Mother’s Day Moments: Cards for Mom with Nathalie Leonelli

May 4, 2021

Hello Elle’s Studio friends! It’s Nathalie here to share two greeting cards created with the April kit and a few add-ons. With Mother’s Day at the end of the week, I hope to inspire you to take some time to whip up a couple of beautiful and meaningful handmade cards for the mothers, grandmothers, sisters in your life.

Supplies | April 2021 Kit, Smile Cardstock Die Cuts, Springtime Stickers, Adventure Puffy Label Stickers, Teal Parker Acetate Alphabet Stickers, Acetate Heart Stickers, Celebrate 6 x 8.5 Inch Paper Stack, Make A Wish Metal Die

Let’s start with the fun fact that I only used one 4″ x 6″ tag from the April Kit to create the background for both cards! The long card measures 3″ x 5.75″ and the square one is 4.25″ x 4.25″. The design of both cards was inspired by sketches found in the spring issue of Scrapbook and Cards Today magazine.

The first card features an assortment of die cuts and stickers in the colors of my background paper and arranged along a punched border.

I love the transparency of the Acetate Heart Stickers, which adds to the layering effect. The sentiment was built with a portion of a sticker from the Springtime Stickers and the Teal Parker Acetate Alphabet Stickers.

I played with a different type of transparency for my second card, creating a shaker pocket out of a diecut frame from the Smile Cardstock Die Cuts.

The stems were cut using a string die from the Make A Wish Metal Die and a sheet of patterned paper from the Celebrate Paper Stack. They’re both inside and outside the pocket with the matching hearts, from the Smile Cardstock Die Cuts, glued on top of the pocket.

I found a perfect sentiment in the Adventure Puffy Label Stickers pack to finish it off.

If you make a Mother’s Day card with your Elle’s Studio supplies, don’t forget to share it with us on Instagram with the hashtag #ellesstudio or in our Facebook Group. I’d love to see them.

Happy Mother’s Day!

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Mother’s Day Moments: A Layout with Sarah Kee

May 3, 2021

Happy Monday, friends! Since Mother’s Day is just around the corner, for the next few days we are dedicating the blog to moms! You’ll find project inspiration from three design team members that we know will inspire you to create a layout about motherhood, send a card or document the ones you love the most! We’re starting off today with design team member Sarah Kee. Let’s see what she has to share with us!

Hi, Elle’s friends! It’s me Sarah on the blog, and I can’t believe we are already in May, which means Mother’s Day is right around the corner! Today, I’m happy to share my latest layout working around the theme about moms. As a mother to my twins, I cherish Mother’s Day. Honestly, I feel so blessed to be their mother, and what better way to document it than with a layout! Here’s what I came up with:

Supplies | April 2021 Kit, Smile Cardstock Die Cuts, Jane Tile Alphabet Cardstock Stickers – Light Teal, Adventure Puffy Label Stickers, Teal Parker Acetate Alphabet Stickers, Acetate Heart Stickers, Cork Hearts, Celebrate 6 x 8.5 inch Paper Stack, Everyday Tabs Stamp

I worked with the fun April 2021 Kit and add-ons for this one. I specifically wanted to use the rest of my 3″ x 4″ tags on my layout, so I used them to back my wallet-sized photos.

The Smile Cardstock Die Cuts, and the Cork Hearts are for sure some of my favorite add-ons this month, so I made sure to incorporate them into this layout.

They make for such an easy way to embellish around the photos!

Lastly, have you all seen the Teal Parker Acetate Alphabet Stickers?! These have easily become one of my favorite scrapbook staples. I love the basic font style; plus, it dresses up any project with ease. They have adhesive backs, so no need to use any type of glue or tape runner with them.

For my journaling, I wanted to write a little bit about motherhood. Here’s what I wrote: “I tend to doubt myself with a lot of things, but I can trust myself as a mother.” That for sure is one thing I know to be true.

And that’s all I have for today! What’d you think? We’d love to see those mom-inspired projects using Elle’s products. Join us, and please do share your projects with all of us at our Elle’s Studio Facebook Group or on Instagram using the hashtag #EllesStudio.

And as always, thanks for letting me share my work with all of you!

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A sneak peek of our May 10th reveal!

May 2, 2021

Our May kit + coordinating add-ons reveal is almost here and we can’t wait to share with you all the new and exclusive products that will be available soon! Our reveal will be full of the perfect products to document your May stories and take you right into the month of June! This month, our May kit will include 3 – 4 x 6 inch tags, 18 – 3 x 4 inch tags, and 26die cuts!

Not a subscriber? You can pre-order our May kit now and lock in our $9.99 kit price by starting a subscription today! You’ll want to choose our SUBSCRIBE & SAVE option to get signed up and start your subscription with our May kit. We will then hold your kit and you’ll be ready to bundle and save at our May 10th reveal! Details on how to bundle with your subscription order will be emailed to you once you have purchased this product.

Kit subscribers, don’t forget! Along with being able to bundle any products from our shop that will ship for FREE with your kit during our 24-hour bundling period, starting on the 10th at 8:00 am Pacific each month, our subscribers will also have access to special discounts on select items! These discounted items can be found in our SALE section during our 24-hour bundling period, and you must be logged into your kit subscriber account to see them. Quick note: Our kits and add-ons are available without a subscription each month, too.

We are so excited to share all of these new products with you and see how you use them on your projects! Make sure you set your alarm and mark your calendar for Monday, May 10th at 8:00 am Pacific! We hope to see you there!

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Happy National Scrapbooking Day 2021!

May 1, 2021

Today is a BIG day in our community—it’s National Scrapbooking Day! This is the day that we can celebrate this hobby that we love that allows us to record our memories while we get creative! Today we have three challenges to spark that creativity and inspire you to create! We also have a special offer for you today:

Start printing and cutting our digital files with this coupon now, and create with these challenges we have chosen for you today!

These challenges can be used on any project: scrapbook layouts, traveler’s notebook spreads or pockets! We want to see you think outside of the box and get creative with each of them!

Challenge #1 | Use Numbers in a BIG way on your page to signify an important date or number for the story that you’re telling. We love the way that Katarina used our Large Acetate Numbers on her mixed-media background, and hand stitched on each one too!

Challenge #2 | Add a series of three photos on your project, as Melissa Mann did here on this stunning page! They can be the same photo, printed three times for maximum impact, three slightly different photos, snapped in succession—the outtakes can be the best!—but use three similar photos on your page. And, if you love the big “you are amazing” title that Melissa used, check out this digital cut file in the shop (and don’t forget to use the coupon code above!)

Challenge #3 | Repeat a shape! Whether stars like in Amanda-jayne Baldwin’s layout above, or hearts, like on Marsha Farris’ traveler’s notebook spread, use repetition to create a big impact! To make it visually interesting, remember that you can use different products—like stamps, die cuts, chipboard, or acetate in the same shape, together on your project!

Complete each separate challenge, using at least two Elle’s Studio product (digitals included!) on your project for a chance to win one of three $25 gift certificates to our shop! We will be randomly selecting a winner from each challenge! If you complete all three challenges, you will also be entered to win a grand prize of a $50 gift certificate to the shop!

Join our Elle’s Studio Facebook Group and post your entries under the corresponding challenge posts, including the grand prize post. Each project will count as one entry, even if you have included multiple challenges in that project.

If you post your projects on Instagram using the hashtag #EllesStudio, you’ll get the chance to be featured on our feed and Stories, but you must post in our Elle’s Studio Facebook Group to be entered to win the challenges!

Entries will close at 11:59pm PST on May 15th, and the winners will be announced here on the blog and in our Facebook Group on May 17th’s Design Team Inspiration post! Good luck, and we can’t wait to see what you create!

Happy National Scrapbooking Day!

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Sketch Day with Suzanna Lee

April 30, 2021

It’s Suzanna here with you on sketch day! Sketches are a great way to provide a jumping off spot and get your creative juices flowing, especially if you’ve just been away for 10 days doing all kinds of outdoorsy things and have no idea where to begin! This sketch was the perfect re-entry into memory keeping for me after not using design principles or creative thinking for quite some time!

I made quite a few changes to accommodate the pictures that I wanted to use. The pictures themselves aren’t the greatest but together, they tell the story. The story of a naughty cat who loves to sit in the kitchen sink and watch what we call “kitty TV”, AKA the window bird feeder.

Supplies | April 2021 Kit, Smile Cardstock Die Cuts, Teal Parker Acetate Alphabet Stickers, Acetate Heart Stickers, Smile Wood Veneers, Celebrate 6 x 8.5 inch Paper Stack, Love This Smile Stamp

Rotating the sketch: I really wanted to use these three photos, all of which are vertically orientated and needed to remain as such for the full picture to be told by the photo itself. Rotating the sketch is an easy way to change up the look of a layout.

Adding a “header” and “footer; I don’t like chaotic layouts but I do like substance to them. I felt that while I have the busy-ness of the patterned papers, they needed grounding. Having a solid cardstock header and a stamped border footer, using a stamp from the Love This Smile Stamp, I was able to unite the layout and tie it together.

Re-arranging elements: Embellishment clusters, the repeated hearts and the title all needed to be relocated. The elements are all still present on the layout, just in different locations than the sketch calls for. Often times, embellishments are for visual interest or to guide your eye around the page. Or determined by parts of the photo/layout that you can cover or overlap or not. The row of Acetate Heart Stickers (aren’t those the best?) would have covered up Jasmine in the center photo, a critical part of the story. There wasn’t room for the title the way I had rotated the sketch, but there was empty space to the right.

Re-sizing photo: I kept the center photo 4″ x 6″, as it is in the sketch. Each of the neighboring blocks is also 4″ x 6″, but to keep the proportion of the cat relative to the rest of the layout, smaller photos served the storytelling and perspective better. This allowed me to frame one of the smaller photos with a Polaroid frame from the Smile Cardstock Die Cuts.

Do you have plans for this sketch? Does it speak to you? Some sketches will and others won’t, and that’s okay. If you play along, be sure to use the hashtag #EllesStudio on Instagram or share in our Elle’s Studio Facebook Group so we can leave you some love! Thanks for stopping in today!

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Throwback Thursday with Amanda-jayne Baldwin

April 29, 2021

Hi Elle’s Studio, friends! It’s Amanda here, and boy do I have some super fun Throwback Thursday inspiration to share with you! In fact, I had so much fun creating today’s layout there’s even a process video for you at the end of this post! Yay!

For today’s edition of ‘Throwback Thursday’, I’m being inspired by this amazing layout created in April 2020 by our incredibly talented, Suzanna Lee!

Told you it’s amazing! Such a clever design, and one that instantly had my crafty fingers itching to make! That said, I didn’t want to scrap lift this layout, only use it as a starting point for my own variation. Without further ado, here’s my fun interpretation on the original:

Supplies | April 2021 Kit, Smile Cardstock Die Cuts, Springtime Stickers, Adventure Puffy Label Stickers, Acetate Heart Stickers, Cork Hearts, Celebrate 6 x 8.5 inch Paper Stack, Love This Smile Stamp

Wow! That’s quite a twist on Suzanna’s design! I really loved her original, so it was important for me to maintain the integrity of her design, but also create something true to my own style! I personally love vertically aligned designs, so the first of my ideas was to rotate the original. I was also clearly inspired by Suzanna’s large patterned paper cross over feature, which I interpreted as the letter X. One thing led to another, and my paper cross became a giant XO and formed my page title! To add more detail, and texture to my XO title, I machine stitched it into place. Such simple interpretations, but very noticeable differences!

Let’s take a closer look at this sweet page…

I loved how Suzanna incorporated the 3″ x 4″ pocket tags from the monthly kit into her 12″ x 12″ scrapbook page. I wanted to maintain this feature, but in a way that would emphasize my photograph, and fit well on the page. I opted to create a photo stack, with layered 3″ x 4″ tags and a couple of the Smile Cardstock Die Cuts. I foam-mounted this stack for added dimension, and then embellished it with one of the Cork Hearts, and some Acetate Heart Stickers.

It’s no secret how much I love Elle’s Studio stamps, so needless to say that my version had to include the Love This Smile Stamp! It prints so crisp and clear that it looks like I used stickers! Gotta love that!

In keeping with Suzanna’s page, I added a small embellishment cluster at the top left of my page. I also featured labels and journaling, as well as a heart or two to maintain the likeness of the design. However, where Suzanna had featured handwritten journaling, I simply scattered a few more Acetate Heart Stickers. To build up this section, I also tore the edge of the cardstock and added some patterned paper from the Celebrate Paper Stack and a Springtime Sticker label behind it. This dramatized the edge of my page, but also aligned with my photograph to make my overall design more visually appealing.

Lastly, I created another smaller embellishment cluster towards the bottom right of my page. This was not only similar to the original page, but also added balance to my design.

There you have it! The original was amazing, but I really do love how this variation reflects my signature style! If you’d like to see the page come together, please watch my process video:

https://youtu.be/UOjLib2do10

Thanks so much for watching! I really hope you enjoyed my process video for Throwback Thursday, and feel inspired to get making! A huge thanks to Suzanna Lee for the amazing inspiration too!

Have your browsed our Design Team Inspiration category for inspiration? We’d love to see how one of our past team member’s layout inspired you! Choose a layout, get creating and share it with us using the #EllesStudio hashtag on Instagram or in our Elle’s Studio Facebook Group!

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Starting with Digitals with April Guest Diane Dziuban

April 28, 2021

We are so excited to welcome back our April guest designer, Diane Dziuban! Diane typically “wows” us with her pocket pages, but today she has one beautiful layout to share with us, and it all started with digitals! Let’s take a look!

Hi everyone! It’s Diane here, back to share my second project with you using the awesome April 2021 Kit and add-ons! The colors in the Elle’s Studio kits always inspire me, and this month’s kit, with the bright colors and travel theme, really made me want to get creative and playful with my layout. Most of the time I make some sort of pocket page, but for this story I wanted to do a bigger layout documenting a fun weekend with my kids. I knew I wanted to work with circles and add some dimension and this kit and add-ons were perfect for that!

Supplies | April 2021 Kit, Adventure Printables, April 2021 Cut Files, Bright Die Cut Tabs, Springtime Stickers, Adventure Puffy Label Stickers, Tiny Shapes and Dots Puffy Stickers – Cool Tones, Smile Wood Veneers, Love This Smile Stamp

One of the cool perks of being a subscriber to the Elle’s Studio monthly kits is that you get the digital products that coordinate with the kit each month for free! A couple of the elements on my layout are from the Adventure Printables and April Cut Files. The starting point of the layout came from the beautiful rainbow striped tag that is offered digitally in the Adventure Printables. In Photoshop, I took that card and stacked it side-by-side across my page. I then printed it out and decided to add some stitching for texture. Once I was done stitching the lines, I cut the entire piece out and added it to another page, going for that dimension I was talking about. I also decided to cut out the title, from the April 2021 Cut Files with my Silhouette. I used the Love This Smile Stamp to go along the top and bottom of the horizontal stripe. Once I had those pieces ready to go it was all about having fun layering all the fun bits and pieces around my photos. I used tags from the April Kit, as well as labels from the Bright Die Cut Tabs, to make my circles.

I then started adding the Tiny Shapes and Dots Puffy Stickers all around my layout. They added the perfect finishing touch. I decided to add my journaling in strips to add another level of dimension. The last step on my layout was creating a little cluster at the bottom of the page with some additional stitching, so that I could add the date.

I had so much fun creating this layout! Thank you so much for taking a look!

Thank you, Elle’s Studio, for this amazing opportunity! It’s been an absolute joy! Happy scrapping everyone!

Hi! My name is Diane Dziuban and I live in beautiful south Texas, right between Austin and San Antonio. I have been married to my amazing husband for 33 years and we have two awesome kids. I work full time as an administrative assistant and look forward to my time in my craft space to relax and get some memories documented. I love this hobby and how it has taught me to see the small details and the beauty in the every day. Thank you so much for taking a look at my project! It’s been an honor to be a guest designer for Elle’s Studio!

We have just loved seeing what Diane has created using our April 2021 Kit and add-ons! If you missed Diane’s first post, check out her Disney mini album created with the same kit! Be sure to leave Diane a comment here to let her know what you love about her layout, and be sure to follow her on Instagram, where you’ll find her @snapshotsdocumented!

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Trip Memories with the Vacation Details Tags and Jackie Ashton

April 27, 2021

HI all! It’s Jackie here to share a new pocket page I have designed, using the new April 2021 Kit and add-ons. The new Vacation Details Journaling Tags helped me to record memories of my visit to Ellis Island!

Supplies | April 2021 Kit, Vacation Details 4 x 6 inch Journaling Tags, Smile Cardstock Die Cuts, Jane Tile Alphabet Cardstock Stickers – Light Teal, Adventure Puffy Label Stickers, Dark Red Puffy Alphabet Stickers, Acetate Heart Stickers, Smile Wood Veneers, Celebrate 6 x 8.5 inch Paper Stack, Monthly Highlights 6 x 8.5 Inch Paper Stack, Love This Smile Stamp, Hugs and Kisses Stamp, Mini Dated Extras Stamp, Daily Tabs Stamp, Layered Card Metal Die

As you can guest, whilst visiting Ellis Island I took a ton of photographs, but I managed to cut it down to a few to help me document our visit. To add additional photographs to my spread, I made a couple of collages, which allowed me to include them without adding any extra page protectors to my album.

From the April Kit, I choose a tag that colour coordinated with the colours in the photograph of my son next to the sign. I added some stamped details to the card using Love This Smile Stamp and Hugs and Kisses Stamp.

Choosing corresponding patterned papers from the Celebrate 6 x 8.5 inch Paper Stack, I added a die cut layer using the Layered Card Metal Die and the Smile Wood Veneer word beneath.

I didn’t want my Vacation Details 4 x 6 inch Journaling Tag to just include journaling, so decided to add additional embellishments. I grabbed a few products, including the Dark Red Puffy Alphabet Stickers, Adventure Puffy Label Stickers, Love This Smile Stamp, Smile Wood Veneers, Smile Cardstock Die Cuts, and the date using the Mini Dated Extras Stamp around my journaling.

For the reverse of my page, I cut the Monthly Highlights 6 x 8.5 Inch Paper Stack paper down to measure 6″ x 4″ and added patterned paper to the base, embellishing with a die cut from the Smile Cardstock Die Cuts, light teal Jane Tile Alphabet Cardstock Stickers and the Acetate Heart Stickers.

I also wanted to add another Vacation Details Journaling Tag, but I didn’t have the space, so I cut it down to measure 3″ x 4″ and added my journaling.

I’ve loved how these pages have come together for my New York 2019 Travel album. The Vacation Detail Tag is perfect to add my journaling and also gives me space to embellish using the April 2021 Kit and add-ons.

I hope you have been inspired by how I used the Vacation Details Journaling Tags and have seen how you can add them to your pocket pages, or your layouts to record your trip memories!

Show us how you are recording your trip memories using the new Vacation Details Journaling Tags—in or out of pockets! Post your travel project to Instagram and use the #EllesStudio hashtag, or share in our Elle’s Studio Facebook Group!

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Big Impact Using Minimal Supplies with Shannon Dombkowski

April 26, 2021

Hello there! It’s Shannon Dombkowski with you today! Sometimes, we find ourselves with fewer supplies to work with than usual. Maybe you’re down to the last few pieces of a kit, you’ve decided to use up scraps from your stash, or maybe you’re on a spending freeze. Whatever the reason, minimal supplies does not have to equal minimal impact! With just a few supplies you can still create an eye-catching layout. Let’s look at how I accomplished it with a travelers notebook layout and the April 2021 Kit and add-ons!

Supplies | April 2021 Kit, Black Puffy Alphabet Stickers, Celebrate 6 x 8.5 inch Paper Stack, Love This Smile Stamp

Did you take a look at that supply list? Yep. Only four supplies, with one of them being the main kit! My first tip is to look beyond the obvious use of items in the kit. On this layout, I cut apart one of the 3″ x 4″ journaling tags. I have to be in a certain kind of mood to fussy cut, but this camera had enough clean lines and corners that it was easy to cut out. It’s also large, so it makes a great statement in the center of my page.

My second tip is to use up your paper! Look for “outside the box” ways to use it, which will bring a little extra something special to your page. I’m not quite sure if border punches are still “cool,” but they bring me such joy, so I use them frequently! On this page, I cut up the rainbow striped paper from the Celebrate Paper Stack into stripes according to color. Then, I punched along the edge of each color. Finally, I lined them all up evenly and adhered them to each other first and then to my page. You could also do this by tearing or roughing up your edges if you don’t have border punches. My last step here was to tuck in a few sentiment die cuts from the April 2021 Kit to break up the color blocking.

My final tip is to give special focus to your photo and your story. While a pretty design is one side of scrapbooking, our photos and stories are the other side. I find that the most impactful pages have elements of both. I found this photo of my daughter from vacation back in 2018. It’s still one of my favorite photos of her! The fact that her emotions are totally different than how they appear makes this a great story to tell. I measured the “the story behind this photo” stamp so I knew how much room I needed to leave at the bottom of my photo. Then, I went into Photoshop and added my journaling. Once the photo was printed, I was able to stamp the sentiment right onto the bottom. When you’re looking for impact with your layout, look for photos that really catch your eye—maybe they’re funny, serious or downright stunning. To bring impact with your journaling, let yourself relax while you’re writing! I like to imagine that I’m retelling the story to my kids or husband in the future. That really helps the story flow and helps me infuse more of my personality into the journaling.

I hope that I’ve given you some ideas about how you can create beautiful, impactful layouts with just a few supplies. I hope you’ll give this a try. I’d love to see what you come up with!

Share how you’re using your April 2021 Kit and add-ons to make a big impact on your pages! Post your project on Instagram using the hashtag #EllesStudio, or share in our Elle’s Studio Facebook Group!

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April Design Team Inspiration: Volume Three

April 24, 2021

We have just loved seeing our design team’s projects this month featuring our newest products, the April 2021 Kit and add-ons! Today we have ten more of their projects for you, each one so creative and different than the next. You’re sure to find one here that sparks an idea for you to create with! Take a look: