What the Flick

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

Do it over in March

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

Do it over in February

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

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

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.

Do it over?

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.

365 Challenge

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? 

I tried another Challenge to help my July Vacation Project!

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.

From Alpha to Zeta

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

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

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

Eerie-sistable fonts

One of my favorite challenges is a Font Challenge. Here I get to pick up unique fonts and use them in layouts in ways I would not have thought of before. And most forums have one of some type.

Another challenge you will face when you start downloading fonts is what to do with them. First things first is to open the zip file. You don't even have to extract the font from the zip. Just double click>yes or right click>open>yes.


After the font opens, just minimize. You don't need to place the font in your font folder in order to be able to use it. If fact, unless it is one that you will be using frequently, it is best not to place it in your font folder.


Next select your text tool, then scroll down to or type in the name of the font in the font box. This works with PSP, PS and word. So don't clutter up your font folder with unnecessary fonts and cause problems for your computer.




Now head on over to a forum and pick up some fonts.

Template by Trixie Scraps; A Bootiful Night (c)Trixie Scraps
& JennCk Designs; Fonts: Century Gothic, Nightmare 5

A Pirate's Life for Her?

Jennifer of Wordart World has the most gorgeous pieces of wordart I have ever seen. And now she has a challenge at Gotta Pixel. Combine that with Bella Gypsy's "Talk Like a Pirate" kit and Katharyn Brine's template and I came out with a layout I truly love.

The wordart Jennifer provided this month was "Simply Adorable." Knowing that I was working on Halloween pages, I was afraid I would not be able to incorporate it. Fortunately these pictures of my granddaughter in her pirate costume were "simply adorable."

Part of the challenge of taking part in challenges is to figure out how to think outside the box. Go get your feet wet and happy scrapping.

Template by Katharyn Brine; Simply Adorable wordart (c)Word Art World by Jennifer;
Talk Like A Pirate (c)Bella Gypsy; Fonts: Century Gothic

What a cluster

The Cluster Your Heart Out challenge at Gotta Pixel and hosted by Mye De Leon was an interesting one and one which had me thinking outside my box. I have never been very good coming up with creative ways to cluster elements and papers, but with her help, I did okay, I think :). I wanted something Halloweeny (is that really a word, lol) but something that reflected my daughter's Robin Hood costume as well. So what do you think? Did I accomplish what I was trying for?

Template by Mye De Leon Digital Designs; Bootiful Nite (c)Kristmess;
Paths (c)Cassel Creations; Fonts: Caribbean's Treasure; Arial

The time has come

Let's get started on our upload odyssey. The first thing you need to do is head back over to the challenge forum you are participating in. (I will be guiding you through the element challenge at Gotta Pixel. It is not exactly the same for all forums but close enough that you should be able to figure any other out). Most forums will have a direct link to the gallery they want you to upload to.



If not, they will probably have the name of the gallery. Just click on the gallery tab at the top.



And it will take you to a list of the galleries. Scroll down until you have the gallery for the challenge you want. Clicking on it will take you where you can upload.



But sometimes, for one reason or another, the challenge will not mention where to upload or to upload to your member gallery. Nothing to get upset about, just click on the gallery tab again and near the top on the left will be your user name and under it will be a tab called "My Photos" (there may be a few others too, but this is the one you want). Once you click on it, you will be taken to your gallery where you can upload.



Once you are in the gallery, near the top (usually on the right hand side) will be a list: Home * Search * Profile * Upload Photos



Click on "Upload Photos." This will take you to the first of 2 upload pages. The top box will have your user name and pertinent information that you should take a moment to read. Most of which we covered in our previous post about challenges, but still worth reading again.

In the box below you can enter the category (not necessary if a direct link or you located the correct gallery as we went through above). Now click on the browse button to find your layout on your computer. Then click on Upload/Submit. At the bottom there is usually a couple of drop-down boxes; the only one you may be concerned about is if you want to receive an email if someone makes a comment about your layout. Then make sure it is either checked or says yes. You don't have to fill out anything else at this time. You will have the opportunity on the next page.



Remember the credits text document I keep in my upload folder? This is the page that you will need to enter that information on. File out the text boxes then click process.



As long as you followed instructions, saved your layout at 72 dpi, 432 pixels on the longest side, then there should be no problem with the layout. If there is go back to check where the error may be. Once the upload is complete you should be taken directly the gallery.



Click on the thumbnail of your layout and copy the link in the header (you will need this to post in forum).



If you are doing a Gotta Pixel challenge, instead of copying the link in the header, scroll down, click in and copy "Linked to Thumbnail."



Whichever one you used, go back to the forum and at the bottom of the page paste the link in the reply box and click Post Quick Reply or...



If you want to check your link & message before submitting, click on advanced. I like using the advanced as I have a tendency to leave things out. Many of the challenges will also require you to list the product(s) you used on the reply box to be able to receive any bonus. Just like the quick reply you paste the link the your layout, list any products and their links, etc., then you can preview the post.



Make any changes necessary before hitting the submit button.



Now I would like you to head back over to the gallery and click on the layout to the right of yours.



Take a good look at the layout then scroll down to the bottom of the page where in lies a comment box. Make a comment about the layout. Something that caught your eye. Be nice, if you really can't find anything about the layout that appeals to you, write about the photos, the colors, etc.



Scroll back up to the layout and click on "next" to go to the next layout. Repeat the above.



I try to do this for at least 4 or 5 layouts (if there are that many) in each challenge I participate. It makes the scrapper feel good and it will make you feel good. Especially when they start leaving lovely comments about your layout.

Keep scrapping.

Template by Connie Prince; Bootiful Nite (c)Kristmess; Font: Arial