PROJECT LIFE | TIPS ON CATCHING UP

Today I am sharing the week of September 29-October 5th in my Project Life album.IMG_7625

It is no secret that I have fallen behind in my album.   This happens to most everyone from time to time, and unfortunately it can be a bit discouraging and overwhelming.  And that’s never good for creative motivation!    So today I am going to share a few of my ideas to get caught up (and have fun doing it):IMG_7632

1.  Work Backwards.  The last spread I created was the week of August 18th!  Yikes!  I am nearly two months behind.  I find that I am more motivated to create when I am working with fresh memories.  So I went the the most recent week and will be working backwards (and hopefully forward at the same time).

IMG_76272.  Keep it simple.   When there are many spreads to complete it’s helps to keep design fairly simple in order to complete more spreads in a shorter period of time.

3.  Use a kit.   Using a kit helps tremendously in completely a spread in a shorter period of time!  Having all your supplies and embellishments at your fingertips makes catching up much easier.  For this spread I used Elle’s Studio new October kit (there’s plenty left over for more spreads!) and pieces from Sycamore Lane as well.

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4.  Use enlargements.   I love using enlargements in my spreads, and especially when I am working on multiple weeks and when I’m trying to catch up.  It saves alot of time, and it’s a great way to highlight one event or memory.

5.  Set a block of time.   I set a block of time when creating this spread and tried to set a time limit for completing it.  I was able to finish this spread and work on another during that time block.

We’d love to see your Project Life album! Make sure you upload what you are working on to our gallery and tag the Elle’s Studio products that you used. We feature our members projects every Sunday, so make sure you check back to see if you project is being spotlighted in our “Project Spotlight” blog series. Each person that is spotlighted will also receive a $10 Elle’s Studio gift certificate to use in our shop!

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PROJECT SPOTLIGHT – OCTOBER 12th

4165_3098_14112987048557_big (1)Congrats to this week’s Project Spotlight winner, Jana! Check your email for your $10 Elle’s Studio gift certificate to use in our shop! Jana’s adorable layout features our July & September Kits, September/October Calendars from our Paper Collection Pack & our Miscellaneous Cork Bits. I love the baby selfie pics, such special memories she captured! Head on over to her gallery to check it out and you can even add it to your favorites by logging into your account and clicking on the “I (heart) this!” button.

You never know when your project will be chosen to be spotlighted! Each week we pick a new project out of our member gallery to spotlight. For your chance to be spotlighted and to win a $10 Elle’s Studio gift certificate, just upload your project to our member gallery and tag the Elle’s Studio item(s) used

 

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Our October kit and add-ons are now in stock!

EllesStudio-Oct2014-kit01aHappy October, everyone! We’ve got an awesome kit for you this month with tags to help you document your traditions, thankfulness, Halloween, and Autumn memories! October’s kit has over 30 journaling and embellishing tags that are perfect for all types of projects – from layouts, to mini albums, to Project Life, we’ve got you covered with this kit!

Our kits are limited and once they sale out we will not be restocking. Look for a new kit each month on the 10th at 8:00 am PST, and as a special bonus to celebrate launch day, kits will be on sale for $9.99 for today only, regular price after that will be $11.99. These kits can ship first class: shipping for USA residents will start around $2.00 and go up from there, depending on the weight of what is in your cart. For overseas, it will run about $6+ depending on your location.

Don’t miss this special add-on:
EllesStudio-Oct2014-album2We’ve got a fun set of wood veneer mini album covers that would be perfect for a thankful, Autumn, or Halloween mini! The covers measure 4 x 6 inches and are a limited edition! Make sure you check out the Design Team Gallery, and our Contributing Team’s blogs to see how they used this mini album cover – and we’ll be featuring them here on our blog, too, this month!

And, we’ve brought back printables! We used to do these a couple years ago, and after many, MANY requests, we decided to bring them back! Here are the digital items for October – Printables and Cut Files!EllesStudio-OCT-cutprint
We also have some cut files that match our newest collections! Check out these for Sycamore Lane and Good Cheer:EllesStudio-CollectionCuts
And, we couldn’t resist on giving a little preview of what’s to come for November so we have released these cut files this month, too! We will have a sneak peek of our November kit and add-ons, that will be perfect for your December Daily, later this month, too!EllesStudio-HolidayCuts
And, since today is the 10th, that means our design team gallery is FULL of brand new and AMAZING inspiration just for you! You can bookmark your favorites, leave comments and see close ups of our design team’s projects in our gallery:EllesStudio-DTEllesStudio-GuestWe are excited to have Maria Lacuesta with us this month as our guest designer for October! She has an inspiring style and we couldn’t wait to see what she did with our products! Check them out in the Design Team Gallery and stay tuned for a special Q&A with her, here on the blog!

You can also see even more inspiration at each of our Contributing Team Member’s blogs, today too! Make sure you stop by the following: Angie Gutshall, Daniela Dobson, Jennifer Chapin, Kay Rogers, Meghann Andrew, and Melissa Mann – each blog is full of awesome ideas for using our October kit and extras!

Thanks for joining us today and we hope you are loving all the new items!

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SKETCH THURSDAY

Hello scrappy friends! It’s Thursday and you know what that means… we have a new sketch for you today 🙂 This one was inspired by Megan’s Apple Crisp layout.

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Two amazing designers are joining us today. Check out what they created:

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Creative Team Member, Melissa designed this gorgeous layout full of color and textures!

Melissa Sketch10.9.142 Melissa Sketch10.9.141

 

 

Design Team Member, Becki is next with a perfect Autumn layout!

Becki sketch 10.09.14 Becki Sketch 10.09.141Becki sketch 10.09

 

I loved working with this sketch! I changed things up a little bit, I used two photos instead of one. my favorite part of the sketch is the long title down the side of the sketch. I created this layout using the Sycamore Lane collection. I love how versatile this collection is, it can be used for some many different occasions. Becki

Both these layout are AWESOME, ladies. Thank you so much for playing along!!

Now it’s your turn. For a chance to win a $10 gift certificate to the Shop, create a project inspired by today’s sketch, upload it to the Member gallery and leave a comment back here with the link. A random winner will be selected and posted with next week’s sketch.

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CAMERA SHAPED CARD

Hi everyone. I’m happy to be back with a cute, fun and simple camera card and tutorial for you today! camera-card2b camera-card22Here’s how to do it:camera card step1

  • Open the camera image in Silhouette Studio
  • Resize the image. I used 5″ wide because I have a Portrait and that size worked well for me but you can select any size you prefer based on your die cut machine you have.

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  • Trace the image. You’ll need 2 different shapes. For the front of the card select the “Trace” method.

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  • For the back of the card select the “Trace Outer Edge” method. Also, don’t forget to uncheck “High Pass Filter” and change the “Threshold” to 100%

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  • Delete the png file. You won’t need it anymore.

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  • Now, here’s the important part:  you need a mirror image so when the card closes all the edges align perfectly. To do this, select the back (bottom) image and go to Object, Transform, Flip Horizontally.

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  • Place the images side by side, making sure all the lines match perfectly

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  • Now we need to delete that middle line so you end up with just one cut instead of two. Go to Edit, Select All

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  • Go to Object, Modify, Weld. Tada! Your card is ready to be cut 🙂

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  • Cut, fold and embellish!

 

What I love most about this card is that you can customize it for any occasion. My “Smile” card is bright and cheery.  I used a white base and embellished with a starburst paper and heart tag. I added some texture by sewing along the lines on the paper, wrapped cord around it and finished with candy dots.

The “Thank You” card is what I call funky fallish 🙂 I used a kraft colored cardstock for the base and backed it with vellum. I then layered some label tags, stamped the sentiment and embellished with fall leaves and sequins.

I hope you found this tutorial helpful. Please let me know if you have any questions at all!

 

ELLE’S STUDIO PRODUCTS USED:

 

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PROJECT LIFE

Today I am sharing the FIRST week in my fall album- the week of August 18-24 (you can see my fall cover page here).

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This was that first week of school for my kids— always the week I begin our fall Project Life album.

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This was also the week that the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge was ALL over social media!   I documented it by sharing a photo of my kids doing the ice bucket challenge, a screen shot of my cousin (whom we nominated) doing the ice bucket challenge, and the graphics from the donation site.  This was such a huge social media phenomenon this particular week– I just had to include it!

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As mentioned, this was the first week of school– so I included a class list, and a few thoughts on each child as they began their school year.   I used alot of Sycamore Lane in this spread.  The cork feel in this collection, and the Back To School Cork Shapes are perfect for back to school!

IMG_7591To document the Ice Bucket Challenge, I used one 3×4 spot to slide in alpha letters to read “ALS”… I love how it highlights the goal of activity, and how it stands alone in the pocket page.    I also used the My Favorites Stamp to create my own journaling card background using the circle stamp!

We’d love to see your Project Life album! Make sure you upload what you are working on to our gallery and tag the Elle’s Studio products that you used. We feature our members projects every Sunday, so make sure you check back to see if you project is being spotlighted in our “Project Spotlight” blog series. Each person that is spotlighted will also receive a $10 Elle’s Studio gift certificate to use in our shop!

Jenni

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Sneak peek of our October Exclusive Kit + Extras!

ESkitSneak
Are you ready for our next exclusive kit + extras launch coming this Friday, October 10th at 8:00 am PST? Not only does this reveal include our exclusive kit that is packed full of journaling and embellishing tags for all types of projects, but it will also have a special add-on that you don’t want to miss!

This sneak peek above is just a tiny bit of what is in store for this Friday, so make sure you join our newsletter list to be one of the first to receive a reminder when everything goes live in our shop. A couple of our last kits have sold out very fast, so you’ll want to make sure you have October 10th marked on your calendar!

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Project Spotlight – October 5th

5479_3057_14092403719874_bigCongrats to this week’s Project Spotlight winner, cyy1024! Her Project Life layout is a great display of her family’s summer vacation! Her beautiful photos are surrounded by our Shine Collection & August 2014 Kit. Check your email for your $10 Elle’s Studio gift certificate to use in our shop! Head on over to her gallery to check it out and you can even add it to your favorites by logging into your account and clicking on the “I (heart) this!” button.

You never know when your project will be chosen to be spotlighted! Each week we pick a new project out of our member gallery to spotlight. For your chance to be spotlighted and to win a $10 Elle’s Studio gift certificate, just upload your project to our member gallery and tag the Elle’s Studio item(s) used

 

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World Card Making Day!

EllesStudio-ThankYouCardHappy World Card Making Day! This is the day I devote to replenishing my thank you card stash, and try to decide what kind of Christmas card I’ll make for the holidays – crossing my fingers to get a head start this year!

Above is a fun and simple card I made this morning using our brand new Sycamore Lane collection! The stamp makes the perfect sentiment to attach to cards! And, I am loving the “Merry Christmas” sentiment on our Good Cheer stamp for my holiday cards!

We’d love to see what you are working on! Make sure you upload your cards to our Member Gallery and tag the Elle’s Studio items you used. Each project you upload will have a chance to be featured in our Sunday Project Spotlight post here on our blog. Featured projects will also win a $10 Elle’s Studio gift certificate to our shop! Also, if you share them on instagram, make sure you use both hashtags: #EllesStudio and #wcmd2014 and if you’re looking for even more inspiration, make sure you check out the official World Card Making Day’s sponsor list.

GIVEAWAY: We have a special giveaway today to celebrate! Just leave a comment below, here on our blog, telling us your favorite type of card to make and give! We’ll draw two winners on Monday and someone will win our Sycamore Lane collection, and the other will win our Good Cheer collection!

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