Last days for digi/hybrid 35% off sale!

Just wanted to remind you that all our digital items are 35% off this week! This is an incredible sale that only happens twice a year, so if you’ve had you’re eye on something, now’s the time!
I also wanted to share with you some inspiration from the Jessica Sprague team! They used our most recent patriotic additions and I just LOVE what they’ve came up with! Here’s a peek:

Memorial Day Pool Side by Jenn | Products used: Vintage USA journaling tags, Monogram tags, and Vintage Daily Photo Tabs.

Memorial Day by Shirlee | Products used: USA Journaling Tags

Cupcake Flags by Monica | Products used: Cupcake Flags (love how her cupcakes are blue!)

Cupcake Flags by Mindy | Products used: Cupcake Flags (love how she also used the flags to make a banner, see it in the background?! So fun!)

Popcorn Bags by Reeta | Products used: Patriotic Bags

Also, if you’re looking to create something for dad this weekend, we have these fun Father’s Day digitals! Bonus that they are on sale right now, too!

Monica made this present below and I thought it was just perfect!

And, last but certainly not least! I wanted to show you how Marcy Penner (not on the Jessica Sprague DT, but on our incoming DT that starts next month) used our Everyday Striped collection in her Project Life album!

She used our Everyday Striped Journaling Tags and they fit perfectly in the pockets! Love how she stamped the date and rounded the corners! There is also some circle tags, longer journaling tags and tabs in this collection, too.

Tons of digi/hybrid inspiration for sure! Big thank yous to everyone who gets us inspired 🙂

And, I’m super excited to see what YOU create with our digitals – if you have a creation, please leave a comment with the link to it so we can check it out!

xo,

1 Comment | Share This

Sketch Thursday : 6.16.11

Happy Thursday!  This week’s sketch is based on this layout by Design Team member Gail Lindner.  The ES tags that Gail used to house her journaling and embellishments immediately caught my eye in the latest Inspiration Gallery. 
This week’s sketch includes space for three photos but remember a sketch is just a jumping point for whatever you create!  Feel free to rotate or flip the sketch to best suite the photos and products you are using. 
This week, I started my layout by simply flipping through stacks of photos in search of three photos that went together and told a story.  I found these photos of my oldest daughter two years ago and went from there.  I rotated the sketch 90 degrees and also flipped the position of the horizontal photo.  The ES tags I chose became a natural home for journaling and the white space to the left of my horizontal photo became the perfect spot for my title.
Other product used : Studio Calico’s Paper Moon kit.
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 ES gift certificate.  Link must be posted by 11:59p on Wednesday, June 22, 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.
Congratulations to last week’s winner :
  
Lynsey, please e-mail me the following information to : melanie [at] shopellesstudio [dot] com  by 6.22.11 and I’ll get you your gift certificate!
Name :
Contest : 6.9 Sketch Thursday

4 Comments | Share This

Tutorial: Cards! By Mindy Miller

Summer has officially arrived and hopefully you have scheduled time to enjoy some crafting. How about using your favorite Elle’s Studio tags to create a set of birthday cards?

I utilized the same basic design for each card and a variety of Elle’s Studio products.
· Handmade Layers Birthday Pennants
· Birthday Note Tags
· Large Birthday Journaling Circle Tags
· Birthday Journaling Tags

You’ll need one pennant for each card, a tag, and the following supplies:
· Patterned paper
· Card base
· Scissors
· Paper trimmer
· Hole punch
· Border punch
· Twine
· Adhesive

Start by picking out your tag and determining whether you will create a vertical or horizontal design.

Cut a piece of patterned paper the same width as the tag.

Affix the patterned paper to the card at a slight angle. Then trim the edges off each side.

Next, punch a border out of patterned paper. Tuck the border behind the patterned paper strip on each side.

Then tie twine or fiber around the tag and add a pennant before affixing it to the patterned paper strip.

Or, tie the twine around the patterned paper strip if you are using a round tag and a horizontal card design.

I hope I have given you a few ideas for using the Elle’s Studio birthday tags and pennants. By incorporating this basic design and a combination of Elle’s Studio products, you can create a set of birthday cards in minutes!

7 Comments | Share This

Take Out Tuesday : 6.14.11

For this installment of Take Out Tuesday, I chose to focus on a single 5×7 photo.  You know, one of those photos that captures a special moment making it easy to stand alone as the single photo on a scrapbook layout.
Once again, I chose to use a Handmade Layers Large Journaling Tag to contain my journaling.  (I’m secretly hoping that Elle designs more of these large tags as I find it hard not to use them on every single layout!)  I also used three other smaller tags, each with a different task in mind.  One reinforces the theme of my layout.  Another houses embellishments.  The third allows me to date my layout, something I do on each and every layout I create.  I’m always amazed by how versatile ES products are and how easy they are to make your own.
Other product used : Studio Calico’s Paper Moon kit.
Click here to download this Take Out Tuesday PDF file, including a photo and step by step instructions of the project. Please click “Save” when prompted.
You must have Adobe Reader to open this file, if you do not have Adobe Reader, you can download it for free, here. If you are having problems downloading or opening, please make sure you have the latest updates for Adobe Reader.
If you create a project based on this Take Out Tuesday layout, we’d love to see it!  Simply leave a comment below with a link to your project.

2 Comments | Share This

New digital items + Birthday Sale!

JessicaSprague.com is FOUR! To celebrate, they’re (we’re) throwing a HUGE Birthday Bash & Summer Sale. From June 13-26, you can save 35% off of ALL digital products and 20% off of every self-paced class. In addition, grab all 27 episodes of Jessica’s amazing Photoshop Friday tutorials for just $1 each before they’re retired on June 26! 
As part of the celebration, starting on June 24, you can participate in an incredible 47-person blog hop, picking up a sweet digital freebie at each stop! Best of all, on June 26 Jessica will be making a special announcement of a brand new class coming up in July. We only put our site on sale two times a year, so don’t miss out on this GREAT savings opportunity! For all the info on the Summer Sale, Photoshop Fridays, blog hop, and the new class, just click here!
So, that means ALL Elle’s Studio digital items are now on sale for 35% off! Don’t miss out on these incredible savings from now until June 26th! And, guess what?! We released our 4th of July digital items just in time for this sale! These are also 35% off this week:
Cupcake flags: Just print, cut, fold and glue with a toothpick inside to create super cute flags for your cupcakes!
Patriotic Banner: This banner is one of my favorites and so easy to create. Just print, cut, layer and glue this one, too. Each banner is completely unique because you pick the papers and colors and put them in your own order. Punch some holes at the top and string them on your favorite ribbon so you can hang it up somewhere fun! You can choose to make your banner say: Let Freedom Ring OR Happy 4th of July
Patriotic Bags: These bags make a fun treat for the kids, or the adults, too! You could fill them with candy, popcorn, or small games, etc.! Each bag prints out on one sheet of 8.5 x 11 paper. All you have to do is cut, fold and glue!
USA Journaling Tags: These tags are perfect for your scrapbooking layouts! They come with png files for the digi scrapbooker and pdf file for the hybrid/paper scrapbooker!
Vintage USA Journaling Tags: These are just like the tags above, but with a more vintage look.
That’s all for this release! But, don’t forget that everything, including these new items, in our digital shop is 35% off! There is only two times a year this kind of sale happens, so don’t miss out on this amazing offer!
1 Comment | Share This

Savoring Summer Q&A

In May, we launched our first ever Elle’s Studio Project Kit called Savoring Summer, and it included exclusive Elle’s Studio tags, along with amazing items from other manufactures. We had so much fun packaging them up and shipping them out, plus seeing Jenni Hufford create the project for the kit! So amazing how it all came together and so excited that everyone loved the idea!
We’ve been getting a lot of questions about this kit and future kits, so we thought we better put together a blog post about it in case others had the same questions, too!

WILL YOU BE RESTOCKING THE SAVORING SUMMER KIT?

No. Although this kit sold out in only four days and we feel really bad for those of you who missed out on it, we will not be restocking it. Each project kit is limited to the quantity on hand and will never be restocked, that includes the exclusive tags in the kit, too! So you’ll want to make sure you get one as soon as they go on sale.

WILL YOU BE MAKING OTHER KITS?

YES! We are putting together themes and projects for future kits and are so excited about this new adventure! Each kit will always be limited to the quantity on hand, and once sold out they will never be restocked. They will also always include exclusively designed Elle’s Studio tags that coordinate with everything in the kit.

WHEN WILL THE NEXT KIT BE RELEASED?
We do not have a firm date at this moment, but we are shooting for August! Make sure you are on our newsletter list, we will be sending out an email announcing the sale date of the next kit and another email when the kit is up for sale. 

ARE YOU OFFERING A SUBSCRIPTION TO THE KITS?

Since we are just starting out with these kits, we do not have a subscription option available. Again, you’ll want to make sure you are on our newsletter list so you don’t miss out on the next one!

CAN YOU OFFER A PRE-SALE WITH THE NEXT KIT?
This is a great idea and we will definitely try to work this out 😉

We also have some cute inspiration for you today, from the Savoring Summer kit! Design Team member, Jennifer Chaplin, decided to make some summer layouts, instead of the mini book, which is a great idea if you aren’t in to mini’s that much! The Savoring Summer kit is very versatile and would work for whatever you wanted to create with it! Check out her super cute layout:
Love it, Jennifer! Thank you so much for sharing it with us, today!
Now don’t forget, if you have the kit, make sure you come join and play along with us in our flickr group! We’ll be sharing uploaded pages from you, right here on our blog all summer long!
And, if you missed out on the kit, we have a surprise for you today! Hop on over to the Studio Calico blog! We saved two of these sold out kits for them to give away on their kit reveal day, how fun is that?! When we originally set up the giveaway, we had no idea that all our kits would be sold out, so it makes these giveaways extra special!
5 Comments | Share This

Nikki Sivils Scrapbook Supply Drive – Help the ladies of Joplin!

Have you heard? Nikki Sivils is doing something beyond incredible! She is holding a scrapbook supply drive for the ladies of Joplin!

(Click on image to make larger)

After the devastating tornado hit Joplin, I could not pull myself away from the coverage on the news. There are really no words to describe what everyone in this town is going through. And, to think that this could have happened almost anywhere, without notice. In a couple seconds, everything they had owned and treasured was gone. Even though the news coverage has almost stopped, they are still working today on rebuilding their lives, and for some it means starting with nothing.

As soon as I found out about Nikki’s supply drive I knew this was something we had to do. I started looking around to see what we could donate and want to encourage you to donate, too! Nikki needs all donations by June 22nd, so if you are planning on sending a box of donations, please ship them soon!

Whether you have a lot or a little to donate – every item will make a difference in someone’s life!

6 Comments | Share This

Sketch Thursday : 6.9.11

Happy almost weekend!  It’s Thursday again which means we’re here to provide you with a sketch to take the guesswork out of creating your next layout. This week’s sketch is based off of this amazing layout from Design Team member Lisa Dickinson.  I adore Lisa and her work and this layout is no exception.  I love how she was able to creatively display a single photo but have the composition fill the entire page.
This sketch has three large blocks of space to make your own.  Include one photo as Lisa did using the other blocks as spaces for patterned paper or you could easily include three photos in a vertical column.  The choice is yours!  Three areas are also designated for embellishment placement creating a visual triangle that helps lead your eye around the layout.
I had originally intended to do a literal take on the sketch and scraplift Lisa’s layout.  My game plan changed a bit when I went to select a photo to scrapbook.  Each photo that I wanted to use seemed to be vertical in orientation rather than horizontal.  No problem there!  I simply rotated the sketch and worked from there.  I still used a single photo and still used two blocks of patterned paper.  I simply adjusted my photo placement to create one larger block of patterned paper to allow room for journaling.  By rotating the sketch, I also changed the placement of my title.
Other product used : Studio Calico’s Lawn Party kit.
Design Team member Mandie Pierce also rotated the sketch to use with vertical photos.  Instead of a single photo, she was able to house three of them in the spaces that were originally patterned paper in Lisa’s layout.  She kept the placement of her embellishments the same as the sketch in which she was able to include her journaling, the date and secondary title.
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 ES gift certificate.  Link must be posted by 11:59p on Wednesday, June 15, 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.
Congratulations to last week’s winner :
Ginny, please e-mail me the following information to : melanie [at] shopellesstudio [dot] com  by 6.15.11 and I’ll get you your gift certificate!
Name :
Contest : 6.2 Sketch Thursday
9 Comments | Share This

Say Hello to Our New Design Team!

We are thrilled to announce our new design team members, today, for the second half of 2011!

But, before we do, we want to give a huge, HUGE THANK YOU to all of you that applied and your sweet and kind words! We had a ton of applicants and had such a hard time narrowing it down because we love you all so much – narrowing it down is one of the toughest job around here because everyone has something amazing to offer and deserves a spot! Luckily, this time around I had some extra help from Melanie, but we both went back and forth for days!

The other hard job around here is letting our current team go. We feel beyond blessed by our current team 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! Plus, they all jumped right in with all the new things we started in the last couple months – I am forever grateful for their unbelievable support. Don’t forget, we still have the June gallery to look forward to from our current team! The June gallery will be up on the 22nd 🙂

So, as we say goodbye, at the end of June, 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:

But, wait! I know what you are thinking… seven?! Where is the eighth member? Well… this time around we are adding something (or should I say, someone?) extra to the team – a guest design member every month! How cool is that? So, now each month you will be inspired by these seven amazing ladies, plus a surprise guest designer team member!

And, with all these new things going on, we have decided that Melanie will be managing the design team and coordinating all the details with them!

It’s going to be an amazing and inspiration filled six months!

33 Comments | Share This

My Summer List

What memories do I want to create this summer? It seems like such a simple question really, but when I look back at the last three summers, they were a total blur. It is so easy to loose track of time and think “I’ll do it next week” and then next week comes and goes and before you know it, the entire summer is gone.

So, after reading Jenni’s post about summer, I decided that I needed to create a list and start planning. And, to make sure I complete the items on my list, I made it the second page in my Savoring Summer Mini Album! I figure that each item on the list can be on it’s own page, and then I’ll stick other fun summer related items between them.

After looking at my list, I am so excited about the next three months! I’ve started planning and already put some dates on the calendar to do some of the things! I want to encourage you to sit down and make your list today – the items on your list don’t have to be huge events, or even costly. Just events and outings that you can share with your loved ones.

Let’s make this summer one to remember!

4 Comments | Share This