Archives for June 2023

June 30, 2023: Fresh Baked

June 30, 2023 by Stephanie MH

I’m not sure how we’ve reached the last Friday in June already. This month seems to have flown by more than others. But we are now at the halfway point of 2023. I hope your year has been amazing so far.

Remember if you spend $10 in the store you will get this great kit for free.

Let’s check out the new kits in the store this week.

Have you picked up the June Monthly Mix? Only a day left to get it at this great price.

Have you got your challenges done? This kit is yours as a reward if you complete any 10 challenges.

Filed Under: Digital Scrapbooking, Fresh Baked, GingerBread Ladies Tagged With: Digital Scrapbooking, Fresh Baked, GingerBread Ladies

Tutorial Tuesday (Photoshop Elements)

June 27, 2023 by Jan

Quick Trick: Scroll Through Blend Modes

PDF Version : https://bit.ly/3PxeDv0

I’ve lost count of how many times I’ve suggested to try a bunch of Blend Modes on a brush, scribble, stamp or even photo layer. But I never thought to tell you how to do it quickly and easily. Let’s fix that right now! This will be one of the Quickest Tricks I’ve ever shared with you.

Make sure the layer you want to Blend is the active layer. Then just double-click on the Blend Mode control bar. Now you can use the scroll wheel on your mouse, or the ↑ and ↓ keys on your keyboard. It’s really just THAT easy! To turn it back off, just activate another layer. (If you forget to take that last step, Elements will continue to consider the ↑ and ↓ keys to be tied to the Blend Mode function and you won’t be able to usee them to nudge your layers up or down. You’ll figure it out fairly quickly!)

See? Quickest Trick ever!

Filed Under: Be Inspired, Behind the Scrapbook, Creative Style, Digital Scrapbooking, Tutorials Tagged With: Tutorial Tuesday

June 23, 2023: Fresh Baked

June 23, 2023 by Stephanie MH

Happy Friday! I hope you have all had an amazing week.

Remember if you spend $10 in the store you will get this great kit for free.

Time to see the new items in the store this week.

How are your challenges going?. This kit is yours as a reward if you complete any 10 challenges.

Filed Under: Digital Scrapbooking, Fresh Baked, GingerBread Ladies Tagged With: Digital Scrapbooking, Fresh Baked, GingerBread Ladies

Tutorial Tuesday (Individual Style)

June 20, 2023 by Jan

Challenge Spotlight: Back It Up

This month’s Spotlight Challenge is brought to you by ADB Designs (aka Diane). Her gentle reminder each month that we should practice good data management habits seems to be lost on me. I’ve backed up SOME of my photos. I’ve unzipped and organized SOME of my digistash. I’ve unzipped but not organized SOME of my digistash. I’m not the best one to be giving anyone advice on this topic and I know it! Diane uses her Back it Up Challenge to prod us into action, and while we’ve got those photo folders open, she gives us a theme to keep in mind as we’re backing them up. This month the theme is Picnic/Summer Food. There are so many ways this theme can be addressed in a layout. Let’s have a look.

As always, the layouts shown are linked to the Gallery so you can pop over there and leave some praise for the GingerScrapper. Just click on the user name and you’ll be right there. The layouts are in the order they were uploaded and I’ve snagged all of them this month. Ready?

Rhewko‘s large-and-in-charge photo is quite literally the centerpiece of the layout. Does it reflect the theme? 100%! I love the line of actual marching ants across the bottom that adds a nice whimsy.

There’s a casual elegance to kabrak1207‘s layout. The barbecued meat photo is making my mouth water. I almost didn’t notice the two grills used as circle elements behind the photos. Clever!

Tamsin McAtee has pulled colour from her photo and chosen a beautiful kit to build her layout with. How romantic?!

For her layout, lawyerlyn has also used colour from her photos. Those bright, summery paper pieces she’s scattered behind them are so pretty. That coconut shell beverage is the perfect foil for the street-food fruitshake photos.

CathyS has picnic food in a supporting role for her family day layout. I tend to remember more of the who and the fun and less of the menu with events like this, so I might have done the same!

I can also relate to DianeInOz‘s situation regarding group tours. The food looks delectable and she couldn’t really enjoy it! (Sorry about the broken foot, Diane.) The muted colours she chose for her layout work really well with the muted colours in her photos, so they’re the focus.

I love the steampunk feel to wendeeds‘ layout. Look at all those photos! What a great adventure they had. Victorian food isn’t exactly run-of-the-mill… terrine of pheasant and venison anyone? Beats the medieval dinner I once enjoyed – with my fingers.

Camping and cooking over an open flame can be so much fun. The cheery colours chigirl has used for her layout mesh with her photos, reflecting fun, and I bet there were smores galore later.

Is there any food that says summer quite like watermelon? Theme? CHECK! This layout by ollitko is such an attention-getter. Beautiful!

Is it just me, or does this layout not radiate warmth? Everything ranchcreations has used just blasts love and sunshine.

This layout by msbrad takes me back to when my daughter played softball and weekends were spent outside, food was scarfed down with abandon and everybody had fun. Her use of primary colours against a sheet of scribbler paper evoke those memories even more sweetly.

And finally, I’m always fascinated by how KatherineWoodin approaches a challenge. She never disappoints!

We’re having some weird weather in western Canada right now. Snow in the mountain parks in June?! WHY!! Maybe the wildfire situation can be sorted out now. I had a dream about tornados after seeing reports from the midwest. We’re not paying enough attention to climate change, are we? Anyway… go back up your important files before you forget!

Filed Under: Be Inspired, Behind the Scrapbook, Challenge Spotlight, Creative Style, Digital Scrapbooking, Tutorials Tagged With: Tutorial Tuesday

June 16, 2023: Fresh Baked

June 16, 2023 by Stephanie MH

How are we already halfway through June? I’m always amazed at how crazy fast the year seems to go. You’re in for a treat today too. Since today is the 15th, we also have the start of the Bake Sale today.

Remember if you spend $10 in the store you will get this great kit for free.

Let’s have a look at some of the new items in the store.

And now the Bake Sale goodies. Each of these are $1.50 each until June 20th.

Filed Under: bake sale, Digital Scrapbooking, Fresh Baked, GingerBread Ladies Tagged With: bake sale, Digital Scrapbooking, Fresh Baked, GingerBread Ladies

Tutorial Tuesday (Potpourri)

June 13, 2023 by Jan

Are They Scribbles? Doodles?

PDF Version : https://bit.ly/3PeNvRs

How was your week? Mine was ridiculously busy! We had a bit of a disaster-in-the-making when the top window frame molding in our family room just… came off. There’s a drapery rod attached to it, and it was hanging on to the wall just by a bead of caulk. <horrified> Turns out it was only secured to the wall with pin nails. Now it’s firmly screwed into the studs and everything is back in place. <whispers… my husband is NOT handy… pass me the drill and the screwdriver then step away from the ladder!> Anyway.

I was looking at my private messages and saw another one from Glee asking about using doodles. In May one of the Challenges required the use of either doodles or scribbles. They can be amazing additions to a layout, but how? And is there a difference? What follows is how I use them – and it’s all ONLY MY OPINION so consider what I say accordingly.

Doodles and scribbles are essentially the same thing, with doodles often taking some identifiable form. Some designers create doodles then colour inside the lines to make what looks more like a sticker. I’m not going to say anything much about those; I see them as simply another element to add to clusters. But scribbles? They can add such a cool touch. Scribble/doodle implies the result is sitting right on the paper, so my inclination is to put them in the background, on my (neutral) background paper. I pulled a bunch of scribbles from my GingerScraps stash and will show you what I mean. Keep in mind that you can recolour, change the Blend Mode and/or Opacity or add Layer Styles to all of them to change up the way they work with your layouts.

Scribbles and doodles are casual things, typically something we do with our hands while we’re required to pay attention to something else. When set into the background of a layout, they’re an anchor for everything that touches them and add a nice whimsy. That’s not to say they aren’t useful in a more formal setting. Ultimately, your layouts are YOUR layouts and you can do whatever you want.

Because I’m very visual, I tend to look at the scribble and think about the most appropriate use for it. With this one, oriented horizontally as shown, it almost looks like a scrawled signature. I might put it behind a ribbon or narrow strip of paper. It could also anchor a photo to the background.

I see this one in my mind’s eye tying together a list, a series of word strips or even several small photos.

Look at all that fury! The dark, heavy lines speak ANGER to me, making it perfect for art journaling.

Anybody like a #2 pencil? I have several boxes of them in my craft room. Maybe that’s why I like this scribble so much.

This is the actual size for this scribble when I dragged-and-dropped! I just had to play with it.

When I changed the Blend Mode to Overlay I loved the result. I might decide to Duplicate the layer though to give it just a touch more presence.

I like how sinuous this one is. I could see having several smaller photos overlapping the sides of it but letting most of the visual impact remain.

This aggressive scribble makes me think of people who sign documents with a great big flourish.

I instantly felt happy when I saw this. It’s so bubbly! It could make a sweet anchor for a cluster.

Sorta like this!

I would frame a face in a photo with this one. But my OCD would make me use it in such a way as to get the entire scribble inside the boundaries of that photo. Unless… I went down the realism rabbit hole… Maybe I’d turn it into a sticker by adding a white stroke around it. Then it would be a doodle. 😀

I might use this to underline a title or as a divider between title and journaling. Or. A border!

With a little Rotating, Flipping, Solid Fill Layering and decreasing Opacity I came up with this. It would be equally appropriate as a background paper border or a photo border.

I loved this one so much the second I saw it.

What say you?

This is definitely a background anchor.

It took me a minute to think about what I’d use this with. I think it could overlap the edge of a photo or even give it a don’t-like-this vibe.

But then… how about a very simple siggy?

Or a variation?

I’m going to use at least one scribble/doodle on a layout later today. See if you can pick out what I’ve done when it shows in the Gallery.

Next week is our monthly Challenge Spotlight, when YOU take centre-stage. See you then!

Filed Under: Be Inspired, Behind the Scrapbook, Creative Style, Digital Scrapbooking, Tutorials Tagged With: Tutorial Tuesday

June 9, 2023: Fresh Baked and SUMMER DREAMIN’ SALE

June 9, 2023 by Stephanie MH

We have a great sale for you starting today. It’s our Summer Dreamin’ Flash Sale. Select items in the store are 55% off today (June 9) through June 12.

Remember if you spend $10 in the store you will get this great kit for free.

Let’s see some of the new items in the shop.

And now let’s see a sampling of what our designers have picked for the Summer Dreamin’ Flash Sale.

Filed Under: Digital Scrapbooking, Fresh Baked, GingerBread Ladies, sales Tagged With: Digital Scrapbooking, Fresh Baked, GingerBread Ladies, sales

Tutorial Tuesday (Photoshop Elements)

June 6, 2023 by Jan

3D Title – Paper Letters

PDF Version : https://bit.ly/3N838aO

Today’s tutorial is in response to a request from Glee. She’d seen a layout in a gallery created by biche57 that had a paper-letter title with the letters stitched to the background. The letters appeared to be lifted away from the background, sort of like butterfly wings. “How’d she do that??” Well, this is how JAN would do it…

I’m using the June Font Challenge font for my layout, and then Clipping papers to each individual letters. You can absolutely use an alpha to get it done faster and with fewer steps. The papers I’m using are from the GingerBread Ladies‘ collab Outdoorsy.

Here’s a little Quick Trick I just discovered. You can BATCH-SIMPLIFY all the text layers! To activate them all, click>shift click on the first and last text layers. Then right-click and choose Simplify Layer.

Here you can see that I’ve Clipped papers to each letter layer. Right-click>Create Clipping Mask or CTRL/CMD>ALT/OPT>G for Elements versions 15 and newer. For older versions the shortcut is just CTRL/CMD>G. To make each letter easier to manage, the paper and letter layers should be Merged. Activate the two layers then right-click>Merge or CTRL/CMD>E.

There! Now I have my paper title. Let’s stitch them down.

My granddaughter’s backpack is lavender, so I thought, why not use lavender stitches? You can put those stitches wherever you like; they’ll be your anchor for lifting the paper, so I felt it was best if I ran the stitches through the centre of the Bs.

We’re creating the illusion that those letters are lifted away from the background, and the easiest way to do that is to use custom shadows. For a lot of you this will be a review so feel free to skip ahead. I won’t mind! (I also won’t know. 😉 ) For those who haven’t seen the previous custom-shadow tuts, we start with Selecting the outline of the object we’re shadowing. To do that, CTRL/CMD>click on the letter’s thumbnail – that little picture of what’s on that layer – in the Layers Panel. That engages the marching ants and gets them doing their drill around the contours of the letter.

Now add a new blank layer UNDERNEATH the layer you’ve just selected. CTRL/CMD>click on the sheet-of-paper icon at the top left of the Layers Panel.

Over at the Color Picker, choose your shadow colour by clicking on the Foreground Color as shown. I’m using black [#000000] but a lot of people like a browner colour like #2c2801. It’s up to you. Then grab the Paint Bucket Tool and dump it into the outline.

Before Elements will let you do anything else, you’ll have to Select>Deselect or CTRL/CMD>D to stop the ants from marching.

The quickest, most effective way to simulate lifting the paper away is to use the Image>Transform>Distort Tool. This lets us change both the size and shape of the image in all directions. The only real limit is how far you take it. Remember to have your shadows all falling in the same direction; decide where your light source is so you can be consistent.

Click-drag one corner of the Bounding Box at a time until you get the shape you want. See how my Bounding Box isn’t symmetrical any more?

To hone the shadow and add realism to it, the shadow needs to be very narrow where the stitches are holding the letter down. I use the Smudge Tool for that. I push the shadow toward the letter at the stitches, and pull the shadow away where I want the paper lifting. The Smudge Tool also adds a slight Blur, but not usually enough to look real.

So… we’ll add a Filter>Blur>Gaussian Blur… to the shadow.

To be able to see a Preview of the Filter, click your cursor on the edge of your shadow. Then you can see up close how moving the slider softens the edges of your shadow. Remember, shadows are softer the more light is allowed to leak underneath an object – the farther away from the surface it’s sitting on it is, the softer the shadow. Hot Tip: you don’t have to go through all the Filter steps if you’re going to use the same settings for each layer. Just click CTRL/CMD>F and Elements will do the rest.

To be realistic, the background colour shows through the shadow. To achieve that requires changing the Blend Mode from Normal to Linear Burn.

To make it look less stark and harsh, decrease the Opacity of that shadow layer. Move the slider until you’re happy with what you see. I like 35% – for now – and it’ll be adjustable if I decide it’s too light or dark.

After each letter is shadowed, the stitches need shadows too. I just went with the same steps, but without the Distort and Smudge. I also used a much lighter touch with the Blur because the stitches are literally IN the paper so the shadows will be sharper.

Last thing is to make any tweaks you think will make your title really POP. I just use the Smudge Tool!

I know this method of creating shadows sounds complicated and labour-intensive. At first, it really is. But the more you do it, the easier and more intuitive it becomes. I don’t even really think about the steps now, they’re so familiar. It’s the shadows that really elevate a layout, so it’s worth practicing. Don’t forget to have fun! Next week we’re going to play with doodles.

Filed Under: Be Inspired, Behind the Scrapbook, Creative Style, Digital Scrapbooking, Digital Scrapbooking Freebies, Fantastic Fonts, Tutorials Tagged With: Tutorial Tuesday

Designer Spotlight: June 2023

June 4, 2023 by Jan

Designs by Lisa Minor

Time has gotten away from me lately. I have so many things on the go right now… so it took some finagling to arrange a chat with this month’s Spotlight designer, Lisa Minor. Finally it all came together, so read on for a transcript of our visit. As usual, we’ll get the formalities out of the way right off the top.

J: Lisa, thanks for taking time to chat! Let’s get down to business so the community at GingerScraps can get to know you better. How long have you been designing?

L: Over 20 years. Can it be that long, really?

J: That IS a long time! What brought you to designing?

L: First, the discovery of digital! Instead of making 5 books every year for family, I could just make ONE and print them all! Second,
the design process can be LONG and TEDIOUS at times, but it’s oh so rewarding as well. To look at the things you’ve created from
everyday inspirations in your life is such a JOY to me. When I first began to “try it out” it quickly became a “what else can I do”
situation. Which is probably why my kits are so big.

J: I was pretty late to the party. I didn’t find digital scrapbooking until 2008, and didn’t get my feet wet until 2010. Funny where life takes us. It never occurred to me that I’d ever have skills, especially skills enough to be invited to teach them to others. Do you have other passions?

L: Yes, I love to do advocacy work with families who are having difficulty partnering with their schools for children with ADD/ADHD.
I also love working in children’s ministries at my church. My target group is grades 4,5,6.

J: Wow! That’s such valuable work. My entire nursing career was in pediatrics, so we have a love of special children in common. What is your favorite recent memory?

L: The birth of my 2 grandchildren this year. Arthur, born March 1, 2023 and AJ born May 7, 2023.

J: Grandchildren are such a blessing! I have three; Jonathan is going to be 9 in a few weeks, Aaron was 7 in January and Miriam will be 5 two days before J’s birthday. They have a cousin whose birthday is in between theirs, so they have one big joint party for the three of them. Aaron is all by his lonesome, and I think he’s happy with that! If time travel was possible, would you go back in time or ahead? Why?
L: Back of course, and I would invest in Google, ha!

J: Wouldn’t that be something? You’d make a killing! I’d be all over the place. I used to say I’d want to spend time with my Swedish great-grandmother because I knew very little about her. But thanks to a random act of genealogical kindness, I’ve learned all kinds of information about her and her parents. My new wish is to visit my very British great-great-grandmother and ask her why she wasn’t able to stick it out in Canada with her husband; she tried 3 times and returned to England 3 times. Anyway…….. What is your most prized possession?

L: A jewelry box given to me by my stepfather when I was 10. I will NEVER get rid of it.

J: I have a jewelry box that belonged to my aunt that I treasure. I also have the gold-rimmed champagne glasses my British great-grandparents used to toast their golden anniversary. Which meal is your favorite?

L: ALL of them, but I love breakfast the most. My go to is a slice of bacon and some vanilla yogurt.

J: Mmm… yogurt! I like vanilla Greek yogurt with stewed rhubarb. I tried it for the first time in Ireland and was hooked. Are you a reader? What was the last book you read?

L: The Boys by Ron and Clint Howard. It’s a fabulous read.

J: I bet! I see both of them on METV… watch it on weekends with my son, who loves the old Western shows. What is the most essential thing you do every day?

L: COFFEE, COFFEE, and did I mention, COFFEE!

J: Shall I pour you some more? 😉 While I’m up, think about this. What is something an outsider most likely would not know about your industry?

L: The time spent on advertising on social media and promoting your products is just as consuming as the actual design process.
It takes an inordinate amount of time and MASSIVE organizational skills to keep up with it all.

J: I’m happy to make my small contribution to helping share your business. Ladies, Lisa is providing the Daily Download [links here on the Blog, every day] and hosting this month’s Designer Spotlight Challenge, of course. But did you know she also hosts the Pinterest Challenge? This month she’s also offering a coupon to her store! Be sure to check it all out.