Project Life

(Don’t worry, your eyes are not deceiving you.  It IS actually Monday, but we are sharing Project Life a day early due to a fun post scheduled for tomorrow:)

One of the things I love most about Project Life is the ability to change things up each and every week.   Each week is a clean slate.  Each week is an opportunity to try something new or different as you approach documenting that particular week.

For me, this week was all about SIMPLE.   I was inspired by Elise’s interview “not to reinvent the wheel” and to just document what went on.   Sure, there are weeks were I have more time to be intricate in my Project Life design, and I LOVE looking back on those weeks.

But equally, I LOVE looking back at a week where I know we were really busy, but I still made it a point to  document.  Sometimes I think we tell ourselves that a busy week must be documented as an abundance of photos/momentos/embellishments/inserts in Project Life.  That simply isn’t true.   
Because of our busy week, I kept it simple with photos and minimal embellishments and tags.  I certainly could have spent the time to “add more” embellishments, details, and maybe even an insert.  However, I decided what I have here is perfect because it accomplishes my goal of documenting our week.   Sometimes done is better than “perfect”.

We have a few winners to announce from previous giveaways!  Congrats to Emily Mae the winner of Elise’s favorite products, and congrats to Laura O’Donnell the winner of our 4/17 Project Life giveaway.  Please send an email to info@shopellesstudio.com with the following info:

Name:
Address:
Prize (Elise’s Giveaway or 4/17 Project Life)

We are giving away another $10 Elle’s Studio Gift Certificate!  Leave a comment on this post for your chance to win– we will announce the winner next Tuesday!

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.

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Make It Sunday with Paige Evans!

My name is Paige Evans and my very first job when I was 16 years old (10 years ago now – my how time flies!) was at a local scrapbooking store in Redmond, WA called Yesterdays. I’ve been hooked to scrapping ever since! Sometimes I think about what my life would be like now if I hadn’t walked in and asked for an application (which they didn’t have, they just took my phone number!) because so much of my life has revolved around scrapbooking since then… I work full-time from home for Northridge Publishing – we publish the magazines Scrapbook Trends/CARDS/Simply Handmade/Bead Trends/Cricut/Create: Idea Books, and I also have the fun and amazing job of the American Crafts Blog Hostess/Design Team Coordinator. Aside from scrapbooking I love spending time with my husband of five years, Chris, playing with our son Fox, growing a baby girl named Jane (due in July), and entertaining our menagerie which consists of a dog, cat, rabbit, and chinchilla. I love to create on a daily basis and enjoy dabbling in everything from fine arts (painting, drawing, printmaking, etc.), to bookbinding, photography, graphic design, and more! Check out my blog, twitter, and pinterest!

Here’s how this layout came together:
1. Stitch a grid (3 vertical and 3 horizontal) lines using brown thread across an aqua cardstock background.

2. Drop black paint across the layout and let it dry.

3. Die cut a large postage stamp background using a Silhouette Cameo, set it on the layout, and spray aqua mist over the papers.

4. Remove the postage stamp background and start filling in the grid with mini pictures and Elle’s Studio Layered Number Cut Outs.

5. Punch star confetti from the sides, back them with yellow cardstock, and continue embellishing with little elements cut out from tags until the layout is complete!

And here are some detail shots:

Our Make It Sunday blog series has been taken over by past members of our design team! We are so excited to see their work featured again, here at our site! Look for a different past design team member each week.

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April Guest Designer : Lexi Bridges

Lexi Bridges is our guest designer this month and we are so excited to have her with us! I got the chance to meet Lexi at CHA last year and she is one of the sweetest ladies out there. She has amazing style, too and is always up to something inspiring!

Here’s just a tiny peek at two of her amazing layout and card – you can check out the rest of her layouts in the Inspiration Gallery!

Name: Lexi Bridges
Location: Missouri
Blog: lexi-bridges.blogspot.com
Twitter: @lexibridges
 
What are three products you can’t live without?   
It’s really hard for me to make a layout or card without my sewing machine. I haul it into crops. Yes, I’m THAT person. Most layouts have a few splotches of spray ink on them, and my vintage typewriter. I’m not a fan of my own handwriting, so I like to use it on journaling spots or whatever. Plus, it’s a cool aqua color so it makes typing that much more fun 🙂 

Where do you scrapbook?  
I scrap in the world’s messiest space. For real. I’m not saying it’s something I’m proud of–just a fact. In my head it’s lots of white, clean space, but in reality…not so much. I’m hoping in the near future I can change this.

What do you listen to/watch while scrapbooking? 
If I’m in the mood for music I normally let itunes dj decide, but lately I’ve turned on hulu to catch up on some shows. Most recently, I watched all the episodes of My So-Called Life. Remember that one? WHY did it last only one season! Inquiring minds want to know what happened to Jordan Catalano & Angela Chase.

Do you record every moment or just special ones? 
I record whatever moment I can get on paper 😉 I’m convinced I will never live long enough to scrap them all! Mostly I record random shots from the day or photos to go along with something my boys have said. Their quotes will a lot of times make for a fun layout. 

What is your favorite thing about scrapbooking? 
It’s a laid back hobby for me. No rules, at least not in my book. I don’t stress on being “caught up” or making a team or getting published. If those things happen, that’s just frosting. 

Alright, now it’s time to give away Lexi’s favorite Elle’s Studio items!

Just leave a comment to be entered to win: Mix & Match Vintage Numbers, Bright and Vintage Pennants, and Collected Cutouts! We’ll draw the winner this Wednesday, May 2nd, 2012.

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Sketch Thursday 04.26.12

Multiple pictures, a mix of papers, lots of tags… you got it! This week’s sketch is inspired by Steph’s Spring Fashion layout from the April Inspiration Gallery and it’s sure to get you scrapping.
I played along this week and came up with a simple (as always :)) approach:
I started with the hexagon paper and replaced some of the shapes with different patterned papers, then embellished with all the great goodies from the exclusive kits.

I hope you play along with us! For a chance to win a $10 Elle’s Studio gift certificate, please post a link to your layouts inspired by this sketch here. Link must be posted by 11:59pm on Wednesday, May 3rd, 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.
Congratulations, Tomomi! You are last week’s randomly selected winner.
Please email the following information to info@shopellesstudio.com:
Name:
Contest: 04.19.12 Sketch
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A layout by Christine with our new kit!

I’m so excited to share with you today a beautiful layout by Christine Middlecamp, made with our new kit, Here & Now! Christine has an amazing way with layouts and layers and I’ve always adored her style so much – so when she wanted to play around with our current kit, I was so excited!

She even worked with the pretty tissue paper we pack all our kits in and turned it into a cute flower!

All these layers are so divine! Are you feeling as inspired as I am? To read more details about how this layout came together, check out her blog. And, if you’re still thinking about getting a kit, don’t wait any longer! They are going fast and once they are sold out, we will not be restocking!

And, a huge thank you to Christine, for making and sharing this beautiful layout with us today!

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Project Life Special Guest: Elise Blaha

Welcome to another week of Project Life at Elle’s Studio.  We are thrilled to introduce you to today’s Project Life Special Guest, Elise Blaha. 

Elise is a crafter and blogger. She lives in Southern California with her husband Paul.

Elise’s blog is one of my regular stops each and every morning.  She writes on a variety of topics such as crafting, home decor, and even projects like baking 40 loaves of bread in a year.  I was super excited to see her begin Project Life in 2012, and have enjoyed watching her album progress this year.  Make sure to swing by her post for more details about this week’s Project Life layout.
When and Why did you start Project Life?
I started Project Life at the beginning of 2012 because I was ready for something different and a new documenting challenge.
What do you love about Project Life?
I have been shocked at how Project Life has brought back my love of paper crafting.  I had absolutely hit a “scrapbooking slump” prior to embarking on Project Life and it’s wonderful to be inspired again.  I also love how the whole is so much greater than the sum of it’s parts- each week’s spread on it’s own is cool, but all together? Awesome.
Any tips on keeping up or catching up in your album?
I work on my album throughout the week so I generally stay on top of things.  I also make a point to blog the pervious week each Sunday.  Setting this goal makes me feel like I have a “deadline” and deadlines help me work more efficiently.  I also think I keep my album relatively simple.  If you look at my pockets, they usually hold just one photo or one piece of paper.  I rely on small embellishments (like labels and tags) to fancy things up.  I am not trying to reinvent the wheel each week– just document what went on.
How do you make time for Project Life?
I just carve a bit of time every day or every few days to make stuff.  I work to keep a very organized space so finding paper, embellishments, adhesives, etc is simple and takes no time. 🙂
Elise is participating in “A Week in the Life” (a concept created by Ali Edwards) this week.  She sent us a sneak of her cover page that includes Elle’s Studio’s products.  Check out her post here on how she plans to document “A Week in the Life”.  
We are having a special giveaway today featuring Elise’s favorite Elle’s Studio products!
Leave a comment on this post to be entered to win Elise’s favorite products.  We will announce the winner next Tuesday on our Project Life post.
Elise, thank you so much for joining us at Elle’s Studio today!  
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.

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April’s Inspiration Gallery is LIVE!

Are you ready to be inspired by another incredible gallery from our Design Team? Our April Inspiration Gallery is now live! This gallery is full of amazing layouts, cards and even another mini book! It will hopefully leave you feeling as inspired as it did for me, after looking at it all!

And, wait till you see who our guest designer is this month! We are very excited to have her on board and working with our tags! We’ll be getting to know more about her later this week, along with giving away her favorite items!

There’s lots to see, so don’t wait any longer to head over there and check it out!

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Make It Sunday with Leslie Ashe

Hi there! I’m Leslie Ashe & I’m from Fort Worth, Texas.  I’m married to the cutest guy ever – for almost 22 years now (next month!) We’ve got 2 college aged kids – Savannah who just turned 21 & Shaypher who will be 20 at the end of this month. Time flew! I think we were having too much fun!

I’ve been scrapbooking since the kids were tiny – about 15 or so years now. It’s been a blast to see how much it’s changed through the years. I live to scrapbook – I’m in my new studio almost every single day! It’s not just fun – it’s therapy! I’ve been blessed to be on a few design teams & still serve on a few. Elle’s Studio was one of my FAVORITE teams to serve on. Thank you for letting me share a little bit of inspiration with you today!! You can find my blog right here:  www.leslieashe.blogspot.com

How I created this layout:
1.  After I picked my supplies – I grabbed some Adirondack Alchohol Ink & dropped it in various places on my Crate Paper Paper Heart – Romance paper.

2.  I took a Jenni Bowlin damask rub on in silver & rubbed it on a vintage bingo card I picked up at an antique store not too long ago.

3.  Using a 3D adhesive – I placed my Elle’s Studio Noted Circle Large Journaling Tag next to my photo, below my bingo card.

4.  Using a Template (in this case, it’s packaging from a Jenni Bowlin embellishment) – I traced the bracket on my October Afternoon Farmhouse – Church Social paper. Then I cut it out & placed it on both sides of my layout.)

5.  Place Washi Tape going down on side of bracket paper. then add a border strip of paper just below. Staple together.

6.  I then took a small chevron stamp I had in my stash & using Jenni Bowlin Yellow Paint – I stamped on a few places of my layout.

7.  Using 3D adhesive – I trimmed “I Treasure This” from Elle’s Studio Collected Cutouts & placed onto my Elle’s Studio Noted Circle Journaling Tag – at the top (just under “notes”)

8.  I then trimmed “Collected Memories” from Elle’s Studio Collected Cutouts & placed just under “I Treasure This” on my Elle’s Studio Noted Circle Journaling Tag.

9.  Next I placed a strip of washi tape just under the “Collected Memories” tag.

10.  I then added a “date” slightly under my Elle’s Studio Noted Circle Large Journaling Tag – staggering it slightly to the right.

11.  I also added a Heidi Swapp heart chipboard next to “I treasure this…”

12.  On the left side of my layout, after I cut out the banner from October Afternoon’s Farmhouse Clothesline paper – I trimmed & added “documented” from Elle’s Studio Collected Cutouts.

13.  Then I added “19” from Elle’s Studio Number Tidbits just above.

14.  I added 2 more banners above, at the top of my layout & some gems from Prima in various places on my page.

15.  I journaled along the right side of my page.

16. For a final touch – I added 2 more Heidi Swap heart chipboard pieces next to an American Crafts “S”.

17.  My last thing to do was adding Prima gems onto my “BINGO” and the title “Almost 20” using American Crafts Thickers in the center of my bingo card.

Our Make It Sunday blog series has been taken over by past members of our design team! We are so excited to see their work featured again, here at our site! Look for a different past design team member each week.  

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Two fun layouts with our two new kits!

Just in case you missed these two fun layouts Jenni and I made, over at the Crate blog the other day, using our two newest kits: Here & Now, and Everyday Moments, I wanted to post them again, here!

I am in love with the colors in these kits! The yellows and blues, with just a hit of red makes the perfect combination. And, the custom, exclusive Elle’s Studio tags and stamps are a perfect match and fit. I’ve got a little stack of photos that I’m planning on creating with this weekend, but here’s what Jenni and I put together last weekend with the new kits:

I am loving triangles right now and Jenni really did a great job with them in this layout! Plus, I love how she used the “today” tag (from the Here & Now kit) as the main focal point in this layout. Can you imagine looking back at this layout in a couple of years? It will be so fun to see how things have changed and compare them to your current day schedule!

Next up is the layout I created of my sister and nephew (her son). This “photo notes” tag from the Everyday Moments kit is one of my favorite tags – I love the way the watercolor splatter looks on it! And, the best part is, it’s already on the tag, so you don’t have to make a mess trying to create it!

This photo above features two of the stamps, one from both kits. We did some fun things with these stamps this time – like the “important” stamp is made to be almost like a journaling tag! Just stamp it in a lighter color and let it dry. Then cut it out and write on it!

These two kits are so much fun and go perfectly together. We even added some extra paper packs this time around, too, because the B side of the papers are so pretty!

We can’t wait to see what you’ve created with the kits! Make sure you post them for us to see when you get your kit and get creative!

Wishing everyone a wonderful weekend!

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Sketch Thursday 04.19.12

Hello hello and happy Thursday! We have a fun sketch and wonderful inspiration to share with you today.
Diamonds, triangles, hexagons, circles, squares… shapes are everywhere (hey! that rhymes :)). Whether you punch, die or hand cut them they are fun and sure to get your creativity flowing.
DT members, Kim and Kimberly joined in the sketch challenge this week and created these beauties:

Kimberly said: I loved the diamond’s on this sketch, and wanted to play with a little bit of dimension with it. So, I layered it with 2 overlapping patterned papers, and stitched them together. I love how this all came together. I knew what I wanted to do with the sketch the minute I saw it. I love how this sketch inspired me to create this.

Kim said: As soon as I saw those diamonds on the sketch I knew I would use this circle chipboard piece I have been hoarding for a while now, I love how the little elements including the Elle’s Studio tags fit perfectly and add a lot of fun to my layout. I moved my journaling to the side and added it over the top of the Lil’ snippets days of the week tag.
For a chance to win a $10 Elle’s Studio gift certificate, please post a link to your layouts inspired by this sketch here. Link must be posted by 11:59pm on Wednesday, April 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.

Last week’s randomly selected winner is… Lucia!!

Congratulations, Lucia! Please email the following information to info@shopellesstudio.com:
Name:
Contest: 04.12.12 Sketch
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