My husband and I have started a bi-weekly date night, during which he invariably pulls out his Blackberry and snaps a shot of us. I thought it would be fun to put together a mini book to document all our dates. I created four templates, each with a different marriage quote at the bottom. (My favourite is "I have gaps, you have gaps. We fill each others' gaps." from the movie Rocky.)

Since every date is different, I picked out a bunch of different papers from my scrap pile to use as the background for each page. (Boy, was THAT satisfying to clear 20 pieces out of my scrap drawer!) A quick title, a few binder rings and I'm done!

A few notes:
- The photo size is really small, but for a Blackberry photo is was big enough for me. If you think you will have nicer shots, just put a 4X6 on the facing page, and perhaps use the 2.5X2.5 spot for some ephemera. This could be the business card of the restaurant, movie tickets, or receipts.( I think I'm going to put an envelope on the back page for my ephemera.) You could also use that space for an embellishment or punch.
- This photo is pretty crappy quality, right? Do I care? No! Our two big heads are in the picture, and that's all that matters. Our my kids aren't going to care 20 years ago about the quality of the photo. They'll just want to see Mom and Dad on a date.
-One more thing I plan to attach is a list of ideas for future dates. That way whenever we're told about a good restaurant, or a good show, we can add it to the list.

Supplies: Chipboard (DCWV), Patterned Paper (Collage Press, October Afternoon), Letters (Collage Press, Harmonie, Jenni Bowlin Studios), Stickers (Making Memories)

To see more of guest bloger Lisa Kisch's work, visit her blog!

When we heard about these adorable projects that Ella Friend Noel Culbertson and her darling girls whipped up last week, we had to have Noel share her tips with our readers. Noel graciously wrote the following tutorial:

My girls love giving gifts to everyone they can think of, and even more they love making Christmas crafts for them. But the holiday season is a flurry of activity, and Christmas is just a few days away so what we all really need are some super speedy, yet thoughtful, crafty gift ideas. With only a few supplies, most of which you probably have on hand, you and yours will be whipping up sweet gifts and warm memories in no time at all.

Handmade Notepad


My Supplies: cardstock (Stampin Up), patterned paper (October Afternoon), binding (Bind it All), adhesive (Tombo Monoadhesive)

Supplies:
Plain printer paper cut width wise into three strips, 8.5 x 3.5" each. (I just grabbed a stack and cut it up, until I had my desired size stack.)
Chipboard or cardboard for the two covers 8.5 x 3.5 (I used the backing from a patterned paper stack.)
Patterned paper and various supplies for decorating the cover
Wire, ribbon or key rings for binding

Decorate one of the chipboard covers, keeping bulky decorations away from the top 1/3 of the cover. This makes punching holes for the binding much easier. Punch holes for the binding in all layers. I used a Bind it All, but a cropadile or hole punch would work well also. Just make sure your holes line up on all layers. Add wire, ribbon, key rings, etc for your binding... and wallah! You're finished. For thoughtful variations, the interior paper can be changed to fit the recipient. Try construction paper for the little ones, watercolor or sketch paper for the artist you love, even lined for the aspiring author or graph paper for the mathematician in your midst.

Sweet Treat Goody Bags


My Supplies: cardstock, bag and die cut (Stampin Up), pipecleaner, wiggly eye and pom poms (Creatology)

Supplies:
Clear cellophane or zipper bag
Kraft or brown cardstock
Red pom poms
Wiggly eyes
Brown pipe cleaners

Cut kraft colored cardstock with a die cut machine, and fold in half. (Alternatively, cut a square of cardstock long enough to cover the top of your bag, and fold in half diagonally to make a triangle.) Add the wiggly eyes and pom pom nose with tacky glue. Punch two small holes along the folded edge for the antlers. Feed the pipe cleaners through the holes, and twist on smaller pieces to make antlers. Attach topper to your treat filled bag with double stick tape or even staples... and presto! A double homemade treat filled gift.

Ribbon Bookmark


My Supplies: lace (Jo-Ann Fabrics), clear ribbon (Maya Road), metal ribbon clasps and bead (Blue Moon)

Supplies:
Ribbon, cut to about 9 inches long, or to the length plus 3 inches, of the recipient's favorite book
Metal ribbon clasps (found in the bead section of most craft stores)
Jump rings (the little round things that attach beads to jewelry, mine came with the ribbon clasps)
Bead(s)
Pliers

With pliers tighten a ribbon clasp to each end of the ribbon. I used two pieces of ribbon layered together. I used beading pliers with a soft surface, but household pliers will work. Just cover the ridges on the pliers with a small piece of duct tape. Add a jump ring and a bead... and Sim Sala Bim! (Yep, I'm running out of magic words here.) You've got a beautiful keepsake for the readers in your life.

Today at Ella we are THRILLED (beyond thrilled, actually, but we couldn't think of a word for that -- uber-thrilled?) to have talented digital scrapbook designer Liz Tamanaha of Paislee Press as a guest blogger! Liz has created a super-quick, super-easy, super-cute project that's suitable for any level of digital skill, from non-existent to extra-sassy! Read on for more fun...

Are your favorite moments and memories scattered all over the place?

Why not gather them up and put them in a mini-album?

I know what you're thinking: Who has the time, especially around the holidays? This album is such a breeze to put together, you can complete it in a matter of hours, even in the midst of the busy holiday season. That's right! If I (a.k.a. The Slowest Scrapbooker Ever) can pull this off, YOU most definitely can, too! It's a simple mini-album with a whole lot of heart: A collection of your favorite photos of the year and why you are thankful for these moments, in three easy steps:

1. Pick 10-12 of your favorite photos from this year.

2. Jot down why you are thankful for the moment or memory that the photo depicts.

3. Put the photo and the corresponding journaling side-by-side in the album.

Your top ten moments of the year are now all gathered in one place. Mission accomplished! (For more photos of the album I created, go here.)

This is as close to an "All About Me" book as I'm ever going to get! I'm thinking of doing one of these every year around Thanksgiving time. It'll be neat a few years from now to look through this collection of thankful moments and see how things have changed (or remained the same).

To make this project even easier for you, here is the journaling template I created to make the album. (Note: The template is available as both a .png and a layered .psd file so you can customize it to your heart's content!)

If you're new to digital scrapbooking and Photoshop, never fear! Check out the tutorial below. Go grab the free journaling template and come back here to follow along as I walk you through the basics of how to create your first journaling page in Photoshop. You'll be pleasantly surprised to discover how easy and fun it is! (Note: This tutorial will work with Photoshop and most recent versions of Photoshop Elements. Don't have PSE? You can download a free trial version here!)

HOW TO USE THE JOURNALING TEMPLATE: A PHOTOSHOP TUTORIAL

1. Open the Quick Page.
Open the quick page in Photoshop (File > open > navigate to where you saved paislee-iamthankful-white.png, select it, and click OPEN. Mac users: simply drag the paislee-iamthankful-white.png icon and drop it onto the Photoshop icon found on your navigation bar).

Your screen should look something like this now:

2. Add Your Text
Select your text tool.

Click on the file and drag your mouse to create your text box. Once you get the shape/size you want, release your mouse button.

Once you release your mouse, you will see a blinking line (that is your text cursor). Begin typing. Use the text tools at the top of the navigation bar to change text properties (font, size, color, etc.).

3. Customizing Text Color with the Eyedropper Function.
Here's what the page looks like so far with my journaling. It looks fine, but I think it would look better with a bit of color. I'm going to make the date and the first sentence red to match the heart. You can get exact color matches very easily in Photoshop using the eyedropper tool (this is one of my very favorite functions in Photoshop!).

HIGHLIGHT the text you want to color, then click on the Color Swatch Box at the top of the navigation bar. A color pop-up window will appear, and your mouse icon should now look like an eyedropper. Click on the heart and the color will change to red, as easy as that!

Click OK to confirm the color change. Your journal box should look something like this now. And your page is done! If this is your very first Photoshop creation, CONGRATULATIONS! There's just one last step...

4. Last Step: Saving the Layout
To save the layout, I recommend saving several versions: One as a .psd file (with the layers) so that you can go back and modify the layout, and a flattened .jpg version (a high-res file for printing, and a low-res file for posting online).

Saving the file as an editable .psd file:
FILE > SAVE AS > name of file.psd (make sure the file extension is .psd!)

Saving the layout for print:
1. Flatten your layout file: LAYERS > FLATTEN
2. Save the file as a high-resolution .jpg file: FILE > SAVE AS > name of file.jpg (quality = 10)
3. Save the file as a low-resolution .jpg file: FILE > SAVE AS > name of file.jpg (quality = 3)

For more information on saving files and file formats, check out this article in the October issue of Scrapbook Ellaments.

We are now accepting submissions for our January Scrapbook Ellaments issue! When we're looking for layouts for our eZine, we'll always notify you here on the blog but also on our submissions page. Start thinking...the deadline for both of these calls is December 1!

Submit to: Sketches Article

Deadline: Tuesday, December 1, midnight EST

To help celebrate our upcoming sketches eBook in January, we'd love to feature your sketch-inspired layouts in Scrapbook Ellaments that month! Our article will focus on fun strategies for adapting a single-page sketch to a layout spread. So pick ONE of the two sketches you see above, and adapt it to a two-page layout design. Whether you flip the sketch and make your second page a mirror image of the first, rotate one page or the other, spread the existing design across two pages, or just copy the design from page one onto page two...we want to see your best ideas! (Digital pages and 8½ x 11 adaptations are welcome.)

Email your submissions to submissions@ellapublishing.com with "Sketches Article" in the subject line! Preference will be given to nicely photographed or scanned cards, so click here and scroll down to "Increase Your Chances" for guidelines. In the body of your email, please explain how you were inspired, and include a complete materials list, formatted like this: patterned paper (American Crafts) + letter stickers (BoBunny) + buttons (BasicGrey) + Tahoma font + 5 x 7 digital card by Shiloh Jolie-Pitt. Chosen designers will win a free Ella eBook of their choice.

Submit to: Ella Inspirations January

Deadline: December 1, midnight EST

Yes, we want to see your Ella Inspirations any time of year, but we especially want to see them right now! We'll be devoting our January Editors' Corner article to showcasing your projects—any layout, card, or other piece that was inspired by something you read or saw in Scrapbook Ellaments or in one of our eBooks.

Email your submissions to submissions@ellapublishing.com with "Ella Inspirations January" in the subject line! Preference will be given to nicely photographed or scanned cards, so click here and scroll down to "Increase Your Chances" for guidelines. In the body of your email, please explain how you were inspired, and include a complete materials list, formatted like this: patterned paper (American Crafts) + letter stickers (BoBunny) + buttons (BasicGrey) + Tahoma font + 5 x 7 digital card by Shiloh Jolie-Pitt. Chosen designers will win a free Ella eBook of their choice.

If you're like us, you love a good mini-album. They're easy to create, fun to look at, and a great way to use up all your odds and ends -- as well as the perfect place to experiment with new techniques and products. Board books are a great starting place for mini-albums, as they're already sturdy, bound, and ready for action.

Today's Product Showcase is sponsored by the maker of some of the highest-quality board books we've found: Board Book Albums!

The blank books come in a variety of base colors (which means you can get right to decorating and embellishing if you don't want to paint or cover the background). And each page is pre-cut with a slot for photos - complete with built-in page protectors! That means these books are ideal for little hands with sticky fingers. :)

Our Ella Friends went to board book town and came back with some gorgeous projects. First up, from Noel Culbertson. She covered the plain pages with patterned paper and added lots of bling and flowers for a sophisticated look:

Supplies: patterned paper and cardstock stickers (Glitz Designs) + letter stickers (American Crafts) + flowers (Prima and Tattered Angels) + rhinestone Brad (Stampin Up) + rhinestone flourish (Prima)  + boardbook project by Noel Culbertson

Next, Monica McNeill created a completely different look with the same book. Her use of a subtle color scheme is perfect for that cute little baby! She says, "The white Take Your Pix Board Book Album was perfect for a set of pictures I took of my now 5 year old son when he was only 8 months. I had struggled using them before because there were too many full size pictures for even a two page layout. The 4x6 slots allowed me to easily drop in my pictures and coordinating cardstock.  I wanted to keep the book primarily white to set a clean canvas for my black & white pictures.  I loved that I didn't have to add much to this album, and it showcases these special pictures perfectly."

Here's a close-up of the letter stickers she applied to the plain white cover for a tone-on-tone effect:

Jodie McNally, our digital designer, was willing to take the paper challenge! "It was super easy once I got moving on it. I just created a digital template of the cover and the pages, made my digi layout, printed it, and cut out the middle rectangle so the plastic sleeve showed through. Then I attached the page and trimmed around the rounded edges and tab." Way to adjust to the format, girlfriend!

Here's a close-up of the digital journaling:

Supplies: digital papers and elements (falling for {retro} digital kit by paislee press at oscraps.com) + date stamp (date me no. 2 by paislee press at oscraps.com) + overjoyed word art (presslines no. 7 by paislee press at oscraps.com) + fiskars tape runner + font (courier new) + pink striped ribbon sticker (baby girl kit by heidi grace designs) + board book + by Jodie McNally

Next, Katie Scott created this little eclectic masterpiece about her two children. By leaving the background white and adding a fun assortment of embellishments, she's created a totally different vibe. How fun is this?

Finally, from the Great White North, our own Barb Wong submitted the following loveliness (she says she has "trouble" with board books, but we think she's just being modest). Again, the same basic book with a bright palette makes a completely different feel. Barb says, "I LOVE the idea that I can change the size of photo I use by covering the whole page with patterned paper and cutting a different sized window for the photo. LOVE that!"

Now, it's your turn! Tell us in the comments what you would do with one of these awesome board books, and we'll choose one winner to receive a Take Your Pix album like these! Contest closes Friday at Midnight Pacific time.

Because it's just "that time of year," I thought I'd share a few tips on quick card-making. (Note: this is more for one-off cards than for mass-produced holiday cards. If you want some helpful hints on creating your holiday cards, please read Celeste Smith's awesome article, Quick Christmas Cards.)

Stick with me here... follow along, step by step, and you too can amaze your friends and wow your enemies with four hand-crafted cards in twenty minutes!

Step One: 3 Minutes: Gather Your Supplies

(2) sheets 12x12 cardstock
(1) sheet coordinating patterned paper (scraps are fine... you'll see two sheets in the photo because I wasn't sure which I was going to use yet)
Assorted embellishments
Basics: trimmer, adhesive, glue dots, etc.

Step Two: 1 Minute: Trim

Cut each sheet of 12x12 cardstock to 8.5 x 11, and then in half to 5.5 x 4.25 (this is standard card size). SAVE THE SCRAPS.

Step Three: 2 Minutes: Choose a Format
I like to peruse online galleries and sites like Card Positioning Systems to find a good template. This is also a great time to leaf through any magazines or idea books you've created or purchased. Warning: DO NOT GET SIDETRACKED! Find the first "do-able" design and go with it. The point here is speed, not perfection. :) Also, remember that these cards are not all going to the same person, so you can repeat the card design.

Here is the one I chose (from CPS):

This was designed by Tami Mayberry.

Step Four: 1 Minute: Fold Cards.

I like to vary the edging a little, trimming some with my pinking shears, rounding the corners on others. But you could easily leave them all the same (and save yourself, oh, 30 seconds!)

Step Five: 3 Minutes: Trim Elements.
This is where it's really easy to get lost in the possibilities. DON'T SUCCUMB TO TEMPTATION! Stay the course. For instance, I decided to do three horizontal orientation cards and one vertical, so I trimmed three scraps of patterned paper (or cardstock) to 5.5", and one to 4.25" (actually a tad less because I trimmed the edge).

Then I cut four coordinating squares, at 1.5 x 1.5". Don't worry -- you'll have time to embellish in a later step.

Step Six: 2 Minute: Adhere Basic Elements.

Go to it. Don't measure unless you'll freak if I tell you that you can't. See how I varied the placement of the elements a tad? You can mix it up or stay true to the original design.

Step Seven: 10 Minutes: Embellish!

Now you've got a full ten minutes to play! Pull out that stash of odds and ends you have lying around your scrap space, get your inks and stamps, whatever. But remember: You have an average of 2.5 minutes per card, that's it! (Note: My cards are purposely blank for the Scrappers Give Thanks challenge. This is where you'd add sentiments with stamps, stickers, or rub-ons.) I could go absolutely nuts at this stage, but I specifically kept it simple. I would say I spent maybe five minutes digging through my stash and adding a few rub-ons and some really cute Details dimensional stickers from American Crafts.

Step Eight: With Any Leftover Time: Admire Your Handiwork!
Aren't you proud of yourself? I'm proud of you!

Do you have any card-making tips? Do tell!

Here at Ella, we're all in favor of scrapping green. And if you can do that while still creating awesome projects, well, so much the better!

For today's Product Showcase, we've partnered with Creatively Green, the FIRST online store to specialize in eco-friendly scrapbooking and paper art supplies. How cool is that?

Creatively Green provided our talented Ella Friends with a sampling of their latest goodies, and just look what they created.

First off, from the talented Katrina Simeck. She says, "The Halloween Candy Shoppe Embellishment Kit was frightfully fun for these note cards. I wanted to highlight the glitter shapes, so I punched a circle in my patterned background to create a space for them. I added a corrugated punch, then layered the glittered embellishment on top. Simple & cute!" 

supplies: cardstock (Bazzill), patterned paper (American Crafts), corrugated punches, ribbon, and glittered shapes (Creatively Green), tools (Fiskars) 5" x 6" notecards by Katrina Simeck

 

Katrina also created this adorable monogrammed bookmark. "B is for BOOKS! Clay Artz Monograms are perfect for this handcrafted bookmark...so easy to put together. I created a tag-style bookmark from cardstock scraps (thinking green!), and punched the edges for extra detail. I then added a scrap of patterned paper, and adhered the Clay Artz monogram with glue dots. Ready to hit the books!"

supplies: cardstock (Bazzill), patterned paper (October Afternoon), Clay Artz Monogram (Creatively Green), tools (Fiskars) 3" x 8" bookmark by Katrina Simeck

Ella Friend Monica McNeill was overflowing with crafty ideas! She started with treat jars. "I recycled two jelly jars to make treat jars for my son's teachers. The glitter accents in the Halloween Fun Candy Shoppe Embellishment kit were easy to punch with my Crop-A-Dile & added such a cute touch. The variety of ribbons in the kit allowed for a coordinated but unique look," Monica says. 

supplies: Jelly Jars + Cardstock (Stampin' Up!) + Apron Lace Border Punch (Fiskars) + Frightful Collection Stamp Set (Little Yellow Bicycle) + Versamark Dazzle + Embossing Powder + Adirondack Dabber + Ribbon (Creatively Green) + Glitter Bat (Creatively Green) + Glitter Pumpkin (Creatively Green) + Sparkles (Creatively Green) + Candy Corn + Treat Jars by Monica McNeill

And then she created a super-cute layout that makes us giggle. "I loved the rich colors in the Clay Artz flowers and they complimented the hues in this picture of my son. This is one of my favorite pictues so I wanted to keep my layout focused on the picture. The flowers helped me add a bit of color and interest," Monica explains.

Supplies: Cardstock + Clay Flowers (Creatively Green) + Traveling Typewriter Font (Dafont) + Patterned Paper (Imaginisce) + Rub-On (Basic Grey) + Date Stamp + Apron Lace Border Punch (Fiskars) + Upper Crest Border Punch (Fiskars) + Scallop Sentiment Border Punch (Fiskars) + 8.5x11 Layout by Monica McNeill 

Next up, our digi girl Jodie McNally stepped away from the computer to create these cute projects, a door sign made with the help of her little girl, Lily:

and a goodie bag tag:

"I tried to keep with the whole 'Creatively Green' theme and recycle some items for use on the Boo to you! sign," says Jodie. "I used a piece from a packing box and covered it with a little scrap of my nephew's birthday wrapping paper.  All of the other pieces are from the Happy Halloween kit I got from Creatively Green.  Lily drew faces on the little clay pieces with a Sharpie. I stuck it all together with some two-sided foam tape I had lying around the house. The goody bag is for Lily's class.  We got the bags at Wal-Mart and the little tag is made from all Creatively Green stuff."

Angie Lucas is our next featured designer. She created a fun layout for her annual Christmas card album. "Using the cute Christmas clay accents from Creatively Green, I decorated a 7 x 7 mini scrapbook page that features my family Christmas card from 2007. This goes in an album I created a couple of years ago using manila envelopes. I put my family's Christmas card on the outside of the manila envelope and slip the favorite cards that I received that year into the envelope for safe keeping. The clay accents were perfect for this because they're slightly flexible and lightweight, so they'll stay put even when this album is handled!" Angie says.

Supplies: clay accents (Creatively Green) + patterned paper (Bella Blvd) + decorative border (Bazzill) + circle punch (Fiskars) + 7 x 7 layout by Angie Lucas

As if that weren't enough, she then turned her boundless creativity to cards... Angie says, "I created two greeting cards that were inspired by the Creatively Green "Music of the Night" accent pack. I found that the easiest way to adhere the clay accents (the glittery music note and heart) are with thin Glue Dots. The cards were fun and easy to create, and I can't wait to find a reason to give them away!" 

Take Note card

Supplies: glittery music note, silver ribbon (Creatively Green) + tiny letter stickers (Making Memories) + patterned paper + cardstock + scallop scissors + circle punch (Fiskars) + 4 1/4 x 5 1/2 card by Angie Lucas

Keys to my Heart card

Supplies: cardstock + piano keys brad, glittery heart (Creatively Green) + patterned paper + scalloped heart punch (Fiskars) + letter stickers (Sweetwater) + 4 1/4 x 5 1/2 card by Angie Lucas

Last but NEVER least, our adorable Katie Scott enlisted the help of her little one, Allison, to help out with the creation of some seasonal goodies. This Halloween layout was definitely a joint effort, Katie says! " Allison colored the transparencies with Sharpies, and she actually did the placement of the items in the lime green rectangle - including the circles. I was going to just put the four circles in a line but she insisted on adding the sparkly pumpkin in there. I think it's very cute." Cute, indeed!

For this November gratitude mini-book, Katie added the seasonal embellishments for an eye-catching tag.

Now, do you feel inspired to craft green? If so, we've got a deal for you! Comment on this post telling us your favorite project(s) listed here, and you will be entered to win a pack of Creatively Green goodies! You have until Friday morning, so go to it!