My Final Digital Scrapbooking Layout

The Big Kiss

Tuesday, November 3: Digital Play Day

I played all day today. And I don't feel even a bit guilty.

I was doing my homework for an online Scrap Girls class I'm taking. Digital graphics is the craft Siren which has been singing to me for the last couple of years. Sadly I can rarely afford to take an entire day to indulge myself.

So you know what I did? I signed up for a Scrap Girls class on creating 3D alphas using Adobe Photoshop. If anybody gives me an assignment, I'm right there - front and center. I wonder what that says about me.

Never mind - I think I know. Lol.

The journaling says:

And

So this will be a very short blog post because I'm really...... grrzzzzzzz. . . oh wait...

P.S. The Scrap Girls products used in this layout were crested by Brandy Murry (Tattered Photo Action to automatically "age" my photo, Melissa Renfro (Aged Folds Style on the background border and clipped to the letters of "BIG"), Mandy Steward (Epoxy Style applied to "BIG"), Theresa Kavouras (Pacific Map Combat Paper background), Valerie Randall (Vintage Postcard from SG 08 Event Collection), Thao Cosgrove (Gold Phototurns from her Earth Vessel Collection) and Jacelen Deinema (Compass from Watercolor Nature Collection).

Wednesday, November 4: How to Give a Vintage Look to New Photos

I can't believe that the vintage-look photo you used in your "BIG Kiss"layout was taken recently. How did you do that?

At first I thought you meant that was you getting kissed in the picture. LOL. Then I saw the tiny figure to the left of the statue - or actually to the right of the statue but to the left in the photo.

It really looks like an early Kodachrome that has yellowed with time. And then all the tatters - they make it look like a bunch of papers and photos that were just shoved into a "junk drawer" and forgotten for decades.

The layout is darling. I'd love to get to San Diego to see the actual huge statue. It was -7 C (that's 19 F to you) last night on Lake Louise!

Nancy
(from Banff, Alberta, CA)

Oh Nancy, my condolences! I hope you enjoy winter sports, ‘cause I can't think of anything else to love about such cold.

I'm showing the before and after photos so you can see what I started with. You won't believe that the transformation only took about 20 seconds! That because I used a Photoshop Action.

PS Actions are like scripts you can run over and over again. The computer does all the steps - I didn't count how many steps are in this action, but I would guess between 50 and a hundred. What a timesaver! The script stops running periodically so that you can tweak the results yourself if desired.

If you're interested, you need to know a little bit about Photoshop or Photoshop Elements; but not much. The action comes with step-by-step instructions for installation and use, along with some lovely examples.

Just go to the Scrap Girls Boutique and type "Tattered Photo" (including the quotes) into the search box. The designer of the action I used is Brandy Murry and her code is 8501. Scroll down until you find the 8501 action for your software.

Thursday, November 5: An Artist's Life

It's still feels odd to call myself an artist. But I got to thinking; I've been a working crafter/artist full time for 12 years now. I've read and tried every medium I can get my hands on. With some I've developed sufficient skill that people will actually pay for my work.

I've studied (and gotten good marks) with people I don't hesitate to call "artists": drawing classes with Karl Barnhart; precious metal clay with Lauri Jensen; wire sculpting with Preston Reuther; and no less than nine digital graphics and Photoshop classes with several Scrap Girls graphic designers.

I've published a few of my original patterns and even written a definitive guide to decoupage which, as fate would have it, won't see the light of day. The unit of Barnes and Noble which commissioned it fell prey to the weak economy. :-(

I designed the A above in my latest Scrap Girls class: "Stunning 3D Text" taught by Jene Parks. I rather like it. Most people will look at it; read "A" and move on. I look at it and see pattern on top of shading and the three-dimensional aspect and I think ...

Give that lady an A. She's an artist!

My "golden years" have turned into a beautiful multi-colored rainbow. Sweet!

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