Creative Style — Page 17

Tutorial Tuesday (Individual Style)

April 19, 2022 by Jan

April Quote Challenge with CathyK

Yes, we’ve made it to the third Tuesday of April – time for the monthly Challenge Spotlight! Last weekend we had a rare confluence of high holy days with Easter, Ramadan (which is ongoing until May 1) and Passover. I daresay a lot of us were busy!! But even so there are some great examples of individual style in the Quote Challenge Gallery. Each month CathyK provides a quote around which the layouts are to be based. In the past she’s created word art with the quote, and the last couple of months, she’s had some very cool message boards with the quotes on them. If the quote isn’t actually used in the layout, the scrapper must explain how it inspired her. Let’s take a look… [narrator’s note: Each layout is linked to the Gallery; click on the scrapper’s user name and you’ll be whisked off to the layout so you can indicate your admiration.]

This layout from poki04 is stunning! She used the quote as a border around that amazing long-exposure photo of the night sky. The use of muted cool colours creates a beautiful, monochromatic layout.

I like how at first glance this layout of dragonstarr‘s looks quite abstract, with so many repeating shapes. then, once you read the text border, you see beyond the obvious.

khoskins‘ layout just POPS! She’s got starry skies everywhere. I love her use of complimentary colours, blue and orange. Eye-catching for sure!

What does one do when one hasn’t any photos to match the quote’s theme? Go photoless and let the quote do all the heavy lifting, as Got2Scrap did!

NHSoxGirl really ran with the rainbow theme! We lived in Montréal for 3 years, but it was before the Biosphere was constructed. My daughter has visited it with our grandchildren, who loved it. Here it’s showcased by both the rainbow and the elements arranged around it. Cleverly, the dark navy band of paper hints at its location on Ile-Ste-Hélène.

Look at how nimble4u has used some symbols in place of words in the quote. It’s pretty clear from the photos they’re looking for rainbows.

It’s not often one is able to see both ends of a rainbow, and gmae even points that out in her journaling! She’s created a journal card with the quote to support the theme.

Look at all that white space! 01lousmith has highlighted her whimsical photo so perfectly, and the use of the paint swatch as a journaling tag is genius.

DianeInOz has taken the rain angle and run with it. She kept the embellishment to a minimum, which is a good idea when the background paper is boldly patterned as this one is.

Is there anything more joyful than a child jumping in puddles? Windswept has captured that joy in so many ways. Her nod to the quote is the sticker she created.

And finally, this masterpiece by hichchei… it’s so moody and just a little spooky. The stars are there, but not obviously so, which works beautifully with her vision and with how she’s used the quote.

Don’t forget to let the ladies know you like their layouts! See you next Tuesday.

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

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

Tutorial Tuesday (Photoshop Elements)

April 12, 2022 by Jan

Making Your Own Messy Edges

PDF Version: https://bit.ly/3uGCI7Z

I had a request from Lorri: “Would you consider a tutorial on making custom paper edges? I’ve thought about how I can do this after viewing the rather simple edges using masks against background papers. But as I look at some more recent edges and the increased complexities, it seems that masking alone is not the technique to use (at least alone).” She provided some examples from the fabulous Connie Prince so I’d know what she was talking about. My response? Of COURSE we can do that!! So here we go…

[Before we start, there are lots of screenshots for this, but they’re not all steps in the process. I want these tutorials to be achievable by everyone; visual and verbal instructions along with repetition help the majority of learners, and that’s why there’s always a review. I don’t assume anyone reading my tutorials is an expert at using Elements, so if you ARE an expert, I know you’ll be gracious. 😉 The other thing I want to mention is that any text you see bold and in colour will contain a hyperlink to the source of whatever I’m showing.]

Okay. Let’s roll! This technique uses Brushes. or digital stamps. I have a huge collection of brushes from various sources, but I know lots of people don’t so I’ll show you a dozen free sets I’ve curated for you. They’re all from Brusheezy.com and I’ve linked them all for you so if you see something you like, go grab it! First is this set of funky corner brushes.

Corners make the process simpler so here’s another group of swirly ones.

These corners are a bit more classic.

How do you feel about art deco?

Enough corners! Here are some brush strokes.

These grungy brushes might not be specifically suited for edges, but boy, they can add some amazing texture to a layout!

Same for these heavy grungy paints.

When I saw this set I was hooked! One-stop cursive and crackles? YEAH!

I wasn’t sure about these crosshatch scatter brushes, but once I used them, I’m in love.

Splatters are also high on my list of well-loved tools.

And these paint stroke brushes look very promising for messy edging.

If the whole thought of DIY edges is too overwhelming, try these pre-fab edges. You can add some solid colour layer masks or Clip some patterned papers to them to customize them to the kit you’re working with.

Start off with a blank canvas in your favourite layout size. I like 12×12, so that’s what I’ll show. Open some of the elements you’re planning to use for your layout to give you colour-matching capacity.

Review time: To pull a colour from a photo or element, grab your Eye Dropper Tool and zoom in on your colour source. Decide what colour you want for the brush layer and click on the image. See the crosshairs?

Review time #2: Loading Brushes is easy, but if you’ve never done it, it might be a bit intimidating. You’ll need to know where your brushes are kept on your system though. Click on the Brush Tool, then in the Brush Picker, click on the icon that looks like a stack of lines at the upper right corner of the menu. Then click on Load Brushes…

I’m going to go off on a tangent here for a second and tell you what I do with my .abr files. After I’ve extracted the zip file, I rename the .abr file to make it easier to recognize later. A lot of times, Brusheezy files don’t need this step. I’ll use something like Grungy Paint, and if there’s a specific number of brushes in a set, I’ll put that number in the name. Then I Copy the .abr file to the folder Elements uses to hold all the loaded brushes. On a Windows system that’s This PC>OS (C:)>Program Files>Adobe>Photoshop Elements (version)>Presets>Brushes. (It’s not as complicated as it sounds.) Then the brushes are ready to Load. BUT…!!! You don’t have to do any of that. If you’ve got a brush (set) in a designer folder, you can Load right from there. Find the brush set you want to Load and click it.

I like to start my messy edges with a corner brush. That takes a lot of guesswork out of positioning. But each of us will have our own ideas about what we like and how we like it, so I’m only offering guidance here. If you’re not a corner-lover, feel free to skip ahead. This whole process is one of experimenting. Try something. If you don’t like it, Undo [CTRL/CMD>Z] it and try something else.

A word about brushes: Many of them are created with a maximum size of 2500 pixels. If you’re a 12×12 girl like me, they’ll need to be resized after use, so keep that in mind. In the case of corner brushes and 12×12 [3600 pixels x 3600 pixels] canvases, going full-size isn’t going to work. Reminder: putting your brushes on their own layers gives you power!

The next couple of steps are for those who want to have corner brushes in all four corners. Rather than try to wing it and hope for the best, using the brush and adjusting Angle and whatever, just Duplicate the brush layer you’ve already made. Right-click on the layer then choose Duplicate Layer>OK. Or use the keyboard shortcut CTRL/CMD>J.

To create a mirror image of the corner, grab the middle handle on the side of the Bounding Box closest to the edge of the paper and drag it horizontally across itself. That’ll flip it. Use the Tool Options to get the size exactly right by typing -100% in the W: box as shown. Or simply go to the Tool Options and type in the -100% in the W: box and not bother with the dragging.

After you’ve nudged the second corner into its spot, click>SHIFT>click on the two layers. Right-click and choose Merge Layers or CTRL/CMD>E.

Now Duplicate the corners layer again by repeating the steps above.

Only this time grab the middle handle of the top of the Bounding Box and pull vertically. Key in the -100% in the H: box and nudge the second pair of corners into place.

Merge the two layers together for a single layer with all four corners in there. CTRL/CMD>E

This is the brush set I used to create the corners for my messy edges.

I know I’m a broken record. I won’t deny it! If you DON’T put your brushes on their own layer, you can’t make any adjustments to size or orientation without affecting whatever else is on that layer too.

I chose a new colour a bit darker gold that for my corners, and another brush to add to my canvas… on its own layer. This time I’m not going to Duplicate because I want it to look more casual. The corners are my anchors. If you hover your brush over the canvas, you’ll see a preview of what you’ll end up with once you commit. If it doesn’t look the way you want it, you can click on the Brush Settings bar and make adjustments, like the Angle as shown.

I’m more or less happy with this, although I think some of the stars extend out too far into the layout. I’ll just Erase some. All four of these star brushes are on one layer, with the corners layer not currently Visible.

For reference purposes.

Now I want to use a paint smear brush. At default settings it’s pretty wide, and that might be too much for my border. So I clicked the Brush Settings bar and this time I adjusted the Roundness of the brush. (Yes, I realize the brush isn’t “round”; I’m making it skinnier.)

Here are four examples of the same brush but with different amounts of “roundness”.

Remember when I mentioned the maximum size of the brush? Well, this paint smear has a max size of 2500 pixels. I’ve used four different brushes from the same set, with their widths adjusted, all on a single layer. Now I can resize the whole layer to fill the canvas edge to edge.

Here’s how the three brush layers look all together. I’m not sure it’s finished, but it’s coming along.

Hmm. Better. But still not there.

I LOVE-LOVE-LOVE this set of brushes! And I think this is just what the doctor ordered.

The messy edge is done! I could use it exactly as-is and it would be great. For those who like a little more oomph, let’s see how adding some Layer Styles looks. I added a green fine Glitter Style to the crosshatch layer. The colour is a little different, but I like it.

To give the dusty rose paint smears a bit of weight and texture I added a Bevel Style. The Simple Sharp Outside Pillow Emboss Bevel makes it look like dried latex paint. But too clumpy.

The Bevel default Size is 21 pixels. By double-clicking on the fx on the layer, I can adjust that. I want just a suggestion of texture here, so I pulled the slider over to 2 pixels and left the Direction Up.

The star scatter got the Chrome Style treatment. It adds some Bevel, some sheen and some colour. The gold is really close to the colour I chose from the flower, so I’m happy.

Here’s a tight shot of the layers with their Styles.

My finished messy edge looks like this. Easy-peasy and so much fun!

Will you try this one? Don’t forget to share your finished work in the Tutorial Tuesday Gallery!!

PDF Version: https://bit.ly/3uGCI7Z

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

Tutorial Tuesday (Photoshop Elements)

April 5, 2022 by Jan

Importing a Tear

PDF Version : https://bit.ly/38jCIlt

I’ve been eagerly waiting for an opportunity to share this little trick with you but certain aspects had to fall into place. And now they have. This technique is so easy and rewarding that I think you’ll use it right away…

Have you ever wanted to add a paper tear to your layout but felt overwhelmed by all the steps to get there? Then this one is for you. There’s a way to import a paper tear from a template into a layout-in-progress that only takes a few easy steps and very little time. However, you must have a template with a paper tear on its own layer, or a commercial-use paper tear template. They have their own limitations, and may not give you the look you’re after. So try this.

I started out with this template from Tinci Designs’ Second Chances V.2 collection. I resized all of the layers (except the background paper) to allow for adding a tear.

I was waiting to find a template like this one from CarolW Designs’ Spring Dawn. That tear is moveable!! But how can I move it onto Krizstina’s template?

There are a couple of steps that need doing first. But to start, I found the tear layer in Carol’s template, right-clicked on the layer and chose Duplicate Layer from the dropdown menu.

Now Elements needs to know where to put it. The new menu shows all the files currently open in the Photo Box, and offers the option of creating a New Document. That’s what I’m going to do.

This step is completely optional. I chose to give my new document file a name, Paper Tear Mask, for clarity.

And this is what happens.

But look at that Bounding Box! I was thrilled to see there’s more to the tear that can be used just by Resizing it.

Now to make it useful and not work too hard while I’m at it. I added a new blank layer underneath the tear layer. Just hold down the CTRL/CMD key and click the sheet-of-paper icon at the upper left of the Layers Panel.

Next, I used the Paint Bucket Tool to fill the whole of the blank layer I just created. Pick any colour you like (but not white) for this step.

To turn the coloured part into a Layer Mask so papers can be Clipped to it, I used a hard, round brush within the Eraser Tool to remove the coloured part above the tear. This can be done quickly because as long as I don’t cross over the tear into the lower part of the coloured area, I can just scrub it away.

And that’s it for creating the tear mask! To move it over onto Krizstina’s template, I’m going to Activate both layers by click-shift-clicking on each of them, then right-click to open the dropdown menu to Duplicate Layers…

This time, I’m going to send them onto the Tinci template.

‘MKay. there are the tear and the mask, placed on top of the background paper and underneath the rest of the layers.

I don’t like the tear up there, just to be a non-conformist. So I’ll move it.

And all that’s left is to add the papers. I’ve used North Meets South Studios’ March Daily Download kit, When Life Gives Lemons. (It’s not available in the store yet, but if you weren’t able to collect all of the files last month, don’t worry. It’ll be in the store soon.) I want the woodgrain paper to be my background and the yellow gingham to be a tablecloth, sort of – maybe one of those vinyl ones with the fuzzy background and now it’s torn 😉 . By Clipping the woodgrain paper to the coloured part I added to the tear, that’s what I get. Cool, right?

Now, if you’d like to do this technique again sometime, you can Save your work As a .psd or .tiff file and reuse it again and again. By having all that coloured area, you can pretty much put the tear anywhere!

This is my finished layout, photos courtesy of Pixabay.

Last week I forgot to mention that Ginger-the-Magnificent has created a special Gallery where layouts you’ve created with these tutorials can be shared. You asked, she answered!! I’ll be swinging by every so often to check it out and leave some love.

PDF Version : https://bit.ly/38jCIlt

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

Designer Spotlight: April 2022

April 4, 2022 by Jan

It’s Miss Fish!

Oops! I meant to share my conversation with Juli, aka Miss Fish, with you over the weekend but I fell down a genealogical rabbit hole and spent the weekend reading barely legible military service records looking for proof of a hitherto-unknown marriage in 1915. ( I was successful!) Of course, that opened up a bunch more avenues for research. It’s like a snowball rolling downhill. But I digress again. Let’s get to know Juli. (Since we have the same initials, for clarity I’ll be “O” today.”)

O: Thanks for chatting with me, Juli. Let’s get the mundane stuff out of the way first. Can you describe your work space?

J: I have several workstations. I have a laptop that I move around. I have a desk area in the bookcase of our family room where I spend most of my time designing while my husband watches TV. That way we can talk. I also have a hook-up in my home office and when I have to travel for my full-time job I work from the hotel at night with an extra portable monitor to make it easier.

O: Holy cow! How many hats do you wear?? Don’t answer that. It’ll make me feel really lazy. What motivates you when you’re designing?

J: I am inspired by designs that I would use myself to document our travels. I’m also inspired by ideas I get from my Creative Team and my customers.

O: Admirable! I love to scrap my travel photos… I’m sure the Sugar Cookies are very sick of Ireland by now. What one word would people who know you well use to describe you?

J: Kind. I am a people pleaser and I always try to make everyone feel well taken care of and loved.

O: Hmm. I bet your Enneagram is 9. And what a segué into asking you what you’d do if you won the lottery.

J: Is it bad that I already have this planned out? I would quit my full-time job and travel full time between houses all across the globe. I would spend my days exploring and taking photos and my night making travel albums. That would be heaven!!

O: Is it bad? NO! Especially when you’d do something so life-changing with the money. In a perfect world, I’d do something similar. Okay, time for the really stupid question of the convo… Are you more likely to sing, or to dance in the shower? (I have a HUGE shower in my bathroom, big enough to have a party in, so this question comes from that.)

J: Sing and badly. I’d probably slip and kill myself if I tried to dance in the shower.

O: I understand! But nobody can hear me dancing. The neighbours would complain if I sang. Now, if time travel was a thing, would you go back into the past, or ahead into the future?

J: I would want to go back to the early 1900’s just to experience life as it was so I had a better understanding of the history that created America and the cities I’ve visited.

O: I’d be happy if I could make more than one stop. I’d tell my younger self a few things that would change the future. But I’d love to go back to maybe 1930 and visit my Swedish great-grandmother, about whom I know only basic facts. She would be around the age I am now, and would have so many stories to tell. But let’s move on. What colours are your most, and least, favourites?

J: My most favorite color is blue. I always want to buy blue shirts when I’m shopping for casual wear. My least favorite color is orange. I only like certain shades more in the coral range.

O: I’m with you on the orange! I don’t love it at all. Yellow is a close second. You can bet if there are flowers of either colour in my garden, somebody else planted them. Are you a sports fan?

J: I love to watch American football and I often listen to games while I’m designing.

O: I’m glad you clarified without me asking if you meant FOOTBALL or FUTBALL. I don’t enjoy soccer at all. What did you want to be when you grew up?

J: When I was small I wanted to be a teacher. Probably so I could tell everyone what to do. I liked being the boss (still do!)

O: I can relate. One of the things I really loved about nursing was the opportunity to explain what was happening with my patients to their parents. It’s the only way they can make good choices for their kids. The boss part was what drew me to critical care, where nurses have a lot of autonomy. And there I go again, back to you. Aside from necessities, what’s one thing you couldn’t live without?

J: My cell phone! I use it non-stop to communicate with my kids, work, my husband plus it’s the best way to check in with my fans and my Creative Team while I’m at work.

O: Uh. Necessity!! I know you’re busy with all the jobs you have so I won’t keep you any longer. Thanks for the visit!

Ladies, Juli has put her entire store on sale at 30% off, from April 3rd to the 30th! If there’s a template set (or 6) in her store that you’ve been eyeing up, now’s the time. In addition to this sale, she’s also providing the Daily Download this month and hosting the Designer Spotlight Challenge. You don’t want to miss a minute!

See you all again soon! (Tomorrow. I have a nifty trick for y’all!!)

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

Tutorial Tuesday (Photoshop Elements)

March 29, 2022 by Jan

A Simple Photo Border with Label

Whew. The last few tutorials have been challenging, haven’t they? Today I think we need a nice, easy, basic technique that even the least experienced scrapper can succeed in doing. (Or, you could say I lacked inspiration this week, and you wouldn’t be wrong.)

The first step, as always, is to open a new. blank canvas on the workspace. As you can see, I’m predictably going 12 x 12, with lots of room to work. If you’d rather use a smaller canvas, it’s still going to work perfectly fine. I’ve chosen the Rounded Rectangle Custom Shape tool, with a 150 pixel Radius for the rounded corners. I’ve also set a Fixed Size of 6 inches wide, 4 inches high – standard landscape print dimensions. I’ve ticked the From Center and Snap boxes as well. Some tools have a lot of options that make for fewer steps, so why not make use of them?

With a single click in the middle of my canvas, I’ve created a 4 x 6 rounded rectangle shape. Custom Shapes are always Smart Objects when they’re first created. That means the only alteration they’ll permit is to resize.

If you want to do anything else to a Custom Shape, the Smart Object needs to be rendered dumb, or Simplified. If you’ve got a newer version of Elements, you’ll have a Simplify button right there in the Tool Options.

If you’re working with an older version you’ll have to do it the old-school way. Right-click on the layer in the Layers panel and choose Simplify Layer from the drop-down menu.

To create a border/frame that follows the contours of your rounded rectangle CTRL/CMD>click on the shape’s layer thumbnail in the Layers panel. That will Select the edge of the rectangle. Then click Select>Modify>Contract… to shift the marching ants inside the rectangle.

You might want to experiment a bit with this step. I tried a few possibilities for how far over I wanted the edge to move. I want a gap between the Selection and the edge of the rectangle deep enough to add some text in a large enough font that it’s easily read. I settled on 65 pixels.

The marching ants can be hard to see on these screenshots. Trust me when I say they round the corners cleanly.

Now to create the border. It needs to go on its own layer, so add a blank layer to the top of the stack in the Layers panel by clicking on the sheet-of-paper icon at the upper left corner of the panel. Then click Edit>Stroke (Outline) Selection…

Again, this step might take some trial-and-error. I opted to go with a 25 pixel Stroke applied on Center of the Selection.

Here’s a close-up of my 25 pixel Stroke inside my 65 pixel gap. To eliminate the marching ants that outline the Selection, click Select>Deselect, or CTRL/CMD>D.

Now to add the label. I chose a clean, sans-serif (no ‘extra’ extending features) font, but you can choose any font you like. I wanted simple but eye-catching so I went with Caneletter Sans for my label.

It was a bit insipid, so I highlighted the text and clicked the B for faux bold and made it a bit more meaty.

Then I moved the text to a spot on the border/frame. Where your label goes will depend on the photo you’re using. You’ll want it to go somewhere that won’t obscure any focal point, and where it won’t get lost in the photo itself.

I’m going to cut an opening in the border to sandwich the label, so I used the Rectangle Marquee tool to drag out a box around the text as shown. The active layer is the one with the border on it.

Edit>Cut or CTRL/CMD>X will take that chunk out of the border.

Because the label is on a separate layer, if it doesn’t look centered in the opening, it’s easy enough to nudge it so it does look right.

Once I was happy with the border and label, I activated both layers by click>SHIFT>clicking on them, then right-clicked and chose Merge Layers. Shortcut: CTRL/CMD>E.

Now to fine-tune. I dragged my photo onto the workspace, positioning it between the rounded rectangle shape and the border/label layers.

But first, I’m going to Clip the photo to the shape, by right-clicking and choosing Create Clipping Mask. Shortcut: for versions 15 and up, CTRL>ALT>G. For earlier versions, CTRL/CMD>G.

Elements indents the layer once it has been Clipped to the layer below it, as shown.

The black border/label gets lost a bit against the photo. So I’m going to change the color to something more visible. The cleanest way to do that is to add a Solid Color Fill Layer. Click Layer>New Fill Layer>Solid Color…

Make sure the box is ticked to Use Previous Layer to Create Clipping Mask to save yourself some steps.

For the most flexibility I Merge the two layers together.

Elements will use the foreground color in the Color Picker, but you can always choose to pull a color from your photo. Activate the Eye Dropper tool and click it on any color you like. You can see the changes happening in real time, and that guarantees you’ll find the look you like best.

What color would you go with?

I can’t believe I managed to create 20 new layouts this month. I’m greedy… I want both the Challenge Reward kit AND the Shine Your Light mega-collab. (That might mean our next tutorial is about moving kits and layouts onto an external hard drive and changing some workflow but it’ll be worth it…) March is almost gone, it’s 61°F outside and the orchards are greening up. Makes me feel like I can do anything!

PDF Version: https://bit.ly/3qOm97N

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

Tutorial Tuesday (Photoshop Elements)

March 22, 2022 by Jan

Creating Art with a Photo

I’ve been procrastinating over this tutorial for awhile… because A) I wasn’t sure I could articulate how I do this and B) other, quicker techniques kept presenting themselves. 😉 But I bit the bullet. Today’s the day! I want to show you how to turn a photo into a watercolor work of art, and it started when Karen asked how the scrapper got the paint effect on this layout, shown below. (Sorry, I’m not sure where the original is posted or who the scrapper is to give them credit… if it’s yours, you did a fantastic job!) Anyway, I want to make one thing clear before we start: this is a labour-intensive technique, and much will depend on your choice of photo how much work will be involved. But your skills will get a good workout!

I chose this photo from Pixabay as my canvas. It already has a bit of an arty look to it, but when I’m done with it, it’ll be very different. It was already a square so that helped, although you can do this technique on any photo.

First, I’m going to use a Guided Edit. This one was introduced with Elements 2019. If you’re working with an earlier version, you can follow this tutorial, or this tutorial for the sketchy part. I’ve also used the Guided Edit we’ll be working with for a previous tutorial back in July 2019, so if it looks familiar that’s why. The outcome today will be very different from that other though.

Choose Pencil Sketch from the options in this menu, the one in the upper left corner there. Then drag your cursor over the parts of your photo you want to be sketchy. The cursor can be sized to fit the area you’re including, and you’ll have the ability to “unsketch” parts if you go too far.

I decided I wanted the WHOLE photo to be sketchy, so I made my cursor brush huge and rolled it over everything. But let’s say you only want part of your photo sketched. In my experience, it’s easier to ADD an area to my selection then SUBTRACT with a smaller brush where the details are. You’ll see what I mean a bit later. In this step, it’s also possible to decrease the Opacity of the effect so more of the original shows through. But not today!

Once I had my sketch the way I wanted it, I went to the lower right corner of the workspace and clicked Next. (Be careful you don’t click Cancel, because that’ll undo everything you’ve done and take you back to the starting gate.) Then I chose Continue Editing In Expert.

Now it’s possible to see what Elements was doing in the background while we were busy and oblivious. Now I have 3 layers: the original, a sketch layer with a black Layer Mask and a sketch layer with a white Layer Mask. It’s possible to do the following steps using these two masked layers, but it’s a bit more challenging than my approach, so we’re not going to do that. The layer that I want to work with is the one with the white Layer Mask, but I need to Simplify it. Right-click on that layer – over on the left of the layer near but not ON the link icon – then choose Simplify Layer.

Then I Deleted the layer with the black Layer Mask.

You can turn visibility for the colour layer off if you like, or leave it be.

Next, I made a Copy Layer of the sketch. You can right-click on the layer then choose Duplicate Layer>OK. Or use the keyboard shortcut CTRL/CMD>J.

I put the Copy Layer in my back pocket for later and made the first sketch layer my active layer and added a Layer Mask to it… I know what you’re thinking – but I’m really not making work for myself. I tried it with the previously masked layers and it didn’t do what I needed it to do.

For those not familiar with Layer Masks, they allow removal of part of a layer in a “non-destructive” way, meaning that if I erase part of the image that I didn’t really want gone, I can just paint it back in. See the colour picker? The Eraser Tool is active with a white foreground and a black background. When white is the foreground colour, whatever the Eraser rolls over with be revealed – in this case it’s the transparent background. When black is the foreground colour, it conceals – the transparent background in this case. Toggling back and forth between removing and replacing parts of the image plays a big role in getting this technique nailed. I started by Erasing her face and neck as well as the green in the upper left corner. As I mentioned, I find it easier and quicker to Erase (white) past fine details like wispy hairs, and then paint them back (black).

I also discovered that toggling the colour layer on and off makes it easier to see edges of things better.

Aaaaaand toggling the sketch layer on and off helped me see where and what needed more help.

Her fringe didn’t seem too important when I first got going, but to be really successful, I figured I needed to make it as sharply detailed as possible. I work on a laptop with a trackpad, and lemme tell ya… it’s a SKILL!! I found I got better results when I started at the tip of a strand of hair and dragged the cursor back toward the fringe than when I tried to go from fringe to tip. Try it both ways and see which works best for you. This is where most of the time expenditure happens. If you’ve chosen a less detailed image to work with, it’ll go a lot quicker.

So, I’m happy with how I’ve isolated her hair. What do you think the next step will be?

Did you guess right? If you’ve read a lot of my meandering tutorials, you probably did!

And you probably knew this step was coming too. Make a Copy Layer of the hair. ALWAYS have a copy of something you’ve done a lot of work on, just in case you need it!! Now I have a Copy of the whole sketch and a Copy of just her hair.

It’s really hard to see the marching ants in this screenshot, but they are there. I activated the whole sketch layer then CTRL/CMD>clicked on one of the hair layers to Select the edges of the hair on the whole sketch.

I want everything BUT the hair so I clicked Select>Inverse. (In reality, I used the keyboard shortcut CTRL/CMD>SHIFT>I…)

Then I clicked Edit>Cut (CTRL/CMD>X).

At this point I have four layers, one colour, one just her face and the green in the corner and two hair layers.

Now I took some time to experiment with my watercolor brush collection. The ones that worked best are the ones that are a square swatch, like the ones you can grab here for free. I resized the brush so it filled the whole photo so I could see where the colour was most opaque and how it looked overall. Because I was just looking at options. I didn’t create a new blank layer for the brush, although in retrospect I should have.

Did you know you can make lots of adjustments to your brushes? Click on Brush Settings and you’ll see this. I wasn’t happy that the brush I chose didn’t cover all of her hair, so I rotated the brush 90° to the right and fixed it.

The next two screenshots are still part of my experimentation, but the process you’ll follow after you’re settled on your brush and have it on its own layer is the same as I’m showing.

After the hair is Selected and Inverted, I’ll Cut it away to see what effect I have.

Alrighty! I’m ready to commit. I have a brush and a colour I like, it’s positioned well and I can go ahead with the brush on its own layer. I put the new, blank layer in between the hair layers by clicking on the sheet of paper icon at the upper left of the Layers Panel.

I really wanted the ability to manipulate her face separate from her hair, as you can see here. That’s why I went to all the work of Layer Masking her hair. I’ll change the Blend Mode on the FACE layer to Luminosity.

I’m almost happy now. But I’ll look at it for a bit to make sure.

So I played with some Blend Modes and decided all I needed to do was decrease the Opacity of the painted hair layer to 80%. It looks pretty good, even if I say so myself. The untouched hair layer adds some necessary detail back to the hair, and the effect can be enhanced with Blend Modes if desired.

Here’s what it looks like on a layout. I used a mask-and-frame combo in PSD form so that I could move the frame around. I’m really pleased.

Again, I apologize for the formatting mess I’ve made here. I haven’t figured out how to make spacing adjustments in WordPress when I’ve had to move an image around. Or when I’ve made a booboo after I’ve added the images. It’s a problem!

Sherri, I haven’t forgotten about your paper-punch-tear but haven’t figured it out yet. It’s a work in progress…

PDF Version : https://bit.ly/3wy8xkz

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

Tutorial Tuesday: Individual Style

March 15, 2022 by Jan

Making Magic with Brushes

Yes, it’s the third Tuesday of March already. It’s a sad day here, as our daughter said goodbye to her furbaby Lucy this morning. We knew this day was coming, and tried to prepare, but it’s not that simple, is it? I’ll be working on a tribute layout later as my therapy, and seeing all the amazing ways our GingerScrappers have created magic with this month’s Challenge Brush has given me some inspiration.

When I chose these layouts to show you, I was looking for uniqueness, and I had a lot to choose from. Each layout will be linked to the Gallery; the GingerScraps user names are your links so if you’re inclined, you can pop over and give them some praise. But first, let’s talk about the Challenge. This year, the host for our Brush Challenge is Alexis Design Studio. She’s brilliant with creating brushes, so we’re all very lucky she’s giving them away! The Challenge is to use the brush she provided (free) on a layout, and there are some very creative ways to use brushes. Let’s have a look.

This layout by wendeeds is filled with shamrocks. I had to look hard to see the brush – it’s behind the journaling! I thought she’d used patterned paper.

Here, pippin has turned the brush into confetti and it’s showering the couple with luck.

I love how Rhewko has blended the brush into her background and added a touch of gold leaf to it. It’s both subtle and obvious.

Here, jcfdelaware has overlaid the brush with her photo mask, blending them. The little boy blowing on the dandelions is blowing the brush’s shamrocks into the universe.

Look at the tone-on-tone beauty of this layout from ysgbo! The brushes are randomly positioned, with the layout divided diagonally. The upper right are embossed and the lower left are debossed. Brilliant!

Dannisa has the brush repeating and gradually shrinking, with the shamrock pouf overlapping and creating a cloud of parachutes.

My eyes went right to this layout in the album. The way Grace has turned one of her photos into a pencil sketch is lovely, and who isn’t drawn to sunflowers right now? But it’s the way the brush seems to mingle with the paper scatter that is the real genius here.

The way barbaraj has duplicated the brush is clever; it looks like she die-cut them from paper and carefully positioned each tiny piece.

Macsandy makes the brush an integral part of her background, and has pulled the green from other aspects of her background to create a seamless image. Using a black-and-white photo was a great idea.

For her layout, Effie4037 used the brush in a very subtle way. I like that she chose to echo the mint green from her border paper rather than the more traditional green of her title strip. The brush ties her photos together and grounds them to the background beautifully.

The way willow‘s brush explodes into the layout makes it so hard to know where the brush ends and her photo begins. Great choice to invert the colour where the brush extends into the central gray paper strip too!

To me, the brushwork on garrynkim‘s layout looks like a stencil applied with a very gentle hand.

At first, I thought Jill had put her layout into the wrong album. So I took a closer look. The brush is there… russet and blended into the old wood background and providing a landing pad for that gorgeous cluster.

At first glance, you might think this layout from PixyGirl has popcorn on it. But it’s the brush, in white and with a pearl glued to many of the shamrocks.

Tsubasa went to a lot of trouble to blend the brush into her photo. Look carefully at how she’s lightened the main part of the photo, framed that focal seedhead and then augmented the blowing seeds with the brush. Amazing!

By blending the brush into this dreamy, soft watercolour paper, wvwendy has really added oomph to her layout.

I saved this version from linweb for last. She used it very cleverly to create a St Patrick’s Day card and I LOVE it!!

I hope you’ve gotten some flashes of inspiration from this stroll through the Gallery. I know I did!

PDF Version: https://bit.ly/3KKY6Oz

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

Tutorial Tuesday (Photoshop Elements)

March 1, 2022 by Jan

Taking Those Shapes to the Next Level

I don’t know about you, but I’ve been doom-scrolling Twitter, with MSNBC on in the background, continually since the Russians invaded Ukraine. As if things weren’t already awful enough… Two of my mom’s sisters and one of her cousins married three Ukrainian-Canadian young men back in the 50s. My dad’s mom was Polish. This invasion feels personal to me and it’s hard to shift gears. But I’ve succeeded – I have a tutorial for you that builds on last week’s Custom Shapes clipping masks. This time I’m going to show you some ways of turning those shapes into 3-D frames – it’s simple and so much fun! Rather than reinvent the wheel and go into obsessive detail with every step, I’m going to assume you’ve got some Elements chops and sort of start in the middle.

Each of these Shape frames will start out the same way, with choosing the Custom Shape and dragging it out on the canvas. As usual, I’m working on a 12×12 canvas so I have lots of room. I started with a hexagon.

I’ll always remind you that Custom Shapes begin life as Smart Objects and don’t have a lot of flexibility. So before you can manipulate them, you’ll need to Simplify them… dumb them down, so to speak. If your version of Elements has the Simplify button in the Tool Options panel, just click it. If you DON’T have that button, you’ll need to right-click on the layer then choose Simplify Layer from the dropdown menu.

To create the frame’s opening, first we need a Copy layer. Either right-click on the layer and choose Duplicate Layer>OK or use the keyboard shortcut CTRL/CMD>J to quickly make that Copy. (I LOVE Copy layers and recommend you come to love them too. When you play with a Copy, you’ll still have the original if you make a booboo.) (Second editorial comment: CTRL refers to Windows-based systems, CMD to Macs.)

Obviously, a Copy is identical to the original and that’s not going to work to make a hole. So the Copy layer will need to be Resized. The easiest way to do that in this context is to click on one of the handles on the Bounding Box, which opens up the Move tool‘s Tool Options menu. Then, with the Constrain Proportions box ticked and the centre of the layer as the reference point, type a numeric value into one of the boxes as shown. I went with 85%, which will give a nicely solid frame.

In this screenshot you can see the outline of the smaller hexagon. Now it can be used to remove the middle of the frame.

Ensure your large hexagon layer is active and then click Edit>Cut, or use the keyboard shortcut CTRL/CMD>X. We’ll come back to the hexagon in a minute. What if you chose a more complicated shape, like this seal? You can use all the controls in the Tool Options, like using Defined Size, and if you tick the From Center box, Elements will put the shape right in the centre of the canvas. Here, I’ve shown the Simplify button (the one you may not have). Experiment with your software; the more you play with it, the better you’ll understand what it can do and what it can’t. (And these tutorials will make more sense…) You’ll find a system and a rhythm that works for you.

So. What if you didn’t tick the From Center box and now your two shapes aren’t positioned precisely like you want them to be? Elements has a fix for that! Activate both layers by clicking>Shift>clicking on them in the Layers Panel. You’ll see the Move tool Tool Options menu over on the left. Where it says Align, click on the Center button – Elements will move both layers so their centres are aligned. Then right away click the Middle button, and Elements moves both layers so the middles are aligned. Easy peasy!

CTRL/CMD>X and now I’ve got a nice starburst frame.

Okay, back to the hexagon! When I was thinking about this technique, my mind’s eye saw a shiny green frame with glittery gold edges. Making that a reality will take a couple of additional steps. I’ll need to create the border first, because once I alter the frame itself it’ll be harder. The border needs to be completely separate from the frame so I can jazz them up in different ways. That means it goes on its own layer. (Of course!!) So I added a new blank layer to the Layers Panel by clicking on the sheet-of-paper icon in the strip across the top of the Panel.

Quick-and-easy border making uses the Stroke Edit. CTRL/CMD>click on the Layer Thumbnail to “Select” the edges of the hexagon, inside and out. Make sure you’re on the blank layer, then Edit>Stroke (Outline) Selection.

I want the glittery border to be visible but not overpowering so I went with 35 pixels for my width. The colour can be anything – the glitter will hide it anyway. I chose the Outside setting; it’s not going to round the hexagon’s corners enough to worry about.

This is something I sometimes forget when I’m doing something on the fly. If there are marching ants – something has been Selected – none of the things I try to do that don’t involve the Selected area will actually happen. They need to go away. Select>Deselect or CTRL/CMD>D will do that.

I’m going to use some Styles now. Have you bought some Styles – .ASL files – but don’t know how to get them into Elements so you can use them? Some of the GingerBread Ladies collaborations include Styles (usually glitter, but not always; Craft Fair is a good example) so you could have some and not even know! I’m going to show you quickly how to access them.

I’ve renamed all my Styles files and Copied them into the Elements Program Files for easy retrieval but you don’t have to worry about that, you can grab them from anywhere. If you don’t know where they are, run a Search using .asl as your search term, then let your computer do the work.

I chose a green acrylic gel Style from Just So Scrappy‘s Lucky Me… seemed appropriate for March, however cheesy. The Style added colour, a bevel and highlights all in one move! If the one you choose doesn’t look like you want it to, CTRL/CMD>Z it and try again.

I like this darker gold glitter Style from the same collection. (I’ve gotta say, Katie [Just So Scrappy and Ooh La La Scraps] makes perfect Styles of all descriptions. Check them out! I’ve linked to her shop for you.)

I didn’t do a step-by-step for the star in this image, since it’s done exactly the same way as the others. Stars offer a masculine option so I’m going to give this frame a leather look. Snake skin, to be exact. I made some Copy layers so I’d have back-up and this time I’m going to use a Filter. From the Filters menu I chose Artistic>Textures. I’ll be using Mosaic Tile.

Here are the default settings for Mosaic Tile. I think the “scales” are a bit to insignificant for a manly frame though.

You can see what’s happening with your Filters as you make your adjustments, so it’s not too hard to find the right combo.

I think it needs a touch of colour and a bit of sheen too, so I’ll use a Chrome Style on a Copy layer – flexibility!

When I was a kid, I had one pair of leather shoes. My mom said they weren’t brown, they were “ox-blood”. This reminds me of them. So I’ll use this dark red one.

The Chrome Style will be opaque, so the mosaic tile texture won’t be visible unless I decrease the Opacity of the Chrome layer. 50% looks good.

I wanted to make a few more tweaks so I double-clicked on the fx icon on the Chrome layer and played with this menu.

Were you wondering what I had planned for the sunburst? I made some Copy layers and added a Wood Style to one of them. I’d like a gold edge on it, but not on the inside. So I Resized the bottom original layer by going to 105%. See the gray border there now? It’s just enough.

So far, I’ve only shown you Styles that are purchased. But Elements has some basic Styles included that most of us never even look at. I like this Molten Gold one, I think? It’s in the Complex folder along with a bunch of very intriguing others.

So this is what it looks like before I bend it to my will. It’s pretty in-your-face!

I toned it down a bit.

What do you think? I love it!!

I popped a photo into the hexagon frame. But first I added a bit of a shadow to the green section then Merged the glitter border with the acrylic gel centre so it’s all one piece. (Looks like I forgot to turn the underline off! Oh well. Not a disaster. I apologize for the formatting issues; when I was editing the screenshots I forgot to crop some of them until after I’d already inserted them into the post. Fixing that made the gaps. Sorry!)

I’ve got some great ideas for tutorials in my pocket and will need the distraction this month. Слава Україні!
PDF Version : https://bit.ly/3tn2goD

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

Tutorial Twos-Day (Photoshop Elements)

February 22, 2022 by Jan

Two Mini-Tuts! Parallelograms and Hanging Chads

Reader beware: This tutorial will be strong on bad puns and corny jokes… ICYMI in the header.

After last week’s tutorial covering the February Inspiration Challenge and shapes, Karen left a comment asking where she could get the template mdusell used for her Bodega Sunsets layout because she really liked the parallelogram. I took a look at the credits for the layout where the template was listed, then went through (all 38 pages) the designer’s store to see if I could find it. [She used a Connie Prince template, if you’re curious.] Alas, the template set has been retired. So the next best thing I could think of is to show her, and all of you too, how to create a parallelogram photo spot complete with white border, like the one from Connie‘s template, that can be saved and used ad infinitum. Then to finish off this week’s post, I’m responding to granny5pics [Kathi] who sent me this message: “I thought I saw some place how to trim/crop a layout so any overhanging picture areas get cropped off and the layout fits in the given size. I thought I had done so successfully myself recently, but I can’t get my current layout to cooperate!” Let’s get started.

Karen‘s parallelogram starts life as a rectangle that is led astray. I’ve activated the Rectangle Custom Shape Tool as you can see below. I’ll start with a square. Then we’ll see how it looks and make any adjustments it may demand. You can see that there are two rectangular options in this toolkit; don’t pick the rounded one!

Here’s my one-step square. I just clicked at the centre of my workspace and it appeared. Remember, all Custom Shapes start out as Smart Objects and can’t be manipulated as is.

Newer versions of Photoshop Elements have a Simplify button right there in the Tool Options. If you don’t see one, you’ll need to Right-Click on the layer in the Layers Panel and choose Simplify from the pop-up menu.

Here’s a Work Smart Not Hard tip. Use your tools! I’m going to turn on the Grid to help me with my shape-shifting. If you don’t regularly use the Grid, I hope I can change your mind about it. But it’s only useful if it’s set up to be useful. Although I live in Canada and the metric system has been our method of measurement since 1979, I still think in inches so my Preferences for the Grid are set so I have a Gridline (heavier) every inch and 4 Division (lighter) lines per inch… i/e I have reference lines every 1/4 inch. Now, to turn the Grid on, View>Grid, or CTRL/CMD>’ will get you there.

Once I had that Grid for reference, I moved the square over to the right an inch to give me lots of room to manoeuver.

Going from square (which is a parallelogram already, but…) to a more diamond-shaped parallelogram requires the use of the Image>Transform>Skew command.

Grab one of the upper corner handles and pull it out to the side. I went left. You do you! Then grab the other upper handle and move it the same amount.

My finished shape didn’t look enough like the one from the template, so I pushed the top edge down a couple inches and like it much better.

The grid isn’t necessary any more so it can go away.

On mdusell‘s layout the parallelogram shape had a white border. The easiest way to do that and have a save-able, reusable clipping mask is to use a Layer Style. There are some basic Strokes in the Layer Style palette, and although there isn’t a white option, that’s a simple fix. Why not just add a Stroke through the Edit menu, you wonder. Well, it’ll be part of the shape, not sitting on top of the shape; it won’t be visible when something is clipped to the shape, and that defeats the purpose.

So I’ve added a Stroke Style. It’s 20 pixels according to the menu, but shows as 26 pixels later. Regardless, it’s all completely adjustable! And that’s a good thing, because I don’t like the rounded corners much.

By double-clicking on the fx icon on the layer, I can fix all the things I don’t like about the stroke. I can make the stroke wider or narrower, I can change the colour and I can move the Position from Outside to Inside and get those sharp corners.

Here’s the easiest way to turn black to white. Just click on the colour swatch then type ffffff into the # box! If you think you’ll want to reuse this photo clipping mask again Save As a PNG and call it something you’ll remember.

Meet my new neighbour.

Now, for Kathi‘s question… I figured the easiest way to help her with her problem is to show her.

I have a lot of paper outside the boundaries of my signature canvas.

Enter the Crop tool. You can use this to remove the overhang at any point while you’re creating. Here, I’ve waited until the whole thing is done and Cropped all the overhanging stuff away at one time. I hope this is what Kathi needs for her issue…

I’ve been helping my daughter with a top-secret project that I hope we can share with the world soon. It’s eaten up quite a bit of time over the last week, so I’m behind………………… and next Tuesday it’ll be March. Gah.

PDF Version : https://bit.ly/3vvZXm3

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

Tutorial Tuesday (Individual Style)

February 15, 2022 by Jan

Challenge Spotlight: INSPIRATION

Yes, it’s the third Tuesday of February already! This month and next start on a Tuesday, so here we are… looking at a Challenge and the Individual Style each of us brings to a common goal. With the month really only halfway over – and both the Olympics and the Super Bowl squeezed in there, it was a challenge in itself to find one with enough examples to make a good post. But not to worry, the Inspiration Challenge, with Memory Mosaic, fills the bill. Before I go on, these Challenge Spotlights aren’t only meant to encourage you to give them a try, but also to help with the logistics. There are several layouts displayed in the thread that aren’t found in the Challenge Gallery. Posting your layouts to the Challenge Gallery is a required element for proper credit toward Challenge Rewards. So don’t forget that step! Now, let’s talk Inspiration…

Joy’s theme for this month’s challenge is SHAPES. But she also wants a brief explanation of how the participants decided which shapes to include. There are some unique takes on this one, and my descriptions aren’t going to replace the scrappers’ own words. You’ll have to check out the layouts in the Gallery to see those. Each layout is linked to the Gallery through the scrappers’ names, so please do drop by and leave them some praise.

First up is this one by B2N2Scraps. She has a variety of geometric shapes here: circles, rectangles and parallelograms. (Thank you, Google, for helping me out with the names of some shapes that I’ve forgotten.)

What has Pippin got going on here? I see hexagons, triangles, trapezoids, pentagons, circles and rectangles. Oh, and some square gems too!

In SusanSays‘ layout the predominant shape is the triangle, but it isn’t the only one. I see squares, rectangles, circles, trapezoids, a couple of ellipses and a star.

Tbear has used lots of circles, but she’s also got some pyramids there, some trapezoids and rectangles too.

This layout by greenfiend27 is too clever by far! There are a plethora of trapezoids, triangles, rectangles, squares and at least one pentagon in there. I almost overlooked the tiny circles!

I like how simple mdusell’s layout is, but still contains a number of shapes: triangles, a parallelogram, rectangles, circles and two overlapping trapezoids.

Trapezoids seem to be a very popular shape! pjm117 has included some circles and triangles, as well as a couple of rectangles too.

There’s a lot going on in Lisa Campbell’s layout, but a close look shows triangles, parallelograms, circles, rectangles and some overlapping trapezoids.