Elise's Pieces

Love notes

2012-01-27T12:04:00.000-08:00

Have you seen the absolutely adorable printable mailbox my friend Kelleigh put together with my new We Are in Love kit? It is awesome!

I think this adorable hybrid mailbox is the perfect thing to show your special someone that you love them. Of course, you need something to stick inside that mailbox, right? I'd suggest some Hershey Kisses and these free printable love notes!

These four little cards are saved on one PDF sheet, so just open, print, and write a little love note of your own. Download your freebie here.

Have a love-filled day! <3 <3 <3

We Are in LOVE!

2012-01-26T08:12:00.000-08:00

One of my favorite songs by Harry Connick Jr is called "We Are in Love" (and it's from 1990-- does that date me?), and the lyrics kept running through my head as I was creating this new kit. I wanted to do something for Valentine's Day, but something more fun and spunky than romantic and sweet. I decided on a really bright, vibrant palette and included lots and lots of paper hearts. Here's the finished product: We Are in Love available now for 20% off at The Digichick!

And we have a winner from yesterday's little contest! Thank you so much for everyone who participated!! Our winner is Shelley and here's what she had to say...

Shelley, January 25, 2012 1:26 PM I would love to win!

Random Integer Generator

Here are your random numbers:

Timestamp: 2012-01-26 15:53:45 UTC

Shelley left a way to contact her (THANK YOU!) so I'll send her code today!

My CT did some gorgeous things with this kit-- take a look...

Aren't they great? Remember, We Are in Love is 20% off Thursday and Friday, so be sure to head over to TDC to check it out! Oh, and you'll definitely want to visit tomorrow-- freebies on the way!

Sneak Peek & a chance to win!

2012-01-25T07:43:00.000-08:00

Valentine's Day is just around the corner, and I love making love-y stuff anyway! This new kit is packed with heart-shaped goodness and I think you're going to love it!

Win it today by leaving a comment with your name and a way to contact you by Wednesday, January 25th at 10:00 PM Pacific Time, and I'll pick a winner via Random.org! Don't forget to come back tomorrow for the full reveal and to see if you've won!

Inside my studio: Learning Curve + a Freebie for you!

2012-01-24T09:45:00.000-08:00

When I'm asked which programs I use for designing, I usually reply with "Photoshop and a little bit of Illustrator". What I mean is that I use Photoshop for designing, and that I have Illustrator, and sometimes I open it, try to illustrate something, get frustrated, and close it. If we were talking languages, I'd say I could visit the country of Photoshop and be able to find my way around, even with a heavy accent, but in the country of Illustrator, I'd be able to say "Hello" and "Thank You" and that's about it.

But, I know that Illustrator is an extremely valuable program and that my designs will really benefit from learning and using it, so I've made a resolution to try to wrap my head around Illustrator this year. I've enrolled in a couple of Illustrator classes by Laura Coyle at ReneePearson.com, and this last week, I re-visited those lessons.

When I open up Illustrator, the way I feel is probably how a lot of brand new digital scrappers feel when they first open their programs: overwhelmed. There are lots of icons that sort of make sense, but lots more that don't. And I have a feeling that there is some calculated math involved in getting those swirls and curves exactly right. It's scary! Then I'm reminded that I felt the same way when I tried to make my first layout in Photoshop, and that the comfort and general confidence I feel now only came with hours of practice.

So, today I practiced and I made something for you! I've been working with the spiral tool and curves with the pen tool, so these little elements gave me the perfect thing to play around with. I made the original designs in Illustrator, then moved them to Photoshop to add some extra color and texture. I have a brand new lovey-dovey kit coming out on Thursday (come back tomorrow for a peek and a chance to win it!), and these Swirly Hearts match perfectly.

Click the image above or here and your download will begin automatically. Is it swirly or swirlie?

More scrapping!

2012-01-19T15:53:00.000-08:00

I don't have a new release today (but I am working on something super yummy!), but have you seen all of the goodness over at The Digichick? Yowza, there are some awesome kits! I'm especially digging Mari's Today collection-- makes me want to scrap!

Speaking of which, I've completed a few digi layouts in the past few days. The first was for last week's date at The Digi Dares. I scrapped my "one little word" for 2012: NOW. I used the The Daily Details collab kit (which I LOVE), and I really like the way it turned out. Oh, and guess what else? I won the random drawing! Sweet!

This next layout was also made with The Daily Details, and photos that I took for the glimpses challenge on TYSE. I am not the world's best photographer, nor are my kids the world's best posers, so it was kind of fun just to click away without worrying about composition, lighting, or blurriness. I really liked the way these pictures turned out, especially when they were converted to black & white.

And finally, a layout with Digi Design Essentials' "Restoration" kit from The Digi Files -- gotta love those beautiful blue eyes!

Today I've been working in Illustrator learning a few new tricks and making a fun little freebie for you tomorrow. Yay! See ya then!

I have been Scrapping!

2012-01-17T20:25:00.000-08:00

Scrapping! Ah! Isn't that how this whole thing got started?

First off, I mentioned a few days ago that I completed five paper pages. Four of those went into Gordon's (son #2) first year album and the other was a random Halloween 2005 page for Thomas (son #1) for which I had the appropriate Bob the Builder stickers. Gordon is 6 now, by the way. Sigh.

I've been feeling a cross between ambitiousness and anxiety in getting my paper scrapping done. I've committed to completing my second and third sons' first year albums in paper (or hybrid), and I really, really want to finish them in 2012. I have a lot of little mementos that need to go into those albums, and I like the idea of at least one hand-made, paper book for each boy. And, finishing this year would mean that I could mark off another resolution: organize my paper supplies.

I've decided not to buy any more paper supplies, especially after my adventure back into paper scrapping the other day. It took me about a half an hour just to gather everything together, and the whole process made me feel really disorganized and cluttered. I keep most of my stuff in my husband's office closet, papers in the filing cabinet, and stamps and accessories in a rolling organizer. If I can use what I have, don't buy any more, and clean up as I go along, maybe by the end of this year, my mess will be a little more manageable.

When I pulled out my stack of pictures to scrap, I felt a little jolt-- have I really not scrapped with paper since.... 2006? Surely that can't be right! But it is. I've made hybrid projects, and I've made a bunch of cards (which is why, even when these albums are complete, I'll still hang on to some of my paper supplies), but I haven't scrapped a paper page in nearly five years. Wow. I'm feeling a little rusty!

Luckily, my pictures are organized by date, and I made a couple of little notes on the post-its dividing the pictures with the where's and who's. Here's my little stack (about 25 pages worth...)

Since I was already overwhelmed with the whole thing, I decided to be as minimalist as possible-- I used cardstock, some stickers, and journaled with a black pen. And two hours later, my five very simple, very understated, very mediocre pages were done.

And now I'm ready to go back to digi! :D

Really, though, I missed not being able to re-size anything, or change photos to black and white, or create titles easily, or layer... I just love digi. These albums are going to be a challenge, that's for sure!

New today: Affirmation

2012-01-12T07:57:00.000-08:00

Affirmation

I am really excited to share my new release with you today! It's a brand new, huge kit called Affirmation, and it's 20% off Thursday and Friday only at The Digichick! Inside you'll find 15 gorgeous papers and more than 50 unique elements, including two alpha packs.

I wanted to do something special this year, so I decided to do a collection of monthly kits with a similar feel and a "Project Life" type of theme. As a collective, I'm calling them "A Year to Remember", and January's kit is Affirmation. In the coming months, look for other kits like this one, with a krafty, colorful feel, lots of layering elements, and a scrap-your-life theme.

January is such a great month-- it's time for re-committing to your goals and getting re-energized about the future. I wanted this kit to have a fresh, vibrant feel and have enough elements that you could create a whole album. My Creative Team asked for lots of flowers, journal cards and date stamps, so hopefully this kit fits the bill. Be sure to look at their amazing layouts for some great inspiration!

I shared some of my design goals earlier this month, and so far, they're coming along. As a reminder, if you create a layout with Affirmation or any other of my kits, please post your layouts in my designer gallery at The Digichick-- I'd love to see them!

A Winner & A Freebie!

Yesterday, I challenged you to share one of your affirmations for 2012 for a chance to win my new kit. You all have some great goals! Here's our winner....

Random Integer Generator

Here are your random numbers:

Timestamp: 2012-01-12 15:26:46 UTC

Congrats to ScrappyFrog! Here's the comment...

Scrappy Frog, January 11, 2012 1:56 AM
Oh my goodness, this is incredible! Can't wait to see what you're doing with everything!!! Thanks for the opportunity to win this!

Today everyone gets a prize, too-- a little freebie to coordinate with Affirmation! I made two extra papers for you in neutral colors, plus a cool January word art overlay. The typed definition-style words are synonyms for "resolution". I love nail one's colors to the mast and not stick at trifles.

Download your freebie by clicking the image above or here. Your download will begin automatically.

I loved reading all of your affirmations-- here's to keeping them this year and making 2012 a year to remember!

Today I will.... give you a peek!

2012-01-10T22:24:00.000-08:00

Hello scrapping friends! I've been a super busy scrapper this week-- I actually scrapped five paper pages for my son's first year album. Five. Paper. Pages. I know, amazing. I have a whole blog post planned for that adventure!

Before that, though, it's (about 45 minutes away from) Wednesday and I am so excited to share a little peek at what I have in store for you this week...

This is my first kit of 2012, and the first in a collection of monthly kits created to celebrate "a year to remember". My Creative Team has done some incredible things with this baby and I can't wait to share their layouts and the full preview on Thursday!

In the meantime, let's play a little game, shall we? Post here with one of your affirmations for 2012. An affirmation is a positive "I" statement and it can reflect a goal or a wish for yourself. For example, "I can run a 5K in 29 minutes!" (That isn't really true at this point, but I'm affirming it for this year. LOL) I'd love to see what you're working towards. Also, please leave your e-mail, blog address, or some way for me to contact you because I'm going to draw a random winner from the comments to win this new kit for FREE! YES!! Leave your comment by Wednesday, January 11 at 10:00 PM Pacific time to be eligible for the drawing.

Oh, and one more thing-- I have a really cool coordinating blog freebie ready for you, plus my newsletter free kit is getting an update. Goodies!

Happy days! ♥ ♥ ♥

Inside my studio: Color Play

2012-01-09T11:48:00.000-08:00

In order to share a little bit more about my design life, I'm going to try to write regularly with a peak "inside my studio". I use the term "studio" loosely-- unfortunately, I don't have a cool, artsy room dedicated to my artistic experience. Instead, most of my "studio" is contained within my iMac, in a little corner of my family room. Whatever works, right? I'll share different aspects of my work processes and ideas, and what designing looks like from my perspective.

I just finished a new kit and today, I'm thinking about color...

When starting a new kit, I was originally going to say that I start with either a theme or a color scheme, but the truth is, I always start with color. Even if I have a specific theme in mind, the idea doesn't come together unless I have colors to work with. Colors inspire the mood and feel of the kit, as well as ideas for papers and elements, so it makes sense that color selection is where most designers start.

For the most part, I need at least five colors to start with, then usually add a dark and a light grounding neutral for a total of seven colors. My new kit that I'll release on Thursday actually uses a total of eleven colors.

Pretty, huh? I'm really excited about it!

Sometimes new colors pop up while I'm working. In this kit, for instance, I was working with the original ten and realized that the gold color wasn't quite working as the center for a flower. I added the little bright yellow as an accent here and there, and it worked perfectly. Other times it will be a dark frame or a gingham ribbon that helps tie everything together.

A good rule of thumb I've learned is to never use pure white or pure black in designing. In their true forms, neither black nor white are "colors", and are difficult to work with and to print. Adding just a bit of color to white-- I usually go with some yellow to make a cream, or a grey or blue for a cooler winter white-- allows you to add texture, color burn, and see the white in print. For blacks, I usually opt for a dark orange (brown), blue, grey, or, in the case of this week, a deep green-grey.

Where are my favorite places to find colors? Well, I love browsing the palettes on ColourLovers.com or on DesignSeeds. I also like to play with different combinations on the Multicolr Search Lab. If I choose a palette from one of these places, I always change it to suit me. Usually this means making a certain color lighter or darker, adding or subtracting, or just using the images to inspire something completely different.

When I'm looking for inspiration, one of my favorite things to do is browse creative sites online. I am completely obsessed with wedding sites (I could spend hours on Green Wedding Shoes!), funky home decorating sites, and Etsy. I often see color ideas from images on those sites, so I'll pull up Photoshop, pull out my trusty eyedropper tool, and start pulling color. This week's palette came from one of these pictures, though for my life, I can't seem to find it! (eyeroll) I don't usually save the picture, but I keep a huge folder full of swatch ideas just waiting for further inspiration.

It's really important to me that my colors are in the proper gamut for printing. Basically, this means that the colors fit within the range of colors for printing-- generally (depending on your monitor's calibration-- another subject for another time) the colors will print true to what you see on the screen. Every printer is different, so the colors may show up brighter or duller depending on what printer you use. On my end, I want to do my best to make the colors as workable for printing as possible.

Photoshop has a cool helper for this-- first, when I'm picking my colors with the eyedropper tool, the color picker will show up with a little warning triangle to show me that my color is out of range. Additionally, after I'm working with the color (adding overlays, color burning, etc), I can select View > Gamut Warning and if anything is out of gamut, it will show up grey. It looks kind of like this:

If I see a ton of grey, I'll usually fiddle with the Hue/Saturation until it looks right. There are some colors, mostly bright, neon-type colors, that I have a hard time working with, so I tend to stay away from those.

That's about it for my color story today. I'll be back with some new layouts tomorrow and a sneak peek of my new kit on Wednesday, along with a chance to win it for free! Woo!

Happy Monday!

Silly Tom-- a page for 2006

2012-01-05T21:53:00.000-08:00

I scrapped a page today! Woo! I used the exclusive kit, Story of Everyday Life, from The Daily Digi for this page-- what a fun kit. The pictures are of my son, Thomas, from way back in 2006. Sheesh, I need to catch up! One page at a time, one page at a time. :)

Isn't he a cutie? I just love the way all of the circles and funky doodles in this kit worked with the silly theme of the pictures.

I also had a chance to work on a new kit today. I'm excited about it-- I'm working with some different colors and ideas, but my same style still seems to come out. I'll share more next week. Happy Thursday!

2012 Resolutions

2012-01-03T12:50:00.000-08:00

Happy January 3rd everyone! I feel like today technically counts as the first day of the new year, especially since the real January 1st was Sunday and a lot of people had Monday, January 2nd, off as a holiday. So Happy New Year!

I'm a big fan of resolutions. I love the idea of being able to start fresh and improve yourself, learning and growing along the way. 2011 was definitely a growth year for me in my design life-- I tried some new things, moved away from home and back again, and learned a lot about myself and my creative process.

This year, I plan to continue that pattern of growth both personally and in my life as a designer. I'll be posting about some of my life resolutions on my personal blog, and I want to share my artistic goals with you here.

Resolution #1: Connect

There are very few things I enjoy more than creating a new scrapbook kit. I love browsing colors, coming up with new patterns, and jotting down lists of elements in my little notebook. I love the thrill of previewing a product and seeing everything come together. But, even more than this, I really love to mix and mingle with other scrappers and to see how something I designed helps you capture your memories.

This year, I want to be more involved in chatting with other scrappers in the forums at The Digichick, checking out your creations in the galleries, and posting more often about my goings-on here at ElisesPieces.com. I think it's probably a little boring just to read about new releases, so I'm going to post more often about my perspectives as a scrapper and designer, share more tips and tricks I've learned along the way, and try to connect better with my readers, customers and scrapping friends. I'm also planning to have regular chats at the TDC chat room where we can chat and laugh together. So fun!

If you want to share what you've created, I'd absolutely love to see it! Just post your layouts here at The Digichick's open gallery, on my Facebook page, or leave a link here on the blog.

Resolution #2: Scrap More and Scrap Better

I think one of the biggest challenges I face as a designer is that I spend so much time designing that I often neglect my own scrapping. I mentioned before that my oldest son, Thomas, has scrapbooks that were complete through his 4th birthday-- right around the time my second son, Gordon, was born. Gord's scrapbook (he only has one-- sniff) is kind of pathetic-- I think his most recent page is when he was about 4 months old. Gordon is 6 years old now and recently looked through his book and asked, "Why don't I have more pages in here? Did I die or something?" There's a good way to make your mom feel guilty! My third son, Neil, doesn't even have a single page in his book!

I think trying to get completely caught up is unrealistic, but my goal for this year is to AT LEAST finish the 1st year books for Gordon and Neil. I save all sorts of souvenirs-- hospital bracelets, locks of hair, etc-- so my 1st year books need to be paper, or hybrid. This definitely presents more of a challenge time and mess wise, but I think being more active in paper scrapping will benefit my designs in the long run. Nothing gets the wheels turning like scissors and glue!

In addition to these two paper albums, I also want to increase and improve my own digital scrapbooking. I plan to do this in a couple of ways: first, I want to participate in more challenges.

Nicole at TDC recently launched an incredible sister site, Tell Your Story Everyday, where challenges and posts will feature ideas for scrapping your everyday life. I think journaling and capturing the small moments are SO important in scrapping, so I'm really excited about this site and participating in these challenges.

I've mentioned the Digi Dares before-- it's a really fun site with out-of-the-box prompts to get you scrapping and ways to win some great free goodies. I'm going to participate in the dares as much as possible-- I always love it when I do! :)

The Daily Digi is also an amazing resource for improving scrapping skills, so I'm adding this site to my daily reads. I'm also subscribing to The Digi Game-- the amazing contributions and playbook available at The Daily Digi. TDD always has such great product offerings, so I'm really excited about scrapping with different designers products and learning from the best scrappers in the Playbook. Plus, I've contributed to several of the quarterly collabs there and they are just awesome! :)

Next, I want to scrap at least one page with my own products. Most of my products were inspired by something in my own life, so it makes sense that I should use what I'm creating, right? Also, nothing helps you know where your kits need improving than trying to scrap with them!

I'll share my layouts here on the blog and in my personal gallery at TDC.

Resolution #3: Learn

I've been designing for more than three years now, and if there is one thing I've learned for sure, it's that there is always more to learn. I can't tell you how many times I've unintentionally discovered a new trick or a new way to do things, or had to stop in the middle of making a new kit to look up a tutorial. This year, I'd like to make those learning moments a little more planned. I have two Photoshop lesson books that I plan to go through, and I've enrolled in a couple of online Illustrator and Photography courses at ReneePearson.com.

As I'm learning, I'll share some freebies here and incorporate my new discoveries into my kits. Maybe one of these days I'll be able to actually create exactly what I was envisioning!

That's it! Three all-encompassing goals that will hopefully mean great things for Elise's Pieces Designs.

Before I go, I have to share a New Year's Resolution that I've already completed. Can you believe that?! The goal was this: get everything re-packaged and moved over to my permanent shop at The Digichick. I'm done, and it feels GOOD! Happy New Year!

A Merry Little Mini Kit!

2011-12-15T08:51:00.000-08:00

Happy Thursday everyone! I'm thrilled to share my new Christmas mini kit, Merry Little. This is just a sweet little mini kit with pretty traditional colors and some fun patterned papers and elements. The kit is on sale today at The Digichick, which makes it just $1.99!

We have a winner from yesterday's drawing! Congratulations to grannymike, who left comment #10!

Here's what grannymike said:


: This looks so lovely. Thank you for the chance to win.

Here are your random numbers:

Timestamp: 2011-12-15 15:51:48 UT

Please contact me at elisehansen1 at gmail.com and I'll send your code. I forgot to ask for e-mails! :p Thanks to everyone for playing!

Here are some gorgeous layouts from my wonderful Creative Team to get you inspired!

One more announcement: my shop at ScrapMatters is closing today. After today, my designs will be available exclusively at The Digichick. I am not retiring any of the products, so you will be able to find all of your favorites right here!

Have a wonderful day!

Have yourself a Merry Little... Sneak Peek & a chance to win!

2011-12-14T08:26:00.000-08:00

Hello friends, and Happy Holidays!! I have a fun little sneak peek for you today, and a chance to win this new mini kit free! YAY!

Just post a comment here by midnight Pacific time on December 14, 2011, and I'll use Random.org to draw a winner tomorrow!

Happy Thanksgiving-- Free Recipe Card Printables

2011-11-23T21:52:00.000-08:00

For those of you in the U.S., Happy Thanksgiving! For everyone else, Happy 24th of November! ;)

I just love Thanksgiving-- I love getting together with my family, enjoying a day off, and most of all, eating good food! In that spirit, I made some cute printable recipe cards just for you. These four cards are 3 in x 5 in, so you can attach them to a regular notecard for extra durability. I used my Thankful kit-- it's perfectly autumnal, don't you think?

Click on the image below to download your PDF-- the download will begin automatically.

Enjoy your freebie and have a wonderful day!

So Thankful

2011-11-17T10:28:00.000-08:00

Even though I've been whining about missing the summer, the truth is that I really do love fall. I love getting my sweaters out of their storage box at the top of my closet, I love putting on woolly socks, and I love walking through crunchy leaves. I think most autumn-lovers will agree: the best thing about the fall is the color. I can't resist creating a colorful fall kit each year, and this year is no different. I wanted to do something for one of my favorite holidays, Thanksgiving (I love the food!), but I wanted to keep it neutral enough that you can use it for any occasion. I'm totally digging on orange and grey lately, so this palette really worked for me.

Here's Thankful-- 20% off at my guest store at The Digichick!

Oh, and we have a winner! Congrats to Christina G-- and thank you everyone for your comments! Here's what Christina had to say in comment #5...

Christina G, November 16, 2011 1:05 PM I love that big dotty leaf!

Here are your random numbers:

Timestamp: 2011-11-17 18:12:12 UTC

Here is some loveliness from the team to get you inspired for everything you're thankful for!

As for me, I'm thankful for my sweet little family, for good friends who know just what to say to make me smile, and for a safe and loving home. I'm also thankful for you, my dear scrapping friends. Now go make some memories!

Thankful for Sneak Peeks!

2011-11-16T11:32:00.000-08:00

I bet you can't tell what this week's kit is about? ;)

And of course, with a peek comes a chance to win!! I'm having a little trouble contacting my winners, so here's the deal-- if you'd like to win this kit, simply post a comment here with your e-mail address (you can do something like elisehansen1 at gmail to avoid spammers) by midnight PST 11-16-11 and I'll let Random.org pick a winner tomorrow morning! YAY!!

I'm really excited about the colors of this kit-- it's very autumnal-- and I can't wait to show it to you tomorrow! Happy days!

We're "Just Friends"!

2011-11-10T07:57:00.000-08:00

Happy Thursday everyone! It's New Release day at The Digichick, and I'm just thrilled to show you my latest. As always, New Releases are 20% this weekend! This kit is called "Just Friends"-- take a look...

Before I forget, here's your winner from yesterday: Laina! Here's what she had to say:

Laina, November 9, 2011 2:01 PM
This sneak peek is so cute! thanks for a chance to win :)

Random Integer Generator

Here are your random numbers:

Timestamp: 2011-11-10 15:35:46 UTC (Thanks Random.org!)

Laina, be sure to e-mail me at elisehansen1 at gmail.com so I can send you your code! Congrats!

On to the story behind this kit! First, I asked my Creative Team to give me some suggestions for future kits and the amazing Ashlie suggested this palette with grey, light turquoise, and yellow. I knew I wanted to use the colors right away-- I love how gender-neutral they are, and how they make a really clean looking combination.

The theme idea came from my six-year-old son, Gordon. Not to brag or anything, but Gord is a charmer. He is energetic, good-looking, smart, and a natural leader and everyone, including the little girls, are drawn to him. Lucky for me (for now), he is subscribed to my suggestion that he is WAY too young to be interested in girls and I'm pretty sure that he and his buddies think they have cooties. This doesn't mean he hasn't noticed, though-- a couple of weeks ago, Gord brought home his school picture. He pointed to one of the girls in his class and said, "Kenzie is the cutest girl in our class. But don't worry, Mom-- we're just friends!" Whew! ;) Here's my layout with my little ladies man...

Our fun conversation made the perfect theme-- a fresh, young kit based on liking, crushes, friends-- nothing too romantic or girly. I kept the patterns very neutral and included some fun school-type elements like a lined paper strip and a number pattern here and there. There are also lots of doodle lines all around and one little red heart for that extra touch of color. I hope you like it as much as I do! :)

My CT and the CT at The Digichick came up with some great crush-themed layouts! Take a look...

And here are some more with other themes-- AMAZING, aren't they?!

Here's to likes, crushes, friends, and everything else wonderful to scrap! Speaking of "like"-- we're only 10 likes away from 1000 likes on Facebook! WOW!!! :D

Ack-- Late Sneak Peek!

2011-11-09T13:44:00.000-08:00

I am all sorts of confused this week-- is it Tuesday? Or Wednesday?! Well, even though this little peek is late, I did want to give you lovelies a chance to win my latest kit for my guest spot at The Digichick-- it was inspired by a cute conversation with my 6-year-old! Here's your peek...

Post a comment here for your chance to win this kit! I'll pick one winner from Random.org from the posts made before midnight Pacific Time today! (It's Wednesday!) Be sure to check back tomorrow for the full reveal!

DSA Blog Train-- woo wooo!

2011-11-05T00:00:00.000-07:00

Hey there scrappers! I hope you're having a fabulous DSD and enjoying all of the amazing sales out there! What a fun weekend!

If you've been following the DSA Blog Train, you should have been to Simply Magic Designs and grabbed her freebie. Next up, be sure to visit Paper Capers! I have a fun freebie for you today-- it's a fun Autumn-flavored mini:

Download Autumn Potpourri by clicking here or on the image above. Please note-- I do design and zip all of my files on a Mac. If you're a PC user and see extra "dummy" files, don't worry-- just delete them! ;)

If you love freebies (and who doesn't?!) I have some treats for you! This weekend only, I've teamed up with the designers at The Digichick for a Facebook Fan Page Hop! Head on over to my fan page, click Like, and you'll have access to my freebie, plus links to the other designers. And while you're here, be sure to sign up for my newsletter-- you'll get a lovely free kit just for signing up!

Be sure to read below for more DSD deals-- and thanks so much for stopping by!

* ETA: Sorry folks, my Dropbox account is overloaded and I cannot share public links for the next few days. I sent the freebies to 4Shared and will update with the public links again on Wednesday next week. Sorry about the inconvenience.

40% Off at ScrapMatters & Another Freebie opportunity!

2011-11-04T10:26:00.000-07:00

At ScrapMatters, we're celebrating DSD with a HUGE sale-- 40% off everything! Woo! Now's the time to stock up on all of your favorite kits! Plus, when you spend $20 or more, you'll get the beautiful "Love Yourself" Design Team collab FREE!

Plus, if you want some great prizes, be sure to play along with SM's DSD Party! I contributed the prize for Kat's Speed Scrap tonight at 9pm Eastern/6pm Pacific-- don't miss this chance for another Freebie from me! ;)

Hope to see you there! One more thing-- don't forget to stop by the blog tomorrow-- I'm participating in an awesome Blog Train that you don't want to miss! Happy DSD!!

Happy DSD & Time Well Spent

2011-11-02T22:09:00.000-07:00

Hello fellow scrappers! I am so excited to announce my guest shop for November: I'm back at The Digichick! I just love those chicks so much-- it has been so fun to hanging out with them again!

In case you didn't know, Saturday is Digital Scrapbooking Day! I'll be celebrating all weekend with a brand new kit, a new freebie opportunity every day, and a big sale at my ScrapMatters store! Let's kick this weekend off, shall we?

The girls at The Digichick are doing a Facebook Fan Page Freebie Hop (wow, what a title!) and I'm playing along, too. Here's how it works: head over to my FB page, be sure to "like", and you'll get links to my freebie plus a link to the next chick on the list! We all used the same color palette, so you'll end up with a huge collection of gorgeous goodies. The freebies will only be up until November 7th, so get crackin'!

First up, I created this brand new kit especially for my guest spot at TDC-- it's called Time Well Spent. One of my fabulous CT members, Stefanie, requested a kit that has to do with time and how we spend it. I started with a bright palette inspired by a photo I found on a wedding blog, went a little nuts with the flowers, and here's what I finished with:

Time Well Spent is 30% off for DSD-- what a perfect time to grab it! I have some amazing layouts from my CT and the amazingly talented girls at TDC, too. Take a look...

Congrats to the winners of my random Sneak Peek drawing: the Facebook winner is Sarah and the Blog winner is Heather! Congratulations ladies!

Be sure to come back tomorrow for details on my SM store sale, plus another freebie opportunity! LIKE! ;)

I'm a guest! Here's a peek and a chance to win!

2011-11-02T08:18:00.000-07:00

Hey scrapping friends! I'm so excited-- I'm a guest at an awesome digi shop in November! I have a brand new treat just in time for Digital Scrapbook Day, and you'll want to stick around-- there are some free goodies in store! Here's a little peek at my new kit...

Would you like to win this kit free? Just comment here or on my facebook fan page by Wednesday, 11-2-11 at 10:00 PM Pacific time, and I'll pick one winner from each place! Be sure to check back tomorrow for the winners and to see the full kit!

Happy Halloween! {A Creepy Crawly Freebie for you!}

2011-10-31T15:45:00.000-07:00

We love Halloween at my house. The kids are at perfect trick-or-treating ages and they look so dang cute in their little costumes. My husband and I have established some fun traditions over the years, most of which revolve around food, that I really look forward to. Pumpkin pancakes this morning, tasty shredded beef chili tacos tonight... not to mention all of those fun sized Butterfingers I'm going to snatch from loaded trick-or-treat buckets! Fun times!

And of course, fun times equal fun scrapping, right? I made a fun Halloween kit last year that is sure to celebrate your happy hauntings just perfectly! It's called Spooky and it's just right for trick-or-treat night!

And today, I made you a fun freebie alpha that matches perfectly. The little spider and string are in there, too-- how cute, huh? ;)

Click here to download your freebie (your download will begin automatically)-- and be sure to sign up for my newsletter while you're here! Happy Halloween!!

Scrapping = De-stressing!

2011-10-26T21:33:00.000-07:00

I've been a little bit stressed lately. Okay, really stressed. Life is crazy!

One of my favorite things to do when I'm feeling edgy is sit down and scrap. It's not always easy to find the time or energy, but when I do it, I always feel better. I think it has to do with thinking about something aside from life's stresses, and letting my logical, organized, trying-to-be-supermom side of my brain rest while my happy-go-lucky creative side takes over. I'm telling you, it's therapeutic.

Here's what I did tonight:

I used my newest kit and a picture that was taken on an afternoon with my mom and two of my sisters. Great memories, soothing black and white, and a fun challenge means that I feel pretty good.

Oh, the challenge! I decided to work on a challenge from The Digi Dares-- they always come up with such great ideas that really get the wheels turning. I loved this week's challenge and had great night of scrap therapy. :)

Shabby Black & White

2011-10-21T12:43:00.000-07:00

Oh my goodness, I've had a crazy week! But I am super excited to share this new kit with you-- I just love it!! I had been toying around with several different color combinations for the last few weeks and nothing was really working. So, I decided just to drop the color altogether, and here's what happened: Shabby Black & White! Everything worked pretty quickly, which is such a relief when you've been struggling, and I really love the way it turned out. What do you think?

My CT and the SM CT did incredible things with this kit! Here are a couple of my favorite examples:

I love the way this kit makes a classy black and white page, or makes color photos really pop! You can grab Shabby Black & White at ScrapMatters now!

Congrats to Jill and Sarah for winning this kit free! Here's what they had to say:

: I can think of so many uses for this and it's only the sneak peek! Thank you for the chance to win it!
Sarah I love black 'n' white! Gorgeous sneak peek. Thanks for the chance.October 13 at 10:14am ·
Congrats, ladies! Sarah, I'll send you a FB message. Jill, e-mail me at elisehansen1 at gmail.com for your code!

Sneak Peek & a chance to win!

2011-10-12T17:43:00.000-07:00

I'm really excited about my newest kit-- it will be released on Friday, October 14th at ScrapMatters! This was one of those kits that came pretty easily and I am thrilled about the end result. How about a little peek?

I can't wait to show you the whole thing!! In the meantime, how about a chance to win the kit FREE? I haven't done a random drawing for a while, so it's definitely time. Here's how to play: just post a comment here or on my FB fan page by 10/13/11 at 10:00 PM Pacific Time. I'll pick one winner from both my blog and FB for every 20 posts-- so, the more posts, the better your chances! Tell your friends! ;)

ScrapMatters October Stack Exchange!

2011-10-11T07:33:00.000-07:00

I'm so excited-- my kit Terra Cotta is the kit to use for SM's October Stack Exchange!

Terra Cotta is on sale for 30% off this month-- click here for more details and to participate!

Vintage Surf Shop Freebie!

2011-09-11T17:16:00.000-07:00

I don't know if you've been by Day's blog, but she has an amazing freebie created with our awesome collab, Vintage Surf Shop! And guess what?-- I've got one today!

Vintage Surf Shop is still on sale for 20% off, so be sure to grab the kit while it's on sale. It's such a great kit and I loved making a free page starter with it! Click on the image to download.

The other collaborators will be giving away some more great treats over the next few days. Tomorrow, be sure to visit Heather for something fun!

Have you seen Vintage Surf Shop?!

2011-09-09T14:05:00.000-07:00

The designers at ScrapMatters divided into teams to create three incredible collabs with one awesome color scheme! My team (including me, Inspirations from Day, geniaBeana Scraps, Haynay Designs & Krisi's Kreations) chose "Vintage Surf Shop"-- with a perfect beachy, end-of-summer feel. With 24 papers, more than 60 elements and a fantastic checkered alphabet, you're sure to find lots of great uses for this awesome kit! It's on sale for 20% off right now at the SM shop, too!

My team and I have some special little treats planned for you, starting tomorrow on Day's blog. Don't miss it!

Journey of the Heart!

2011-09-05T18:51:00.000-07:00

Oh, I am WAY behind this week! On Friday, I released a brand new collab with the amazing and hilarious Kim B. It's called "Journey of the Heart" and I. LOVE. IT!!! You'll find 25 gorgeous papers plus more than 50 elements inside, plus two amazing alphas. Normally our new releases are 20% off just for the weekend, but Kim and I are extending the sale through today to catch up on our Labor Day laziness. Lucky for you!

Today was a lovely, relaxing holiday for me-- tomorrow it's back to work!

His Senior Year-- a new Mini Kit!

2011-08-19T09:37:00.000-07:00

I finally had some inspiration this week! Somehow my old high school yearbook resurfaced and my husband and I had a fun laugh over those dated pictures. I was thinking about how fun that senior year was-- we had trudged through eleven years of school and finally had our year to shine. I created this new mini kit, "His Senior Year", with that in mind, but the kit turned out a little more like an overall guy kit than a specific school kit, but I love it anyway. Hope you do too! ;)

His Senior Year-- 20% off now at ScrapMatters!

My fabulous, fabulous, fabulous Creative Team put together some amazing layouts in just a short time. They are awesome!

I love the little flair bits in this kit, so I created a few more just for you! Here's a little freebie:

Download your Flair Freebie here! (Your download will start automatically!)

Oh, and while you're here, why not sign up for my newsletter? You'll get links to a lovely free kit, plus more goodies just for subscribing! Happy Friday!!

Garden Party Blog Train!!

2011-08-06T09:00:00.000-07:00

Wooo wooo! Welcome blog trainers!! While you're here, why not sign up for my newsletter? Or follow this blog? ;) You should have come from Jenn's-- wasn't her gift awesome?

I made a fun little quick page with this fabulous collab by the SM designers. I love the bright colors and all of the fabulous floral elements in this kit-- you're going to love it too! In case you didn't know, you can get Garden Party FREE with your purchase of $20 or more from the SM shop! Everything is on sale this weekend, so it's a great time to grab all of your favorite goodies.

Download your freebie by clicking the image below, or by clicking here. Download will begin automatically. :) ** Please note: my files are created and saved on a Mac. Some versions of Windows may see duplicate dummy files which may be deleted without affecting the original files. **

Next up, go visit my friend Amy for another fabulous freebie!!

If you get lost or if you want to start at the beginning of the train, head back to the Scrapmatters.com blog: http://scrapmatters.com/wordpress/! Happy training! ;)

Hybrid Happiness

2011-08-02T11:10:00.000-07:00

Happy Tuesday everyone! I'm really excited to share some awesome hybrid-ness with you using my latest releases at ScrapMatters. First off, check out this beautiful printed binder cover by Abish:

Those cute little owls are just perfect for school, don't you think? I love it!

I've mentioned before that one of the benefits of being a designer is that we get to sample our fellow designers' work. One of the designers I couldn't stand not being able to sample regularly after my move was my friend Kelleigh Ratzlaff. Have you met Kelleigh? She is amazing and her hybrid templates are to die for! So, I e-mailed Kelleigh and asked if I could join her creative team and guess what? She said YES! WOO! Alright, I admit, I'm a little bit selfish-- I'll probably use my own papers and elements on her hybrid templates, but hey, we're sharing, right? ;)

Here's what I made with Kelleigh's Apple Basket and my Whooo Loves Ya Papers and Elements:

Isn't that the cutest thing ever!?! Love it! Go check Kelleigh out-- you will not be disappointed!

Whooo Loves Ya?

2011-08-01T07:44:00.000-07:00

It's August 1st (barely!) and I'm so thrilled to announce the opening of my brand new store! I'm the newest exclusive designer at.... drumroll, please.......

Are you surprised? Not really? :D Well, after being a guest at ScrapMatters for two months, I decided to unpack my bags and move on in. The crew at SM has been so welcoming and since most of my own Creative Team spends their time over there, it seemed like a natural fit for me. I'll have an official Grand Opening on Friday, August 5th!

One of the features I totally love at SM is the monthly Mix-a-Kit, and August is no exception. The colors are fabulous, fabulous, fabulous and I couldn't resist diving right in! I've been wanting to create an owl kit for a while, and I think these colors worked really well with that theme. So, without further ado, here's my latest: Whooo Loves Ya? Elements and Papers, plus Stitchies for August! These fun pieces are on sale for 20% off, too!

My fabulous Creative Team went crazy with these new goodies and made some absolutely amazing layouts! Check it out:

Abish made this calandar-- I just want to print it out! How awesome!

Speaking of printing, I have some fabulous hybrid stuff to share with you with this fun kit. Come back tomorrow to see what you can do when you add Whooo Loves Ya? with a printer, scissors and glue!

And for our winner... Random.org picked Comment #1-- Congratulations Ghislaine! Here's what she had to say:

Ghislaine, July 30, 2011 8:55 AM Oh how cute! My daughter would love the owls!

I can't wait to see where you're going to end up!

Awesome! I'll e-mail you with a code for your goodies! Everyone else-- I have a brand new kit ready for Friday's release-- come over on Thursday for your chance to win!

An early Sneak Peek and a chance to win!

2011-07-30T08:32:00.000-07:00

I've been very busy this week preparing for the opening of my new shop on Monday, August 1st! You'll have to wait until then to find out where I'm going, but in the meantime, here's a little peek at my newest goodies...

And what fun is a sneak peek if you don't have a chance to win it? Here's the deal-- leave a comment here on this blog between now and Sunday night at 10PM Pacific time. I'll use random.org to pick one winner for every 20 comments to win the new release! Sweet! Tell your friends! ;)

Moving Sale

2011-07-27T10:15:00.000-07:00

It's with definite mixed emotions that I announce that I am moving from The Digichick at the end of this month. I love TDC-- it has been my digi home for more than two wonderful years. But, it's time for a change for me, so I will open a new shop on August 1st.

With this move, I've decided to retire several products. Be sure to visit my shop at The Digichick now through July 31st-- save big on all of your favorites, plus 50% off and more on retiring kits.

Some of my own...

2011-06-23T20:03:00.000-07:00

I took a little break from designing this week. We've had a busy week at home and I've put in some extra design time lately, so I made a conscious decision to take it easy the past couple of days. This idea worked so much better for me than procrastinating between deadlines and I'm feeling refreshed and ready to get back to work. :)

Nothing helps get those creative wheels rolling better than scrapping my own pictures. And since I'm a guest at ScrapMatters, the team there was kind enough to give me access to their shop during my stay. Woo-- now who can't take advantage of that?! I grabbed three fabulous kits from three different and amazingly talented designers, and I have LOVED scrapping with their goodies! Check it out...

ScrapMatters has fantastic features on their blog, including a weekly Tuesday Template challenge. I decided to play along this week and used an awesome template by Wendy of WM2 and Happy Snapper by Erica Zane to create this layout about my precious camera:

I love the soft retro colors and the hand-doodled elements in this kit. It's a must for camera lovers!

For Memorial Day, we visited my in-laws in Salt Lake City and visited the Living Planet Aquarium with the boys, so when I saw Something Fishy by Chelle's Creations, I knew it was the perfect kit to scrap our adventure. The felty elements are amazing!

Finally, I scrapped one of my favorite pictures of the summer thus far-- it's my six-year-old, Gordon, going crazy on a sprinkler jump. We've been watching Phineas & Ferb, and one of the songs on the show has the line "Summer belongs to you", which I thought made the perfect title for this fun page! I used the incredible Jady Day Studio's Summertime Fun: Backyard Play for this one. Love it!

That's it for now! I'm definitely inspired to design now, so check back soon for some new stuff! Happy Thursday!

CT Spotlight: Mendy

2011-06-22T09:16:00.001-07:00

It is my pleasure to introduce you to Mendy for the CT Spotlight this week. She's been a member of Elise's CT since November, and she's been rocking Elise's kits since then.

1. Can you tell me a little about yourself?
I was born in Massachusetts but we moved to Texas when I was 7 and I have been here ever since. We moved from El Paso to Texarkana when I was 14 so I can say I have experienced the mountains and dry Texas and the green and wet Texas. I raised two boys as a single mom, they are now 26 and 25 and my favorite men. I love the Lord with all my heart!! I work by day to pay for my scrapbooking habit as an assistant director of a local church preschool. I get hugs and kisses all day long.

2. How long have you been digital scrapbooking?
I started paper scrapbooking in '95 and began to dabble in digital. It took me years to learn PSE even though I am pretty techie about things. I do not do 100% digital as I enjoy the process [of paper scrapbooking] too much. I love the hours of cutting and the feel and look of a paper layout. I also make cards and do hybrid layouts. I like to take a digital layout and make it into a paper layout and vice versa.

3. What are your favorite types of products to work with?
I love paper and styles. In elements I like ribbons, staples, frames, oh who am I kidding, I like them all and love clustering them on a layout.

4. How would you describe your scrapbooking style?
I am a little mixture of all rolled into one. I do a little pop, modern, heritage, classic, but mostly I am simple. I tend to go towards simple kits but can cluster lots on my layouts. I don't do enough journaling. I do not like the artsy stuff but probably just because I can't see it. I like my layouts to capture a memory.

5. What is one thing about you that people are surprised to learn?
Usually that I am shy, the digi world does not see that side of my and my co-workers don't either because I do what I have to do in my job but I am shy and am content to blend into the shadows. I do not have to be noticed and am fine with that.

Mendy is such a varied and exciting scrapbooker, and I'm glad to be able to share some of her layouts with you. It's funny - I think these below are both her favorite and my favorite.

Now for an extra treat!

When I asked her, Mendy said her favorite Elise kit is Autumn Spice, which is a collab with the incomparable Madame Wing. Mendy said, "I love when the weather turns cooler and autumn is my fave season, the rich colors, elements, and blends just say autumn is coming and cooler weather is on its way."

In honor of her spotlight, Autumn Spice is on sale now for $3.50, down from $5.99. In addition, the Autumn Spice Quickpage collection is on sale for $1.50, down from $3.00.

Mendy's favorite kit will be on sale now through Friday evening, so be sure to pick it up, and grab the quickpage album while you're at it! Everything will go back to regular price on Saturday, though.

It's Dad's Day!

2011-06-17T07:36:00.000-07:00

Happy Friday, everyone! I'm excited about today's new release at my guest shop at ScrapMatters-- it's called Dad's Day and it's just right for your favorite guy! And guess what-- it's on sale for 20% off today! Yesterday I asked for comments to win the kit, and Random.org chose #2. Congratulations to MytreMy, who posted comment #2-- you've won the kit free! Please send me an e-mail to elisehansen1 at gmail.com and I'll reply with your code. :)

This kit has special meaning for me. Three years ago, I took the leap from digital scrapbooking to digital design and posted my first free mini kit on my blog. I was inspired by a man's plaid shirt, and since it was June, it seemed appropriate to make a kit for Father's Day. I made four papers and a little collection of elements, and I was pretty proud of my work. Do you want to see that first kit?

Oh my, that's fun. Ha ha-- I think I got a little bit crazy with the bevel and emboss style! This little kit isn't available as a freebie any longer-- after all, it is three years old and I've grown a bit! Lucky for you, I re-created this freebie as an add-on to my Dad's Day kit. Enjoy!

Download your freebie here! By the way, if you like freebies, you should really subscribe to my newsletter-- you get a great free kit just for signing up! ;)

Thanks for stopping by-- have a great day!

The Chick Fix: Summer Citrus

2011-06-16T09:49:00.000-07:00

Hello, hello-- and Happy Thursday! Let's start off with a WINNER, shall we? We had 4 blog comments and 2 on FB, and Random.org picked 5. So, Congratulations to Vicki, who posted comment #5 on Facebook! Vicki, I'm sending you a PM with your code!

In case you haven't been over to The Digichick yet, let me share some exciting news: The Chick Fix is here! For this fun project, several designers at TDC all worked with the same color swatch and came up with a fantastic variety of fun stuff-- and what's even cooler-- you can get these items for $1-$2-$3 for the month of June!

I absolutely love the motivation and creative energy that comes from this kind of project. And it has been so much fun to see the other items that my fellow TDC designers have come up with. Our styles are all unique, but I think you'll find that we mix and match really well!

This palette made me think of summer fruit-- specifically, citrus! I love the lemon, lime, orange and pink grapefruit colors-- they're enough to get my mouth watering. Add in some juicy blue, and you've got Summer Citrus! I created two paper packs plus an element pack, and all three are available at fantastic prices right now. It seems like we need an alpha here, huh? Hmm... you should probably subscribe to my newsletter (wink, wink)!

Here is some gorgeous inspiration from my lovely Creative Team, using just Summer Citrus:

And here are some beauties from the team at The Digichick using a mix of Summer Citrus and some other Chick Fix awesomeness:

Are you inspired yet?! Run over to The Digichick and get your Chick Fix today!

One more thing-- I have ANOTHER new release coming to you tomorrow at my guest shop at ScrapMatters! I know, I've been a busy girl! Want a little peek?

This one has a special meaning for me-- it's a re-make of my very first mini kit. I posted that as a freebie on my blog three years ago and it's kind of amazing how much my designs have changed and improved. Be sure to stop by here tomorrow-- I'll show you that first kit, plus my new release, and I'm thinking there well be something special for you too! In the meantime, if you'd like to WIN my new kit, just post here or on my Facebook page by 11:55 Pacific Time tonight (Thursday 6/16) and I'll pick one winner from Random. org. Yeah! I'll post the winner and all of the other goodness tomorrow morning.

Happy Scrapping!

Sunny Sneak Peek!

2011-06-15T01:06:00.000-07:00

Heidi here with a sneak peek at what Elise has coming out tomorrow at TDC:

How would you like a chance to win this new release for FREE?! Just post here by 11:55 PM Pacific time tonight and Elise will select a winner using random.org. Be sure to check back tomorrow to see this fun new release and to find out if you've won! Results will be posted by 9:00 AM Pacific tomorrow.

Seasoned Kit spotlight: Paradise Punch

2011-06-14T09:52:00.000-07:00

Hi, everyone, and welcome to another Tuesday on Elise's blog! I imagine that summer is fully underway for most of you: school's out, the weather's nice, and it's time to relax and enjoy all those amazing summertime activities. I hope you've gotten a chance to check out the pool, play in the sand at the beach, get together with family and friends... really, anything that puts a smile on your face.

This Tuesday, our seasoned kit spotlight is a bright and colorful kit just perfect for the kinds of pictures you might take this summer (or you already took a few summers ago). Paradise Punch has a tropical feel to it, so it's excellent for vacation photos. However, the rainbow-like color palette could compliment snaps from the pool, the beach, a luau, park play, or any big celebration. Most of the papers and elements are neutral enough in style that you can even use them for an everyday page.

Right now, this kit, which is usually $5, is on sale at 50% off. We'll keep that rate until Thursday night, so make sure you pick it up now so you can keep coming back to it all summer long.

In case you're the kind of person who needs things "unpacked" to get a good view, here's a few layouts to inspire you.

from Stefanie

from me

So don't forget - this special price on Paradise Punch is now through Thursday night, so don't miss out! Snatch it up now for all your vacation and summer pictures!

Have a great summer, and I'll be back on the blog next week to introduce you to another of Elise's talented CT girls and bring you another special kit sale.

I'm on Cloud Nine!

2011-06-10T11:15:00.000-07:00

I've been kind of obsessed with teal/turquoise/blue-green lately, so when I saw the start of the color palette that would eventually make up this kit, I knew I had to use it. The swatch originally consisted of just five colors-- all shades of blue and green-- and I thought it would be fun to use those colors with some yellow and white for the papers, then add in other accent colors for the elements. I love the way it turned out-- Cloud Nine is definitely a sky-ish kit, but with fun pops of color that bring out its sunny mood.

Cloud Nine is available at ScrapMatters for 20% off! Yeah!

Have a wonderful Friday!!

A sweet sneak peek!

2011-06-09T20:17:00.000-07:00

Ack-- Friday is almost here! I've got a brand new kit for you and I can't let Thursday pass without showing you this fabulous sneak peek from the amazingly talented Heidi!! Come back tomorrow to see what's brand spankin' new! ;)

New at ScrapMatters: Love at Home!

2011-06-03T06:45:00.000-07:00

Happy Friday! It's new release day at ScrapMatters-- that means 20% off!-- and I have a sweet new kit to share. I've been thinking a lot lately about priorities and quality time, and my thoughts always tend to go back to my little family. Love at Home was inspired by that quality family time and has a soft, sentimental feel. The quote by Anthony Brandt is my favorite little touch!

Take a look...

Love at Home includes twelve shabby papers, a great collection of soft elements, and a full tab alphabet-- and it's 20% off today! Just to get you inspired, here are a couple of gems from Stefanie and Mendy.

Have a wonderful Friday!

The Great Grab Bag Reveal... and a Sneak Peek!

2011-06-02T14:03:00.000-07:00

Okay, so it's not such a great reveal-- if you checked out my grab bag last month, you already know what's inside! Still, though, today you can get all of the goodies separately-- and at 20% off! Sweet!

Here are the new goodies in the shop today...

Tomorrow I have another new release at my guest shop at ScrapMatters! Woo! Here's a little peek!

Come back tomorrow to see the full kit and some lovely layouts from the Creative Team! Happy Thursday!

It's June! Mix-A-Kit and a special Newsletter Freebie!

2011-06-01T21:38:00.000-07:00

Happy June! I have a little surprise... I'm spending another guest month at ScrapMatters! Wahoo! And that means I got to play along with the June Mix-A-Kit with two fun new products-- I LOVED these colors! I created a new stitching pack and a clean, graphic paper pack.

Be sure to check out all of the cool Mix-A-Kit options at ScrapMatters today!

I am also really excited to share my new quarterly freebie especially for newsletter subscribers! If you already subscribe to the newsletter, check your in-box! If not, what are you waiting for? Easy Breezy is free when you sign up! Plus, be sure to check your downloads for an exclusive coupon!

Be sure to check back tomorrow-- I have a great little sneak peek for you!

Seasoned Kit Spotlight: Friends and Family

2011-05-31T10:14:00.000-07:00

Happy Tuesday! I hope you got the chance to have a long weekend like I did, full of family time and a little relaxation and gratitude for our safety and those who have helped to preserve it.

This week, again, I'd like to shine the spotlight on one of Elise's older kit series. Originally, she designed a kit called Family Ties. There was so much inspiration there, though, that she expanded it into another kit entitled Forever Friends. Finally, to top it all off, she provided solid colored papers and a unique but neutral alpha. However, it was never packaged in the store as a bundle, although they are meant to coordinate together.

From now until Thursday night, these products will be on sale for a bundle-like price, all of them more than 35% off, but you can purchase all four for $7.50!

So without further ado, the products:

Now, let me show you a few of the gorgeous products in use! You won't be surprised to see that the color palette and the elements lend themselves to a variety of scrapbook pages.

three from Stefanie

one from me

Put it on your to-do list: Pick up Family Ties, Forever Friends, Friends & Family Solid Papers, and Friends & Family Alpha before Thursday night. By Friday morning, we'll be back to regular price.

Destination: Vacation! A new collab!

2011-05-27T18:40:00.000-07:00

Oh, I am SO ready for summer!! I think I'm counting down even more than my kids are!

This week I had a blast collaborating with the beautiful and talented Jeanine DeOre at ScrapMatters, and our love of vacation, travel and good old fashioned R & R combined to bring you this lovely kit:

Destination: Vacation is packed to the gills with goodness-- inside you'll find 28 luscious papers and a huge collection of more than 50 elements including stamps, rub-ons, and all sorts of vintage-inspired treasures. My favorite is the fabulous word art-- Jeanine is a word art pro and I added a few myself! This is such a fun kit and I think you'll love scrapping your vacation memories with it. Happy Friday!

My new collab with Chelle's Creations!

2011-05-20T14:29:00.000-07:00

Hooray-- it's FRIDAY!!! I am so excited to share my awesome new collab with you! This week, I had the pleasure of working with Chelle of Chelle's Creations to create this one-of-a-kind musical kit: In Harmony!

Don't you love it?! Here's a layout of my own little musician-- so fun!

In Harmony is 20% off today-- and if you buy the kit by May 26th, you get the awesome word art pack for FREE! What a great deal!

Hope this kit has inspired you, too!

Thursday: Layouts, Grab Bags & A Sneak Peek!

2011-05-19T11:02:00.000-07:00

Happy Thursday!! I don't have a new release at The Digichick today (boo, I know!) but I did make a new layout with the lovely Amanda Heiman's latest: BaDa Bing! This super bright, cheery cherry kit was a blast to work with and it just gets me in a summery mood!

I am so ready for summer-- it's still pretty chilly and cloudy here. My kids will be in school for two more weeks, so I can handle the clouds for now, but after that I hope they disappear for a few months! I'm excited for some sunshine!

Did you know that May is Grab Bag month at TDC?! Well, it is-- and I have a delightful, bright and versatile bag for only $3 this month. That's a savings of more than 80%-- a fabulous deal! Included in the bag are five brand-new products-- two kits, a paper pack, a set of useful stitches, and a fun traced alphabet. Grab your May Grab Bag before it's gone!

Also, I'm a guest this month at a fabulous shop: ScrapMatters!! I am loving it there and have some great products in my shop. Such a fun and friendly place!

Tomorrow I'll be releasing an awesome new collaboration with the amazingly talented Chelle of Chelle's Creations! How about a little look-sy? ;)

I don't know about you, but looking at that peek certainly puts a song in my head! Be sure to check back tomorrow for a look at the whole thing and to get it for 20% off!

Seasoned Kit Spotlight: Word-art Week

2011-05-17T00:30:00.000-07:00

Hello, and happy Tuesday! I'm here to bring you another seasoned kit spotlight, and I'm feeling a little wwwwild today. So, we are going to focus on three of Elise's word-art collections today, all of which are on sale for less than $2.00 each. These sale prices are only in effect until Thursday night, though, so make sure you take advantage of them NOW!!

Creative team member, Stefanie, has created all of these new layouts to help you see how useful and creative these elements are on your layouts.

First up is one of Elise's 365 packs, this one with word strips for the month, family members, special moments, and a few blanks to allow you to fill in what you need. They're on sale for $1.50, which is a steal at 40% off.

Simply Scripted Frames, good for photo and page framing, on sale for $1.20, down from $2.00.

And, last, but certainly not least, the Seasons of Love Word-Art pack, $1.50 as 40% off. (Note: if you have the Seasons of Love Collection, you have this already)

Walk, don't run, to Elise's Pieces Design's shop and pick up these useful but decorative touches for your memory pages before Thursday night. Friday morning, these products will be reset to the regular price.

Sneak Peek

2011-05-12T06:47:00.000-07:00

Heidi here with a sneak peek of a kit that Elise has made for Scrapmatters:

Can't wait to see what you create with this boy friendly kit!! :):) Until next time ...

CT Spotlight: Ashlie

2011-05-10T20:48:00.000-07:00

Hey, there! Are you ready for the next installment of our creative team spotlight? This week, I'd like to introduce you to the newest member of the team, Ashlie:

1. Can you tell me a little about yourself?

I grew up on a ranch riding horses and driving tractors in Wyoming in a little town of 500 people. My heart definitely still belongs in the country. We moved to Arizona when my husband got a job here and have been here the last 6 years. I've been married for 10 years and have 4 boys ages 8, 6, 4, and 1. Unless it's straight pink I'm pretty good at making just about any kit work as a boy page. I'm a SAHM and run my own photography business. I love it! I've managed to work out the balance to the point that it's just enough to scratch my creative itch and still be able to keep up with 4 little boys.

2. How long have you been digital scrapbooking?

I've been digital scrapbooking for the past 4 years. Scissors, glue, and I don't get along well so digital was perfect for me.

3. What are your favorite types of products to work with?

I love products with lots of texture. Blues, greens, and neutrals always draw me in. Obviously with 4 boys any kit that speaks boy will get my attention! Elements wise I like string, stitching, and metal.

4. How would you describe your scrapbooking style?

I'm not sure I know what my style is, lol. My favorite pages tend to be simple and bring the focus to the photo and story being told.

5. Random question: You're stuck in a snowstorm with your family and no electricity. How would you keep everyone entertained?

Hum . . . I would turn the time over to my husband who is a genius at entertaining kids and making games out of nothing. Let me ask him. He says we'd read goosebumps and when the kids are all really scared we'll send them to bed. Haha . . . I think he's kidding, possibly.

Which are her favorite pages?

Ashlie really has a flair for great photography and just the right amount of cropping and post-shoot processing to make her photos center-stage. Some of her favorite layouts are below.

And, you're in for a treat today! Ashlie said her favorite kit from Elise is Stitch in Time. Says Ashlie, "I love the color scheme and the cut out flowers in it are adorable. Add that with the cute stitching and string and of course it got my attention!"

In honor of Ashlie's spotlight, Elise's store is offering the entire designer kit Stitch in Time for 40% off - it's $3.30 now through Thursday night. Snap it up now, because that's a better deal than you'll see on this one in a while.

And, if you like Stitch in Time, have you seen the earlier blog post from Elise, in which she offers a freebie add-on for the kit?

Seasoned Kit Spotlight: Just Peachy

2011-05-03T17:54:00.000-07:00

Hi, everyone! I hope you're having a great week! I'm so pleased to turn the seasoned kit spotlight on one of Elise's really sweet, but versatile mini-kits, Just Peachy.

Looking for a feminine kit without going over the top in bright pinks?
Looking for a classic color palette for your heirloom photos?
Looking for a kit to celebrate spring and all its beauty in your garden?
Looking for some lovely light elements to decorate a wedding page?

Just Peachy will meet all those needs.

And - as luck would have it - this mini-kit is on sale now through Thursday night for just $1.50, down from $3.00. Run over there now to snatch this one up, no coupon necessary!

Looking for inspiration? I can't wait to show you some of the beautiful pages our CT made!

CT spotlight: Amy

2011-04-26T11:46:00.000-07:00

I know you know it's Tuesday. To me, that means it's time for another spotlight. This time, we're looking at one of Elise's creative team members, Amy. She's just a down-to-earth woman with a family, three jobs, and a clean look. To her layouts, I mean. I don't know what her desk looks like. Without further ado, I'd loooove to introduce you to Amy!

1. Can you tell me a little about yourself?
I have been married for almost 9 years to my wonderful husband, Scott. We don't have any kids, but we have 2 dogs, Tanner and Toby. I am a teacher for my day job, and a Thirty-One Gifts consultant on the side. I love photography, which goes quite well with my addiction to scrapbooking. I really enjoy traveling during my time off in the summer.

2. How long have you been digital scrapbooking?
I don't remember exactly, but I think I started digital scrapbooking about 4 years ago. It was a slow transition from paper scrapping, which I started about 11 years ago. I am pretty much all digi now!

3. What are your favorite types of products to work with?
I really like textured papers that look realistic, stitching, buttons, word art, templates and distressed edges.

4. How would you describe your scrapbooking style?
I love layouts with a clean look to them. I also have to have the pictures be the focus of my layouts. I can't really think of a name to describe my style!

5. Which pattern fits you best: stripes, plaid, polka-dots, paisleys, or splatter?
I would have to say stripes or plaids - but it would depend on the color! I think it must have something to do with the symmetry and the lines - because they just "feel" better! I am so not splatter, polka dots or paisleys!

Time for Layout Inspiration! Now, I personally love how Amy can switch from serious to whimsical in style, but still using all the same basic elements. Her placement of the embellishments and the way she puts the focus on the photo are the biggest significant chances, and... well, you'll see what I mean below. I hope you figure out what I mean after looking at the next four LOs, all from Amy.

When I asked Amy what her favorite kit from Elise is, she said it was Happy Camper. "This kit is one of the reasons I applied to be on Elise's CT in the first place. I think it is just the cutest!"

So, in honor of Amy's spotlight, Elise's store is selling Happy Camper for 40% off - only $3! Grab it before Friday, because it'll be going back to regular price then.

Elise is also selling the beautiful Happy Camper Quickpage album for only $2, which means you can get this and the full designer kit for a 5-spot! Remember, the sale on the Happy Camper collection will continue through Thursday evening, but then we're going back to regular prices on Friday, so don't forget!

Happy Thursday-- Introducing Boyish Charm!

2011-04-21T09:32:00.000-07:00

I have a great new kit to share with you this fine Thursday-- it's called "Boyish Charm". I have three little boys and am always on the lookout for simple, easy-to-use boyish kits and that's what inspired the creation of my own boyish kit. I kept things pretty neutral in this one, so you won't find a lot of themed elements or patterns. I tried to keep things a little more versatile, so that you can use this kit to scrap the everyday. Boyish Charm is 20% off today and tomorrow-- and only at The Digichick!

Here are some gorgeous layouts from my gorgeous CT:

And we have some winners from our little contest yesterday! How about TWO winners?! Woo!!

Congrats to Jennifer (Comment #2):

Jennifer, April 20, 2011 10:41 AM
Ooo...I have THREE boys, so I'm definitely going to need this kit. :) Can't wait to see the whole thing!!

And congrats to So~Inkin~Cute (Comment #5)

So~Inkin~Cute, April 20, 2011 6:45 PM
Super-awesome! Thank you sooooo much for the chance to win! :)

Please send me an e-mail to elisehansen1@gmail and I'll send you your code! Yippeee!!!!

If you didn't win this week, don't worry-- there is still a way to win a $10.00 Gift card to my store. Just play along with Heidi here at TDC!! Plus, you'll definitely want to get my newsletter (I'll send it out this afternoon!) because it has a fun little gift inside that I think you're going to LOVE! And be sure to visit here on Wednesdays-- chances are, if I've got something new, you'll have a chance to win it! Happy Thursday!!

Sneak Peek

2011-04-20T02:10:00.000-07:00

Heidi here with you sneak peek for this week and if you have a boy, you are going to L.O.V.E. this kit! Ready?!? Here is your peek:
It just wouldn't be a Sneak Peek Wednesday without a chance to win, now would it?! How would you like to win this new release for FREE???!!!!???? Just leave a comment here by 11:55 PST tonight (4/20). Be sure to check back tomorrow because Elise will pick a winner from random.org and announce it with the reveal of her new kit! YIPPEE!!!!!!! Good luck! :)

See you at The Digi Chick tomorrow when it is on sale!!! :):):)

Seasoned Kit Spotlight: Neutral Basics Papers

2011-04-19T14:52:00.001-07:00

Happy Tuesday, everyone! I hope you've been having a great day. I'm here to bring you another seasoned kit spotlight, when we focus on some of Elise's products from previous months or years to give you a peak at the best and greatest stash-stuff she has to offer.

Lately, I've been reading a lot about neutrals - including white, cream, and browns on layouts to allow our colorful pictures and embellishments really pop of the page. For that reason, I wanted to remind you that Elise has a two quality collections of neutral papers in her store - Neutral Basics: Solid Papers and Neutral Basics: Patterned Papers. Take a look at a preview below!

Right now through Thursday night, these papers are going to be on sale for 40% off, for only $1.50 each! How could you miss out?

And are you looking for some idea of how versatile and complementary these paper packs can be? Our CTMs came up with a few LOs to share with you, and I'll know they'll give you some great ideas!

from Mendy

from Stefanie

Don't forget - now through Thursday you can get both of these paper packs for $3 total!
Go! Now!

Friday Freebie: Doodle Date Tabs

2011-04-15T12:19:00.000-07:00

Oh, how fun! Twelve doodled date tabs with little punched-out paper numbers to match. These fun tabs match my latest kit, Blue Skies Ahead, too-- don't forget, the kit is only $2.49 through April 30th! Happy Friday!

Download here

** Please note: my TOU applies to my freebies-- thanks! **

Blue Skies Ahead & A Bunch of Buttons!

2011-04-14T10:54:00.000-07:00

Winners & Specials announced-- be sure to scroll all the way down! ;)

It's a very special Thursday for me-- I'm celebrating my TWO YEAR ANNIVERSARY as a Designer at The Digichick!! I love being at TDC-- it is my favorite online spot. I adore all of the designers and creative staff there, and I've felt so at home the last two years. The best part of being a designer, though, is my wonderful customers-- I love hearing from you and being able to take part in your scrapping experience!

To celebrate, I've created a new kit, "Blue Skies Ahead", inspired by Springtime and a happy outlook on life. Designing truly makes me happy, so this kit perfectly expresses my feelings about it. I love the way these colors work together and I really like how soft and shabby the kit turned out. Don't you just adore that pinwheel?!

** As a special Thank You to my customers, Blue Skies Ahead is specially priced at only $2.49 through April 30, 2011! ** This kit contains 16 gorgeous papers and a huge collection of elements, so it's a fantastic deal.

My super talented CT has some lovelies to show you, too:

One of the cute CT members at TDC, Heather, requested some buttons to go along with my Project 365 packs-- so I have those today too. I had fun going through my button bin and picking out some fun ones. Buttons are such a great add-on to any layout, so I hope you find these little guys handy! Grab a Bunch of Buttons here!

We've got some winners!! Yesterday Heidi posted a call for comments to win my new releases. Since there were only three comments, and since it's a special anniversary day, I'm giving these two new products to all three of you! So congrats to Jen, Heather & Lor-- just e-mail me at elisehansen1@gmail and I'll send you your code! Hooray!

You'll want to keep an eye out on the TDC forums the rest of the month-- I have some fantastic give-aways planned. In fact, Heidi posted one today: a chance to win $10 to my shop!! And one more thing-- if you haven't signed up for my newsletter yet, you should... like, TODAY! I've got something really special especially for newsletter subscribers!

Sneak Peek Wednesday!

2011-04-13T01:59:00.000-07:00

Hello Elise fans! Heidi here with a sneak peek of what is coming tomorrow at Elise's store at The Digi Chick.

I have a little surprise for you faithful readers! How would you like to win this new release for FREE???!!!!???? Just leave a comment here by 11:55 PST tonight (4/13). Be sure to check back tomorrow because Elise will pick a winner from random.org and announce it with the reveal of her new kit! Wheeeeee!!!!!!! Good luck! :)

CT spotlight: Cheryl

2011-04-12T22:13:00.000-07:00

It's still Tuesday (in my time zone), so it's time for another CT spotlight. This week, we'll be paying closer attention to the very talented Cheryl.

1. Can you tell me a little about yourself?

I'm thirtysomething, married for 16 years, no kids but we have two very spoiled kitties, and I have the coolest job in the world! I work as a sign language interpreter for Deaf students at our local community college. I get to go to school every day for a living, it's the best!

2. How long have you been digital scrapbooking?

I started digi scrapping in November of 2007. I put together and printed a small photo/scrapbook for my Dad for Christmas that year. I never was a paper scrapper.

3. What are your favorite types of products to work with?

I love richly textured papers! That's what I'm drawn to the most but I also have a thing for worn and realistically shadowed photo frames.

4. How would you describe your scrapbooking style?

I have a pretty simple and uncluttered style. I like to choose a great paper and one or two terrific elements and really let them have room to shine.

5. Random question: what are three things that you always have in the car (that are not car accessories)?

A pillow, a blanket, and a teddy bear - for real! I spend a lot of time waiting around with my job and if I have a two hour break between classes I'll go to my car and take a nap or read.

As if you couldn't tell, one of Cheryl's favorite kits from Elise is Fall in Love Again, which she used on both the iPhone wallpaper and the page about her faith above. In her own words, "I love the richness of this kit not only with the colors but also the elements themselves have a great texture and richness."

So, in honor of Cheryl's spotlight, Fall in Love Again will be discounted in Elise's store today through Friday for only $3 - that's 40% off! (The preview below is clickable, too.)

Friday Freebie: Graph Papers!

2011-04-08T14:09:00.000-07:00

I love graph papers-- in fact, I am pretty sure I've been putting at least one graph-like paper in each recent kit I've made. I just think they're so versatile and classic, kind of a patterned paper that works like a solid. For today's freebie, I have a sweet little set of graph papers that coordinate with my A Stitch in Time Kit.

I made a layout using one of these papers, this kit, and my silly son, Gordon:

Download your free graph papers here ** Please remember-- my TOU applies to my freebies **

Have you signed up for my newsletter? If not, you should-- newsletter subscribers get the best goodies! Subscribe today! :)

My scrap evolution

2011-04-07T13:41:00.000-07:00

A Wikipedia article on scrapbooking says that the person credited with starting the scrapbook industry opened the first store in 1981, but I didn't really discover scrapbooking myself until I was in college in 1997. I did have photo albums in high school, though, and I consider these my first scrapbooks.

I bought a cool, vintage-looking album when I was a senior in high school and, on those terrible acidic and lignin-filled sticky pages, I made pages for myself and each of my family members. This trend continued in college, where I used some of those Crayola stampy markers and some construction paper to make my pages. There was a small crafting section at the campus bookstore where I picked up some stickers and my first pack of colored cardstock, but I was still using a standard gluestick to secure my photos to the paper.

Shortly after Chris and I were married, I went to a Creative Memories party where the demonstrator showed some pictures that had been stored in an album like mine-- they were terribly yellowed and some had faded past the point of recognition. I saw the error of my ways and painstakingly removed all of my stuck-on pictures and re-made new pages with them. The pages are pretty simple-- I used solid cardstock with a few acid-free stickers here and there-- but they are archival safe and they're still in the albums today.

By the time my first son, Thomas, was born, I was scrapping on a regular basis. Tom has two complete albums now, each with around 200 pages. I had also moved past the basic solid cardstock and sticker combo-- I collected stamps, huge bulk packs of patterned scrapbook paper, fancy scissors, embossing tools, buttons, eyelets, ribbon... you name it! In one of our apartments, I had an office set up with a craft table that remained perpetually messy, but until our second son, Gordon, was born, I was caught up with my albums.

My birthday is just month after Gord's, and that year that he was born, I was given my first digital camera. This took my scrapbooking into another realm because instead of going through a 36 exposure roll of film every month or so, I could take 36 pictures in one setting. I still printed my pictures at Snapfish or Shutterfly, but having so many more opportunities to whip out the camera meant that the pictures of Gordon's first year are significantly more than with Tom's. That isn't usually the case for the second child! :)

With two little kids, a small apartment, and a full-time job, my scrapbooking time and space was pretty limited. I've gotten to Gord's third or fourth month in his paper album, and I hope to complete his full first year-- still in paper-- this year. We also had another baby boy, Neil, who has only an empty album and page protectors at this point. Since Tom's first year album is so precious to me-- it has his announcement, a lock of hair from his first haircut, the tags from his hospital bed-- I have decided that the other two boys need a full paper album for their first years, too.

Gordon was a year old when a friend of mine e-mailed with a link to her new blog-- I immediately knew I wanted one. Blogging was a lot like scrapbooking-- telling a story with pictures-- and I loved the way I could preserve my memories almost immediately. I hadn't blogged long when I came across blogs that looked like scrapbooks and I finally had the nerve to ask someone how she did it. The answer was digital scrapbooking and it only took one look to know that I would love it.

I had Photoshop for work, so I purchased kit from Little Dreamer Designs and made an album for my in-laws. This is one of my first pages:

I had the album printed at Shutterfly and it turned out amazingly well. Even though I still haven't parted with my paper supplies-- and may never-- I knew that I was hooked on digi.

Digital scrapbooking is different for me, though. Because I can re-use, re-size, and re-color so many things, I am not as conservative with the number of pictures or elements I use on my pages. With paper, I would NEVER use only one picture on a page and I'm pretty careful with how many elements I use. I'm also very concerned with getting the whole story on my one page and include a lot of journaling, where I'm not really thinking about the artistic side as much. My digi pages, though, use a lot of elements and often just have one picture. Here's one I made today-- my little guy, Neil, with a new kit "One Step Closer" by my friend, Ale (Madame Wing), and a fabulous template by Digichick newbie Melissa aka Cluster Queen ("Gimme Layers vol. 4"):

Now, instead of collecting stamps and embossing powder, I collect fonts and digital kits, templates and photoshop styles. And if I can't find what I'm looking for in a digi store, I just design it myself! More on my evolution as a digital scrapbook designer in another post. :)

I love scrapping-- it's an outlet, a way to preserve memories, and an affirmation of a happy life. My beautiful CT member, Mendy, has a quote in her signature that I just love:

A Birth Certificate shows you were born…
A Death Certificate shows you died…
A Scrapbook shows that you LIVED.

I couldn't say it better than that!

Seasoned Kit Spotlight: Ready for Spring

2011-04-06T06:05:00.000-07:00

I know the seasoned kit spotlight it due on Tuesday. I hope you forgive me for posting this so late, but I think you'll be happy for the wait! Without any more delay, let's get into the spotlight!

This week, in the hopes that it encourages the weather to change (or at least the attitude you have about the weather not changing), we're highlighting Ready for Spring, a collaboration kit between Elise and Jude at Lil' Digi Bits.

This seasoned kit is soft, with lots of little motifs between the papers and the elements. There are half a dozen varieties of flowers, a few little insects, some rain-related bits, and an adorable sticker-like alpha! I'm sure you're going to love it -- especially because it's on sale now through Friday for 45% off!

And, to offer a little extra for the tardiness of this post, I'm also putting the QP collection that goes with Ready for Spring on sale for 45% off. It's a great little way to celebrate spring and all it means to you. Why not make today and put it out with your spring/holiday decorations in the future?

And, as always, I have a few inspirational LOs for you. I hope they get you in the mood to scrap!

from Stefanie

from Ashlie

from Debbie

The Eyes have it!

2011-04-04T19:50:00.000-07:00

Do you follow The Daily Digi? If not, you really should-- this place is jam-packed with amazing and super helpful ideas for the digi scrapper. I subscribe to their e-mail newsletter, and recently Steph sent out a link with one of their most-searched posts: She's Got Her Daddy's Eyes. In this post, Janet Phillips explains how to run a quick sharpen on the eyes of your photo subject, making them sparkle and pop. I've been doing this on some of my recent photos and I just love the way they are turning out!

Check it out-- my 2-year-old, Neil, looking uber adorable:

My niece, Brynn, with a sassy little smirk and some absolutely breathtaking baby blues:

I just love the way this action draws your view right to the eyes and seems to add more of the subjects personality as well. Love TDD and love this great idea!

Speaking of e-mail newsletters, do you subscribe to mine? ;)

Saturday Gems

2011-04-02T20:51:00.000-07:00

Just browsing through the lovely gallery at TDC tonight and found a few gems I'd like to share. Click on the photos for the credits page. :)

Look at this totally adorable layout by ScrapperJade. I totally love the bright colors mixed with the black and white picture. And this fabulous wave template by Amanda Heiman is to die for!

I also love this one by shawnbear-- that background paper is too cool. I also like the white space and the corner clusters.

And finally, a literal "gem"-- some sweet hybrid action by CristinaC. I LOOOOOVE this pendant! I'm really feeling the hybrid love lately-- I just wish my stupid Epson printer didn't run out of ink so quickly. :{

Hope these lovelies have inspired you as much as they have me! Happy Saturday!

Friday Freebie & New Animal Prints!

2011-04-01T17:59:00.000-07:00

Happy Friday and Happy April 1st!! Spring is on its way here in Idaho, and I couldn't be more thrilled!

Do you get my newsletter? If not, sign up right away-- newsletter subscribers get the good stuff! ;)

I have a little freebie for you on this fine Friday, but first I want to share my latest paper pack: Wild Child: Animal Prints! There are six funky hand-drawn papers inside and I've been thinking about some fun hybrid stuff to use them for. My sister's birthday dinner is tomorrow-- wouldn't that zebra paper look awesome teamed up with this awesome box by Kelleigh Ratzlaff and some pink flowers?! So cute!

Wild Child: Animal Prints are on sale for 20% off through today.

Okay, on to our Freebie! My husband is completely in love with college basketball. He has a yearly ritual where he reads a book written by a former coach, fills out multiple brackets, and watches every game in the NCAA tournament with complete dedication. I can't admit to having quite the same obsession, but I do enjoy filling out the brackets and watching the games. There is just something amazing about college ball!

I've been wanting to create a March Madness kit for a while, and finally got around to it this year with "It's Madness, Baby!" (just a little homage to Dick Vitale there!)

I love the greys-- they provide a perfect neutral background and leave plenty of room for pictures and colorful elements to pop. I'm also loving the way those fun little paper pom-poms and the tiny square buttons turned out-- so fun!

To coordinate with "It's Madness, Baby!", your freebie is this fun little word art pack. There are two word art PNG files-- and they're not specific to basketball, so you can use them on a variety of layouts. Hope you enjoy! Download here.

I made a layout with "It's Madness, Baby" and one of the word arts-- it's my little guy, Tom, playing Junior Jazz a few years ago. One of these days, I'll catch up on my scrapping! Ah!

Have a great Friday!!

Seasoned Kit Spotlight: Seasons of Love Spring

2011-03-29T00:37:00.000-07:00

Hi, everyone! It's Debbie again, and I'm so glad to be able to bring you another Seasoned Kit Spotlight this Tuesday. Unfortunately, we were not able to do so last week - let's call it technical difficulties - but I hope you really like the kit this week.

A while back, Elise created a series of kits called Seasons of Love. It includes a pack of solid papers, a packet of chipboard holiday embellishments, an alpha set, a set of word art, and a mini-kit for each season. The entire set is discounted in Elise's store, but I'd like to shine the spotlight on the mini-kit for spring because I'm hoping most of you are beginning to see tidbits of it coming through right about now.

It's a gorgeous collection of pastel patterned papers and elements, and it's 50% off through Thursday, so go grab it up!

Looking for some spring-ish inspiration? The creative team wants to share their pages with you:

Don't forget - Seasons of Love Spring will be on sale from now through Thursday for 50% off!

It's Maddness Baby!

2011-03-23T20:24:00.000-07:00

That's right ... Elise went crazy "mad" with her new kit! LOVE this kit!!!! Check out "It's Maddness, Baby" at the Digi Chick today while on sale!!!

Check out what the CT created with this kit:

Sneak Peek Time

2011-03-23T01:07:00.000-07:00

Heidi here with a fun peek at Elise's new kit ... let's just say that almost everyone is going "mad" right now in the USA and we now have the perfect kit to capture those memories. HEhe.

CT spotlight: Stefanie

2011-03-14T23:33:00.001-07:00

It's Tuesday again, and I'm here to bring another CT spotlight and a sale! So without further ado, let me introduce you to...

Stefanie

1. Can you tell me a little about yourself?
I am a SAHM of three, Joshua (17), Caleb (15) and Hannah (11), am married and have been for the last 23 years - giving away my age here too. We have three cats and live in Cape Town, South Africa. A few years ago we built on a studio and I am able to teach a few scrapbooking classes a week from the comfort of my own home. I have been scrapbooking for about 9 years and nothing resonates with me like telling the stories behind my photographs. I laugh when I say that I had never lied to my hubby about money 'til I started scrapbooking, what an addiction it has been.

2. How long have you been digital scrapbooking?
I have been dabbling for a while, getting to grips with PSE with Jessica Sprague, but made the change July last year and I haven't looked back. I was totally thrilled when Elise gave me the chance to be a part of her dynamic design team. Her creations are so easy to use and her creativity seems boundless.

3. What are your favorite types of products to work with?
I find that I keep going back to some certain basics, neutral papers, stitching, staples, flowers, lace. I struggle with using too much pattern but am gradually splashing out with extra layers and learning to cluster.

4. How would you describe your scrapbooking style?
Evolving. I like my photos square or rectangular ~ in neat rows or grids. Most times I have multiple photos. Clean and simple.

5. Random question: What is your favorite place to visit?
Port Elizabeth is a coastal city about 9 hours drive away from us. We have really good friends there, a home away from home. A place we can sit around, chat, kick off our shoes and enjoy a BBQ or Chinese food with a glass of rose' and a game of beyond balderdash.

Stefanie is such a talented layout artist that I just had to share some of her pages with you!

When I asked Stefanie what her favorite kit of Elise's is, she admitted that she loves so much of Elise's offerings that it was hard to pick. When I pushed her a little, she said that one of her favorites is Read All Over. In her honor, it's on sale for 50% off right now, and we'll keep the sale going through Wednesday, so pick it up before it's too late!

A Stitch In Time

2011-03-10T00:50:00.000-08:00

Check out Elise's super cute kit "A Stitch In Time"!!!! LOVE it! It is so versital ... for boys, girls or everyday life ... this kit has it all! :) You can pick it up today in Elise's store at TDC!

Check out what our CT did with the kit:

Sneak Peek!

2011-03-09T00:45:00.000-08:00

Elise has a new kit coming out tomorrow ... It is adorable!!! Here is a peek:

You can pick it up tomorrow at Elise's shop in TDC on sale!!!

Seasoned Kit Spotlight: A Little Luck

2011-03-07T21:33:00.000-08:00

It's Tuesday! You know what that means - a great sale on a great Elise's Pieces kit. Today, I'd like to shine the spotlight on a mini-kit that is so adorable and just perfect for this time of year: A Little Luck.

Yes, of course, St. Patrick's Day is coming up, but you don't have to wait for March 17th to chronicle why you're lucky in life. Scoop this cutie up now and get it for 40% off - just $1.79 - for just two days!

And I know everyone - even those of you who are buried in snow right now - can use this mini right now to scrap some wonderful layouts because our creative team did! Check out this inspiration.

from Mendy

from Cheryl

from Manda

So, don't forget, A Little Luck is on sale for $1.79, down from $3.99, but just until Wednesday night!

CT Spotlight: Manda

2011-02-28T23:53:00.000-08:00

Happy March, everyone! I hope wherever you are, things are looking a little less dreary than they were a few months ago. If you're looking for something to cheer you up, I have another CT spotlight post for you today with a very talented member of the Elise's Pieces Creative Team. Let me introduce you to...

1. Can you tell me a little about yourself?
I am 25 years old and currently living in Northern Pennsylvania. I am one of those weird people who actually really loves school -- I have two Bachelor degrees, one in Psychology and the other in Criminal Justice Administration, and am less than a month away from finishing my Master's degree in Higher Education Administration. By day I am a higher education professional and by night I am a scrap-a-holic, up until all hours of the morning just to "get my fix" so to speak.

2. How long have you been digital scrapbooking?
Geesh, it seems like forever ago, but I guess in reality it isn't. I only switched over from paper scrapping a few years ago...2008-ish, I think.

3. What are your favorite types of products to work with?
Oh, I love everything (and my bank account hates me for it). I will say that I am a total alpha junkie. I also love kits that have some sort of foliage (this is a new development, I never used it up until a few months ago but now I'm hooked), glitter/splatters, and/or stitches (I blame this one on my cat...it is his name, after all).

4. How would you describe your scrapbooking style?
Eclectic? I am not really sure. I like to try a lot of different styles; I am a big fan of stepping out of the box. I try to grab inspiration from every day life...tv commercials, furniture settings, people's clothes...you name it. I just see something I like and run with it...so whatever style that is called.

5. Random question: Which cartoon character are you most like?
I have no idea, I have never been big into cartoons. A witty, funny one, I hope!

Here are a few of Manda's favorite layouts of hers. I love how varied they are in their subject matter because it reflects several important parts of Manda's life.

Manda said her favorite kit of Elise's is Winter Retreat, which is one of her newer releases. she added, "It is just so versatile -- sure, it was created with the intention of showcasing your beautiful winter memories, but it is perfect for all of your memories year-round!"

So, thanks to Manda, Winter Retreat is on sale for 40% off. Rush over to The Digi Chick now to pick it up before that amazing sale price is gone.

Thursday Layouts

2011-02-24T08:21:00.000-08:00

Nothing new from me this Thursday, but I did have the scrapping bug! I decided to play with two new kits this week-- both from fabulous designers with clean, modern styles. It's so fun to work with these kinds of kits-- they're pretty different from what I create myself, and I love working with other styles.

I LOVE the colors and the graphic papers on Dysfunctional Design's new kit, Shattered. Here's my layout:

Kellie Mize has been one of my favorites for a long time, so I jumped at the chance to use her newest kit, Destination April. I just love the confetti and the crisp patterns in this awesome kit!

By the way, both of these kits are on sale today at The Digichick-- why wait?! Happy Scrapping!!

Seasoned Kit Spotlight: Resolution

2011-02-22T17:45:00.000-08:00

I am so sorry for the delay on this post! I completely forgot it was Tuesday, thanks to the three-day weekend here in the U.S. I think you'll find it's worth the wait, though.

This week's seasoned kit spotlight is on Resolution, which is a collaboration between Elise's Pieces Designs and the equally talented Nikki Epperson. It includes 12 gorgeous patterned papers that remind me of watercolors, a lovely glitter and silver kit (which Elise's creative team members used in several pages below), several different types of flowers in a variety of colors, an awesome date stamp, and all the basic elements you need like stitching, frames, ribbons, buttons, wordart, and more. Use it for journaling your hopes and dreams, but also showcase your girly photos, baby photos, and wedding photos beautifully with all the elements in this kit. All this gorgeous goodness is on sale for 40% right now, so login to The Digi Chick and grab it before the sale ends!

So without further ado, let me show you a little CT inspiration! The ladies really loved this kit, so much so that several did multiple pages with it. I'm super-impressed with their work.

Cheryl

two from Mônica

Carrin

two from Stefanie

two from Manda

We have a winner!!

2011-02-17T11:10:00.000-08:00

True Random Number Generator Min: Max: Result: 2 Powered by RANDOM.ORG

Here's comment #2:


: This looks fabulous! My favorite thing about DH is that he eats every experiment I cook, good or bad, and thanks me for every meal I prepare (lol, good or bad)
Congrats, Yvette! Just e-mail me at elisehansen1@gmail.com and I'll send you your code!

Mr. Handsome

2011-02-17T00:59:00.000-08:00

Heidi again with your first look at Elise's new kit! Elise combined talents with Sherwood Studios this week and came up with a very handsome kit:

You can grab it on sale at The Digi Chick today! Check out what our amazing CT created:

Sneak Peek-- you can win it!

2011-02-16T00:55:00.000-08:00

Heidi here with peek at what Elise has been working on {hint ... she might have had some help}:

Keep an eye out over at The Digi Chick to grab it tomorrow! :)

Elise here... I am SUPER excited about this fun collab with the awesome Julie of Sherwood Studio!! Can you guess what our kit is about? I'll give you a hint-- just think about your favorite man! ;)

I think you're going to love our kit and I want to give you a chance to win it! Just post your favorite thing about your favorite guy here by 10:30 AM Mountain Time tomorrow (Thursday 2/17) and I'll pick one winner from Random. org. Good luck!!

CT spotlight: Michelle

2011-02-15T10:28:00.000-08:00

Hi, there! It's Debbie again, with another fun spotlight on one of Elise's Piece's talented creative team members. So let me introduce you to:

1. Can you tell me a little about yourself?

I'm a 35 year old wife and mother. I've been married for 16 years and we have a four year old son. I'm from Texas, but currently live in Maryland. I'm in the Air Force and work as a translator. My other hobbies are photography and baking.

2. How long have you been digital scrapbooking?

I started scrapping in 2007. After the birth of our son, I really wanted to make an effort to preserve our pictures or memories and that's when I found digital scrapbooking.

3. What are your favorite types of products to work with?

I love kraft papers and stitches. They are both pretty much constants you will find on my layouts.

4. How would you describe your scrapbooking style?

I think I have a pretty clean and simple style. I also do a lot of whitespace layouts.

5. Random question: If you could use a time machine to go back to any decade in history, which would you pick and why?

I think I would pick the the 1930s. My father was grew up then. There is a very large generation gap between us and I think experience the time of his childhood, would help me better to understand him.

6. What's your favorite kit of Elise's?
This Life is my favorite product from Elise! The soft, neutral papers are beautiful and I really love the elements in this kit.

Unfortunately, we can't show you Michelle's fabulous layouts right now, mostly due to technical difficulties, but I have good news to go with the bad: Michelle's favorite Elise kit, This Life, and is currently on sale for 50% off in honor of her spotlight! Go grab it now before you miss this excellent deal! And check back on this blog later to see some of Michelle's beautiful pages.

I scrapped!

2011-02-10T15:19:00.000-08:00

It's been so long since I've had a chance to scrap, but since I didn't have a new release this week, I thought I'd pick up a lovely new kit and do some CT work myself! For this page, I used Nicole's beautiful new kit, Chocolate Kiss, and Nikki's fantastic Sweet Starts 16. Love, love, love!

Seasoned Kit Spotlight: Game On!

2011-02-07T21:54:00.000-08:00

Hi! Happy Tuesday! It's time again for a great sale on a great seasoned kit from Elise's Pieces. In case you're new to the blog, we've been focusing on a different kit from Elise's collection of fun, colorful, and versatile kits from deep in her store. Each Tuesday, I'll highlight a new (old) kit, and it'll be on sale for 40% off for that day only, so time is off the essence!

This week, the spotlight is shining on one of the oldest kits in Elise's store, Game On! Yes, it's a kit full of lots of sports elements and papers for all of your sports photos. However, with bright colorful solids and patterned papers with stripes, checks, and spots - plus stars, stitches, ribbons, and frames - this kit would be a great addition to your regular stash.

Of course, I know you're looking for ideas about just what you can do with this kit, both in sports-themed pages and other ones. I hope you love what the creative team has done as much as I do.

Carrin

Amy

Dawn

two from Jennifer

Mendy

Teresa

two from Stefanie

I hope that's inspiration enough. Don't miss the sale and snag Game On! today!

Friday Freebie

2011-02-04T13:39:00.000-08:00

It's Friday and time for a little free treat just for you! It is freezing cold here in my part of the world, but hopefully this little lovey freebie will warm your heart. ;)

Download your freebie here: http://www.4shared.com/file/B6vPZeSf/ehansen_Mad4You_FridayFreebie.html and don't forget to check out Mad 4 You, my collaboration with Mari Koegelenberg! Our fabulous kit is still on sale today!

Happy Friday!!

** Please note: My TOU is included and applies to this free product. This file was created and zipped on a Mac and may not be compatible with all PCs.

Mad 4 You!

2011-02-03T08:33:00.000-08:00

We had a little contest yesterday to win a free kit!

And the winner is...


: Looks too cute! Thanks for a chance to win!

True Random Number Generator
Min: 1
Max: 12
Result: 8
Powered by RANDOM.ORG

Shayla, send me an e-mail to elisehansen1@gmail.com and I'll send you your code! Congratulations!!

New Kit!!

2011-02-03T06:30:00.000-08:00

Heidi here with a look at Elise's new kit "Mad 4 You". As you read below, Elise did a colab with MKC, someone she adores:

You can pick it up today at TDC on sale!!

From our CT:

Sneak peek-- and a chance to WIN!

2011-02-02T09:19:00.000-08:00

Elise here-- how long has it been since I've posted on my own blog?! Sheesh! Well, I have some awesome news today-- this week I collaborated with one of my digital icons: the fabulous, extraordinarily talented Mari Koegelenberg! She is one of the sweetest and most gifted designers I know and I'm just thrilled that we could work together. Want a sneek peak? Here you go...

Can you stand the cuteness?!! That robot is too die for-- I love him!

Okay, so who wants to win this baby? Just leave a comment on this post and I'll use random.org to pick a winner at 8:30 AM MST tomorrow morning! Woo! Good luck!

CT Spotlight: Heather B.

2011-02-01T15:51:00.000-08:00

Happy Tuesday! It's Debbie again, excited to bring you another post spotlighting another member of Elise's incredibly supportive and creative team. This week, we'll be focusing on:

1. Can you tell me a little about yourself? I am 30, a single mom of 3 kids, Catherine Grace who is 9, Connor Michael who is 5, and Sarah Elizabeth who is 2. I am currently in the middle of a divorce, but don't be sad because I'm not. Its what is best for everyone. I live in alabama and work as a play assistant at a local indoor playground. I have a background in graphic design and am planning on going back to school in the coming months.

2. How long have you been digital scrapbooking? I started a couple of years ago because of learning photoshop in my graphic design classes, but really got serious about a year ago.

3. What are your favorite types of products to work with? I struggle with objects. I try really hard and in my head I see what I want a layout to look like but it never happens when I try to use cars, or other things. I do my best with tons of flowers and clustering objects.

4. How would you describe your scrapbooking style? clustering by heart. Love white space. Love to journal but I didn't used to.

5. Random question: What is one achievement from 2010 that you're proud of? Really getting on my feet and being able to support myself and the kids.

6. What's your favorite kit from Elise's Pieces Designs? LOVE Terra Cotta because of all the flowers and how elegant the kit is.

Below are some of Heather's favorite layouts of her own. I love these pages because of her clustering, her respect for shadow, the close cropping on faces in many of the pictures, and the peek-a-boo technique she used in several of these to add visual interest without adding more embellishments. Check out Heather's gallery for credits, to leave her praise, or to be inspired by her 190+ layouts there.

New Kit!

2011-01-27T05:59:00.000-08:00

I know a lot of you have been waiting for Elise's new kit "Winters Retreat" avaialbe at The Digi Chick:

Here are some beautiful layouts our CT created with the amazing kit:

Remeber it is on sale today!!! :) Happy Thursday!

Sneak Peek!!!!!

2011-01-26T01:42:00.000-08:00

Heidi here and I am super excited to say that Elise has a new kit!!!! I get to give you a sneak peek at Elise's adorable yumminess!!! I don't know about you, but I have missed her. :) Elise has such a creative eye and it shows in her designs ... sigh ... ♥♥♥ Are you ready??? Here is the peek:

You can pick up her kit at The Digi Chick tomorrow!!!! Make sure to check back tomorrow to see what our rockin' CT came up with! :)

Seasoned Kit Spotlight: A Guy's Life

2011-01-24T20:12:00.001-08:00

Wow - so glad to be back! I'm so sorry for the silence on our end the last few weeks. We had some technical difficulties with the forum the creative team uses to keep in touch with each other, and that stopped all communication. We're back up, and I've learned from the situation... so you shouldn't miss another sale on Tuesdays! (Yes, I'm knocking on wood.)

Without further ado, let me show you what we have on sale for you today, TUESDAY!

Our seasoned kit spotlight this round is A Guy's Life, one of the first original kits Elise made when she moved to The Digi Chick. It's full of papers with great color and geometric designs, with a handheld game frame, flames and lightning bolts, paint splatters, earbuds and guitars, rough doodles, stitching, and a complete alpha with numbers.

The best news is it's on sale TODAY (Tuesday, January 25th) for 40%! That's $3 for so much!

The creative team had so many different ideas about how to use this kit, too. I'm so pleased to be able to share all their layouts with you because they are so inspirational to me. I hope you feel the same way, too.

from Mônica:

from Manda:

from Jennifer:

from Lynn:

from Stefanie:

from Heather:

three from Mendy:

from Teresa:

Aren't they great? Don't forget - A Guy's Life is on sale in Elise's store today only for $3!

Seasoned Kit Spotlight: Silver Bells

2011-01-04T10:17:00.001-08:00

Happy New Year! I hope you had an excellent 2010! Here at Elise's Pieces Designs, we're excited about quite a few projects that Elise has been working on, so keep checking in here on Thursdays for new releases in the coming weeks.

In the meantime, I wanted to remind you about a beautiful mini-kit that Elise designed last year. It might be the perfect way to highlight and complement the photos you have from New Years Eve parties, office holiday socials and dinners, and even snow-filled scenes of serenity and play. It's called Silver Bells and it's on sale TODAY for 40% off at The Digi Chick. Be sure to grab it and enjoy the savings!

And in case you're looking for some examples of how the kit can be used and what the elements and papers do together, the team created some gorgeous and festive layouts to share with you.

from Heather B.:

two from Manda:

from Amy:

from me:

CT Spotlight: Tracy

2010-12-21T18:32:00.001-08:00

When senior creative team member, Tracy, learned it was her turn to be in the CT spotlight on Elise's blog this week, her response was, "YAY! How fun!" That's the kind of excitement and enthusiasm she brings to Elise's team, so without further ado, I'd like to introduce you to Tracy.

1. Tell me a little bit about yourself.

I live in central PA with my wonderful husband of almost 13 years, my 6 year old daughter and 2 year old son, and our two German shepherds and a cat. I work full time outside the home and really enjoy my job in the health care industry. In addition to scrapping, I enjoy other paper crafts, reading, cooking and travel. My husband and I are slowly making our way through our travel bucket list and we've been to some pretty awesome places, but having kids has put a bit of a damper on our schedule (but I wouldn't trade them for literally the world)!

2. How long have you been digital scrapbooking?

I've been scrapbooking since 2000, but I made the switch to digital in late 2007. Elise's was my first creative team and although I've been on and off many teams since, I absolutely adore her AND her designs and I'm sure she'll have to give me the boot some day because I'll never leave voluntarily!

3. What are your favorite types of products to work with?

I love very textured papers, and I am a ribbon/twine/string addict.

4. How would you describe your scrapbooking style?

A bit schizophrenic, but because I started as a paper scrapper, I think most of my layouts look similar to traditional paper layouts. I love lots and lots of layers, too, which is one of the reasons I love digital so much - if I had that many layers on a paper layout it would be 3 inches thick!

5. Random question: What's your favorite feel-good movie?

The Princess Bride (although I'm honestly more of a horror genre fan than a feel good movie fan).

Looking for some inspiration? Here are 4 of Tracy's favorite LOs. Click the pages for credits.

Seasoned Kit Spotlight - Seasons of Love: Winter

2010-12-14T22:04:00.000-08:00

I don't know where you live, but I'm getting the impression that some places in the United States are really beginning to feel like it's wintertime, thanks to the weather. I've been listening to reports of friends out of school for snow days and emergency days related to frozen or broken plumbing pipes, while the sunny places are getting tons of rain and temperatures have dropped severely.

It sounds like a good time to stay inside, take advantage of a good discount, and scrap some, if you ask me. To that end, Elise is offering a 40% discount TODAY ONLY on her mini-kit, Seasons of Love: Winter, which is included in the larger Seasons of Love Collection. (There are also mini-kits to go with all the other seasons, in case you'd prefer to think about the spring, summer, or fall months right now.)

I love the color palette on this kit, and my favorite embellishment in the kit is that glittery flourish. You'll see in the CT inspiration below that one specific teal paper with a snowflake is so soft and subtle, but designed so well it's a complement to any winter-themed page or project.

So, what can you do with this mini-kit? The Elise's Pieces Creative Team was up for the challenge! Take a lot at what beautiful pages they made to share with you:

Carrin:

two from Manda:

Cheryl:

Heather B:

Amy:

Now, remember, this mini-kit is only on sale today, Wednesday, December 15th! Go now to buy it, and then stay in to scrap to avoid the nasty weather outside!

CT Spotlight: Sheri

2010-12-07T22:45:00.000-08:00

It's Debbie, and I'm here to spotlight another of the super members of Elise's creative team. Sheri is one of the senior members of Elise's Pieces, and she's been so devoted to highlighting Elise's products. Take a moment to get to know her a bit more.

1. Tell me a little bit about yourself.

I am married with 4 children (10, 12, 14, 16). I like to garden and play tennis. This year I am excited to begin teaching. I am teaching video and game design at a high school. I love it so far!

2. How long have you been digital scrapbooking?

I have been digi scrapping for three years now. I started scrapping in high school over 20 years ago. Don't know why it took me so long to start digi. I will never go back!!

3. What are your favorite types of products to work with?

I love to use templates to get started when I don't have an idea in mind. It is a great way to jump start a page. Elise's kits are wonderful to work with. I am always amazed at her attention to details and color selection. Awesome!

4. How would you describe your scrapbooking style?

I don't know what my style would be called. I like to use lots of photos however. I want my photos to be the focus.

5. Random question: What is your favorite holiday song?

I LOVE holiday songs! I start listening to them at Thanksgiving and sometimes randomly during the year. One song I just heard a few years ago that is so cute is "I Want a Hippopotamus for Christmas."

Here are some of Sheri's favorite layouts:

Seasoned Kit Spotlight: Read All Over

2010-11-30T15:15:00.000-08:00

Once again, I'm bringing you some exciting news about our Seasoned Kit Spotlight. This time around, I wanted to point your attention at Read All Over, a classy, gorgeous kit that inspires images of books, reading, love, or vampires... or maybe all of the above.

The great news is that Read All Over is on sale in Elise's store for 40%, down from $3 to just $1.80. Head on over to Elise's Pieces's store to snatch up the beautiful kit now... and pick up some of Elise's other high-quality kits on sale while you're over there.

The better news is, after the store-wide sale ends today, the sale on Read All Over has been extended through Thursday! So you have time to buy the kit today, and then spread the news around to friends and family, so they have time to buy this classy collection, too!

And just so you realize how versatile this kit truly is, Elise's CT has whipped up a few new layouts to share with you. Enjoy the inspiration!

two from Cheryl:

from Abish:from Mendy:
from Manda:

New Release Thursday!

2010-11-25T00:00:00.000-08:00

Heidi here again ... O.k., are you ready to see Elise's goodies for this week? She teamed up with 2 fabulous designers this week. Her first kit is Snow Day. A collaboration with Nikkie Epperson:

You can find this kit at The Digi Chick located here.

And some CT inspiration:

Her second kit of the week is with Ruby Lane and has an amazing vintage feel also located here at The Digi Chick

Here is some more inspiration from our team:

Sneak Peek Wednesday

2010-11-24T00:56:00.000-08:00

Heidi here with your weekly Sneak Peek. :) Elise has 2 products for you this week and I must say, they are amazing!! See you tomorrow with the links!!