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A Digital Scrapbooking Journal - Part Four

Learning New Digital Scrapbooking Techniques

Saturday, February 24, 2007: Digital Scrapbooking Brushes

Brushes in Photoshop are one of the coolest tools I’ve learned about since I started digital scrapping. I had struggled to use them as – well – brushes, simply choosing one and dragging it around the page.

Then one day I read in the ScrapGirls free newsletter that you should think of brushes like stamps. It was one of those ah-ha moments.

I downloaded a bunch of brushes from Scrap Girls and played with flourishes, squiggles, swirls, stars, lip prints, charms, bookplates, you name it.

The dog tags in “The Paws That Refresh Us” scrapbook page above are made using Scrap Girls’ BVA Basic Tag Brush Set. I chose a silvery color and stamped two tags; added a Gradient to make the tags shimmer; and then the Emboss Layer Style to add dimension.

The page template used is Scrap Girls’ SE Refresh Layout with a drop shadow for depth.

I made the paper myself and call it EMB_Pebbles. [Scrap Girls’ file naming convention is to start every file name with the designer’s initials. Cool!] I also made the paw print brush that is stamped all around the photos.

I still dream of qualifying for the Scrap Girls’ design team. I think this may be the start of my application package.

A couple of the requirements are original designs for a coordinating set of 10 papers and a brush set. We’ve always loved, and always had, pets. So why not a kit for scrapbooking about our faithful furry friends? Scrap Girls, here I come!

Sunday, February 25, 2007: Right Brain in Charge

I’m very easily distracted; I flit from one task to another.

If I go to the kitchen for a soda, it’s almost always a roundabout trip. I’ll see something over there that needs doing. Then that leads me to something else.

Pretty soon I find myself asking, “Now what did I get up for?”

I started working on my application package for the Scrap Girls design team recently. But then I decided I needed to make a stylish banner for my wire sculpture jewelry articles and gallery.

I guess it’s just the right side of my brain asserting itself. I can follow through on a task and meet a deadline (left brain in charge); but when I am more relaxed and just absorbed in something (right brain in charge), I do some of my best creative work.

Anyway, the graphic above is the result of my right brain-ed-ness and I think it’s my best “digital scrapbooking page” yet. I used the following Scrap Girls’ products: BHA Persian Breeze Brown Halo Paper; SG Refresh Gold Brad for the corners of the plaque and the bookplate; and BLO Antique Label Burst Brush to stamp the bookplate.

The rest is all special effects, like Beveling the letters for dimension, using a Gradient fill to add shimmer to the title letters and drop shadows to give the brads a raised effect.

If you can relate to my right-brain/left-brain confliction, you might enjoy this autobiographical verse I wrote about how to Find the Artist Within.

Monday, March 26, 2007: How to Make a Wanted Poster with Your Graphics Program

I made the wanted poster above as an invitation for my dad’s 80th birthday party; but you could also make it 8 ½ x 11 to put up as a poster.

First, if your photo is in color, you need to antique it. Here is an article on how to Change a Color Photo to Sepia using Photoshop or Print Shop. I also chose a soft brush to rough up the edges.

To make the poster, you need Scrap Girls’ DEB Esprit Paper Gold for Photoshop or Photoshop Elements. Use the same sepia technique to turn the gold to brown. I lightened it a bit more since it was to be the background paper for text and I thought more contrast would be needed (Image>Adjustments>Brightness/Contrast).

Open a new file for your poster. Mine is 4 x 5 ¼ inch and 300 dpi. Go back to the paper you just created and make it the same size (Image>Image Size). Select the paper and Copy it. Move to the new file and Paste. Close DEB Esprit without saving.

Choose a brush to “tear” the poster’s edges and stamp bullet holes. Bring the sepia photo you created onto a new Layer. If necessary, you can resize it using Edit>Transform>Scale and then pushing/pulling on the corners.

Choose the Text Tool to type your lines of text. Make each line a separate Layer so you can move them around at will. For the photo frame, I made a brown rectangle with the Rectangle Tool; gave it a Layer Style of Dissolve; and Moved it behind the photo.

Here are more Digital Scrapbooking Articles

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