I am just thrilled to be heading out to Anaheim this weekend to go to CHA. I love connecting with friends in the industry and seeing the new product releases + all the awesome booths. One other thing I enjoy is to look for emergin trends on the show floor. As part of my preparation I have been viewing the pre-release images and I see emerging trends. I am sharing my short list of what trends I will be looking for. Some of these are brand new, some are slowly growing. What trends do you see?

Patchwork

Handmade by Lily Bee

Game On, Websters Pages

She Art, Pink Paislee

Strawberries

Pretty Party, Crate Paper

Eye Charts (this is a huge home decor trend)

Maya Road

Subway Art

Be You, Fancy Pants

This list could keep going.

• airmail
• luggage Tags/tickets
• chevron pattern
• kite tails
• union flag
• mason jars.....

What do you see?? What do you want to see as a trend?

It’s that time of year again, when the Craft and Hobby Association holds their winter show for industry professionals, and Ella will be there staying up to date all the latest buzz.

 

I’ve been watching the sneak peeks closely over at Scrapbook Update, and I already have a few early favorites that I can’t wait to check out in person. Here are just a few things I’m eager to scope out:

 

1. New goodies from Jenni Bowlin Studios, particularly the chalkboard easel and the hexagon stickers.

 

2. Buttercup by Lily Bee

I’ve only seen a teensy peek of this line, but the colors sing to me (they are, after all, Ella colors!), and I can’t wait to see the rest!

 

3. Button Market from Bella Blvd

I’m a sucker for fun buttons! Here are a couple of my must-haves from the new Bella Blvd button collection:

 

 

Interested in knowing what all the upcoming trends will be? Check out my personal blog, Noodle Soup, for some early predictions.

 

Which of the new releases are you most excited about? Let us know in the comments!

Guess what?

We've got an exciting eBook in the works, and it's coming to a computer near you NEXT WEEK! Help us spread the word!


OR
An eBook about loving your life while looking for love.

Newcomer author Stephanie Baxter brings you a 30-page guide to capturing all aspects of your single years—whether you're in the midst of them or they're long in the past. We discovered Stephanie and her eBook idea through our submissions inbox. If you'd like to see us continue to publish newcomers (and possibly yourself), support our efforts to by buying her eBook!



In this eBook, you'll find great ideas for scrapbooking who you spend time with, where you live, the things you love, your hopes and fears, your greatest achievements, and more. Enjoy beautiful layout examples from crafty singles in their teens, 20s, 30s, and 40s! You'll also love seeing layouts from a few former singles who are scrapbooking about their past lives as singletons.

AND it's important to note that the layout ideas in this eBook are suitable for any stage of life, helping you scrapbook about yourself right now, or at some time in your past, and capture memories that matter.

CAUTION: This eBook is only suitable for those who are either currently or formerly single.
(And that includes YOU!)

There's a long list of talented single and formerly single contributors, including Amy Tan, Sarah Champion, Caroline Ikeji, Allison Landy, Cheryl Manz-Ametwee, Geralyn Sy, Megan Powell, Sara Benzkofer, and yours truly!

Here's my layout, inspired by the prompt, "If you had a personal ad now or in the past, what would it say?"


(Click image for larger view)

And yes, that photo is a self-portrait I took when I was single, with flowers from an old boyfriend. Isn't it just so freakin' dramatic? Embarrassing, but funny! :)

p.s.
Don't forget to enter Tuesday's giveaway! Comments are open through Monday, June 20.

Creative ideas for Events and Holidays by the talented Sara Winnick and Margaret Scarbrough

Tell us what you think!

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!