Tutorial Tuesday (Individual Style)

October 28, 2025 by Leave a Comment

Challenge Spotlight: DSD Quote Challenge

Thank you all so much for being patient while I worked off my muscle relaxants! I truly do become quite um… incoherent and puddly when I have to take them. Good news is, I’m pretty much recovered, despite an eventful weekend in which my son experienced some very unpleasant medication side effects himself. And I’m back on track with my closet overhaul, even though I blew past my deadline completely. Now, back to our regularly-scheduled program.

This month I chose the Digital Scrapbooking Day Quote Challenge created by Diane, of ADB Designs. I love to use quotes and song lyrics on my layouts, partly because they make it easy, and partly because I can always find something that fits. Diane chose two quotes, with similar themes but with a definite difference – one is poetic and calm, the other is more whimsical. These are the quotes.

The autumn leaves
Are too heavy with color.
The slender trees
On the Vulcan Road
Are dressed in scarlet and gold
Like young courtesans
Waiting for their lovers.
– Langston Hughes

One sunny Autumn day
When I went out to play,
An Elf-man in a tree
Dropped colored leaves on me.
– Gertrude P. McBrown
​

There were ten layouts posted to the thread in the Forum and I was interested to see which of the options saw the most uptake. Before proceeding, make your prediction, then see how correct you are. Each layout is linked to its spot in the Gallery so you can take a closer look or leave some comments. Just click on the Scrapper’s Forum name and you’ll zip to the Gallery. 

First off the bat we have trinanne. She went with the elf quote and used photos of a charming little man busily raking leaves. I like the simplicity of her layout, and her clever use of the partially-nude tree element to reflect the theme of the layout.

Our next entry is from zotova (I think this is her first TT Spotlight!) and she’s also chosen the whimsical quote. Her layout is stellar on so many levels. That artsy background, her gorgeous cluster and the newsprint border frame her photo and draw the eye right to it.

KatL chose the more lyrical Hughes quote for her layout. The way her paper and element choices pull colour from her photo is perfection! She decided the photo was the star of the show and everything else plays a supporting role.

5grand also went with the Hughes quote. You really need to zoom in on this one! I love that the curled leaves look a lot like a bunch of carrots, and how the colour palette she chose coordinates seamlessly with her photos. That rabbit though!

Here’s some more whimsy. Celestine chose the perfect papers and elements for her photo. Her clever blending of plaid paper and her photo along with the denim-blue background provide a solid base for the branch.

I feel like Windswept‘s focal photo would have worked equally well with either of the quotes. But I also feel like she realllllly wanted to use the owl and the hedgehog elements and that dictated her choice.

I LOVE this one! Grace.‘s imagination and nature play well together. The drift of leaves draws the eye to the quote, but also to the little fox and bear elements. So pretty!

I have some photos of my son buried in leaves like these. They’re about 30 years old. 🙂 If you’re keeping score, the McBrown quote is in the lead. Katherine Woodin has created a lovely cluster of fall elements behind her photos.

Look at that fantastic font biche57 chose! It’s got all the elegance of Hughes’ quote and meshes well with the artsy border.

And last, we have this evocative layout from photocrazy. The watercolour paper she used provides a perfect backdrop to the fall cluster and the wildlife touches are sweet.

Did you guess correctly? I gave the edge to the playful quote before I started scrolling. It was a close one, six to four. Not as close as last night’s ballgame, and definitely not as um… drawn out. But a good competition nonetheless!

See you next week with the November Designer Spotlight. Can you guess who it is?

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

Tutorial Tuesday – Pre-empted

October 21, 2025 by 8 Comments

Hi everybody! I’m sorry to leave you all hanging today, but I’m quite under the weather. My son decided to just sit down in the middle of a transfer – only there wasn’t anything to sit his bum on. So my back is out and the muscle relaxants I’m on make me extremely stupid! I’ll be back next week fit as a fiddle, I hope, with a Challenge Spotlight that will tie up the remainder of October. Yeah. I know. We already have snow on the mountains. It’s coming, whether we’re ready or not.

Filed Under: Digital Scrapbooking

Tutorial Tuesday (Potpourri)

October 14, 2025 by 2 Comments

Jan’s Layout Salad Recipe

or… Taking the fear out of cohesively using parts of multiple kits to create a single layout.

Every time I post a layout with a lengthy credits list, I see several comments out how many kits I’ve used so successfully. I know most people are “kit Scrappers” using only what they find in a single kit. But boy, that’s too restrictive for me! It’s not that I CAN’T do that, I just like to mix things up. So how do I make it work? Grab a beverage and I’ll show you!

Before we get rolling, I should mention that the GingerScraps Buffet makes it really uncomplicated to mix and match kits. Each GingerBread Lady uses the same colour palette to design their contribution to the monthly Buffet, so you can easily grab papers from one Designer, elements from another and word art from a third Buffet kit and pull off a flawless layout. The following will give you a roadmap to making it work for you, whether you use some coordinating Buffet kits or pull from your whole stash.

My process is usually: open a new folder > choose a theme (for Challenges, for example) > find photo(s) > template > papers > embellishments > title. I add the tools to the folder as I go along. Once I’ve chosen a template, I open the preview thumbnail and enlarge it so I can see all the parts it contains. Then I can start pulling pieces to build my layout with. I start with the papers… count then up so I know how many I’m looking for.

In keeping with my theme, I’ll look at a few kits that fit, looking into the folders for the major parts of the template I’m using. For this layout, I chose Alexis Designs’ Ivory Pumpkins as my base kit.

Once I’ve decided on my base kit, I’ll Copy (CTRL/CMD>C) each paper and element I’ll use, then Paste (CTRL/CMD>V) them into the layout’s folder. This practice is very helpful later, as you’ll see, for assessing how well each item works with all the other items. So far, my folder holds a photo, a template, two papers, a button, some baby’s breath, two flowers and some leaves.

Sometimes I’ll go right to a kit I know will coordinate with my base kit and the theme of the layout. Here, I’ve opened Aimee Harrison’s Bonfire Nights and found a pretty paper I’ll use. I may find several suitable elements in the second kit, or I might just grab one thing.

I’ve selected the papers I want to use, but I feel like the edge of the background paper needs a little something. So I turned to the Search function in File Explorer. All of my GingerScraps kits are in a single super-folder so I’ve got that open as my primary search location. In the Search field at the top right of the screen, I typed in “edge” and let my computer do the work. It usually takes under a minute. As you can see, EVERYTHING with the keyword “edge” anywhere in the metadata shows up in the workspace. 🙂 I chose one and moved on.

There’s a string on the template, but no string in my base kit, so I ran a search for “string“. And got a gazillion results. 😀

I knew I wanted a red string, so I tightened the search parameter.

But I still had a paper problem. I needed a solid to Clip to the notepad paper on the template. So I searched for “solid paper“. I think you can see pretty well how this all works, so let’s move on!

Now I’ve selected all the things I want to use to create my layout and moved a Copy of each into my folder. I can see clearly whether they’re all going to play well together. I think it’ll work!

When I’m ready to upload my layout to the Gallery, I’ve got a complete alphabetical list of everything I used already prepared for me… I just have to transcribe it to the description box!

So let’s cast a critical eye at the final product. Did it hit the mark? Do the things I chose actually work with each other? You be the judge.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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

Designer Spotlight: October 2025

October 6, 2025 by Leave a Comment

Part Two: Wetfish Designs

 

It’s my great pleasure to introduce to you the creative mind behind Wetfish Designs, Cyndi! She’s a relative newcomer to the GingerScraps world, and we had a lovely time getting to know each other. Our conversation went something like this:

J: Cyndi, thanks so much for stepping into our Designer Spotlight! You bring something quite unique to our community. What drew you to designing?

C: I am a photographer and wanted to create kits that were more “me” than what was on the market when my second son was born in 2006. I starting using my Photoshop skills to create my own kits for my personal use. I then started designing. I took a break when I started homeschooling my boys, but now I’m back. I consider it a daily learning process and I am constantly trying new things and watching tutorials for various software on YouTube. I have dabbled with AI and my go to AI software is Adobe Firefly. I could spend hours trying to create a perfect AI image—my writing background lends itself in many ways to this new technology.

J: I’m on the fence about AI. I think it could be a really useful tool when used judiciously, but also that it could become like Skynet… I’ve noticed a lot more AI content creeping into the digital scrapbooking sphere and I worry that productivity will kill creativity. But anyway. Where do you find your inspiration for developing a collection?

C: I always look at color trends in fashion, as well as textures and colors in home design. I am instantly inspired when I travel and see new cultures, styles, trends, colors, etc. When I visit a store that has a lot of unique clothes or home decor, that is always a motivator for me. I don’t like to look at the work of other designers as much as I’d like to. I usually don’t even see another designers’ work until it is posted for advertising or events. I feel that keeps my designs more true to my style and helps me keep what I’m working on unique. Feedback from customers is always wanted! In my last newsletter I created a survey and found out what types of themes my customers want. That was very helpful, and my “Rainbow Bridge” download a day kit is reflective of that survey.

J: It’s interesting that you mention not wanting to be influenced by what other designers are doing. There’s been quite a surge in very similar themes and palettes popping up all over the digi-world from different designers and it’s been commented upon more than a few times. Is it “all great minds think alike” or something else? But let’s not go down that rabbit hole! Give us a peek at your design process, please.

C: I always start with a color palette. From there I look at textures and themes. Color and texture are my starting points. Whenever possible I create my own seamless patterns. I’m still struggling to learn how to create plaid patterns that are seamless. I’m sure there is a solid YouTube video out there, I just haven’t found it yet. Once I have my ideas generated I start with papers. Papers are one of my favorite things to design! After my papers are done I make a preview with them and then I begin building my elements.

J: I’m all in on texture and dimension. I think the overall look is much more engaging and memorable when an image “moves”. My digi-scrapping has really transformed since I first started dabbling with it fifteen years ago; being invited to write tutorials for GingerScraps nine years ago was a huge motivator for that. 😉 How has your style evolved?

C: I am addicted to vintage and shabby chic textures. Always have been! Surprisingly, my home is not at all a showcase for these aspects of design! I have been trying to veer away from that look every now and again with my “Fish Food” newsletter mini kits. For these kits I use a more clean look, using more vectors and flat textures. Most of the time I can’t help myself and gravitate towards anything old, vintage and shabby. Pink has been my favorite color for many years, so it often pops up in my kits. One of my newer kits, “Pinkademic,” is reflective of my love for pink and quirky modern art. After pink, I gravitate towards shades of black. Halloween has ALWAYS been my favorite holiday and that is probably because my birthday is just before Halloween. That is the reason I have so many Halloween products!

J: Let me be the first to wish you a fabulous birthday! Halloween has been a favourite time of the year for me since my kids were small. I loved creating costumes for them out of things I had on hand. They complained about not having “store-bought” costumes like everybody else until people started pointing out how creative theirs were. Suddenly Mom wasn’t such a downer after all. 😀 One year when my middle was in high school, she asked me to give her a black eye… with make-up. We almost had a visit from Child Protective Services for that one. I guess you could say I’ve been a hobby-realist for a long time. Is there any hobby you’d really like to master but haven’t tried yet?

C: Knitting! I crochet a lot but I haven’t figured out how to knit yet. When I watch TV with my family I will crochet or do puzzles on my iPad. I believe knitting would require my full attention and that is probably the reason why I haven’t learned how yet.

J: I think you’d find that once you got the hang of it, you could let muscle memory do a lot of the work. I knitted a sixteen-foot square afghan for my sister while my son was in the hospital. Trust me, I wasn’t super-focused. Another thing you’ll find is that knitting usually uses less yarn… for those times when the budget is tight. You mentioned watching TV with your family. Do you have a guilty-pleasure favourite show or genre?

C: I could watch BookTube for hours, as well as cruise videos. Cruising once a year is my goal, but reading every day is a constant for me. Historical fiction is my favorite genre 🙂

J: I think I need to check out BookTube. How have I missed that?! But cruises are never going to light me up. I get peopled out fairly quickly and couldn’t hack being trapped on a boat with a thousand strangers. >< But if I could do the I dream of Jeannie eye blink and be somewhere else, I’d jump at it! How about you? Where would you go?

C: I would go to Scandinavia! I love watching travel videos on Norway, Sweden and Finland! I also hope to visit Slovenia someday.

J: One of my great-grandmothers was born in Sweden. I’d love to see where her family lived. She’s the only one who came to North America and stayed. Her older brother, who escorted her across the Atlantic in 1888 to live with her maternal uncle, seems to have walked off the ends of the earth. Give me a time machine so I can find Ernst, universe!!

C: Like Outlander!!! I love the books and the show! If I could time travel it would be back to the 1700s in Scotland and, of course, it would be by way of some standing stones!

J: I’d that too. Funny, my great-grandfather was an Ulster Scot. His heritage was originally Norman; the first of them arrived in Britain with William the Conqueror before heading north to Scotland a few years later. My branch left Scotland in the late 18th century for the north of Ireland (it’s only 12 miles away, after all) and then on to North America in the early 19th century. So maybe we could explore history together! We can learn to make real scones.

C: I’d rather have sourdough bread! I used to make it every day but let’s just say the weight gain was not working for me 🙁

J: For me it’s potatoes. The Irish in me. My hemoglobin A₁C was higher than I’d like back in March so I’m watching my carbs a bit closer that I was. ;( I wish I could walk my dogs again, but I get too short of breath. Good thing they love me anyway. I read about the background of your Rainbow Bridge Daily Download collection; I’m so sorry you lost TWO dogs in such a short time. If you could have any pet, real or mythical, what would you choose?

C: A cat of course! I love my dog, too, but my heart was made for cats.

J: Hard pass. I don’t think we can be friends after all. Hahahahahahaha! Moving right along…… Thanks for chatting! I’m just going to finish up by filling our readers in on your Spotlight month and see where that takes us. I didn’t see a Designer Spotlight Challenge for you this month. I hope that’s just an oversight. But you are hosting your monthly Wild For Styles Challenge, so that’s cool. I don’t think anybody who frequents the GS Blog has missed your Daily Download sneak peek, but just in case….

Thanks again for the visit! For the rest of you, next week’s Tutorial Tuesday could be a Greatest Hits… or it could be a Fantastic Fonts new fall fonts post. We’ll see how I feel in the morning. If I get some proper sleep, who knows what I’ll get into!

Filed Under: Be Inspired, Behind the Scrapbook, Creative Style, Daily Download, Digital Scrapbooking, Digital Scrapbooking Freebies, Feature Designer, GingerBread Ladies Tagged With:

Designer Spotlight October 2025

October 2, 2025 by Leave a Comment

Memory Mosaic

Yep, it’s October. And in my world, October is always crazy busy. One of the best parts is [inter]National Digital Scrapbooking Day which now has expanded to fill a week.<claps hands gleefully> That means October is a GREAT time to be in the GingerScraps Designer Spotlight!! As I mentioned on Tuesday, this month we again have two Spotlights, Memory Mosaic and WetFish Designs. I had a visit with Joy, aka Memory Mosaic, first, so her Spotlight will post first. Let’s get after it!

O: Joy, it’s lovely to see you again! Are you ready for a grilling?

J: <chuckles> Sure! Want to start with the business stuff?

O: Yes, let’s! I’ve linked this post to your Store (it’s the underlined, bold text above) so our GingerScrappers can check it out. Tell me a little about your design process.

J: When I started, I would just make whatever came to my mind… and I would start making papers, and then elements… with no real plan. Each kit would take me forever, because I wasn’t really organized, and just doing whatever came to mind. Then I got some help from an experienced designer, who is super organized, and now this is my routine…

Around November, I will make a spreadsheet for the upcoming year. I first come up with any on-going collection themes I want to do for the coming year… I then go through and add extra kits to fill in the month. My goal is to have 1 new release each week. (that doesn’t always happen, but It is on the plan. LOL!) When I get ready to work on a particular kit, I first search for a color palette I like, (if one wasn’t already provided to me) I also might search the internet for inspiration around that theme, if I’m struggling with that. I also make a list of any sayings I might want to use for word art in the kit. I have a general list for each kit, depending on the size, how many patterned papers, how many solid papers etc, and I have an elements list too. I gather up all my supplies, (templates if using) and put them in folders so they are easy to access.

I usually always start with the solid papers that I am going to have in a kit, and then move on to patterns. Once the papers are done, I start on the elements. Sometimes I just start with my general elements that are in every kit, buttons, tape, flowers, etc. But, sometimes I start with the themed elements for the kit, and then move to the basic ones. Once the papers and elements are made, I make a coordinating Alphabet. At that point, I send the whole kit to my daughter who does a Quality Check for me. While she is doing that, I work on getting my previews ready. Once I get the kit back from her, I work on getting it all uploaded, ads made and posted and the kit given to my creative team and often the creative team at GingerScraps.

O: I can so relate to your earlier self! Over the years I’ve developed routines that are a lot like yours, only I don’t have anyone to do QC for me. Lately I’ve had some logistical issues that really threw me off. What do you find to be the most challenging part of designing?

J: Well, life can get busy and crazy. It is sometimes hard to just make sure to make the time to design. Also I think the hardest part for me is previews, the uploading, the advertising. I am thankful for the help I have around me, but there are some things that we just have to do ourselves. Everything takes time, and I think sometimes, people don’t realize how much time and energy goes into just getting a kit from the “idea of it” to actually having it loaded in the shop.

O: YES!! All that unseen, internal work is still work. And sometimes inspiration has to be replaced with perspiration. When you’re stuck, where do you seek that spark?

J: Online; Pinterest and Instagram are great places to get inspiration… but sometimes, I have to walk away from the computer and go do something else. I have found that when I do other things creatively, such as drawing in Procreate for fun, or sewing or crafting…decorating my house for the season, these creative outlets often help to get my creative juices going and I can come back with inspiration and almost always the process comes together, much faster, then when I’m trying to force something.

O: I’ve gotten away from Pinterest a bit lately, but I’ve joined a few online communities where I’ve gotten some really great ideas. My phone is FULL of screenshots… and I’m noticing a definite similarity to a lot of those images. Trendy, I suppose. Do you try to keep up with digi-scrapping trends?

J: I am still working on this. I often do searches for trends on-line, I look at physical scrapbooking supplies, in shops, and also on-line, I try to talk to people and get their ideas and see what they like and don’t like.

O: Of course, you want to give people what they want. This “hobby” of memory-keeping is already quite niche, so there will be some specific demands; you get that, since you have “memory” in your brand. I’m sure that’s intentional.

J: Well, the name for my brand, “Memory Mosaic” came from my husband. When I was first getting ready to open a store, and put my designs out there, I was looking for a name… All the names I was coming up with were just things you might think of, “Scrapping with Joy”, etc. (which were fine), but I was wanting something different. When I talked to him about it, he almost immediately said, what about, “Memory Mosaic”, piecing together memories to make something beautiful. So it was born. My daughter made my “mosaic heart” that has been part of every logo I have made.

O: I love a family affair! My younger daughter enjoys crafty stuff and sometimes borrows my supplies or asks for help bringing her vision to reality. We’ve had some fun times and have had some true adventures. (We won’t talk about us out in her back yard in the dark, cutting down pallets with a power jigsaw, ‘kay?) What have you always wanted to try but just haven’t yet?

J: I would love to try soap making. I actually have a beginner’s kit to try, but have not made the time to do it. Maybe soon.

O: Sounds like me and resin art… got all the stuff but haven’t made the effort yet. Sometimes I think of all the things I want to do and become quite anxious that time’s flying by. So I have a glass of wine and read a steaming novel until it passes. How do you unwind at times like that?

J: I love to have a hot shower, get in my pjs, get on the sofa, with a drink and a snack, and watch tv, usually with my hubby. In the winter, I snuggle under a warm blanket.

O: Ooh, that sounds delightful! We’ve been having unseasonably warm weather for autumn so far, and even have a late-summer wildfire burning not far away. We’re still weeks away from our first frost. So no need for warm blankies. I’m still wearing shorts and a tee-shirt, my uniform from early May until whenever. I’m even going to purge most of the contents of my closet – I haven’t worn most of that stuff in more than 5 years. If you had to wear the same outfit everyday for the rest of time, what would you wear?

J: I love my wide legged jeans, a comfortable shirt, sweater, and flats. That could be my daily “uniform”.

O: Sounds very comfy! And versatile. Oops, sorry! That noise you hear is Maeve chewing on her new stuffy. It’s got the world’s loudest squeaker in it, perfect for a terrier. Do you have pets?

J: I am definitely a dog person. There have been very few times in my life when we did not have a dog. The hardest thing about having dogs, is that even with the best of care, their lives are relatively short, and since our dogs become part of our family when we lose them it is like losing a beloved family member, but the pain of loss has not stopped me from having dogs.

O: We have two, Claddagh is 10 and Maeve is 7. They’re soft-coated wheaten terrors. (ed. note: not a typo) You’re so right about losing them… Claddagh has a history of pancreatitis and one bout was so scary, even for this old retired ICU nurse. She looked AWFUL. But we want to have her around and healthy for as long as possible. So she’s on a special diet, although we refused to do the “vet$$$$$” diet. She gets a low-fat grain-free commercial food with a little granola topper. Weird, right? Grain-free food with grain on top. For her heart. What’s the weirdest food combo you’ve ever had?

J: In Ecuador they make an amazing peanut sauce, it looks like gravy and the first time I had it on some boiled potatoes, I thought it was gravy, so that was quite a shock, but I actually learned to love it, served usually on grilled beef and potatoes. (it is sort of like thinned peanut butter, but there is no sugar in it)

O: I love Thai peanut sauce, so maybe I’d like that too. Now, speaking of food, it’s getting close to suppertime, so maybe we should wrap up. Let me give the usual Spotlight spiel about the Daily Download and all that. Thanks for the visit!!

Yes, one of this month’s Daily Downloads is brought to us by Memory Mosaic. It’s a very autumn-y kit with a hedgehog!

Joy is also hosting one arm of the Designer Spotlight Challenge for October in addition to her usual Mini Kit Challenge. This is her mini….

And if all that (and the DSD extravaganza coming up) Joy has a coupon code for her Store!

Now, go check out her Store!!

 

 

 

 

 

Filed Under: Be Inspired, Behind the Scrapbook, Creative Style, Daily Download, Digital Scrapbooking, Digital Scrapbooking Freebies, Feature Designer, GingerBread Ladies, Product/Designer Spotlight Tagged With:

Tutorial Tuesday (Windows 11)

September 30, 2025 by 1 Comment

Quick Trick: File Details

And just like that, September is over. It’s been a bit of a gong show around my house today (as it has all over the place… 🙁 ), which is why I’m late (again) getting this out to you. Thankfully, the last Tuesday of the month is reserved for Quick Tricks. I have another Work Smart Not Hard little tip for you if you’re using Windows 11.

Remember I mentioned finding that folder labeled Downloads INSIDE MY DOWNLOAD FOLDER last week? Well, it had a bunch of free templates from the now-defunct A Love For Layout Templates Facebook group in it. And for most of them, the folder labels gave me no clue as to when I downloaded them. I NEED to know that so that when I use them I can credit them properly. So what could I do to sort that out? Well… I discovered a Windows 11 feature I’d been sleeping on. The Detail Pane.

The “old” way to look at details about files in Windows requires a right-click on a file or object inside a file. This is the Windows 11 box that opens up when you do that. It has a few options that aren’t there in previous Windows versions and I won’t dwell on them. That’s not the point of this screenshot. Down at the bottom of the list is Show More Options. So that’s the second step.

This is the More Options interface. It really isn’t all that helpful, but again, down at the bottom there’s a Properties button. Step Three!

Yet another dialog box opens up. (This is where the name Windows comes from! 😉 ) It’s the General Properties pane and is helpful in a few ways. Here, you can Change the application used to open files like this one by clicking on that Change button. It shows the Path your system used to find the file, and it shows the Date the file was created. AHA! Now I can tell when this minikit was put together. (Yeah. I had files in that subfolder that are more than 10 years old. Gah.)

 

If I wanted to know even more, I could take Step Four and click on the Details tab in this pane. Here, I found information about that creation date and what software was used to create it, as well as size and resolution. To make it get gone, I can X out of it.

I was starting to flag a bit after about 10 hours of sorting through files, and was getting ready to pack it in when I noticed this little button at the top right of the screen. It says Details. When I hovered my cursor over it, the pop-up said “Show or hide the details pane“.  So I clicked it!

The Details pane slides open from the right hand side of the screen. Holy cow… with ONE click, I can see the creation date and dimensions! If I want more info, I can click on the Properties button.

And it’s identical to the dialog box from Step FOUR above! Two clicks instead of four!!!

To close the Details pane, I just clicked on the Details button up there at the top right again and it went away. And that’s it! But before I close this up and post it, I wanted to share just one more little Quickie… Down there in the bottom right corner there are two little icons. The one on the left is a stack of lines and the other looks a bit like a flatscreen TV. You can toggle between a list of files in the folder – the stack of lines, and thumbnail images of all the files in the folder – the flatscreen! The “old way” has more steps…

I’ll be back in the next few days with Designer Spotlights for October. First up will be Joy and Memory Mosaic. Then I’ll chat with a newish GingerBread Lady, Cyndi, who is also known as Wetfish Designs. October’s Daily Downloads are going to be amazing!

Filed Under: Be Inspired, Behind the Scrapbook, Creative Style, Digital Scrapbooking, Theres An App For That, Tutorials Tagged With:

Tutorial Tuesday (Photoshop Elements)

September 23, 2025 by 2 Comments

Guided Edit: Old Fashioned Photo

You probably already know this about me… if I’m going to scrap lift a layout, I’m going to make it as close to a twin as possible, but putting my own touch on it. And this month’s Scrap Lift Challenge is going to be no different. The layout Alexis has chosen is this one by AmaneseFe.

I have a huge folder of photos of children I’ve selected from Pixabay, so choosing which ones to use wasn’t too big a problem. The first hurdle to cross is to recreate the creamy, not-quite-sepia look Amanese has given her photos. So I played around a bit… This is the first photo I chose to edit. Isn’t he just so handsome?

I could have used an Action, but then I couldn’t share a method with you for getting there without one, so I went to the Guided Edits and looked at the For Fun edits. The Old Fashioned Photo looked promising.

I tried all three of the Options, Newspaper, Urban and Vivid, and decided I liked Vivid best. This was the result of one click on the button. It’s a good black-and-white image, but it doesn’t have that creamy taupe effect.

So I clicked on the bar that says Add Hue/Saturation. And this happened. It’s TOO BROWN! But I can fix that! The dialog box shows the defaults the Edit uses. There’s room to make adjustments. (I could pretty much have chosen ANY colour, not just brown, by moving that top slider in either direction.) The labels are H = Hue, S = Saturation and L =Lightness. Let’s see where I end up.

All I did was drop the Saturation down from 25 to 7. Now there’s a lovely hint of brown, but not too much. I’ve gone as far as I can with the Guided Edit, so I went down to the bottom right of the workspace and clicked on Next. (I cropped too much out of the screenshot… so I added the content of that lower right corner onto this one.) Reminder: If you accidentally click on Cancel, you’ll be right back at Square One.

This interface opens, offering you choices. You can Save, Save As (for creating an edited copy, rather than Saving over top of your original), Continue Editing in Quick (a menu of simple automated edits) or Expert. We’re going to Continue Editing in Expert because I know what tweaks are needed. So I clicked that button, then Done, down at the bottom right.

You’ll see immediately that Elements has created an Edit layer in the Layers Panel above the original photo. I’ve turned the visibility of the original off, since I don’t intend to use that layer for anything. All the remaining adjustments will be on the topmost layer. I clicked Enhance>Adjust Lighting>Shadows/Highlights.

The default for this tool is to dramatically decrease the Shadows but leaving the Highlights and Contrast alone. Oy, that screenshot looks better at full size… Default settings are Lighten Shadows 35%, Darken Highlights 0% and Midtone Contrast 0%. I further Lightened Shadows to 39%, made no changes to Darken Highlights and brought up the Midtone Contrast to 12%. It’s coming along!

Next, I clicked Enhance>Adjust Lighting>Brightness/Contrast.

Oh, that’s better! Here, the defaults are Brightness 0 and Contrast 0. I pushed the Brightness to 20 and the Contrast to 5. That blows out the highlights a bit, as seen with Amanese‘s photos, while making his eyes brighter.

Last tweak, I promise! Again Enhance>Adjust Lighting>Levels. This is the only keyboard shortcut I have for you today, 😉 CTRL/CMD>L.

The defaults for this tool are Input Levels 0, 1.00 and 255. Output Levels are 0 and 255. I adjusted the Input top end to 241 and tweaked both ends of the Output, to 18 and 238. Now the image is soft, creamy, dreamy and very similar to those on the original layout.

Then I used all the same steps to edit the second photo. The lighting for the original is a bit different than Photo 1, so the results aren’t quite identical. That’s not a big deal, because I know I can get it there. Stay tuned for my Scrap Lift layout!

Over the weekend I went right over a cliff when I found a Downloads folder IN MY DOWNLOADS FOLDER! It was crammed full of zipped folders and photos. Overflowingly full! So I spent many hours going through it, finding all the GingerScraps folders, unzipping and organizing them. It was like Christmas! Sort of literally…. there were lots of Christmas kits in there. So now I have all these “new” kits to play with… and I’m looking forward to it! We’ll see how well I keep up with my downloads going forward. I know me, it’s going to be a challenge.

 

 

 

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

Tutorial Tuesday (Potpourri)

September 9, 2025 by Leave a Comment

Greatest Hits: Work Smart, Not Hard!

Today’s Tutorial first appeared in April 2017 and was the thirtieth tutorial I’d written for GingerScraps. I’m a firm believer in working smart, not hard, so I put together a whole post filled with tricks and tips to make scrapping easier and more efficient. If I’ve missed anything that I’ve come up with since, I’ll add them in!

Here are all my Work Smart Not Hard tips and tricks in one place. We all have busy lives and could use a little help to streamline our workflow. So we can scrap more layouts, right? Can I get an AMEN??

  • Use a template if you’re short on time. They take out the drudgery without eliminating creativity. If you’re like me and have a gazillion templates in your stash, it can be more time-consuming to find the one you want to use than it would be to wing it and build your layout from scratch. I’ve developed a way of expediting my search by relabeling the previews with some key words my File Explorer search menu can track down. It was a gargantuan job to go through all of the ones I already had but it was so worth it! What do I do, you ask? I had to decide what system I wanted to use first. To do that I had to think about how I select them in the first place. I usually choose photos first, so my labeling system needed to reflect that. And although I rarely make 2-page spreads, I thought it might be easier to find what I’m looking for by putting that in the label too. My main categories then are “single#” and “double#”. Then I thought about some other factors that relate to templates and started adding labels like “large” to templates with large photo spots, “circle” and “square” for those predominating shapes, “blend” for templates with blended photos, and “mask” for those with masks. Your labels should reflect how YOU work, so don’t feel like you need to duplicate what I do, just because it works well for me. Do what works for YOU. If you start with the new ones you download and do it as you’re unpacking your zip files, then gradually work your way through your existing collection, it’ll save you a lot of time in the long run.

This is what a search for a “single3” template in my GingerScraps stash looks like:

With the extra-large view, I can scroll through the whole list in a matter of a couple of minutes and choose the one that fits my desired photo(s) and kit(s) selections. Right-clicking on the preview image and selecting Open File Location takes me to the folder where the template lives. And away we go! (P.S… keyboard shortcuts to follow in a single list.)

  • When working with templates, once you’ve added an item onto your canvas and moved it into position over/under the place-holder template symbol, look for all similar items. Duplicate the one you’ve just added and move it up or down the Layers panel until it’s just above or just below the symbol. Then nudge it into position on the layout over/under the place-holder symbol. **If you’re working with a pre-shadowed template, copy the symbol’s Layer Style and apply it to your element BEFORE duplicating, so you don’t have to do each layer individually.** Do this with each element of your template and all that will be left is to create a title and do your journaling. If you’re not using a pre-shadowed template, you can select all similar layers and shadow them with your Drop Shadow Styles (either default ones that came with your software, or those you’ve purchased) all at the same time. Trust me, this will save you a LOT of time! [Editor’s note: IF you’re doing your own thing – no template – and you’ve created a cluster or other assemblage of objects you’d like to Copy to position somewhere else on your layout, you can Select all of those objects by clicking on the first layer, holding down the Shift key and clicking on the last layer, then use the keyboard shortcut CTRL/CMD>J to Duplicate all of them in one set of moves!]
  • Speaking of shadows… remember that whatever you’ve typed should never look like it’s floating. Journaling, sub-titles and date labels – anything you use a FONT for – should sit directly ON the paper below it. No shadows. NO shadows. The exception to this rule is if you’ve turned your font into a sticker; then you can apply a very slight shadow to it to show that it’s a sticker.
  • And speaking of text… If you’re going to use more than one font, remember to Simplify your text layers as you go along to prevent the software from changing the font on ALL your text layers. This is more than annoying!
  • I like to create my titles on a separate canvas. That lets me see what I’m doing without any distractions. I have a general idea how I want it to look in terms of shape and size, so I’ll select a canvas size big enough for me to move things around and see it all clearly. I like to use alphas with or without a font, and it’s nice to see what I’ve got going on without trying to take everything else into consideration. Once I think I have it right, I Merge the individual alphas for each word together then Link all the layers together so that when I move the title onto my layout, everything goes, but I still have some flexibility to adjust placement in order to fit it better into the layout.
  • Don’t be afraid to turn off the Visibility of other layers if you’re trying to stitch a ribbon down, apply a staple or brad, or for any reason. Stitches and staples, just like text, should be on the layer immediately above whatever they’re securing. (If you want to turn on or off Visibility for a lot of layers, hold down the left-click mouse button as you move the cursor over those creepy little eyeballs.) Once you’re happy, you can turn all the other layers back on.
  • Make good use of Layer Masks to add more realism to your layouts. The advantage of the Layer Mask is that it’s easy to correct over-zealous erasing by simple toggling the white foreground colour to the background, the black background colour to the foreground and painting back whatever you oopsed on. With this nifty trick you can dangle a charm from a string or a ribbon, make a paper clip look like it’s really holding two sheets of paper together, twine a ribbon or a vine around some flowers and twigs, tuck a flower into a pocket… really, anything your imagination can conjure.
  • If your Panel Options aren’t set to give you a full-sized thumbnail in the Layers panel, you may want to rename your layers as you go along so you know what’s where. Don’t know how to change the layer name? Double-click on the label PSE has given the layer in the Layers panel and type in whatever you want. Want to change your thumbnail size? Click on the little icon that looks like a stack of papers at the upper right corner of the Layers panel right next to the trash can icon. Then select Panel Options>Thumbnail Size>Jumbo. Also make sure Thumbnail Contents>Layer Bounds is selected, otherwise what you’ll see in the Layers panel is a tiny little image in the area where it’s located on your layout inside the thumbnail box. I tried that and hated it!
  • Learn some basic keyboard shortcuts. There are a lot of them, but you’ll probably only use about a dozen with any regularity. Once you’ve incorporated them into your workflow, you’ll wonder how you ever got anything done without them. I find that my fingers just do it automatically. Below is a list of the ones I use most often, roughly in order of use. Windows users will use the CTRL and ALT keys, Mac users CMD and OPT.

If you want to save this to your computer just right-click on the image and Save Image As… and then name it something you’ll be able to find later.

A few other keyboard shortcuts I’ve incorporated into my workflow are:

CTRL/CMD>G = Create Clipping Mask (attach paper or photo to shape, mask etc) for PSE 14 and earlier

CTRL/CMD>ALT/OPT>G = Create Clipping Mask (attach paper or photo to shape, mask etc) for PSE 15 and more recent

CTRL/CMD>SHIFT>N = New Layer

CTRL/CMD>V = Move

CTRL/CMD>K = Fill (Paint Bucket Tool)

CTRL/CMD>F = Last Filter Used

CTRL/CMD>R = Smudge Tool

CTRL/CMD>ALT/OPT>Z = Haze Remover Tool

CTRL/CMD>ALT/OPT>B = Convert to Black and White

CTRL/CMD>ALT/OPT>S = Select Subject

If you have any WSNH tips I’ve missed, or haven’t discovered yet, please share them in the Comments below!

 

Filed Under: Be Inspired, Behind the Scrapbook, Creative Style, Digital Scrapbooking, Theres An App For That, Tutorials Tagged With:

Designer Spotlight – September 2025

September 4, 2025 by Leave a Comment

Part Two: Miss Fish

Did you miss me? 😀 As promised, here is a recap of my conversation with Juli, aka Miss Fish. She’s been a Spotlighter before so again, there won’t be a lot of strictly business chatter. You’ll notice that some of the topics are similar to those I reported on yesterday, and that’s what makes this fun!

O: Nice to see you again, Juli! It’s been a while since you’ve had the Spotlight, so let’s catch up. What’s the best part of belonging to the GingerScraps community?

J: I love how many long‑time scrappers we have. It’s such a joy to see babies grow up, head to college, and even start their own families.

O: It’s wild, isn’t it? I’ve *only* been with GingerScraps since spring 2013, but even in that time, I’ve gotten to know so many people through their layouts. I was a Sugar Cookie for a couple of years. then I started writing tutorials for the Blog at the end of August, 2016, so I feel like I really *know* so many of our community members. The good old days when we had a chatroom are deeply missed! But I digress. Tell me about a day in the life of Juli Fish.

J: I get up early (5–5:30 a.m.) to design a full‑page template, or at least get the bones in place. After work, I finish that page and often create another while listening to TV. On weekends, I design in the mornings so my husband and I can enjoy the day together. Packaging, loading, and promoting happen in the evenings early in the week — after years of doing this, it’s become a well‑oiled routine.

O: It sounds like you’ve got a great rhythm in place. Sometimes I feel like I’m shoe-horning things in where I can, even now that I’m retired. What do you find to be the most challenging part of being a digital designer?

J: Balancing my role as a health care executive with designing. Time and fresh ideas can be a challenge, but I’ve built a system that lets me design anywhere — even from hotel rooms and airports.

O: I didn’t realize you were in health care! I think I’ve mentioned that I was a pediatric ICU nurse for 24 years. So I get the juggling act part. Good thing there are so many differences in the pressure level! What do you do when you just don’t have any oomph for designing, but really have to get it done?

J: I love browsing paper scrapbook layouts and mixed‑media journal pages for fresh ideas.

O: That sometimes works for me too, although we’re coming at things from different angles. I know when I’m browsing the Gallery for the Challenge Spotlights, I often find my imagination picking up speed. I approach my greeting card creation the same way. I’ll buy a new set of dies or a new embossing folder, then I do a test run to see how they behave. Before I know it I have a card taking shape in my mind. Do you have a preferred colour palette?

J: Kraft paper paired with navy, red, green, and yellow — warm, versatile, and timeless.

O: Kraft is a perfect neutral, isn’t it? I bought a whole pack of Kraft cardstock and some envelopes that I just might turn into Christmas cards. I might want to get cracking on that… my craft space is my happy place. I go in there, close the door, turn on some music, and get into the Zone. How do you unwind after a crazy day?

J: I love to come home and soak in the tub, followed by a 20‑minute power nap. Then it’s dinner (definitely not cooked by me) and a nice glass of Riesling.

O: Not a napper. Never a napper. But Riesling!! Yummmmm. I live in wine country; our northern climate is better suited to white varietals so there are some fabulous local Rieslings. I think my favourite is the 2022 Summerhill Vispering Vines. Next time I’ll have a bottle chilling! Wine leads to food. If you could only eat one food for the rest of your life, what would you choose?

J: A loaded baked potato with extra bacon. Mmm!

O: Ooh, I love baked potatoes too. Not sure I’d live on them, but you never know. While we’re talking about fantasies, let’s talk teleportation. Where would you go if you could blink and be there?

J: I’d head straight to the Big Island of Hawaii to see the active lava flows from Kilauea — nature’s raw beauty in motion.

O: That would be an interesting experience. I’m a little too familiar with nature’s raw beauty in motion with all the wildfires… can’t see across the valley today for smoke. I wish I had the power to command the elements so I could bring a solid week of rain to our area. They could call me the Decimator of Drought. What would your superhero name be?

J: My co‑workers call me Juli Does‑It‑All Fish because I’m always juggling ten things at once.

O: Ah, another multitasker! (I think all women are that, though. Amirite?) We all have many skills and talents. What’s one skill you wish you had?

J: Adobe Illustrator. I’m comfortable in Photoshop, but Illustrator would open up endless creative possibilities — I could design all kinds of kits.

O: I feel like AI is going to be the Next Big Thing and all of us will be made redundant. 🙁 Maybe we’d need new hobbies. Is there something you’d like to pick up?

J: Crocheting. I’ve tried knitting but I’m terrible at it. I’d love to make little crocheted animals — plus, people who crochet always look so zen.

O: I can do both. Amigurumi though… that wouldn’t be a good choice for me. My eyes aren’t what they used to be. Those big cuddly blankets would be more my speed these days. Hmm. I have some super bulky yarn somewhere and I’d like to learn the herringbone stitch. Project for the winter! I used to take a totebag with yarn and knitting needles in it to work when I was on nights so I could keep myself awake. I also had a screwdriver, a flashlight, a multitool and a few other assorted necessities. What’s the most unusual thing you carry in your bag?

J: A handheld, battery‑powered fan — perfect for those “personal summer” moments when the whole world suddenly feels 100 degrees.

O: I’m so glad I’m past that part of life! I worked with a woman who carried icepacks in her tote for those times. It was the inside joke of the unit. I gave her a pretty silk fan for times when she needed to be a bit more discreet. 😉 OMG, is that the time? My son will be home any minute! Before I switch hats though, thank you for the visit. I’ll get the readers up to speed on the rest of the Spotlight goodies so you can get back to your world. Take care!

So, as I mentioned, Juli and Jill have collaborated for the Daily Download this month. Make sure you grab all the pieces! Also, don’t miss Juli‘s Designer Spotlight Challenge, and be sure to check out her regular monthly Everyday Memories Challenge too. Lastly, although her Store is on sale this month (40% off, and even more on bundles!), she has a coupon code too! If you spend $20 or more you’ll get another 10% off with this: MISSFISH925ds

Before I jet, were you one of the 69 GingerScrappers who completed 20 or more Challenges during Scrap-a-Thon? You ROCK!!

 

 

 

 

 

Filed Under: Be Inspired, Behind the Scrapbook, Creative Style, Daily Download, Digital Scrapbooking, Digital Scrapbooking Freebies, Feature Designer, GingerBread Ladies Tagged With:

Designer Spotlight- September 2025

September 3, 2025 by Leave a Comment

Part One: ScrapChat Designs

Is it just me or is this year just flying by? September already… even though it’s 98° outside right now. This month we have two Designers in the Spotlight again. Today I’m chatting with Jill, the Designer otherwise known as ScrapChat. Jill and I have done this a couple of times already, and we’re not going to try fooling anyone. No, we didn’t have coffee. And this time it wasn’t Jack Daniels either! (I’m boycotting.) Instead we had some award-winning locally distilled BRBN. It was pretty darned good, too. And we didn’t really belabour the business side of things too much; grab a cold drink and we’ll commence.

O: Let’s get the bread-and-butter stuff out of the way first. Can you share with us how you came up with your brand logo?

J: The turtle in my logo was drawn by my youngest daughter as a memorial to my oldest daughter, who passed in 2019.

O: What a beautiful way to remember her. She’d be proud to know she was so inspirational! What’s your favourite part of seeing our GingerScrappers use your designs?

J: The memories they’re documenting. I envy anyone who takes the time to journal about their experiences — I rarely journal on my own pages, even knowing how important it is. I make samples and tell myself I’ll go back and add the journaling… but time passes, and it doesn’t happen.

O: I know what you mean. I don’t love the journaling part either. It always feels like “nobody’s going to care about this tomorrow, never mind in 20 years”, so I usually don’t do much. Do you have a favourite theme or season to design for?

J: Travel, for sure. In my life, I’ve worked for two airlines, and I love creating collections to help people document that first or fifteenth vacation. Each one is different and deserves to be remembered.

O: Now there’s a topic I’ll journal about! It’s often about the history of a place, or some random factoid that fits the rest of the layout. When I was scrapping my sister’s trip to the Maritimes I put a lot of that kind of thing on the page. She LOVED her memory book, so it was worth all the research and the hours and hours of work. I never told her about the dinners I… um… singed… because I was working on one of her layouts. How do you juggle the various parts of your life so that you can fit it all in?

J: It’s a mix of designing, life, and everything in between. I’d love to say it’s organized chaos, but it’s probably just chaos…with a to-do list.

O: Oh, I’m a list-maker too! Comes from being a nurse – without my task list, my patients might have been a little neglected. (Not really, I’m too Type A for that, but…) Anyway……. Speaking of burnt offerings, what’s your comfort food?

J: Meatloaf and mashed potatoes – incredibly ironic since I hated meatloaf as a child.

O: Meatloaf has always been Daughter #2’s comfort food too. I make it very differently from how my mother made it, which might be why. Daughter #1 was always about the shepherd’s pie, with a nice layer of melted cheese on top. Once she converted to Judaism, she had to make some adjustments to that recipe. 😉

J: If I could learn any skill instantly, it would be gourmet cooking. I would love to be able to make a fancy meal once in a while.

O: Having worked for the airlines, you must have had some really great restaurant experiences. The nurses I travelled with had a rule: we couldn’t go to a chain or eat anything we could get at home. So we had some amazing meals at some very fine restaurants. If you could teleport anywhere in the world right now, where would you go?

J: Disney World, without a doubt – I’d want to take a detour to pick up my grandkids on the way.

O: When I was in Orlando quite a few years ago, my travel companions went there, but I gave it a pass. I can’t remember why now. My grandkids were gifted a Disney cruise from their *other* grandparents this spring. They had a blast. I’m pretty sure my granddaughter entertained the other passengers with her antics. She has no filter. (Reminds me, I should scrap the photo of her with chopsticks in her nose…) What’s the silliest thing you’ve ever done in public?

J: Danced at Disney World with my children as if I were six.

O: I don’t think that’s silly! It’s sweet. I’ve always been too tightly wound for that kind of thing. When I was at Universal in Orlando, I looked after the purses while my friends went on the rides. The only one I agreed to was Wizarding World. It was more my speed.

J: I adore Harry Potter, of course! It’s my favorite book series ever.

O: I thought the ride was very well-done. Everything looked so realistic. even Hedwig, Harry’s pet owl. It made me want to start birding again. If you could have any pet, mythical or real, what would you choose?

J: With a huge world to choose from, imaginary or real, I would still pick a Labrador. My current dog is a 12-year-old yellow lab Sunny — she’s my shadow and constant companion.

O: Dogs are just the best, aren’t they? Ours are 10 and 7. The younger one just came over and nudged me. Must be suppertime. Thanks for the visit, Jill! I’m just going to wind up with Spotlight info for everybody now.

Of course, ScrapChat Designs has provided a Daily Download kit for all of us; she collaborated with Juli (Miss Fish) on a huge kit called Everyday Rhythm. The sneak peeks are very intriguing. And also of course, Jill is hosting one part of the Designer Spotlight Challenge this month in addition to her usual monthly Use It All Challenge. If you haven’t checked it out, this is what you’re missing!

Last, but definitely not least, Jill has a coupon code for purchases from her GS store over $10: SPOT-SCD-2025 so check out her designs ASAP because it expires at midnight September 30th.

I’ll be back tomorrow with Part Two!

Filed Under: Be Inspired, Behind the Scrapbook, Creative Style, Daily Download, Digital Scrapbooking, Digital Scrapbooking Freebies, Feature Designer, GingerBread Ladies Tagged With:
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