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"Christmas" by Amy Flanagan
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Directions for one technique I did on this layout:
For this layout, I wanted to place a ribbon so that it looked like it is underneath the torn fold of the bottom border paper. Since the tear is actually part of the paper, I had to be creative about how to get the ribbon under the tear. There are several ways to this. The way I chose was to highlight the paper layer, and using the Magic Wand Tool, I clicked on the light colors of the torn fold. I clicked in several spots to "grab" all of the colors of the torn fold. After I was satisfied with what the Magic Wand was picking up and the "marching ants" were present, I highlighted the ribbon layer. With the "marching ants" still active, I simply hit Delete while on the ribbon layer. This deleted all the portions of the ribbon that were within the "marching ants" bordering the torn fold. Voila! My ribbon is now under the torn fold.
Software used: Adobe Photoshop CS4
Name of challenge: Create a layout about a favorite Christmas or holiday memory.
"The Box" by Heather Messmer
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Directions for one technique I did on this layout:
I knew I wanted to use the Christmas Tree template from ScrapSimple Embellishment Templates: Holiday Clusters. However, the tree template had a spot for three photos, and I only wanted to highlight one specific photo for this layout. I replaced the three ornament pieces with the frame from the Joy template cluster, which worked perfectly for my photo.
Software used: Adobe Photoshop CS3
Name of challenge: Create a layout about a favorite Christmas or holiday memory.
Journaling: One year after we started dating, Jayson gifted me a beautiful box with this lovely note inside. Of course, he was counting on me wondering if there was
something else (something that sparkled) that should have been inside the box. He let me ponder on those thoughts for a little while and then had me open just one more present... which happened to be an adorable teddy bear and around its neck was a beautiful diamond necklace that fit perfectly inside the box.
"Noctober, Octember, December" by Armi Custodio
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Directions for one technique I did on this layout:
To make my title blend into the contours of the creased lined paper, I applied a combination of ScrapSimple Tools - Actions: Warped PS 8201 Mini and ScrapSimple Tools - Styles: Blended 8201 Super Biggie.
Software used: Adobe Photoshop CS3
Name of challenge: Create a layout about a favorite Christmas or holiday memory.
Other Ingredients:
Journaling: It's only October but every day you ask me if it's Christmas already. You've got your months mixed up, but hearing you count down the months always brings a smile to my face.
"Ribbons" by Elisha Barnett
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Directions for one technique I did on this layout:
To recolor the ribbon templates on this layout, first I picked a color from the ribbons in the photo. Then I created a new solid color Adjustment Layer directly above the ribbon and used Ctrl+G to clip the adjustment layer to the ribbon layer. I changed the Blending Mode of the adjustment layer to "Multiply." If the Blending Mode changes the color too much, double-click on the adjustment layer and adjust the color. When I was happy with the results, I merged the adjustment layer down.
Software used: Adobe Photoshop Elements 6.0
Name of challenge: Create a layout about a favorite Christmas or holiday memory.
Other Ingredients:
Journaling: Tradition #5: Tie the ribbons from the presents onto the dog.
"Army Christmas" by Charlene Crowder
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Directions for one technique I did on this layout:
I wanted my reflections to look as realistic as possible. Using ScrapSimple Tools - Actions: Mirror Reflections Mini 8501 was a must! But in this layout, I had a number of items with "overlapping" reflections. As the reflection goes further away from the object, it starts to fade a bit. That meant you could see another reflection behind it/through it. That wouldn't happen in real life.
Now, bear with me on this. To fix these, first I duplicated the item. Then I ran the reflection action on the original layer of the object. Then I went to the duplicated layer (that I created before the action) and flipped it vertically. I moved it down so that it lined up with the reflection. Then I clicked on the thumbnail of that layer while holding the Ctrl key to make a selection of the object (the "marching ants" showed up around the object.) I went ahead and turned off the visibility of the layer by clicking on the little eye icon. The "marching ants" are still in place. I picked a medium-size round brush with the Eraser Tool, then made active (only one at a time) any other reflection layers of other objects. With the marching ants still going, the eraser only erased the parts of the other reflection that was within the marching ants. I did this for each reflection that was behind another one.
By the way, the reason that I didn't just make the selection (marching ants) on the actual reflection layer is because it won't select the full object due to the fading away of the object/reflection.
Software used: Adobe Photoshop Elements 9.0
Name of challenge: Create a layout about a favorite Christmas or holiday memory.
Other Ingredients:
Journaling: Well, it's not your typical Christmas picture. Meme & Papa got each of you some Army gear to play in. Y'all left the room and came back all dressed up. There's no doubt about how much you loved it all. It was an Army Christmas, and 2010 has been an Army year.
"No Photos" by Becca Hauck
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Directions for one technique I did on this layout:
To color the ribbons and tissue paper on this layout, I used two color-filled layers clipped to each embellishment template. Using two color-filled layers for each template allowed me to use multiple Blending Modes to achieve the color and look I wanted.
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Commercial license versions of ScrapSimple Paper Templates: Stacked, ScrapSimple Embellishment Templates: Bow Borders, ScrapSimple Embellishment Templates: Tied Tags, ScrapSimple Embellishment Templates: Rolled Frames, ScrapSimple Embellishment Templates: Gathered Borders, ScrapSimple Embellishment Templates: Boxed, ScrapSimple Embellishment Templates: Wired, ScrapSimple Paper Templates: Basically Bordered Circles 2, Kiddie Christmas Collection, ScrapSimple Embellishment Templates: Velvet Ribbon Biggie, ScrapSimple Tools - Styles: Autumn Suede Super Biggie, ScrapSimple Tools - Actions: Shadowing Transparent Objects 5301 Mini, Dyed Fabric 4 Paper, ScrapSimple Tools - Styles: Burned Corrugated Cardboard 6301 and Brush Set: Missing Photo are also available. |
Software used: Adobe Photoshop CS5
Name of challenge: Create a layout about a favorite Christmas or holiday memory.
Journaling: I love Christmas. The smells, the food, the music, the gift-giving, family and friends coming together to celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ. It's the one holiday of the year that seems to last weeks, rather than just one day. It's a busy time, especially for mothers. There's so much going on behind-the-scenes to get ready for the big day that sometimes my family seems forgotten. But they're not. They're always on my mind as I get ready to make Christmas day special. So when the big day comes, my trusty camera is usually left on a shelf somewhere. It's not that I don't want to take photos of this magical day - it's more that I want my family to have my full attention that day. To be fully present for every face that lights up in glee when they open up the gift that they always wanted! Or to sit back and relax and listen to the stories of years past and laugh. To cook with the other women in my family as we chat about what's been going on in the last few weeks. So, there may not be many photos from Christmas in my family's albums, but I know there are a whole lot of memories made on that very special day each year.
"Our Crazy Gingerbread House" by Ashleigh Bronner
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Directions for one technique I did on this layout:
I wanted the berry sprig to appear tucked behind my photo but on top of the green ribbon frame. However, the green ribbon frame was on top of the other layers, and I didn't want to have to rearrange a lot of layers. The solution: Use a layer mask. First, I placed the berry sprig layer under the ribbon frame layer. Then, I added a layer mask to the ribbon frame layer (Layer> Layer Mask). Next, I made a direct selection (Ctrl+Click on berry thumbnail) of the berry sprig layer. This ensured that I would only brush away the part of the frame that covered the berries. Making a direct selection makes it easier and faster to use layer masks to extract finely detailed embellishments.
Software used: Adobe Photoshop CS4
Name of challenge: Create a layout about a favorite Christmas or holiday memory.
Journaling: Determined to spend one-on-one time with Jenelle, despite the presence of a certain squalling newborn, we decided to finally assemble our gingerbread house.
No matter how much icing we used or how long we held the gingerbread pieces together, the house kept falling apart. Instead of stressing over it, we just decided to call it our "crazy gingerbread house." That name was quite appropriate considering the craziness involved in making it.
"I've Been Very, Very Good" by Cheri Thieleke
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Directions for one technique I did on this layout:
I wanted to give the whole layout a somewhat framed or "finished" appearance. My brother-in-law, who is a master framer, often uses a frame within a frame for an extra-special piece of art. So I borrowed the technique and added a separate thin mat layer outside of the striped paper and used Thao Cosgrove's ScrapSimple Tools – Styles: Gold 5702 on the mat. The dimensional aspect of the style made it appear that it is a thin frame and gave me exactly the look I wanted.
Software used: Adobe Photoshop CS3
Name of challenge: Create a layout about a favorite Christmas or holiday memory.
Journaling: I'm quite certain that Santa will bring you a gift on Christmas. After all, you weren't naughty, just unsure of this velvet-clad, bearded creature. Even with Daddy right next to you, you cried and pouted for the few seconds you were on Santa's lap. We'll have to talk him up before next year.
"Cherish this Christmas" by April Martell
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Directions for one technique I did on this layout:
I liked how the purple plaid paper from the Charisma Collection Biggie tied in with the doll's dress in the photos. However, the aqua portion of the plaid didn't go with the other colors in my page. To remedy this, I used the Eyedropper Tool to select a green color from the lower part of my background paper. Then I chose the Magic Wand Tool with "Contiguous" unchecked and the Tolerance set to 40. With my paper layer active in the Layers Palette, I clicked on a medium aqua-colored portion of the plaid which selected all the aqua in the paper. With the selection still active, I opened a Hue/Saturation adjustment and checked the Colorize box which changed the aqua to a green that went with my layout.
Software used: Adobe Photoshop CS4
Name of challenge: Create a layout about a favorite Christmas or holiday memory.
Other Ingredients:
"Slippers!" by Janine Buckles
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Directions for one technique I did on this layout:
The large photo of Evan checking out his new slippers had a really busy background. There was a lot of wrapping paper surrounding him, and while I liked the idea of ripped paper as an element of my layout, it made the photo look too messy. So I extracted him from it and then created the look of torn paper using Paula Wright's ScrapSimple Paper Templates: Ripped and Rolled. I chose two of the papers and placed them on my layout, with the smaller paper layer on top of the larger one. Then I added patterned paper on the layers above each of the ScrapSimple papers. Then, one at a time, I selected the patterned paper layer by clicking on its thumbnail image in the Layers Palette and clicked Ctrl+G (Layer> Group with Previous). That made my paper take on the shape of the ScrapSimple paper, but all of the cool ripped-and-wrinkled detail was lost, so I changed the Blending Mode of the patterned paper to "Overlay" and got exactly the look I was going for! In order to have even more depth, I applied the small shadow from ScrapSimple Tools - Actions: Deep Shadows 6501 PSE and PS Biggie to each of the ScrapSimple paper layers.
Software used: Adobe Photoshop Elements 5.0
Name of challenge: Create a layout about a favorite Christmas or holiday memory.
Other Ingredients:
Journaling: Every year you get a new pair of slippers from your cousins. One year it was bear paws, one year moose with antlers, and this year... elf shoes!
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