Just a quick note to let you know that we have three fun items on sale this month!

Save $2 on 8 is Enough
Keep your page simple by limiting yourself to just 8 products. These 8 designers show you how to stretch those supplies with gorgeous results.

 

Save $2 on 31 Thank You Cards
What better way to say "thanks" than with a beautiful, handmade thank-you card, brought to you by card-making superstars Kristina Werner, Kimber McGray, and Heather Nichols

 

Save $2 on Double-Page Design
With the Take Twelve challenge going on, this eBook has lots of tips and ideas for designing gorgeous two-page spreads—including at least three awesome ideas for 12-photo layouts!

 

And with that, I'll leave you with an inspiring quote from Martin Luther King, Jr., on this holiday:

"All labor that uplifts humanity has dignity and importance and should be undertaken with painstaking excellence."

 

Don't you just love that?

We had so many great entries that we definitely had a difficult job* this year selecting our 2012 Ella Friends.

 

But we're thrilled to unveil our "baker's dozen" of new Ella Friends, with the fabulous Elizabeth Dillow in our new "Ella Friends Ringleader" role. (We just can't resist the circus terminology around here.)

 

 

And without further ado, here they are...

 

Aren't they the CUTEST? Visit our Ella Team page to learn their names, read all about them, see one of their favorite layouts, and get links to their blogs, galleries, and more! We're excited to get to know them all better this coming year. So much talent all in one place. We get giddy even thinking about it!

 

And while we're at it, we have to offer our deep thanks to our 2011 Ella Friends, who have inspired us in countless ways this year. Thanks to:
Brenda Johnston
Diana Chen
Donna Jannuzzi
Francine Clouden
Jenni Hufford
Jennifer Larson
Keshet Shenkar
Lee Currie
Mary-Jo Johnston
May Flaum
Monika Wright
Valerie Mangan

I love this industry! So many great friends to meet. So many inspiring stories to read. Here's to another great year!

 

*In fact, we had such a hard time selecting, that we've also invited another 12 ladies to our new Take Twelve design team. You'll get to meet them later this week!

 

We got the chance to share a fabulous giveaway and jumped on it. Big Picture Classes is celebrating their fourth year of the 4 experts classes and kicking it off is Stacy Julian. She has prepared an amazing experinece that will focus on storytelling, creative process, colors, products, just about everything relevant to scrapbooking. We have ONE spot to giveaway.

Learn more HERE and Stacy has posted a Q&A on her blog.

Leave a comment sharing one of your 2012 goals to be entered to win. Giveaway closes at midnight today Jan 4 at PST. Winner will be announced tomorrow morning and contacted asap.

Randomly selected winner is

Rosann Santos-Elliott

thanks everyone! happy new year

Scrapbooking Boot Camp begins today!

Yes, you can still sign up (and there's a coupon code at the end of this post). You can sign up any time this week and STILL have time to enter all of our twice-daily giveaways—entries for all 12 giveaways are due on October 1.

Here's a little rundown of today's schedule (all times are EST and in military time):

06:00 Journaling Drill
First up is a really fun journaling drill from me called Grammar-Free Journaling! Here's a sneak peek at just ONE of the layouts I share in this fun, 10-minute drill.



Yep, it's journaling in a pie chart, with the bonus of a super-cute sleeping baby. I also share two other strategies for "grammar-free" journaling, and you'll also get TWO printable charts for creating your own grammar-free journaling. And our morning sponsor is Adorn-It, who is offering this $50 prize package:




12:00 Lunch Break
Pop back in to the Boot Camp Barracks for a bonus inspiration video from "Storytelling Sergeant," Wendy Smedley. Every day this week, Wendy shares a fun and inspirational nugget about storytelling. Here's a peek at one of the projects she discusses today:




18:00 Design Drill
This evening, Design Drill Instructor Lisa Dickinson brings you an awesome Designing with Pattern drill, plus a fabulous and comprehensive bonus handout that I know you'll refer to again and again. Here's a still shot of just one of the gorgeous layouts featured in this video.



I swear, there are more than a dozen different scrapbook pages featured in this video, and they're ALL scrumptious and scrapliftable—and her tips are infinitely useful and totally timeless. Our evening sponsor is Big Picture Classes, which is offering a free entry into this awesome class from Kolette Hall:



And that right there is a mere 1/6 of what's in store for our Boot Campers this week!

PLUS, today, we're giving away one of these awesome pink camo hats:


If you're already registered, it's EASY to access our Boot Camp Barracks. Simply log into your user account and visit the page http://www.ellapublishing.com/bootcamp11. (You must be registered and logged in for the link to work.) And you'll get daily emails, too.

If you haven't yet registered, what are you waiting for? Join hundreds of fellow Boot Campers for INSPIRATION without PERSPIRATION. Register for just $30 with coupon code YESMAAM (code expires today!).

Training Schedule
Monday morning: Grammar-Free Journaling with Angie Lucas
Monday lunch: What makes you unique? with Wendy Smedley
Monday evening: Designing with Pattern with Lisa Dickinson
Tuesday morning: Cool, Custom Backgrounds with Nichol Magouirk
Tuesday lunch: The Importance of Words with Wendy Smedley
Tuesday evening: 3 Basic Photo-Editing Tricks with Maggie Holmes
Wednesday morning: Connective Journaling with Angie Lucas
Wednesday lunch: Active Remembering with Wendy Smedley
Wednesday evening: Designing with Grids with Lisa Dickinson
Thursday morning: Fun with Word Stamps with Nichol Magouirk
Thursday lunch: You Have the Power with Wendy Smedley
Thursday evening: Adding an Urban Look with Maggie Holmes
Friday morning: Guiding Principles Quiz with Angie Lucas
Friday lunch: Inclusive Storytelling with Wendy Smedley
Friday evening: Extracting Inspiration with Lisa Dickinson
Saturday morning: Embossing & Resisting with Nichol Magouirk
Saturday lunch: Parting Thoughts with Wendy Smedley
Saturday evening: Brightening Eyes with Maggie Holmes

Bonus!
All of our daily drill videos can be instantly viewed on your iPad or iPhone. How fun is that? :)

We've gathered up some actual footage from four of the AMAZING 12 training videos in store for you in Boot Camp, which kicks off on September 19, just ONE WEEK from today! Click below to watch the video.

We hope you'll join hundreds of fellow scrapbookers in a fabulous event that will inspire you, motivate you, and help you complete at least 12 actual scrapbook pages (with ideas for at least 36 more). Are you ready to get that scrap-bootie in shape?



Please ignore the hideous freeze frame of my face. I tried to select a different image, but it may take a few hours to update with a pretty layout image. :) If all you see is a pretty layout image, then, success!

Register or learn more here.

And sign up for our email list to receive a coupon in your inbox tomorrow morning that will allow you to save $3 (almost 10 percent!) off our list price of $33.

If you were one of our Spring Training Craft-letes, you'll get a reminder in your inbox TODAY of an exclusive coupon just for you!

Want to get in for $10?
Simply leave a comment below to be entered to win ONE seat in Boot Camp that we're giving away for just $10! (That's almost 70% off.) Just one random winner will be selected and announced the morning of Tuesday, September 13. Note: If you've already registered, we will refund all but $10 of your purchase price.

AND we have a winner:

Commenter #36, the very last one on the list! Congrats to tcarlson762

It's HE-ERE!
From Paper to Digi: 12 digital designs inspired by pretty paper pages by Crystal Wilkerson of the awesome digital site, crystalwilkerson.com.

In your $9.99 purchase, you get:
• A 28-page eBook filled with pretty paper layouts and the digital layouts they inspired.



• An awesome bonus Sampler Pack of digital products, designed by Crystal Wilkerson! (This is a portion of her brand new product line, Color Combo #4!)


• A FREE digital page template that you can use to create your own adorable digital page in just minutes.


• A 50% off coupon so you can buy Crystal's entire set of digital page templates that were inspired by the paper scrapbook pages in the eBook! (A value of $24 for just $12.) This coupon code is printed on page 26 of your eBook download. Or buy them directly at crystalwilkerson.com.


So, what are you waiting for???

Dear Friends of Ella,

Forgive me for getting personal for a moment, but a dear friend of mine was struck by unimaginable tragedy this week.

A devastating car accident took the life of her beautiful 16-year-old daughter and her vivacious 66-year-old mother on the same day, also killing her stepfather and critically injuring her nephew.

They had been travelling through Wyoming on their way to a family reunion in Yellowstone National Park. The entire extended family was planning to be there until Saturday, enjoying the time away to spend with cousins, brothers, and sisters, grandma and grandpa. You can read the news story here.

Instead the family is back home planning three funerals.



Mackenzie Christensen, age 16, was bright, kind, talented, and full of life. She was one of those people who made me feel such hope for the future. I was excited to see what great things she would accomplish in her life.

She was just weeks away from starting her junior year of high school.

She had just made the varsity volleyball team.

She was a talented pianist.

She loved to read and was a wonderful student.

She was gentle and kind—truly a friend to everyone.

She was involved in her church and in service oganizations.

She was a wonderful older sister to her two little sisters, ages 12 and 8.

The family had been saving up to send Kenzie to college, and instead they're trying to afford a funeral.

In an effort to help the family raise money for funeral expenses, we at Ella Publishing Co. have put our $5 gift certificates on sale for 10 percent off through Wednesday, August 17, the day of Kenzie's funeral. All proceeds from $5 gift certificate sales will be donated to the Kenzie Christensen memorial fund at Wells Fargo Bank.

Remember, you can "send" the gift certificate to yourself if you wish (just specify your own email address in the recipient field). And you can use your gift certificate at any time; it will never expire.

So, if you were thinking of purchasing something anyway in the next little while, get a $5 certificate now for $4.50, help a family in need, and simply spend the certificate whenever you want—now or later.

(Important note: gift certificates cannot be redeemed in conjunction with coupon codes. And only one gift certificate can be redeemed per transaction. So if you plan to purchase several for yourself, plan to use them on several different future purchases.)

Thank you for your support,



Update: For those who have asked about donating directly to the Kenzie Christensen Memorial Fund at Wells Fargo Bank, there's now also a PayPal address for donations. Send via PayPal to kenziechristensen@gmail.com

Online education site Big Picture Classes hosts a free online event every summer, this year's theme is Words to Live by. Don't miss out on the fun, they have lots of prizes, awesome teachers, and new projects each day. Register on their site here, and be prepared to enjoy the party!! See you there :)

One of the best parts of going to CHA is seeing all of the beautiful new supplies in person! Here are just a few of the things I loved best. (Warning: this post is just a BIT image heavy. I tried to narrow down, but there are way too many pretty things!)


One of my first stops was the Pebbles booth, which was chock-full of new stuff. These little pink clothespins are from the baby girl line, but could work for any project:


And the adorable Pebbles buttons are back in new colors. My favorite is that teal!

The American Crafts booth was hopping this season. I didn’t get too many photos of the product, but the entire Amy Tan line is to die for! Check out this fantastic embroidery from the booth:




American Crafts also came out with a fall/Halloween line, Nightfall, that contains my most favorite washi tape ever. Don’t you agree?



I also loved this apple sticker from the same line, and the fun apple paper:



Crate Paper has three fun new releases, but my favorite is (ironically!), the Christmas line, Peppermint.  How cute are these Elements cutouts?


October Afternoon never disappoints me, and this show was no exception. The Sidewalks line is super fun and summery. I adore the banners on these chipboard stickers.


Not to mention this floral patterned paper!


And these cute pennant stickers!


Jillibean soup has a fantastic new fall line out, called Apple-Cheddar Soup.


And I fell completely in love with these Bella Blvd pink alphas!



And last but not least, I’m completely in love with Lily Bee’s Head over Heels line. Can you tell it matches me?

There you have it—some CHA highlights! I hope you found some new things you love and inspiration to save those pennies for the new goodies!

Hello, Jennifer Larson back from CHA, and I wanted to share some of my favorite products, specifically the ones that would work well on pages about boys. As a mother of two boys, I find it challenging sometimes to find nice, varied products for their pages; Summer CHA gave me a multitude to look forward to finding in my local scrapbook store.

Here's what I found, starting with the obvious:

1. Sasparilla by October Afternoon. Even though there were some images of little girls playing cowgirl, the whole line had a rough and tumble look to it which is perfect for little boys.


2. Kaisercraft's Hunt and Gather. This line has a little hunting and fishing in it, but it also has a botanical feel that makes it a little more refined than typical hunting, fishing, and nature products.


3. Bella Blvd's Making the Team. This bright, fun line is perfect for sports, but is subdued enough to use for boy pages in general.


4. Nikki Sivils' My Little Monster. Now, I'm not saying boys can be monsters...well, mine can be sometimes. Plus they like monsters too, so this collection would be nice on many levels.

And now for some less obvious choices for papers and products:


5. Amy Tangerine by American Crafts. I know, this funky collection might not seem like boy fodder, but check out this paper: and this set of die cuts, I'm picturing a page about my boys' adventures.


6. Crate Paper Farmhouse. Some elements in this collection are suitably rough for boy pages, especially this paper, and this 12x12 sheet of stickers

I noticed patterns equally usable for boys in October Afternoon's Farmhouse collection too.


7. Doodlebug twine and twine letters. Such bright and happy things! I love using bright colors on my boy pages, so these will have a place.


8. Little Yellow Bicycle and Fancy Pants' school collections. I was drawn to the bright colors and geometric patterns in Little Yellow Bicycle's Head of the Class line:


I also loved the heavily saturated colors and cool images in the Fancy Pants Off to School line that would work well for boys pages--check out the shoe paper!


9. KI Memories' Good Folk stickers. The whole collection was a traditional KI fall line, but these stickers in particular would go well with the woodsy, farmhouse, Western vibe of the many other lines at the show:


10. Pebbles' wood buttons and American Crafts' Nightfall. These buttons, which came from their Christmas line, would look great on a boy page.


And even though this line is themed for fall and Halloween (clever to combine the two), the theme is muted and rustic enough to work well for boys.

Thanks for looking through my favorite products that I want to use on the pages about my boys. There were a lot of cool products out there, so don't limit yourself to the ones that are the obvious ones for boys. May you not have to wait too long to get your hands on these goodies!