Ella Giveaway! *Contest Now Closed*

****CONTEST NOW CLOSED! Winner Announced Soon!****
As promised, I have an Ella eBook giveaway for one of my lucky readers!! And if you've been with me any period of time, you know just how much I love the girls at Ella *and* how amazing their books are. This one is no exception. So...

Let's hear it for the girls!

Got girls?
While I don't have one myself, I *am* one and I know many of you out there are mama to some cuties and therefor this book is for YOU!

This handy-dandy guidebook is here to help you make sure you capture all the essentials of who they are—the facets of their lives and personalities that matter most—in between all the holiday and event photos that describe what they do.

The gals at Ella invited five moms of girls (and only girls AND some of my friends!) to brainstorm a list of 20 essential “girly” topics and create stunning layout examples for each. They offered up their best ideas for making their girls’ layouts meaningful, authentic, and unique. And with 13 daughters, ranging in age from 3 to 16, these women know a thing or two about buttons and butterflies, princess costumes and prom dresses. Let's get girly!

Simply leave your name in the comment section below along with why YOU need this girlie book by WEDNESDAY, Sept 1st at 12:00 noon Eastern and be entered to win!

p.s. As some of you might have guessed, Ella also has an Essential Guide for Scrapbooking Boys, too! You'll never guess who might be a part of that! ;) Watch for it in September 2010.

xoxo,

k.

Where did August go?!

Seriously!
Where did it go?

It seems like just the other day I was saying good bye to July and the crazy hot temps we'd had around here and already it's time to do the same to August.

I like to think I know what filled it up - back to Cub Scouts and football and school for the boys, birthdays, quite a bit of traveling coming up for me - but in all honesty, it just disappeared! I wish I could say things were going to calm down a bit, but nope. It'll just settle into more of a hectic routine. I do love it though. Cheering at football games, organizing Cub Scout activities, volunteering at school, teaching - I can't get enough. All I can hope for is that I'll organize my time a little better so as to not to keep missing out on my blogging. :)

Stay tuned this week (I swear!) for a fun giveaway from Ella and perhaps...perhaps...one from me as well. In the meantime, here are a few snapshots from the past week. Let the fall begin!






xoxo,
k.

Monday Randoms

Morning, all!

I hope everyone had a great weekend. I've got a bit of the Monday randoms going on myself - I feel way scattered and am trying to pull this modge podge of stuff together and failing miserably I tell you. Anyone with me on that? Oy!

Here's a few things I have to share and maybe that will get me on track a bit!

First, the August issue of BasicGrey's 'Just the Basics' is now available for your reading pleasure! I think this edition is chockful of eye candy and I really hope you'll check it out. Not only does it feature my boy dream-line Oliver, but also the fab work of the talented Kim Kesti (LOVE that girl), Allison Cope and Sarah Meyer!

Kim and I worked a little sketch magic based on this ultra-fun digital template that is a TWO-PAGER! Can I hear a cheer from the crowd? ;) I adore our digital templates and especially love that they included all scrapbook sizes (12x12, double pages and 8.5x11) as I personally scrapbook in all sizes. (I'm an equal-opportunity scrapbooker to be sure!) You can check out more of the templates here.
This is my layout based on the sketch below it. It was absolutely perfect for capturing an entire day's events or a season or anything that has quite a few pictures associated with it. I picked this year's 4th of July Party to document. And of course, I used OLIVER! I haven't found anything that line *can't* be used on! Such fun!





One more fun thing:
Bazzill Basics and Heidi Swapp have hosted Creative Escape for the past 4 or 5 years. It's an amazing event and a couple of years ago, I had the honor of being a teacher at this event. I loved every minute of it and getting to spend time with some of my idols and make so many new friends. But one of my favorite parts of CE was that they had an auction to raise money for the Lymphoma Society. The year I taught, the amazing Tim Holtz actioned off his CE shirt (you might have heard about this! :)) and raised $6000 all on his own! Unreal!

Ayhow, this year as they did last year, Creative Escape is holding a "celebrity" auction of gorgeous mirrors that were decorated by teachers and former teachers of CE to help raise money for cancer research. While I'll be the first to admit, altered arts are *not* my specialty, I gave it a go for a good cause! Here is my mirror using BasicGrey's Cappella line! I hope those of you that attend CE will enjoy seeing all the mirrors and other special things created for this action and bid generously!


Oh and finally - I don't know if this caught anyone's eye, but I just had to pass it along (wink, wink - It's that September part that has ME excited!) -
This came from Ella Publishing's last email update:

Ella's Essential Guide to Scrapbooking Girls will be released later this month, and Ella's Essential Guide to Scrapbooking Boys is coming your way in September. You'll find the guidance you need to paint a complete picture of your child, whether you have a girly girl, a tomboy, a daredevil, a sweet little man, or all of the above.

Have a great Monday!
xoxo,
k.

More of the Twins!

Hello, all!

Today, I just wanted to share a little more Oliver/Olivia goodies with you. These are my last two I did these layouts again for CHA to promote these two fun lines.

I've discovered that Oliver is absolutely divine for my football photos...any sports photos, really! I love the stars, stripes and just enough *grunge* to make it so boyish! This is Ethan winning his (3rd) football championship last fall. (And football starts again in just a week or so! We're so beyond ready here!)



A little Olivia....just to show that this more feminine line doesn't *have* to be confined to little girls! I think it looks quite nice with a bit of Spiderman ice cream, don't you? :)



And finally, a little preview of some album classes. We offered these classes to our retailers at CHA to promote some of the new lines within their stores so be sure to ask the store near you to carry them! This first one features the Wander line and is a travel-themed album (though it doesn't have to be). It includes places for photos, memorabilia and even a place for trips yet to be taken!



And this one features Jovial in a holiday- or winter-theme. This one uses standard 4"x6" photos and documents your favorite winter memories. Both kits come with everything you need to make these albums including full-color, step-by-step instructions.



Have a wonderful day!
xoxo,
k.