Tutorial Tuesday (Photoshop Elements)

April 29, 2025 by Jan Leave a Comment

Remember that Pattern Brush?

[Link to PDF goes here when Ginger has time to convert}

A few weeks ago I showed you how to use the Pattern Brush Guided Edit to create your own scatters. And I might have mentioned I’d do another quick tutorial on adding Styles to them for an even more interesting look. Today’s the day! To make it easier for me (you… us) to see what I’m doing, I’ve dropped a piece of neutral solid paper on my workspace. There will be lots of review in this one, so you shouldn’t have to hunt down the original tut.

Click on the Guided button on the gray bar at the top of the workspace, then click on Fun Edits, then choose Pattern Brush.

Now to choose a Pattern. I went with the hearts in the upper left corner of the menu. We’ll use another one later.

Make sure the Action is set to Paint. (If we were making randomly patterned paper we could use the Fill Action.) Set the Size to about 125 pixels, which is halfway on the slider. This particular Brush changes the size and angle of each grouping. In playing with this Edit, I discovered the best way to have the Brush go where I want it, the Scatter setting must be as close to zero as possible. Otherwise there’s a REAL randomness and a lot of overlap. Keep Opacity at 100%. When you use the Paint setting, you’ll see a “ghost” outline of the Brush close to the actual size of the image it’ll create.

When you have a cluster you like, click the Continue Editing button then the In Expert button, then go down to the bottom of the screen and click Done.

Elements has created a Layer Mask with your scatter on it, plus another layer with a Layer Mask that seems to have no role in the task at hand. Feel free to bin it.

On to the fun part! Elements usually has more than one way to access a feature or a command; for Styles, you can click on the Window tab at the top of the workspace then click Styles. OR you can go to the bottom of the Layers Panel and click on the dedicated Styles button. You can see which way I do it. 😀 There’s a dropdown Styles menu attached to the button at the top of the Layers Panel once you’ve activated the Styles, so click it and start looking for the ones you want to try. I went with the GingerBread Ladies’ Indian Summer glitter gloss.

I tried all the reds and pinks, settling on this one. It’s nice, but still a little bleh. So I’m going to tweak the settings.

But before I can do that, I’ll need to Apply the Layer Mask to get to the adjustments.

There it is! Double-click on the fx there on the right edge of the layer.

These are the default settings for the Style I used. Any or all of them can be adjusted, with what’s happening visible on the screen in real time.

I changed the Lighting Angle to 120° (make sure this setting matches the rest of your layout!), added a little Drop Shadow close to the hearts and decreased the Bevel. The difference is subtle, but now the hearts look rounded, shiny and have good dimension. The littlest, outline-only hearts look like they’re glittery.

Next I played with the Star Brush. It only varies the size of the cluster, so all the stars will be in the same orientation. [There’s a way to change the angles, but it’s a multi-step process involving a lot of Cutting and Pasting, and we’re not going there.] If you’re wanting to keep your scatter on the smaller scale, you can stamp your larger “ghost” Brush on another part of your canvas like I have here.

Then I used the Pattern Eraser Tool to make the bigger starts go away. 😉

Katy, the designer Just So Scrappy/Ooh La LaScraps usually creates an array of Styles for her collections. Aimee Harrison always has matching Glitters; LDrag Designs, Wetfish Designs, Karen Schulz and Cindy Ritter too may have some Styles you like. The one I used is Just So Scrappy Lucky Me acrylic gel. Defaults as shown.

I want a bit more of a defined shine to them, so I’ll Apply the Layer Mask.

Once again I changed the Lighting Angle to 120°, added a Drop Shadow, decreased the Opacity of the Inner Glow and dropped the Bevel by 2/3. Now the stars look like they’ve been molded out of acrylic.

You can have a lot of fun experimenting with this Edit and with your Styles. Now, go get ready for [inter]National Scrapbooking Day… it’s coming up fast! Who knows, there might be some Styles up for grabs!

P.S. Thank you all for being so patient with the PDF versions… Ginger‘s been run off her feet with the server change and all the issues that cropped up for that, but she promises to get the conversions done as soon as she can.

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

Tutorial Tuesday (Individual Style)

April 15, 2025 by Jan Leave a Comment

Challenge Spotlight: Inspiration

It’s spring in the northern hemisphere and the prompt for this month’s Inspiration Challenge is “full of life“, easily fulfilled with all the spring photos that are popping up like wildflowers everywhere. But for those in the tropics and the southern hemisphere, there are lots of ways to hit the mark too! The Challenge is hosted each month by Carol Wen Xin, aka CarolW Designs. If you click on the name of the Challenge at the beginning of this paragraph, you can see all the inspiring images Carol has provided to stimulate your creativity. Below are some layouts built on the prompt; let’s have a look at how each Scrapper has interpreted the Challenge. [If you’ve participated and your layout isn’t here, it’s because it hasn’t been posted to the Challenge Gallery yet.] Each layout is linked to its spot in the Gallery so if you want a closer look, click on the Scrapper‘s name and you’ll be magically transported right to it.

Our first look is from BriannaScrapper. Her banana plant is absolutely FULL of life! She’s used the same palette you can see in her photos to tie the layout together.

For her layout, lm77west chose some photos of bunnies, a definite sign of spring, to represent life, with a beautiful pastel palette. One thing that caught my eye is how the soft melon colour of her elements replicates the bunnies’ ears wit the sun shining through them. Brilliant!

VariaMoon has tied sunshine and grinning pups with palm trees and warm colours to represent warmth and growth.

More bunnies! Er… children. The nods to the theme dkane included are found in the eggs… and the children. (What’s more full of life than kids?) I like how she’s pulled the turquoise background from her photos into the palette for the whole layout.

Here, echoes77 has pulled her palette from the watercolour bird in the top left corner. The yellow of the narcissus really pops! Signs of spring reflect new life, and the reawakening of what has been sleeping.

ScrappyMara used a very spring-y palette for her returning, reawakening, refreshing nature layout. One sign of spring that always makes me really happy is hearing the frogs singing in the pond behind our house. That’s when I know winter is really over.

I have such a weakness for spring-flowering bulbs. They’re a miracle of engineering! KatL has created a really eye-catching showcase for her photos, pulling colour from them and standing out from the crowd, much like the burst of new growth she’s documenting.

MemmieNelleke has provided us with another example of a natural full-of-life miracle, this pair of mating sooty copper butterflies. By using soft pastel colours and repeating patterns, she send our eyes right to the photo.

Branma has captured the Easter-resurrection-rejuvenation vibe really well here. Wait while I dig out some Cadbury Mini-Eggs… Her photo subject is full of life and it shows in her eyes!

I hope you’ve been refreshed and inspired by this week’s stroll through the Gallery. I know I have. (And I really needed it!)

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

Tutorial Tuesday (Potpourri)

April 8, 2025 by Jan 1 Comment

Greatest Hits: What’s Your Digital Style?

Can we talk about style for a minute? I’ve been giving this a lot of thought lately, as I think my personal style is evolving somewhat. This tutorial originally appeared in October 2019 (as you’ll see as we move through it) and I’ll bet many of you are also seeing a gradual shift in your individual style. Perhaps it’s a function of expanding skills, or maybe an expanding stash ( 😉 ) or even something as simple as maturing. There’s no right or wrong in creating art, so don’t feel like you need to find a niche to be shoe-horned into, do what makes you happy. And if you’re feeling really adventurous, step outside your box and try something new!

We all have a certain style, a concept of ourselves and our environment; that style is reflected in the way we dress, the way we decorate our homes, the way we interact with others… and how we scrap our memories. If you spend any time wandering through the Gallery you’ll know exactly what I mean. There are scrappers whose style is instantly recognizable – you don’t even need to look for the scrapper’s name. But have you ever thought about the basic underpinnings of style? Let’s discuss!

First let’s look at the very popular Pocket Scrapper style. This layout from the GingerScraps Gallery is by ngocNTTD. Pocket scrapping is organized and photo-oriented. It’s one of the most basic of paper-to-digital styles out there, having emerged from Project Life and the various other daily, weekly and monthly project formats. Pages in this style document day-to-day and special events in a clean, grid-based arrangement. Any embellishment will be limited so as not to obscure the all-important photos. As you can see, ngoc has included 10 photos in her layout.

Heritage scrapping is a very popular style, especially for those of us interested in genealogy. Who doesn’t love vintage photos of our ancestors? There’s something very powerful in documenting our past in this way, as craftytam has done in her layout below. These layouts focus on history through the use of muted colours, with a slightly distressed look. Information relating to the life of the subject is a must for these pages, which may be as simple as vital statistics or as detailed as a complete life story. Journaling in hand-written fonts is characteristic.

A combination of these two is the Storyteller style. KatherineWoodin‘s layouts are such perfect examples of this style. Each page tells of a specific event; photos aren’t a requirement but if they’re used, they’re integral to the story being told. There’s a heavy emphasis on journaling, as you can see below. The use of embellishments is dictated by the feeling the scrapper wants to convey.

Classic scrappers rely on clean lines, limited embellishment, precise placement and precise use of words. Layouts are conservative, in several senses – paper scrappers might default to this style because it doesn’t use a lot of “stuff”. In this layout by gethane, the classic style is obvious.

And that leads us to the Modern style. Glori2 has solidly incorporated this style as her own. Modern layouts are the ultimate in clean and simple, which refers to minimalism and not the use of texture and grunge. Embellishments are few, and very carefully chosen. White space is vital to this style, giving the eye many options to rest.

I suppose the opposite of Modern is the Shabby Chic layout. This layout by kabrak1207 is a stellar example of Shabby Chic… muted pastels, vintage elements and ephemera, brushes and worn paper come together to create a visually appealing whole.

The Artist scrapper focuses on the overall image, using paints, brushes, blending and a multi-media approach. Kythe uses a deft hand here, blending not only the photo but also the leaves into her background. Those little ghosts look ethereal and are grounded by the vignette in the foreground. Artist-style layouts don’t rely on journaling to tell a story, and may not include a title either.

The last style is an art-form all on its own. Art Journaling conveys emotion through imagery. There really are no rules in Art Journaling, other than to use it as a way to express things we might not be comfortable expressing in any other form. Rather than putting a feeling into words, the use of word art, word strips, doodles, brushes, paint and textiles are used to tell the story. Intensely personal, this might be the most difficult of all styles to integrate into one’s repertoire, but cinderella has no problem!

I’m still working the kinks out with the new laptop, finding out which files I haven’t transferred when I go to use them and I’m having some trouble getting comfortable with it… and Windows 11. It can only get better, right? But at least my finger works again!

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

Designer Spotlight: April 2025/2

April 7, 2025 by Jan Leave a Comment

Jumpstart Designs

Okay, so I’m going to warn you right from the jump… Sheri and I have known each other a LONG time, so this post is going to be … chatty. Maybe grab a beverage and a snack!

O: Sheri, remind me again, how long have you been designing?

J: Almost fourteen years!

O: I think I started collecting your designs very near the beginning. I have some kits and templates that go back to 2012! What motivates and inspires you when you sit down to create?

J: Color (sic), and spending time on Pinterest and similar sites. I always have a bunch of ideas of what I’d like to design and do differently but finding the extra time to play around with new ideas doesn’t seem to happen very often.

O: Pinterest can be such a rabbit hole! I have to limit my browsing time, otherwise nothing gets done. Time for the favourite child question. Do you have a current favourite kit in your store? <hyperlinked to Sheri‘s store!>

J: EARLY AUTUMN WHISPERS. Fall is my favorite time of year and I wish it could stay autumn all year long! I try to enjoy every minute of this season before the cold and snow sets in.

O: I LOVE that one!! I have the whole collection. I really like the way you use colour, and how your illustrations always fit the theme so perfectly. I also love fall, once I’ve got my garden put to bed and the days are still warm. It’s like life just slows down a bit. Since I’ve just given you a compliment, what’s the nicest thing someone has ever said about you?

J: That I must be a good mother because my children are awesome! Some days I question my parenting, but I’ll take that compliment any day!

O: Same, sister, same! What one word would your family and friends use to describe you?

J: Probably smart ass. LOL. Oops, that’s two words!

O: Well, I think it’s one word. Smartass, dumbass… right? I’d be called the same. Have been called the same. And other less savoury terms. Warning label?

J: WARNING: Subject prone to sarcasm!

O: This must be why we’re friends! Super power?

J: Being able to make time stand still.

O: Ooh, that’s a good one! But it could be dangerous in the wrong hands. You’d have to be careful when choosing when to stop the clock. Would it just be YOUR time that stops, or everybody’s? Yep, overthinking it again… Have you ever thought about time travel?

J: I’d go BACK IN TIME for sure! I’m not too thrilled with society these days. I think we’ve lost our collective minds and I fear for how things will be for my children and grandchildren. I miss the good old days when most people valued self-reliance, integrity, and knew how to be respectful of others.

O: Well said! Pair time travel with being able to stop time and we could have a much better world. With the way things are right now, it’s sure not Shangri La. Seems like the people with big money are running the world and that’s a bad thing… What would you do if you had lots of cash, like a lottery win?

J: Probably buy just enough property in the mountains to build a few little homes so my kids and grandkids could all live with me forever. If I had my way, they’d be with me no matter how old they get! Oh yeah…. And I guess saving for retirement might also be good idea so I don’t have earn a living until my last dying breath.

O: Mom and Nana Jan loves the idea of a family compound where all the people I love would be in one place. Labour organizer Jan would totally approve of your second goal. It’s something I tried really hard to get through to the young nurses I worked with who complained about having to contribute to the pension plans we had, and who didn’t want to put away a little money now in a retirement savings plan that our employer would match, to have a nest egg for later. If they could see my retirement investments now, after I’ve already been retired nearly 6 years, they’d maybe understand. It’s always a good plan to save for the day when you don’t have employment income. Now, let me slink down off my soapbox. Time for a fun topic: sing or dance in the shower?

J: Neither! I’d probably trip and fall over the edge of the tub, and God help anyone who’d have to hear my voice! That’s one talent I did NOT inherit from my parents. They were both musical and had a country-western band for many years. They were even good enough to play for President Ronald Reagan when he came through town back in the day, but it’s better for everyone if I don’t attempt singing myself! LOL

O: I do both! I have a waterproof Bluetooth speaker in the bathroom, Sirius XM on my phone and a gigantic shower stall. I mostly go with 60s and 70s hits and belt ’em out at the top of my lungs. Don’t care if the neighbours hear me either! When The Drifters start into On the Boardwalk, I can’t stay still. I love country music too; maybe I’ve heard something your parents have done. Since you’re from a musical family, can I assume you play an instrument?

J: I played the piano for many years but haven’t touched one in a long time. I also bang on our bongo drums now and then and have always thought it would be fun to be a drummer.

O: My husband fancies himself a drummer, and even has drumsticks. But no drums… he just bangs on tables, books, couch cushions and sometimes (gently, with just his hands) on our son’s belly. What’s your dream car?

J: I’m and SUV sort of gal but ultimately I’d just like one that’s paid for, haha.

O: We downsized to one vehicle this time last year. We need an SUV or station wagon (I don’t think they make them any more) because of our son’s wheelchair so I put a lot of research into what we chose. We traded in my nine-year-old Escape and hubby’s six-year-old Fusion for a 2024 Kia Seltos and it’s great! We didn’t have to come up with a ton of cash either; the trades were quite generous. Even with the chair in the cargo area, I can haul a LOT of groceries! If you could only eat one meal every day for the rest of your life, what would you go for?

J: Homemade tacos! Actually, anything Mexican with lots of cheese!

O: Mmmm, tacos!! I love a good fish taco myself. I’m not sure what I’d choose if I had to though. Gotta watch that good old Hemoglobin A1C… getting old really isn’t ideal. Other than necessities, what’s the one thing you couldn’t live without?

J: Hugs from my grandkids!

O: Yep, that’s it right there! Speaking of, I think I hear them now. Go get you some hugs, Grandma! Thanks for the chat!!

Now, before I forget, Jumpstart Designs is providing one of the Daily Download kits here on the Blog. She’s also one of the hosts of the Designer Spotlight Challenge in addition to her regular monthly Jumpstart Your Layouts Challenge – where you get a free minikit every month Are you playing along with that one? You should!! Don’t miss out on the COUPON either!!

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

Designer Spotlight: April 2025/1

April 2, 2025 by Jan 2 Comments

Adrienne Skelton

One of the changes made for 2025 here at GingerScraps was to have TWO Designers in the Spotlight each month – as long as two Designers signed up. 😉 This is the first month where we have two who agreed to let me tell you their secrets. 😀 Since Adrienne got to me first, she’s got the Spotlight first.

J: Thanks so much for chatting with me, Adrienne! You’re a relative newcomer to GingerScraps and we really want to know you better. How long have you been designing?

A: I started to design back in the early 2000’s . In 2010 I had to take a health break due to illness. I have been back since 2021 and loving every minute of being back!

J: Ooh, that’s a long time. I hope your health has improved and stays that way! So, way back when what led you to begin designing?

A: I used to do paper scrapbooking, but at the time I had young kids and being able to afford buying scrapbook kits was expensive, so I decided to put my art skills to use and design something digital using Paint Shop Pro and from that point on I was hooked!

J: Somehow I knew you started as a paper scrapper. I think most of us did. I also think most of us would agree that only having to buy papers or set of embellishments once and being able to reuse them a million times, with zero spilled glue, is a huge advantage. You mentioned Paint Shop Pro… are you still using it to design?

A: No, now I use Photoshop and Procreate on my iPad, sometimes I will hand craft items and scan and use them.

J: I’ve seen some of your doodles and I love them! Do you have a favourite kid — I mean KIT in your shop?

A: 😀 That is a very hard question! If I had to pick one it would be She’s a Wildflower. I just love how this kit came together. I designed all my drawings and doodles using Procreate ( I love to draw even if its digitally) and put it all together with Photoshop. I think because this kit reminds me of nature so much! Being out among the wildflowers.

J: Those are the doodles I was just talking about! I think I’d print them on watercolour paper and use them for greeting cards. I like the colour palette you chose; it really fits the theme. Dear readers, if you’d like to get a look at the collection just click on the name above – it’s hyperlinked! Do you have any other talents you’d care to tell us about?

A: I am self taught pianist although I am not very good, I still enjoy plunking on the keys every now and then.

J: I took piano lessons back in the Stone Age but we didn’t have a piano for me to practice on. Being the Type A, ADHD-adjacent person I am, that just couldn’t continue! So I let it go. How would those close to you describe your personality?

A: LOYAL , very faithful and sincere, to a fault. I can sense others emotions and am very supportive.

J: You’re an empath! That can be really hard to live with, the psychic cacophony that can’t be turned off. What sort of distraction works for you, other than designing? Do you have an special vacation spot that lets you relax?

A: My perfect vacation would be laying on the beach somewhere listening to the ocean waves, feeling the cool breeze on my face, Or that could also be somewhere / anywhere in nature where I can be at peace with my thoughts.

J: Got it. I’m not really a beach person, but I do like to be alone somewhere I find mentally restful when I’m stressed. My garden fills that pretty well. What would you do with your prize if you won the lottery?

A: First I would make sure my family was taken care of. Secondly I would buy a house where I had a lot of land, a lake and plenty of nature.

J: So, pretty much what we did… although we didn’t win the lottery, hubby received an inheritance. We don’t HAVE a lot of land, we actually don’t own the lot our house is built on, we lease it. But we have a view lot with a pond AND a lake! Lots of wildlife too, although I’m not a fan of our dog’s bestie – a coyote. She doesn’t seem to know that big puppy isn’t a puppy at all! Good thing it can’t jump our fence. The angle is just too steep. If you had a warning label, what would it say?

A: Be careful and stay away when she is angry!

J: My daughters would slap that label on me for sure. It takes a lot to get me to blow, so when I do, it’s epic! And I rarely give any sign I’m heading for a flashover; it’s my super power. Would you like to have one?

A: I’d love to be able to see the future!

J: I think that would be awful! Imagine if we KNEW about what’s happening in the world right now this time last year, but were unable to stop it. That would be so bad. Anyway, I hope what’s in your future is a greatly successful Spotlight month. Dear readers, Adrienne is providing one of the Daily Download kits this month here on the Blog, as well as co-hosting the Designer Spotlight Challenge in the Forum. That’s on top of her regular monthly All About Me Challenge too! She has a coupon for us!

I’ll be back soon with our second Designer Spotlight, Jumpstart Designs.

Tutorial Tuesday (Photoshop Elements)

April 1, 2025 by Jan 1 Comment

Guided Edit: Pattern Brush

Today’s tutorial can be built upon in so many ways, and I’ll mention some of them at the end. For now, I’m going to show you a super-quick and easy way to make custom confetti for your layouts. I’ll be using two papers from Jumpstart Designs‘ Sweet Sweet Perfection in my example.

To use the Guided Edit, you need something on your canvas; it can be a paper or a photo. Then click Guided at the top of your screen, and choose Fun Edits. You’ll be looking for the Pattern Brush, which should be where the red box is below.

There are a total of fifteen Pattern Brushes to choose from; they all have potential for some fun looks. For right now, we’ll use the one that resembles bokeh, the first option of the second row of Brushes.

I clicked on Paint and just randomly moved the sliders around. You might want to play with the Size and Scatter settings.; remember you can always Undo [CTRL/CMD>Z] if it isn’t making you happy, change the settings and try again. For confetti or other element scatters, leave the Opacity set at 100%.

Then I proceeded as I would for any Brush, moving my hand in a random pattern across the paper.

Just to show you the other option at this stage, I backed out to just the paper, and instead clicked on Fill, then clicked just once on the paper. This is what I got.

Trust Adobe to know some of us would be bothered by the ones hanging off the paper, and giving us a tool to make it better! The Pattern Eraser Tool can be employed to clean up your results however you choose.

As I said above, this Edit can be used on photos to quickly add bokeh. If you find too much of the photo is obscured you can add some Blur to it. For confetti we don’t need the Blur, so when you’re happy with what you see, click Next.

You’ll be whisked to this screen where you have the option to Save your work or to Continue Editing. Click on In Expert then click on Done.

If you look at the Layers Panel, you’ll see that Elements has added two mask layers to the paper. The layer closest to the original paper layer isn’t actually visible, even if the Visibility is turned on, so go ahead and delete it if it’s in your way. I dropped a patterned paper from the same kit on top of all the layers.

I think most of you know how to Clip papers to the layers below them, but I never assume… So if you’re new, right-click on the top paper layer then choose Create Clipping Mask. Or you can use the keyboard shortcut CTRL/CMD>ALT/OPT>G. **IF you’re using Elements 14 or more recent! If you’re using an older version your keyboard shortcut is CTRL/CMD>G.

To Merge the patterned paper with the confetti scatter, click on the paper layer then hold down the SHIFT key and click on the masked layer. Both layers will be active. Then right-click and choose Merge Layers from the drop-down menu. Or you can instead use the keyboard shortcut CTRL/CMD>E. Once the layers are Merged, you can Resize by grabbing one of the “handles” at the corner on the Bounding Box and moving it in or out.

Pop a little Drop Shadow on the confetti layer to add realism.

Simple!

Can you see using the Guided Edit>Fun Edits>Pattern Brushes for other scatters? You could use a glitter-gel Style on the hearts for bead-like hearts, a glass Style on the little starburst ones to create a gemlike look. What about a wire or metallic Style on the stars? I can see myself experimenting with this one a lot!

My sprained finger is still splinted, but it’s close to healed; the swelling is pretty much gone from the injured tendon. Still some stiffness and discomfort with flexing it, but a bit less every day. I never realised how much I use that finger when I’m typing!

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

Tutorial Tuesday (Individual Style)

March 25, 2025 by Jan Leave a Comment

Challenge Spotlight: Everyday Memories

I seem to have an injured tendon in that finger I sprained, so it’s back in the splint for the foreseeable future. If you spot a typo (or ten), please just ignore them. 🙂 But enough of that! This month I’d like to showcase the Everyday Memories Challenge, sponsored by Miss Fish. Here is her prompt: “Manifesting your dreams in 2025 “You are a masterpiece of your own life, make sure to paint yourself in the colors you love.” (Unknown) This month your challenge is to create a vision board, sometimes known as a dream, motivation, inspiration, manifestation, or goal board.”

The layouts that follow are the ones that have been posted to the Challenge Gallery. There are others that have been posted to the thread that I haven’t included. The images are in the order they were posted, and they’re linked to the Gallery via the Scrapper‘s user name. Just click on it for a closer look.

First up is this vision board by FormbyGirl. She’s chosen to go with a Top 10 list of the things she plans to focus on, and it’s obvious the main one is FAMILY. I love everything about her layout, which has a definitely cheerful and optimistic look to it. The word strips she chose act as captions for her photos, and that sweet element of the woman in tree pose made me smile.

For her vision board, carla has included some goals and some leisure objectives. Her photos frame her clusters and the layout as a whole has a serenity to it.

Guess what demma_b13 has her sites set on. 😀 I like how she’s run the photos for each of her travel goals down opposite sides of the page. Let’s all hope she gets her wish, the one in the lower left corner.

I think scrapmevrouw would get along really well with carla! I like how she’s created a grid-styled layout and the bright colour palette that really draws the viewer in.

VariaMoon is manifesting some personal goals with such confidence! I like the little map fragments used as mats behind her photos.

Ooh, I’m sensing a theme… vacations! It looks like larkd is planning three cruises for this year. The background paper waves, maps and timetables relate to the theme so well. Have fun!

I think we can all guess what msbrad has chosen as her main vision for 2025. What great action photos. I can’t believe David is so grown up!

5grand really took the notion of a vision board to heart and has created an actual clip board! The elements she selected reflect the various goals she has identified via her photos. I can relate to the social media “diet”, I need one too!

It seems memmienelleke took the prompt quite literally. Her passion is scrapping and she painted a portrait of herself. She shares a birthday with my middle child. 🙂

Several of the things I hoped to see in 2025 have already come to pass. My son’s new wheelchair arrived and he has started using public transit to go to his day program! My friend Jenn came to visit with her 8-year-old daughter. And I attended the Peach City Feis – an Irish dance competition. It was amazing, the talent those dancers have. Expect to see some Feis layouts once my finger heals. I guess I should make it a goal to be less accident-prone for the rest of the year.

Filed Under: Be Inspired, Behind the Scrapbook, Challenge Spotlight, Creative Style, Digital Scrapbooking, March 2025 Challenges, Spotlight Challenge, Tutorials Tagged With: Tutorial Tuesday

Tutorial Tuesday (GingerScraps)

March 18, 2025 by Jan 2 Comments

Users’ Guide to the New Forum and Gallery

[Link to PDF version will go here when Ginger has time to convert.]

Have you had a chance to take the new Forum and Gallery for a spin yet? The Store and the Blog are unchanged, so they should feel pretty comfortable. But the new Forum and Gallery are REALLY awesome! The look is so clean and shiny! But some things have different names and some processes are a little different, so here’s a quick User’s Guide.

Let’s start with the Forum‘s home page. This screenshot is pretty busy, but it needed to be. Across the upper right side of the screen there are 7 icons that are direct links; I’ve labeled them in case they’re not familiar to you. From left to right, the link to the GingerScraps Store, the GingerScraps Blog, GingerScraps on Facebook, Pinterest and YouTube, a Contact Us button and a link to the GingerScraps Newsletter.

Right below them at #1, there’s a box where your Forum user name will appear (so you’ll know you’re logged in), with a Direct Messages (renamed from Private Messages) button and a Notifications button so you can quickly check what’s specifically yours. Direct Messages are only viewable by you and the sender, and Notifications lets you know when someone has Liked, Thanked or replied/commented to something you posted.

At #2, you’ll find the Forum access buttons. The New Posts button takes you to all the most recent posts to any Thread; you can click on the thread to see the comments and to make your own. If you’re a self-starter, you can start a new Thread by clicking the red New Thread button and you’ll see a list of all the topic SubForums, which are unchanged from our old Forum.

Featured Content #3 shows the top 3 pinned posts – those our Admins want to make readily visible and available; click on the coloured text and you’ll zip into the Thread without having to look for it. This is where you’d look for info on special events, like the St Patrick’s Day contest.

#4 is where you’ll find all the SubForums. For example the Welcome Wagon Forum contains multiple threads started by our GingerBread Ladies where they share links to little freebies they’ve created for us. As you scroll down the home page, you’ll see all of the SubForums listed.

Just below the Featured Content you’ll find #5, Trending Content. Here’s where you can see at a glance what’s catching other GingerScrappers‘ eyes.

Right at the bottom of the screen you’ll see #6, a list of all members currently online. This might be helpful if you’re wanting to message somebody with a time-sensitive message, or if you just want to know who’s up as late as you are. 😀

I dipped into the Home>Forums>GingerScraps Cookbook>Tutorials just to see what’s been happening there and discovered Grace has whipped up a couple of tutorials: How to LINK products from the Gallery to the Store and…

How to LINK images from the Gallery to threads. These two quick tutorials are important, especially to Creative Team members, so if you need to know how to handle these tasks, they’re right there for you.

I scrolled down to the Challenge Yourself SubForum and opened up the Cookie Jar. It’s laid out really nicely!

Go into the March 2025 Cookie Jar and read Missi‘s post about how the February Challenges will be managed. Right below it is information about Gallery posting to multiple albums, which isn’t currently possible.

While I was there, I figured I’d start my own Cookie Jar post so I could later add the layouts I (might) complete this month. I always Copy Missi‘s text and Paste it into my post. In the old Forum, the colours also Copied, but here they don’t so I changed the number in brackets to my usual red. Oh, and before I forget, look at all the places we can share our posts!! Facebook, X, Bluesky, LinkedIn, Reddit, Tumblr, WhatsApp, email and a direct link are all there.

These icons in the top centre of the post box are going to be crazy helpful! To add a LINK to your post, click the little side-lying figure 8. Ooh, and there’s a keyboard shortcut, as if they knew I was coming. [Another thing to note: This new laptop of mine doesn’t disappear the descriptors seen when the cursor is hovered over an icon when I make a screenshot! I did a Snoopy happy dance when I saw that!]

Add an IMAGE, click the photo icon.

There’s even a SMILIES button.

I didn’t expect to see this! Sometimes a GIF speaks far more eloquently than words do.

This is a formatting icon that sets your Quoted text apart from the rest of the text. It’s very handy.

Let’s take a quick peek at the What’s New tab. Clicking on the little upside down tent symbol opens a drop-down menu. This Forum server has multiple ways to do almost anything.

The Media tab is where you’ll find what we used to call the Gallery. The drop-down lets you access a variety of Media related options. We have our own ALBUMS now!!

Have you ever wondered who posts the most? Or who has the most layouts in the Gallery? Or just how active you are here? Members has got you!

So, back to the Media tab. If you click on the tab itself, rather than the upside-down tent, the left side of the screen will have a list of all the Albums there are in the Gallery. I clicked on Member Galleries, but could have chosen any of the Designers or Challenges just by clicking on the inverted triangle to the left of the album title. That makes navigation really easy.

I opened up the Challenge Layouts Album and you can see the list is right there. Clickclickclick!

If you click on the Add Media subtab on the blue strip at the top of the Media screen, this menu opens. You can scroll down through the Albums list until you find the one you’re looking for. Remember, for now, add your Challenge layouts ONLY in the Challenge Album. Don’t upload your layout more than once. Wait for the add-on extension that Ginger and the tech team are working on.

I’m going to add a layout to the Template #3 J Conlon and Sons Challenge Album for February.

This is the upload screen. I totally missed the change in allowable image size when I was doing this. I only saw it when I was editing my screenshots. We can go up to 1000×1000 pixels and 1MB now!!

Clicking on the Upload File box took me to the last folder of mine that I used. I found the correct folder and the version I saved for the Gallery. I could click on it then the Open button, or just double-click on the image. Notice all the ways I can verify I’m putting my layout where I want it to go.

When the Upload screen reappears, there’s a thumbnail of the layout but it shows the file name I gave it, which is a version of my title. I’ll change the entry so it’s exactly the title. Then I typed all my credits into the Description box. [Please don’t forget to include your credits. Our Designers deserve to be given credit for their work.] When everything I needed to include was there, I clicked Save.

And that’s it! My layout is posted. The title is correct, the credits are there. Fabulous!

There are still tasks I need to do before I’m finished. SO let’s update my Cookie Jar. I always have at least 2 GingerScraps tabs open on my desktop so I can move back and forth between them quickly and easily. I added the Challenge to my list on the Forum tab, then highlighted the name of my layout by click-dragging the cursor over it. I flipped back to the Media tab, Copied the Universal Resource Locator for my layout then back on the Forum tab, clicked on the Link icon as shown. Next, I Pasted the URL into the appropriately labeled box. Then I clicked Insert, and Save.

To add a Copy of my layout to the Challenge thread, I navigated my way to it in the Forum; the Media tab is still open to my layout. I right-clicked my mouse INSIDE the image in the Media tab and chose Copy Image Link from the pop-up menu. Next, I flipped back to the Forum tab, where I’ve got the correct Challenge thread open and waiting. This time I clicked on the photo icon as shown.

I usually don’t Drag and Drop, so I used the Link icon to add my Image Link URL. Feel free to do you, 😉

Once the URL appeared in the box, I clicked Insert then Post Reply.

And that’s how you add your Layouts to the new Gallery, top up your Cookie Jar and make sure your layout joins the proper thread.

I actually haven’t done any scrapping since I finished this layout back in February. I sprained the ring finger on my left hand… buddy-taped fingers really get in the way! Finger’s almost back to normal; although the knuckle is still swollen the pain is pretty much gone. As for the laptop setup, I still have a lot of MIA fonts, and I may end up not worrying about them. I’m finding out all the good things the machine does and getting comfortable with the keyboard. Those kinds of things I can do with just one hand! We have company coming for the weekend and I’m hoping to have a TON of great photos to work with afterward.

Next week, now that I know how the Media tab is laid out, I’ll bring you a Challenge Spotlight. Get ready to shine!!

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

Tutorial Tuesday (Photoshop Elements)

March 11, 2025 by Jan 4 Comments

Greatest Hits: Faking it – Those Incredible Full Moon Photos…

How’s everybody doing on this first Tuesday of Daylight Savings Time? I’m not gonna lie, I’m riding the struggle bus right now. Between inadequate sleep, the gray, chilly weather and all the political nonsense going on, I’m exhausted. Oh, and I finally was forced to switch laptops, which ate up a ton of time and I still haven’t found all the 2500 fonts I have on my old one. Maybe that’s a good thing… remains to be seen. Anyway, we have an astronomical event this week, a lunar eclipse of a full moon – a Blood Moon. Thursday’s eclipse will replicate a sight not seen since 1504! It’s going to be visible across North America from 11:57 pm EDT on Wednesday until 6 am EDT on Thursday, with totality – the best part! – between 2:26 am EDT and 3:31 am EDT. Since I’m in the Pacific time zone, if the sky is clear I won’t even need to stay up late to see the beginning. So what has this to do with a tutorial? Well, let’s have a look!

Have you ever looked at those totally amazing full moon photos where it looks like the moon is rising out of the ocean, or it’s rising behind a silhouetted city skyline and it’s huge and bright? And have you ever wondered how the photographer was able to capture that image? I know how they do it, and after this tutorial you will too. Because it’s all faked!

I have a crystal-clear photo I took of the June 2013 Super Moon and that’s what I’m going to use to show you how I can make it look like the moon was over the mountain when it was quite far away in reality. This photo of the mountain that our subdivision snugs up to has been edited a bit to make the sky a bit brighter and the details a bit sharper. If I’m lucky enough to get Blood Moon photos, I’ll give this another shot.

Tutorial Tuesday (Photoshop Elements)

Oct

2020

Edit

Faking It – Those Incredible Full Moon Photos…

I wasn’t planning to take photos of last weekend’s full moon so I didn’t prepare for it. But then I took the dog out for a potty break and saw it hanging so brightly in the sky with Mars at its shoulder. So I grabbed my pretty decent DSLR, my telephoto lens and my very sturdy tripod and set up on the driveway. Rushing never makes for good results though and every one of the 70 photos I took was out-of-focus. The shots I took of the mountain were better, but pretty grainy. Thankfully I have a crystal-clear photo I took of the June 2013 Super Moon and that’s what I’m going to use to show you how I can make it look like the moon was over the mountain when it was quite far away in reality. This photo of the mountain that our subdivision snugs up to has been edited a bit to make the sky a bit brighter and the details a bit sharper.

Here’s my 2013 moon shot. I used a long shutter, a tiny aperture and manual focus to get it this bright and clear.

To hang the moon over the mountain, I’m going to use a Guided Edit that first appeared in Elements 13. Guided>Photomerge>Photomerge Compose.

Once you’ve activated the Edit, this screen opens. The instructions are fairly clear, even for the uninitiated. It says to drag the photo I want to extract FROM onto the space, so the Moon is going here.

Okay, there it is. All I want from the photo is the Moon, which has a nice, clear, sharp edge, so selecting it from my photo will be easy. I can use the Quick Selection tool for this step. If my desired extraction had more detail, I could choose one of the other options. AND… there are further adjustments that can be made in later steps.

Once I clicked on the Quick button, this tool tip opened to Guide me through the next part. It says, “Create new selection by dragging over the area you need to include.”

It’s hard to see the marching ants in the screenshot but they are there. There’s even a little jaggy part that I’m going to adjust by switching from Add to Subtract and scrape it off.

Done! As I mentioned, there are more refinements you can make to extract your desired image using the Advanced Edge Refinement menu. It’s found just below the red circle.

But since I just basically have a circle, I can move on to the next step by clicking the Next arrow at the bottom of the screen. Elements always drops things right in the middle of the canvas, so it’s great that I can move my moon off the mountain and into the sky.

I decided to make it a bit bigger too, for dramatic effect. But I didn’t go too much bigger because I don’t want it to look completely phony.

Then I had second thoughts and decided to anchor it a bit by tucking it behind the mountain a smidge… after seeing that I had some Hide and Reveal options.

I started that process by Hiding the lower part of the Moon just roughly. I used a hard round brush at 100% Opacity to brush over the area that will end up being hidden by the mountain and trees. It takes several passes to completely hide the parts that I want hidden. Once I had an idea where the trees actually are, I could go back and Reveal the Moon where the trees don’t obstruct the sky. You can see in the screenshot that some of the moon looks more blue than gray – that’s where the sky hasn’t been completely Hidden. I also adjusted the size of my brush tip as needed to make the trees appear “normal”.

I switched back and forth between Hide and Reveal, adjusting the size of my brush tip until I had some natural-looking trees on my mountain. then I clicked on the Next arrow.

If your photos were taken at different times and in different lighting conditions, your composite might look pretty weird right now. Mine’s okay because night is night… But if you find your results aren’t making you happy, there’s still more in this Edit to help you get it right. The instructions say, “Click ‘Auto Match Color Tone’ to blend your extracted object with the background. You can fine tune the results with the sliders.” I highly recommend experimenting with this, because as you know, nothing is final in Elements until you say it is. If you click on the button and it does its thing but you hate the outcome, you can Undo it!! CTRL/CMD>Z should be an automatic movement. It sure is for me!

I didn’t like the results of the automatic process, so I made adjustments with the sliders. The image didn’t need a lot of adjusting to make it look more real. Then I clicked Next.

That’s the end of the Guided Edit. Now I can choose to Save, Continue Editing or Share my finished image. I want to clean up some of the noise by running the Haze Removal tool, so I’m going to click on In Expert and go there.

If you’re not familiar with the Haze Removal tool, I think you should give it a try! It sharpens your images and removes a lot of the graininess. You can get to it by Enhance>Haze Removal, or CTRL/CMD>ALT>Z works too.

It’s still an interactive process. This screen opens up and you can make adjustments to the amount of Haze Reduction it does, as well as the Sensitivity of the action. And if you’re not convinced it’s actually making a difference, you can flip between the Before and After images and see how it’s changed.

There! I think it looks pretty good, all things considered.

What do you think? Are you going to try this one? I think it would be good for adding a person who should have been in the photo but somehow wasn’t or to add someone who you only wished was there. Ooh, or maybe go right into fantasy and add a unicorn or a fairy to a photo of a baby. The sky’s the limit!

Next week, I’ll bring up a Guided Tour of all the changes here at GingerScraps, to help you navigate the new Forum and find the Gallery. See you then!

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

Tutorial Tuesday (Photoshop Elements)

February 25, 2025 by Jan Leave a Comment

Quick Trick: Dupe a Graphic Novel Look

On Sunday I was with my son while he watched an adventure/comedy movie on Netflix. When the movie ended and the credits started rolling, I noticed the producers had turned some stills into graphic novel images, and the idea for this tutorial was born. Turning a photo into a graphic novel cartoon is really easy! This is the photo I chose to play with.

First thing I did was make two Copies of the photo. You can right-click on the photo layer then choose Duplicate Layer>OK twice of you can use the keyboard shortcut CTRL/CMD>J twice. Your call. [I make these Copies so each manipulation is on a separate layer and can be further tweaked to obtain my desired results.] Then I turned the visibility for the top two layers off so I could concentrate on the bottom, original layer. “Close the eye”. You don’t HAVE to do that if you choose not to.

With the BOTTOM LAYER active, click on Filter>Sketch>Comic…

This is the Filter interface, and the default settings. Comic >> Soften = 4 >> Shades = 5.14 >> Steepness = 1.4 >> Vibrance = 0.5 and Thickness = 1.4. You can move the sliders around to see what each does and choose the look you like best. I kept the defaults.

Next, activate the MIDDLE LAYER and again click Filter>Sketch>Graphic Novel…

The defaults for this one are as shown: Painted Gray >> Darkness = 4.64 >> Clean Look = 4.4 >> Contrast = 0.52 and Thickness = 1.43.

I did some adjusting here. Painted Gray >> Darkness = 3.87 >> Clean Look = 4.4 >> Contrast = 0.82 >> Thickness = 1.21 and Smoothness (1/2).

Then I changed the Blend Mode to Overlay. Click on the bar at the top left of the Layers Panel and choose Overlay from the dropdown menu.

There’s one more Filter to add.

I moved to the TOP LAYER, and made sure my Color Picker was set to Black in the Foreground, White in the Background. [This is important so don’t forget to check! I learned it the hard way.] Then I clicked Filter>Sketch>Halftone Pattern…

The result isn’t super-visible here but if you could zoom, you’d see it easily. The defaults are Size = 4 >> Contrast = 50 >> Pattern Type = Dots.

Ah, there it is! I adjusted the Size to 6 and the Contrast to 40.

Again, I changed the Blend Mode to Overlay. Then I turned the other layers back on.

If I want to, I can adjust the Opacity of each layer, change the order of the layers and make other adjustments as I wish. I think I might go a bit farther with the original Comic layer, and maybe with the Graphic Novel layer too, and make it even more cartoon-y. I can do that by adding another Filter to each layer. But for a 5 minute exercise, it looks pretty good!