Posts Tagged: Tutorials

Hi Everyone! I’m Jenn, aka jk703, here to bring you today’s tutorial from a snowy NJ! I think we are forecasted to get about 10-12+ inches, and let me tell you – I’m ready for summer! So, for today’s Tutorial: Highlighting Titles with Paint, I’ve used a summer photo and tried to re-live that wonderful season! So, let’s get to that text!

For my layout, I’ve used Chelle’s At The Beach Kit, CU Texturizing Brushes Vol 2, CU Bubble Wrap Brushes, as well as Scrapping with Liz’s In Love Journal Cards. Ok. This is my layout so far. I wanted to add a little oomph for the title but was stumped. So, I decided to use splatters and colors to make the title stand out. You will want to add text to your layout above the background layer.

Here is an image of my layers palette, and how I have the layers set up for color, and splatters. It’s a mix of splatters from the kit, and added splatter/texture brushes from Chelle’s CU stash of goodies. My text will be above that yellow paper.

A quick tip…just to give you options for the next part of the tutorial.

All the splatter layers and papers – You could either combine all your splatter layers to one layer, or keep them separated. You will be deleting from these layers, and it might be a little quicker to combine them. I prefer to leave the layers and delete from each layer, because if I don’t like how it turns out I can easily fix that layer or if I want to keep one color un-deleted, I can. Just my opinion.

Ok, once you have your text in the location and correct spot in the layers palette, you’re ready to start. Here is my text:

I’ve double clicked on the layer thumbnail in the layers palette for the text. When you do this, you should get marching ants.

Now, you will click onto every splatter/texture/bubble wrap layer (one at a time, or all depending on the above tip) and press delete. Then turn off your visibility for the text layer. Your paper should show through the splatters. Here is mine (not the best example with white, but you can see different texture).

Here is another example using a red background:

Here is the same example using a blue background:

Here is my white background page:

Here is the blue background page:

My preference was the white background, and here is my completed page.

Ok. Let’s see what the CT came up with for this post: Highlighting Titles with Paint! There are some awesome layouts!

Roxana (roxanamdm) used this tutorial for her page, and then made it her own. Products: Traveler Bundle, CU Spritzes, and CU Bubble Wrap Brushes. She said she kept adding brushes, then added the dark brown paper from the kit on top of the blue. She used the blend mode – luminosity with a  40% opacity. This allowed the background a little darker. She also used the tutorial tomake the stitches in the border too, the template had that brushed border so just clipped a light paper and it worked perfectly.

Mel (KSCroppyChick) made her page and highlighted the title by putting the paint splatters behind the title, on the background paper. She used Out Of This World, Basic Black Stitched Alpha, and a Little Green Frog Designs Template.

Jenn (jennv) created this summer themed page using Chelle’s In The Pool Kit. She said that she used paint splatters to clip to her title alpha. She was looking to make it stand out a bit more – she wanted it a bit more white-ish!!! Pretty Clever!

Melissa (prettypeaches) created this adorable page using Chelle’s Choose The Right {Baptism Kit} and a Little Green Frog Designs Template. She wanted a muted look to add to her title and page, and this tutorial was perfect. She even did the date too.

Lisa (kelseyll) created this cool page. She said she used the paint in the Out of this World kit. Then she clustered and merged them together. She then used the CU Dandy alpha to erase out the “Evergreen” lettering, but used the dashed lines to see the letters better. She decided to also make a thin line paper outline in green to further help it stand out.

Lastly Leah (Cat Lady) created a double! She used Chelle’s Out of this World kit, Riveted Alpha (Previous Blog Freebie) and a Little Green Frog Designs Template.

Cool pages, ladies! I love what they came up with and how creative they were. Hoping you enjoyed this post, and you will try out the Tutorial: Highlighting Titles with Paint for your next page!

Thanks for visiting!

Hi Everyone, it’s Jenn (jk703) here to share some tips with you today. I’m going to focus on shadowing and preferences – because everyone shadows differently, and everyone has their likes and dislikes. It can depend on the blend modes, distance of your shadows, the size of your shadows, the color of the shadows, and the opacity of the shadows. There are so many different things that can change, so that is why I’ll show you a little of my shadowing and preferences. For today’s example, my page is using Chelle’s newest kit – Jump Zone and it’s coordinating (but so versatile) alphabet – Zone {Alpha}. Here is my page: 

Now, let’s get a little closer. First up, the banner.

For this particular banner, I have it tucked under paper layers, so it is closer than if it were on top of the photo. For this and the paper layers, I use what I call “Paper Layer + Opposite Edge.”

Here is the shadow information. For the basic Drop Shadow layer, my style uses a Linear Burn, 50% opacity, with a Distance of 13, and a sir of 24. The distance will change how far away the shadow will be from the paper or element. The size will determine how “crisp” your shadow is, or how blurry it is.

For this and most of my paper layers, I add a shadow to the opposite edge. When I look at a paper, it doesn’t sit perfectly on top of another when stacked – there is a slight shadow around the edge so you know they are separate pages. To get this effect, I add an Outer Glow. I use Linear Light, at 17%, color versus a gradient color, and my size is 10 with a softer Technique.

Next up, how I add shadows to stitches. They are really close to the pages, so I shadow these with a heavier “color.” For me, when I look at pages, the closer the item it and how “heavy” at item is will dictate what kind of shadow you need. You may think otherwise, and that’s ok. This is all about you and your preferences. Here are my settings for the stitching:

One last shadow, and then I’ll share what the CT made! Flowers. There are SO many different flowers, realistic, paper, doodles, etc, and there are so many more ways to shadow them. For this particular page, I have a zippered flower. To me, that is a heavier flower/fabric, and metal – which deserves a heavier shadow. Here is my normal “higher” flower shadow with a little added for the opposite edge. 

It looks too dark to me. Especially on the darker teal paper. So, I adjusted it, and the color of the shadow to make it more to my liking.

Here are the settings that I used for the second flower. I changed the color by clicking on the color box, and then clicking on my background paper. I then chose a color on the darker end of the slider. I also lowered the opacity, and made the size a little smaller than usual. This isn’t my normal settings, so it took some time to make it pleasing to my eye.

For the opposite edge of the flower, I used the Linear Burn Blend Mode at 30%, along with the Technique: Softer at 38 pixels in size.

Play with your shadows, and make them how YOU like them. Use the shadowing and preferences how you like them! Once you like them, get a test print of one page before printing. By doing that, you can make sure that you like how they look when printed. I wasn’t sure when I printed my first album, but it turned out wonderfully. Recently, I printed a Wedding Guest Book as a gift for a cousin, and again, I loved the book so much, and the shadows really made it stand out. People were “petting” the pages.

Here is what the CT shared with me. First, Ophelia (navaja77) uses Gimp for her scrapping!  So she gave me some information to share with you all and a sample page of hers! She used Jump Zone and Zone {Alpha}.

“I used GIMP 2.6 and Drop Shadow Script-fu. For the papers – I typically use X: 15, Y: 15, Blur radius: 25 and 65% opacity.  For this page, I used X: 20, Y: 20, Blur radius: 35 and 65% opacity. For the elements – X: 25, Y:25, Blur radius: 55 and opacity 65%.  This page didn’t have stitches or washi tape but for those I typically use X:4, Y:4, Blur radius: 4 and opacity 40%.  For leaves, to get the realistic feeling, I will increase to 30, 30, 60 and opacity 60%.  My settings place the shadows on the lower right side.  If you prefer lower left side, then change X to negative number (e.g. Papers: -15, 15, 25, 65%). If you shadow like Chelle, ten both X & Y would be negative numbers so you get shadowing at upper left.”

Next up, is Donna (dip332) who created this wonderful page. She added shadows using Chelle’s Me & My Shadow, and then tweaked it to her taste. She said “I made the pine and pine cone really stand out by using both an upper and lower large shadows. I also used a chipboard shadow on the word eagle. The buttons are both a flat button setting. The rickrack is a flat ribbon shadow style.” Perfect way to make it stand out – using two shadow settings on one element! Great idea! (She also used Let’s Camp S’more and On The Trail)

Lastly, here we have a honorable page from Leah (Cat Lady). She said “I start with Chelle’s shadows and expand from there. And I love to put shadows on their own layer and expand and move them to cause elements to “lift” off of the page!”  She used Chelle’s Rolling Along kit and Scrapping with Liz’ December Tuesday’s Template.

Hope you enjoyed today’s post – Thanks for visiting!

Hi Everyone!!!  How are you?!  I’m hoping you are doing well. This is Jenn, aka jk703, here to share a fun and easy way to stretch your paper stash!  All you have to do it use a gradient to blend papers, and the possibilities are endless! Let’s get right to it! For my example screen shots and layout, I used the Norlandia Kit that recently debuted over Farmer’s Market!

To start, open a new document and add a Paper Layer:

Once you have your paper imported in, choose the Gradient Tool:

Now, you will add a new layer ABOVE the 1st Paper Layer. To do this click on the little icon on the bottom of the Layers Palette that looks like a square with a folded corner. Move this layer above the paper layer, in case it isn’t already there. Have this new layer selected.

From choosing the Gradient Tool, you will have a little “plus” cursor. Click on the top left corner of your paper and drag to the opposite corner. Let go when you are about ¾ way to the other side. This is what the paper will look like:

And the Layers Palette:

Up at the top menu bar there are some of the Gradient Tool menu options. You can change the type of gradient, where it comes from, reverse it, the color, and even the blend mode. Fun to play with to get different effects on your paper!

Above the Gradient Layer, bring in a new paper layer. I found that something with a faint pattern or even a coordinating colorful pattern works great. Make sure the colors work well together! Though don’t worry if they don’t – there’s always Control Z! Now, clip the new paper to the Gradient Layer by right clicking on that layer, and choosing Create Clipping Mask.

Here is my first version.

 To change your blend, you can also click on the Gradient Tool again, and choose the Gradient Layer in the Layers Palette. Click and drag again like you did earlier, and the mask will get darker to allow more paper to show through. Here is a darker mask and the layers that I have now.

And another version with a different colored pattern paper:

Here is my final layout – which, by the way, I changed the gradient and one of the papers above! LOL!

Here is what the CT made!  Super awesome pages if you ask me! We have some pretty talented scrappers on this team!  Melissa (prettypeaches) created this double layout, but she also said she “cheated!” She said that she just clipped an already created Gradient paper to her alpha to make a new one!  Pretty clever, and awesome if the paper is already included in the kit! Melissa used Zoopendous!

Next, Jan created this stunner. For all of you who use the PSP program, Jan shared this tip: “I made the gradient by going to the >Cut and Fill, >Straight Line and >Blended Edge. I enlarged the blended area to make the gradient fill the page, then chose the >Keep the Unshaded Section for the cut.” Jan used Norlandia and Road Maps No. 4 by Down This Road Designs.

 Lisa (kelseyll) created this fun holiday page – I just love the blocking – check out the blended plaid to solid gradient!  Lisa used Home for the Holidays for this layout.

There you have it – a super easy way to stretch that paper stash!  Thanks for visiting, and I hope to see some Gradient Paper Blends in the gallery!

Hi everyone!  Hope you have all had a wonderful September! This is Jenn, also known as jk703, here to bring you today’s post. I’m going to give you guys an explanation of what the difference is between Fill and Opacity in Photoshop. I would randomly use one when scrapping, and then I wondered what the difference could be and what using one over the other affected. So, Tips: Fill Vs. Opacity might just teach us something! Let’s get into it.

First, they do act similarly to each other, and both of these selections work with each layer’s transparency. What that means, is that the Fill and Opacity options allows you to see the layer below, and how much of it you can see. The main difference between them occurs when there are styles on the layer that you are using the Fill or Opacity options. Opacity will change and affect all of the layer including layer styles, while the
Fill option only affects the layer content, but not layer styles.

Most of the time when I am scrapping my pages, I use the Opacity slider. Now, I know if there is a layer style, I will choose the Fill slider. Many times, when I am using the Opacity or Fill options, I am also using the Blend Modes. Give all these options a try, and play to see what you like. Some other ways to use the Opacity/Fill on your digi pages can be to:

Make a Plaid Paper – take one striped paper, duplicate it, rotate 90 degrees, and then lower the opacity to your liking.

Make a Paper appear like Vellum – just take a paper, lower the opacity, and then apply a style. Or apply the style, and then lower the fill. It all depends on the look you prefer.

Make a Rub-on – Change a font layers opacity or fill to blend with the background. Make it appear rubbed on by giving it a little texture.

Blend a photo – Using a mask or not, blend your photo into the background paper.

TIP: Use the numbers to change the Opacity while working in Photoshop .With the layer that you want to change the Opacity, just press the number. Zero is equal to 100% and 5 is equal to 50%. Makes it super easy to try, and you can easily see what opacity you like the best.

Now, let me give you some images to show you what I mean. I work better with pictures, so I just assume you do too! You can do this along with me if you want to try it out. I’ll even use the number tip above.

First, make a shape. The background should be one color and your shape another. Apply an outer glow. Here is my heart:

Next, lower the opacity to 40%. Hint – make sure your shape layer is selected, and press the 4. Here is mine, and the layer’s palette.

Now, bring the opacity back up to 100% by pressing 0 (zero) on the number pad, and then lower the Fill to 40%. Here is my unfilled heart (boohoo, lol!):

Aha!  See… it makes complete sense now, right?!  See how the style totally changes when you use the Opacity slider versus the Fill Slider! Cool right. Now, try this… bring the Fill down to 0%. Here is what you will see:

TIP: (COOLEST ONE YET!) You can also change the amount of your Fill, Opacity, Font Size (and all Character settings), Paragraph Settings, Feather, and more with your mouse. Just hover over the word Opacity, and you will see a hand with an arrow with points on either side. Just click right there on the word, and slide your mouse back and forth to the right and left… the number will change as you move. Moving to the right brings the number up, and moving to the left brings the number down. This works for SO many tools. Try it… be amazed! I sure thought it was cool!  Here is a pic of the cursor.

So simple, yet so cool… and makes perfect sense now why we have both options, right!  Hope that was pretty clear… no pun intended! Here is what the CT did when playing with the Opacity.

Mary (tanni) created this page using See Clearly Now, and See Clearly Now Alpha. She clipped a paper to the leaves, and then lowered the opacity. 

Jenn (jennschultz) created this page, and adjusted the opacity on the background paper to make the clouds appear blended in just a bit more. She used Chelle’s Aviator kit.

Lastly, Leslie (lab130) created her plaid paper by duplicated it and rotated it 90 degrees. She then lowered the opacity of the top paper by 50% to make a gingham-style paper. Awesome work! She used Chelle’s Choo Choo Kit and her Eeeeek! Bundle.

There you have it. Some great tips, and ideas for your scrapbook layouts! I’d love to know what think of our Opacity or Fill ideas and tips! Thanks for visiting and come back again!

Happy 4th of July to all those who celebrate! Hi Everyone – it’s Jenn, aka jk703 here with a quick tutorial!  So much is going on, so I won’t keep you for long. Adding warmth to photos are super easy to do… and can really make a cooler photo look nice and warm with a sunny feel. Sometimes shadows, clouds, and skin tone will look a bit blue… so this will help you change it a little. This little tutorial can also be done for many other color changes for photos.

Open your image and re-save it. This was you will have your original available if you need it later. Here is mine of my boys on Father’s Day this year. Not a bad picture, but I like my images a little warmer most of the time.

Next, on the bottom of your Layers Palette, there is a black and white filled circle. Click on that and the Adjustment Layer options will pop up. Choose Photo Filers.

You will automatically be looking at the Adjustment Palette. you can click drop down menu next to “Filter.” There are so many options available to you to enhance your photo. You can also use a specific color by clicking on Color. You will then get an option to change the color by double clicking on the color box.

I’ve chosen the first warming filter, and have moved the opacity to 50%. Then you are done!
Here is my image… and my Layer’s Palette so you can see what yours should resemble.

Another easy way to add warmth (or any color) to your photo is to add a layer above your photo. Click on your background color in the Tools Menu. Use the color picker to get a color that you want to add to your photo. I used an orangey color for mine – similar to the one available in the previous adjustment layer. Press Command + Delete to fill the layer with the background color.

Next, change the blend mode to Soft Light, and play with the opacity of the color layer. You can use any blend mode and opacity combination that you like for your photo. Here is mine – Soft Light and an opacity of 30%.

Here are layouts using these techniques from the CT. Here, Jenn (jennschultz) created this layout using First Foods.

Here is her original picture:

Next, Kayla (keepscrappin) made this layout using Girlfriend, Toadally, and Toadally Add-On (and a Little Green Frog Template too!)

And Kayla’s original image:

There you go!  Simple and super fast too! Thanks for stopping by today, be sure to keep checking everyday for Chelle’s freebies for the month of July! Have a great week!