Congratulations to Leah Larson of Washington, the random winner in our grand prize drawing for a Cricut Expression (from our Six Weeks of Sketches contest)!

We had a total of 159 entries in our 6-week challenge, and we added each entry to a handy-dandy spreadsheet in order of entry. And random.org gave us the random number 117!

Lucky Leah happens to already have an older Cricut model that she takes VERY good care of, but that doesn't mean she can't win this one too! And guess what her plan is? She's going to raffle off her old Cricut through her local scrapbook store, Paper Pals, where she's a design team member. The proceeds from the raffle will go to the Red Cross for Haiti relief. Way to go, Leah!

Now for a quick Q&A with our winner:
1. What did you like most about the sketch challenge?
"It allowed me to be more creative. I usually scraplift and had never followed a sketch before this challenge.  With the sketches, I had to create the page around the sketch. It was challenging and fun."

2. Did you have a favorite sketch?
"My favorite sketch was the 4x6, 4x4, and 4x4 arranged in a line across the middle of the page.  I love the layout I did for that sketch. I have copied all the sketches in my journal and will use them again and again."

3. What's your favorite treat?
"Light butter microwave popcorn.  I am on weight watchers.  If you're asking about a non-food treat, then I would say scrapbooking pictures of my daughter."

4. What was your favorite layout created during the challenge?
"My favorite layout was the star layout titled Yogurt for WEEK 4.  Made with my favorite sketch!"

5. Did you use your Cricut to create any of your layouts for the challenge?
"Yes. Visit my blog to read about how I created this dimensional duck accent (see below) for WEEK 2."

Here are the rest of the layouts Leah entered during the challenge. See all of these (and more) on Leah's blog: Confessions of a Scraplifter.

WEEK 1

WEEK 3

WEEK 5

WEEK 6


Congratulations to Leah!
And thanks to everyone who participated. We had a blast, and we hope you did too!

We're thrilled to announce our newest eBook, created in partnership with bigpicturescrapbooking.com!

It's fun, it's fabulous, it's freeing, and it's affordable! And with Stacy Julian as the author, how could it not be wonderful? Get your copy today.

We asked a couple of our Ella Friends to create projects inspired by our newest eBook, and you're going to LOVE them:

• * Go check out what the adorable Noel Culbertson has to say about this eBook, and get yourself a FREE download while you're at it!
• * Read all about Barb Wong's journey to discovering her own, unique brand of creativity, and check out her classy "Live, Play, Create" notebook.
• * Enjoy the FIVE LAYOUTS that Katie Scott was inspired to create after reading a sneak peek copy of UR2 Cre8ive!
• * Find out how a light-switch cover tutorial from Stacy's book lightens Tami Morrison's room AND her mood!
• * Get inspired by Monica McNeill's creative use of crayon wrappers on a layout about her son's coloring adventures.

We'd like to give a free copy of this eBook away to one random reader of The Daily Parade! Leave a comment on this post that answers this question: When you feel the most creative, where are you, what are you doing, and who are you with? (e.g., "I'm in the kitchen whipping up a meal, surrounded by my children." or "I'm alone in my scrapbook room with Ingrid Michaelson blasting on the radio.") Go ahead, spill it!

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.

Happy Monday!

Wendy and Angie are having a grand old time in our first big brainstoming session of the year. To kick things off, we decided to do a li'l video for ya'll to introduce Wendy to the Ella parade officially. Yay Wendy!

Let us be the first to apologize that this video is 10 minutes long, but there ARE cute shots of Angie's new puppy in the video, so for that reason only, it's worth watching!

AND, if you persevere through the entire video (honor system) and leave us a comment, we will pick TWO lucky winners who will receive either a copy of Quick & Creative Quizzes, by Wendy Smedley and Angie Lucas, or Quiz Printables by Cathy Zielske. Worth it? We think so.

Also, Wendy and Angie will be teaching a class based on this best-selling eBook at CHA in Anaheim! To register, click here and scroll down to Quick & Easy Quizzes (W0707). The class is Friday, January 22, at 5:00 p.m. Hope to see you there.

A warm welcome to Wendy!
**eBook drawing closed 1/13/10**

Angie Lucas is thrilled to announce that she has assumed the position of President and CEO of Ella Publishing Co.

In the last 9 months, while Ella was in various stages of gestation, Angie has worn a lot of different hats in her role as President and co-founder. She’s excited to discover that her head is big enough (in circumference, but NOT in ego) to add another hat or two to the pile. And she’ll continue to rely on her team of experts (Cathy the Zielske, Rachel the Copy Editor, Trav the Web Genius, Brad & Maeve the Photographers, Joe the Programmer, Liz the Submissions Gal, the Talented Ella Friends, etc.) in bringing you the finest assortment of scrapbooking eBooks on the planet.


Angie Lucas wearing hats, some of which are more attractive than others.


Wendy Smedley, who was Angie’s partner in crime for 5 years at Simple Scrapbooks magazine, has joined the Ella Publishing Co. creative team, bringing with her literally hundreds of ideas (233 to be exact) for how she can help Ella Publishing Co. continue to thrive and grow. Wendy was creative editor at Simple Scrapbooks magazine for 8 years, and she’s the author of three books (her most recent is to be published in fall 2010) and the co-author of one eBook. Wendy is a 10-year veteran of the scrapbooking industry, having been involved in everything from retail sales to teaching to magazine publishing to product development.


Angie and Wendy teaching at a scrapbook retreat in 2006 and filming DVDs in 2008.


Lain Ehmann, co-founder and former CEO of Ella Publishing Co., has transitioned to the role of an Ella Friend, and she’ll continue working alongside nine fellow scrapbookers that she hand-selected to spread the good news of Ella far and wide. We’re happy we can continue to partake of Lain’s talents, and Lain’s happy to be participating on a smaller scale, with a time commitment that’s more suited to her family’s current needs.


Angie and Lain one year ago, while in the early planning stages of Ella Publishing Co. (Photo by Tina Cockburn)

Please join us in wishing everyone great success in their new roles!

~Ella

p.s. Although the company name was formed by spelling the founders’ initials backwards (Ehmann Lain Lucas Angie = ELLA), there are no plans to rename our mascot “LA” or “AL,” neither of which are good names for an adorable female elephant.

Yesterday, we sent a special coupon code to all the members of our e-mail list, inviting them to save 10 percent on their entire purchase at Ella Publishing Co. What a great way to celebrate the arrival of 2010!

Did YOU get the e-mail?

If not, click here to add your name to the list! Then come back and leave a comment on this blog post TODAY (Tuesday) to let me know that you've just signed up, and I'll send you the code directly. Now you may have come across this code already on Twitter or FaceBook, and that's just fine by me, but if you want ME to give it to you, I'm going to make you work for it.

This exclusive sale ends Wednesday, so now's the time to buy that eBook you've had your eye on for a while.

Happy 2010!

(We can't emphasize enough how happy we are that 2009 is over. It just feels like the time is ripe for a fresh start. Are you feeling it too? Potential, possibilities, hope, exciting new eBooks...bring 'em on!)

We are thrilled to announce our three lucky winners from the Log Your Memory contest we held last year. (Well, it was just a few days ago, but that counts as last year!)

Random.org selected the following completely random winners:
Commenter #94, Mrs.D, whose favorite memory from 2009 was the celebration of her daughter's first birthday. She'll receive one copy of the 2010 Log Book in her choice of perfect or spiral bound.

Commenter #48, LeAnne, whose favorite memory from 2009 was singing carols at a rest home during her first Oklahoma blizzard. She'll receive one copy of "List My Life."

Commenter #37, Olbas, whose favorite memory from 2009 was seeing Machines des Iles at Nantes in France, which included a LIFE-SIZED WOODEN ELEPHANT. We are jealous. He'll receive a free download of any existing downloadable book in Log Your Memory's on-site store.

Congratulations winners! You'll receive an email from us very shortly. Happy New Year!

Do you ever wish you had a personal scrapbooking coach who sat on your shoulder, reminding you to jot down the cute thing your kiddo just said, to keep track of the inspiring color combo you saw at the paint store, or to just give you a good, swift kick in the heinie to get you started scrapbooking again?

Well, it may not be possible to hire someone to carry your cropping bag and take notes, but you can have your own personal carry-with-you reminder... it's the Scrapbooker's All-in-One Memory Log Book from Kristin Rutten at Log Your Memory.

From worksheets documenting the prices of common items, to weekly challenges, to oodles of space to record your thoughts and memories on a daily basis, the Log Book is the answer to a busy scrapper's prayers! As soon as I opened the package and started leafing through the 392 pages, my heart started a'pitta patting!

Admittedly, I'm addicted to calendars and journals, so this feeds right into my addiction... but even if you don't own six at a time and switch them out, you'll still love the versatility of the Log Book. You can use as much or as little as you like -- leave it on the kitchen counter to record thoughts during the day, or stash it in your nightstand for end-of-the-day downloading.

Her website also includes workshops and classes, a community board, and fun blog!

Now, you're probably wondering why I'm getting you all excited about this book... and here's why: Kristin has generously offered three prizes to Ella readers:

1. One copy of the 2010 Log Book in your choice of perfect or spiral bound
2. One copy of "List My Life" (which you know I adore... I'm all about lists!)
3. A free download of any existing downloadable book in their on-site store

All you have to do is leave a comment on this post telling us your favorite memory of 2009 (don't have one? Make one up!). Hurry, though - contest ends at Midnight 12/31!

Just a quick update this holiday week...

Image from here.

The winner of the Elizabeth Dillow class is Paula Gilarde:

The winner of the Fiskars punches is Lisa Hausmann:

Email me at comments at ellapublishing dot com to claim your goodies!

We are so excited to announce our latest eBook, A Year in the Life: Scrapbook your year in 24 simple layouts from the Write.Click.Scrapbook. collective! Tons of two-page spreads, digi and paper-based layouts, and multi-photo designs galore!

In celebration of this amazing eBook (can you say 23 designers, 24 layouts, 174 photos???), we've got not one but TWO giveaways this week. And we all know that the only thing better than ONE giveaway is TWO (or more, but let's not get carried away, folks...).

First off, the darling Ms. Elizabeth Dillow is teaching an abfab four-week workshop, Inspiration Defined, over at Big Picture Scrapbooking. If you don't know EDillow, you should! She's the co-founder of Write.Click.Scrapbook., the author of the Scrapbooker's Almanac, a former contributing editor at Simple Scrapbooks magazine, and the mom of three adorable girls (and wife of one adorable guy). She is simply inspiring all on her little lonesome, and I think it would be worth the class fee to just be able to bask in her reflected glory and perhaps touch the hem of her raiment. But knowing Elizabeth, she's got all sorts of amazing stuff planned for her students! And if you want to be one of them... we're offering one seat in this upcoming workshop for a lucky Ella reader.
 
To enter: Leave us a comment on this blog post, telling us what website(s) you go to for inspiration. Giveaway closes Friday at midnight-ish.