the multiple scallops and tilted photos.

ES products used: A Love Story kit

I hope you are are ready to play along with this week's sketch. As you can see, you can interpret it in many different ways. So go play with some paper and glue and come back here to share what you made for a chance to win a $10 Elle's Studio gift certificate. Link must be posted by 11:59pm on Wednesday, February 2, 2012. Gift certificate can be used towards purchase of products only and can NOT be used for shipping charges. Gift certificate balance must be used in a single transaction.

Thank you all so much for playing along last week. The randomly selected winner is... Cheryl! Congratulations! Please email the following information to info@shopellesstudio.com.

Name:

Contest: 01.19.12 Sketch

A Love Story Inspiration

2012-01-25T05:07:00.000-08:00

We are having an exciting week ahead here at Elle's Studio!!

On Monday we introduced you to our latest kit, A Love Story. This kit is jammed packed with gorgeous papers from Crate Paper, Lily Bee Design, Studio Calico, and My Minds Eye. It also includes exclusive Elle's Studio tags, beautiful embellishments, an amazing stamp, and exclusive handmade fabric flowers made by Tara Anderson of Citron Faire. Truly, it's a gorgeous kit-- and it was SO fun to put together!!!

We have a full week ahead packed with inspiration from our talented Design Team. Oh my goodness, I am so excited to share all of their layouts with you-- they all made awesome layouts with this kit!

First, a layout by DT member, Ursula Schneider:

I just love the film strip she created out of the card stock, and the way she used the numbered Elle's Studio tags. So much color and contrast in her sweet layout.

Next is this gorgeous layout by Rahel Menig:

Rahel has an amazing ability to create a lot of white space but also add splashes of color. So gorgeous and clean. And how about that photo?

Thanks so much Ursula and Rahel!!

Make sure to stop by again tomorrow for more fresh inspiration using our exclusive "A Love Story Kit" which is still available in our shop. Additionally make sure to check out the shop for extra goodies such as punches, mists, and inks.

Project Life

2012-01-24T03:00:00.000-08:00

Welcome to another week of Project Life at Elle's Studio. This week's Project Life covers the week of January 9- 15th.

To be honest, I didn't take a lot of photos this week. Or should I say, I didn't take many stellar photos this week. I was kind of kicking myself when I was putting together this week's Project Life spread. But then I realized, a story doesn't always need a (perfect) photo. Sometimes a story is best told in words.

I embraced this idea and took what little photos I had, and matched it with written stories (or stories that didn't even have a photo).

I think sometimes we expect too much of ourselves when putting together Project Life or even scrapbooking. We expect ourselves to ALWAYS have a camera with us, ALWAYS capture that moment, ALWAYS keep up with journaling during the week, ALWAYS have documentation in the forefront of our minds.

Let's be honest, Life happens.

We get busy and the days fly by. The camera may collect dust for a few days. We get discouraged and begin to think this is "too big" of a project. Then you start to fall behind. Sound familiar?

I just want to share that I have had weeks like this. Weeks that were jammed packed and I didn't think much about the camera. As you can see, I have seven photos in my Project Life this week. Three were simple photos of my kids, two were taken by my iPhone, one was taken by someone else (the black and white photo of my husband and I at dinner), and one is of cereal boxes-- that's it! And that's enough.

Even though I lacked many photos, I still had a multitude stories and memories to share. So I wrote them down. There is something incredibly fun about writing a story down on a journaling card, embellishing it, and being done. No photo needed.

I used various Elle's Studio journaling cards : the Daily 3x4 cards and This Week Lil' Snippet to write my stories and added simple embellishments like punched hearts, handcut banners, or a stamp. I also kept my eyes out for "found items" this week, like a Apple product sticker, ticket stub, and even the candle from my birthday dessert (my husband's face was priceless when I blew out the candle, and then put it in my purse).

My advice is to enjoy the process. Allow your Project Life to be a true representation of your week. Don't force yourself to make it look like something it wasn't. Don't be discouraged if a Project Life spread doesn't always meet your expectations of what you "think it should be". That's the beauty of Project Life, every week is different.

Congrats to Shauna, the winner of last weeks giveaway! Please send an email to info@shopellesstudio.com with the following information.
Name:
Address:
Contest: January 17 Project Life

We have another giveaway this week! Leave us a comment here for a chance to win a $15 prize pack from Elle's Studio. We will announce the winner next Tuesday on our Project Life post.

Project Life was created by Becky Higgins as a way to simplify how you document life and preserve memories. Photo pockets used in my Project Life album are created by Becky and can be found here. You can read of all the Elle's Studio Project Life posts here.

InLinkz.com

Our Next Exclusive Kit Has Arrived! Introducing: A Love Story

2012-01-23T08:02:00.000-08:00

We are so excited to introduce to you today our new kit: A Love Story! This kit is perfect for your layouts and the ones and memories you love, along with your everyday layouts. It includes beautiful papers and alphabets from popular scrapbooking manufacturers, along with exclusive and limited edition tags and stamps from us! These tags are exclusive to this kit and will not be printed or sold again! Also, we have some exclusive flowers made by Tara Anderson of Citron Faire! The flowers are handmade from 14 different fabrics and are beautiful!

Here's a closer look at this kit:

The doily on the stamp is another one from my Grandma's collection!

And, as requested by you guys :) Along with being able to get more cardstock, you can now get extra patterned paper!

We also have stocked some coordinating mist and stickers! But, just like our kit, these quantities are limited, so we don't expect them to last long!

Jenni made some layouts with the kit and today we get to take a peek at them!

And, remember that sneak peek we showed you on Saturday? Here's the full layout!

Aren't the beautiful?! Jenni did a great job putting these layouts and kit together. I have to admit... this one is my favorite kit so far! I'm already planning layouts about my nephew and my baby dog!

But wait! We have one more BIG surprise for you! This time around our design team is also working with this kit and will be inspiring you with their layouts starting on Wednesday! We'll be posting them right here on our blog, so stay tuned!

And, if you haven't left to peek at the kit in our shop - make sure you do! These kits are limited and even though we've added more to this launch, we still don't expect them to last long!

Thanks for stopping by today!

A quick note for our OVERSEAS orders: Looks like our overseas shipping is only quoting Priority Mail, instead of First Class. If you purchase the kit and want it to ship first class, please write FIRST CLASS in the notes and we will refund the difference! Shipping overseas should be around $10-$18. So sorry about this! Our web guy is on it, but it may not be fixed for a couple days.

January's Inspiration Gallery is LIVE!

2012-01-22T11:42:00.000-08:00

It's time to get inspired! January's Inspiration Gallery is now live and it's our first one with our new design team! If you don't see the new team, you may have to clear your computers cache. This gallery is packed full of amazing things and they even got to work with our newest tags! It's one you can't miss!

Also, wait until you see who our guest designer is this month! Look for her spotlight post later this week :)

We feel so blessed to have such a creative team and guest design on board! We hope you get tons of inspiration from their projects!

Make It Sunday with Rebbeca Keppel - 01.22.12

2012-01-22T06:00:00.000-08:00

My name is Rebecca Keppel and in the beginning of 2005 I was a corporate attorney in San Francisco, but then my daughter was born and I became a stay at home mom. I started scrapbooking around that time and found the creative outlet, a sanity saver to say the least! We moved to Arizona and my son was born in 2007. They are the main stars of my scrapbooking show. I love practicing new photography skills on them and then creating layouts with those pictures. I also enjoy card making and creating mini albums and gifts for friends and family. Two of my favorite additions to paper projects are machine sewing and typewritten journaling. Journaling, whether by hand, typewriter or computer is very important to me and that is why I thoroughly enjoyed my time as an Elle's Studio Design Team Member last year! A huge thanks to Elle's Studio for letting me stop by and share my love for Elle's Studio tags, cards and pennants!

I have not committed to a photo a day or Project Life, but I do love to take pictures of the everyday moments. And then I like to scrap those everyday moments. I love using Elle's Studio products because many of the tags and journaling cards have prompts for this everyday type of scrapbooking. So I pulled together some photos of totally random things I was thankful for one morning and got to work!

Here's how this layout came together:
1. I started with a very simple gray background that happened to feature an image of a doily and added some white mist splatters.

2. When making my photo collage, I left some dead space in order to fit 3 photos next to 2 larger ones. An Elle's Studio One and Only Strip fit perfectly and covered up the bare spot in my collage.

3. Next I started working on my title. Originally I tried fitting the entire Today tag into my design, but I just couldn't make it work, so I cut the "Today" part off and included it in my title. The best part is, I save d the bottom half of the tag and now I have some journaling lines to include on another project (or layered on top of another tag that doesn't have journaling lines!).

4. I really liked the simplicity of the background paper, so rather than include more patterned papers and deal with issues of matching colors, I simply fussy cut out some doilies from the Collected Large Journaling Tags and ran them down the left side.

5. I added a pennant and two One and Only Tidbits under the right side of my title to fill an empty spot, and then I made my own banner using One and Only Strips. I simply folded them over some twine and stapled with my tiny attacher.

6. Finally, I used one more Collected Large Journaling tag to type up my journaling and lined it up right under my photo collage. And to bring in a third pop of yellow to the layout to go along with the title and the number "2" in the Large Journaling Tag, I slipped one more Daily 3x4 Tag under the right side of my photo collage, to draw attention to my favorite photo.

It's time for a giveaway! We are giving away the Elle's Studio products Rebecca used on this layout:

Collected Large Journaling Tags, Daily 3 x 4 tags, and One and Only Stripes, Tidbits and Pennants!

Just leave a comment to be entered to win - one comment per person, please! Then, check back next Sunday to see if you have won!

Congrats to last Sunday's winner:

ShellyJ, please email us the info below to claim your prize to info@shopellesstudio.com

Name:
Address:
Prize: January 15th

We've got another sneak peek of our upcoming exclusive kit:

2012-01-21T08:08:00.000-08:00

We've got a special surprise for you guys today! Here is a sneak peek of a layout that Jenni has created using our next exclusive kit, that is going to be available this Monday!

We can hardly wait for you to see this entire kit, but if you look closely at these peeks, you'll see some of the kit contents!

Get ready and mark your calendars, this kit will be up for sale this Monday, January 23rd at 8:00 am PST. And, even though we've added more kits to our release, we don't expect it to last long! If you're not on our newsletter list, you can sign up here. And, if you are having problems receiving our newsletter, please email us directly!

A special giveaway today with guest blogger May Flaum!

2012-01-20T10:08:00.000-08:00

When I want the perfect banner, journaling card, or paper product that will spice up my project and add detail and just the right amount of fun, I turn to Elle’s Studio. I love all the stitched details, the little bits and pieces, and of course how the journaling cards help me tell my stories.

Today I’m taking a time out from creating new material for my upcoming class at Big Picture Classes to share a new project, and to give away a spot in my class! First, here’s the layout:

The “sand between our toes” journaling card was the perfect inspiration for my first Maui vacation page! I used several Elle’s Studio banners to accent this page as well – some under a die cut heart as ribbon-like accents and others at the top of my page for journaling space.

I love that I can use these smaller designs for things like date, place, names, and brief notes. Just a bit of distress stickles to accent (and add a sandy look) and this page came together quickly! It’s the perfect opening page to what will soon be an album filled with our adventures and memories of this vacation.

Lately the pennants and Lil’ Snippets have been my favorites because they’re such a great deal – and I can use them in so many ways! From vacations to the everyday I’ve always got a healthy stash queued up and ready to scrapbook with.

Before I go, I have a give-away promised! My new class is twelve weeks long, and packed with ideas, inspiration, layouts, videos, step-by-step instruction, and so much more. If you’d like to find out more about The Curious Scrapbooker’s Field Guide, you can find the information here at Big Picture. For more information about me, or if you’d just like to check out my blog I invite you to visit me at www.mayflaum.com

The winner for class will be drawn on Wednesday, January 25th – just leave a comment here to be entered to win. Good luck! And as always – I wish you very happy crafting.

Sketch Thursday 01.19.12

2012-01-19T06:44:00.000-08:00

Hello and welcome back to Sketch Thursday! Today’s sketch is inspired by Stephanie Klauck’s Snow Day from our December Inspiration Gallery ((we had lots of snow last month :)).

Take a look at what our talented design team did with it:

Ursula said: I really liked the 3 blocks across the page. I knew right away that I wanted to use only one as photo and use the rest as journaling and a place to use patterned paper and embellishments. I flipped the location of the title, but still borrowed the pennant underneath it. As to the random embellishments throughout the page, I'm never good at that so I drew them in toward the body of the page and still included them but in a bit more corralled manner. The misting helps to give it a bit more freedom.

ES supplies used: Daily Tidbits, Everyday Journaling Tags, Pennants – Red, Handmade Layers Date and Place Strips

Steph said: As soon as I saw this sketch, I knew I wanted to use the new tags from the Collected and One and Only lines...they were so perfect for this sketch! I adapted the sketch slightly for an 8.5x11 page, but kept everything else mainly the same. I added doilies to the tags to add to the handmade look.

ES supplies used: Collected Note Tags, One and Only Note Tags

Now for the fun part... post a link to your layout created using this sketch for your chance to win a $10 Elle's Studio gift certificate. Link must be posted by 11:59pm on Wednesday, January 25, 2012. Gift certificate can be used towards purchase of products only and can NOT be used for shipping charges. Gift certificate balance must be used in a single transaction.

Thank you all so much for playing along last week. The randomly selected winner is.... Ellie! Congratulations! Please email the following information to info@shopellesstudio.com.

Name:

Contest: 01.12.12 Sketch

Introducing our next exclusive kit: A Love Story

2012-01-18T12:40:00.000-08:00

We are so excited to share a tiny sneak peek today of our next exclusive kit: A Love Story! This kit is full of beautiful papers, exclusive Elle's Studio tags and stamps, and even some exclusive embellishments!

It's perfect for your layouts about your loved ones and more!

So get ready and mark your calendars, this kit will be up for sale this Monday, January 23rd at 8:00 am PST. And, even though we've added more kits to our release, we don't expect it to last long! If you're not on our newsletter list, you can sign up here. And, if you are having problems receiving our newsletter, please email us directly!

Stay tuned for another sneak peek this Saturday, too!

Project Life

2012-01-17T03:00:00.000-08:00

Welcome to another week of Project Life at Elle's Studio! This week documents the first week of January and the first week of the 2012 album-- it was a full week here!

Not only was it the start of a new year (and I had my camera handy more often), it was also the week of two birthdays in our family, so there was many of milestones to document.

Amid the milestones, I wanted to make sure there were everyday moments included as well. I snapped a few photos of game night, organizing (which always happens around new years), and my daughter falling asleep at the dinner table. Definitely the effects of a late New Years Eve.

The "milestone"items I included were a few photos from my son's birthday-- and the celebration we had at school. It was also my birthday that week and I included a handwritten letter I receive every year from one of my teachers in middle school. He writes every student he's ever had on their birthday every year-- this was my 20th letter from him.

Up until this year I have never known where to store these birthday letters from my teacher-- Project Life seems to be the perfect place. I love how I can mix the everyday with the really special moments.

I remembered to take my camera when I visited Todd at his office this week-- and I am so glad I did. There was also a meeting at the office I went to so of course I had to whip out my iPhone and take a photo. It's always exciting to break out of the norm and have photos from perspectives i usually don't see everyday.

I also wanted to share a bit about photographing Project Life. It was a trial and error thing for me in order to find the right place to photograph my layout. The challenge is finding light that won't cause a lot of glare on the photo pocket pages.

See my Project Life album up there? For me, the perfect place to photograph Project Life is on our back deck (where there is a deck overhanging), usually mid morning brings the best, non-glare light. I use a regular 18-55mm lens and photograph right over the layout. I then crop, brighten, and sharpen the image in Photoshop. This is also where I photograph all my layouts. However it does get tricky when there is a lot of snow on the ground!

Congrats Connie, you are the winner of last weeks giveaway! Please send an email to info@shopellesstudio.com with the following information.
Name:
Address:
Contest: January 10 Project Life

We have another giveaway this week! Leave us a comment here for a chance to win a $25 prize pack from Elle's Studio. We will announce the winner next Tuesday on our Project Life post.

InLinkz.com

January's Special

2012-01-16T05:00:00.000-08:00

Hello and happy Monday everyone! Today is the 16th, which means January is half way over. Can you believe it? I want to remind you that our 2012 Ledger Calendars, 2012 Monthly Pennants, and Winter Pennants are on sale this month only!

I made another layout using all 3 sets… they work so well together:

I combined the calendar and monthly tags to date my layout (notice the month on the calendar + year on the tag).

Also, I used one of the winter pennant to house my title. This works great with tiny alphas (I love tiny alphas).

Go check the monthly special section of the store and make sure to stock up.

The Winter Pennants are perfect for scrapping the current winter flurries while the calendar and monthly pennants keep on going all year long. Don’t miss out!

Make It Sunday with Elle - 01.15.12

2012-01-15T10:02:00.000-08:00

Hello! I'm (Elle) back with a Make It Sunday layout that I'm so excited to share with you today! This layout features my nephew and my baby! These two are so cute together - we have to keep our eyes on them or otherwise I think they'd kiss all day! He'll be playing with his toys and then all the sudden shout out "ra ra!" and she comes running for a kiss.

Here's how this layout came together:
1. I started with a piece of Crate's Romance paper. Then I grabbed some red and black scraps of paper laying around and a border sticker from Crate's Christmas line.

2. I then cut some of the scraps a little bigger than my photo and started layering them. This one has three layers, plus the Crate border sticker added at the bottom. I finished it off with one of our One And Only Strips.

3. Then I picked out the note tag with the hearts stitched on it for my journaling, from our One And Only Note Tags. And, I added the pennant from our True Love Pennants on the top - it turned out so cute! I then backed it with some red and pink paper so it would pop off the background paper.

4. Then I figured where I wanted the photo and journaling to go and added XOXO with some thickers I had on had.

5. Next and final step was to make the banner across the top with our One And Only Tidbits!

The easiest way I can explain how to make these and get the twine to fall correctly is to first adhear the left and right side, leaving a little slack in the middle of the twine. Then, stand the layout up and the twine will fall into place - it's really cool the way it works! Then, carefully lay it back down so the twine holds it's new shape and start gluing the Tidbits on!

It's time for a giveaway! We are giving away the Elle's Studio products used on this layout:

One And Only Note Tags, Strips, Tidbits, and True Love Pennants.

Just leave a comment to be entered to win - one comment per person, please! Then, check back next Sunday to see if you have won!

Congrats to last Sunday's winner:

Casie Duberstein, please email us the info below to claim your prize to info@shopellesstudio.com

Name:
Address:
Prize: January 8th

Behind-the-scenes with our newest line: Collected

2012-01-13T14:46:00.000-08:00

I always love hearing and seeing what made a collection come together, so I thought I'd share with you guys today a little behind-the-scenes peek at what inspired our newest line we just released!

Last summer my grandparents came over and surprised me with an amazing box of treasures! She had been going through her decorations and thought she'd pass these special things along to me! They all came from her mom, my great-grandma Helen.

As I unpacked them, and placed them all in special spots around my house, the doily's stood out. I loved how little but detailed they were and knew we had to use them in an upcoming line!

After I scanned the doily's and turned them into a digital file, I got to work! Usually, once we have the basic idea behind a collection the very next thing we do is pick out colors, fonts and a name. Above is a little peek at what that process looks like!

I choose to name this line Collected because the inspiration came from my grandma's collection, and our scrapbooks are memories and treasures that we collect through the years!

We are so excited that you guys are loving the new lines, and wanted to also thank you SO much for your orders - you guys are truly amazing!

Sketch Thursday - 01.12.12

2012-01-12T06:00:00.000-08:00

Hello, everyone and welcome back to Sketch Thursday! This week's sketch is based on Keshet’s Snow Day layout from our December Inspiration Gallery!

Let's take a peek and see what our Design Team members did with the sketch:

Kimberly said: I love working with sketches. For this sketch, I basically used the same format as the design, but changed up where the Title and journaling went. I love to add a little bit of dimension to my layouts, so I use pop dots to get that effect. Don't be afraid to cut the tags too, as you will see, I did that with the tag in the upper left corner of the layout. I find it so fun to change things up with pre-made products.

ES supplies used: Collected Note Tags, Vintage Calendar Note tags, Handmade layers Tiny Tags, Daily Tidbits, Date Tidbits

Valerie said: Since I'm a linear scrapbooker, I was inspired by the long scalloped line in the sketch. I rotated the layout to accommodate my 3 small horizontal photos - making that line a strong vertical. I used the circular elements to frame the focal point of the page.

ES supplies used: Winter Large Journaling Tags, Everyday Tiny Tag Set, Daily Tidbits, Handmade Layers Birthday Penants, Lil' Snippets Days of the Week (Red)

Now it's your turn. Let the sketch inspire you in some way or another... lift it, flip it, use one element or all... make it your own and show us the final result!

Looking for an incentive? Post a link to your layout created using this sketch for your chance to win a $10 Elle's Studio gift certificate. Link must be posted by 11:59p on Wednesday, January 18, 2012.

Gift certificate can be used towards purchase of products only and can NOT be used for shipping charges. Gift certificate balance must be used in a single transaction.

Project Life (and a giveaway)

2012-01-10T03:00:00.000-08:00

Happy Tuesday everyone! How is the first week of Project Life coming along? We completed Week One a few days ago and it's now time to put everything together-- this is the fun part! I am currently putting together the first week of 2012 (which I will share next Tuesday), and also spending a bit of time "catching up" on a few of the remaining weeks of 2011.

One suggestion I would make as many of you start Project Life for the first time, is to work on the most current week. That has always worked very well for me. There are certainly times when life gets busy and a week goes by where a Project Life layout is not completed-- and that is okay! I suggest picking up at the current time and going back later and filling in the gaps. You will likely be more inspired when the memories are fresh, and less likely to fall further behind..

I usually work about a week out-- meaning once the week is complete, I spend the following week working on putting together the past week's layout, and then post it on the following Tuesday. I have a few weeks in 2011 that I need to complete, so I have been thinking a lot recently on how to fill in the gaps.

This particular week was the week of December 12-18th, almost a month ago. I (thankfully) had plenty of photos due to the fact it was right before Christmas, but I wanted to make sure to include stories as well. One idea I had was to just open up my calendar (I am old school and still write everything down in a written calendar) and take a photo of that particular week. That is my "date" photo and also included a brief summary of the happenings of the week (based off of what was written in my calendar).

Let me tell you a little secret: the instax of my daughter on that first page was not actually taken that exact day (gasp!). I know it was a recent photo (due to the Christmas tree she is standing in front of), so I used it as a visual and told a story of what did happen on that actual day. I don't do this often, but when you are filling in the the gaps I think it's okay to include items that will help you tell the story of the week.

For this particular week I also included a few "everyday/routine" items and photos. Photos of my daughter watching Clifford in the morning, a photo of my clean scrap desk (okay, maybe that doesn't happen everyday:), a photo of my kids helping get dinner ready at our weekly family dinner, and the story and my thoughts on sending/receiving Christmas cards. These are all items that are more story focused and not so much "what we did"-- great options for when you need to "fill in the gaps" and catch up.

I also used items like Twitter, Facebook, and my iPhone photos to remind me of stories, quotes, and happenings of the week. It's amazing what you can find and remember about a particular week if you dig a little.

Congrats Janamk, you are the winner of last weeks giveaway! Please send an email to info@shopellesstudio.com with the following information.
Name:
Address:
Contest: January 3 Project Life

We have another giveaway today!! For a chance to win a $25 Elle's Studio prize pack, leave us a comment here and let us know what your favorite item is from Elle's new release!! My favorite item are the new Daily Tidbits--- so perfect for Project Life!

InLinkz.com

Make It Sunday with Samantha Sibbet - 01.08.12

2012-01-08T08:07:00.000-08:00

I'm Samantha Sibbet and the mom to two lovely little girls, married to my sweetheart and the happy owner of a big chocolate lab that follows my every move. After being at home for many years, I returned to the classroom this year and I am teaching inner city second graders in San Diego. Scrapbooking is still one of my favorite ways to get creative and I just never ever tire of shopping for all the cute little embellishment bits and the gorgeous designs that keep coming out! You can see more of my work at my blog.

A couple of years ago I had the privilege of working with Elle's Studio on the very first Design Team. Each month we created a few projects for the blog and those layouts are still some of my favorites, I love the journal cards from Elle's Studio and they are a cute and fun way to preserve one of the most important parts of this hobby, the journaling!

For today's layout, I used one of my new faves...this picture of my daughter Emma riding on my husband's shoulders. We were leaving the San Diego Zoo, she had just had her 6th birthday party there. I love her sweet smile of contentment and the hot pink tulle gathered around her daddy's neck is kind of sweet too.

Here's how this layout came together:
1. I started my layers with a glassine envelope that measures 5.75 in. x 9 in. I adhered the back of it and put in a few hand stitches so that the journal card would not slide down, it will slide out to read easier. Before I hand stitched the glassine envelope to the background paper, I scored .5 inch lines on it with a scoring board.

2. For the journaling card, I love the list of numbers going down the side and thought it would be fun to add the 6 for her age. I attached a tab sticker to the card and printed the text with a computer printer. To line up the text on the journal card, I printed the text on a regular piece of paper and when I was satisfied with the text size and layout, I adhered my Elle's Studio journaling card over the text with repositionable adhesive and ran it through the printer. The printer prints in the exact same place, this time onto my large journaling card. The adhesive was easy to rub off with my fingers and I just slid it into the glassine envelope pocket.

3. Whenever I know that I am placing layers under a photo, I only put adhesive on the middle of the photograph's back, this way I am free to tuck all kinds of sweet nothings under my pics.

4. Tuck in the "With all my heart" card, the crocheted flowers, and date strip.
5. Add the title, a little tape across the top and sprinkle on a few butterflies.

Thank you to Elle's Studio for having me today, love creating with Elle's Studio and I love the new products!

It's time for a giveaway! We are giving away the Elle's Studio products used on this layout:

One and Only Note Tags, Date Tidbits, Collected Note Tags, Handmade Layers Date and Place Strips, Everyday Large Journaling Tags, and Turquoise Pennants.

Just leave a comment to be entered to win - one comment per person, please! Then, check back next Sunday to see if you have won!

Congrats to last Sunday's winner:

Ellie Augustin, please email us the info below to claim your prize to info@shopellesstudio.com

Name:
Address:
Prize: January 1st

Our new items are here!

2012-01-04T08:30:00.000-08:00

We are so excited to announce that our new items are here! We have 18 new designs that include items for Valentine's, everyday, Project Life and more! There's lots to see and we can't wait for you to see it all :)

Something completely new this launch is that we've added some extra goods to the shop! Jenni Bowlin punches are here! We've got a very limited supply, so if you want one, don't wait!

And, don't forget to check out the Monthly Special - 3 tag sets at 20% off!

It's an exciting day and we hope you love all the new stuff!

Project Life (and a giveaway)

2012-01-03T03:00:00.000-08:00

Happy New Year, and welcome to a new year of Project Life! I know many of you are starting Project Life for the first time, and we are so excited for you to experience this wonderful method of documentation. Remember: don't stress about this! That's the whole concept behind Project Life, less stress.

I am still working on finishing (and filling in a few gaps) in my 2011 Project Life album (more on this next week). Today, however, I want to share my title page for 2012!!

This year, in addition to Elle's Studio products, I will be incorporating items from Becky Higgins Project Life Clementine Edition Core Kit. The elements from the Clementine Edition are beautiful, and work very well with Elle's products (in my opinion). I used a mix of the Clementine cards with a tag from the Handmade Layers Journaling cards, and the Yellow Labeled Lil' Snippet.

And that little "date" tidbit??? That's part of Elle's Studio next launch that goes live tomorrow. You will not want to miss it-- many GREAT items for Project Life! :)

A few things I did while putting together my title page was to include two photos-- one 4x6 family photo that was taken on Christmas Eve (I printed it in black and white so it wasn't too Christmas-y). and a fun instax photo.

I included the phrase "Today Matters" on one of the 4x6 spots. This will be my approach to Project Life this year. I love that it's on the very first page and sets the tone for the album. It will also help me to remember that today and everyday matters-- and it means something to document the everyday. I also included a Bible verse on the cover that is very representative of this coming year for my family. Don't be afraid to include meaningful phrases, quotes, thoughts, and verses.

Other items you could include would be the number of people in your family (I symbolized this with four butterflies), have everyone sign there names or design an insert themselves, include a photo of your home, pets, and of course, include the year number.

We are super excited for this new year of Project Life and hope to continue to inspire you here at Elle's Studio! And to celebrate we have a giveaway-- an Elle's Studio gift pack worth $25!! Leave a comment on this post and let us know if you plan to participate in Project Life this year (if you are, and have completed your title page, link it up! we would love to see it). We will post the winner next Tuesday, January 10.

InLinkz.com

The shop is back open + another sneak peek!

2012-01-02T09:53:00.000-08:00

We are back in the studio from our break and it feels so good to be back! The shop is now open and all orders placed while we were gone will be shipping today - thank you all so much for your support while we were away!

This Wednesday is our next launch - only two more days! We have another sneak peek, for you, of our new items that we will be launching:

We also just signed up for an Instagram account - we are totally hooked! We might be posting some more sneak peeks throughout today and tomorrow on there... so make sure you look us up! We are under: ellesstudio. We'll most likely post the same peeks to our twitter and facebook accounts, so if you don't have Instagram, no worries :)

Make It Sunday with Mandie Pierce - 01.01.2012

2012-01-01T09:00:00.000-08:00

Hi there! My name is Mandie Pierce. I was on the Elle's Studio design team from January-June 2011. I enjoyed my time on the team very much. When Elle asked if I would participate in Make It Sunday, I was thrilled to say, "Yes!" I am a stay at home mom of 3 and wife to an Air Force Major. We currently call Northern California home, and it looks like it will stay that way a little longer than we had anticipated. I am currently on the design team for Pebbles Inc and a local scrapbook crop called Scrap Again. You can see more of my work on my blog Like a Lemon to a Lime.

This is a just-for-fun layout. The Layer Number Cutouts made me think of the Beatles' song "Eight Days a Week" for some reason. So, I decided to use them for a layout titled that! (& I've been singing the song every since!) The hearts on the journaling tag were cut out of another tag from the same set.

Here's how this layout was made:
1. Gather your journaling cards and cut out the numbered tags.

2. Decide how you want to arrange all of the tags. I took an iPhone pic to help me remember how I had everything.

3. Cut out a 12x1 (ish) piece of pattern paper and a couple of strips of pattern paper (I used the Crate Paper Heart 6x6 pad for the smaller pieces). I used the smaller pieces to fill in in-between the tags. So, the size of these will vary depending on how you place your tags.

4. Ink the edges of your cardstock & tags, if desired.

5. While the ink is drying, use a white gel pen to trace the pattern on the background pattern paper (Crate Valentine). I flipped the pieces of paper on it's side because I liked the way the design looked going up and down the sides rather than the top and bottom.

6. Start adhering and sewing down tags and patterned paper, layer by layer (this is where that phone pic comes in handy!)

7. Add the stamp on the top tag (stamp is from the Studio Calico Brooklyn Flea Kit).

8. Add your title & photo

9. Embellish to your heart's content with the Crate Paper Heart Chipboard Accents!

It's time for a giveaway! We are giving away the Elle's Studio products used on this layout:

Layered Number Cutouts, Everyday Tiny Tags, PLUS, two sets of tags that aren't even for sale yet in the shop - they are coming out this Wednesday! Can you spot them?

Just leave a comment to be entered to win - one comment per person, please! Then, check back next Sunday to see if you have won!

Congrats to last Sunday's winner:

eknowles, please email us the info below to claim your prize to info@shopellesstudio.com

Name:
Address:
Prize: December 11th

January's Special - 20% off these items, this month only!

2012-01-01T01:00:00.000-08:00

Welcome to our very first monthly special for 2012! Every month we will be putting a couple items on sale for 20% off - then Waleska will be inspiring you with a layout or two from those items that are on sale!

Let's take a peek at what she made with this month's special:

Loving how she mixed the Winter Pennants with the Monthly Pennants here!

And, here's a peek at the first items that are on sale:

Our 2012 Ledger Calendars, 2012 Monthly Pennants, and Winter Pennants! Since 2012 is just starting, this is a great time to pick up those calendars and the winter pennants are perfect timing for the season that is upon us.

And, don't forget to look for a new special, posted on the first of every month for the entire year of 2012!

We wish you a Happy New Year + some fun announcements for 2012!

2011-12-31T15:20:00.000-08:00

We want to wish everyone a very Happy New Year! Thank you all so much for your incredible support during 2011 - you made it the most amazing year ever and we cannot wait for you to see what we have in store for 2012. Your support means so much more than words could ever express! We can't wait to spend another creative and crafty year with you!

We are kicking the new year off with some very exciting things that actually start tomorrow!

Our first BIG news is that we have added Waleska to our team - she will be taking care of the sketches and inspiring you with layouts made out of supplies for our new monthly specials! Monthly specials will be 3 to 4 products that we will have on sale, for that month only and the best part is, the first special is up tomorrow! We also have some other fun things up our sleeve with Waleska, so stay tuned for those!

Another fun thing for 2012 is that our past design team members are taking over our Make It Sundays! We've been wanting to find a way to incorporate them, since we've missed them so much, and this is the perfect fit! So, from now on each Sunday they will be bringing you a layout or fun project with step-by-step instructions. I'll be popping in on some Sunday's, too :)

We are also working behind-the-scenes on a new website - I can hardly wait, it should be a couple more months!!

And, we are also working hard on the new items for our next launch - here's a little sneak peek of what's to come this Wednesday, January 4th:

It's going to be an amazing year!

We have a winner!

2011-12-31T13:03:00.000-08:00

We have a winner for Ali Edwards upcoming class, from this blog post!

Big congrats to:
Elisabeth Costa on December 29, 2011 7:21 PM

Please email us at info@shopellesstudio.com as soon as possible to claim your prize!

One Little Word 2012 Giveaway

2011-12-28T08:00:00.000-08:00

Today we have a special giveaway from Big Picture Classes and Ali Edwards:

Ali says: “In 2006, I began a tradition of choosing one word for myself each January - a word that I can focus on, meditate on, and reflect upon as I go about my daily life. My words have included play, peace, vitality, nurture, light, and story. These words have each become a part of my life in one way or another. They've been imbedded into who I am, and into who I'm becoming. They've been what I've needed (and didn't know I needed). They've helped me to breathe deeper, to see clearer, and to grow.”

Each month you'll receive an email and an invitation to visit the One Little Word classroom. Inside the classroom, you'll find a gentle reminder message, encouragement to refocus, and a simple creative or writing project to complete, related to your word. At the end of the year you'll have an album that celebrates and honors your word - making it that much more concrete and visible in your life.

Read the rest of the description and listen to Ali’s audio file explaining the process of the class, here.

And, as a special surprise for our readers, we get to give away one spot in the class! Just leave a comment here telling us what you're word for 2012 is going to be and you'll be entered to win! We'll draw the lucky winner on Saturday, December 31st, 2011. One entry per person, please.

Say Hello to Our New Design Team!

2011-12-26T07:49:00.000-08:00

Happy day after Christmas, everyone! We hope you all had a great day, surrounded by the ones you love!

We have a special announcement! We are announcing the members of the first six months of 2012's design team! But, before we do we want to give a HUGE THANK YOU to our past team - those ladies were so great to work with and we just loved everything they created for us. We feel so blessed by them and want to thank them for ALL they have done for us - they are truly an amazing group of women and we are going to miss them! The layouts, cards, projects, etc. that they created would always inspire me to get in that scraproom and create something - I am forever grateful for their unbelievable support.

As we say goodbye to our current team, we want to welcome the new incoming team - that is also full of amazing ladies! Please welcome these seven new ladies to our team:

And, we are excited to also announce that we are going to continue with the eighth member of our team being a different guest designer every month! That means lots of surprises are still in store :)

It's going to be an amazing and inspiration filled year!

Merry Christmas!

2011-12-23T09:36:00.000-08:00

We want to wish you a wonderful Merry Christmas! We hope you all have an amazing and beautiful holiday season!

Project Life

2011-12-20T03:00:00.000-08:00

Welcome to another week of Project Life here at Elle's Studio! This weeks layout covers the week of December 5-11. Another jammed pack week of school, Christmas activities, and everyday life.

Since I am also doing my December Daily, I find that I have less "found" objects from events due to some of it appearing in my December Daily, and also the fact that I may be focusing more on the stories through photography. I think you will find there will be weeks like this from time to time (which is totally fine!).

I did however include some packaging from a chapstick tube and some art work from my son's backpack. This became quite a focus of my week, I wanted to highlight how much I love the types of Christmas crafts he has been bringing home.

I wanted to take a little time and address the 4x6 Journaling Spots in a Project Life spread. There are eight 4x6 spots in a week's layout (in Becky Higgins' Design A photo pockets), so you are given plenty of opportunity to try many different ideas for these larger spots. I often use one of these spots to include the week's calendar date and a brief summary of highlights.

I often include a few 4x6 photos for theses photo pockets. Sometimes I leave just the photo (like in the Santa photo), and in others I might journal straight onto the photo in the "white space" (like the Christmas lights photo using a white uni-ball signo pen). Or I might add something small to 4x6 the photo like Elle's Studio Layered Number Cut Outs (baking photo), or a Tiny Tag (classroom photo) to add a little space for journaling or the date.

Another idea for the 4x6 Photo Pockets is to use the Large Journaling Tags (which are 4x6 and come in a pack of 6) as the base for the photo pocket. I love doing this because it provides plenty of room to add an instax/wallet photo, journaling, a title/date, and embellishments. The 4x6 Journaling tags really makes these larger spaces easy to use.

If I ever get stuck and feel like a spot needs a little "extra something" I usually add an Elle's Studio Tidbits or Date Tags, washi tape, mist drops, a strip of pattern paper, or even a paperclip.

We have a winner from last week's giveaway! Congrats to Nana R Nassar !! Please contact us at info@shopellesstudio.com with the following information:

Name:

Address:

Contest: Project Life December 13th

Just a note to let you know we will be taking next week off from our Project Life Series in order to enjoy the holidays with our families. I will be back on January 3 with more Project Life Inspiration as we head into a New Year! Elle and I are so excited that many of you will be participating in Project Life in 2012 and we can't wait to provide inspiration and encouragement as you embarking on this wonderful system of documentation.

InLinkz.com

Tomorrow's the last day for shipping until January 2nd!

2011-12-19T15:18:00.000-08:00

Whew! The time is just going too fast... I think I just got the last present wrapped and now I'm off to bake some goodies and make cards for Christmas :) I can hardly wait for the big day to arrive! We've got some fun surprises for my nephew and this year, he'll be able to open the presents, so that will be fun to watch!

We wanted to thank everyone for all the orders on our free shipping day - we worked all weekend so they would go out today and we just dropped the last ones off at the post office! We appreciate each order so much and we hope you enjoy your goodies!

Also, a reminder about our holiday schedule, tomorrow's the last day to order for it to ship this month:

No shipping on December 21st through January 1st
Orders placed on and between these dates will ship January 2nd

Thank you so much for your patience with us during our non-shipping dates! We treasure that extra time we get to spend with family and friends!

December Guest Designer : Shimelle Laine

2011-12-17T07:42:00.000-08:00

We are so thrilled to have Shimelle on board this month as our guest designer! I've been following her for quite some time now and she's been a huge inspiration for me. If you haven't seen what she did this month for our Inspiration Gallery, make sure you check it, it's definitely going to inspire you! And, make sure you check out her blog, too - she always has something amazing going on and lots of ways you can join in and participate! We love it :)

She took a moment to answer some questions, let's take a peek:
Name: Shimelle Laine
Location: London, England
Blog: www.shimelle.com
Twitter: @glittershim

BIO:
London-based scrapbooker Shimelle Laine believes writing is the key to meaningful scrapbooks, but has to admit she loves photos and playing with pretty paper as well, so it's pretty good that scrapbooking combines all those things! She has been part of the scrapbook industry for over a decade, and has been teaching online scrapbooking classes since 2004. She designs for Jenni Bowlin Studios, American Crafts and Two Peas in a Bucket.

Every December, she leads the Journal your Christmas workshop, with journaling and photography prompts every day throughout the Christmas season and a variety of ways to scrapbook Christmas in a way that is enjoyable and practical for you. You can join this workshop at any time and it includes permanent membership, so there's no reason not to sign up now. Elle's Studio elements make regular appearances on Shimelle's journal pages!

What are three products you can't live without?
Patterned paper, precision pens and the Martha Stewart classic butterfly punch.

Where do you scrapbook?
For the last several years, I've had a dedicated room for crafty work, but we have moved house over the past month and now my crafting space is in the living room. It's not presentable enough yet to share pictures! But I can say it is less 'I keep my crafting supplies in a cupboard in a corner of the living room' and more 'Oh there is a sofa in your craft room'. The craziest thing is that it was my husband's idea!

What do you listen to/watch while scrapbooking?
I have a set of movies I know by heart that I love to just listen to while I work. I realise 'listening' to a film is not the general idea behind making a movie, but it works for me. I can't really watch without getting distracted, which is why they have to be well-worn favourites. The list includes Juno, 500 Days of Summer, The Devil wears Prada and all the Harry Potter films. Other days I'm more music driven. I have a few set playlists for when I am on a deadline but I usually like choosing one song that seems perfect at the moment then letting iTunes genius make a playlist automatically. Sometimes it's awesome. Other times I really wonder why it's called genius at all.

What is your favorite color combination?
Just one? Really? It's hard to play favourites with colours! I love grey with turquoise or yellow, white with aqua and red, kraft with pretty much anything. And yet my favourite colour is actually green. Always has been.

Thanks so much for sharing with us today, Shimelle!

Free Shipping Day has Arrived!

2011-12-16T07:54:00.000-08:00

Our free shipping day is here - we are participating in the nation-wide free shipping day and all orders, USA and international, ship for free, via First Class Mail only. All you have to do is use the coupon code FreeFriday at checkout in our shop! Although we cannot guarantee that orders will arrive by Christmas, we will guarantee that we will ship them by Monday, December 19th. This offer expires tonight at 11:59 pm EST.

Also, just for today, we have a special on a complete set of our Days of the Week Snippets:

Happy Shopping, everyone!

December's Inspiration Gallery is LIVE!

2011-12-15T07:43:00.000-08:00

Surprise! The December Inspiration Gallery is live extra early this month! Our design team worked with both our kits: Tis the Season and Jack Frost! And, then, we also have a surprise Guest Designer this month, too!

We can't wait for you to see it all, make sure you check it all out and get inspired for the holiday season!

Project Life

2011-12-13T03:00:00.000-08:00

Today's Project Life covers the week of November 28-December 4th-- and we are in FULL swing of the Christmas season!!

Are you doing a December Daily/ Journal album? I am, and I have to admit, I was a little concerned about doing both December Daily and Project Life. However, I found that Project Life has made the December Daily album much easier to keep up with (and vice versa). Because of Project Life, my camera is out more, I am looking for the little stories, and I have a place to record those day-to-day details that may be overlooked.

December is jam packed full of traditions, stories, events, programs, and celebrations. In my December Daily album I focused on a high-light of the day-- some of the photos reappear in Project Life, but many do not. Project Life allows me to go deeper into the everyday story.

I believe three of these photos also appear in my December Daily, and everything else is new or a story told in more detail. I really enjoyed using the Elle's Studio Christmas tags-- particularly the Christmas Note Tags! I used many pattern papers from Echo Park's Holly Jolly Line-- it goes really well with Elle's Studio tags!

Now that we are in the Holiday rush it's hard to think past December 25th, but I want to remind you that the New Year is right around the corner! NOW is a perfect time to get stocked up on your Project Life Supplies! (it's also a great Christmas Gift!) Here are a few of my favorite Elle's Studio items for Project Life (psst.. don't forget to take advantage of our FREE SHIPPING day on December 16th):

InLinkz.com

Also, I LOVE the photo pockets made by Project Life founder, Becky Higgins. It's called "Design A" and can be found here. There are many different cool styles available, make sure to stock up!

We have a winner to announce from last week's Project Life giveaway! Congrats to ConnieC! Please contact us at info@shopellesstudio.com with the following information:

Name:
Address:
Contest: December 6, 201

Today we have another giveaway! To win a Project Life Prize Pack worth $25, leave a comment here and let us know your favorite Holiday Movie. We will draw a winner next Tuesday, December 20th.

InLinkz.com

Holiday Shipping Schedule + Free Shipping Day Coming Soon!

2011-12-12T07:59:00.000-08:00

MARK YOUR CALENDARS: We are participating in the national free shipping day on Friday, December 16th! Our free shipping offer is good for all USA and overseas purchases, with First Class Mail option only, at our shop! We guarantee your order will ship by that following Monday, December 19th. However, we cannot guarantee that your order will be delivered in time for Christmas!

No shipping on December 21st through January 1st
Orders placed on and between these dates will ship January 2nd

Thank you so much for your patience with us during our non-shipping dates! We treasure that extra time we get to spend with family and friends!

Make It Sunday - 12.11.11

2011-12-11T09:00:00.001-08:00

Welcome to another Make It Sunday! We've got another fun layout to inspire you this weekend, plus a fun tip! Ever have a piece of paper that you love both sides, but you only have one piece? That happened to me while scrapbooking this layout above, and we've got the solution! Read the instructions below to see how we pulled it off and don't forget to leave a comment to win the Elle's Studio products used!

Here's how this layout was made:
1. Start with your favorite woodgrain paper - for me it was a piece of Crate's Ski Lodge.

2. Since I loved both sides of this paper, but only had one piece of paper to work with I had to improvise! Once I figured out where the photo was going to go, I cut out the paper that would be behind the photo, then cut that piece of paper into a large pennant:

Once you put the photo over the hole, you'd never guess there was missing paper behind it!

3. Add some splatters on your page! I used Studio Calico's white Mr. Huey's.

4. Back your photo with a cream piece of cardstock to help the photo pop - I left a border of 1/8 of an inch around then entire photo.

5. Adhere the photo and large pennant down - lightly adhere the photo so you can still put tags underneath.

6. Use a shipping/packing tag and cut the bottom of it off to match your large pennant. Then, use a piece of Studio Calico FabRips (from a kit bought a couple months ago) and place it one the shipping tag - this just adds an extra layer of fun.

7. Using some alpha letters, write your title on the tag. I mixed some alpha's here and used Lily Bee Design Memorandum, Sassafras Script Mini's, and the BOY came from Crate's Toy Box Chipboards.

8. Then it was time to add some embellishments! I tucked in one of our Vintage Flashcards, some buttons, and one of our Date Snippets.

9. Then I wanted to add his age, so I cut out one of our Layered Numbers and then used some Prima alpha's to finish it off!

It's time for a giveaway! We are giving away the Elle's Studio products used on this layout:

Vintage Sweetheart Flashcards, Lil' Snippets - Date, and Layered Number Cutouts!

Just leave a comment to be entered to win - one comment per person, please! Then, check back next Sunday to see if you have won!

Congrats to last Sunday's winner:

Michelle*G, please email us the info below to claim your prize to info@shopellesstudio.com

Name:
Address:
Prize: December 4th

December Daily!

2011-12-09T07:38:00.001-08:00

Have you guys been keeping up with Jenni's December Daily on her blog? If not, here's a little peek inside:

She is using our two exclusive kits: Tis The Season (sold out) and Jack Frost and we love how it's turning out! So fun and festive! We are down to our last 10 Jack Frost kits, and once they are gone we will not be restocking! And, if you're just looking for some Christmas tags, don't forget we have those, too!

We've also seen some of your December Daily kits via Twitter - we love when you guys send us your links! These are some of the links that you must check out:
Valerie, Michelle, Stephanie, and Shay!

We'd love to see yours, too! Please post your links in the comment section and we'll do another round up post :)

Inspiration Gallery Spotlight

2011-12-08T07:26:00.001-08:00

Today we wanted to spotlight a cute card that Allison made for our Inspiration Gallery!

She used our Christmas Journaling Circle tags and our Lil' Snippets: Christmas Greetings, and then had her son draw on the card!

Allison said "I love including my kids in any project I'm doing. Especially around the holidays. I really love that the Elle's Studio holiday tags can add the perfect finishing touches to turn a sweet drawing into a perfect holiday card. My boys love that their cards end up looking so "professional" (coming from my 7 year old). I think we'll do a lot more of these this year!"

What a fun and such personal card you and your boys created, Allison! I bet that everyone who receives one will treasure it forever - We love it!

Project Life (and a give-away)

2011-12-06T03:00:00.000-08:00

Today's Project Life spread covers the week of November 21-27, which was the week of Thanksgiving!

Last week I wrote about what to do when when you are documenting a week with few photos. Well, this week is quite the opposite-- I had an OVER abundance of photos, momentos, and stories to share. Deciding what to include, and what to save for a layout, can be a bit of a challenge.

In addition to Thanksgiving we had a few other "big events" during this week. We celebrated my mom's birthday, went to a tree farm to cut down our Christmas tree, went to a movie as a family (yes i would call that a big event because it only happens a few times a year:), and Todd got to go to a Colts game for work. I made sure to document each of these events in some form (photography, journaling, or a momento/found object).

The rest of the photos were some everyday photos (especially on the first page). I find myself making an effort to really include these everyday photos, and not just the "big events". Some weeks may be more heavy on the everyday photos (like last week), but to be honest, these are my favorite photos when I look through my Project Life.

This week I included two inserts. The first one, "so thankful" is in a photo sleeve by We R Memory Keepers which holds nine 3.5 x 2.625 items (about the size of an instax). I took a stack pre-trimmed pattern paper by Sassafras, and Elle's Studio Handmade Layers journaling cards to our Thanksgiving dinner and asked everyone to jot down a few items they were thankful for this year. I told them they could be funny or serious-- anything they cared to share was fine! The result: This may be my most favorite item to date in my entire Project Life album. I LOVE that it's in the individual handwriting of my family members, and it was really touching (and funny) to see what some people wrote. Truly a treasure.

This is something you could easily re-create as we approach the Holidays. This would be perfect for New Years Resolutions, birthday parties/celebrations, and graduations. Any get together would be a great time to leave these journal cards/pattern paper out for guests/family members to leave their notes and thoughts.

Both of my kids did Thanksgiving-themed handprint art work at school this week so I included these items in my week as well.

The final page covers the day of Thanksgiving and the rest of the long weekend. I decided to tell the story of how we "pitch-in" for our holiday meals, and also the story of my Grandma using facetime (and really the iPhone in general) for the first time on Thanksgiving to talk to her traveling granddaughters in South Africa. Those two stories (and the journaling cards) were the only items I focused on for Thanksgiving day. I decided that the rest of the day could be documented in a layout.

Other "found" items I included for this week: the coaster from my mom's birthday dinner, ticket stubs to movies/football game, and part of the rope twine that tied our Christmas tree to the top of our car as we drove it home. I love including these found items each week.

Congrats to last weeks winner: April!!! Please email info@shopellesstudio.com with the following information:
Name:
Address:
Contest: Project Life 11.30.11

Today we have another giveaway! To win a Project Life Prize Pack worth $25, leave a comment here and let us know your favorite holiday tradition. We will draw a winner next Tuesday, December 13.

InLinkz.com

Make It Sunday - 12.04.11

2011-12-04T09:08:00.001-08:00

This Sunday we are making a calendar mini book for my mom's desk - I make her one of these every year and she really loves them. In the previous years, it's always been a mix of family photos, but this year I thought I'd use photos of her grandson, since he's the first one and all :)

Here's how I made this mini book:
1. First I started out with a set of our 2012 Calendar Tags and 12 photos. I laid them out so I could arrange them in the order I wanted.

2. Since I needed a cover for the mini book, I used the packaging! Just trim it down so it's the same size as your calendar. This is a great way to use what you have and no one would even know because it will be covered in patterned paper!

3. For the cover, I used some of my favorite Amy Tan letters, along with a pink pennant and a cut out from our Handmade Layers sheet.

3. Now it's time to start on the inside - you'll want to grab all your favorite scraps of paper. Any size bigger than 3 x 3 inches will work. These are the kinds of projects I save all my scraps for. It's the perfect way to get the most use out of your paper!

4. Use your scraps to cover the back sides of the calendar tags. Once you have them all covered, you'll want to cut down your photos to fit. I cut them small enough so that you could see the patterened paper around the entire photo.

5. When I glued the photo down, I only glued three sides - so it created a pocket! In these pockets I'll slip in another little tag with a Bible scripture written on it.

Here's a little peek at all the tags I'll be using to slip in the pockets:

6. Repeat the steps for all the other months and then all that is left to do is bind it together. I think I'll be using tiny holes and twine to bind mine together.

Don't forget to embellish it, too! Tiny tags and alphabet letters on the photos looks so cute:

And, take a peek at your chipboard stickers, too! I found on some christmas ones I had that they had stars that worked perfectly for July!

And, a finished look at the side. I always love these side peeks at mini albums:

Today's giveaway features the 2012 Calendar we used! We will be drawing two winners on next Sunday! One comment per person, please!

Congrats to last Sunday's winner:

Cheepincharge, please email us the info below to claim your prize to info@shopellesstudio.com

Name:
Address:
Prize: November 27th

We have a winner!

2011-12-03T18:00:00.000-08:00

We have a winner from this post, for our Jack Frost Project Kit!

Congrats to nancy_jane on November 29th at 3:42 pm! Nancy, please email us the following to info@shopellesstudio.com :
Name:
Address:
Prize: Jack Frost Kit

Thanks so much to everyone who stopped by and left a comment - we loved reading about your plans for December and wish you could all win a kit! We only have a few remaining Jack Frost kits left, so if it's something you've been eying, don't delay! Once it is sold out we will not be restocking.

The December Sale has started at our digital site - 35% off!

2011-12-02T07:45:00.001-08:00

It's that time of year again when our entire digital shop goes on sale for 35% off! That means you can stock up on all your favorites and get a great deal while you do!

Everything digital is on sale, Christmas, Halloween, Everyday tags, etc.

Also, don't miss out on Jessica's free holiday class! You can read all the details about it and signing up, here!

Sketch Thursday

2011-12-01T15:00:00.000-08:00

Hello, everyone and happy Thursday! We wanted to write a quick note and let you know that we are going to be pausing our Sketch Thursday series until the first of the year :) We are under some heavy prep, behind-the-scenes, and wanted to give you all some extra time to enjoy the holidays!

So save up and get ready for our series to continue in January!

Congrats to last weeks randomly drawn winner:

Laurel, please email the following information to us at: info@shopellesstudio.com and we'll get you your gift certificate!
Name:
Contest: 11.17.11 Sketch

Project Life (and a giveaway!)

2011-11-30T03:00:00.000-08:00

Today's Project Life post covers the week of November 14-20, which was the week after we returned from vacation, and also the week before Thanksgiving. Which also translates to the week I was really busy and didn't use the camera much. We've all had weeks like that, haven't we? Well today I will share with you a few ideas of what to do in a "few photo" week!

My first "go-to" item when I don't have many photos is my kids backpacks. I promise, there are TREASURES in those little backpacks. For instance this sweet drawing my daughter drew of a monster (that she named "mommy"). I laughed so hard when I saw this, and knew I had to include it into Project Life. Additionally, my son was working on writing (and painting) the number "9" this week in school, coincidentially this week was also our ninth wedding anniversary-- perfect!

Next I raided my husbands brief-case, and (with his permission:) used a business card of a company where he had many meetings this particular week. Finally, I raided that stack of papers on the kitchen counter. Now you may or may not also have this stack in your home, but for us, that stack of paper accumulates each day and I am ALWAYS trying to sifting through it and get it under control. It contains some backpack items, papers from school, drawings the kids do while I am cooking dinner, reminders, catalouges, calendar stuff, etc. That is where I pulled out the stick figure drawing by Jonah and the Operation Christmas Child brochure cover, (which we worked on this particular week).

We had two major events this week (that I photographed)-- an event at school, and when we traveled to see Todd's grandma for her 92 birthday. Other than that I included many "everyday" photos. I also included a lot of journaling-- that a GREAT way to make up for a lack of photos. I was really bummed I didn't take a picture of us on our anniversary, but I feel like it IS documented here, even if there isn't a photo.

I think it's really fun to find creative and different ways to document your week. The longer I am doing Project Life the more I enjoy finding my groove and thinking of unexpected items to include in the documentation of our week.

Today we have another giveaway!! We are giving away all the Elle's Studio supplies I used in this week's Project Life (listed below). Leave a comment here and we will announce the winner next Tuesday (12/6/11).

InLinkz.com

December Daily Part 2 (and a giveaway)

2011-11-29T03:00:00.000-08:00

Hello!! Today we are sharing the second half of my December Daily Album using the Elle's Studio 'Tis the Season, and Jack Frost kits. And we also have special giveaway at the bottom of this post- so stay tuned!!

I have to say, I love how these two kits are beautiful on their own, yet also work so well together in an album. Even the pinks and reds from the two kits blend well together!

On page 15 I used a paper clip to temporarily adhere the tags to the page. I did this here and there throught the album, especially when I knew i would be moving tags and photos around later.

Another fun element I included in my album was an old Christmas card pack I picked up years ago at the grocery store. (I included one in my album last year too!) It's a great way to add a unique touch to your album, and one that you can repeat year after year.

The page with the poinsettia flower was inspired by a December Daily I pinned on pinterest.

One design "technique" I tried to keep throughout the album was to have a solid paper matched with a pattern paper on each spread. It seemed to coordinate best and keep different papers from looking too busy.

Today we are giving away a Jack Frost kit! We only have a few kits left, and it's so much fun to work with!

Leave a comment on this post letting us know if you are doing aDecember Daily album/journal this year and you will be entered to winJack Frost! We will draw a winner Saturday December 3 at 9pm EST.

December Daily Album Part 1

2011-11-28T03:00:00.000-08:00

Happy Monday! Like many of you, my family and I are recovering from a long holiday weekend. I was able to get some crafty projects done and wanted to share with you my December Daily album.

I primarily used the two most recent kits from Elle's Studio, 'Tis theSeason and Jack Frost (which we still have a few kits remaining!)

One different aspect I added to my album is that I made the first day November 25th (the day after Thanksgiving). We do so many Christmas activities (like getting our tree, decorating, etc) before December hits, and I wanted that to be part of my album. Additionally, since the 'Tis the Season kit included numbers 1-31, it was easy to do this! Here's a look at the first half of my album:

As you can see, I stuck pretty close to the two kits, and added a few items from my stash such as twine, punches, and mist. And a Starbucks cup. :) Stay tuned for the second half of my album here on the Elle's Studio blog! I also plan to periodically update my own blog with finished pages of the album.

Thanks for swinging by today! Have you finished your December Daily Album?

Winners!

2011-11-28T02:30:00.000-08:00

We have two winners from our November's guest designer, Nichol's favorite items!

Congrats to:
Kate_Vickers on November 23, 2011 8:14 AM
Debbie_B on November 24, 2011 3:41 AM

Please email us the info below to claim your prize to info@shopellesstudio.com
Name:
Address:
Prize: Nichol's Favorite Items

Make It Sunday - 11.27.11

2011-11-27T07:09:00.001-08:00

This week's Make It Sunday features a Thankful layout about my mom! It has lots and lots of layers - once I started layering, I couldn't stop! Layering like this is a great way to use up your favorite scraps you've been saving for something special, too!

This layout is about my mom and her two grand-kids (one of her grand-babies is my dog, hehe) and how both of them always want to sit on her lap - it's just sooo cute! And, my little nephew is just starting to talk, so he calls her "Ama" instead of grandma. Definitely a memory that we treasure!

Here's how I made this layout:
1. I started with a piece of My Mind's Eye, Alphabet Soup paper - I've been saving this paper for awhile and can no longer find it for sale.

2. Next, I added a 9 3/4 x 10 3/4 inch piece of Sassafras Heartfelt paper.

3. Then, you'll add the 5 x 7 photo on the left side, towards the top. I left about 1/2 inch of the Heartfelt paper showing on the top and side.

4. Now we need to pull some of our favorite scraps out for layering on the right hand side. My scraps I used was a piece of Hambly's Doily Decor Transparency that I love so much, and some cut out pieces from Sassafras Intro paper, layered in between with some washi tape and a circle I had cut from something else.

5. Then, I used some diecuts from the Emma line from Crate Paper, along with our Red and Teal Pennants. One of our Date tags, Saturday Morning Tags, which I got the bottom tag from and I cut the "Notes:" part off the top tag, too! Lots going on here, but it looks great!

6. Finish it off with some books cut out of the Crate Emma Books paper and then add another Emma doily diecut and a thankful tag.

We are giving away our Red and Teal Pennants, along with our Saturday, Gratitude and Date Lil' Snippets to two lucky winners! Just leave a comment to be entered and we'll draw them next Sunday. One comment per person, please.

Congrats to last Sunday's winner:

ClarieTet, please email us the info below to claim your prize to info@shopellesstudio.com

Name:
Address:
Prize: November 20th

Inspiration Gallery Spotlight

2011-11-26T06:00:00.000-08:00

Today we wanted to spotlight Waleska's mini book she made for our Inspiration Gallery!

She used one of our 4 x 6 Spooktacular Autumn tags and our Gratitude Snippet for the cover, and then our Red and Halloween Lil' Snippets for the inside to highlight each one of her boys with their name and photo:

Then she had both her boys draw and write what they are thankful for! We love how each kid has his own page and how it highlights them and what they are thankful for.

Plus, what a cute keepsake to put out for years to come, or you could even add to it each year! So many possibilities!

Thanks for inspiring us, Waleska!

Black Friday - Cyber Monday Sale!

2011-11-24T21:00:00.000-08:00

It's time for our Black Friday - Cyber Monday sale! We've got some awesome select items on sale today through Cyber Monday, November 28th, at 20 - 50% off, while supplies last!

Also, as a little bonus, all orders placed on Black Friday through Cyber Monday will receive a free gift! The free gift may be an Elle’s Studio item or an item from another scrapbooking manufacture. And, don't worry, even if all the sale items are gone, we will still continue with the free gifts until midnight on Monday!

Click here to start shopping!

So thankful for you!

2011-11-24T06:30:00.000-08:00

Thanksgiving is one of my favorite holidays ... getting to hang out with family and friends, surrounded by amazing food and taking the time to reflect on what we are each most thankful for.

We wanted you all to know that each and every one of you, blog readers, facebook friends, customers, etc. are on the top of our list. We are so thankful for each and every one of you - your support, comments, emails, and more, mean more to us than words could ever express and we couldn't do it without you!

We wish everyone a wonderful and safe thanksgiving - we hope you have a great day surrounded by the ones you love!

November Guest Designer : Nichol Magouirk

2011-11-23T07:18:00.001-08:00

We are so excited to have Nichol on board this month as our Guest Designer! We just love her style and the way she brings everything together in her layouts and cards. We've been a big fan of hers and blog reader for quite some time, so to see her work with our tags is just amazing! If you haven't seen her work in our Inspiration Gallery, yet, make sure you head on over to check it out!

She took some time to answer some questions for us and share her scraproom! Let's check it out:
Name: Nichol Magouirk
Location: Dodge City, Kansas
Blog: www.nicholmagouirk.typepad.com
Twitter: @nicholmagouirk

What are three products you can't live without?
Patterned paper, stamps and my Silhouette Die Cutting Machine

Where do you scrapbook?
I scrap in my upstairs studio. Here is a link to my studio (and video walk-through) on my blog: http://nicholmagouirk.typepad.com/things_that_really_matter/2010/09/my-craft-studio-in-photos-and-video.html

What do you listen to/watch while scrapbooking?
I listen to a lot of music while scrapping. Mostly alternative music however I have pretty eclectic tastes and like almost everything. No country music though.

What is your favorite color combination?
Currently my favorite combo is Red/Turquoise/Yellow.

And, for a special giveaway today, we are giving away Nichol's favorite Elle's Studio items!

Nichol's favorite items are our: Pennants - Red, Mix & Match Number Tags - Red, and Lil' Snippets - Date.

Just leave a comment to be entered - we'll draw two winners on Monday, November 28th. *One entry per person, please.

Thanks so much Nichol, for sharing with us this month!

Project Life

2011-11-22T16:00:00.000-08:00

Welcome to another week of Project Life here at Elle's Studio! This week's Project Life focuses on the week of November 7-13th.

This was a big week in our household-- my whole family (minus the kids) traveled to New Orleans for my cousins wedding. It was so much fun to spend time with the extended family and document some of our stories in Project Life.

My challenge this week was to tell both the stories at home (where my kids were with their aunt) and in New Orleans (where my husband and I were with the family).

Fortunately, my sister in law took photos of the kids while she was babysitting, and also my friend took photos at our daughters ballet class. They both were happy to email me the photos to include in my album. Don't be afraid to ask other people to send you photos-- especially if they are photos that are important to you! Other items I included to documents the kids part of the week at home was art work from school and a Snicker's wrapper from the Halloween candy stash! Halloween candy was a big part of the week (mostly me constantly telling them when it's okay to eat it!)

I had plenty of photos and found items from our New Orleans road trip, that I decided to include an insert from We R Memory keepers to hold my iPhone/Postal Pics photos. This particular page protector is a 9 4x4 inch photo sleeve protector that fits a 12x12 album. I simply trimmed the page protector down to four 4x4 photos (fits 8 total) only because I like to see the whole week in one spread.

I used many Elle's Studio Lil'Snippets throughout my layout for my journaling spots. I also love the November 11/11 4x6 Journaling Card-- it was perfect for this 11.11.11 week!

We have a winner from last weeks giveaway with our Project Life Special Guest Lisa Truesdell!! Congrats to {s}crap happens! you won Lisa's Favorite Items! In order to claim your prize please email the following to info@shopellesstudio.com :

Name:
Address:
Prize: Lisa's Favorite Items (Nov 15)

Project Life was created by Becky Higgins as a way to simplify how you document life and preserve memories. Photo pockets used in my Project Life album are created by Becky and can be found here. You can read of all the Elle's Studio Project Life posts here.

InLinkz.com

November Inspiration Gallery is LIVE!

2011-11-22T06:30:00.000-08:00

November's Inspiration Gallery is live and we are so thankful for such an amazing team that puts together such beautiful layouts, cards and even mini's for us to be inspired by each month! Make sure you check out each one of their galleries, along with our special guest this month! It's a surprise and we will be introducing her tomorrow, here on the blog, along with giving away her favorite Elle's Studio items.

So, don't wait any longer, hop on over to the gallery and check it out!

Featuring Jack Frost

2011-11-21T04:00:00.000-08:00

Happy Monday! It's hard to believe it's Thanksgiving week! The holidays are upon us, and we have the perfect kit to document those special Winter and Holiday moments- Jack Frost! We have only a few kits left, so hurry and get yours today!

The colors in this kit are wonderful- pinks, blues, woodgrain... they are perfect for snow and winter photos! I used two of the exclusive Elle's Studio tags that were shaped in a square, and also punched square pieces out of other various Elle's Studio tags in order to create a grid to go above my photo.

I layered the "Let it Snow" and "Wonderland" tags over the grid to create a second horizontal layer within my grid.

It's hard to see in this photo, but I misted the Maya Road snowflakes with the Studio Calico Shine Mr. Huey included in the kit. I also dripped the Shine mist in the white space of my layout-- it adds the perfect touch!

We have very few Jack Frost kits available, and we will not be restocking once it's sold out! Get yours today for $24.99 here in our shop. It comes with 21 beautiful exclusive Elle's Studio tags--definitely my favorite part of the kit. :)

Stay tuned over the next few weeks for more Holiday and Winter Kit inspiration from myself and the Design Team!!

Make It Sunday - 11.20.11

2011-11-20T09:26:00.001-08:00

Happy Sunday, everyone! Hope every one's week is off to a great start! We have another Christmas card to show you this week - I am loving how easy it is to use Crates Peppermint line with our tags. The cards come together so quick and easy, yet look amazing!

For this weeks card I added a hand cut snowflake and I'm loving how it turned out. I've decided that this year I'll make cards for my immediate family members, and if I get those done with time to spare, I'll make them for everyone! Do you make cards for the holidays? If so, do you make the same design for everyone or change it up a bit?

Here's how this card came together:
1. I started with a piece of 8 x 4 inch cardstock, folded it in half so you end up with a card that measures 4 x 4 inches.

2. Then I took a piece of the red paper from Crate Papers Peppermint 6 x 6 pad and covered the front. All the papers I used on this card came from the same paper pad ;)

3. Next, use a piece of green paper from your 6 x 6 pad to cover the bottom, my piece measured 1.5 x 4 inches.

4. I then added a border sticker from the Crate Peppermint stickers, and cut to fit.

5. To finish it off I made a snowflake by following the folding instructions at this site, and then just freehanded it from there - you can cut it however you'd like and I love how each snowflake turns out different when you do!

6. Then, I added one of our Christmas Tiny tags (and cut out a triangle on one end to turn it into a pennant) then used the santa chipboard accent from Crates Peppermint line and layered them all together on the card!

We are giving away the Elle's Studio product used in this week's Make It Sunday! This week we are giving away the Christmas Tiny Tags!

Just leave a comment to be entered! We will draw the winner and post it with next weeks "Make It Sunday' post. *Comments must entered by 11:59 pm on 11.26.11 to qualify for entry. One entry per person, please.

Congrats to last week's winner:
Maria Therese, please email us the info below to claim your prize to info@shopellesstudio.com
Name:
Address:
Prize: November 6th

Sketch Thursday - 11.17.11

2011-11-17T07:43:00.001-08:00

This week's sketch is based off of Allison's Jack-O-Lantern layout from the October Inspiration Gallery! I love how she centered the photo, embellishment tag and title, and has the two tiny strips of paper at the top and bottom. Also, loving that little talking bubble over the one pumpking - how cute is that? And of course, the journaling and the date at the bottom add the perfect finishing touch!

This sketch has room for one photo, an embellishment tag, and more, but you can choose to change it up however you'd like! You can flip it, rotate it, whatever you want - make it your sketch!

Looking for an incentive to use our sketch this week? We can help with that! Post a link to your layout created using this Sketch Thursday sketch for your chance to win a $5 Elle's Studio gift certificate. Link must be posted by 11:59p on Wednesday, November 23rd, 2011.

Gift certificate can be used towards purchase of products only and can NOT be used for shipping charges. Gift certificate balance must be used in a single transaction.

Congrats to last weeks randomly drawn winner:

Diana Waite, please email the following information to us at: info@shopellesstudio.com and we'll get you your gift certificate!
Name:
Contest: 11.09.11 Sketch

Kit update!

2011-11-16T09:52:00.001-08:00

We want to thank you all so, SO much! We are completely sold out of our Christmas kit and have already started shipping! If you haven't already received your shipping confirmation, you should today or tomorrow. We are planning to have everything shipped by Friday so you can get started on your kits! We'd love to see what you make with them, too! Please feel free to send us a link or drop us an email :)

We can't thank you enough for your support - it means the world to us and we are so happy you like the kits! A lot of you have asked about setting up a subscription and right now don't have that capability... but with our new web site we should! Stay tuned :)

We still have a couple of our Jack Frost winter kits available - but not very many! So if you were thinking about getting one, now is the time!

We also wanted to let you know that we have two digitals up for just $1 each, today! Our Vintage Typewriter Christmas Tags would be perfect for any holiday layout or your December Daily. And our other special today is for making holiday photo cards! These specials will only last until midnight, tonight!

Thank you so much, we love you all!

Project Life

2011-11-15T04:00:00.000-08:00

We are thrilled to introduce to you our first ever Project Life Special Guest-- Lisa Truesdell!

Lisa was one of my inspirations to begin a Project Life album. She is truly a natural at creating meaningful Project Life pages and sharing the story of her family. She created a Project Life spread this week for us and answered a few questions. First, a little bit about Lisa:

Lisa Truesdell lives in Omaha, NE, in a midtown neighborhood filled with big trees and old houses. She's been married to Matthew for 14 years and is a stay at home mom to their three boys - Alex, Ben, and Sam. When she's not making pages or chasing her boys, she is slowly teaching herself to use her sewing machine on fabric. She also subscribes to too many magazines and is useless from the moment she starts a new book until she finishes it. Lisa designs for Studio Calico and is a Garden Girl at Two Peas in a Bucket.

1. When did you start Project Life?

I started Project Life at the beginning of 2011. My album didn't come till the second week, so I started in there - I was actually just looking at photos from the first week of the year and starting to plan out filling in that missing week soon. ;)

2. What do you love most about Project Life?

I love that it tells a more complete story of our everyday. I love that it makes me slow down and appreciate our day to day routines. I love that there are five distinct voices heard in it.

3. Any tips for keeping up or catching up?

When I get behind, I start back up with the most current week. It takes the weight of being "x" many weeks behind off my shoulders - I can stay current, and back fill missing weeks when I get more time.

4. How do you get family members involved in contributing to your Project Life album?

It didn't take long for my boys to learn the drill. They bring me cool stuff and ask if I want it for my book. They're more reluctant about filling out journaling cards - but I just hand them to them and ask them to write about an event. There's a little grumbling, but I love what they write. I also mix in a lot of photos from my husband's phone and steal stories from his Facebook updates.

5. Anything else you would like to add?

Starting Project Life is a little scary. It's something you really have to WANT to do, or you won't make time for it. I fumbled a little the first few weeks, wondering if it was really for me. But as I watched the weeks fill in with all these awesome little stories, I knew I couldn't stop.

Last week Lisa wrote an amazing comprehensive post about her process and approach to Project Life. It's contains wonderful info and tips including storage, photography, products, note-taking, and time-savers. Lisa also posts her Project Life updates on her blog every Friday- so make sure to follow her blog for continued inspiration!

Are you ready for a giveaway? Win some of Lisa's favorite Elle's Studio products by leaving us a comment on this post!! We will announce the winner next Tuesday during our Project Life post!

InLinkz.com

Our two new project kits are here!

2011-11-14T07:30:00.000-08:00

We are excited to introduce to you our two newest project kits:

Jack Frost includes 21 exclusive Elle's Studio journaling and embellishment tags, along with great products from other manufactures. This kit is perfect for those winter layouts - even if you don't get any snow! You could use this kit for layouts, mini's and more!

'Tis the Season is a Christmas themed kit and has the beautiful traditional reds and greens. This kit includes our first limited edition Elle's Studio stamp and has four different stamps on the sheet. Along with the 24 exclusive Elle's Studio journaling and embellishment tags, it also includes numbers 1 - 31 just in case you want to do a December Daily album!

And, we have a special deal, when you purchase both kits, you get 10% off! Both kits are close to being sold out, so if you want one of these, please don't delay! We will not be restocking once they are sold out and we will never be printing or releasing the Elle's Studio tags that are found in these kits!

Also, don't forget to check back during the rest of this month and December! Our Project Kit Coordinator, Jenni Hufford, will be working with both kits and inspiring us during the winter season!

Sneak peek of our next two kits!

2011-11-12T12:59:00.001-08:00

Happy Saturday, everyone! We have a special surprise to make this weekend extra fun... TWO sneak peeks of our kits that will be for sale this Monday!

Our next two project kits are going to be perfect for those holiday layouts - we've got something for everyone with either the winter themed kit, or the Christmas kit! Along with each kit including limited edition and exclusive Elle's Studio tags that we will never be selling again, the Christmas kit also comes with a limited edition and exclusive Elle's Studio stamp and numbers in case you'd like to supplement your December Daily album! And, as a bonus this time, if you purchase both the kits, you'll receive a 10% discount!

They both go up for sale, along with some other fun goodies, this Monday, November 14th at 6:00 am PST. Our newsletter subscribers will get the first chance to purchase one, so make sure you are on the mailing list and checking your email Monday morning, then they will go up for public sale at 7:30 am. (East Coast time would be 9:00 am presale and 10:30 am public sale).

We can't stress enough how limited these kits are this time around - if you want one please make sure you are ready on Monday morning.

Hope you all have a wonderful weekend!

Product Spotlight: Lil' Snippets

2011-11-11T09:51:00.001-08:00

Today's product spotlight is shining on our Lil' Snippets collection! Right now, we currently have 27 different designs, all ranging from holiday to everyday themes, and we have even more in development and coming out in January!

Besides looking great on your layouts, mini's, cards and more, most of our Lil' Snippets are designed so the top tag on the sheet will fit directly into your Project Life albums and page protectors!

The Lil' Snippets come as a sheet of tags, all sheets contain at least 3 tags and some have even more! We are thrilled to bring you these tags at such an affordable price, and, at 75 cents a piece, you can't go wrong!

When you get the sheet, grab your scissors and snip them apart:

For example, for the sheet above, the top tag will now fit directly into your Project Life page protectors, and then the bottom tags will work great either over your other photos in your album, or save them for future use on your other scrapbooking projects!

Above are just a few of our favorite tags, but there is a lot more to see, so check them all out here and stock up now for all your projects!

Also, if you're new to our blog, make sure you stop by every Tuesday for Jenni's Project Life series to see what she has done with her Project Life album and how she puts our tags to use!

Sketch Thursday - 11.09.11

2011-11-10T07:08:00.001-08:00

Happy Thursday, everyone, is everyone having a great week so far? We hope so :) This week's sketch is based of of Leslie's Tiny Punkin layout she made for our October Inspiration Gallery! I'm loving the fall feel of this layout and how see used one of the Autumn cards out of our Spooktacular Autumn Tiny Tags.

This sketch has room for one photo, journaling and lots of fun buttons - but you can choose to interpret it however you want! You can flip it, rotate it, whatever you feel like doing - it's totally up to you!

Sophie, please email the following information to us at: info@shopellesstudio.com and we'll get you your gift certificate!
Name:
Contest: 11.02.11 Sketch