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"Unpacking" by Elisha Barnett
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Directions for one technique I did on this layout:
ScrapSimple Paper Templates: Life Books come ready to color to match your layout. However, I wasn't sure what color would work best in this layout. To help me decide, I clicked "Create Adjustment Layer" and put three Hue/Saturation adjustment layers above the book. I clipped (Ctrl+G) all of them to the book layer so the adjustments would only affect that layer. Then to add color, I picked a red color from the photo in my layout, double-clicked on one of the adjustment layers and checked "Colorize," adjusting the sliders to my liking. To see another color, I made the red adjustment layer invisible. I repeated the process, picking a color from the tape embellishment, and then again from the background paper. Now I was able to quickly compare each color by toggling the visibility of each adjustment layer. I ended up happiest with the color chosen from the tape embellishment!
Software used: Adobe Photoshop Elements 6
Name of challenge: Create a layout about your favorite story or book.
Journaling: We started accumulating children's books for both our kids more than 20 years ago. When Andrew decided he was too old for a book, he would put it in Katie's bookcase. I remember the sad day Katie and I sorted through the books to clear space for her new books - books more appropriate for a girl in junior high school. Some books we gave to my niece and nephew. Some we donated to charity. But there were a precious few that we just could not bear to part with. Those got packed away in a cardboard box and put in the attic. What a wonderful day it was when we were able to unpack that box and pull those books out for our grandson, Dominik!
"Favorite Book" by Armi Custodio
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Directions for one technique I did on this layout:
To make the fishing hook appear as if it went through the book, I simply erased portions of the hook and used the Burn Tool to add definition to the pierced area.
Software used: Adobe Photoshop CS3
Name of challenge: Create a layout about your favorite story or book.
Other Ingredients:
Journaling: This book is as old as you are. You both loved it, as babies and you still love it now. It has served us well, and I will keep it long after you have outgrown it.
"Bookish" by Kara Swanson
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Directions for one technique I did on this layout:
Reading was a big part of my life from an early age. Sadly, I have no photos to preserve this part of my childhood. Even so, I felt it was important to scrap this part of my life, despite the lack of photos.
Software used: Adobe Photoshop Elements 6
Name of challenge: Create a layout about your favorite story or book.
"Make Waves" by Julie Moberly
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Directions for one technique I did on this layout:
To create the color versus black and white effect of the photo, I used two of the same photos linked together. I extracted the boys from the top photo layer and applied a shadow to make them "pop." Next, I selected the bottom photo layer, and used the Enhance> Edit> Convert to Black and White option in the Photoshop Elements menu. Finally, I applied a Gaussian Blur to the black and white photo with a radius of 2.0.
Software used: Adobe Photoshop Elements 5
Name of challenge: Create a layout using three or more styles.
"Hungry To Learn" by Amy Lemaniak
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Directions for one technique I did on this layout:
To add a little touch of the books to my background paper, I took the book brush from Brush Set: School Time Doodle Biggie and stamped each book on its own new layer in the color I desired. Then I changed the Blending Mode of the layer to "Color Burn" to give each one a funky look, which was less distracting than when they were just stamped onto the paper.
Software used: Adobe Photoshop CS4
Name of challenge: Create a layout about your favorite story or book.
Other Ingredients:
"Favorite Book" by Gisele Corrêa Marçal Queiroz
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Directions for one technique I did on this layout:
I love to use brushes because of the versatility I have while using them. In this layout, I wanted to put a little more red on the left side. I used a brush from the Brush Set: GraphX. After choosing the color and size I wanted, I changed the Blending Mode to "Soft Light."
Software used: Adobe Photoshop CS4
Name of challenge: Create a layout about your favorite story or book.
Other Ingredients:
"Read To Me" by Jennifer Wight
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Directions for one technique I did on this layout:
I created a photo mask to easily place my photo inside the circle frame from Shark Lagoon Collection. To do this, I grabbed my Paint Bucket Tool and filled the inside of the circle. It doesn't matter which color you use because you won't be seeing it. Then I used my Magic Wand Tool and clicked the newly painted circle. With the circle selected, I pressed Ctrl+J to cut the circle onto its own layer. I then placed my photo on a layer above my new circle layer and pressed Ctrl+G to create a clipping mask. Now my photo is cropped into a perfect circle and easily centered within my circle frame.
Software used: Adobe Photoshop Elements 5
Name of challenge: Create a layout about your favorite story or book.
Journaling: This was such a sweet moment. RJ was learning to read and decided to try his hand with Dr. Seuss's Green Eggs and Ham. He was doing very well with it, and Savannah seemed to think so, too. She curled up right beside him and listened intently as he read. January 2010
"Dad's 307th Book" by Amy Flanagan
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Directions for one technique I did on this layout:
For this layout, I wanted a bold, graphic interpretation with strong lines. I did not want a lot of embellishments. I wanted the extraction and the book covers to be the primary focus. The Shark Lagoon Collection was really a perfect choice for my layout. The blues and reds match the blues and reds on my Dad's book cover perfectly. The strong bands on the left of the paper really complement the strong stripes in my Dad's shirt. The simple brads emulate perfectly the emblems on the cover of the book. The brads and emblem groupings are laid out in three spots across the layout: Two sets from the book cover actually become embellishment clusters themselves. For the journaling, I wanted it to be white, but I thought it was difficult to read against my dad's light pants. At first, I tried playing with other colors from the layout for the font, but nothing looked right. It became either more difficult to read or the color just didn't look right. After thinking about it for a while, I decided to try doing a light burn on my photo layer just under the journaling where it was difficult to read. Even then, I had to play with it a while to get the balance just right. To do that, I selected the Burn Tool, set the exposure to about 25%, and then went over the area just under the journaling where it was on the pants until it was a bit easier to read. It worked like a charm! The journaling is much easier to read, and it's hard to tell that I did anything at all to the photo.
Software used: Adobe Photoshop CS4
Name of challenge: Create a layout about your favorite story or book.
"The Holy Bible" by Charlene Crowder
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Directions for one technique I did on this layout:
The paper with the door from Movers and Shakers Collection Mini was perfect for the verse I wanted to use. I decided to only have part of it show and used one of the paper templates from ScrapSimple Paper Templates: Background Blenders II Biggie. I shrank the paper down to have the "opening" of the paper template where I needed it to be on the page. That left empty areas around the outside edges, so I used the Rectangular Marquee Tool and the Paint Bucket set to black to fill in the edges of the paper. Then I moved the paper around to get the door to show up where I wanted it to on the layout.
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Commercial license versions of AMC_Friendly Font, ScrapSimple Tools - Styles: Wires 6401, ScrapSimple Tools - Styles: Colored Wires 6401, ScrapSimple Tools - Styles: Cathedral Glass 6401 Biggie, ScrapSimple Tools - Styles: Opalescent Glass 6401 Biggie, Dynamic Brush Set: Textured 8201, ScrapSimple Tools - Styles: Aged Metals Biggie, ScrapSimple Paper Templates: Background Blenders II Biggie, ScrapSimple Tools - Styles: 14K 4104, ScrapSimple Tools - Scripts: Supply Tracker PSE 11101, ScrapSimple Tools - Scripts: Rename Layer PSE 11101, ScrapSimple Tools - Scripts: File Save 1 PSE 11101, ScrapSimple Tools - Styles: Metallic Colors 5103 Biggie, Brush Set: Bitsy BOLD, Brush Set: Floral Medley 2 Biggie, Lettering Delights Slender Font, ScrapSimple Tools - Actions: Deep Shadows 6501 PSE and PS Biggie, ScrapSimple Embellishment Templates: Framed Calendar 2010 Biggie, ScrapSimple Tools - Styles: Rust 4901, Brush Set: Suncatchers - Cross Set 1 and ScrapSimple Alpha Templates: Stained Glass are also available. |
Software used: Adobe Photoshop Elements 7
Name of challenge: Create a layout about your favorite story or book.
Other Ingredients:
Journaling: I began a love for reading during elementary school. I remember feeling that I had read everything available for young readers in the local public library. These days, my leisure reading is made up of Christian fiction. My all-time favorite book, however, is the Holy Bible. It has made the most impact on my life. It is comforting, enlightening, inspiring, and always relevant. I find that seeking God's will for my life through His word is a daily endeavor. The Bibles I read from were gifts from Rich. One from our wedding day and the other from Christmas 2009.
"Outlander" by Jo Corne
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Directions for one technique I did on this layout:
To make the embellishment from Shark Lagoon Collection have two sides, I placed the embellishment on its own layer. I then duplicated the layer, clicked on Cmd+T to highlight the wrap, right-clicked my mouse to bring up the Transform Menu, and flipped the wrap horizontally. Then I dragged it to the right of the first wrap, holding down the Shift key to keep it in the same position as the original one. I then made sure they were perfectly lined up to each other and merged the two layers into one.
Software used: Adobe Photoshop CS4
Name of challenge: Create a layout about your favorite story or book.
Journaling: I picked up the first book in the Outlander series at our local library, having no idea what I was getting myself into! Seven very thick books later, having just finished reading An Echo in the Bone, I am aching for the next one, for there just has to be a "next one" ...there are so many loose ends to wrap up with Jemmy, Roger, Brianna, Lord Grey, William, Claire, and Jamie. Oh my!
"What's Your Sign?" by Julie Moberly
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Directions for one technique I did on this layout:
Several steps were required to blend the photo into the background. First, I made a new file with a duplicate of the photo. I applied ScrapSimple Tools - Actions: Sketch It PSE 8501 Mini to the photo. Then I placed the photo onto my layout over the Canvas Blue Paper from the Shark Lagoon Collection. I duplicated the sketch layer and set the Blending Mode of the top layer to "Overlay" with the Opacity set at 50%. Then I set the Blending Mode of the bottom layer to "Multiply" with the Opacity at 33%. The edge of the photo appeared too harsh behind the title, so I clipped the two photo layers to one of the ScrapSimple Paper Templates: Background Blenders II Biggie.
Software used: Adobe Photoshop Elements 8
Name of challenge: Create a layout about your favorite story or book.
Journaling: I've learned a lot of sign language to communicate with my special education students. This book is a fantastic reference. Marissa and I love to practice signing together!
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