Layers are a key element in many types of design.

Professional decorator and TV host Christopher Lowell has authored  a handful of books and done numerous episodes espousing the concept of using layers to decorate your home.


Fashionistas layer clothes in ways never imagined and receive acclaim for their style.


In the world of professional cake decorators, building and decorating the cake in layers allows them to execute the most mind blowing designs.

What about layers and scrapbooking? eBook author Lisa Dickinson is the queen of using layers effectively in her scrapbooking projects. She makes mixing colors, textures, lines, photos, words, and accents look effortless. She shares her secrets behind her design in her eBook, Design Workshop, and on her blog. While all of these help me incorporate her secrets into my scrapbooking I like to think of other tricks to help me remember her secrets. One of those tricks is to think of a layout like a banana split. No really.


They both have lots of color, different textures, and flavors which work together to deliver an appealing image. 

First you start with a foundation, your banana
background

Then you add color and textures with three different flavors of ice cream
patterns and photos

Next you add a a little rich hot fudge sauce
shape and color

Then you cover with the delicious foamy whip cream
words in your title and journaling

Last you sprinkle with nuts and add the cherry
embellishments

There's no one better than Lisa Dickinson to show us how layers can work together to tell an oh-so-sweet story. Here are two of her lovely, layered creations:




Ahh perfection.
Now go scoop the ice cream and get scrapbooking!

(Oh yeah, and buy Lisa's eBook, too. It's 100 percent calorie free!)

Surely you've seen by now that the May eBook is up for sale and making a BIG splash!


 
Here are three fun facts I'd like to mention about Lisa Dickinson's new eBook:

#1
Wendy and I have been fans of Lisa's designs for several years now, which is why we invited her to be a 2008-2009 "Simple Gal" when we ran Simple Scrapbooks magazine. She's also been published in Creating Keepsakes magazine, Scrapbooks Etc., Scrapbook Trends, and others. You can get to know her better by visiting her blog.

#2
What we love about Lisa's work is that she manages to use trendy products and techniques while keeping her pages simple and well-designed. And she doesn't shy away from product usage! It's not always easy to follow principles of good design while getting funky with the latest products (and actually using a fair amount of products), but Lisa manages it beautifully. (Plus, there's always a meaningful story or a relevant bit of journaling on her pages, which we love.)

#3
I learned one of my favorite design secrets ever from Lisa's book! It has to do with how to mix and match different patterned papers, and you should check out Rachel and Wendy's Scrapbook Ellaments article to learn more. (Or find it on pages 6-7 of Lisa's eBook.)

Enjoy!

p.s. In case you're wondering, regarding Friday's blog post, our most-dowloaded eBook so far is 40 Top Tips for Better Photos by Rebecca Cooper. I notified our first three guessers who got it right! They each won a copy of Rebecca's eBook. Thanks for playing!

And now for a few fun facts about Ella Publishing Co.'s latest book release, Picture Perfect: 129 expert tips for shooting stellar portraits, which had its big debut yesterday!



It's authored by well-known scrapbookers (and family photographers) Elisha Snow, Becky Novaceck, and Kelly Noel.

All of these super-talented women have their own blogs, where they share the photos they take of their family and their clients:
Elisha's blog
Becky's blog
Kelly's blog

Elisha had two sons when she started writing this book, but she has since welcomed her third son, Myles.

We didn't have a specific topic in mind when we invited the three photographers to be a part of the eBook, we just knew we wanted to work with each of them.

It took us roughly 18 weeks to narrow down the topic, select photos, write the tips, and have the eBook edited and designed.

This eBook is focused specifically on taking still or posed portraits of people, while Rebecca Cooper's eBook, 40 Top Tips for Better Photos, is focused mostly on everyday photography and candid shots.

Picture Perfect has more specific DSLR tips and advice than 40 Top Tips, although both eBooks are highly relevant and helpful to people who have point-and-shoot models.

You DO need to have both of these eBooks in your library, because they complement each other and do not overlap in content. :-)



Leave us a comment today, and we'll pick two winners who'll get a free copy of Picture Perfect or 40 Top Tips!

Enjoy a quick little video where Wendy and I demonstrate how to print your eBooks and magically transform them into classy, professional-looking keepsakes. (Hang in there through the hair disclaimer—it's short! Er, the disclaimer is short; the hair is actually getting quite long and unwieldy.)



Products mentioned in the video:
Text Tricks for Scrapbookers by Margaret Scarbrough and Sara Winnick
Stretch Your Sketches by Donna Jannuzzi
PhotoBookCreator by Unibind

Thanks for watching, everyone!

p.s. Did you download our FREE Super Sampler yet? If not, get on it! If so, which project inside was the most exciting, intriguing, or inspiring to you?

As you know, UR2 Cre8ive: 68 ways to unleash your creativity went on sale yesterday! But perhaps you didn't know that this eBook is based on the very first class Stacy Julian ever taught at bigpicturescrapbooking.com! And the messages inside are even more relevant today than they ever were.



Well, we'd like to reveal a few MORE fun facts that you may not have known before, so we interrogated....er, interviewed...Stacy herself to find out a bit more about this incredibly creative soul. And since the title of this eBook contains numbers in a very "cre8ive" way, today's "getting to know you" questionnaire is all about NUMBERS!

1. How old were you when you first started scrapbooking?
Well, I started my first scrapbook the summer I was 14. I had a really easy babysitting job, so my mom bought me a scrapbook at our local Hallmark store and handed me a box of childhood photos. More recently, I started when I was expecting Chase. I was 29.

2. How old were you when you finally felt like a "grown-up"?
I don't feel like a grown up.  I hope I never do. I mean this most sincerely.

3. How many times a day do you feel overwhelmed?
I'm overwhelmed at the thought of counting how many times a day I feel overwhelmed. Can I skip this question?

4. How many times a day do you stop, look around you, and realize how lucky/blessed you are?
Ok, now there's a question I want to answer. At least 53 times a day!


You don't have to be a kid to paint your toenails lots of fun colors! Visit Stacy's blog to read about the "oddly creative things" she does to brighten her day.

5. With five adorable kids at home now, how many grandchildren do you hope to have one day?
SO many!

6. How many gallons of milk does your family of seven go through in a week?
Six. I've got teenage boys and we ALL love cold cereal.

7. How many hours of sleep do you need per night (on average) to feel restful and energized?
I need more sleep the older I get. I would say 8, and I make this happen several times a week.

8. As an avid runner, what's the farthest distance you've run in a single day?
Too funny. I recently recalled this CRAZY experiment that I conducted when I was 15, where I ran one mile, at the top of the hour for 7 hours straight! Who does stuff like that? The longest I've run since then (other than the day I ran my marathon) is 18!

9. How many different brownie recipes do you have in your baking rotation (estimate)?
Oh goodness. I have LOTS. My friend Terri Musser in OK organized a brownie scrapbook for me with at least 30 recipes in it. I'm always cutting out recipes to try and the vast majority of the time I either use the Ghirardelli mix from Costco or my trusty low-fat recipe that I got back in 1997.

10. How many books have you written?
Five, if you count the special issue I wrote for Creating Keepsakes magazine before they really recognized authors.

11. How many classes have you personally taught at Big Picture Scrapbooking?
I think about 11 or 12.

12. How many different countries have you visited in order to teach scrapbooking classes?
Seriously, how many things are you going to make me count today? I'm going to guess seven.

13. What are the top 5 obstacles that women tell you get in the way of their creativity?
No time. No money. No where to start. No end in sight. No fun anymore. Please note: I do not except any of these as valid excuses.

14. How many of those 5 obstacles are addressed in UR2 Cre8ive?
In an effort to sell this book, let's say ALL of them! No really, you don't need to address obstacles. You need to teach yourself to see opportunities instead of obstacles. This is possible.

15. If there's another "UR2" message you'd want to tell women everywhere, besides "UR2 Cre8ive," what would it be?
UR2 Hard On Yourself. Seriously, stop and think about everything you do to contribute goodness to this world. Women are amazing.

Thank you for spending this time with us, Stacy! Thanks especially for encouraging us to see "opportunities" instead of "obstacles." Truly inspiring words. And thanks to those of you who shared your creative moments with us yesterday! The random winner of UR2 Cre8ive is commenter #16: tape.

Let's have another contest, shall we? To enter today's drawing for a free copy of UR2 Cre8ive, leave a comment answering question #15 for yourself. If there was a "UR2" message YOU'D like to impart to women everywhere, what would it be???

Donna Jannuzzi's fantastic eBook, Stretch Your Sketches, is now on sale!



To tell you the truth, we had never heard of Donna Jannuzzi until she sent in a fabulous, very well-thought out eBook idea to submissions@ellapublishing.com. She was a regular Ella reader who had a great idea. And after we saw her fantastic layout designs, we couldn't resist sharing her talents with all of you. To help you get to know this "fresh face" a little bit better, here's a quick Q&A between Ella & Donna.

3 scrapbooky questions
What are your favorite subjects to scrapbook?
Definitely my children. Children do and say funny things. They do cute things. They look at the world with fresh eyes – it makes everything new and fresh to you too. I love recording our everyday moments as a family. The little moments that make our family unique. It’s those little things that I know I’ll want to remember later.
 
Why do you scrapbook?
Because I don’t want to forget anything about these precious years. Time really does go by so quickly. It’s such a cliché. But I can’t believe that my oldest son will turn four this year! Also, my parents have years and years of photographs put into albums, but nothing recorded. I want to record things for my family.
 
What are some of your favorite products?
My favorite product is patterned paper. I love patterned paper and I can’t make a page without it (I tried; it gave me a newfound respect for you cardstock-only girls!). As for embellishments, I like buttons and brads. And label stickers.
 

3 personality questions
What is your idea of a dream job?
Whenever I used to have a bad day in the lab I would always joke that what I really wanted to be was a pastry chef. I do really love the challenge of baking and I love to learn new cooking techniques. Most baking recipes require precision either in measurement or in technique, but then there is a very great opportunity when baking for creativity. I think being a pastry chef would satisfy both aspects of my personality. The side that loves to play with numbers and measurements, but also the side that hungers for some kind of creative outlet. To be perfectly honest though, I think I am living my dream job right now. I always knew I wanted to be a mom. I’m trying to enjoy these years when my children are young as best I can. I know they go by quickly. I know I am blessed.
 
Besides scrapbooking, what do you do in your free time?
I read. A lot. And as I mentioned above I love to cook. I like to try out new recipes and master new skills. I like to read about my faith and theology. I just love learning in general. If I have a question about something I seek out an answer.
 
If you could vacation anywhere in the world where would it be and why?
I’ve been fortunate enough to be able to travel to quite a few places in my life. There are several places I’d like to go back to though and learn a little more about them, become better acquainted with them. I would love to take my family on a pilgrimage to Rome. When the boys are older we definitely plan on doing that.

We decided to go with six questions for this author, in the spirit of the 6 Weeks of Sketches challenge you'll find here on the blog every Friday. Come back soon!

Our new author's name is

DONNA JANNUZZI

and she is an ENGINEER

Winners of the word scramble contest and winners of the digi classes will be announced tomorrow, Friday.
(the digi class contest runs until end of day)

Join us tomorrow as we introduce you to our new author, Donna, and as she hosts the first ever Ella challenge.
How fun does that sound?

See you tomorrow.

We are going to have some fun today. As we at Ella are getting ready to release our eighth e-book (I know so exciting!) we thought it would be fun to see if anyone could guess some information about this first time author. She is relatively unknown in the industry and we are thrilled to be the first to have discovered her many talents as a scrapbooker.

(by the way, one of the goals of Ella Pub was to discover brand new talent and share with the scrapbooking world)

Two questions for you today

1. What is the author's profession?

2. What is the author's last name?
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

The letters to our eighth author's last name are pictured below.



Good luck and have fun.

Oh and of course you will have a chance to win a goody. Post your guess in the comments by midnight (MST) Wednesday, January 13 to be entered to win a free ebook of your choosing.

It is with great pleasure that we introduce our latest set of co-authors, Stacy Julian and Lain Ehmann! Stacy and Lain have put together a smashing selection of scrap-your-way-happy tips in 20 Simple Secrets of Happy Scrapbookers, available only from Ella! We sat down with these two energetic ladies for a little chat.

Ella: We like to start off with an easy question. What did you have for breakfast today?

Stacy: The rest of Taft's Grape Nuts, "warm a double." We microwave Grape Nuts with milk and a double shot of vanilla creamer (so yummy), but Taft almost always prepares way more than he can eat.

Lain: Half a rosemary/olive oil bagel, toasted with peanut butter. I was celebrating!

Ella: You have good reason to celebrate! Your book is adorable. What do you want people to know about it?

Stacy: I think it will make them feel happy!

Lain: That wherever you are in your scrapping journey, and whatever kind of scrapbooker you are, you'll find some wisdom, fun, and inspiration. 

Ella: I think you're both in luck! So, When you scrapbook, what products do you HAVE to have?

Stacy: Obviously I need paper and adhesive -- basics like that. But I gravitate towards colorful embellishments that I can group together, like ribbon, buttons, brads, flowers, etc. I'm kind of addicted to American Crafts letter stickers and rub-ons. 

Lain: I'm also an American Crafts fan! I love their glitter brads. And speaking of glitter, give me a few bottles of Stickles and I'm good to go. That and a journaling pen and I'm all set.

Ella: Time for girl talk. Shopping! What's the last thing you bought online?

Stacy: I've started shopping for my girlfriends for Christmas. Each year I give them a few of my most favorite things. Without divulging details I can say that my last purchase was from Strano Designs (hint: Beautiful ribbon!).

Lain: I usually buy tons of books, but this month I'm on a no-book restriction -- I have too many. So the last thing I bought online was a digital scrapooking collection from Designer Digitals. 

Ella: You two are busy, with your fingers in lots of different colors of fingerpaints. How do you keep track of it all? Do you have to-do lists?

Stacy: Oh YES! I have a weekly list for BPS and stacyjulian.com in small Russell+Hazel Mini notebooks , which I generally re-write every Monday. I am also using software called Things on my computer and phone to keep daily lists and project planning lists.

Lain: I'm a huge list-maker. I have an ongoing daily list in a mini-notebook I carry with me everywhere. Each day gets its own page, and I try not to add more tasks than fit on one page!

Ella: Finally, what's your must-visit Internet site?

Stacy: I visit bigpicturescrapbooking.com and now stacyjulian.com every day. And then there are sites like Shutterfly, flickr, and YouTube. And it seems like I'm always looking something up on apple.com. I follow several blogs, including Seth Godin, Todd Henry, and a new favorite, the Happy Self. Of course, I read scrapbooking blogs, too!

Lain: I'm in the middle of my Layout a Day challenge, so I'm visiting flickr off and on all day long to check in on what everyone's uploading. And I love Parenting Squad, where I write parenting humor. I also read tons of blogs, including the Happiness Project and ProBlogger. Lots of good stuff out there!

Ella: Well, with all you have going on, we're so happy you took the time to chat with us! 

Stacy: My pleasure!

Lain: It was fun being interviewed by a pachyderm!

********************

Get your copy of 20 Simple Secrets of Happy Scrapbookers now!

********************

This interview is only the first taste of the fun we have in store! Come back tomorrow to learn how you can win a basket of Stacy's and Lain's fave happy goodies!

Be still, my heart! Ella had a chance to sit down for a little tusk-a-tusk with the Digital Diva, Renee Pearson! Renee wrote the book (literally!) on digital scrapbooking, and she's recently launched the fabulous digital education site, reneepearson.com. She's also the author of our latest eBook, Special Effects for Digital Photos: 10 easy tutorials using Photoshop Elements 7.

Here's what Renee had to say:

Ella: What's your favorite late-night snack?

Renee: Popcorn...morning..noon...or late night!

Ella: I am with you! I LOVE popcorn. Sometimes I even have it for dinner. Lots of fiber, ya know! So, how did you become "the Digital Diva?"

Renee: It was so many years ago it feels like another life. I was actually working in marketing communications and graphic design. When I developed an interest in scrapbooking, it seemed natural to apply my digital design skills to my new hobby.

Ella: Because of all the time you're on your computer, you must do some serious online shopping. What's the last thing you bought?

Renee: Software...something I needed for the website.

Ella: What, no shoes? Alright, I guess business comes first.

Renee: Ha-ha! I’m really not a shoe person...but I adore handbags! I’ve had my eye on a Marc Jacobs beauty for quite some time. When I earn my first million I’m heading for the Marc Jacobs store!

Ella: And I'm not much of a purse girl, what with this TRUNK and all! ;) Tell us, what reading material is on your nightstand right now?

Renee: Oooh! I just finished “The Magician’s Assistant” by Ann Patchett. Loved it. Next up is the new Dan Brown book, “The Lost Symbol.” I’ve been waiting a long time for this sequel to “The DaVinci Code.”

Ella: Good stuff. Speaking of good stuff, you are quite the musical maven. What's your latest musical discovery?

Renee: Salem al Fakir...a Swedish pop/soul sensation.

Ella: I've seen you mention him on your blog before. Thanks for the recommendation! Hey, with everything you have going on, how do you keep track of it all? Do you make a daily to-do list? How many items are typically on it? Is it digital or paper?

Renee: I sure do. It’s actually a rolling list from day to day. It typically has 20 or more items on it. I keep a paper notebook that I work from. There’s just something satisfying about drawing a line through a completed item that can’t be duplicated digitally. My favorite notebooks are the Mnemosyne by Maruman. The paper is a joy to write on. 

Ella: I am going to get one IMMEDIATELY. You always have the coolest stuff! And speaking of cool stuff, what one thing do you want people to know about your book?

Renee: That they’re my favorite quick-and-easy tips for giving your photos that extra punch. And they really ARE quick and easy.

*******************

...AND A CONTEST (OF COURSE)!

Renee's book is perfect for Photoshop Beginners (like most of the staff here at Ella!). If you're a little more advanced, we've got a great offer for you -- a seat in Renee's Collage 101 class at reneepearson.com, starting in October! Note: This class is rated Intermediate and is best for people with Photoshop experience. Interested? Leave us a comment telling us what digital topics you'd like to see covered in future eBooks! Hurry -- we're drawing a name tomorrow, Sept. 24!

Oh, and by the way... the winner of the Jodie McNally word art is...

 Mary F:

<<They were all good tips but I like the first one the best-I've been wanting to do a page like that for awhile and just haven't found the right subjects for it yet!>>

Mary, you have won a $25 gift certificate to Jodie's online store! Email us at comments@ellapublishing.com to claim your prize!

*******************

One more thing... We've got a last-minute call for pages for our October Scrapbook Ellaments. We're looking for two pages. Submit your best for either (or both!) of the following:

1. A paper-based page using a premade quote

2. A paper-based page using a premade title

Follow our usual submissions guidelines here. Deadline is Sunday, Sept. 27. at midnight-ish. Winning layouts will receive copies of Jodie McNally's exclusive Ella digital scrapbooking kit, on sale next month!

Digi folks, don't despair -- next week we are focusing on digital all week long, just for you! We've got some cool stuff in store. This is the place to stay up on what's happening, so come back often. We're here daily (except when we're not).