Hey all you Ella readers out there! I am so excited to announce my Love's of the month!

There were so many great submissions, how was a girl to choose? I finally narrowed it down to fuve loves...(even though I do secretly love you all): Keshet Shenkar, with her layout "Sunny Disposition"; Autumn Nguyen, with her layout "Hat Fetish"; Diane Herman, with her layout "Sofa"; Nathalie Leonelli, with her Mini-album "10 Favorites";  and Monika Wright, with her altered information book.

#1


I was completely drawn to Keshet Shankar's page from the moment I saw it, you could say it was love at first sight-haha! I love how Keshet used those funky new and trendy flowers to make a little cluster with a huge punch on her page! I especially love the little yellow flower and her use of yellow in general, which is great for adding a big pop in a subtle way and it speaks to the title of her page so well!

#2

My title love and layout sketch love for the month were found in the same layout, by Autumn Nguyen. Wow! That bright title totally caught my eye! I also love that she was able to get so many photos on 1 page without losing any style or making it cluttered.

#3

Diane Herman spoke to me with her layout "Sofa" because of her heartfelt and to-the-point journaling, but also check out that angle she used for her photo! Ella has been doing Friday photo lessons over the last few weeks, and with this photo Diane nailed it! The angle of the photo makes you want to know what it is all about, and then she knocked it out of the park with her journaling style. (BTW isn't her TV stand to die for?...I promise I don't have wandering eyes...I was really focusing on the layout-swear!)

#4

I love this innovative new idea from Monika Wright! She took an old album that she wasn't using and turned it into a treasure. It makes me so sad to think that I just threw one like this out; maybe I will have to go buy another just to make this. I love the simplicity and the paper! A one-stop-shop to write all her notes down = one fabulous idea.



#5


Last but not least, I love that Nathalie Leonelli took up my last challenge to create a mini-album, and man-she did it with style! I love the shape of the album that she made for her son, it makes it so inviting that I want to stop by her house and peruse through the pages! It is so boy with the colors and repeated sprocket shape, well done lady love number 5!



Great job ladies...you've had me swooning all month long. Make sure you check out their work by clicking on their blog links...you might just fall in love!

Until next month...
Liz

PS...make sure you submit this month-you might just put me under your love spell!

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

Today, we invited Lucy Edson of lucyscraftylife.blogspot.com to be our guest blogger, and she responded with this fun video about altering and creating your own patterned paper. Lucy designs for Webster's Pages, Crate Paper, Shimmerz Paints, and The Color Room. And, she's also a frequent contributor to Somerset Memories and Sew Somerset magazines. Take it away, Lucy!

Altering Patterned Paper - Doily Paper from lucy edson on Vimeo.

Welcome to Ella's four week Photography Series. Thanks to the expertise of Noel and Moon we have been instructed over the last three weeks on light, focus, perspective, and this week it is all about action!

From Noel:
Action is sometimes a tricky thing to catch when you are looking at it one frame at a time. Try these tricks to catch some action in your daily life.




Panning is a really effective way of showing motion. You focus on your subject and follow their action with your camera. This keeps your subject in focus, but blurs the background. Think looking out of the passenger window of a moving car. Things are whizzing by while the car window remains in focus. It takes a little practice, but be patient and shoot LOTS of pictures. Then thank your lucky stars that you have a digital camera!

Find a subject that is moving in a consistent motion. They don't have to be going a million miles an hour, just moving in a predictable way. Set your camera to Shutter Priority (usually the "S" on your camera's dial).You'll want your shutter speed to be on the slower side around 1/20 to 1/25. (the bike picture was a 1/25 of a sec at f9, and the scooter image was at 1/20 of a sec at f25.) I was holding my camera, but you may have better luck with a monopod. But since I am monopod-less, I'll tell you how I did it. Focus on your subject, then follow them with your camera, keeping them in the frame as they move. Click your shutter at some point while you're following them in camera, making sure to continue to follow them after you press the shutter. It'll take some practice, but the end result is something like these.  I'm sure there are zillions of applications for panning, but I've only tried it with my girls riding bikes and scooters. It's a good place to start since it's a generally consistent motion to follow. Panning also works wonders with track runners, moving cars and trains, etc.



Taking a shot while someone is in motion can take a fast trigger finger. Catching your subject just at the precise moment their action is taking place can take some practice. In the beginning, if your camera has a burst mode, this is a great time to use it. The burst mode will often take several pictures in a row. This is especially handy with point and shoot cameras as they are known for their delayed shutters. With the picture of my daughter jump roping, I took a number of pictures to get her as she was in the air and the jump rope hit the puddle. It worked to both show her movement, and her goal of splashing as much water as possible.


The movement of fabric, clothing and hair can all show motion as well. In this picture my daughters dress was fluttering as she jumped from square to square.


Mid-air is almost always shows off action in a fun way. Since gravity keeps us grounded, catching those brief moments of flight adds superhero type action to our pictures. Try snapping pictures of a child in mid-air while jumping or running. This picture is of my daughter's thrill of beating her sister to home plate in a game of backyard baseball. You can almost feel her thrill of victory.

From Moon:
As Noel discussed how to take action shots, I'm going to talk a little about action, as in Photoshop actions. You can use actions in most versions of Photoshop, and there are even some for PS Elements. With actions, you can create certain moods or looks to your photographs from one touch of a button. My favorite free actions are created by The Pioneer Woman and you can find her actions here. She does a wonderful job of showing you each of her actions at work.
 
Another great resource is this website. Pifphoto.com is a great resource for photographers where readers share actions and templates and anything photo related with each other.
 
Thanks for spending the last four weeks with Noel and me. We thoroughly enjoyed it!

Did you know you can save 20% when you purchase BOTH of Ella's top-selling photography eBooks? Use the coupon code SUMMERPICS before July 5, 2010.

Picture Perfect 

40 Top Tips for Better Photographs

Also, be sure and check out the other three posts in our Friday photo lesson series.
Light
Focus
Perspective

Hello and welcome to our newest blog swap! This is a chance for companies to work together by sharing products and talent. What you get is a plethora of  projects inspired by Ella eBooks that use Making Memories products to execute on that inspiration. Everyone used the new Panorama product line from Making Memories to make their projects.

Enjoy the results below and at the Making Memories blog. Be sure and enter the giveaways on both blogs. Thanks for stopping by!

PROJECTS FROM MAKING MEMORIES DESIGNERS:





Thanks Wendy and Wilna for playing along.

Wendy used the “Year in the Life” book to inspire her Family '09 layout and Wilna used the Text Tricks eBook as inspiration for her layout. Do you see anything familiar about the design?

from Wendy

from Wilna

PROJECTS FROM ELLA FRIENDS:


The Ella friends choose to pair the Panorama line of travel products with the Ella eBook by Lisa Dickinson, Design Workshop. The results are below.

from Linda Barber

from Moon Ko

from Katie Scott

from Noel Culbertson

Noel also made a mini album that is shown on the Making Memories blog.

GIVEAWAY:
Making Memories has generously offered to giveaway a goody box of products from the Panorama line to one lucky Ella reader. To enter leave a comment and share your travel plans with us. Giveaway ends Thursday, June 17 at midnight MST. Be sure and visit the Making Memories blog to enter to win an Ella giveaway.

Happy Monday! (And to all of my fellow Americans, happy Flag Day too!)

Occasionally, we get emailed comments asking us what's the best way to print an eBook...



or whether it's okay to have an Ella eBook printed and bound at Kinko's or another copy shop...



or what the options are for binding a printed eBook...



Well, we have several articles posted on our website that will help you with these and other questions!

We invite you to peruse...
Alter Your eBooks: print, customize, enjoy!

Printing Tips: get great results with your home printer

FAQs (scroll down to "Purchasing, Downloading & Printing eBooks")

Enjoy!
~Angie

p.s. We have WINNERS to announce! Congratulations to Andrea Macdonald, the random winner of Layle Koncar's guest blogging giveaway; to kymburns, the random winner of Tami Morrison's BPS giveaway; and to PattiP (aka "honu2") and "mklsutiger," the two random winners of the Karen Foster giveaway!

It's time for another Ella cover contest. Will your layout grace our next eZine cover? Will you follow in Kelly Goree's footsteps?

Submit to: July Cover Contest
Deadline: June 17, midnight EST

Would you like to see YOUR layout on July's Scrapbook Ellaments cover? To enter, email a scan or a photograph of your layout to submissions@ellapublishing.com with "July cover" in the subject line. The winning designer will mail the layout in to be photographed, be profiled on our website, and will win a free Ella eBook. Here's what we're looking for:

We'd like to welcome a guest blogger today who we at Ella have admired for a long time, the talented Layle Koncar, veteran of both Scenic Route and BasicGrey scrapbooking companies. Take it away, Layle!

I was recently browsing through a piece of junk mail pamphlet sent to me by one of our local furniture stores and I ran across an article that translated perfectly to scrapbooking.

In true 'Dear Abby' style, a reader asked the question

"Is it O.K. to mix stripes, plaids, florals and other patterns in a single room"?

Switch that last word from 'room' to 'layout' and voila!  I found that the answer to the question not only works in home decor, but it works perfectly for scrapbooking, too!

Mixing patterns can be daunting.  And if you're like me, it can be super daunting when it comes to scrapbooking.  I have no problem mixing stripes and florals and plaids, etc when decorating, but when it comes to scrapbooking, I freeze!

But when I started thinking about mixing patterns with home decor and translating that to scrapbooking, a light bulb went off in my head.

The response to the reader's question was simple - mixing patterns is a great way to add energy and vitality to a room.

The article went on to suggest 3 main points to consider when mixing patterns

1. There are no rules to how many patterns to mix; however, too many patterns can be overwhelming. Odd numbers are generally more interesting to the eye, so 3 patterns is a good start.
2. If things start to look too busy, use a solid color to strike a balance between patterns.
3. Stripes tend to be the most adaptable to different decors and the easiest to harmonize with other patterns.

I looked around my house and found I had applied these 3 principles in my own decor when I had a couch designed a few years ago for our living room.  Talk about a daunting task picking fabric for a couch and pillows, with hundreds of patterns to choose from!  According to the article, I knew what I was doing without even knowing it!

1. Odd number of patterns - the tone on tone stripe, a paisley and a bolder stripe
2. Solid color - the cream '4' pillow
3. Stripes!

So I sat down, pulled some product together and used those same 3 'home decor' design principles to create a layout, and this is what I came up with.

1. Odd number of patterns - the polka dot, the honeycomb and the stripe
2. Solid color - the white background
3. Stripes!

Supplies: stripe patterned paper (BasicGrey Offbeat) + patterned paper, alpha stickers, label stickers, rub-ons, Fabrips (Studio Calico Documentary)

What do you know?  It works!

SO glad I didn't toss this pamphlet before reading it.  And so glad my husband didn't get to it before I did and throw it in the recycle bin before I grabbed it, which is a typical occurrence in our household :)

I started looking back through some of my more recent layouts and projects and found that every once in a while (must be a fluke!) I've applied these principles without realizing it.

Giveaway and Discount:

I'd like to share a project, or I should say Class Kit, that shows these design principles in action, with one lucky Ella blog reader. I'll be teaching 3 workshops in Southern California on July 9th and 10th (click here to view the workshops on my blog) and check out the images below.

1. The Three T's


2. Now You Know


3. Thank You For Being a Friend

Just leave a comment on this post by end of day Thursday June 10th letting me know if you're a 'mixing pattern expert' and these principles are a 'no duh' for you or you struggle like me when it comes to mixing patterns and these are an 'aha', I'm interested to hear back!  On Friday morning I'll draw one random lucky winner to receive one of the 3 class kits (a $60 value)!  If you're the lucky winner and local to Southern California, you can even come join in the fun and attend a class vs. having the kit mailed to you! 

There are a few spots available in the classes and I'd love to have some Ella readers join me. Sign up to attend 1, 2 or 3 of the workshops, mention that you read about it on Ella and receive $10 off. Don't live in Southern California, no worries! There's a shipping option available!

Good luck! and stop by my blog and say hi sometime.

And hey, next time take a second look at that junk mail, you never know what scrapbooking advice it might hold!

(p.s. for more fun with patterns, make sure you check out our Mix & Match article and Lisa Dickinson's helpful eBook, Design Workshop: Become a design genius in 10 easy steps.)

Welcome to week two of a four week Ella Photography Series. For the next four Fridays, Noel and Moon will be sharing their photography tips, tricks and challenges to help you take better photographs. Each week they will be focusing on a different topic. This week's topic is FOCUS.

Noel shares her secrets for getting focused:


Focus is one of those fabulous photography tools that takes your pictures to a new level. Much like zooming in or cropping out, focus can draw the eye in. If you have an DSLR camera, one of the easiest settings to work with focus is the Aperture Priority setting. (This is the little "A" on a Nikon or Av on a Canon.) Set the aperture to the widest setting (lowest number) your lens will allow, your camera will automatically set the shutter speed for your picture. The aperture for this picture was set to f 2.8. This kept the flowers in focus, but my daughter's hands blurred.



Focus can also be used to tell a story. In this picture my older daughter is in focus, while my younger daughter across from her is out of focus. I had been thinking about how much my younger daughter sometimes feels like she lives in the shadow of her older sister. With using focus selectively, I tried to put this story in photo form.



Change the focal point to change the mood of a picture. These pictures were taken at the same time. The first picture has a very different feeling than the second picture, although the pose is the same. The second is simply focused on her feet in daddy's shoes while holding a flag. Try focusing on one aspect of a subject to bring tell a different story.

Now it's Moon's turn to share:

It seems like cameras now a days are really smart. They can automatically set your exposure. They can automatically pop your flash when there isn't enough light. They can seek out faces in a frame. And they can auto focus. All great and wonderful things except when the camera thinks that it's smarter than you...



No no no! I don't WANT you to focus on his face. I want the ball. THE BALL, you dumb camera.

Ah, that's better...



Focus is just one of those things you never think about except when it doesn't work properly. Hopefully, these tips will allow you to find your focus and outsmart your camera.

:)

If your photos are blurry, these may be the reasons behind the blur:


Unsharp Mask: this is a filter in PS that is used to enhance your photos. It's easy to get a little carried away with this tool but a rule of thumb for me is, if you run this filter once and the image is still fuzzy then there's really no way you're going to get a sharp image out of it.
Well, we hope these tips help in getting good focus in the future.
~Noel and Moon

Picture Perfect 

40 Top Tips for Better Photographs

Ella loves photography. Our two photography eBooks have been super popular. They retail for $5.99 each but if you buy both you can save 20 percent using this coupon code, SUMMERPICS. So do it!