1. An Ella Publishing eBook was featured in Utah's largest newspaper, The Salt Lake Tribune, on Sunday! My mother-in-law Beverly (who is my main Source for Breaking News, Weather & Sports) called immediately to alert me of the mention. Click here to see the story.



2. Ella Friend Moon Ko sent me the most adorable handmade elephant pincushion in the mail! I think everyone should have one. I blogged about this at my Yeah, Write blog today too, because I want everyone to know how awesome Moon is. Thanks friend!



3. Alert reader Leah McLean, who lives in Brussels, Belgium, sent this cool photo from the Royal Museum for Central Africa. Wooden elephant sculptures? In the immortal words of Liz Lemon from 30 Rock, "I want to go to there!"


Elephants rule.

Stacy Julian, who is authoring an eBook on creativity for February (hurray!) mailed me this fun magazine clipping when she sent in her projects to be photographed:

I just had to share! How cool are those paperclips?

And shortly after we finalized our brand colors and logo, I spotted this beauty at IKEA, which now holds a place of honor in my office:

Three cheers for elephants!

On another note, I hope my fellow Americans are having a fantastic Martin Luther King, Jr., Day! In parting, I'd like to share two of my favorite quotes from Dr. King:

"Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that."

"Every man must decide whether he will walk in the light of creative altruism or in the darkness of destructive selfishness."

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.

Lain and I are both members of the Write. Click. Scrapbook. inspiration collective, and it's been a blast connecting with all of the talent and creativity of the 32 awesome members of the group over the past year. In fact, we even put together an amazing eBook all together, which goes on sale TOMORROW! (The Super Spreads article from our latest eZine gives you a little sneak peek.)

Well, the powers that be over at Write. Click. Scrapbook. put together a fun Secret Santa exchange among the group members, and you are going to LOVE the incredibly thoughtful gift that I received:

Come on! Isn't that sweet? A little handmade flip calendar, filled with pictures of something meaningful to the recipient...what could be better? And you know, I suspect mine came from miss Aly Dosdall.

Just had to share!

On this cold and blustery Monday morning (where I live anyway), I'd like to share some fun Winter projects that were submitted by Ella readers this month through our submissions page! These were all top runners up for our January Scrapbook Ellaments eZine (for the cover and for the Editors' Corner), and while I'd love nothing more than to feature every great project I see in the eZine, I figured the blog is the next best venue!

Journaling close-up:

Supplies: patterned paper (Collage Press, Scenic Route, October Afternoon,Basic Grey, Jillibean Soup, Luxe) + rub ons (Hambly) + chipboard (American Crafts) + letter stickers (American Crafts) + pen (American Crafts)

A Note from Scrapbooker Sherry Steveson:
"My favorite part of the holidays is the excuse to bake. When I took these photos of all my favorite holiday treats, I decided to approach the page with a little bit of humor. Journaling about the requirements of the holidays allowed me to share a few of my favorite (and not so favorite) parts of the season."

Supplies: patterned paper (Basic Grey, Ki Memories, K & Company) + Plain white card (used plain and printed over with blue on Canon Inkjet) + Chipboard ( Cosmo Cricket) + Grungeboard (Tim Holtz) + Acrylic Paint (DecoArt) + Texture Paste (Dale Rowney) + Pearl Pigment (Ranger) + Acrylic Gems (Paperchase, Robins Nest) + Embossing Folder (Cuttlebug) + Punch (Martha Stewart) + Dies (Spellbinders Nestabilities) + Buttons (own stash) + Fonts (Trebuchet, Zapfino)

A Note from Scrapbooker Paul Browning:
"The reason I made the layout was to have a record of my creative silliness during last year’s seasonal festivities. At a local crop, for the Christmas party, we were challenged with a competition to craft a Christmas  hat. I wanted to make an impact and so designed and constructed the campest snowman ever to be adorned. It was all produced from recycling too, so he’s a 'green' snowman. He is replete with glittered hat, large Elton John-style glasses, Madonna’s conical brassiere, hot red lips, and a tinsel boa. It didn’t win but it certainly gave everyone a laugh and added to the general daftness of the day."
Note: Paul is from the U.K., and this explanation is all the more charming (especially the word "daftness") when read with an internal British accent.
 

Supplies: cardstock (Bazzill), patterned paper, ribbon, brads (Making Memories),
snowflake die cut (Cuttlebug), glitter (Great Impressions)

Supplies: cardstock, stamps, ribbon, ink (Stampin' Up!), adhesive (craft supply)

A Note from Card Creator Tara Liddicoat:
"I have been making my own cards for about 8 years now, after attending a Stampin' Up! workshop put on by a friend in 2001.  Since then, my paper obsession has snowballed, with me making cards for my personal use, as well as for sale to colleagues, and my mother has me make all of her cards as well! I love to use 'non-traditional' colours for my Christmas cards, and the girls from my classes will tell you I have never met any Christmas bling that I didn't like. I think I quite possibly have every Christmas embellishment and paper Making Memories has ever made, and my Basic Grey, Stampin' Up! and Imaginisce collections are growing rapidly."

Fun, fun, fun!

Keep an eye out for our next round of page calls, which will go up sometime after Christmas.

 

After a weekend-long turkey coma, we're back and we're ready to have some fun! (Betcha didn't know elephants eat turkey. Well, this elephant is exceptional in more ways than one.)

First of all, make sure to pop in to this blog on Wednesday for a fun giveaway from our friends at Hambly. It's December—who couldn't use some free stuff?

Secondly, we're as busy as Santa's elves trying to finish our December issue of Scrapbook Ellaments, which is always free, and which goes live this Thursday. This issue marks the unveiling of our very first reader-submitted cover layout! The designer's initials are J.B., and we're blown away by her talent! Here's a scrambled sneak peek of the winning design:

This issue will also include:

• three adorably easy handmade gifts rounded up by Tami Morrison
• awesome tips for two-page layout design from the talented Autumn Baldwin
• Paula Gilarde's simple tips for including digi elements on paper pages
• inspiring crafty Christmas cards sent in by Ella readers
• a special, limited-time discount exclusively for readers of Scrapbook Ellaments

And thirdly, before we head off to our secret workshop, we just have to say THANK YOU for the amazing response to our Black Friday sale last weekend! We offered 20% off anything and everything in the store for three days only (Wed through Fri), and we announced the sale exclusively to our email list. Are you getting our emails? If not, click here and add your name to our list, so you won't miss our next special event.

Before we go, may we ask you just one little question? If you bought a little something during our exclusive sale, what was it and why? (e.g., you've been meaning to give "eBook title here" a try for some time now, and this was just the incentive you needed). Pray tell.

Here's to another fun-filled week ahead!

Our mascot might be an elephant, but at Ella Publishing Co., we are definitely non-partisan! No matter where you fall on the political spectrum, we encourage you to take a moment to thank the men and women who are serving in the United States military.

As scrabookers, we know the value of family, and the value of the written word. That's why we're proud co-sponsors of Scrappers Give Thanks, a challenge this holiday season in partnership with Operation Write Home.



How it works

Help a soldier keep in touch with family and friends by making one, two or twelve blank-inside greeting cards using digital or paper scrapbook supplies. Follow the instructions and you’ll be entered to win fabulous prizes on Thanksgiving, November 26, 2009.

Get more information here.

Today, I'm blogging from far-away Wyoming (Cheyenne, to be exact), where the weather is frightful and the locals blurt out things like "Yep!" loudly when they approve of what's happening on stage. (Well, at least one local did in the rousing Tap Dogs show we attended last night!)

I'm here visiting my friend Elizabeth Dillow (ever heard of her?) with my friend Wendy Smedley (ever heard of her?). Yes, that was an Andy Bernard (from The Office) impersonation gone wrong, and I apologize. Anyway, we're having the best time. We're scrapbooking, chatting, enjoying each other's company, and getting lots of "girl" time. There are six girls alone in the house all day, ranging in age from 2 to 40, so you can imagine the fun Me, Elizabeth, Wendy, Maddie, Gracie, and Bridget are having.

Gracie is on the left, and Maddie is on the right:

When I arrived in my room yesterday, I found this note on my pillow from Maddie:

And this picture (Elmo and an "Elmo bird") awaited me this morning from Gracie:

These sweet gestures got me thinking...what is the nicest thing that's been done for you lately? Or, what's the nicest thing you've done for someone else? Make a scrapbook page about it! If you really do it, please send your layout to submissions@ellapublishing.com with "How Nice" in the subject line so we can appreciate it too (and possibly post it on our blog). One thing we love about scrapbooking is that is one of the best ways we know of appreciating everyday joys.

Happy Tuesday!

p.s. Dark photos were taken with my iPhone and are not representative of my typical photography skills (but almost).

Lain and I both got a happy surprise in the mail last week!

It really is the small and simple things that can put a smile on your face, like the fact that someone far away is thinking of you and cares enough to follow through on a moment of inspiration.

Stacy Julian, one of the busiest and most productive people we know, sent Lain and I each an adorable elephant notebook in the mail, out of the blue. How thoughtful! And it's not like she doesn't have a lot going on in her life, with a recent teaching trip to Japan and the launch of stacyjulian.com! This is a woman who practices what she preaches when it comes to spreading joy and happiness.

We'd like to pay Stacy's kindness forward! We're going to send a bit of "happy mail" to a random blog commenter or two this week. You can comment today, tomorrow, any day this week and we'll browse through the comments, pick someone who seems like they could use some happy mail (which is EVERYONE!) and send out something that will make you smile.

Today's comment topic: if you were in charge of Ella and you could pick our next eBook author and/or topic, who or what would it to be?

As you may have noticed, our little blog got an extreme makeover. (Can you tell I got a little "work" done? The trunk job was by far the worst part, but it was so worth it. Don't I look cute in our new banner?) But we're happy to report that the blog finally matches the rest of the website—unlike so many celebrity plastic surgery hack jobs, where the face looks 15 years younger (and also eerily resembles a turtle) but that saggy old neck is a dead giveaway. Not that I, as an elephant, have anything against saggy old necks...

Okay, let's take a little tour!
Over on the left, you'll see a convenient list of links, where you can make sure you're getting my free newsletter, following me on Twitter and Facebook, and reading Ella's latest news in your favorite blog reader (Bloglines, Google Reader, what have you). It's also easier than ever to view recent posts, browse by categories, browse by author, etc.

Over on the right, you'll see... (crickets chirping). Yes, at the moment that column is blank, but if you'll just check back later Monday night, you'll be able to partake of our often hilarious, occasionally educational, but always entertaining weekly poll!

In other news, the surprise package announced in our Mail Day! post arrived safe and sound on Katy Jorgensen's doorstep! Her daughters are loving the plush elephant, while Katy is loving the copy of 40 Top Tips for Better Photos she purchased on September 1, just minutes after the Ella website was born.

A direct quote from Katy: "Thank you for the Rebecca Cooper eBook. I just love her!" So do we, Katy. So do we.