“Choose Happy” Layout + Process Video with Heather Leopard

March 27, 2018

Sometimes as soon as your see a paper crafting product, you know what memory you have to document right away, making your task so much easier, and FUN! That’s what happened to designer Heather Leopard when she saw the Rainbow Acrylic in her March box. Let’s see what colorful creation she made:

Hi everyone! It’s Heather Leopard and I’m so excited to share a layout and process video using elements from the March 2018 Kit and add-ons, one of my favorite releases yet. It’s packed with so much goodness, but have you seen the Rainbow Acrylic?! Oh my heart, I almost passed out when I opened the box. I knew exactly what photos I wanted to scrap.

Supplies | March 2018 Kit, March Digital Cut File, March Labels, Big Moment Phrase Stickers, Black Cardstock Alphabet Stickers, Dark Teal Cardstock Alphabet Stickers, Dark Purple Cardstock Alphabet Stickers, White Puffy Alphabet Stickers, Puffy Star Stickers, Rainbow Acrylic, Little Acrylic Hearts, Live Laugh Love 6″ x 6″ Paper Stack, Live Laugh Love 12″ x 12″ Paper Collection

I had these goofy photos of my daughter, literally wearing a rainbow filled shirt!

For this layout, I knew I needed to embrace the rainbow so I designed a project around the rainbow in the March Digital Cut File and the acrylic embellishments. Of course, I used many other bits from the March Kit as well as the Live Laugh Love collection.

I chose to make a big statement with a supersized rainbow and a very colorful page, which is perfect for my daughter’s colorful personality.

You can take a look at how the layout came together in the scrapbooking process video I created:

What product in your March box inspired you to create this month? Post a shot of your finished or in-process project on Instagram using the hashtag #EllesStudio for a chance to win a gift certificate to our shop!

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Fresh and Cheerful Cards with Guest Designer Natalie Elphinstone

March 26, 2018

Natalie Elphinstone, our guest designer for March, has completely WOWed us with a layout post, a pocket page post, and she’s coming full circle to bring us cards today! We know you will love her fresh take on some of our old and new favorites from the shop! Let’s see what she created:

It’s Natalie here again with one last post as a Guest Designer and today I’ve got some very happy and bright celebratory cards to share with you!

Each of these cards features repetitive stamping techniques in a rainbow of colours, which I think gives them such huge impact even though they’re relatively simple in design.

Supplies | Live Laugh Love 6″ x 6″ Paper Stack, Live Laugh Love 12″ x 12″ Paper Collection, Thank You Stamp

The first card I created was this “thanks” card, and the inspiration came about by accident! When I spread out all of my Elle’s Studio stamps to ponder what I should make next, the Thank You Stamp landed on top of the rainbow striped paper from the Live Laugh Love 12″ x 12″ Paper Collection (just like you see in the photo) and I noticed that the big bold ‘thanks’ fit perfectly into the stripes. I decided to stamp it on each row, matching up ink colours to each different coloured stripe, before cutting them out and simply lining them up! The biggest decision I had was choosing which little sentiment stamp finished off the card the best. It was a toss-up between ‘many’ (so it reads ‘many thanks’) or ‘x a million’ for a similar pun. Tough choice!

Supplies | Live Laugh Love Small Blank Labels, Live Laugh Love 6″ x 6″ Paper Stack, Happy Birthday Stamp

Once I had the first card made and all the pretty colours of ink sitting on my desk the inspiration came easily! Next I picked up the Happy Birthday Stamp and again just chose a single image from it to stamp repeatedly. I love the fact there’s a solid balloon and an outline for it that fits perfectly, so I used these to create a colourful background onto plain white cardstock. I tend to avoid masking where I can (I’m too lazy!!) but I wanted the balloons to be all full and crowded together so masking was the only way. At least I chose an easy shape to fussy-cut! I embossed ‘happy birthday’ in gold and stamped the tiny little confetti-like dots and stars in the gaps to finish it off.

Supplies | Shapes and Dots Puffy Stickers, Happy Moments Stamp, Stanley Jr. Alphabet Stamp — Solid, Live Laugh Love 6″ x 6″ Paper Stack

For my third card I couldn’t go past this month’s new Happy Moments Stamp with it’s cute little bunny rabbits! But rather than making an Easter project, I thought I’d take it in a different direction. I’m forever handing out pregnancy announcement cards, baby shower cards, and new baby cards (hazard of the job!) which means I’m always looking for stamp sets that work with this theme. Is it wrong that my mind automatically associated rabbits with breeding?!
I stamped the rabbits with a faux-watercolour look by pressing them into two colours of dye ink and spritzing them with water before stamping them onto my paper. This technique works best for these types of solid images. And since the Happy Moments Stamp didn’t have quite the sentiment I was after, I just stamped my own with the Stanley Jr. Alphabet Stamp!

I can’t help but feel happy looking at these bright rainbow cards, and hopefully I’ve inspired you to look at your stamp sets a little bit differently so that you can try some of these techniques for yourself.

Thanks for letting me guest design this month Elle’s Studio, I’ve thoroughly enjoyed every minute working with these gorgeous products!

I’m Natalie and I’m waving hello to you from the bottom of Australia! I’ve been paper- crafting since the birth of my fist child which must make it over 11 years now! I’ve gone on to have 3 more children who are 8, 3 and 8 months so I’ve got plenty of photos to scrap and lots of stories to tell.

In my ‘other life’ I’m a doctor specialising in Obstetrics and Gynaecology and I feel very lucky to have delivered over 1000 babies. My heart and my days are full, and very very happy!

You can find me sharing my creative journey and family life on Instagram, Facebook, and YouTube.

Thank you SO much, Natalie, for sharing your amazing talent with us this month! Please follow Natalie at her links above for daily inspiration, and be sure to leave her some love if you’ve been inspired by what she’s created using Elle’s Studio products!

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MARCH DESIGN TEAM INSPIRATION: VOLUME THREE

March 24, 2018

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Easter Celebrations in Pockets with Jess Forster

March 23, 2018

With this Easter being just over a week away, we need to ask: Have you documented last year’s Easter celebrations yet? Jess Forster put her March 2018 Kit and add-ons to good use in a colorful and festive pocket page spread. Let’s see what she made:

Supplies | March 2018 Kit, Happy Day Printables, Vellum and Wood Veneer Bunnies, Little Acrylic Hearts

One of my favourite things about Easter is the splash of color! Occurring in springtime, I am always so excited when the plants and flowers come alive during this time of year. When I saw the multicoloured bunny card from the Happy Day Printables, I knew I had to use it! Specifically, I wanted to document on a pocket page about my family’s annual “cousin bunny photo” and Easter egg hunt.

Specifically, in my 6″ x 8″ pocket page spread, I used the multiple colour bunny tag to inform my colour choices for the entire page. I chose the yellow, red, and purple die cut arrows from the March kit, to create a visual triangle as well as to match the bunny ears my daughter, Rowan, her brother Sam and their cousins are wearing in the bottom 3″ x 4″ cousin photo. Fun fact: I have been snapping pictures of my daughter and her cousins in bunny ears since 2012, for almost 6 years!

To add layers to my Easter pocket page, I also used blue, green and yellow Little Acrylic Hearts. These hearts were strategically placed around the 6″ x 8″ photo of my daughter running during the Easter egg hunt. A bold photo needs bold colours to capture the viewer’s attention!

Overall, this page makes me so excited for Easter, spending time with family and of course, Easter egg hunts and chocolate! I hope this pocket page inspires you to capture your colourful spring holiday events – one bunny picture at a time!

Thanks for looking!

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Our Spring Sale has started!

March 23, 2018

Our big SPRING SALE has started and will run until Tuesday, March 27th or while supplies last. There are a ton of can’t miss deals and most items are limited, so you will want to shop early! Here is a quick summary of what is available:

30% to 90% OFF SELECT ITEMS: Over 100 items are on sale and prices are already marked, so no coupon code is needed! Some of these items are retiring, too, so once they are sold out, we will not be restocking! Shop all our sale items here!

GRAB BAGS: We have a bunch of different types of grab bags to choose from. Our grab bags for this sale include:

Scrapbooking Grab Bag – This bag may include some of the following: cutouts, snippets, journaling tags, stickers, washi tape, wood veneer, puffy stickers, and/or acrylics. NO 12 x 12 papers or stamps are included in this bag. If you purchase more than one grab bag, you will receive duplicate items in the second bag.

Stamp Grab Bag – This bag includes a range of our stamps. You can purchase 2 without receiving duplicate stamps.

Sticker Grab Bag – This bag includes a range of our stickers–from flat to puffy! You can purchase 2 without receiving duplicate stickers.

Journaling Tag Grab Bag – This bag includes 30 tags in 3 x 4 and 4 x 6 inch sizes from our collections and exclusive monthly kits. You can purchase 3 without receiving duplicate tags.

Bits & Pieces Grab Bags – This bag includes a variety of die cuts on 4 x 6 inch sheets from our exclusive monthly kits. You can purchase 2 without receiving duplicate die cuts.

Mystery Kits: Pick up one of our exclusive kits for half the price and it will be a mystery on which one you receive! You can purchase 2 kits without receiving duplicate kits.

Mystery 6 x 6 paper stacks: Pick up a 6 x 6 paper stack for a great price and it will be a mystery on which one you receive! You can purchase 2 stacks without receiving duplicates.

DIGITALS: All of our digital cut files and printables are 50%!

SHIPPING: Shipping is based on the weight of your cart and we only charge what it costs us to ship your items. Our site will quote you a shipping price before checkout. Due to an increase in orders during this sale, please allow us extra processing time. We will be shipping orders in the order that they are received. We expect to have all orders processed within 4 to 5 business days of the order being placed.

Thanks so much for joining us for our SPRING SALE!

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Documenting Easter Treats with Tracey Fox

March 22, 2018

What is your favorite Easter treat!? Tracey is sharing her favorites from her Easter basket—and even re-used some of her easter filler grass—on a new layout that she created using the March kit and add-ons. Don’t forget to document your favorite goodies, and be inspired by what she created! Let’s take a look:

Who else is excited for Easter candy? (If you’re anything like me, you’re probably already eating it, even though Easter is still over a week away.) I used the CUTE new Easter-themed products from Elle’s Studio to document my love for Easter candy on this 12″ x 12″ layout that I’m excited to share with you today!

Supplies | March 2018 Kit, March Digital Cut Files, Happy Day Printables, March Labels, Vellum and Wood Veneer Bunnies, Happy Moments Stamp, Live Laugh Love 12″ x 12″ Paper Collection, Family Fun 12″ x 12″ Paper Collection

I started the page by pairing a photo of my candy-filled Easter basket with some of the tags and diecuts from March 2018 Kit and the “THIS” arrow cut file from the March Digital Cut Files. I adhered the photo and embellished tags to patterned papers from the Family Fun 12″ x 12″ Paper Collection and the Live Laugh Love 12″ x 12″ Paper Collection, and I included some of the patterned branding strips from the papers to the bottom of the layout for added interest.

Next, I added my journaling and “Easter” from the Happy Moments Stamp to the 3″ x 4″ tag from the March Kit with the cute bunnies across the top.

Did you know that the adorable Vellum and Wood Veneer Bunnies that were released this month fit perfectly across a 12″ scrapbook page when you lay them all out? I loved the idea of featuring these bunnies by having them stretch all the way across the page while peeking out from behind the patterned paper layers on the layout. I also added two of the circle embellishments from the Happy Day Printables and some green plastic Easter grass behind the papers and over the vellum bunnies to make it look like they’re chillin’ in the grass (or hanging out in my Easter basket!)

To bring some color and interest to the top of the page I created a little cluster of embellishments using bits from the March Kit, March Labels, the sweet little line of hearts from the Happy Moments Stamp, and another cute circle from the Happy Day Printables. I couldn’t resist stamping the “Chillin’ with my peeps” sentiment from the Happy Moments Stamp as well before finishing the layout off with some pink, teal, and yellow ink splatters to match the rest of the page.

Thanks so much for checking out my Easter layout! What’s your favorite thing to eat at Easter time, and have you ever documented it? There are so many cute products in the March release to help you tell your Easter stories. I can wait to see what you make!

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Handmade Easter Cards with Susan Brochu

March 21, 2018

Candy, toys, games—what else will you add to your loved one’s Easter basket? How about a beautiful handmade card? Today, design team member Susan Brochu is sharing three simple yet stunning cards created with products in our shop, that can easily be re-created! Let’s take a look at what she has made:

Hi everyone! I’m here today to share three Easter cards that I created using products from the March kit and add-ons!

Supplies | March 2018 Kit, Vellum and Wood Veneer Bunnies, Shapes and Dots Puffy Stickers, XOXO 6″ x 6″ Paper Stack, Happy Moments Stamp

I love using a grid design on a scrapbook page, so why not use it on a card as well? I started by placing a cute and colorful vellum bunny from the Vellum and Wood Veneer Bunnies in three of the four quadrants on a rectangular piece of white cardstock and then added the Easter sentiment with the Happy Moments Stamp in the fourth quadrant.

After adding little puffy heart sticker “tails” to the bunnies and one above the sentiment using the Shapes and Dots Puffy Stickers, I stitched around the edge of the white cardstock and matted that rectangle on a diagonal striped paper from the XOXO 6″ x 6″ Paper Stack (which also has a stitched border). I then placed everything on a white card base.

For my second card, I stamped the smaller bunny from the Happy Moments Stamp in a random pattern on a white card base.

Then I stamped the sentiment (from the same stamp set) and punched it out using a circle punch, layering that on square of coordinating patterned paper from the XOXO 6″ x 6″ Paper Stack. I stitched around the edge, matted that on white cardstock and placed it in the center of my card.

The last card consists of the colorful polka dot 4″ x 6″ tag from the March Kit, which I trimmed and bordered by thin pink strips cut from a paper in the XOXO 6″ x 6″ Paper Stack and stitched with zigzag seams.

I used a circle punch to make a shadow box-type home for the yellow vellum bunny from the Vellum and Wood Veneer Bunnies and stamped the sentiment from the Happy Moments Stamp on die-cut pieces from the March Kit.

Thanks for stopping by today – I hope you’ll use some of the fun March products to make some cards of your own!

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Easy-to-Create Easter Goody Bags with Meghann Andrew

March 20, 2018

Sometimes it is easier to purchase a pre-made treat, but it is so much for fulfilling when we give handmade. Today, Meghann Andrew, a self-professed queen of parties, is sharing a fun and EASY treat bag that can be made over and over again for a large group. Let’s see what she created:

Hello there! I LOVE throwing a party, and one of my favorite parts about party crafting are the favor bags! I love making unique goody bags that look as pretty on the outside as the rest of the party, so for my daughter’s Easter celebration at school, I wanted to give each of her classmates a little, colorful treat. The best part? These bags are easy to duplicate in large quantities, so they are perfect to create for all of the kiddos at your Easter party using just three products!

Supplies | Happy Day Printables, March Labels, Happy Moments Stamp

First, I started off by adding a bit of color and pattern to the base of my white paper sacks, which I purchased at my local craft supply store. I grabbed the awesome dot pattern from the Happy Moments Stamp, some pink, teal and yellow ink (my bags are a matte finish, so I used a dye ink. If your bags have a sheen, you may want to try a pigment ink or permanent ink, instead.)

To make the process faster, I stuck with the same color ink and stamped all of my bags before moving on to the next ink color, starting at the base of the bag with teal ink. This saved time cleaning the stamp in between colors.

I love how bright and colorful this made my bags, and it was simple to do with the Happy Moments Stamp!

Next, I opened the Happy Day Printables folder and grabbed the bunny tag PNG file, opening it in Photoshop Elements. It is already sized at 3″ x 4″, so I arranged as many as I could on an 8-1/2″ x 11″ sheet, printing it on smooth cardstock without any borders.

After my six tags were printed, I wanted to add a little note to the back side. I created a new 3″ x 4″ white background image, then added a little note from my daughter to her classmates.

Once that was flattened (by clicking Layer > Flatten Image) I went back to my bunny tag page. I saved it before I made any changes, then flipped the image to create a mirror image of the page, keeping my guidelines in the same place. Next, I deleted each of the bunny tags, and in place, added the note tags where the bunny tags would have been placed.

Doing this means that I can just print this sheet on the backside of the bunny tags to create a double-sided tag!

Once these were printed, my daughter wrote her name at the bottom of each of the tags, then I wrote the recipients name on a colorful March Label. I held these two together, while adding in small, colorful pieces of ribbon and pompom trim, and stapled all four elements to the top of the bag.

These colorful, spring-like Easter bags come together in no time, which is a good thing when you have to make 27! Happy creating, and celebrating!

We would love to see your Easter treat bags, too! If you’ve been inspired by this post, share your goody bag project on Instagram using the hashtag #EllesStudio! You could win a gift certificate to the shop, and be featured here on our blog just for sharing!

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Preview our Spring Sale!

March 19, 2018

Our SPRING SALE will start this Friday, March 23rd at 8:00 am PST and will run until Tuesday, March 27th or while supplies last. There will be a ton of can’t miss deals and most items will be limited, so you will want to shop early! Here is a quick summary:

30% to 90% OFF SELECT ITEMS: Select items will be on sale and prices will be already marked, so no coupon code is needed! Some of these items are retiring, too, so once they are sold out, we will not be restocking!

GRAB BAGS: We have a bunch of different types of grab bags to choose from. Our grab bags will include:

Scrapbooking Grab Bag – This bag may include some of the following items: cutouts, snippets, journaling tags, stickers, washi tape, wood veneer, puffy stickers, and acrylics. NO 12 x 12 papers or stamps are included in this bag. If you purchase more than one grab bag, you will receive duplicate items in the second bag.

Stamp Grab Bag – This bag includes a range of our stamps. You can purchase 2 without receiving duplicate stamps.

Sticker Grab Bag – This bag includes a range of our stickers–from flat to puffy! You can purchase 2 without receiving duplicate stickers.

Journaling Tag Grab Bag – This bag includes 30 tags in 3 x 4 and 4 x 6 inch sizes from our collections and exclusive monthly kits. You can purchase 3 without receiving duplicate tags.

Bits & Pieces Grab Bags – This bag includes a variety of die cuts on 4 x 6 inch sheets from our exclusive monthly kits. You can purchase 2 without receiving duplicate die cuts.

Mystery Kits: Pick up one of our exclusive kits for half the price and it will be a mystery on which one you receive! You can purchase 2 kits without receiving duplicate kits.

Mystery 6 x 6 paper stacks: Pick up a 6 x 6 paper stack for a great price and it will be a mystery on which one you receive! You can purchase 2 stacks without receiving duplicates.

DIGITALS: All of our digital cut files and printables are 50%!

SHIPPING: Our shipping is based on the weight of your cart and we only charge what it costs us to ship your items. Our scrapbook grab bags are heavy and if your USA order is over 1 lb., your order will have to ship via Priority Mail due to the Post Office’s rules. Our site will quote you a shipping price before going through checkout.

PLEASE NOTE: Due to an increase in orders during this sale, please allow us extra processing time. We will be shipping orders in the order that they are received. We will have extra help on hand to get the orders out as quickly as possible.

We hope to see you this Friday at our SPRING SALE!

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Milestones in Pockets with Guest Natalie Elphinstone

March 19, 2018

We are so happy to have Natalie Elphinstone back with us today to share not one, but TWO more projects using one of our favorite collections in the shop—Live Laugh Love. She’s reminding us that we need to give this collection a bit of love with some fresh, colorful pocket pages! Let’s take a look:

I’m very happy to be back again this week and sharing with you a different style of projects than last time. Today I’ve got some pocket-page spreads that I created with the Live Laugh Love collection.

I’ve got a dedicated baby album for my youngest which is filled with every day moments and stories, but which also has a section for these monthly pages. The pages follow a fairly consistent pattern of what they ‘need’ to include—things that I decided on right at the beginning, so a lot of the guess-work has already been taken out. All that’s left for me to do each month is make them pretty, and that job was made very easy with this gorgeous collection!

Supplies | Hand Drawn Acrylic Hearts, Live Laugh Love Double-Sided Journaling Tags, Live Laugh Love Wood Veneers, Live Laugh Love Stamp

So here’s what my monthly spreads always contain….

Firstly it has the main photo of just Shiloh on the same pink blanket with the same soft toy so it can help show how much she’s growing each month. I add some text in Photoshop to list off some of her accomplishments.

Next I also attempt to take a photo of all four of the kids together—no mean feat I can tell you! Four kids all looking in the same direction and pretending to be happy? Doesn’t always happen!

The journaling is simply a description of her daily routine at this point. I printed it out on vellum and then sew them onto the tags from the Live Laugh Love Double-Sided Journaling Tags I’ve chosen. Journaling is really important to me, so I love that all of the tags in this collection have ample space for me to say what I need to say.

I also make sure each spread has one tag that makes it very clear what month it is she’s turning (these ones being 6 and 7 months) and one tag that contains a visual representation of that number in embellishments. For this spread, I splurged and used the whole packet of Hand Drawn Acrylic Hearts since there were 6 of them, and for the next pag,e I simply added a little cluster of 7 dots from the Shapes and Dots Puffy Stickers straight onto one of the photos.

Supplies | Shapes and Dots Puffy Stickers, White Puffy Alphabet Stickers, Live Laugh Love Double-Sided Journaling Tags, Live Laugh Love Small Blank Labels, Live Laugh Love Wood Veneers, Live Laugh Love Stamp

I think this collection must have been designed with me in mind because I couldn’t get over how well it coordinated with my photos for both of these pages! I never plan what the other three kids are going to wear on these days so when I sit down to scrap these pages I’m always trying to match up colours. Well I barely had to think about it here—everything was just perfect!

I performed a little bit of surgery on a couple of my tags just to customise them to my album. I had previously cut the strip of teal, yellow and green hearts off of one of the Double-Sided Journaling Tags for another project but didn’t end up using it, so I adhered it to the bottom of this ‘just the facts’ card for another punch of colour.

And the woodgrain ampersand card? That was originally 4″x 6″, but I was desperate to use it here and I only had 3″ x 4″ spaces left, so I simply cut it in half; which is just as well really because I also desperately wanted to use what was on the other side (that pretty floral pattern that’s the base of the “6” filler tag) and this way I got to use both!

I finished off both spreads with the addition of a single piece from the Live Laugh Love Wood Veneers—I love the extra bit of texture these give, as well as a little bit of stamping. The Live Laugh Love Stamp has so many practical options in it, especially for story-telling, but today I went very simple and used “good times” for the title on my embellishment tag for the 6 month spread. Can you spot where I’ve stamped on the seven-month spread? It’s actually directly onto my photo of the four kids! My photos are matte and I’ve used pigment ink, so I like to use a stamp positioner to prevent smearing.

Anyway, those are my pages for today. I am feeling very accomplished to get these done because I’m almost up-to-date (Shiloh’s only 8 months old now so I’m not too far behind!) I hope you’ll come back again next week and see what I’ve been creating because I’m going to change project direction once again!

I’m Natalie and I’m waving hello to you from the bottom of Australia! I’ve been paper- crafting since the birth of my fist child which must make it over 11 years now! I’ve gone on to have 3 more children who are 8, 3 and 8 months so I’ve got plenty of photos to scrap and lots of stories to tell.

In my ‘other life’ I’m a doctor specialising in Obstetrics and Gynaecology and I feel very lucky to have delivered over 1000 babies. My heart and my days are full, and very very happy!

You can find me sharing my creative journey and family life on Instagram, Facebook, and YouTube.

Aren’t these pocket pages gorgeous? We can’t wait to see what type of project Natalie creates for us next week! Until then, be sure to follow her via the links above—you may just find an extra project on her Instagram account using ES products!

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