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!

Today we're introducing the long-awaited How to Make a Smiles Mini-Book by Stacy Julian! (If that doesn't put a big grin on your face, we don't know what will.)

This instructional mini eBook (for just $3.99) will teach you how to create your own "smiles" mini-album start to finish. You can follow the literal step-by-step instructions, or you can try Stacy's helpful tutorial that teaches you how to open yourself up to "creative accidents" of your own. It's like the difference between giving a woman a fish and teaching a woman to fish. And even if you don't like fish (with their beady little eyes) or fishing (so slimy!), I promise you'll love this project. Read all about it here!

The How to Make a Smiles Mini-Book was brought to you by the following beautiful smiles:


Stacy Julian's, who created the project in the first place (originally for her 20 Simple Secrets of Happy Scrapbookers eBook, but we thought it needed an eBook of its own) and supplied the raw instructions for Ella to transform magically into an eBook.


Cathy Zielske's, who graciously donated her talents and her design time to this charitable eBook! Half the proceeds will be donated to Operation Smile, a charitable organization that treats facial birth defects in underprivileged children worldwide.


Ella's. And while we admit her demure smile is hard to see, it's definitely there behind those tusks. She's thrilled to be introducing her first charity item for sale today, and she can't contain her glee!


135,000 children's smiles worldwide who have been helped by Operation Smile. As you contemplate the beautiful, smiling faces in your family today, we encourage you to make a donation of your own, or buy the Smiles eBook, and we'll donate for you!

Smile!

p.s. Don't forget to enter your Christmas cards and your holiday-related layouts for your chance to be featured in our December Scrapbook Ellaments eZine, or perhaps even be our cover girl! Read our guidelines here, then submit your work to submissions@ellapublishing.com (with either "Holiday Cards" or "December Cover" in the subject line) by Wednesday, November 11, at midnight Pacific time.

We've been asked how often we'll be releasing new stuff here at Ella. The answer? Every two weeks. If you're signed up for your newsletter, you'll get a bi-weekly email that announces either the latest FREE eZine OR our new eBook. If you haven't been receiving our emails, click here to sign up.

TOMORROW just happens to be our big release day for Special Effects for Digital Photos by Renee Pearson, an awesome, educational, 30-page eBook that's just $5.99. To get you excited for this amazing resource, here's a little trick I learned from Renee's book:

I've always been intimidated at the very thought of selectively colorizing a photo. Silly me. It was SO simple. Thanks to Renee's simple instructions in Photoshop Elements, I doctored this photo in less than 10 minutes. Isn't it sweet? My husband captured this shot on Sunday, while my nephew Derek chomped furiously into an apple. When Derek was through, I think all that was left was a pile of apple seeds sitting on the chair.

But that's not all! Tomorrow also marks the release of our very first digital product: Retro Digital Frames. Concepted and designed by the wife-husband team of Angie Lucas and Travis Lucas (who is our website designer), this set of five adorable frames will allow you to add a retro flair to any modern photo. (Let's be honest, my role in this process was to say, "How about a Polaroid?" and the rest was all Trav.) Behold just one of the five simple frames you'll get in the package, followed by the source photo (my friend Jenny's daughter Lucy in a photo taken by Travis):

This process was also unbelievably easy. Exactly three days ago, I had no idea what a PNG file was and the only layers I'd ever worked with were the ingredients in my mom's famous 7-layer bean dip. But in the last 24 hours, I've used at least five PNG files and even messed around with a Photoshop layer or two, all with great success. And unlike the bean dip, my hands don't smell like onions!

So, from one digital newbie to another, let me just say: you can do this! Stop back by tomorrow and give these digital tricks a try. Even if this is as deep as you ever dive into the digital world, these tricks can add SUCH a fun flair to your paper layouts or to your blog. And it's always fun to learn new things!