Callaloo Soup

Thinking About December Past | Giveaway Winner!

Today my mind flashed back to December of 2010, so I went into the photo archives. We had arrived in Grenada the day before and were staying at my Aunt Winnie's house. I can't believe how much like a baby Kieran looks in this photo! I'm always surprised when I look at older photos of him. I think my favourite thing about this photo is that he is sitting in one of the very chairs that I sat in as a child.

What were you doing last December 9th?

We have a winner for the 31 Thank you Cards e-book from Ella Publishing! Ramdom.org chose #3 which is Paula! Congrats! I'll be emailing you the code to collect the book!

You can still use the code CARDHOP to save $2 off 31 Thank You Cards. Fine print: Cannot be combined with any other coupon code or gift certificate. One coupon per customer. Expires 12/10/11. <-------- That's tomorrow so hurry!

Holiday Cards Blog Hop with Ella Friends

Hello hello! As our term comes to an end the current team of Ella friends thought it would be fun to have one final blog hop. We're each showcasing a card that was inspired by one of the cards from the new Ella e-book :31 Thank You Cards: Try 138 card-making tips, tricks, and tutorials . This book by Kimber McGray, Heather Nichols and Krsitina Werner, is full of fabulous thank you card ideas. What's even better is that these ideas are all transferable to any occassion! Here's the card I made

Not only is it lifted from a Thank You card, but I used non-seasonal products! (from the December Little Black Dress kit).

In the spirit of the Holiday Season, Ella is letting us give a copy of the book away! Just leave me a comment telling me if you make your own holiday cards and if you've sent them out yet! I'll pick a winner on Friday (the 9th).

If you can't wait to see this book I have even more good news! Use the code CARDHOP to save $2 off 31 Thank You Cards. Fine print: Cannot be combined with any other coupon code or gift certificate. One coupon per customer. Expires 12/10/11.

Here's a list of all the blogs in the hop. Make sure to pop in to visit them all as there will be other giveaways!

Brenda Johnston
Donna Jannuzzi
Jenni Hufford
Monika Wright
Jennifer Larson
Valerie Mangan
Lee Currie
Francine Clouden
Diana Chen
May Flaum
Keshet Starr
Mary Jo Johnston

P.S. I know I owe you a Finish it Up post as promised last week. It is definitely coming tomorrow. Really!

Stretch Your Sketches With Donna and Ella

In addition to blogging over at Write.Click.Scrapbook this week (all about birthdays! Go see!), I also took part in the Stretch Your Sketches series that Donna Januzzi runs on the Ella Blog. Here's a peek of my layout.

Head on over to the Ella Blog to see the sketch, and how Donna and I used it for our pages. Plus if you make a page based on the sketch and link it up, you'll be entered into the monthly giveaway. Get all the info here.

I hope you have a fabulous weekend!

Hybrid Layout: 2

Ella Spring Training Day 5: Ad Inspiration

Read my post on Write.Click.Scrapbook where I share three different print ads and the layouts they inspired.

Featured e-book: Stretch Your Sketches

discount code: SPRINGSKETCHES

The code gives you $1 off the e-book and is valid until May 15th, 2011

And that's all she wrote for today folks!

Catching Up with Ella Spring Training

It's no surprise that when it comes to any kind of training that I am getting a late start! The Ella Spring Training Session started on Monday, and I am finally getting my butt in gear, in part because I am hosting the Write.Click.Scrapbook leg of the event today through Saturday.

Today is all about distressing techniques and you can get started with Tammy Tutterow on the Ella Blog, and then check out my post on Write.Click.Scrapbook where I share examples of distressing.

I did promise I would post the daily discount codes so let's do a catch up of the first four days!

Day 1:Signature Style

Featured e-book: 20 Simple Secrets of Happy Scrapbookers

discount code: HAPPYSPRING

Day 2: Single Sentence Journaling

Featured e-book: Journaling That Matters

discount code: HAPPYJOURNAL

Day 3: Photography - Get The Shot

Featured e-book: 40 Top Tips for Better Photos

discount code: PHOTOTRICKS

Day 4 (today!): Distressing

Featured e-book: Design Workshop

discount code: HAPPYDESIGN

These codes give you $1 off the respective e-book and are valid until May 15th, 2011

You can still sign up for Spring Training and use the code SPRING33 for $7 off the registration price. But you can always play along with the challenges on the blog for free and enter to win one of the giveaways.

OK. Ready? Set? TRAIN!!!!

Join Us For Spring Training at Ella Publishing!

Come join us at Ella Publishing from April 25 through May 7 for fun, education, and inspiration during our Spring Training Session. It will be  two-weeks of learning with four expert coaches (including Kelly Willette and Tammy Tutterow) who will train you in areas like photography, journaling, techniques, and inspiration. Watch the exclusive videos, then do the daily training exercise! There will be daily prizes of course as well as challenges.  All this for $40.00 but if you sign up by April 15th (that's today!) you can save $8 on the registration fee.

During the session there will also be a special daily code for a discount of the e-book of the day (you can see them all above). I'll be posting those daily so check back to find out the book of the day and the code for $1 off. Everyone is welcome to play along with the daily challenges for free so be sure to start checking out the Ella blog on April 25th.

 

Everyday Scrapbooking with Ella Friends

 

 
Welcome to the second Ella Friends Blog Hop! Thanks for sending everyone over Lee! if you're a regular reader of my blog you will find the links to continue the hop at the end of the post.

Today we're talking about scrapping the everyday details since this is the topic of the latest Ella e-book, written by Elizabeth Dillow and Tina Cockburn.

If you've been reading my blog for a while you've probably already seen that I am not much of an event or special occassion scrapbooker, so this new e-book is right up my alley. And if you're looking for inspiration for getting everyday details recorded, this is the book for you! Just on my firt look through alone, I bookmarked about 10 different ideas, and I practically ran to my scrapdesk to make this page when I saw one on a similar topic done by Tina

It's about laundry. Yes laundry, that never ending, constant, annoying chore. I'm happy to say that after struggling with laundry for years I finally came up with system of which I am probably unreasonably proud. So proud in fact that I wrote an entire blog post about it. I decided that I needed to get a page about this into my scrapbook too!

Some details

I used some thematic items on my page, but not ones pertaining to laundry. The stickers all came from love themed sheet of stickers!

I think you're really going to love this e-book which is now available at Ella Publishing for $5.99. But wait! I am actually giving one copy away today! Leave me a comment letting me know an everyday moment that you captured recently and plan to scrapbook. Entries close this Wednesday at midnight PST.

Now it's time to hop on over to Diana's blog

Hey guess what? She's giving away a copy of the e-book too! In fact so are all the Ella Friends, so be sure to visit each blog.

Here's a list in the hop order in case you get lost along the way:

Brenda Johnston
Donna Jannuzzi
Jenni Hufford
Monika Wright
Jennifer Larson
Valerie Mangan
Lee Currie
Francine Clouden
Diana Chen
May Flaum
Keshet Starr
Mary Jo Johnston

 

I hope you enjoy hopping with the Ella Friends!

 

Winner of the Ella e-book!

I used Random,org to pick a winner for the e-book

Come on down Karen G!

Look for an e-mail from me with instructions on how to collect your e-book. If you didn't receive an e-mail please contact me at callaloosoupdesigns "at" gmail.com.

Congratulations and I hope the book will help you to get started scrappning your childhood!

Thanks to everyone for entering and sharing your stories.

Check back later today for a new tutorial!

Weekend Giveaway: Ella Publishing e-book

How about a giveaway to round out the week? I'm giving one lucky reader a free copy of the new e-book from Ella Publishing: How To Scrapbook Your Personal Heritage

This e-book is co-authored by Wendy Smedley and Aby Garvey, the authors of the popular The Organized and Inspired Scrapbooker.

Wendy and Aby gathered 12 exciting and fun challenges to help you capture memories from your childhood and beyond- with emphasis on the values, pasttimes, and ideals inherited from your family and that you hope to pass on.

The book includes 34 challenges and fun ideas to help you create layouts and mini albums.

Before I had Kieran I did a lot of pages about my childhood (must do that more!). Here's one

My sister and I even started a blog to share the pages we were making with childhood photos (need to get that restarted too!).

To enter the giveaway leave me a comment letting me know if you enjoy scrapbooking  photos from your childhood or other heritage photos. Why, or why not?

For extra entries you can blog, tweet or post about this giveaway on Facebook. Please leave a separate comment for each entry.

Giveaway closes on Monday February 28th, 2011  at midnight PST. Winner will be announced on Tuesday March 1st, 2011.

And here's a chance to win another book! I am also giving away Creative Ideas for Events & Holidays by Sara Winnick and Margaret Scarborough over here on Craft Gossip! This giveaway also closes on Monday, so be sure to check it out!

Have a lovely weekend everyone!

Hybrid Scrapbooking Technique

Hi friends! Today I am quickly sharing a link to the article I wrote on the Ella blog sharing a quick printing technique for hybrid scrapbooking.

In the article you'll learn how I printed out the patterned paper rectangles I used on this page, PLUS two other hybrid techniques shared by my friends Lee and Monika.

If you have any questions after reading the article, please let me know in the comments.