Sketch Thursday 02.16.12

Welcome back to Sketch Thursday! Today we have a clean and simple sketch inspired by Rahel‘s Fun layout from January’s gallery.

Lots of white space + fun elements… what’s not to love, right?  Meghann and Valerie played along with the sketch this week and look at the beautiful layouts they created:
Meghan said: I really loved this sketch and I was intrigued by the simpleness of it, as well as the diagonal line of embellishments. I’m not a very simple scrapbooker, so I put my own spin on it by adding much more but using more tonal elements, such as the teal alpha stickers in my extra-long title and the teal confetti against the teal background. This is a great way to add more without it looking like too much more!
Valerie said: I love how Rahel uses white space and small strips of paper and tried to incorporate both elements into my page. I moved the strips to the top and bottom and replaced the photo with a strip across the page.
Now you know the drill 🙂  Take inspiration from this sketch, create something cool and post it here for a chance to win a $10 Elle’s Studio gift certificate. Link must be posted by 11:59pm on Wednesday, February 22, 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 Alison! Congratulations!  Please email the following information to info@shopellesstudio.com.
Name:
Contest: 02.09.12 Sketch
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February’s Special

Hello Elle’s Studio friends! Remember how I told you the Monthly Special tags are very versatile and can be used for anything and everything (including Project Life)? Well… look at that! Two of this month’s items are Ali‘s favorites 🙂
This week, I’m catching up on my project life as well and of course, reached for these tags first (because they are perfect for PL). Here’s my week 2:
I’m keeping it SUPER simple, using a single 8.5×11 pocket page for each week and focusing mainly on pictures and stories.

The Lil’ Snipets are a bit bigger than my pockets but they can very easily be trimmed to fit. The Tiny tags however, are the perfect length. I just added some patterned paper to the side (attached with tape on the back) to make it the right size.

Only 14 more day to get 20% off the Lil’ Snipets- Date, Lil’ Snipets- Labeled (red) and Handmade Layers- Tiny Tags. Don’t miss out!
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Project Life Special Guest: Ali Edwards

I am sure like many of you, Ali Edwards has been a long time inspiration.  When I first began scrapbooking I remember pouring over her articles in Creating Keepsakes Magazine.  Her method of documentation was unlike anything else I had ever seen.  Her focus on the story AND the photos taught me so much about creating rich, meaningful layouts.  She has (and continues) to contribute so much to this wonderful hobby called scrapbooking, and is as genuine as can be.

When she began posting her Project Life pages to her blog in 2011, I couldn’t help but be intrigued with this different system of documentation and scrapbooking called Project Life.  We are thrilled to have Ali here with us today at Elle’s Studio!  She created a Project Life spread using many Elle’s Studio products and answered a few questions.

1.  When did you start Project Life? 
My first attempt was in 2010. It’s a partially completed album (one that actually fell down off it’s perch and needs to be totally put back together). I plan to get back to it at some point. In 2011 I completed all 52 weeks. I think the biggest thing for me was posting weekly on my blog – that definitely helped keep me accountable and develop a really consistent schedule for getting it done. Through that process it has really become a part of my life routine.

2. What do you love most about Project Life? 
I love that it’s a place for small & big stories. I love that it’s uncomplicated (you can make it as complicated as you want). It really doesn’t take a lot of time once you get in a rhythm with your photos and journaling and realize that it’s really more about the complete album than it is about any particular week. 

3.  Now that we are 7 weeks into the year of Project Life and the newness has worn off,  what advice do you have on “keeping up the momentum”? 
My biggest advice to people is to keep it simple, keep it accessible (out in the open so you can add to it during the week) and establish a routine for printing photos.

4. How do you determine what items go into a Project Life album vs a layout?  
Good question. I’m actually still working on that. I’ve got a couple goals for myself that I’m working on implementing related to layouts. I haven’t been making as many as I used to (partly I think because of Project Life and partly because my general workload has increased) but I want to bring that back into my creative practice. I imagine that the layouts I will be doing will include longer stories (you can see longer stories I’ve included in Project Life here.)

We have a giveaway today!!!  We are giving away a prize pack containing Ali’s favorite Elle’s Studio items.  Leave us a comment on this post for your chance to win the items listed below.

Thank you so much Ali for joining us today and sharing your Project Life with everyone at Elle’s Studio!!

Ali Edwards’s passion resides in that very special place where the stories and images of life intersect. Designer, blogger, educator, author and mother of two, Ali is well known for capturing everyday life with photos and words and creating scrapbooks from those moments that often pass by in an instant.


“I started scrapbooking in 2002 as a way to organize all the stuff I collected after the birth of my son. It has become so much more than an organizational process for me. Through the techniques of photography and personal storytelling I have discovered my voice. My hope is that by sharing the stories of my life and the methods I use to document our days, others will feel inspired and encouraged to record their own.”

Since embarking on this creative career, Ali has written four books about scrapbooking, authored a popular monthly column for Creating Keepsakes magazine, conducted workshops around the globe & online. She currently designs digital and printable scrapbooking products for Designer Digitals, stamps for Technique Tuesday and blogs daily at aliedwards.com

To learn more about Ali and her work visit aliedwards.com.

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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Because we LOVE you! Free Valentine’s Day download!

Because we LOVE you all so much, we’ve got a free download for you today in our digital shop! The download includes the two tags above, in png for digital use and a pdf so you can print out and use on your paper layouts! They are 3 x 4 inches, so not only will they work with any layout, they also fit in your Project Life pockets!

We also released some other fun digitals and today only, they are 25% off! They are:

These also include both the pdf and png files – and are 3 x 4 inches, too!

You can find them all, plus more, in our digital shop!

Happy Valentine’s Day 🙂

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Make It Sunday with Lisa Andrews – 02.12.12

Hello, I’m Lisa Andrews and I’m happy to be here on Elle’s blog sharing one of my layouts today. I have been married to my awesome husband for over 15 years and have 3 kids ages 7, 9, and 11. When I’m not busy scrapbooking I enjoy baking, reading, spending time with my family and traveling.

I started scrapbooking over 11 years ago. Like so many, I was inspired to start scrapbooking after the birth of our first daughter. I have always had a interest in photography (ever since getting my Fisher Price camera when I was about 8 years old) and I loved organizing those photos in magnetic albums. Now I have stack of pages that hope to one day make their way into an album.

Here’s how this layout came together:

1. I punched 25 circles from the papers from the Scrapbook Circle Remember This Kit using my 1.5 inch circle punch.

2. After I figured out where to place the circles, I started with the center circle and placed a tiny bit of adhesive on the back of each circle to hold it in place.

3. I ran each row of circles through my sewing machine to add texture and secure the circles.

4. Once the background was complete, I was ready to build on top of it.

5. The Documented tag was from the Daily Note Tags was tucked under the top photos and was perfect for my journaling.

6. The gray striped tag from the Collected Note Tags was a nice spot for my title. The tag was a little bigger than I wanted, so I cut the bottom stripes off of the tag and then reattached them making the tag a little smaller.

7. The layout was finished off by placing strips of paper along the top and bottom edges of the paper.

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Sketch Thursday 02.09.12

Hey, happy Sketch Thursday everyone! We have another fun sketch for you this week. This one is inspired by Steph’s Hello 2012 layout  from the January gallery.  

I love the large banners here, don’t you? DT members Kim and Kimberly worked the sketch this week and came up with these awesome layouts:
Kim said: I loved the banner element across the bottom of my page so I decided to switch it up a little and replace the elements with photos of my son’s most favorite Christmas present last year. The Christmas Strips were perfectly sized to add to my photos as an extra embellishment, stapled and clipped with a clip and layered below my photo to balance it out!

ES products used: Christmas Strips



Kimberly said: I really love the title and journaling with this sketch. I love working with pennants, and this was really perfect for my style and appealed to me right away. I also loved the square photograph, which works perfectly with fun Instagram photographs.


We’d love to see what you create with this sketch. Please post a link to your layouts here for a chance to win a $10 Elle’s Studio gift certificate. Link must be posted by 11:59pm on Wednesday, February 15, 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 Wendi! Congratulations!  Please email the following information to info@shopellesstudio.com.
Name:
Contest: 02.02.12 Sketch

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Project Life

Welcome to another week of Project Life here at Elle’s Studio!  This week’s Project Life covers the week of January 23-29, which is week 4 of Project Life.

I included three inserts this week (yes three!) because there were many photos and momentos to share and document.   Here is the full spread of week 4:

Once again I used the 4×3 Vintage Calendar tag for my title spot.  I love how the tag has a spot for journaling– it’s a perfect place to give an overview of the week.

We had a joint birthday party for our kids this week, so the first insert is the birthday invitation.  The invitation was a 5×7 card so it fit perfectly in a 5×7 page protector.

The back of the invitation was a bandana print, which went perfectly with my color scheme for this week’s Project Life.  The only thing I added was a journaling card from the Collected Note Tags and a bit of washi tape.

The second insert is a photo collage of this kids at the birthday party.  It used a photo sleeve by We R Memory Keepers which hold nine 3.5 x 2.6 items (about the size of an instax).  I used wallet photos but I had to trim the photos to fit the sleeve.  I love how simple it is yet provides a great overview of the birthday party.

On the back side I used a piece of pattern paper (one of my favorites from American Crafts Dear Lizzy Neapolitan line), and trimmed it into the same size as the photos.  At first I was planning to fill the whole back page with more party photos, but I decided that would make it really busy.  So I used paper instead with a simple tag as a focal point.

My third insert was my daughters preschool Parent/Teacher evaluation.  I thought her teacher’s comments were so sweet and a wonderful representation of who Jordan is at this particular age.

My final page included more journaling, a part of a bandana (since this was the party’s theme), and some photos of our trip through Super Bowl Village (a perk to living in this year’s Super Bowl city:).

I don’t always include inserts every week– much of it depends on the type of week we have had.  I do feel inserts are a great item to add from time to time.  School papers, photo collages, newspaper clippings, invitations, and cards are all great items to include within your Project Life week.

Congrats to Brooke, the winner of last weeks giveaway!  Please send an email to info@shopellesstudio.com with the following information.
Name:
Address:
Contest:  January 31 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.


I am really excited to share that next Tuesday we will have a Project Life Special Guest here at Elle’s Studio!!  Any guesses to who it might be??? 🙂  


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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New digitals are here!

New digitals are now available in our digital shop at JessicaSprague.com! By special request, our retired Valentine’s line from last year is now avaiable for digital and hybrid use! Each set comes with png and pdf files, so if you don’t scrapbook digitally, you could also print them out at home and use them on your scrapbook pages!

Today only, they are also 25% off to celebrate! Here’s what’s new:

We hope you love them as much as we do!

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Make It Sunday with Elle – 02.05.12

Today I get to share with you how I put together one of my favorite layouts with our brand new, and my all-time favorite kit: A Love Story!

There is so much I love about this layout – I love how simple, yet colorful this layout is. I love how the photo captures a great moment and expression of my nephew and how the journaling is short and sweet. It was such a fun layout to put together… and the best part?! I was able to use up some scraps I had laying around – I LOVE when that happens!

Here’s how this layout came together:
1. I started with the cream 12×12 paper that came in our kit and cut it down the middle, a little off center.

2. Gather all your scraps – mine where all 12 inches tall and came from extras I had off of other layouts I had made with our kit, but if you don’t have 12 inch tall ones you could easily layer scraps together to make them 12 inches tall!

3. Start by laying and gluing your scraps onto the left half of your cream paper, letting a little of the cream paper show. I glued them on each a little crooked, having some stick up at the top higher than others. 

4. When you’re done gluing on all your strips, you’ll want to glue the other piece of cream paper on. This is where it gets tricky! Since I wanted to keep the layout true to 12 x 12, I stood the layout up on it’s side, and found where the two pieces of cream paper would go together – then, glued the final piece of cream paper on top of all the layers, at the point where they would come together. This gives the layers a really fun look and if you notice at the top, you’ll be able to see some of the layers behind the final cream piece.

5. Now, all that’s left to do is add your title down the side, and add your journaling and date tag (all from our kit) ! I couldn’t help but cut a couple hearts out 🙂 Even though he’s a boy, I think I can get away with these 🙂

Congrats to last Sunday’s winner:
Lea-Marie, please email us the info below to claim your prize to info@shopellesstudio.com

Name:
Address:
Prize: January 29th

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We have some winners!

Happy Saturday, everyone! We hope your weekend is off to a great start 🙂 We have some winners to announce today from two different blog posts!

The winners are:
Winner of the The Curious Scrapbooker’s Field Guide, class with May:
Rosann on January 21, 2012 8:17 AM

Winner of our Guest Designer, Kelly Purkey‘s favorite items:
Candy M on January 30, 2012 9:15 AM 

Congrats, ladies! Please email us the following information to claim your prize:
Name:
Address:
Prize:

We also have two awesome giveaways going on! One is at Stephanie’s blog and the other is at Ali’s blog – both have two chances to win a $25 gift certificate, so make sure you enter them both!

Wishing everyone a fun and creative weekend!

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