Hey Ella Loves you are in for a treat today!
Your submissions have been keeping me mesmerized and this month was no exception.
We had some amazing submissions and I can't wait to share my crush list with you.

First off is Nicole Pomeroy, with her layout "Old Soul"; second is Keshet Starr, with her card "Tweet"; third is Mindy Miller, with her layout " My Lens"; next is Hera Frei, with her layout "Sleep Over"; and last-but not least-is Diane Herman, with her layout "My Sister".

I attention was immediately pulled to Nicole's layout, "Old Soul". Not only is her daughter adorable, but I love the branch she used and all the texture she created by stacking paper behind her photo! You can find more wonderful layouts by Nicole at:

I love-love-love Keshet's ingenuity of using an amazing new product for such an outside the box project. Rose flower ribbon for a birds nest-pure genius! It makes me want to pull out my new ribbon shipment and get started. You can find Keshet's amazing talents at her blog.

I was absolutely drawn to the super cute baby grin on Mindy's page. I love that she took a different journaling perspective and talked about why we take photos. Not just because we love to look at them, but because we are capturing memories. Well said...well said indeed! Mindy will continue to inspire you at her blog.

Hera, my dear, I LOVE that you took me up on my quirky challenge and knocked it out of the park. I love the twist that you threw in with writing it from his point of view, but through your eyes...that is exactly what this challenge was about perspective! You can find more layouts from Hera at her Studio Calico gallery.

Diane's page with her daughters was so heartfelt...how could I not love it? I was enamored with the letter from her 18 year old daughter to her 6 year old daughter. It doesn't get much more tear-jerker...isn't that a moment that all parents dream of? I love it Diane, thanks for giving a whole different perspective on scrapping. Thanks for sharing Diane.

Lastly ladies, I wanted to leave you with a super quick page I made for my perspective layout challenge. It's about a time not too long after my husband and I had gotten married when he and his dad decided to go hunting and they didn't come home when they were supposed to. To make a long story short, they were fine and a little shocked that we had called search and rescue. It was a long scary night...that now makes for a hilarious story and scrap booking page.

I hope you all enjoy this months Liz's Loves, and that they inspire you to get creative...you never know, next month you might see your name on my crush list!

Hugs!
Liz

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Many of us scrapbookers like to listen to music or watch TV while we scrapbook. I enjoy listening to scrapbook chatter while I am scrapbooking and wanted to share with you awesome Ella blog readers what I recommend and please share what you listen to or watch.

* Paperclipping Roundtable

This show is a casual discussion between 3-6 scrapbookers who work in the industry (plus Izzy) and they cover topics from product trends to the latest news to IKEA. You can listen either in itunes or on via their webpage. However if you subscribe in itunes you are helping support them. (and it is still free)

* Listen to Stacy Julian talk about scrapbooking by color and other topics

* Former counselor turned paper crafter/scrapbooker Amy Coon hosts interviews with industry influencers and discusses  the most interesting topics

* and of course the Diva Craft Lounge is another favorite

*Creating Keepsakes magazine has started an informative and focused series, check it out

What else is out there that you listen to or watch?

Share!

I wanted to share with you some design ideas for creating a unique foundation on your page for your photos to reside.  It's a great way to begin a page because it gives your photos a "home"  and gives them a solid layer on which to build upon.  Obviously, a square of cardstock or patterned paper is the simplest way to create this base, but for the next three weeks I'm going to give you some out-of-the-box ideas using supplies you may not have thought of before.

Try PAINT as your foundation:

A super simple way to create a colorful background for your photos is to use paint.  For this page, I laid a piece of die-cut paper on my white cardstock and painted over it with magenta acrylic paint. Once the paint dried, I topped it with chipboard buttons and stitched a quick frame around it.  It makes an interesting and textured backdrop for my black& white photos.

Here's another example how a few swipes of paint can pack a bold punch on your page.  After adding the green paint, I stitched a grid and added a few scraps of patterned paper to place my photos upon.

For more fun tips and advice like this, make sure you pick up a copy of Design Workshop for just $5.99.

Play along with us this week (and come back next week for a new challenge!). To participate, add your layout using the link below. Each week, one person will win a copy of my book, Design Workshop. Contest closes Thursday after the post at midnight MST.

Welcome to week three of our challenge series.  Time to stretch your supplies, in particular your punches!

Join us for the last week of stretching as we get creative with our punches.
view week one here
view week two here

THIS WEEK'S CHALLENGE:
Do something with the negative space!


Can you find the negative space? I punched each photo with a heart shape and backed it with patterned paper. Next I added a number sticker that referred to the reference journaling on the left.

To participate, upload a layout that fits this week's challenge anywhere online (to your blog, to an online gallery, or to our BRAND NEW Flickr gallery). Then leave a comment on this post containing a link to your layout by Thursday, July 15 at midnight MST. One random participant each week will win a free copy of Eight is Enough!


AND, at the end of the three weeks, we'll pick two random participants from the entire challenge series who will each win an assortment of punches from EK Tools and Martha Stewart Crafts! Every layout you enter counts as one entry into the giveaway, so yes you can submit several different layouts in the same week, and the more times you enter, the greater the odds that you'll win!

EK Success Brands is giving away:

Dotted Circle Medium Punch 

Zig Zag Chain Edger Punch

For Sale Sign Large Punch

Bubbles Edger Punch

Martha Stewart Crafts is giving away:

Leaf Stamp and Punch

Medium Birthday Candles Punch

Garden Trellis Deep Edge Punch

Deco Fans Punch Around the Page Set

The Random Winner from Week 2 Was:

Commenter #11, teapot2angel, who added Shimmerz Spritz and a colored brad on her layered punched butterfly. Adorable!

Guest blogger Audrey Neal writes:

I've been a book lover for as long as I can remember; in fact, I'm lucky enough to say that some of my earliest memories involve books. And while I consider myself a gadget girl in many ways, switching to an e-reader has been one technological advance I'm not willing to take. Not only would I miss the familiar heft of a book in my hands, but I'd miss out on the amazing cover art that accompanies some of my favorite books.

Those same book covers have served as inspiration for my scrapbook pages time and again. Whenever I'm feeling uninspired, I browse my bookshelves and come away with so many great ideas. Let's take a peek at a couple of my favorite books and I'll show you what I mean.



Design style: This cover features a playful look with hand-drawn illustrations. You could easily achieve the same look with doodles -- either digital, stamped, or hand-drawn.

Technique: The cover artist created a neat effect by using negative space on the hillside to create the outline of a man. Punches give you the same look on your layouts, and clipping masks help you achieve the look with digital layouts.



Photo treatment: Get the same vibrant look for your photos with photo actions, or play around with overlays and textures to mimic the blurred background on the main image.

Typography: This funky font would look great handcut from cardstock or printed onto a subtly patterned paper. Create a block of color to back your title.

The opportunities for inspiration are endless. In fact, I've found that some of my most meaningful layouts have been strongly inspired by the books I'm currently reading and their covers. Here's one of my favorites:



I had just finished The Help and was moved so strongly by this story; I couldn't stop thinking about it, even as I moved on to other books. There was so much about the book that resonated so strongly with me, and in part I knew it was because of the relationship I had formed as a small girl with three older black women who worked at the restaurant my grandparents owned when I was younger. It wasn't long before I knew the story I wanted to tell, but I was having trouble coming up with the layout and style. That's when I turned to the book cover for help.



Color scheme: I pulled patterned papers from some of my favorite designers in the same purples and yellows of the book's cover. (Being able to recolor just about anything makes this really easy with digital scrapbooking!)

Visual element: The birds and birdcages helped me to think more symbolically about the story I was telling; while I never really discusss the idea of being caged by society's ideas about class and race, those ideas are hinted at with the images I chose.

After participating in a circle journal based on books and reading with a number of scrappers this past year, I wanted to continue and expand this idea of getting scrapbooking inspiration from the books I was reading. That's when The Open Book Challenges were born. Every other Monday, seven talented scrappers and I take turns offering up our latest reads for your scrapbooking inspiration. We offer a short review and then include a variety of challenges, both inspired by both the content and the design of the book. To play along, all you have to do is create a layout (digi, hybrid, or traditional), card, or other paper project of your choice (any style, any format) and post a link to it in the comments. That's it -- though we do welcome comments and discussion about the book as well.

Click here to see the current challenges we have posted, as well as short bios of our challenge team.

We've got a new challenge going live on Monday, July 12 -- we hope you'll stop by, check it out, and play along!

Welcome to week two of our challenge series.  Time to stretch your supplies, in particular your punches!

In the last two years the type, quality, and styles of punches have grown drastically. It is a tool that can be used in so many different ways. We, at Ella, were inspired by the inventive ways Nicole Harper, Stephanie Howell, and Kelly Noel  used punches on their layouts in Eight is Enough: Easy ways to stretch supplies and use leftovers, so we wanted to extend the inspiration to you!

Join us for three weeks of stretching as we get creative with our punches.

THIS WEEK'S CHALLENGE:
Add color and embellishments to your punched shapes



As you can see I used a butterfly punch and added bling and polka dots with a Sakura gel pen.



To participate, upload a layout that fits this week's challenge anywhere online (to your blog, to an online gallery, or to our BRAND NEW Flickr gallery). Then leave a comment on this post containing a link to your layout by Thursday, July 8 at midnight MST. One random participant each week will win a free copy of Eight is Enough!


AND, at the end of the three weeks, we'll pick two random participants from the entire challenge series who will each win an assortment of punches from EK Tools and Martha Stewart Crafts! Every layout you enter counts as one entry into the giveaway, so yes you can submit several different layouts in the same week, and the more times you enter, the greater the odds that you'll win! 

EK Success is giving away:

Dotted Circle Medium Punch

Zig Zag Chain Edger Punch

For Sale Sign Large Punch

Bubbles Edger Punch

Martha Stewart Crafts is giving away:

Leaf Stamp and Punch

Medium Birthday Candles Punch

Garden Trellis Deep Edge Punch

Deco Fans Punch Around the Page Set

Week one's randomly chosen winner is... skling!

Great use of color- and what chipper photos of that little boy

Remember our "six weeks of sketches" blog challenges, based on our popular Stretch Your Sketches eBook?

Well, we're starting a NEW series of challenges, beginning today, that will go for the next three weeks. And we're going to ask you to stretch again, except this time you're stretching a product from your stash, in particular your punches!

In the last two years the type, quality, and styles of punches have grown drastically. It is a tool that can be used in so many different ways. We, at Ella, were inspired by the inventive ways Nicole Harper, Stephanie Howell, and Kelly Noel  used punches on their layouts in Eight is Enough: Easy ways to stretch supplies and use leftovers, so we wanted to extend the inspiration to you!

Join us for three weeks of stretching as we get creative with our punches.

THIS WEEK'S CHALLENGE:
Make a background using paper scraps and a punch!


I created this layout with a Martha Stewart button punch that embosses AND punches at the same time. The lively colors and playful heart made from buttons really suit these photos of my cute niece.



To participate, upload a layout that fits this week's challenge anywhere online (to your blog, to an online gallery, or to our BRAND NEW Flickr gallery). Then leave a comment on this post containing a link to your layout by Thursday, July 1 at midnight MST. One random participant each week will win a free copy of Eight is Enough!



AND, at the end of the three weeks, we'll pick two random participants from the entire challenge series who will each win an assortment of punches from EK Tools and Martha Stewart Crafts! Every layout you enter counts as one entry into the giveaway, so yes you can submit several different layouts in the same week, and the more times you enter, the greater the odds that you'll win! 

EK Success is giving away:

Dotted Circle Medium Punch  

Zig Zag Chain Edger Punch 

For Sale Sign Large Punch 

Bubbles Edger Punch

Martha Stewart Crafts is giving away:

Leaf Stamp and Punch

Medium Birthday Candles Punch 

Garden Trellis Deep Edge Punch 

Deco Fans Punch Around the Page Set

Ella friend Tami Morrison is cooking up some summer fun at BPS and Ella has a spot in her class, Kidding Around, to giveaway. To enter leave a comment with and share your favorite summer activity to do with youngsters. Giveaway closes Thursday at midnight MST.

a little bit about Tami
Tami Morrison brings her unique brand of fun to this class, along with a child development degree, 15 years of teaching experience, and 24 summers of parenting. That adds up to plenty of clever ideas to keep kids engaged and amused over summer break. They'll be having such a blast documenting their exploits, they won't even notice they're developing skills in writing, creative expression and gratitude.

Special discount for everyone!!
Ella readers can enjoy 10% off the Kidding Around workshop at BigPictureScrapbooking.com.

At checkout use the code: ellasummer to redeem your discount.
Happy Summer Ella readers

*Disclaimer: This coupon only applies to Kidding Around workshop; coupon does not apply towards other Self-Paced Projects, Workshops or Gift Certificates. Good for one time use, per student. Expires July 14th, 2010 at 10pm PST. Cannot be combined with any other offer. Coupon must be entered in the “Promo Code” box during checkout and press “apply” button; discount will be applied immediately. Not applicable towards previous purchases. Other terms and restrictions may apply.

**Winner of giveaway**
kimbyrns

Time for a blog swap! What's that, you ask? Two companies share products with each other, and then they swap projects to share with their readers. Oh, and there's a giveaway too! (at the bottom of both posts)

Check out the projects inspired from Ella eBooks that are made with the Cosmo Cricket products.

* Using the newest line, Delovely, from Cosmo Cricket, design team member Wendy Sue Anderson used Stretch Your Sketches as inspiration for her project.



"I was so excited to participate in this swap with Ella Publishing!  Because I'm a lover of sketches myself, I chose the book "Stretch Your Sketches" by Donna Jannuzzi.  It has 32 pages of inspiration to draw from...and more than 30 sketches!  It was hard to choose just one sketch to start with, but I ended up choosing the sketch on page 19 to inspire my layout.  I am actually planning on printing this e-book so I can use it as a reference more easily - I'm sure it will be a great resource to have!"
* To see the rest of the Cosmo design team projects inspired from Ella eBooks check out their blog.

* Now for projects by some Ella friends. They all used the Text Tricks eBook as their inspiration.

Featuring the Joy Ride line

First up is Katie Scott.


Journaling reads "Allison's Allowance: We recently gave the kids the
opportunity to earn a weekly allowance.  At first, Ally wanted to bank
it, but during a trip to Ikea - she found this tube & Igloo!"

(maybe next week we'll bank it - since we match the dollars they bank).





Designer Notes:

* I find Cosmo Cricket's products very user friendly - they are inviting and cute and because they are so versatile, they are just easy to use.  I love the inclusion of the 12x12 sheet of journaling blocks.
 
* I know that turquoise / aqua is supposed to be the it color this year and there was lots of that color in this line and I find that color to be a happy and fun color to use in scrapbooking, so yes the colors worked well.  Plus I liked that there was a neutral color along with black and/or white in almost every page so that I would be able to mix in other supplies from other manufacturers very easily.
 
* I have the kit out on my scrapbooking desk and even though I've made several layouts, I'm still really enjoying "Joy Ride" and plan to make many more layouts from this same kit.
 
P.S.  The only thing that I possibly don't like about Cosmo Cricket is that their products are two sided so that if I like both sides, often times, I don't want to "waste" the back side so I often times do a layout on the back too.
 
Also: I like that their paper is sturdy enough to use as the base of a page (instead of cardstock).

Monica McNeil is next


Even though these pictures span an entire month & could tell several different stories, when I saw the clock in the set of cardstock stickers I knew I wanted to pull them together to tell the story of how my family came together to watch my son the first month I went back to work. Text tricks had so many fun ideas I couldn't pick just one! I planned my title around the clock that originally inspired me, then I incorporated the title into my journaling & I used the a sketch as the base for my layout.

Supplies: Cardstock (Studio Calico) + Patterned Paper ( Cosmo Cricket Joyride: Detour, Round About, Fast Lane, Are We There Yet, Borders) + Cardstock Stickers ( Cosmo Cricket Joyride) + Chipboard Letters (Cosmo Cricket Joyride: Redline)

Now featuring the Material Girl line

Next is Barb Wong



Supplies: cardstock (Bazzill) + patterned paper (Cosmo Cricket) + chipboard embellishments (Cosmo Cricket) + letter stickers (Cosmo Cricket) + sticker embellishments (Cosmo Cricket) + ink pad (Tsukineko) + ribbon, adhesive pearls and staples (unknown source)

Designer Notes:
* The design tip I used from the Text Tricks eBook is "journal on tags." The Material Girl elements paper provided lots of fun journalling tags with a mix of good colours and designs–they inspired me to recall these fun, never-before-documented pregnancy facts on my layout.
* I inked the edges of all the patterned paper I used on this page to give the different elements a cohesive look. The colour black is actually repeated all throughout the page: the thin black photo mats, the journaling done with a black pen, the black cross-stitching, the black ribbon and my black hair in the photos.
* I was worried that the page would look "too full" so I left some breathing space along the top, bottom and left edges of the page. The common margins between the main block and the journaling tags on the side provide a visual resting place as well.
oh and I made and posted a card from my scraps

Moon Ko used The Material Girl line also


journaling reads:
You are a loser of teeth. Not a loser in life. No, that title would belong to me when I quickly realized I couldn’t pull the loose tooth out of your head. You came home to show me your tooth that was barely hanging on to your fleshy gums. All it seemed like it needed was a good pull to get it out. We got the string, wrapped it around your tooth and then ...nothing. I couldn’t do it. We tried for hours and every time we tried (and failed), I would get more freaked out. By the time Daddy got home, I was a ball of nerves. He yanked it once and out it came. So let’s just chalk pulling teeth on to my ever- growing list of things I can’t do.
 
supply list:
8.5x11 layout pattern papers (Cosmo Cricket Material Girl) + stickers (Cosmo Cricket) + letter stickers (Cosmo Cricket) + chipboard (Cosmo Cricket) + kraft paper + font (Arabic Typesetting)

Giveaway:
* Cosmo Cricket has generously offered to giveaway three goody boxes to three lucky Ella blog readers. To participate, leave a comment and share what you are looking forward to most this upcoming summer. The giveaway closes, Wednesday, May 19th at noon MST.

* Visit the Cosmo blog to see projects by Ella Friend Linda Barber



Never browsed an Ella eBook before? Download our free sampler to see what they are like.

The winners have been notified and are listed below
mklsutiger
alwayscharlie 
wonderdaisy

The May cover makes nine total covers Ella has shot since we went live in September. Pretty exciting.


Click on the links below to see the complete version. Do you have a favorite cover? Have you lifted any of these covers? Share in the comments below.
September 09
October 09
November 09
December 09

January 10
February 10
March 10
April 10
May 10