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Posts Tagged ‘photoshop’

Video Tutorial: How To Make A Doily Brush In Photoshop

Thursday, January 5th, 2012

Many people ask me how I make my printables.

My answer is: one layer at a time…

This is how you work with Photoshop.

You start thinking in layers.

I try to come up with shapes and styles and then, by trial and error, I create these on photoshop with the shape tools and all the masks and filters Photoshop has to offer.

Then I add other layers with lines, graph paper, patterns and brushes…

Today I wanted to share how I make one of these brushes I am talking about – a doily brush.

The same technique works with any other flat object. Lace trimmings? Why, yes!

So, without further ado:


[Go here to watch on YouTube and while there, please rate, comment and subscribe.]

I hope it was helpful and that you’ve enjoyed my tutorial.

Make Your Own Planner 2012
Check out Creativity Prompt’s unique self paced workshop: “Make Your Own Planner”. In this workshop you will make a beautiful handmade planner for 2012. Not only will you get the planner kit for instant download, but you will also get a high resolution video tutorial as well as printable instructions to guide you on each step of the way. Either treat yourself or get it to create wonderful gifts for your family and friends.
Join now – for only $12


Unleashing The Creative Child Within You
Back when we were kids creativity came naturally to us. Everything was possible and our prolific imagination was the only limit we knew.
Through the years we have grown apart from our inner creative child and along with that – have lost our pristine and utter joy of creation.

In this e-book I will pave your way back to your inner creative child, brick by brick.

“Unleashing The Creative Child Within You” will explain why you became distant from your core creativity and will reveal the secret to getting it back.

With exercises designed specifically to help you find the inner child within you, regain its confidence and unleash it – you are bound to get your mojo back faster than you think.

Get “Unleashing The Creative Child Within You” for your Kindle
for only $4.99.

You can read the Kindle book on Kindle devices, on your smart phones or on your PC or MAC.

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Posted in creativity prompt, Video Tutorial | 7 Comments »

Video Tutorial: How To Manipulate Your PDF Printables

Wednesday, January 4th, 2012

Many of you asked how to resize or recolor the printables I am sharing with you.

I have posted a written step-by-step tutorial before, but there’s nothing better than seeing what I actually do – I am a visual learner too…

So I have made a video tutorial for you guys and I hope that answers all your questions.


[Go here to watch on YouTube and while there, please rate, comment and subscribe.]

Make Your Own Planner 2012
Check out Creativity Prompt’s unique self paced workshop: “Make Your Own Planner”. In this workshop you will make a beautiful handmade planner for 2012. Not only will you get the planner kit for instant download, but you will also get a high resolution video tutorial as well as printable instructions to guide you on each step of the way. Either treat yourself or get it to create wonderful gifts for your family and friends.
Join now – for only $12


Unleashing The Creative Child Within You
Back when we were kids creativity came naturally to us. Everything was possible and our prolific imagination was the only limit we knew.
Through the years we have grown apart from our inner creative child and along with that – have lost our pristine and utter joy of creation.

In this e-book I will pave your way back to your inner creative child, brick by brick.

“Unleashing The Creative Child Within You” will explain why you became distant from your core creativity and will reveal the secret to getting it back.

With exercises designed specifically to help you find the inner child within you, regain its confidence and unleash it – you are bound to get your mojo back faster than you think.

Get “Unleashing The Creative Child Within You” for your Kindle
for only $4.99.

You can read the Kindle book on Kindle devices, on your smart phones or on your PC or MAC.

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Posted in creativity prompt, Video Tutorial | 1 Comment »

Park Adventures And How To Use Fonts As Die Cuts

Wednesday, September 1st, 2010

Park Adventures

[Fonts: Impact and Adler; Digital Kit: KD Crush by Karla Dudley.]

As a scrapbooker, or a memory archiver, I find myself doing things I would never imagine doing, just for the sake of collecting visual memories.

This layout is a wonderful example of such irrational behavior.

The pictures in the layout were taken with a regular 55mm lens – no tele lens, no zoom – I was standing right in front of the huge bear.

Gladly, I caught Mr. bear on a good day…
(I hope he isn’t traumatized by the insane human who ran after him with a camera)

How To Create Digital Letter Die Cuts

In this layout I used Karla Dudley’s newest digital kit, “KD Crush”, which will be available tomorrow at the Digichic online store. The kit is based on a natural color palette, just in time for fall and includes beautiful papers, brushes and elements (including an alpha set).

However, I used it a bit differently by masking the patterned paper to a regular true type font.

Here is how I made the title for my layout above:

  1. Choose any font, preferably a dominant one, such as “Impact” to give room for the digital patterned paper.
  2. Type down your title, each word separately to allow maximum control over its position.
  3. Decide what is the FINAL position and size of each letter in the title.
  4. Simplify all the title layers (by right clicking on each layer and selecting “simplify”).
  5. Merge the layers together (just select all the relevant layer and then right click on your selection and opt for “merge layers”. To select a couple layers together press the CTR or CMD key while clicking on the layers).
  6. Insert any patterned paper and make sure its layer is directly above the title layer.
  7. Mask the two layers together by pressing “CTR+G” or “CMD+G”.
  8. You may now merge the 2 layers together to add a drop shadow or leave it as is.

Share

Have you ever acted out of character just to take a picture or preserve a memory? Please share your story by leaving a comment here.

Welcome Little One Workshop
Check out Creativity Prompt’s new and unique self paced workshop: “Welcome Little One”. This workshop will provide you with everything you need, and then some, to make a fabulous handmade mini album to record the first moments of a new born baby.

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Posted in creativity prompt, Tutorial | 2 Comments »

How To Change the Color of the Journaling Tags

Wednesday, August 4th, 2010

I have been posting a lot of free printable journaling tags.

I have been asked several times how can you change the color of these tags with a photo editing software, such as Photoshop or Photoshop Elements and each time I answered individually.

It took me a while to figure out that my answer may interest many of you too, so here it goes:

  1. Open the pdf file with photoshop.
  2. Open a new layer underneath the file layer.
  3. Make sure your file layer is highlighted and pick the white in the file, using the magic wand tool.
  4. Press delete.
  5. From the menu bar choose “Edit” =>”Fill in layer” => choose “color” and change it to any color you want.
  6. Fill in the “preserve transparency” check box and click “apply” or “ok”.
  7. If the last 2 steps don’t work for you, try to press CTR+U or CMD+U and change the hue and saturation settings.

I hope that helps you guys 🙂

Have a great day.

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Posted in Tutorial | 4 Comments »

What Makes Anything Magical – Journaling Prompt

Wednesday, April 14th, 2010

Uvas Park Layout

[Fonts: Jesse James, Tidy Hand, rough_typewriter; Textures: Shadowhouse Creations; Digital Kits: KD Artist In Me (background paper), KD Blakely (patterned paper – floral), KD Sylvy (patterned paper – aqua), KD Trina (patterned paper – dark red), KD Digi Essentials (stitches + masking tape), KD Digi Essentials 2 (butterflies) – all kits by Karla Dudley.]

As a child I could look at my parents’ modest living room and see a palace. I looked at my red shoes and imagined how they transport me to Oz. I saw a smiling face in the sun and I swear I could see a caring bear resting on a cloud… Everything seemed magical when I was a child.

Sometimes I try to dig deep and find that ability to make the ordinary seem (and actually be) magical.

Journaling Prompt

What is it that makes the ordinary special and the plain magical? Write it down.

My journaling reads:

How can a natural preserve become magical?
Easy.
Add a couple friends you like hanging out with.
A husband you’re in love with and the perfect springy weather.
Done.

I also added character to my photo, by applying texture digitally. As you can see below, the changes are very subtle but add to the general ambiance:

Preview - original and textured

Digital Tip – How To Add Magic With Texture Using Photoshop Elements

To add texture to your photo, all you need to do is to add layers and play with the blending modes.

  • Download the high definition texture files (or take pictures of textured materials yourself). In this photo I used a few texture files by Shadowhouse Creations.
  • Open the texture photos and with the selection tool picked, drag them over to your original photo (make sure you save it under a different name). The textured file should appear as a layer above your original picture’s layer.
  • Resize the texture file so it covers your photo, by dragging the bounding box to place.
  • The texture should now cover your entire document.
  • Next, go to the blending modes drop menu. It is placed right above your layers view, left to the opacity levels and is ‘Normal’ by default.
    Play with the mode. Start with ‘Overlay’ or ‘Soft Light’ modes. See what happens…
  • Play with the opacity.
  • Add a solid color layer by clicking on the ‘adjustment level’ button and choosing ‘solid color’. Lower the opacity and see what happens.
  • Explore and have fun!

Are you feeling the magic yet?

Share

How are you transforming the plain into magical? Share your thoughts by leaving a message.
Have you tried the texture technique? How did it work for you? Please let me know 🙂

Unleashing The Creative Child Within You

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Posted in Journaling Prompt | 2 Comments »

For This I Am Thankful…

Thursday, November 26th, 2009

I am dedicating this post to you, my dear readers. I am grateful for you!

I am thankful for you following my blog.

I am thankful for you leaving heartfelt comments and messages – encouraging me and sharing your stories, your thoughts and sometimes even your struggles.

I am thankful for you spreading out the word through your personal blogs, Twitter and Facebook and sharing posts and ideas you like with your friends and followers.

I am thankful for your patience on weeks in which life happens.

I am thankful for your participation in my workshops and the lovely feedback you are leaving and warming my heart with.

I am thankful for your support in Creativity Prompt via buying the products you need through the links I provide.

I am thankful for you!

Thank you so much!

As a token of my appreciation I am giving you two printable files with labels and journaling tags (you can punch out the tags with a 2″ circle punch):

  1. Lables
  2. Circular Journaling Tags

[To download the files: either click on the links above OR right-click and opt for “Save Target as…” or “Save Link as…”; Print with no scaling on a letter-size cardstock or sticker sheet]

Photoshop Elements Tip – Adding A Hand Drawn Element

Here is how I added the hand-drawn flowers to my tags:

  1. Draw your elements with a black marker on a plain white paper.
  2. Scan your element in high resolution.
  3. Open the scanned file in Photoshop Elements.
  4. Press Ctrl+L or Command+L and tweak your levels, so the white is bright white and the black is pitch black.
  5. You can also use the eye-drop tool on the Levels Menu.
  6. Open a new layer beneath your scanned elements.
  7. With the Quick Selection tool select all the white areas and press Delete. Make sure you are working on the scanned elements’ layer. The checkerboard pattern means this part is transparent.
  8. Save the file as a PNG file – that will keep the transparency attributes.
  9. With the rectangle selection tool select the element you want to use and then press on the Move tool.
  10. Open the file you wish to insert the hand drawn element to, drag and drop your hand drawn element into the file you have just opened. Re-size as needed.

Happy Thanksgiving!

[Due to the holiday – and my limited access to my husband’s MAC… – there will not be a Creativity Prompt this week, but I have included the tutorial above, enjoy! 🙂 ]

Make Your Own Planner Workshop
 “Capture Your Dream” workshop is relaunching as a self-paced workshop. Isn’t it the perfect time for you to capture your dream and make it happen?



Make Your Own Planner Workshop
Check out the new “Make Your Own Planner” workshop and you may solve this year’s holiday gift shopping problem. An affordable workshop that keeps on giving…

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Posted in General Notifications | 4 Comments »

Creativity Prompt – Working With Sketches – Scrapbook Layouts

Friday, May 15th, 2009

Last week we were using sketches to make handmade cards. This week we go back to our trusty Adobe Photoshop Elements 7.0 or handy-dandy grid paper and plan scrapbook layouts.

The idea is the same – planning the layout in advance helps in looking at the design as a whole, making sure it is harmonious, balanced and complete.

Also using a grid helps to figure out all the measurements for us and all we have left to do is to pull out our supply, cropped photos, paper trimmer and grid ruler and start playing.

In scrapbooking there is an additional advantage which is the ability to use the sketch as a layout template for digital scrapbooking. To learn how to use a digital layout template check out this nifty video by Jessica Sprague.

As a bonus to my fabulous readers I am making this week’s sketch available for a free download (for personal use only) both for digital and traditional scrapbookers. Just click on the right button below:

free template downloadfree template download

Translating the sketch into a layout –


[Music is by: Josh Woodward]

Some tips & techniques shared on the video

  • Use the grid ruler to find the center of your cardstock (or any other element) easily. After finding the center, it’s really easy to figure out the right placement.
  • Use the grid ruler to align your elements together. Just place the ruler on your element and make sure the grid line is aligned with the edge of your element and that the ruler protrudes from the edge at the exact size of your desired gap, then align the next element with the ruler’s edge.
  • Use your paper trimmer together with a stylus to create straight journaling guides. Just score your journaling box or journaling tag at every ¼”.
  • To create a perfect half circle notch, just temporary adhere your photos on a scrap piece of paper (junk mail will do just fine) with the same alignment as they are supposed to have on your layout. Then punch out your half circle, using an hand-held punch.
  • When using a colorful and vibrant photos on top of a bright-colored background you can add interest without overwhelming the eye by using either lace cardstock or an overlay instead of regular patterned paper.
  • Embossing adds texture and interest. To emphasize the embossing use a cardstock with a white core (or otherwise different colored core cardstock) and lightly sand it to reveal the core on the embossed image.

Share

If you have any question, suggestion or remark – don’t hesitate to contact me – either leave a comment here, use the contact form or start a new thread on the Creativity Prompt Flickr group!!!

I would be VERY happy to see your layouts based off of the sketch here, so don’t be shy and share – either leave a link at the comment section or share on the Creativity Prompt Flickr group‘s pool 🙂

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Posted in creativity prompt, Video Tutorial | 10 Comments »