Insights of 2 Scrappy Sisters

Making Stickers and Using the Selection Tool

2011-07-24T11:44:00.000-05:00

This is so much fun. I love playing with the different options on PSP. I had no idea you could get your last colors used by right clicking. Or that you could so easily cut out a picture with selection and feathering and inverting... seriously... take a look at this:

Then I decided to change my sticker slightly and put the boys on it... I lost my border because it was white and so was my final background. Doh!

Still... I am getting more information... now if I can just retain it more than a few hours in my head.

Skipping 3 and off to 4... Universal Studios!

2011-07-23T15:08:00.001-05:00

In January we met some friends over at Orlando and went to Islands of Adventures to the Harry Potter area. I used Cassel Creation's class 4 to create a scrapbook page of it!

paper and elements: Magical Garden by Mistica
date font: Vladimir script
title font: vagrounded (i think)

This is interesting...

Class 2...

2011-07-17T12:18:00.002-05:00

My mom made some 'chairs' out of milk cartoons... which was not enough, she had to sew a cover for them as well. Hence... she had to show me how to do it. I'm not a seamstress but can usually follow directions. Following along in Class 2 of Cassel Creations, I made this:

paper and elements: ttd Bless Our Nest
font: kirsten itc
layout: cassel creation class

More to follow as I keep working on the scrapping classes.

My Mom Came to Visit

2011-07-14T16:38:00.002-05:00

Ok, spent some money on a class from Cassel Creations... and just in time... for me to get back into the swing of Scrapbooking... here is my creation!

paper and elements: Spring Fever by Kimeric Kreations
font: Freehand521
No Template, class from Cassel Creations

My mom came to watch the kids for part of the summer while I try to work out the kinks of this new job. Keeping a part time job while having kids home is... frustrating to say the least. Still... I LOVED seeing my mom. I miss her now that she is gone. Not just the coming home to cooked meals and laundry done... but having a chance to really talk to her. She is one smart lady. More to follow!

Another month has gone by and...

2011-06-12T09:50:00.000-05:00

I still haven't gotten the whole work, summer, kids thing together. I have not done one scrap page in months. Yet, I have continue to buy stuff, download stuff and visit other scrap sites. Sigh. How do people organize their lives to do all the things they want to do? I missed the shutterfly special for father's day. It sucked to miss it.

I have not forgotten this site, but it is going to take a couple of days to get enough photos together to actually lay out some nice pages. I have some photos... my kids have been in plays, in sports activities and I have been busy making videos of the stuff... I need to make the scrapbook pages though because I enjoy that as much as the videos in the future.

pages/elements: HollyAnn All Boy

font: batavia

One month later...

2011-05-10T15:03:00.000-05:00

Wow. Life sure can take over... I can't believe a month has passed. I am soooo behind in my scrapbooking... and I have so much I want to do! I'm trying to get back into a routine to get my scrapbooking out here, mainly because it keeps me scrapping! Seriously, I'll be back online in the next week!

Look Around

2011-04-11T07:00:00.002-05:00

While it may seem silly to take a picture of the top of a garbage bag or half-melted candle, these pictures can still evoke strong memories in the future.

Can you remember when garbage bags didn't have the tie handles? I can. I remember the straps with serrated edges that you tied them shut with. I use to use them to make icicles for the Christmas tree. But you can't find them today.

Shampoos that fall in and out of favor. The changes they make. Tiny grape tomatoes that were rarely seen in days gone by and now fill the grocery stores. Will they still be here in 20 or 30 years? Or will they be replaced by something smaller?

We need to document our daily lives as well as the important days. Sometimes it is the small things we are going to want to show later in life and they may no longer be available.

Template by Jennifer; Hopeful (subscriber exclusive) by Spinkydink Designs;
Kraft Again Alpha by Etc. by Danyale; Font: Century Gothic

Talking to myself

2011-04-07T07:00:00.002-05:00

Although I have mentioned it before, I'm going to say it again. Don't forget to scrap about yourself. And when it comes to journaling there are so many avenues you can take.

And what to all of us do from time to time? Talk to ourselves. Yeah, you know you do it too. So that is what I based this layout on. Trying to talk myself into and out of scrapping a page or two. This one included.

It covers what I think is important, what I know is important and my favorite food at this time in my life.

Template by Designs by Jen Yurko; Agatha (c)Isabel Mendez;
Font(s): Century Gothic

Another What the Flick

2011-04-04T07:00:00.003-05:00

Using a movie poster as inspiration can provide ideas you may have never thought of before. Below is a layout from WHAT film? Take a guess, let's see if you are right (Bug you cannot make a guess, you already know.)

Surprisingly enough, my layout went in a 180 degree turn from the poster as far as content goes. But the layout worked fantastic for my Christmas pictures.

GGI1210 Fireside (c)Kristmess

Answer - Star Wars: Episode III

Don't be afraid

2011-03-31T07:00:00.003-05:00

to use a lot of a bright color. Especially if it brings out a spot of color in a photo (Brindel's orange shirt). It also compliments Nuke's brown shirt, while the matting is nearly the same color as Milady's shirt. And because of the dark walls behind my subjects the pictures really stand out against the brilliant orange paper.

Sweet & Sour (c)Armina Designs
Template by Kitty Designs; Font: Century Gothic

The Five W's

2011-03-27T07:00:00.002-05:00

You remember from them from school, don't you? The Who, What, When, Where & Why. As you are journaling it is important to try and include each in the text. Of course, you are going to include the who and the what, but sometimes we forget about the when, where and why.

Using the page below, I have included the who (my grandson), the what (putting the orange peel in his mouth), when (the date), where (the restaurant) and the why (to smile an orange peel smile).

Tape the words to your monitor as a reminder (and add one extra word ... how).

Peace of My Heart (c)Spinkydink Designs;
Template by by Amanda Thorderson; Fonts: Arial

Don't make my mistake

2011-03-23T07:00:00.004-05:00

When you are including information that you have gotten off the web or from a book, make sure you include the information on your page, in the info box of your graphics program or in the caption. You never know when you, your child or your grandchild may need that info for further research and wouldn't it be nice to put your finger right on it.

Sea Spray (c) Spinkydink Designs; Squid Ink (c)Creations by Rachel
& Late Night Scraps; Template by Fryske; Fonts: FFF Tusj, sf Alicia

What the Flick

2011-03-19T07:00:00.002-05:00

Is a challenge at Gotta Pixel. You are given a movie poster and challenged to make a layout using it as your inspiration.

A recent poster gave me the idea to do a page explaining the Japanese 7-5-3 Festival celebrated for children in Japan. This was important to me as one of my granddaughters is half Japanese.

So as you are doing the challenges, challenge yourself to include information that will more fully explain the pictures.

The Voyager - Japan (c)Kristmess
Font: Simsun

Historically correct?

2011-03-16T08:17:00.002-05:00

One of the things we need to be including in our scrapbooking is information about our ancestors. For years I thought our great grandmother immigrated from Sweden. Now it appears it was her father that immigrated and she was born in Mississippi. But that may be incorrect as well. So far no documentation has arisen giving support to either claim.

Use your scrapbooking to lay down the ground work for genealogy enthusiasts. Include who told you what. And should you never be able to locate that document, whoever takes up your mantle may be able to do so and without having to start from scratch.

I think I may start digging through all the Bug's research and using that as a basis for some scrapbooking pages to make into a book.

Captivated (c)Silvia Romeo & Etc. by Danyale
Template from Ideas for Scrapbookers;

Bug's Week 7 of February - 365 project

2011-03-13T07:20:00.000-05:00

Eeek. I'm falling behind again. At least I remembered to do the journaling on this one!

Template by Andrea Gold temp501sq

font: BluePlateSpecialSW

Something I have discovered working a part time job outside of the home... when I get home I just want to sit quietly. No scrapping, no genealogy, no housework... just sit. Hope I get out of that funk soon! I know this week is spring break for the kids so I won't get to sit anyways... but maybe the following week.

Drag it then Drop it

2011-03-10T07:00:00.001-06:00

Just a short post today. I have been considering how to approach the subject of "drag and drop" when I came across Creation Cassel's video on it. Since I plan on using the phrase from here on out I would like you to take a moment to watch it. It doesn't last long.

Creation Cassel's drag and drop video.

If you have any further questions, just let us know.

Cartoon Classics

2011-03-09T09:23:00.004-06:00

Okay, I broke down and bought Photoshop Elements 9. And I will be the first to admit that it is cool with cool features, but is not nearly as user friendly as Paintshop Pro.

Still it came a link to Photoshop Elements Techniques Learning Center website which includes a free download of a sample of their magazine. (I think I will have to consider subscribing). One of the articles in the download is how to turn your photos into illustrations. I have been having tons of fun using it and can you just image making your own graphic novel with all of those pictures from a party, family get-together, etc....

Here are some I did from Nuke's Viking wedding. In the first I deliberately left the background and Pan's chain mail, just illustrating his face, arms, pants legs and shoes, then illustrating all of Nuke and Bear. Yep, I can just see a graphic novel in the making. If you have Elements 9, give it a try. I think you will like it.

Do it over in March

2011-03-08T07:00:00.003-06:00

It's that time again. Time to pick another old layout and see what I can do to improve it. This time I chose an Easter layout I did of my nephews (Bug's boys) way back in 2007. While it has the pastel colors associated with Easter it just doesn't flow properly. The layout was about their chocolate Easter bunny and I have pictures of them searching for eggs.

The first thing I did was change the pictures of the boys. Since the layout is about the bunny I kept that picture. Next, while not pastel colors, I picked a kit that had a more masculine feel to it while still embracing the spirit of the holiday. Darker purples, sea greens, sand and just a touch of pink. A felt like title put more emphasis on what the layout is about. I also kept the original poem, spacing it out a little differently this time. All in all I think I really like the new layout better.

Template by Design by Dani; Springy Thing (c)Lindsay Jane;
Fonts: Bubbleboddy; Calibri

Let's embellish that, shall we?

2011-03-07T07:00:00.007-06:00

Bug's question: How do you merge a digital layout with a paper layout?

Good question. And this is where saving your layout is the psd or pspimage format really becomes a time saver, especially if you are going to be printing out the elements from your page.

And that is what we are going to do here. First you need to resize your page to the printing size. I do all my layouts in 12x12; but normally print out in 8x8. Once you have done that then print the layout.

Once you have that done, drag the element layers you want to use to the desktop.

To make printing to one sheet easier I drag them all to a new image.

Since my page is 8x8, I just printed the elements at the bottom of the page (please excuse the mess, my printer is severely in need of a cleaning).

Have you run done to your favorite scrapbook or craft store, Michael's or Joann's? You need to pick up some pop dots. They come in several different heights. Scrapbook.com has a suggestion on how to make your own homemade pop dots. If you decide to do this make sure the craft foam you purchase is archival safe. You don't want to get carried away with using them on a page. Think of that little extra umph...

Now all you have to do is cut it/them out. Since I had three flowers clustered together, I thought that would be the perfect elements to cut out and use. Use the different height dots to apply the elements if you are using more than one cut out. By leaving the flowers on the layout when I printed it gave me the placement and the order they needed to go in.

But let's say I have some real elements that I want to add to my layout. In this example I will be replacing some of the pebbles with starfish. (word of caution; make sure the element(s) you use are in perspective to the page).

First thing (again) is to resize my layout to my printing size (8x8). I am going to click on the top layer and add a new layer above it.

Selecting the new layer and using the paint brush I will place "dots" where I want my "starfish" to be placed. Doesn't matter what color you use, just make sure the brush size isn't too big.

Now selecting my rock layer I am going to: Layers>Merge>Merge Down so that my rock and rock shadow are on the same layer (if you don't have a shadow placed yet, skip this part). Still on the rock layer, with the freehand selection tool, I will marquee around the rocks which have the red dot over them. Noticed the marquee didn't show up well, so I have highlighted them with neon green.

Once I finished with the marquee I hit delete on the keyboard. The rocks are gone but the red dots are still there to show where to place the starfish.

All that's left to do is print out the page; trim it and glue on my starfish.

Until I get my printer cleaned, though, I think I will stick with having them printed elsewhere. :)

Black Beauty (c)Armina Designs; Template by Bunny Cates;
Fonts: Kingthings Wrote, Vtks Wine Label

Bug's Week 6 of February - 365 project

2011-03-06T08:01:00.000-06:00

Phew. I have been playing catch up. Got Week 6 done AND journalling! Hopefully I will have week 7 to put out tomorrow! Then I have to get 8 and 9 done along with the journalling on weeks 1 thru 5. Ugh!!! Still... I know at the end of the year it will be well worth the effort.

font: Tempus Sans ITC

I keep changing my fonts because I can't decide which I like best. What is your favorite font???

Printing on Cardstock

2011-03-04T07:00:00.002-06:00

For the Bug. No, I would not recommend printing on colored cardstock. Use white. Printer ink just doesn't work well on the deeper colors of cardstock. I guess you could use light pastels, just remember that your colors are not going to look quite right. Stick to white. You listening, sis?

Aloha Dreams (c)Trixie Scraps;
Template by Isabel Mendez; Font: Pea Zingy

Tag Your It

2011-03-01T07:00:00.001-06:00

We have talked about organizing our photos, but we can also tag them. And why might you want to tag a photo? So that if you are looking for a particular photo you can find it more easily.

There are several ways to accomplish this. Today we will go over how you can do it within PSP X3. The first thing you will have do is click on the organizer tab in the top right corner.

Click on "Browse More Folders" then the arrow next to "computer" to find the drive and folder where your photos are located.

Once you click on your folder, it will put a quick link on the left and show the pictures within the folder at the bottom.

Click on a picture at the bottom to open it in the workspace. On the right side choose a rating (1 star for a poor picture, 5 for an excellent picture). Type in a one or two word tag (i.e. Pan, etc) and enter. Once you have finished entering the tags, you can put in a caption then click the green apply button at the bottom.

Suggested tags: the name of the persons in the photo, special occasions (i.e. Christmas, Spring Break, etc.). You will surely come up with more that fit your needs.

Now when I go to the organizer and am looking for a picture of Pan, I can click on the "Pan" tag and all the pictures of him in the folders where I have used tags will show up at the bottom.

If you have several pictures that would have the same tag, just click on the first one, then hold down the control key and chose the rest. I would wait to add the rating and the caption though unless each is exactly the same. And sometimes a caption isn't even needed.

Pretty cool huh? If you are like me and have thousands of pictures to tag, this may take some time. I suggest whenever you have a free moment that you take a moment to tag a folder or two.

For those who use Photoshop or Elements, I suggest you sign up for the Scrapgirls newsletters and check out their past newsletters.

Beaches N Cream ©Kristmess; Sea Spray ©Spinkydink Designs; A New Day Ahead alpha ©Victoria Feemster;
Scraplift of “Buenos Aires to Trancoso” by Mrs. Peel; Fonts: Century Gothic; DJ Fancy

I need a storage unit

2011-02-26T07:00:00.003-06:00

I know we have talked about photo organization, at least I thought we had, but I can't seem to find it anywhere.

So this is going to be a quick "how I do it".

And just remember you may have a better way, you may prefer to use the software that comes with your camera (my & the Bug's other sister uses this way), etc. Maybe Bug can post in the comments how she goes about saving her pictures (or another post.)

I have a folder on one of my drives called "PHOTOGRAPHS". Real unique huh?

Within that folder I have more folders with years on them. (I know, I know, I have other folders, but they are like holding folders until I get them placed)

Within the year folders I have the date folders. I always date the folder according to the date of the picture and with a brief description (we'll be going into tagging next time). You may notice that some days have #1, #2, etc. I will do this if there are different things going on within the same day, a different camera was used, if they are scans or if someone else gave me photos. If someone else gives me the photos I will usually name the folder like this "2010-04-24 XXX pool". There are some copyright rules about using someone else's photos, including if it is a child who took the picture or someone else who took it with your camera. Best to keep track of it all.

You can also select the photos then right click and bring up the properties dialog box. Click on details tab and in the copyright field put in the name of the photographer. Downside is that you would have to check the properties of each picture if you wanted to see if someone else took it. Just easier to give them their own folder.

When plugging my camera into the computer I comes up with the following dialog box. My choice will be Open device to view files.

Having made a new folder and opening the device I will select the photo(s) and right click, choosing Cut.

Clicking in my new dated folder, I right click and choose paste. This will delete it from my camera and place it in my new folder.

As I said before there are numerous ways that you can use to download and store your photos. But whatever way you opt to use, make sure you back them up to an external hard drive and make cd copies. Don't depend on just cds for your storage media. I don't know if you can tell or not but on the second image above is a folder called Recovered. I had a cd go bad and had to purchase special software to try and retrieve it. While I saved some, I still lost quite a bit. Remember: BACK UP, BACK UP, BACK UP.

Sweetheart daily download (c)A+ Designs, Isabel Mendez,
Mye De Leon, Silvia Romeo; Font: sf Sue M

Go with the Theme Part 2

2011-02-23T07:00:00.001-06:00

When first posed with the question from Bug about using a theme, I had written the post Go with the Theme, then recently realized that I totally digressed from my suggestions in said post.

So you see it isn't absolutely necessary to follow a theme. Okay, there is a theme going on here, the flowers; but the colors are so very different. I would probably use the "flowers" page as a opening page for any book I may make then follow through with the same colors used in the "wedding" pages for the rest. Possibly using the same colors and flowers in the "flowers" page to conclude the book with a signature page.

When it comes to using colors and themes, it really is up to you.

Spring Spray (c)A+ Designs;

Priceless Moments (c)Armina Designs & She's Full of Scrap;
Template Designs by Dani; Fonts: Bleeding Cowboys, Pea Ashley

Bug's Week 5 of February - 365 project

2011-02-22T20:46:00.000-06:00

Phew. Finally got it done... no journalling, but pictures in a template... Here it is:

Another week down and more to go... I've got a part time job outside the home now and it is really killing my time to scrap. I need to figure out how to balance all of this!

What to journal

2011-02-20T07:00:00.002-06:00

When your a scrapping several pages about one event, you may find that you have run out of things to say. Like in my Georgia aquarium series. On a couple of pages, I will be "journaling" about some of the sea life we had seen. On this page I wrote about the sea urchins Indy was posing next to. Their life, what they ate, their enemies, etc.

If it is landscape pages, find out information about the place. Population, how it was named and why, what it produces, and so it goes on. As you look back in the years to come, this will add interest to your memories.

Squid Ink (c) Late Night Scraps & Creations by Rachel;
Template by Mye De Leon; Fonts: Century Gothic; Forte

Long past? Your past

2011-02-17T07:00:00.002-06:00

In your eagerness to scrap those moments of your current life; don't forget to take the time to scrap those past moments. Old flames, best friends long gone. While they may not still be in your life, they were once a part of it and contributed to who you became. Make sure to include some journaling. Your children and grandchildren will appreciate seeing you as you once were and knowing what you thought.

See You Tonight (c)She's Full of Scrap
Template by Lindsay Jane; Font: Century Gothic; Forte

It's all in the background work

2011-02-14T07:00:00.000-06:00

Sometimes you just want something a little different. In Mode of Operation we used the blending modes on text; in Show me the way, on maps to be used in the background. You can also use it with photos, as seen below.

This works especially well with photos that didn't turn out just as you wanted them too. Those that are a little blurry. Wasn't the case here, but it worked for the challenge was I was doing that required using one photo, two times.

Now is your chance to try something a little different. Give it a go and then let me know how it turned out.

Template-Chris Greiser; Lovely ©A+Designs; Word art ©LorieM Designs

Go with the Theme

2011-02-11T07:00:00.002-06:00

Bug's Question: Putting pages together... use the same 'theme' / kit of papers and elements or do something different for each one. Why or why not?

Again this is a matter of choice. I may not use the same kit for each page; but I do try to use complimentary kits. Let's take my Atlanta aquarium layouts. I have used "A Fish Named Ernie" by Spinkydink Designs, "Fishy Fishy" by Connie Prince, as well as "Squid Ink" by Creations by Rachel & Late Night Scraps. All of them have similar colors and theme going on.

On the same day, I have also scrapped packing up and leaving. For those layouts, I have used different kits than from the aquarium. Each of these have similar colors and styles.

Personally, I feel if you are making a series of layouts for a trip, birthday, special event, that just one kit will severely limit your choices. If you find several kits with complimentary colors and theme, then you can mix and match elements and papers.

I would be interested in hearing what you think.

Template by Designs by Jen Yurko;
Fishy Fishy (c)Connie Prince; Sealife (c)FabaScrapDesigns

A Fish Named Ernie (c)Spinkydink Designs;
Template by Amy Stoffel; Kraft Again alpha (c)Etc. by Danyale

Puppy Dog Tails (c)A+ Designs; Font: Century Gothic

Template by Scrappin' Memories by Amy; Orange Crush (c)Armina Designs;
Word art (c)Word Art World by Jennifer

Template by Cara Olson; Perseverance (c)Connie Prince;
Font: Century Gothic

Do it over in February

2011-02-09T07:00:00.006-06:00

Gotta Pixel has a Do Over challenge every month. I think I will start posting my before and after here after each make over so you can see how your styles will change over the course of the years.

My original is okay. Not outstanding. I managed to put in some journaling which is a good thing but there is nothing that really draws your eyes to the pictures and the journaling.

In the make-over adding a title gave some indication of what the journaling may be about, adding needed interest. By making the smaller photo a little larger and the larger photo a little smaller then grouping the photos together with a cluster of elements draw your eyes right to them. Using a background that echoes the color of the trike, round green mattes mirror the colors in the grass and paper strips which match my nephew's t-shirt add continuity to the layout. The whole layout is brighter and more visually appealing.

2006

Gotta Be Quick (c)Christine Wall; Font: Elegance

2011

Dirt Don't Hurt (c)A+ Designs & LauraMarie Scraps;
Template by Lyndsay Riches; Fonts: Bleeding Cowboys; Century Gothic

Bad Hair Day

2011-02-07T07:00:00.000-06:00

Bug's Question: How do you fix someone's hair?

Me: I'm not a beautician, so I don't. There are minor fixes you can try, but remember if you really want to have great hair in your picture, have it done beforehand.

I'm going to start with a picture of my daughter. Lots of fly away hair.

First I start with cloning the background around the edges of her hair.

Then using the push tool throughout the hair, I smoothed it out some. Make sure you only use small increments when using either the push or smooth tool.

Or you can just add marde gras highlights using the Change to Target tool.

Now go have some fun.

A Fish Named Ernie (c)Spinkydink Designs;
Font(s): Century Gothic

Bug's Week 4 of January - Project 365

2011-02-06T21:04:00.000-06:00

Yep, I'm way behind. It was a busy boy week 4. Karate 3 times that week as well as cub scout den meeting AND cub scout Field trip to the museum. Phew. The copier was when I went to school and did some volunteer work that week as well. Here we go:

The bad news... I can't find the templates designer. I went to the TOU, figuring it would be in there and... it's not. I have gotten lazy in my old age and don't necessarily name the directories after the designer... this is showing why you should. UGh. If you know who this belongs to, please let me know! It was from a project 365 template group... that's all I know.

Tic Tac Toe - or what in the world do you mean a third

2011-02-06T20:15:00.000-06:00

I'm still playing with this whole camera challenge thingie. Tink convinced me to try the Gotta Pixel Project 52 Challenge. This time was the 'Rule of Third'. She told me it is to make it more visually appealing. I must say... she was right. Here is my entry to the challenge.

This is a picture of my son's artwork from school. It is a bird. And I like it better set off to the side than if it had been dead center. Just a ton more of these to do to catch up.

Who are the Rebels?

2011-02-05T08:33:00.004-06:00

Little off subject here, but what the hey.... :)

Bug's Question: Favorite camera settings and why

I use the Canon Rebel XTi which I got for my birthday in August of 2007. And it still does all those things I want it to do (except the flash seems to be disinclined to pop up for me. No matter, I don't use it, often).

I almost always leave it set at the Tv mode (time value), adjusting the Exposure and ISO as needed. See the following examples:

Exposure time: 1/640 sec., ISO: 1600

Exposure time: 1/10 sec., ISO: 400

The water was running at the same speed for both photos, but setting the exposure time longer and at a higher ISO allows you to see the individual bubbles as the spill out of the bowl. FYI: the higher the ISO the more light is let in.

The time value mode is the preferred setting for action shots.

Next month our other sister and I will be attending a class to learn out to make better use out of our cameras. Can't wait to see how that will change the way I take photos.

Template by Design by Dani; Font(s): Chopin Script;
Squid Ink (c)Creations by Rachael and Late Night Scraps

Show me the way

2011-02-03T07:00:00.001-06:00

The Bug's question: How to integrate a map into the background (for traveling photos)?

If you haven't done so already, read Mode of Operation. We will be using the same technique here.

To find maps for download, just type in "free downloadable maps" in your search engine. Below I will provide links to a few of them.

First things first, open a new file or a template. Place a background paper on it.

Next you will want to re-size your map to the size of your layout and copy it as a new layer. I will be using two maps for this layout. One, an old world map of the Scandinavian countries to pay homage to the type of wedding my son and DIL are having (Viking); the other a street map of the town in which they are being wed.

Hiding the street map, I select the old world map and change the mode to Overlay and the opacity to 30.

Unhiding and selecting the street map, I set the mode to burn and the opacity to 60. And to add just a little more to it, I will go to Effects>Edge Effects>Enhance.

Now all I have to do is finish the layout. Leaving spaces for the photos as the wedding isn't until the end of the month.

Template by Pom aka Pom's Breathing Room;
Whimsey (c)A+ Designs; Fonts:

Links to various Map sites:

Free Maps
Free World Maps
maps-gps-info.com
Owl & Mouse
USGS Store

A Chance to Win

2011-02-03T04:53:00.000-06:00

Ok, why am I telling you about this chance to win a free copy of PSP? Particularly when I am entering it? Because if you read this blog, you know we do a lot of PSP tutorials and I think all of you should have a chance to get it for free. Go

HERE TO Creation Cassel

and read the directions. It is as easy as putting in a comment. Go on... click on the link above and at least leave a comment. Well worth giving it a try. Then you when you win at the end of February, come back here and start enjoying the tutorials and asking us questions!

Working What?

2011-02-02T04:57:00.002-06:00

Hello Scrappers... I have been busy with a new part time job and it has taken time from my scrapping! It is horrid. I missed last Friday's 365 picture and will have to double up this week. In the mean time I have scrapped a few pages but nothing large, tried to join gottapixel's weekly photo Project 52 challenge and run around getting blog train stuff.

Oh, here is a link to my black and white photo challenge:

http://www.gottapixel.net/gallery/data/772/medium/week112.jpg

paper and elements by a+ designs

template by andrea gold

And here is the link to the Photo 52 challenge if you want to join Tink and I!

Let me know if you like my wedding photos! Off to get some laundry done, bills paid and clean those stinky bathrooms!

Simply Super

2011-01-27T14:25:00.003-06:00

So you're really getting into this hobby and see the benefits to continuing. And here is a really big benefit and all you have to do is follow the directions to enter into Simple Scrappers give-away:

Full 1 year subscription to Simple Pages / Simple Projects (a $96 value)! This will be the ONLY chance all year to win all 12 collections.

All I can do is cross my fingers that I am the chosen one. Wouldn't that just be great? But if you enter, you will also have the same chance as myself to be the proud recipient of a fantastic deal. Only takes a minute so get those fingers busy typing.

And you can use the excuse you can't find it since Simply Scrapper, give-away and the quote are all linked to the instructions.

Good Luck!!!!

Template from Scrapmatters; Forver Loved (c)A+ Designs
Fonts: Century Gothic; Yukon Gold

What is that color?

2011-01-26T14:52:00.003-06:00

You're going through your kits and find several which just might fit the bill. Thing is you like the elements from kit 1 and you know the papers just aren't. But the papers from kit 2 are exactly what you are looking for. This is where the colorize and H/S/L come in.

Throughout this demonstration I will be using "Sealife" (c)FabaScrapDesigns and "Fishy Fishy" (c)Connie Prince. I really like the elements and alpha in Sealife and see that I am not going to have to alter much, if anything, in the kit. The papers leave something to be desired for the layout I plan on doing. While Connie's papers in Fishy Fishy are what I was looking for in terms of texture and pattern.

Using the color picker and my photo (enlarged so that I can see individual pixels) I will be picking a color from it. On the palette toolbar to select the sample size. Choosing 1x1 will pick up the color of the pixel you have chosen.

By choosing one of the other selections; i.e. 3x3, 6x6, 9x9 or 11x11, the picker will average the colors of the surrounding pixels for the color.

1. Click on the color in the material palette to bring up the
2. Materials Property box.
3. Click on add to swatch and
4. Name it. Since I will be deleting the swatch after using I just give it a name of 0000 so that it is the first swatch on the swatches palette.

With the materials property box still open write down the H and S numbers (Hue and Saturation).

After chosing the paper (element), go to Adjust>Hue and Saturation>Colorize (shift+l). Put in the numbers of the Hue and Saturation that you wrote down in the corresponding boxes. (I just colored one-half for demonstration purposes only).

If you want to lighten or darken the color go to Adjust>Hue and Saturation>Hue/Saturation/Lightness (shift+h). Make sure the hue and saturation are set to zero (0) then move the Lightness slider up to make the color lighter or down to make it darker.

Do the same for any other papers or elements you want to alter. To change just a specific area or color on the paper or element, use the magic wand with the tolerance set to about 30 (depending on the contrast of the edges. Not much, lower the number, if a lot you can probably set it higher) and make sure contiguous is unchecked. Then follow colorize and lightness directions above.

I have recolored the blue background paper, blue circle (readjusting the lightness), dots on polka dot circle, bubbles and the alpha.

Sealife (c)FabaScrapDesigns; Fishy Fishy (c)Connie Prince
Template by Jen Yurko

Terrific Tuesday

2011-01-25T19:37:00.000-06:00

What a day... I am on the second day of my new job. Love it but noticed it has cut into my scrapbooking! Egads! I'm trying to get some pictures thrown into layouts so when I get a moment I can find the right paper and elements. Like this one I did today for my son's "Fun Run" Boosterthon Fund raiser for his school:

Template: Yin Templates225

What amazed me was I didn't find any good 'racing' or 'running' papers and elements in my huge list of stuff. Between the free stuff and the bought stuff, you would think I would have a good racing set. If I do, it is buried deep and I don't have it documented. Any suggestions?

Bug's Week 3 of January - 365 project

2011-01-21T16:08:00.000-06:00

Baw hahahaha. I am finally up to speed on my 365 project. Today is the end of week 3 and I have week 3 in a template AND with journalling. Life is good!

How is your 365 project coming along?

Bug's Week 2 of January - 365 project

2011-01-19T19:16:00.000-06:00

Ok, I'm at it again. Finally got week two into a layout. No words, no papers or elements... but here is week 2!

Found that template layout at Vicki's Blog for free. I think it is going to work great with my January theme. Now if I could just decided on which papers I like best!

Jumpstart

2011-01-19T07:00:00.000-06:00

I see Bug has started a 365 project. I try and then I forget. I'm going to make more of an effort this year. In that vein, I have found some places for inspiration to share with you.

From About a Boy

Another Approach to 365
So, What do you do when you skip a 365 day?
Project 365: Begin with the End in Mind
Starting My 365 Project with Happiness

Photojojo

Project 365: How to Take a Photo a Day and See Your Life in a Whole New Way
365 Project IDEAS

Digital Photography School

7 Photography Projects to Jumpstart your Creativity

Template by Mye De Leon; Siblings Bundle (c)Connie Prince;
Font: Century Gothic

Express Lab - Color Balance

2011-01-17T07:00:00.001-06:00

This time open you photo in PSP. Then View>Express Lab. Click on the Color Balance icon.

Moving the slider to the left (increasing the value) adds blue to the overall color of the photo making it cooler, toning down the reds, oranges and yellows.

Moving it to the right (decreasing the values) adds red to the overall color making for a warmer photo.

Using the color balance in the Express Lab will be very useful for those pictures in which there is a blue or red color cast that you want subdue.

Template by Isabel Mendez; Until the End (c)A+ Designs;
Font(s): Brush Script; Century Gothic

Express Lab - Smart Photo Fix

2011-01-15T07:00:00.001-06:00

Today we will be working with the Express Lab that comes with PSP X2 and X3 (it may come with other versions as well, I just don't have them installed any longer).

Open the Express Lab (View>Express Lab). Click on Get Photos button on bottom right corner and open photo that you would like to improve. Click on the Smart Photo Fix icon. The white box with the grey "mountain" to the right is a histogram. For a more detailed explanation, please check out The Luminous Landscape's article "Understanding Histograms".

You can use the "Suggest Settings", which will automatically chose what the program thinks are the best settings for your photo. (NOTE: The red "mountain" shows the new setting, leaving the grey to show the original, so you can see how it has been changed.)

If you don't like these settings hit the reset and then you can manually adjust the brightness, shadows, highlights and saturation.

Brightness: Move slider to the left dulls the photo; to the right brightens the photo.
Shadows: Moving slider to the left will make the shadows darker; to the right makes them lighter (you may want to move to the right if there is detail in the shadow that you want to bring out.)
Highlights: Moving slider to the left will make the highlights duller; to the right will brighten them.
Saturation: Moving slider to the left will desaturate (take the color out) of the photo; to the right will increase the color saturation.

In the original the colors were just a tad dull. Using the suggested I felt the highlights were blown out. But a little manual tweaking made the colors pop and the photo crisp and clean.

One of the challenges this month at Gotta Pixel was the lyric challenge, but instead of them providing the lyric, you were to chose a song from 2010 that touched you. I chose "In Darkness and In Light" by The Maine.

Template by A+ Designs; Stars & Stripes Forever (c)Sherry Ferguson;
In Darkness & In Light by The Maine; Font: Century Gothic; Cooper Black

Bug's Week 1 of January

2011-01-14T10:32:00.002-06:00

Getting a template from "In the Making Design", I did not add any papers or embellishments... yet... Will do it after I finish the month of January. Here is Week 1 of my household:

Text still needs to be added besides just the dates. It also needs to be lined up. But it is a start. Finally... a week late. I have some work to do on a program brochure but hopefully I can finish week 2 this weekend! How are you doing on your 365 project?

With a Script here and a Script there

2011-01-13T06:38:00.000-06:00

Scripts are still somewhat foreign to me. Odd because I was a computer programmer in 7 computer languages in my 'previous' life (before children and becoming a housewife). Yet, I haven't had time to sit and really work with them except once. I need to do it a couple of more times to make it sink into this brain. Until then, I keep reading and looking at sites with scripts wondering if they would work for me. One site I really enjoy is

Creation Cassel

Yesterday she continued her posts on scripts. If you want to delve into something more with scrapbooking... check out Creation Cassel. She writes well for my kind of reading. May or may not work for you. Still... it is an option if you are ready to expand your knowledge.

Rule of Thirds

2011-01-12T07:00:00.003-06:00

Most of you that use a camera know all about the rule of thirds. For those who don't take a read at Digital Photography School's article.

But let's say you have a picture you want to use that is somewhat bland and doesn't fall into the rule of thirds.

What can you do? Crop it, of course. But here's where PSP makes it interesting. First select your crop tool. Now click on the tiled display grid button on the left.

Now you have a display grid to use when making your photo fit the thirds rule.

In my illustration, I have placed the top grid along her eyes and the left grid along the center of her body.

Now I have a visually appealing picture to use in a layout.

And the finished layout:

Template by VickyD; Celebrate the Season (c)Lindsay Jane;
Font: Century Gothic

A picture is not always

2011-01-10T07:00:00.000-06:00

worth a thousand words. And while a picture can convey some sense of what is transpiring, it cannot convey the thoughts, emotions or desires that are also manifest at the time the photo is made.

It is important, whether you scrap digitally or with paper, to make sure you put those thoughts down. As you age you are going to want to remember what happened and why. You also want to be able to leave something for future generations to know about you, your family and your life.

And as in the layout below, it is not always necessary to have a picture as part of the page. Sometimes it is more effective to devote the space to writing. Now as you progress in your scrapping remember to write it down.

Template by Pam Callaghan; Autumn Air (c)Spinkydink Designs;
Font(s): Century Gothic; Times New Roman

Do it over?

2011-01-08T09:35:00.004-06:00

As you progress in scrapbooking, be it digitally or with paper, you may find a time when you realize that some of your earlier projects just do not meet up with your expectations.

Here I was trying to use a definition word art to complete a challenge. I was given the word art and 2 sheets of "paper/background" to use. The page came out "okay", given my experience and knowledge 4 years ago. Though even today there are pages I know I should "do over", LOL.

Word art & Papers (c)Cinzia Loosemore

Now Gotta Pixel is having a monthly "Do Over" challenge and I think I will be using this to see if I can bring those pages I am not real thrilled with up to par. This is what I came up with for the page above. I used the 2 original papers as strips within the larger page. I also made the photos b/w while retaining just the color of the eyes. I am much happier with this page than the other.

Template by Roxy's Renderings; Black Beauty (c)Armina Designs;
Word art by Cinzia Loosemore

To close, here is scrapbook freebie search engine I thought you might be interested in: Creative Busy Hands.

High Pass Filter

2011-01-06T07:00:00.004-06:00

One of the people whose blog I like to read is Linda Sattgast (Scrapper's Guide). She has a treasure trove of tips for Photoshop and PS Elements. She also has a facebook that I follow.

This week she put out a post on using the High Pass Filter, complete with video and a downloadable pdf to keep on hand.

So why do I mention this here? On our Paintshop Pro blog? Because you can do the same thing in PSP. Only difference is the location of the High Pass Filter.

If you have that slightly blurry photo that you just can't part with, try her tutorial out. The High Pass Filter in PSP can be found under Effects>Edge Effects.

And while she mentions using a mask for those areas you don't want sharpened, she also includes that you can just erase those areas on the HPF layer which is what you will want to do in PSP.

Where to find it:

Before:

After:

Template by Lauren Grier; La Tua Cantante (c)Litabells Designs;
Font(s): Justice; Pea Faith

365 Challenge

2011-01-06T05:41:00.000-06:00

Have you seen it yet? The 365 Challenge? Every where I go, I see it. I like the idea. Take pictures all week long and then make a page of the week with one picture from each day and some journal text. What a great way to remember the year. Well it is day six and I have NOT taken pictures every day. So how about you? Are you taking pictures? Are you doing the challenge?

A photo manipulation

2011-01-04T07:00:00.002-06:00

that's really kind of neat, especially if there is something or someone within the photo that you want everyone to focus on. Pinoy7 has a lot of photo manipulation tutorials for Paintshop Pro but I think my favorite has to be "The Photo Within".

Test drive this tutorial and see what you think. I used it on one of my daughter's wedding pages and then again here for the view we had of a Sunset Cruise at Key West.

Great Way to Start the New Year

2011-01-03T12:42:00.000-06:00

Folks, I buy a lot of 'books' for my friends and families that I have made from my scrapbook pages. I have used many different companies. All have their good points and bad points. Inkubook, Shutterfly, Mixbooks and more.

The great start to this year was due to Shutterfly. I had ordered a 12 x 12 book for my in-laws for Christmas and a second one for my husband. It was a scrapbook of our trip to New Jersey Shore.

I got it done and delivered by the first of December. The in-laws were ecstatic and loved it. When we went to visit them the week after Christmas, they showed me their book. I was devastated. One of the pages of the book came out in black and white. It was suppose to be in color to match the opposing page. Sigh. I didn't have my camera but my father-in-law had his. He took a picture for me and emailed it to me. Yesterday, Sunday, I put together an email letting Shutterfly know what had happened and asked if there was any way I could get it fixed. Figuring I would have to send the other book back and get a 'repair' job or something.

This morning I checked my email and to my surprise I already had an answer. They said it was their mistake, a new book was being printed at no charge and being mailed at no charge to my in-laws. Folks, this is a.l.m.o.s.t a month after I had it initially done. I have to say Shutterfly impressed me. They responded quickly and beyond my expectations of corrective action.

Here are the two pages, the first was in color, the second was the one in black/white:

template: awp_template15 modified
paper, elements: digitreat beach
fonts: segoe print

Snow Days

2011-01-02T07:00:00.002-06:00

You live in a warm to moderate climate, i.e. Florida. Not much chance of snow. Okay, maybe , once in 10 years if you live in NW Florida. But you realize you have all those cool winter, snowy kits that you really want to make use of.

What we are going to do here is add snow to a photo. Now granted I am not the best at making snow, though I will give it a try. Start by adding a new layer and painting in the areas that you wish to apply ground snow to appear in. It doesn’t have to be perfect. If a little of the ground shows through , that’s fine.

Control+a; control+f; control+shift+f. Layers>New Raster layout. Flood fill with white (html #ffffff).

Effects>Texture>Sidewalk.

Delete painted layer. Lower opacity on snow layer to about 81. Layers>Merge>Merge All.

Layers>Add New Raster Layer. Flood fill with bright color.

Adjust>Add/Remove Noise>Add Noise.

Check Preview on Image & Gaussian. Uncheck monochrome. Noise percentage is variable according to how much snow you want falling.

View>Zoom In (to about 400). Choose magic wand. Noise: add; Match Mode: color; Tolerance: 1*; Use All Layers, Contiguous and Anti-Alias: unchecked; Feather: 0. With magic wand click on the bright color you flood filled layer with (not on noise). Delete. *The higher the noise percentage, the higher the tolerance needs to be.

Control+d. Adjust>Hue and Saturation>Hue/Saturation/Lightness.

Hue: 0; Lightness: 0; Saturation: -100.

Duplicate layer. Effects>Distortion Effects>Wind.

Wind direction and Strength is variable according to your picture.

Adjust the opacity of the two snow layers. Layers>Merge>Merge All.

Finished product:

Still Kicking

2011-01-01T20:16:00.000-06:00

In fact, I have been kicking and screaming for a while now. Now if I could just find something else besides the punching bag to kick and the kids to scream at! I hope you all had a great Christmas and a Happy New Year. I was busy buying some kits that were on sale at so many different businesses. Now I have to get in gear to start using them! In fact, I was changing my karate layout. Remember that? The one in particular I am talking about it posted HERE.

Because I wanted to change it to an 8x8 book instead of an 8 1/2 x 11... I had to do some modifications. At the same time, I actually changed a lot more. Here is the page as an 8x8:

You'll have to let me know which one you prefer. I'm still playing with the elements. I keep changing them every time I look at the page. I think the coins are going to go away and some fortune cookies may appear. What do you think?

Gift Box Galore

2010-12-22T09:17:00.000-06:00

There are so many places you can get patterns for gift boxes. I was looking for something specific and I found it... In fact, it has 36 different patterns from book boxes to bon bon to cake slices. Wow. If you need something quick and are fairly good at figuring stuff out yourself, here is the link for you:

Box Templates

Hope it helps you get those last minute gifts wrapped!

Christmas Crafts

2010-12-18T07:00:00.001-06:00

Around here, today is the last day of school before the holiday vacation. I know my sister, the Bug, is going to be looking for something to keep those little hands busy and inexpensive ways to decorate.

ScrapMatters has a tutorial on making a cute little ornament. It reminded me of the ones my son use to make for me out of Christmas cards. The hobby store here at that time carried a liquid glass product that I would paint over them. Leaving them shiny and well protected from the elements, including water. I have not been able to find it since, but have seen that Michaels, Wal-mart, Dick Blick, etc., carry a two part epoxy resin that does a similar job (according to what I read. I haven't tried it yet). If you do, I suggest you read Crafty Jenny's tips.

Kelleigh Ratzlaff Designs, Mari Koegelenberg, Pamela Donnis and Melissa Wilson put together a 12 Days Blog Hop (great ideas for keeping the kids entertained the week before Christmas)

1. Cash Envelope
2. Advent Calendar
3. Pretty Peppermint Bark
4. Vintage Gift Tags
5. Sugar Scrub
6. Hands and Feet Reindeer
7. Filled Glass Ornament (I have dozens of clear glass ornaments. Now wishing I had used them. As I looked at this tutorial I got to thinking how cool it would be to put the year's memories on the strips (before cutting them apart). Then painting the year on the outside of the ornament. A unique little time capsule only to be opened when it breaks.)

8. Quick Christmas Cards
9. Wish Baskets
10. Peppermint Reindeer
11. Treat Tent
12. Question Jar
Scrapbook Graphics had a wonderful tutorial for a last minute gift idea: Notecard Boxes.

And while not a Christmas Hybrid project, I found this while browsing and felt that it was an article every scrapper should read: Tips for Great Journaling by Chelle.

Template by Isabel Mendez; Make the Time
(c)Connie Prince; Font(s): Brush455 BT

The Holidays

2010-12-14T17:05:00.002-06:00

I don't have anything about psp to post today. Sorry. It has already been a hectic week and soon to get even more so. I'm sure you understand. The holidays and all. Trying to get the computer room straightened up for the kids coming in on Friday and Christmas parties to attend. I'll try and work on one tomorrow. In the meantime, happy holiday to all of you.

Quick page by Cate's Scrapsations; Using All I Want
For Christmas (c)Connie Prince; Font: Amazone BT

Trip to Memory Lane

2010-12-12T07:00:00.000-06:00

We've all seen them. Those photos which have the essence of the past in a sepia or monotone color and just a splash of an original color. This is how it is done.

Open document. New layer. On new layer, lower opacity and paint those areas you want to keep at the original color.

Control+a, control+f, control+shift+f. Got to selections>save selection>save selection to alpha channel. Control+d.

Click on save.

Delete the painted layer and duplicate the background layer again. Use the Virtual Photography plug-in. Effects>Plug-ins>optickVerve Labs. Choose a b/w filter like old newspaper (or any that is sepia or monotone).

Selections>load from alpha channel.

Make sure replace is checked and then load.

The area that you painted earlier will now have marching ants around it. Make sure the layer you applied the VP to is selected and hit delete on the keyboard.

While it looks fine like this and may be just want you want, you can try lower the opacity on the VP layer to let muted colors of the original layer show through.

Last but not least: Layers>Merge>Merge visible before dragging or copying to your layout.

Template by Tiny Toes Designs; Holiday Sugar Cookies (c) AnDi Designs, BB, Jeanne Marie Scraps,
Jennifer Fox, Little Bitz Dzynz, Mels World, Mikki Livanos, Moon Chylde Creations, Trish H.

Pop goes the

2010-12-10T07:00:00.004-06:00

Picture...

Crop your image to desired size and area. Promote to layer (layers>promote background layer). Using rectangle marquee, chose the area around the object you want popped out. Promote to layer. Select background layer again and delete.

Open new layer above the promoted selection, lower opacity and paint the area you want popping out.

Using magic want with tolerance set to about 15 and contiguous unchecked, click on painted layer anywhere but on the painted selection.

Delete painted layer. Then hit delete key on keyboard to erase the areas around the object to pop out.

Go to layers>Merge>Merge Visible.

Increase canvas size (Image>Canvas size) 100 pixels or 1" in each direction. Placement mode should be in the center.

Select background layer. Control+a, Control+f, Control+shift+f. Go to Selections>Modify>Expand. (The number of pixels to expand is going to be relative to the size of the photo.)

I didn't like the rounded corners so I am putting guidelines down where the marquee falls. You are going to want to zoom in and place your cursor over one of the marquee lines to see where it is on the ruler so you can move the guideline there. Once you get a guideline the marquee disappears until it is placed.

Once guidelines are in place, deselect the marquee. Chose the rectangle marquee and pull along the guidelines.

Open new layer and move below background layer. Flood fill with color.

On each layer, add drop shadow. Merge>Merge Visible. Drag to layout.

Template by Bastelzauber; Sea Spray (c)Spinkydink Scraps;
Font(s): Burst My Bubble; jamaistevie

A sharper image

2010-12-08T07:00:00.001-06:00

Today's post is going to short. Bug had asked me about unsharp mask and while I am fully capable of saying what it is, there are more than a few sites that describe in much more detail than I could.

The one I recommend is ScanTips. It is detailed enough and yet easy enough for a layman to read. Read then try it out on your next photo.

HM_Melissa's template; A Winter Frost (c)A+ Designs, Kathryn Estry, Kristmess,
Spinkydink Designs (a Gotta Pixel Daily Download - Dec. 2010); Font(s): Hey Gorgeous, sf Jubilee

Acceptably Sharp

2010-12-07T08:37:00.002-06:00

Ok, Tink mentioned I do depth of field differently than she does... and she is correct. Mainly because I never thought to ask her before now how she did it. Let's take this picture to start with and say I want to emphasize car number 7 (the white one).

I would use the Freehand Selection tool:

And draw around the white car like this:

Next I would go to Adjust->Depth of Field:

It would bring up the following screen. I would adjust the blur or feather edge according to what I want done. Usually the blur at 5 is good and the feather edge at 2. Here I wanted to make the other stuff really blurry, so I moved it up to 10.

Pressed ok, then did a Cntrl ->D to get rid of the selection and ended up with something like here:

Mine is not as exact as hers but is something fairly easy to use if you need it. Which way do you blur your pictures?

Depth of ...

2010-12-06T12:08:00.003-06:00

Field...

I know you did some on it, but I was trying to figure out when was the best time to utilize it. Like I saw a couple walking by in the background of norstroms and I'm not going to try and cut them out and recreate the background. It wasn't worth it. I ended up using a depth of field option on it, but when is it best to use it, how do you use it most efficiently?

To be honest when the Bug asked me to write on this I was stumped. To begin with I don't normally use depth of field within PSP, but set it up on my camera (and no, don't ask, I'm not a camera expert and you will probably learn more by reading the manual.)

As I sat here pondering though, I did think of some times when I may want to change the depth of field (such as to hide a sink full of dishes, a floor in need of vacuuming) as opposed to cutting out the subject and putting it on a new background. There may even be times when the background is somewhat crucial to the picture but you want the subject to stand out more distinctly.

While Bug may use the depth of field within PSP, I can't say that I ever have. If I am going to do it, it will start out just as if I am cutting out the subject to more to another background. I add a new layer and paint over the subject.

Control+a, Control+f, Control+shift+f. Control+shift+i.

Hide the painted layer and select the background layer.

Go to Adjust>Blur>Gaussian Blur. Click on preview. Set radius to a number that works for your depth of field.

And now your subject really stands out more.

For added depth though you can invert the marquee again so that the subject is surrounded and add a drop shadow. move the shadow layer above the background layer. Delete painted layer and merge.

Now it's time to try it yourself or wait for tomorrow when the Bug explains the depth of field tool in PSP.

Template by ScrapShania; Deck the Halls
(c)Creations by Rachael; Font(s): Eight Fifteen, Amazing Ruler

All Torn Up

2010-12-04T07:00:00.008-06:00

Before we start anything, I want to wish my darling husband, Pan, the best of birthday wishes. Happy Birthday, honey.

Torn paper... normally I would leave that up to the experts but I have had a request and my attempts at trying to locate a psp tutorial have come to naught. That doesn't mean they are there, I just couldn't find them. Bear with me as I am trying to recall this from memory and trying to alter several ps tutorials I did find.

Open the paper and promote layer (Layers>Promote Background Layer). Pull out one of the corners so that the image is similar to this:

Use the rectangle marquee to select the area you DO NOT want and delete.

Set the viewing size to 50% (in overview window on right).

Scroll to a far side. Click eraser and get the Hellcat Tear 4 brush we made last time (if you hover cursor over brushes, it will pop up with name and description of the brush).

Set size to 999.

Place brush so jagged edge is completely on paper. Click.

Scroll over and place the left side of brush next to the right side of previous erasure.

As you can see, it left a rather straight edge. Getting ready to fix that.

Take your eraser brush and place a portion of it over the jag with the straight edge and click.

Continue across repeating the last few steps.

All we have to do now is to make it a little more realistic looking, don't you think? Layers>Duplicate. Select bottom layer. Go to Adjust>Hue and Saturation>Hue, Saturation and Lightness.

Set the Hue and Saturation to 0 and lightness to 76.

Get your Move tool, then holding down the control key, hit the up arrow twice. This will move the bottom layer up so that you can see it just above your torn paper. Almost finished.

Go to Effects>Texture Effects>Texture.

Select canvas simple.

Size: 100%; Smoothness: 0; Depth: 1; Ambience and Shininess: 0; Color: White; Angle: 315; Intensity: 50; Elevation: 50. Save these settings as "paper tear texture" so you won't have to keep looking them up each time you make a torn paper.

Looking better. But still a couple of steps left.

Click on top layer. Effects>3D>Drop Shadow.

Vertical and Horizontal offset: 0; opacity: 30; Blur: 3; Color: #100c0a. Save as paper tear shadow.

The drop shadow just makes a very subtle change. Merge>Merge Visible and save as a png file (maybe use the same name as the paper but add a te, for torn edge, at the end).

Your torn paper is ready to use, so go have some fun and happy scrapping.

Sweeping up

2010-12-02T07:00:00.006-06:00

For this you will need to download the torn paper brushes from deviantArt. I believe they are on page 5. Next go to your "My Documents>My PSP Files>Brushes. Open a new folder in brushes and name it deviantart.

Open the torn brush zip you downloaded and select the 4 psp.brush files.

Drag them to the PSP workspace.

I only be demonstrating one, however you will do the same for the other three.

First: Layer>Promote Background to Layer.
Second: Image>Canvas Size. Increase height and width 1" and chose the center placement.
Third: Select the magic wand. Set tolerance to 50. Click on the white area.
Fourth: Selections>Modify>Expand. Make it 1 pixel.
Fifth: Selections>Modify>Feather. Set to 2 pixels.
Sixth: Hit the delete key on keyboard.
Seventh: Get crop tool. Place just inside the dark area on the straight edges and a couple of pixels from the tallest tear and apply.

Eighth: Image>Resize. In the pixel dimension box, make sure it is set to pixels and change the largest number to 999.

Ninth: File>Export>Custom Brush.

Tenth: Name (same as original. When you open this box it will have the last named brush already, make sure you change it). Set step to 1. Author (in this case deviantart). Click okay.

Now complete the other three. We have one more step and you can do all of them at the same time then.

Lastly go back to your brushes folder in My PSP Files; highlight the brushes and scripts and move them to your deviantart folder.

You will have to close then reopen PSP for them to show up. You can use this technique to make brushes from just about anything. Just remember it can't be any larger than 999 pixels. Vectors work best, but you can use some raster files too.

Next time: All Torn Up.

Template by Mye de Leon; Snowed Under (c)Lindsay
Jane Designs; Font: Pea Angedawn

You've Been Framed

2010-11-30T07:00:00.015-06:00

Many of the kits you will get come with a frame or even several. Occasionally, though, you may come across one that doesn't or that the frame in the kit isn't exactly what you are looking for or doesn't fit the picture you want to use. Fortunately PSP offers a couple of easy solutions to the dilemma.

Find your picture and crop to the size you need for the layout. Write down the size.

In this example I promoted the background layer on my photo. You may want to do the same as there are several frames where you may want to delete part of the photo background. Go to Image>Picture Frame.

Click on the arrow in the picture frame box to see what frames you have available. Chose one that coordinates with your layout. I'm using the filmstrip. As you will see the frame is applied on it's own layer (this is new to the latest versions of PSP prior to 10 it was applied on the same layer as the photo).

By having it on its own layer you can make changes to the frame or your photo without altering the other. On this one I wanted to get rid of the little white boxes along the side of the filmstrip. Using the magic wand and making sure that Use all Layers and Contiguous is UNchecked, I clicked on one of the white squares, then hit delete on my keyboard. Next: Layers>Merge>Merge Visible. Resize if necessary.

As I drop my picture/frame onto my layout, you can see through the holes to be background just like you would on a real filmstrip. I also lowered the opacity of my frame before merging to make it look more natural.

In the second example we will be using borders. Image>Add Borders. Quick NOTE: When using borders your photo will need to be in the flattened state. If it has been promoted then: Layers>Merge>Merge All.

In the add borders pop up, click on the color box and chose black. Check symmetric and make the pixel size one (by checking symmetric you will only need to change the number in one of the pixel fields, the others will adjust accordingly. If you don't have symmetric checked you would have to enter each field yourself). Why the 1 pixel black line you ask? It's so that when you select the next border we are going to make, you don't also select part of the photo.

Image>Add Borders. This time change the color to white and pixel size to 25 (more or less depending on how wide you want your frame).

With the magic want and contiguous checked, click on the white border.

Find the paper you want to use as the frame and drag to picture. Close the paper file. On the picture file with the paper layer selected: Selections>Invert. Delete. Add drop shadow. Merge>Merge Visible. Resize.

Drag to layout.

In this last example I am using a photo with rounded corners (you would use this with round or oval photos as well). The photo should be size you want it on your layout. Reduce the height and width by 26 pixels (if you have Lock Aspect Ratio checked then you will only need to change one).

Go to: Image>Canvas Size. Increase width and height by 1" each. Click on center placement.

Make a new layer (Layers>New Raster Layer) and drag below the photo. Make another raster layer.

On photo layer: control+a; control+f; control+shift+f. Click on layer below photo layer. Selections>Modify>Expand (1 pixel). Flood fill with black.

Click on layer below black layer: Selections>Modify>Expand (25 pixels or whatever amount you want your frame to be). Flood fill with white.

While marquee is still selected drag paper over. Invert marquee (Selections>Invert) and delete.

Select photo layer. Add drop shadow. Merge visible.

All that is left to do is place it on your layout. Have fun and happy scrapping.

Template by Isabel Mendez; Down by the Seashore
by Laurie's Scraps; Font(s): Arial

Did you enjoy the Black Friday sales?

2010-11-29T16:20:00.000-06:00

I spent way to much money. The black Friday and Cyber Monday sales were awesome. Kits I have wanted for a while were as low as $1. I think I spent around $80. EEEEEK. How about you? Did you go crazy on getting great deals on digital scrapbooking items? If so, what was your favorite?

An Awarding Experience

2010-11-28T06:18:00.002-06:00

I don't have an award so I will be using a picture of my granddaughter's Kokeshi doll. Just pretend it's an award, okay?

The first thing we need to do is "cut out" the award from the background. You can find out how to do this from either Change to Target or Smidge Here, Smudge there.

At this point you can use as it or add a new layer and drag it beneath the award layer. On the award layer: control+a, control+f, control+shift+f. Selections>modify>expand (I used 15 pixels). Click on bottom layer and flood fill with white to make it look like a sticker.

You can run a script on it. More about scripts can be found at Art for Art's Sake and Follow that Script.

If you are real ambitious or just very creative, you may want to try using the art media brushes and your award as an outline to color/paint your own. (I used crayon, btw).

The art media brushes open their own layer so you don't destroy the original. Which, by the way, you have been making a duplicate to work on instead of the original, right?

Try your hand at any or all of these and have fun scrapping.

Template by Unknown; An Angel in Winter (c)Designs by Helly;
Font(s): sf Trudi

Only pic I have

2010-11-27T13:39:00.003-06:00

We all have those times when we have taken pictures but every one of them, it seems, have turned out bad. But we don't want to get rid of the memories; so what do you do.

Below you will see a picture my granddaughter and her friend took on skype for the last sleepover they would have before the Princess had to return home. It is the only picture I have of that night, but I struggled to how best use it, if at all.

I got lucky when I realized I had a very cool funky kit from Marta van Eck. (It is only available to Gotta Pixel subscription club members). She had a tv frame with moire patterned stripes. Lightening the picture a bit and placing it behind the tv gave it a retro look, reminding me of television from the late 50's and early 60's. While the picture is still blurry, the over-all feel of the page makes it fit right in.

Template by Design by Dani; Funky (c)Marta van Eck;
Font: Fiolex Girls

Happy Thanksgiving

2010-11-26T11:48:00.000-06:00

Tink and I have been busy the last couple of days. Hence the slowdown on the posting. She always post more than I do because she has been at it longer and she is teaching me. Still, I will get out here and try to walk you along my path of insanity. Right now I'm downloading a TON of kits I bought. Yes, bought. They were 50% off and I couldn't resist. Now I must also get my act together and create a spreadsheet of what I have bought and from where. I have been way to busy on to many sites. Sigh. Hope I can keep it all straight!

The best of Black Friday's to you.

Year Round

2010-11-22T08:48:00.003-06:00

As you begin your foray into the digital scrapbook world one of the terms that will come up quite often is "365 Project" or "Project 365".

I believe it originated within the photography community then migrated into the scrapbooking community. But I could be wrong.

It is a challenge. One that requires (or at least highly suggests) that you take one photo a day. It is a worthwhile endeavor especially for those with children at home.

On the scrapbooking side of it, you would then take the 7 photos and do a page with them, either making up your own layout or using one of the multitude of "365" templates available (for free or for sale). You will also find weekly all the way to yearly templates.

Whichever way you go, make sure that you have room for journaling. Part of the reason for the 365 project is to create a visual diary of sorts so that future generations have an idea of how you lived. And it will just be fun to see over the years how you have changed. Oh, also make sure you date the page either by putting a date on each picture or a separate layer with the date range, i.e.: Nov. 7-13, 2010.

Now is the time to take the plunge and start your own 365 project.

On my template below, I didn't have pictures for each day of the week. Instead I chose to pick out pictures that represented something special throughout the month: The renaissance fair, a new shopping center, a new computer room, playtime, a birthday and lunch with a friend. I put the day on each of the pictures then in my journaling boxes started each paragraph with the day and a description. If you find that you have missed a day or two in your 365 project, this is one way to keep it going.

Template by Moodyjudy; The Story of Us (c)Trixie Scraps, Sweet Digi
Scraps, Mye De Leon & Designs by Helly; Font: Pea Pumpkin Peter

Texting in the Round

2010-11-20T07:00:00.005-06:00

Even old folks like me from time to time can learn new tricks. I have always used the floating text when applying with a vector shape. But the Bug (who else) had seen someone use a vector text on a vector shape but didn't understand it. So after half a night of playing with it, I think I caught on and am now a convert. I went through the video fairly quickly so below will be my written instructions.

Open new image (file>new). For this demonstration, I opened the new image at 6"x6" at 300 ppi, with a transparent background.

Click on the preset too and chose the ellipse shape. On the preset toolbar at top, chose draw circle. Set line with to 5 (just makes it easier to see). On the material palette make sure the foreground color is filled and the background color is null (no color). Draw your circle and click apply.

Now get your text tool. Chose your font and create as vector. Set the foreground color on materials palette to null and fill the background with color.

Place your cursor on the circle until it changes to an open "A" with a half circle below it. Left click and start typing. Don't worry if you overlap, we'll take care of this momentarily. Click apply when you have finished typing.

Your text will be bound by a box with nodes at each corner and in the middle of each line. Move the cursor over one of the corners until it changes to a cross of arrows with a rectangle above. Left click, hold and move down (or up) until your text is clear along the circle.

Now click on the plus sign next to the vector layer to show each of the vectors. Click on the eye next to the new ellipse layer to hide it. Right click on the vector layer and convert to raster layer. Your text is now ready to be used.

You can use this technique on other vector shapes as well. Go have some fun. Here's one using a vector in the shape of lips.

Template by Poupoune; Gratitude collab (c)GoDigital designers
Font(s): Pea Weenie; Pea Porridge Hot

Daily ministrations

2010-11-18T07:00:00.000-06:00

Now that the kids have moved I realize how much I regret not taking at least one picture a day to see how life really was when they were here instead of relying on just my memory.

We all get busy with home, work and school and don't stop to jot down those little things that happen from day to day. Scrapbooking helps preserve those memories if we make sure we diligently record them. Now is the time to pick up a journal, a diary or even just a notebook to make notes about your kids daily. Jot down those funny things they say and do. While you are at it, write down some of the things you were thinking of during the day. Your kids will appreciate it as they get older.

Then when you sit down to make a scrapbook page, you will have a fount of information to draw from.

Template & Puppy Dog Tails (c)A+ Designs;
Font(s): Pea Frankie

A smidge here & a smudge there

2010-11-16T07:00:00.005-06:00

A wee more on cut-outs.

The tools: paintbrush and the smudge selection from the tool below the paint brush.

Chose your photo and crop to the area you are wanting to use on your scrapbook page.

Right click on the layer in the layer palette and promote to layer.

Hold down the shift key and click on the new layer icon on the layers palette.

Make sure the new layer is selected and zoom in to at least 100%.

Using a bright color that does not appear in the photo and a fairly small brush (25 is what I settled on for mine); and a hardness of 50. Lower the opacity of the layer to about 60.

Start painting a silhouette of the cut-out. Don't worry about stray hairs just yet. You may, during the course of painting, need to reduce the size of your paintbrush from time to time. You don't want to paint over the wisps, but you do what the get the larger areas.

Hide the silhouette layer and open a new one. Using a very small brush (size 3-5 is good), paint over the wisps. You don't need to be precise, just a general direction and area.

Move the wisp layer below the background layer.

Select the silhouette layer and click on the selection tool. Now control+a; control+f; control+shift+f; then selections>modify>feather. Set feathering at 2.

Delete the silhouette layer and with background layer selected: selections>promote selection to layer.

Delete original background layer and make sure the promoted layer is now selected. Shift+d to deselect the marquee. Now grab your smudge brush and use these settings: Size-10; Hardness-5; Step-1; Density-100; Thickness-100; Rotation-0 and use all layers UNchecked.

Using the wisp layer below as a guide, place the brush at the edge of the hair, left click, hold and pull along the lines.

REMEMBER: the bottom layer is just a guide. You don't have to worry about getting your smudges exactly in place.

Template by A+ Designs;
Beaches & Cream (c)Kristmess; Font(s): Pea Bev

Color my world

2010-11-14T07:00:00.002-06:00

The Bug has asked, yet another question, which I find difficult to answer. But one that should at least be addressed... background colors on pictures. She realizes, from trial and error, that blue is a good color for her fair skinned and haired boys, but want she wanted to know was about dark hair and spanish or oriental complexions.

In my experience, having two granddaughters with oriental skintones (one is half filipino, the other half Japanese), they look good on any color background. Bright green is probably the least favorable. With dark backgrounds their skin glows, with lighter backgrounds their hair makes an attractive frame around their face.

My grandson on the other hand, with dusty hair and a semi-fair skin tone, looks great on orange, deep green and blue; yet I have placed him on yellow and purple without compromising his looks.

My suggestion is that when you make a cut-out of a person so that you can put them on another background, save the cut-out then try out the background. If it doesn't work, use another until you find one that is suitable.

Elegance (c)A+ Designs; Font(s): Amanda's Script; Pea Valerie

Art for Art's Sake

2010-11-12T06:49:00.005-06:00

A couple of days ago we tried out some of the art scripts on our photos. Now we can take it just a step further by making it look as if it is on canvas. (Note: Did you know there is a special canvas available made just for printers?)

I'm going to start with a still life I had taken last year.

I ran Howard Dickson's Ssoftcolourist script on it first.

Interesting but I still want a little something more. So I'm going to Effects>Texture Effects>Texture.

Clicking the arrow next to the texture picture, I scrolled down until I locate the texture I want to use. In this case I wanted the canvas.

I set the scale to 100% and the depth to 2.

Now I have a reasonable facsimile of a painting on canvas.

Now it's your turn. Just remember the size of your picture will determine the scale and depth of the texture. So while you are there, go ahead and play with it. Change some of the other sliders, have a good time.

Template by Jamie Seaward; Dream in Color (c) Andrea Gold
Font: Lucinda Handwriting

That Script of a Batch

2010-11-10T07:00:00.016-06:00

I'm not a script writer and will never claim to be. But PSP allows us non-script writers a change to give it a try and occasionally I have found that it is especially helpful to know a little about it; especially when I am using in it in combination with the batch process.

The example I'm going to use here is to add a layer to templates with the designer's name and website, then include "Template by" in the info description dialogue box. Just a handy little trick so I don't always have to open (or even locate the designer's TOU. Mind you, if I will be using the template for something other than my own personal use, I will be opening the terms of use to make sure I don't even inadvertently mis-use their designs).

First thing we need to do is go back over the command buttons on our script bar that we will be using. We will be the two of the last four on the right side of the bar: Start (red button-8) and save (disk button-11). If at anytime you make a mistake and want to start over just click on the red "x" (10) next to the save button.

I will be using Simply Yin templates for this post (Hi Yin). If the designer does not have their website in their their TOU, I would suggest you copy and paste it into the tou for future reference. Fortunately for me, Yin includes hers.

Open your template in PSP (if it is a psd file and you get a message about unsupported features just click okay). Select your text tool, making sure it is set to a legible font, such as arial, times, etc., at about 15 points.

Select the top layer and click on the red start button.

Click somewhere on the layout and type in the designer's name and website (if you have the web in a text file, just copy and paste).

Click "apply changes".

Right click on the text (vector) layer and convert to raster, if you have your text set as a vector.

Image>Image Information>Creator Information. In the description box put "Template by (and the designer's name)"

Click on Save Script Recording.

Give the script a unique name (I chose to use the designer's and a brief description).

Save the template you were working on and close. Then go to File>Batch Process.

For this particular batch, we need to browse for the folder of templates that we want to put this information on. Check: stop on error; use script; silent mode and overwrite.

Once you click on browse you will need to locate the folder, then right click (in the folder window)>sort by>type. If you don't have "type" as a choice, click on more and scroll down to near the near. Check on "type" and okay. You will have to right click in the folder window again and it should be there.

Now select the psd and/or pspimage template file, except the one you used to make the script if it is in this folder.

Chose your recorded script and start.

Now all you have to do is wait and watch. Depending on the file sizes and number of them, it may take some time, but a lot less than if you had to do this manually for each and every one.

The downside to doing it this way (and not much of one in my book) is the designer information layer may not always be at the top or if may be over a layer that is the same or similar color, as seen below.

The next time I use one of the templates, I will just move the designer info layer to the top and the over an area that is easier to see, saving it before using it.

And while we are on the subject, make sure you duplicate the template before using (window>duplicate or shift+d) so that you don't accidentally overwrite it.

And as for the "Template by 'designer'" in your info box: remember when we went over keeping the name of the designer's, kits, fonts, etc., there? When you go to add the information, the template designer is going to be there already. Just one less thing you have to do or remember.

Now go have some fun :)

Black Beauty (c)Armina Designs

Need to Find Some Scrapbook Paper and Elements?

2010-11-09T12:31:00.000-06:00

And are not sure where to start? You have a couple of options... One is look to the side bar on scrapbook blogs to see if they have links to others. Two is look for a blog train and start clicking. If you find a scrapper you like, the best bet is to add them to your side bar... UNLIKE me. Who when through the November Orient blog train, found a ton of new scrappers I liked and proceeded on to the next one without book marking them or putting them on the side bar. Now that I want something particular... yaa, I'm on the hunt. Figured it would be a good time to make note of another ORGANIZATIONAL item that I need to work on to be a good scrapper. Sigh. So much work to do!

Follow the script

2010-11-08T07:00:00.010-06:00

Remember that script bar? Now is the time to put it on the toolbar.

(I've undocked mine for this post, then it is going right back where it belongs). But for now let's look at what everything does.

1. Name of the selected script; 2. Arrow for selecting script; 3. Run selected script; 4. Edit selected script; 5. Interactive script playback toggle; 6. Run script (opens restricted folder); 7. Stop script; 8. Start script recording; 9. Pause script recording; 10. Cancel script recording; 11. Save script recording.

Scripts are a string of commands allowing you to perform repetative or tedious actions in a shorter amount of time.

Because PSP uses Python to develope the scripts, there is a chance that a script you download can be malicious. To that end PSP has 2 folders: Restricted and Trusted. When downloading scripts they should be put in the Restricted folder. But occasionally you will run into one that needs to be put in the Trusted folder to work. Unless you are sure of the script writer (Sheilsoft Computer Systems; Cassel Creations; Bannerwoman are a few I trust), I would not suggest putting the script in your Trusted folder.

Many scripts come pre-bundled with PSP and we are going to look at few now. The script name will be under the image. Interactive scripts will open dialogue boxes so that you can make changes if you wish.

Original Photo

Airbrush and Ink

Art

Black and White

Black and White Pencil (interactive)

Black and White sketch (interactive)

Charcoal

Color sketch (interactive)

Colored chalk

Dot method

Painted carved wood (interactive)

Watercolor

Wet watercolor

There are quite a few script writers on the web and below I will provide links to a few of my favorites. Before that though, lets look at some examples:

ddjHighKey, a free script (interactive)

ddjWallGraffiti, a free script (interactive)

SsoftColourist, a free script (interactive)

SsoftLithograph, a free script (interactive)

SsoftLithograph, a free script (interactive). Here you can see how I used the same script to make one b&w and the other color.

Scripts can do more than just make adjustments to photos. You can get some that matte, frame and stack them, as seen below.

SsoftAutoMatte (interactive)

SsoftPhotoSet35mmNegative (interactive)

SsoftStacker (interactive). On this one I chose not to have the layers merge so I could move them around and add a drop shadow)

SsoftStripper, a free script (interactive)

SsoftTriptych, a free script (interactive)

As you watch them go through their paces will you be glad someone wrote the script for you. There are other scripts that will allow you to add copyright, make alphas, and more. Check them out and play with the ones you have. If you find that you are having a problem with one of the scripts, trying clicking on the interactive script playback toggle (#5). And have fun.

Now for the links:
SheilSoft
J.A.C. Backer
Pixelnook (make sure to pick up his VectorStroke script, I'll try to remember to do a post using it soon)
Free Stuff

dejudicibus (get the HighPass and WallGraffiti scripts. He also has a list and descriptions of the scripts that come bundled with PSP)

Template by Jennifer S. Wilson; Ravishing in Red (c)Connie Prince;
Fonts: Chopin Script; OptimusPrinceps

I tried another Challenge to help my July Vacation Project!

2010-11-07T15:08:00.000-06:00

What I decided was that since I have all these projects going on in my head... I'm going to divide up my directory with the project names (and it may get the word 'projects' put in front of it before long):

c:\home\paintshoppro\JulyVacation2010
c:\home\paintshoppro\Karate
c:\home\paintshoppro\WashDCVacation

Now the DC vacation was part of the July Vacation, but I'm going to do those pages separately because I bought some papers and elements particularly for that part of the vacation.

I also decided to utilize some free templates by entering some challenges while I'm at it. I did the November 365 Challenge at goDigitalScrapbooking.com. Click the highlighted text to be taken to it.

It gets me involved to see what is out there and how others work their pages. I learn visually, so seeing other works helps me with mine. It also gives me templates to use and possible to get even more for free.

Give it a shot. You will be surprised at how much support and info you can get by doing a challenge.

I am soooo Not organized

2010-11-06T07:00:00.003-05:00

Expanding on the Bug's post of yesterday (okay so she mis-dated it, it was suppose to be yesterday), she was right about one thing. I was nearly ready to chunk Access 2007 right out the door and I may still do so. I want my old Access back. The one that was user friendly and the design view was just that. The new one may have it, but it is so well hidden, I can't find it.

So I have gone back to trying to figure out how to put all my purchases in a spreadsheet. This is what I came up with.

Not real comprehensive, but will work for now. I started with the name of the kit (or whatever. Some of what I have aren't kits, but just elements, actions, scripts, etc.); the name of the designer; the name of the store where it is currently being sold; a link to kit (or the designer's blog/website); and a category.

Now I can do a sort on the name of the kit when I am considering new purchases to make sure I don't buy one again (I have done this); sort on the designer; sort on the store (especially handy when doing the challenges as most now want you to use kits from their designers; on the links and on the categories. I figure I will be sorting most often on the stores and on the categories. Eventually I may add a column for primary colors.

And this is where a database would have been nice. To have a list of categories so that you could check off several (you know most kits can double for more than one category). Several colors, etc. You get the idea and maybe understand why I'm so frustrated. I just wish I could get Pan to write one for me. Maybe I could approach him with a great idea for Christmas or Valentine's Day. Or better yet, convince him if it was good enough, he could sell it. What do you think?

Template by Piccolina Designs; Welcome to Paradise
(c)Jennifer Barrette; Font: Pea Paula Pepin

A Little of This, A Little of That

2010-11-04T19:57:00.001-05:00

Remember way back when I said I was going to have people over to teach them some basic digital scrapbooking? Well only one person showed up of the three. I taught her about layers and showed her the basics for putting items on a template. Well yesterday another one of the three made it over. I went through the same process with her. I am hoping if we get together a third time it will be the magic moment and all will arrive. Though as I see it, trying to make non-computer people understand layering takes time. Even when I use pieces of papers to 'act' like the layers. I had trouble the first couple of times as well getting the idea down. It made sense but when I went to actually do it... yaa. It was about the 3rd item I made that sank in the real idea behind it. So nothing to really post about the classes. We worked on what layers are and how to use a template with paper and elements.

Another thing I mentioned was getting organized. Talked to Tink and she was trying to put everything in a database. It pissed her off and she went for a spreadsheet. Since I don't have access to database software, unless I want to install open office, ... spreadsheet works for me for now. The first thing I did... was back up all my bought and downloaded stuff to an external harddrive for back up. Seriously. You spend all that time and effort getting this stuff. Back it up!

Then I was thinking about how to set up my spreadsheet. How to I lay it out? My first thought was:

Designer, name of design, where I bought it, price, keywords

Only problem is... I don't know where I bought a lot of my stuff. Sigh. If I do know I will add it, and if I ever get the time, I'll research it and add it. Any other ideas of what I should put in the spreadsheet?

Next... there are a lot of options available for people to create books at great prices. From Walgreens to Shutterfly. Go look and see what is right for you. Your scrapbook pages are great gifts, particularly in book form! Ok... on to the next project.

Optimizing your tools

2010-11-04T07:00:00.005-05:00

It has now come to the time to discuss how the toolbars can shorten your time when putting together a layout.

First things is to customize your toolbars to fit your needs. I don't recall exactly the basic toolbars, but I believe it is similar to below.

We will go to View>Toolbars and pick the web bar.

Go ahead and get the other two (Photo and Effects). We don't want the Script toolbar yet. Maybe, eventually, we will get to scripts. As you select them they appear on the workspace.

Now we have to move the Web bar below the toolbar as shown in the first image. It make take a few times to get it to dock, but once it is, by holding the dark bar on the left you can slide the bar to the left or right. Slide it over to the far left.

Move the Photo and Effect bars below the web bar, before we start on the customizing.

Go to View>Customize.

When the customize window opens, the left pane has the categories, the right shows the commands within the chosen category.

On the web bar, we are going to leave the jpg and png icons. One at a time, click, hold and drag one of the other icons to the customize window.

What comes hereafter is only a suggestion. Only you will know what will best suit you. Click on View in the customize window. Scroll down to Rulers; Grid; Guides; Snap to Guides and Change Grid, Guide, Snap Properties. Again, one at a time, click, hold and drag next to png icon on the web bar.

Now move to Image in the customize window. Grab Mirror, Flip and Free Rotate. Next get Crop to Selection, Canvas Size and Resize.

Under Selections you will want Modify, Invert and Promote Selection to Layer and from the Layer Palette get Promote Background Layer.

Now start taking the icons off the first toolbar below the web bar. We will be putting in commands to help adjust photos. From Adjust get Curves, Levels, Colorize, Hue/Saturation/Lightness, Gaussin Blur, Unsharp Mask. From Effects, grab Photo Effects. Take the icons off the next toolbar and get Drop Shadow, Inner Bevel and Image Effects from the Effects category. If you've been folloing along, your toolbars should now look similar to this:

Now go to File>Workspace>Save. I name it according to version and date, but you may have a better way of keeping track, so don't feel you have to do the same.

As you progress you will, no doubt, find that there will be some commands that you will want to use more often and put on one of the toolbars and some that are there now that you want to take off.

Template by Designs by Dani; Color My World
Rev Me Up Red (c)Connie Prince; Font: Arial

Overload of projects

2010-11-03T06:23:00.000-05:00

Unlike Tink, I get easily distracted. I just realized I have a list of projects that need to be done:

Karate pages
Washington DC trip pages
Camping pages
Calendar pages
Tag my papers and elements
write posts for this blog!

I find that I start a lot of stuff and then don't finish them. Which is odd since I am usually an organized person. Over the next month, I will be talking about what I am doing to organize my digital scrapbooking life. We'll see how it goes!

Expanding the Conversion

2010-11-02T07:00:00.006-05:00

This is probably best used when making a calendar but you may find other uses for it as well.

I'll be using the a calendar template by Simply Sarah as referenced by the Bug yesterday.

THe first thing you will need to do is complete each section (top and bottom), then Layers>Merge>Merge Visible.

Choose one of the layouts (I chose the top part of the calendar). Image>Image Size.

The new width should be the same as the original; the new height will be the same as the original plus the height of the bottom (or top if you decided to do this with the bottom). Placement will be the top center arrow if you are working on the top part of the calendar; the bottom center arrow if you are working on the bottom.

Your image should now look like this:

To help with the placement of the bottom section, I have placed guidelnes; centered vertically and horizontally.

To find the dimensions of your layout go to Image>Image Information.

Click on the Image Information tab and check the width and height in the Image box.

With second layout selected: Edit>Copy.

Now select the first layout again and Edit>Paste as a New Layer.

It should now look similar to this:

Using your move tool and the guidelines move the second layer into place. Then Layers>Merge>Merge Visible.

And now for a tour around our room at the Bellagio a couple of months ago. (can you tell which is my favorite room?)

Template by Jennifer Wilson; Color Revolution 'Boldly Brown' (c)Connie Prince;
Fonts: Chopin Script; OptimusPrinceps

Need A Different Calendar Template?

2010-11-01T08:23:00.000-05:00

I couldn't believe my eyes... Simply Sarah put out a calendar template for 2011. Very easy to use, basically done for you... Just add some pictures. It is different than the one I worked on and can be easily changed to your taste... but I thought it would be nice if I linked to her and showed you another option in a quick way to make a Christmas gift that people love!

Go HERE to see the 2011 Calendar from Simply Sarah.

The one you download does NOT have the kids pictures in it. Just a nice plain background with the ability to put in pictures of your choice. Well worth it if you need something quick and easy. Besides, I just love her stuff and am so excited that she is posting again. Life is good!

Mode of operation & Happy Halloween

2010-10-31T07:00:00.006-05:00

Sometimes you find an alpha, frame or element you really like but it just doesn't work with the background you have chosen. In that case you may want to try out the blending modes.

Below are examples of some of the blending modes using the "Bewitched" alpha and dark paper that I used in my layout below. Only these are without a drop shadow.

Same thing only using a drop shadow with these settings: offset vertical: 5; offset horizontal: 5; opacity: 80; blur: 25; color: 0d0d0d.

Switching to "You don't scare me" by the designers at Godigital are examples using wordart on a light background.

And on a neutral to dark background with and without drop shadows.

Or how about a glitter frame.. I'm using one by New Life's Dreams over several pictures and with a drop shadow.

Take time to try them out with alphas, fonts, elements and even photos. I have found that I don't want the item I'm applying the blend to, to be pure white or pure black. Dodge works better on dark colors; while burn works better on lighter colors. Experiment and I would love to see how you use them.

Template by Gina Maria; Bewitched (c)Candy Treats, Crystals Creations,
Brenda Mascari. Tooty Pup Scraps & Designed by Stina; Font: Chiller

Take me out to the candy

2010-10-30T07:00:00.004-05:00

Technically we have one more day until the little spooks and ghouls make their way down the streets, but if your county is like ours you will be having it tonight. So we are going to be making a mini-take out box from Mirkwood Designs. It's small, quick to put together and makes great Halloween party favors. I will be using Spookyville's Night from the designers at GoDigital. If you haven't done so yet take a look at yesterday's post to see how to set up the templates. The only thing I did different was to add the scoring lines before I saved the template as a psd/pspimage, which I didn't do yesterday. I added them at the end.

I'm going to start by putting guidelines along my horizontal and vertical scoring lines, then resize my chosen background to a little larger than 1/4 the size of the template. Move to the top center, right click on layer>duplicate.

Image>Rotate Free>180 degrees; all layers unchecked. Using move tool, move copy layer to center bottom of template.

Hide template and scoring folds layers. Make sure that one of the background layers is selected. Right click on it>Merge>Merge Visible. Unhide the template and folds layers.

With the folds layer as a guide use the lasso tool to marquee the sides (as shown below) and delete from keyboard.

Duplicate layer (right click>duplicate>. Rotate (Image>Free Rotate>90 degrees). Hide original background. Again using folds layer as guide and lasso tool, marquee around the top and bottom edges of background copy as shown, delete.

Hide template and folds layers. Unhide original background layer and make active. Right click on the layer>Merge>Merge Visible. Select the template layer and unhide (I have the background layer hidden for demonstration purposes, but you can do so yourself as well). Chose the magic wand, uncheck contiguous and click anywhere outside the template.

Make your background layer visible and active. Delete.

Go to Image>Change Grid, Guide & Snap Properties.

Click on Guides tab. Check Delete guides>ok.

Unhide and make folds layer active. Control+a, control+f, control+shift+f. Flood fill with a darker or lighter color than your background color. Control+d to deselect. Lower opacity until just barely visible.

Make background layer active and start adding elements, making sure you rotate them in the proper direction.

Layers>Merge>Merge All (flatten).

Print the cut out and then follow the directions on the Mirkwood Designs site (or whatever template site you used). (Unfortunately my printer is running out of ink so it did not print as shown on the screen).

Once you have your template made, you can resize it by going to Image>Resize. If you want to save it, make sure you use "save as".

I think you will agree that these make terrific party favors, not only for Halloween but for celebrating any holiday, birthday or other special occasion. And here are a couple of other boxes you might want to try out:

Bon-Bon
Tiny Cubes
Small Boxes, corrugated look gift boxes, daisy gift boxes

Template by Andrea Gold; Bewitched (c)Candy Treats, Crystals Creations,
Brenda Mascari. Tooty Pup Scraps & Designed by Stina; Font: Arial

Not so sweet treats

2010-10-29T07:00:00.008-05:00

With Halloween just around the corner and trick or treaters heading for your door, you have the option of sticking with traditional candy OR you can try out some of your scrapbook techniques to give out something just a little different or to use as party favors. Today we will go over crayon boxes.

Stacy Carlson has written a wonderful tutorial on how to put together crayon boxes. If you have joined Gotta Pixel you will be able to download Sweet Digi Scraps pre-decorated boxes for free. But if you want to decorate it yourself you can do a search on crayon box template to find one. I chose to use one from Stampington & Company.

If your template is a gif (Stampington's is), the first thing you will want to do is increase the color depth: Image>Increase Color Depth>RGB - 8 bit/channel and save as a jpg.

Next on the order is resizing the template. For the Stampington template I had to resize it to a height of 5.31" or 1594 pixels at 300 dpi.

Promote background to layer.

Increase canvas size to height of 6.31", making sure ration aspect is locked and placement is center.

Select magic wand.

Set mode to add; match mode: RGB value; tolerance: 10; check contiguous; feather: 0; check anti-alias; outside.

Now select the white areas on the outside of the box and delete.

Using "Save as" save your template in the psd or pspimage format.

Now we can get started on decorating our box(es).

I'm using the "Spell on You" kit by Designs by Helly which I purchased at Gotta Pixel. Picking out a background, I've resized it just a tad larger than the height of my box.

Now I will copy (control+c) the background and clicking on the template to make it active, paste as a new layer (control+v). Hide the background layer and make the template layer active.

Control+a; control+f; control+shift+f while on the template layer. Make background layer active and unhide.

Got to Selections>Invert.

Hit delete on keyboard.

On your template layer, right click>Arrange>Move up.

Lower opacity so you can see background but still see the scoring folds.

Making the background active again, start adding the elements to round out the box. Use the scoring folds to determine size and placement. You can you use pick tool to resize; set mode to scale.

After your elements are placed and sized, hide the template layer. Make sure one of your element layers or background layer is selected. Right click on that layer>Merge>Merge Visible.

Unhide and activate your template layer. Chose your pen tool and set up: draw lines; uncheck connect segments; check create on vector; Line Style: solid or dashed; Width: 5; check anti-alias.

Set foreground color to a slightly darker color than your background if it is light or slightly lighter color if it is dark (I've used a grey to make it easier to see here). What we are going to be doing is making scoring folds for our boxes to facilitate Stacy's instuctions. You can use a guideline to make your lines straight or you can click on the beginning of the line, hold down the shift key and drag to the end.

After you have made your scoring fold lines, delete the template layer.

Lower the opacity of the scoring lines until they are barely visible.

Right click on one of the layers>Merge>Merge all.

Save as jpg or tiff. Print, cut out and follow Stacy's instructions (link at top). Below are pictures of how my box turned out.

You might think it is a little late to get started on this and you are probably right unless you have just a few treaters. But keep it in mind just before school starts next year and crayons go on sell at the office supply stores. And, of course, using different kits you can make some nice favors to keep around at Thanksgiving and Christmas to keep the little ones entertained.

NOTE: for another cute and crafty idea using a different crayon box, check out "A Colorful Treat" by Jenn.

Template by Mandagirl; Bewitched (c)Candy Treats, Crystals Creations,
Brenda Mascari. Tooty Pup Scraps & Designed by Stina; Font: Arial

From Alpha to Zeta

2010-10-28T07:00:00.008-05:00

You've seen those cute alphas out there and now you've been introduced to the joys of fonts.

But did you know that you can use fonts to make your own alphas or titles? You sure can and it is pretty easy.

I would suggest you use wide fonts such as: Yard Sale by Harold's Fonts, Halloween Spider by Claude, Singer Mears by Corianton Hale or the one I used in my layout below for the year, Shortcut by Eduardo Recife Fonts.

Start by opening the font and minimizing it. Remember you don't need to nor do you want to install these fonts in your system font folder.

Pick out the background you want to use for your alpha or title (I'm using a background by Brenda Mascari in the "Bewitched" collaboration); then go to Layers>promote background layer.

Locate you font in the font pull-down and select.

If you have your font set to floating you will have to make a new layer.

It doesn't matter what color you chose for the font as we will be deleting this layer later. Type in the letter of the alphabet or the title. If you had vector selected as your font creation, you will need to right click on the vector layer and convert it to a raster.

On the font layer: control+a, control+f, control+shift+f.

Click on the background layer and go to Selections>Invert

Hit delete on the keyboard. Control+d. Select the font layer again and delete it.

Control+a, control+f, control+shift+f. Go to Image>Crop to Selection.

And now you have your own personalized "alpha" title.

And examples using the fonts I listed above:

This come in especially handy when you have an alpha that does not include numbers; such as my 2008 in the layout below.

Template by my2monkeys; Bewitched (c)Candy Treats,
Brenda Mascari & Designed by Stina; Font: Shortcut

The big reveal

2010-10-27T07:00:00.004-05:00

The ad-spiration challenge is just that... a real challenge. Each month the hostess provides the participants with an ad and using that as inspiration you are to build a page. You don't have to go with the placement of photos, type or elements; but it could be the color that inspires you or something within the ad.
I happened to like the layout of it and it worked perfectly with the pictures of the "haunted yard" after dark.

Spooky Fun Halloween (c)LorieM Designs
Fonts: Arial, Nightmare 5

Taking a moment

2010-10-26T07:00:00.003-05:00

So how has it all been going? Getting any scrapping done? I'm still waiting to see what you have been doing...

The challenge I took part in here was the Show Me the Mini hosted by Trixie Scraps at Gotta Pixel. This time we were given a mini-kit to use and we had to use everything in the kit; we could add from other kits if we needed to. Which I did, from her "A Boo-tiful Night" which the mini is just an extension of. I did have to reinvent the frame a little to accommodate 7 photos instead of just four though.

Template by JennCK Designs; Show me the mini (c)Trixie Scraps;
A Boo-tiful Night (c)Trixie Scraps and JennCK Designs; Fonts: I'm Bored; Arial

Erasing the way

2010-10-25T07:00:00.001-05:00

The page at the bottom is what resulted from the Simply Sketchy challenge at Gotta Pixel and hosted by litabells designs. She provides the template and it is up to you to make a page out of it. I really like this one as much because of the pictures as the layout. Who knows when these three (who have been a part for quite awhile, one moved over a year and half ago, the Princess moved last year but was here for the summer and the other will be moving in a few months) will ever get together again.

But I know, you want more (okay, the Bug wants more). So we are going to work on layering an element both above and below your photo. Let's get started.

Place a drop shadow on the element. Resize your photo, if necessary, and drag/drop or copy/paste as a layer over the element. You may also want to lower the photo layer opacity to see where to position it for the best results.

Raise the opacity if you lowered it, then select all (control&a); float (control&f); defloat (control&shift&f).

Click back on the element layer then: Selections>Promote selection to layer (control&shift&p). Select none (control&d)

Toggle the visibility on the main element layer (should be very bottom), then move the promoted selection layer above the photo.

Using the freehand selection tool, marquee around those areas you don't want on your picture and hit delete on the keyboard. Select none (control&d). Or you can use the eraser if you are more comfortable with it.

Toggle the visibility on the lower element layer. Add a drop shadow to the photo layer and Layers>merge>merge visible. Now it is ready to be placed on your layout.

Happy Scrapping and don't forget to try out a challenge or two.

Template by litabells designs; A Boo-tiful Night (c)Trixie
& JennCk Designs; Fonts: Century Gothic, FFF Tusj Bold

A swirly tale

2010-10-24T07:00:00.005-05:00

Before we get started, please take a moment to read Tracey R's Magic Dust Trails (click on article name), then read the articles she has links to. Now are you ready to get started? Yeah, me neither, LOL. I can't draw so I'm going to cheat by using a commercial doodle by Acmdesignz that I purchased to trace over.

First you are going to want to open a new file, about 12"x3", 300 dpi and background transparent.

Next pick out a cursive font. I chose Beautiful ES to work with. If you don't remember or didn't see the post on fonts, check out "Eerie-sistable fonts". Open the font and minimize.

On your new 12"x3" file, type in the word(s) you want to add a tail to. Setting the size up high (you can always reduce the size later).

If you had your text selection as a vector, change the layer to a raster (Layers>convert to raster). The "n" curved up so I erased part of it to make the swirly tail more natural.

Click on the brush tool then go to View>Palettes>Brush Variance.

On the brush variance palette, click on the reset arrow at the bottom right. Set the size to fade out, uncheck scale and the fade rate is going to variable. You are just going to have to try it until you get the length you want. It goes up to 10000 pixels. Just remember your 12"x3" file is 3600 pixels wide.

Below are the settings I used for my brush. This probably won't be exactly what you need but it's a good starting point.

I copied my cheat into the Halloween file and opened a new layer above it. Choosing a contrasting color, I drew my swirly tail on the new layer. As you can see, even with a cheat I can't draw well.

Once that is finished I deleted my cheat layer, lowered the opacity on the tail layer and zoomed in close.

I moved the tail around until I liked how it merged with the "n" and erased those tail parts that were sticking out around the edge. Raise the opacity and do a control & a then control & f. This will let you see any floaties still left around.

Deselect, then either erase those areas or marquee around them and delete. Once you have gotten rid of all the floaties, chose your brush tool and reset your brush variance palette back to the default (the arrow on the bottom right) and close the palette. Once again control & a, control & f, control & shift & f on the tail layer. Selections>modify>expand (1). Set the brush to the same color as your word(s) and paint over the tail. Make any last minute erasures where the tail and character meet.

Now it is time to merge the layers. Layers>merge>merge visible.

And once more, control & a, control & f, control & shift & f. Flood fill with your favorite glitter.

Just an observation, it helps to have a graphic tablet and pen.

Template by Captivated Visions; A Boo-tiful Night (c)Trixie & JennCk Designs;
Lyrics "What's This?" from A Nightmare Before Christmas; Fonts: Beautiful ES

A guide line to Alpha

2010-10-23T07:00:00.009-05:00

And I don't mean Centauri, but those cute pre-made alphabets that come with some kits or can be downloaded by themselves. They are fondly referred to as alphas and they are not fonts.

They can come as fulls sheets (as shown), individual alphas or both.

To use a full sheet, marquee around the tallest character you will be using. Edit>copy; then Edit>paste as a new image. (You will be repeating this for each character you will need. *See note at end if you have duplicate characters)

The next shows the one I copied from a full sheet next to an individual alpha (this alpha set came with both)

At 100% they actually are the same size. The difference being all the space around the copied image. If you are using a copy from a full sheet, you will need to: control & a (select all); control & f (float); control & shift & f (defloat). The go to Images>crop to selection.

Now you are going to want to size it. Looking at my layout, I know that I want the tallest character to be 1/2 inch tall.

Going back to the alpha: Image>resize (shift & s). AFTERTHOUGHT NOTE: Even though the panels show capital letters for keyboard shortcuts, use the lowercase letters.

In your resize dialogue box make sure the resolution is set to the measurement you use (inches or centimeters). Mine, for some reason always defaults to centimeters. In the Print size area fill in the height box. I set mine to .5; next and very important, in the pixel dimension area set it to percent. Write down the percentage number (46% on mine). This is the box and the number you will use to resize the rest of your alphas.

Copy/paste or drop/drag to your layout, then get the next alpha. Instead of putting the height in the print size area, you will put your percentage number in the pixel dimension area. Although they won't be the same size height wise they will be in proportion. Continue with remaining alphas, putting them on the layout as you finish with them. NOTE: Make sure that if you are working with individual alphas that you close them WITHOUT saving.

As you copy/paste or drag/drop the alphas will be centered on the layout. Not to fret they are on separate layers and easily moved. That is where we are headed now.

The easiest way to place the alphas is in a straight line using a guide line. Under view, make sure that rulers, guides and snap to guides is checked. Then click on the change grid, guide & snap properties.

In the properties dialogue box click on the guide tab. If the snap influence isn't already set to 15 change it to that in both boxes, change the guide colors if the color (click on the bottom color box) will be hard to see on your layout and okay.

Back on the layout, place the cursor on the ruler bar. Left click, hold and drag down a little way and release. This is just a temporary placement as PSP has a tendency to freeze if you try and place it precisely while holding it. Besides there is an easier and more accurate way.

Next you have to decide where you want your alphas to be placed. I'm working on a 12x12 layout and wanted my down at 9 3/4". What you will do next is place your cursor on the ruler bar next to the guide line.

Right click to bring up the guide properties box. In the guide position box put where you want the guide line to be place (9.75" for me) and click okay.

My guide line has now moved down 9 3/4". As you place the alphas near the guide you will feel (for the lack of a better word) a tug like placing to weak magnets near one another, snapping the alpha to the line (it will also snap to the center of the image if you get it close enough to the center). After you have finished placing all the alphas bring the guide properties box back up and click on delete.

But if you want your alphas to follow a contour, you can do that by using the pick tool (k on the keyboard) and rotating them into place.

Hope this gives you some ideas on how to use alphas and your guide lines.

NOTE: If you have duplicate characters; you don't have to keep getting it from the folder or the full sheet. Once you have it on the layout just duplicate it the number of times that you need it. (Layers>Duplicate)

template by litabells designs; A Bootiful Night (c)Trixie
Scraps & JennCk Designs; Fonts: Arial, Nightmare 5