Wendy and I are back on MyCraftChannel.com with another set of twelve Books & Crafts episodes! A new show airs every Tuesday for the next 12 weeks.

This week's episode is all about book-paper garlands. And at just 6 minutes long, it's short, sweet, and inspiring.

And at the end of the episode, all viewers get a coupon code (CREATIVE) to save $2 on Stacy Julian's awesome UR2 Cre8ive eBook. Join us!

Click image for larger view!

Many thanks to our friends at ADORNit for offering this Happy Hearts giveaway—just in time for Valentine's Day!

They're just showing their love for scrapbookers everywhere, and what's not to love?

One random commenter will receive the Happy Hearts Papercrafting Collection and Happy Hearts Fabric Fat Quarter Stack.

Here are a few projects made with these gorgeous products:

Are you dying to have a "heart attack" just like this in your home?

Leave a comment sharing anything you love (or don't love :) about Valentine's Day, and we'll pick a random winner Friday, February 10! (We'll ship the prize for free in the continental U.S.; international shipping charges may apply.)

For extra entries, visit ADORNit's blog and leave a comment or "like" their Facebook page, then come back here and leave an extra comment for each thing you did. (Honor system.)

Upate 02/12/12: And the winner is comment #15 kimpe. Congrats!

Welcome to day seven of Spring Training! Everyone is free to participate in our daily blog challenge and giveaway, so join in the fun below. Or register for FULL access to all past and present videos, downloads, and bonus content here. Price just reduced to $30 for those joining us during week two!

If you're already registered, click here to visit the Craftnasium. (Note: must be signed in to your user account for the page to load.)
 

Note from the Coach, Kelly Willette

"Do you struggle with knowing where to take photos or with how to find good lighting in your home or outside? I used to as well…..then I figured out some tried and true methods to capturing photos of my kids in ANY lighting condition. Once you know the tricks I outline in this video on lighting, then you will be able to snap that camera anytime, anywhere! trust me on this. I break down and explain good lighting the willette way – in simple to understand directions without a bunch of unnecessary technical lingo."


Interested in the full lesson? Click here to learn more.




 

FREE Bonus Inspiration

For more examples of this challenge to help you with today's exercise and challenge, check out Donna Januzzi's entry on Write.Click.Scrapbook.




Thanks to today’s sponsor, Savvy Photographer. To one lucky winner who enters today's challenge, Savvy Photographer  is offering:
beach house template collection: value of $75

canvas template collection:  value of $60


A second winner will win a copy of Picture Perfect.



Daily Discounts

All Ella readers can enjoy a 10% discount code to the Savvy Store. Enter the coupon code ELLA at checkout!

Today only, save $1 on Picture Perfect by by Becky Novaceck, Elisha Snow & Kelly Noel. Use the code  SPRPICTPERFECT at checkout.


Today's Challenge is
Scrap your best photo! Find the best composed, best lit, best overall photograph you’ve snapped recently and scrapbook it.

Spring is here and before you know it, Summer will be on its way, too. In our part of the world, there are only 22 more school days left. Can you believe it? Time to start planning those Summer activities now before the kids ask, "What are we going to do today Mommy?"

With that in mind, I started thinking about our trip to the Beach this year and how much we enjoy going as a family. Lots of good food, lots of down time and a whole lot of sand. Everywhere. A few favorite photos stand out in my mind when I start thinking about our past trips to the land of sand, surf and sea and I am sure that you're probably the same way.

I know, let's make a photo cube together. Most every craft store has these lucite photo cubes, so pick one up next time you're out. Remove the cardstock template and use it as your guide. You will notice below that my 12x12 piece of cardstock was not large enough for the whole template. See that partial piece adjacent to the sufrboards? I used that square for the bottom and cut a piece of cardstock to cover the partial hole. 



I trimmed my template and scored my fold lines while my photos were printing. After placing them, I decided that I would outline each photo to give it more presence. You could make your photos full size and skip this step, but I was not sure that each of my template openings was the same size after I copied the template and folded...so I took the easy way!

I adorned the top of my photo cube with a shell that my oldest daughter found in Aruba. Lucky for me there was a hole in the top of the shell and I threaded some baker's twine through it.



Now for my memorable {to me} photos, this one of my two guys...



and five surf boards to represent our family, where I've fussy cut around a stamped bracket shape...



and these two bathing cuties in their matching swimsuits.



I used some washi tape to attach my jewelry tag to the outside, knowing I couldn't add embellishments to the inside of the photo cube and for the photo of my husband and I walking hand in hand on the beach at sunset, I added a chipboard letter "W" that just happens to have hearts on it.

Because I used repositionable adhesive, I can remove my embellishments, make a new template and enjoy using the photo cube to display more photos as the seasons change.

So, how do you display your seasonal photographs at home?

and here are Ella's photo products

Picture Perfect
Special Effects for Digital Photos
40 Top Tips for Photos

Retro Digital frames
On the Go photo tips
 

Hello!  I’m here today to share with you a fun photo project using a program called Shape Collage.  If you’re not familiar with it, Shape Collage is a free downloadable program that can be used to create an enormous range of custom photo collages.  You can download the program by visiting the Shape Collage website.
 
I used the program to create a heart shaped collage made from my favorite photos from last year.  The free version of the program allows you to save your collage as a JPEG file and then resize or edit the image in your favorite photo editing software (you can also size the image in the shape collage program itself).  I sized my collage to 8 x 10 and then I cut out the heart and created this layout:
 

One tip I can offer after having used the program myself is that the more photos you use the more your finished collage will look like the desired shape.  However, if you want to see your photos and don’t want them to overlap too much then I recommend using fewer photos.  I wanted to see my photos, even if they are quite small, and so I opted to use fewer of them – this meant that my heart has rather jagged edges.  This didn’t bother me though and I like the way the finished collage looks.
 
The program is extremely versatile.  In making your collages you can adjust the collage size, the size and number of photos used, the spacing between photos and much more.  Before using the program I recommend viewing the video demonstration at the Shape Collage website.  I should also let you know that collages created using the free version of the software will have a watermark, but I found that it is very subtle and it did not bother me at all.  A personal-use version of the program can be purchased for $25.  The files created from that version can also be saved as PNG or PSD files with each photo being its own layer giving even more flexibility for your creations.  Also, images created in the personal-use version of the software will not have a watermark.
 
The program does take some getting used to.  There are so many customizable options that it can take some time to figure out what each option does and how it affects the finished collage.  It is an easy program to learn though, and once you get the hang of it it is a lot of fun to use.  Truly, the possibilities for creativity are endless and I know I will use this program again for future projects.
 
I hope I’ve inspired you to give this program a try.  If you create something with Shape Collage, please post a link to it here in the comments.  I would love to see what you’ve created!


Ella loves photography- check out our offerings below


Picture Perfect
Special Effects for Digital Photos
40 Top Tips for Photos

Retro Digital frames
On the Go photo tips

Welcome to Ella's new series featuring the best of photo projects brought to you by our amazing Ella friends.

Are you familiar with the site PhotoJojo? It's a great photography website with a store that sells photography supplies and gadgets, but also they post a variety of DIY projects using photos. Me and Lee Currie tackle one of my  favourites, the Photo Journal, which uses supplies you no doubt have on hand: two photos, scrap paper, and craft glue.



With two photos and paper cut to the same size as the photos, you use craft glue (any PVA glue like Elmer's will work) to make a "perfect bound" notebook. Add another piece of paper as a binding and you're ready to start journaling.

The video tutorial by Judy Lee, formerly of Five and a Half Journals, gives step by step instructions on how to make the journal. It should take you less than an hour from start to finish.

I used two 5x7 photos of this Ixora flower that I took while visiting my aunt in Grenada. Here's the back of the journal:

 

The photo is of the same flower as the front, but zoomed in some more. For my pages I cut up notebook pages from a larger notebook.



This would be a perfect project for photos that you have already scrapped, or that are similar to ones you have scrapped, landscape and macro shots, or those random portraits that you love and want to do something else with. You can use any kind of paper for the pages too, not just notebook paper. How about magazine and catalog pages, or old maps? The journals are a great gift idea too.

Now it's time for me to start filling those blank pages! For those of you that like to read the steps, Lee shares steps below.





1. Choose your photos: Every year I have the privilege of heading to Cape Cod for a couple of weeks. This year I’m heading there with a few friends and decided to take previous photos to make a journal to account for my stay and our adventures in 2011.
2. Cut scrap paper: In this case it was mostly leftover sheets from an almost full sketchpad. I added in some sheets of gridded paper and printed scrapbook paper. These were all cut to 5” x 7” to match the size of the photos chosen. About 50 sheets of paper make a good sized journal.
3. Square up: Tap the now-cut paper along with the photo front and photo back. Secure with the binder clips – one on either side. (I put scrap paper on the front and back photos to protect the finish from being harmed by the binder clips.)
We love photos here at Ella- below are the best offerings from us to you!


4. Sandwich: Between the two smaller books, in my case I used composition books, use the binder clips to help keep the journal steady to apply glue.
5. Apply Glue: Using my foam brush I spread a generous, but not drippy, amount of glue along the top.
6. Dry & Re-apply: This took a bit of time, about ½ hour for the glue to dry to the point of tacky. I then re-applied glue in order to make sure nothing was missed the first time. Again, I waited, this time about 10 minutes. Remove the binder clips and place the journal in wax paper sleeve.
7. Press: Lay flat on a table and put your Big Heavy Book on top. Do this until the glue is fully dried. (Because I was in no particular hurry, I let the glue cure overnight.)
8. Trim: Sometimes with the moisture of the glue paper will “grow”. With your scissors, trim off any excess before you finish off with the spine. I find, even with a paper trimmer, that the paper is not “perfect” so I am not too upset about some misalignment.
9. Add the spine: You pretty much need to saturate the printed-paper to add to the finishing touch to the journal, especially the edges so they don’t curl. I chose some coordinating American Crafts printed-paper in a fun summery stripe.
10. More drying: Once dry you’re all done! I added a quick title and voilà, my journal is all ready to record the memories that will be made in June.

Lee shares,
"If you’re like me, you won’t be able to stop with just one! Additional projects on the go include: Move More, Eat Better; Decorating Ideas; Gardening Plans; Christmas Plans; and, Quiet Moments.For the decorating, gardening and Christmas books I changed things up a bit: orientation, cardboard backing, gaffer tape spine. That was the most fun of the whole project – changing things up."

and don't forget all of Ella's photo offerings

Picture Perfect
Special Effects for Digital Photos
40 Top Tips for Photos

Retro Digital frames
On the Go photo tips