Archive for the ‘Thursday Tutorials’ Category
Thursday’s Tidbits – Rainbow Effect Tutorial
Hello! Crystal here, and it’s been raining A LOT where I live, so I thought I might cheer everything up with showing you a really simple way to create a rainbow effect on your photos. This is fun to do for lots of different types of photos – so just let yourself go and give it a try! I’d love to see any layouts you do with this fun technique.
This tutorial is for Photoshop – the program I’m most familiar with. If you have any questions, please ask me in the comments and I’ll try to help you out.
First, open your photo up in Photoshop. Go to “Hue/Saturation. Mine is on my right had side, but if your version is different, you can find it by going to the tool bar on top and opening, “Image>Adjustments>Hue Saturation.
Edit your “Master” setting by putting the top slider bar at 0, the second one at -70, and the third one at 0 also.
Next, create a new layer and set it to “Soft Light” under the Blend Mode. Choose a 48 px hard brush and paint the new layer as shown. You can choose whatever colors you like.
When you’re finished painting, go to Filter>Blur>Gaussian Blur and set it for 90 pixels (You can adjust this until you’re happy with the results.
Have lots of fun with this! Here are a few more samples I’ve made to show you how easy and versatile this trick can be.
Tags: digital photography, digital scrapbook, photo edititng, photo effects, photoshop tutorial, rainbow effect
Thursday’s Tip: Editing
Cammi here with Thursday’s tip. With digital photography, it’s a challenge to get the photo picture perfect without editing. There are many programs you can use to edit pictures for free, or you can purchase software. I have been a user of Adobe Photoshop Elements for about 7 years, and I love it! With most of my pictures, I will do a simple brighten and contrast adjustment and crop it down. It takes less than a minute! Sometimes I will do more detailed editing. But I never save a picture without some sort of edit to it. Just the slightest edit can make a world of difference. In the example below I have my Straight Out Of Camera (SOOC), and then the edited version. In the edit, all I did was brighten, add contrast, and crop. The picture (In my opinion!) looks so much better, and not so “blah”. Please feel free to share your own before and afters!
Original
Edit
Making the Most of Masks
I love masks! I love to make them and to use them in my layouts. Masks are versatile. You can clip your photos to them, use them behind your elements for a splash of color or use them to blend your photos into the background in interesting ways.
I have been asked multiple times how to use a mask? My pictures will be in CS5 but the steps for Photoshop Elements are the same. Once you see just how easy it is, you’ll be loving masks and all you can do with them! Please note that masks do not work in the My Memories Suite. Hopefully a future version will include this capability.
As with all things Photoshop, there are often many ways to do the same project!
First open a new document. I always start with a 12×12 300ppi file. Navigate to the folder where your mask is saved and place it in your 12×12 file.
Now, navigate to the photo you want to use. Drag and drop it onto the file with your mask.
Once you have your photo on your mask, you will need to “clip” the picture to the mask file. The short cut in photoshop is to use the ALT + CTRL + G (OPT + CMD + G for a Mac) keys to create the clipping mask. You can also hold your alt key and click the line in between the top and bottom layers. Lastly, you can right click on the top layer and select the ”create clipping mask” option. Which ever way you choose, the result should be that your photo is now clipped to your mask.
Now you can adjust your photo to fit the mask and finish your layout. I hope you enjoy playing with clipping masks as much as I do!
Thursday Tidbit: Creating a Facebook Timeline Header
Hi, there, fellow scrapbookers! This is Melissa T. bringing you the weekly Thursday Tidbit. This week we will be discussing how to make Facebook Timelines. You know, I hated this whole timeline business when Facebook started it, but just knowing that I can use my scrapbooking skills (and materials) to customize my entire page made it all the better. For this week’s tutorial, I will be demonstrating how to create a Facebook Timeline Header using the MyMemories Digital Scrapbooking Software Suite. If you haven’t purchased your copy of the number one digital scrapbooking software, then simply look to the right of this blog to find your code for $10 off the software and $10 to spend in the store. Or better yet, head over to my blogsite http://missasmuse.blogspot.com to enter my software giveaway before August 19th.
For this Facebook Timeline Header, I have used Sugar Moon’s Kit called “Peaceful Dreams.” You may find this kit at her MyMemories Store or at her Divine Digital Store under the title “Autumn Sky.”
Now, let’s get started with this week’s tutorial:How to Make a Facebook Header with MyMemories Suite.
1. Open your MyMemories Suite Software and Create a new album.
2. Choose “Design Your Own.”
3. Choose the “Custom Size” tab in the middle of the screen.
4. For a Facebook Header, set the size to 860 x 300 pixels.
5. Add whatever content you want, including papers, text, pictures, and/or embellishments.
6. When you are finished, click on “Share Album” in the far right column and select “Export.”
7. In the Export Wizard, make sure that the image type is jpeg and the image size is the size you chose for your header. You need to select the Large size for the resolution of the image, or the design will not fit into the Facebook Timeline Header. Click Finish.
8. Now open your Facebook Timeline in your browser.
9. Click on “Change Cover,” then choose “Upload Photo.”
10. Select your header file from the folder where you stored it.
11. Your header should now fit nicely into the available Facebook space.
That is all for this week. Remember to make a memory today, and keep a camera on hand to capture it!
Thursday Tidbit: Creating a Bracket Booklet
Hi, there! This is Melissa T. bringing you your weekly Thursday Tidbit. But, before I start with our weekly FREEBIE and tutorial, I would like to thank Ambie for covering for me last week. I had a lovely time at Latin convention (you might not know that I am a Latin teacher) and got to see many friends who feel like family. Sometimes, we have to take a step back and thank those who help have our back when we are too busy for hobbies.
Now, for our real treat, today I am going to share a lovely FREEBIE that comes to us from MyMemories. I hate shameless plugs, but today I am full of them. All of the new MyMemories bi-weekly free downloads are compatible with the MyMemories Software. To download my favorite freebie, please go to http://www.mymemories.com/store/share_the_memories_kit_3. This lovely free bracket book template comes
with 5 digital papers, 9 page elements, 7 quick pages, and a partridge in a pear tree. If you do not have the MyMemories Suite V3, I invite you to use the codes to the right to get $10 off the price of the software and $10 to spend in the store. For those of you who would like a chance to win a free copy of the software, head over to my blogsite www.missasmuse.blogspot.com where I will be giving away a free copy plus $10 to spend in the MyMemories Store in honor of my birthday this month. (Please excuse the 2nd shameless plug.)
The Bracket Book is a very cute idea! After designing the pages to your desire, it is easy to create a gift-worthy book of your favorite pics for the price of an ink cartridge for your printer and a ream of cardstock. For this week’s tutorial, I have used the kit “In My Pocket”, a Missy’s Bits collaborative with Barbara Ryan. You can find this kit in the m MyMemories Store at http://www.mymemories.com/store/display_product_page?id=BRDS-CP-1203-12816.
“In My Pocket”
Let’ begin our tutorial:
1. Download the freebie into you MyMemories Software.
2. Open MyMemories Suite V3 and click on “Create Album From Designer Template.”
3. Find your project labelled “BracketBook_Summer1207_STM3.”
4. Select the pages which you wish to incorporate into your book. When all is finished, you should have 3 double-sided pages for your book.
5. If you want to design your own pages, right click on the white template to lock it into place. This will allow you to import whatever papers
or embellishments and word art that you wish to use on your Bracket Book.
6. Design your pages as you desire taking care to make sure that the white template is on the very top of all the pages.
7. Select the printer option on your software and set your margins as small as possible on your printer to get the best sized book as possible.
8. Print each page on cardstock.
9. Gather all of the supplies you need including printed pages, hole-puncher, scissors, pencil, ruler, ribbon or jump-rings.
10. Cut out each page of the template along the guide lines and glue them in the order that you wish them to appear in the book.
11. Allign the cut pages.
12. Using the ruler, mark where you want to punch your holes for your ribbon or jump rings.
13. Punch two holes into the pages at the same spot on each page.
14. Use your jump-rings or ribbon to bind the booklet. Remember that the looser you tie the ribbons, the easier it will be to flip the pages.
15. Give the gift to someone special or keep as a small token for yourself.
Remember to make a memory today, and keep a camera on hand to capture it!
Thursday Tidbit: Making a CD Envelope
Hello, again, all of you avid readers of www.scrappingartistry.com! This is Melissa T. bringing you the weekly Thursday Tidbit. This week we have a customizable hybrid freebie from www.mymemories.com in the form of a CD envelope. Now, I have had my hand at hybrids, and I must say that the new freebies from MyMemories are pretty clever. You can download the freebie directly into your MyMemories program, open the template, and customize the freebie with any papers or embellishments that you have in your collection. If you do not own the MyMemories Software, I highly recommend purchasing it. Look to the right of this post for a $10 coupon. For this template, I have used Sugar Moon’s Kit entitled “Smitten,” which can be found at her Divine Digital store.
"Smitten" by Sugar Moon Designs
So, without further delay, I will begin with the tutorial.
1. Download the template at http://www.mymemories.com/store/share_the_memories_kit_1 into your MyMemories Software.
2. Open the MyMemories Software and choose Create Album from Designer Template.
3. Find you project Labeled CD-Envelope-Summer1207-01 and select a title for your new project.
4. Select any page you choose to begin your project.
5. First, right-click on the white guide to lock it into place. You may then choose to alter the template (look under the Decorations heading for all of the downloaded papers, elements, and alphabet) or delete every object and start from scratch with papers, elements, and alphabets as you choose.
6. Save the template.
7. Click on the File tab and select a page to print on cardstock.
8. Gather all of the supplies you need to make the CD Envelope including scissors, ruler, and rubber cement.
9. Take the printed envelope and fold on all fold lines. There should be a total of 4 folds.
10. Cut along the outside edges using scissors.
11. Fold the 2 side flaps in towards the middle and apply glue along the side edges of the back piece. 12. Push the back piece up to adhere the sides and the back together. This will form your envelope.
13. Fill with a mini CD full of music or pictures, give to a friend, and watch their eyes light up with joy. ( After making this project, I learned that the envelope is too small for a regular sized CD.)
Remember to make a memory today, and keep a camera on hand to capture it!
Thursday Tidbits: How to Plant an Herb Garden
Hi, there everyone! This is Melissa T. bringing you your weekly Thursday Tidbit. It has been almost 100 degrees each day for the past week here in North Carolina, and I must say that it isn’t pretty…especially when you don’t have air conditioning in your car. In my quest to stay cool, I have ventured indoors, and while sitting in the quietude of my bedroom instead of playing in the sun, I have put on a few extra pounds. At least that is what the lovely little chart that my doctor showed me today said. The thing is, that I love food. I love to cook. And nothing seems better than grilled fruit with fresh herbs from my now heat-stricken herb garden.
This is the perfect time of year for growing your own herb garden, and you don’t need a lot of space in which to do it. I take up about 6 square feet on my front porch for my plethora of goodies. There are two things which you need to do before planting an edible paradise: 1- decide where you would like to place your herbs (afternoon sun is usually best) and 2- decide which herbs your family will use on a regular basis. I see no reason why one should take up valuable porch space/deck space for herbs that serve no purpose. For that reason alone, this year I nixed lavender. Also, you will want to start with a few herbs and add a few more each year until you are at a comfortable size for your palate and pocketbook. At this point in the year, you will want to buy already sprouted herbs that are about 4″ to 8″ tall.
Supplies you will need for a patio edible garden:
Plastic pots that are big enough for the amount of herbs you are growing (I recommend 3 separate pots: 1- for basil which will grow tall until the first frost 2- for mint which will grow like a weed and choke out other plants and 3- one large pot for all of your other herbs either in windowbox form or large, circular, and deep.)
herbs of your choosing (I grow basil, mint, curly parsley, Italian flat-leaf parsley, sage, rosemary, thyme, and oregano. As you can see, we like Mediterranean food.)
gardening gloves
5-8 lbs. potting soil with or without fertilizer depending on whether you want an organic garden
trowel
watering can
To Build a Patio Edible Garden:
1. Decide which herbs you wish to grow.
2. Purchase already sprouted herbs as desired ($2-$4 is average for a good-sized plant).
3. Remove plants one at a time and place them in designated pots. Remember to keep your basil and mint in their own pots. Almost all other herbs can be grouped together.
4. Place potting soil in each pot taking care to cover all of the roots and the bottom inch or so of the plant itself. Fill in all of the space surrounding the plant and root system.
5. Water your plants from the top to set the potting soil. After setting, you will want to water the bottom of the plant so that the roots will get enough water. Even the cheapest of pots at Wal-Mart or Lowes Home Improvement Center will have a whole near the bottom of the pot to insert your water.
6. Water your herbs daily to ensure optimal growth. Pick herbs from the top of the plant since they will get larger first then block the sun from the other plants.
7. Research recipes containing your herbs at www.freshherbs.com or a similar site. I have found that this site is written by farmers and it offers a wide range of advice and recipes.
8. Combine fresh herbs with the fresh produce you grab weekly from your CSA, farmer’s market. or local farmer. This may take a little more research to find, but it is well worth the price for the value. Plus, you can incorporate this trip into your weekly errands and the kids will enjoy tasting all of the fresh goodies and seeing from where their food actually comes.
9. Enjoy your fresh herbs until the first frost. If planted in pots (as I do), you will need to repeat this process again next year.
Websites for fresh herbs recipes:
http://www.wholeliving.com/136698/fresh-herb-recipes/@center/136760/seasonal-foods
http://www.vegetariantimes.com/
http://homecooking.about.com/od/allherbrecipes/Herb_Recipes.htm
http://www.myrecipes.com/t/vegetables/fresh-herbs/
Having an Edible Garden is a project your family will enjoy all summer long, from planning to planting, cooking to eating! Remember to make a memory today and be sure to have a camera on hand to capture it. Happy Gardening!
Thursday Tidbits: Repurposing Jewelry to Make New Glam – Pearl Hair Pins
Hi, there, all of you readers in blogland! This is Melissa T. bringing you another Thursday Tidbit. I don’t know how life is with all of you, but here in North Carolina, school is out for the summer, the temperature is 80+ degrees, and that means summer is here! Nothing says “summer” more to me than lemonade, seersucker dresses, and the smell of midnight jasmine. But I am sure that harkens back to the days when I lived in New Orleans before Hurricane Katrina. Now, I have to find new sights and scents that remind me of the season I love the most.
Just last month, I was reminiscing with my grandma on days of old, and we just happened to end up in her jewelry box. Jewelry boxes hold more than just treasures; they hold memories. And for our purposes today, they hold pieces of broken, unwanted, long-forgotten goodies. Once my grandma watched me obsessing over her broken strand of costume pearls, she pushed them in my direction and told me that I would enjoy them more than she would now. Pearls just aren’t her “thing” since she got her ears pierced 10 years ago. I immediately thought of restringing the pearls, creating a “new” fashionable necklace that would go with my seersucker dress. However, lovely that may seem, I have a pearl necklace, earrings, and bracelets for just such occasion. What I need for the summer is a little bit of “lagniappe,” (pronounced lan-yap) a Cajun word meaning “a little something extra.” So what I have for you today is a relatively modern piece of repurposed glam: pearl hair clips.
So, if you are interested in making a lovely piece of hair-flair for less than a trip to McDonald’s, then simply follow these steps.
Materials needed:
pearls – repurposed or purchased at a local craft store for $1
2 bobby pins or similar clips
Hot glue gun and glue
wax paper
acetone nail polish remover
paper towels
lemonade
Instructions:
1. Rub each pearl gently with acetone nail polish remover in order to extricate any glue that may be found on repurposed pearls. If you have bought them, skip this step.
2. Insert a thin strip of wax paper into each hair clip separating the front from the back.
3. Using a low-heat glue gun, apply a thin layer of hot glue to the outside of the bobby pins.
4. Line the pearls in a row directly onto the hot glue and press firmly. Hold for 30 seconds then allow to cool.
5. Wear your new glam with a stylish bob and seersucker dress.
6. Drink lemonade, and reminisce (since that is what I will be doing!).
Remember to make a memory today and keep a camera on hand to capture it!
Thursday Tidbits: Random Acts of Art Kindness Postcards
Hi there all of you lovely, artistic readers! This is Melissa T. here with your weekly Thursday Tidbit. This week, I would like to share with you a concept that I learned on the website Milliande: An Art Community for Women. Everyone has heard of Random Acts of Kindness, but have you ever heard of Random Acts of Art Kindness (RAAK)? This concept is pretty simple to accomplish and is sort of a karmic pay-it-forward. First, you pick a random person in your art community (on Milliande there is an entire group with people signed to send and receive RAAKs), then you send them a little piece of art to brighten their day. You always get bills, sales flyers, and more bills in your mailbox. How wonderful it is to open the mailbox to find a lovely piece of art from a total stranger! I love it so much that I have an entire memo board filled with these Random Acts of Art Kindness in my bedroom to remind me that you do not need an occasion to celebrate the artist that resides within yourself.
Unfortunately, the price of postage keeps rising and not many of us have the time or energy to prepare large numbers of Artist Trading Cards or Matchbox Shrines to send to total strangers. So, at Milliande, the members have instituted a group that sends Postcard RAAKs. Can you imagine getting a whole new piece of art for $0.32? To do this you will first need to pick the size of your postcard. I usually use a 4″x6″ template because you can fit two on a vertical 8″x11.5″ piece of cardstock, and it gives you more room for your creation. I have created a PDF for you to use for the front of your postcard. Simply design the front of the cardstock, cut out each card, flip it over, address the back, place a stamp, and write a short but sweet message to whomever you choose.
Now, you may ask,”Melissa T., what has this to do with scrapbooking?” Recently, I have discovered that by using GIMP 2.0, my template, and all of the “Outside Content” downloaded in my scrapbooking file on my computer, I can create a lovely postcard digitally without ever having to break out my drawing pens or sketching pencils. I don’t know if this is cheating, but I put as much time into it as I would have if I had created the postcard manually. If you would like to try this technique to send a RAAK postcard, simply follow the steps listed.
1. Open GIMP 2.0.
2. Click the File tab and select Open from the dropdown menu.
3. Select the template for the RAAK Postcard Front from wherever you have saved it and click “Import” into
the new document.
4. Click the File tab again and select Open from the menu.
5. Choose a background paper from your “Outside Content” scrapbooking file. THis will open in a new window.
6. Shrink the size of the paper to 4″x6″, click on the edit tab, and select copy.
7. Paste the paper onto the template and resize it accordingly. Once in place, you may begin adding embellishments,
word art, or extra papers as you see fit by following the directions 4-6. GIMP 2.0 allows you to manipulate the images
in many ways, so use your creativity just as you would if creating a page in a scrapbook.
8. Save the document and print it on white cardstock.
I have created a sample for you to print and use from Simplicity from Missy’s Bits which may be found at MyMemories and Divine Digital.
You may use it to start your own RAAK train. My fingers are crossed, hoping that one will end up in my own mailbox soon. And as always, make a memory today, and be sure to have a camera on hand to capture it!
Thursday Tidbits: GIMP and Moleskine – Hybrid Projects
Welcome to another Thursday Tidbits with Melissa T.! This week instead of talking explicitly about how to use your digital scrapbooking software, I would like to share with you a way that you can use your “Outside Content” that you have now downloaded and organized on your computer or external hard drive. Like many of you, I am quite creative, so I belong to several online art communities. The one I enjoy the most is Milliande: An Art Community for Women. It is filled with inspired women who love to create art in all forms (and it is free!), share ideas, and swap art. I encourage all of our artsy female readers to take the time to join. It was here that I learned about GIMP, an artsy shareware program that allows you to create all forms of art on your computer. You may find a small user manual under the Help tab if you would like to start there. I chose to dive in and learned the very hard way.
Besides digital scrapbooking, I love to journal. My favorite journal to create art in is called a Moleskine. The journals come in a variety of styles and papers, but I prefer the blank large sketch journal since I keep all of my art, magazine clippings, journal entries,and poetry in one place. Several years ago, while perusing the Moleskine website, I found My MSK. You may register for free (you either think that I am cheap or poor by now), and then you can download a ton of PDFs depending upon your needs and interests. By using the blank journal, you can print off all of the other styles of paper and glue them into your journal to make one big book of ideas. My favorite freebies on this website are the blank Moleskine Sleeves, MUse boxes, and Dice. These allow you to print out designs on the paper of your
choosing (I use cardstock.), cut and glue according to instructions, and decorate as you wish. Don’t worry if you have no idea where to start since learning is the fun part. They offer plenty of samples by renowned artists from which to choose should you prefer that to making your own.
So, recently, I decided to combine my love for scrapbooking and digital art with my love for journaling. First, I opened GIMP 2.0. Then I selected the “File” tab and clicked on “Open” tab. This allows you to select a file on your computer to import into GIMP 2.0. Next, I selected the file in which the blank Moleskine sleeve was saved. Within seconds, you will see the blank Moleskine sleeve inside your GIMP 2.0 software.Now you can begin to paint, create word art, and decorate your sleeve as you see fit. I, however, chose to create a sleeve for notes for my nephew from “In My Pocket” from Missy’s Bits. To create your own sleeve, leave the page open with the Moleskine sleeve on it. Select “File”, “Open”, and then choose the item you wish to import onto the Moleskine sleeve from you “Outside Content” digital scrapbooking file. THis will open a new file which you can then manipulate according to your wishes. Please note: You must think ahead to layer your objects from the bottom up! I selected a paper as my background. Then, I selected the button to adjust the size of the paper. The Moleskine sleeve is about 700×1000 pixels, so you will want to shrink the size of the paper. After that, right-click on the image and select “Edit” then “Cut”. You may now switch screens to the blank Moleskine sleeve and “Paste” the image onto the sleeve image. Adjust the size to fit the outline of the template before double clicking on the image to “Fasten” it to your template. Click on the button with the dotted circle (“Free Select”) to create a shape which you will then “Cut” off your template. You will need to do this by free-hand, so it doesn’t always look perfect, but it works. “Cut” the triangular edges off the fastened paper to match the design of the Moleskine sleeve. You should now have the background of the sleeve in the paper of your choosing with 5 empty areas outside the dotted lines. Now select the “Fill” button. It looks like a paint-can pouring out paint (“Bucket Fill”) and click on the black box at the bottom of the Toolbox. Note: it is easier to keep the Toolbox Window open on top of the image you are manipulating. You will then select the appropriate color you want for the bottom and side of the sleeve and click on all of the empty spaces left on the template. THe hard part is now complete!
To insert scrapbook images, borders, wordart, and clusters, you will have to open each one individually the same way that you did the paper, cut, and paste onto the new template. I suggest shrinking the image before cutting and pasting on the template. Use the blue arrow button (“Move Tool”) to actually move the object to the place you want it on the template, and the blue boxes with curved arrows button (“Rotate Tool”) to rotate the item as you prefer. Use the button with the black “A”(“Text Tool”) to create any word art that you wish to have. The text tool will allow you to choose the font and the colors you wish to use as well.
So, for this week, I have created a PDF using “In My Pocket” as a gift to you. You may print it, cut, fold, and glue to create a cute sleeve that is the perfect size for 3X5 index cards, mini-sized Moleskine journals, or even Artist Trading Cards. Have fun using these two new tools. The possibilities are endless! Go make a memory today, and make sure that you have a camera on hand to capture it!
After printing out your template, you will need scissors, glue, and something to fold the paper with to finish this hybrid project.
Cut out the template along the solid lines and fold on the dotted lines.
Fold along the dotted lines, glue the white spaces where instructed, and press the sides of the paper together firmly so that the blue side in on the outside and the glue on the inside of the folder.
Your finished project will be a 3"x 5" file folder that will hold any little paper items you desire. Enjoy!
Tags: GIMP, Hybrid Projects, Milliande, missy's bits, Moleskine
