02/05/09 My Layouts & Class Update

So here I am... in this digital scrapbooking class (jessicasprague.com), and I'm thinkin'.... I have SO MUCH TO LEARN.

Photoshop never ceases to amaze me at all the wonderful, amazing things it can do! I can't even list them here yet, because I'm not quite sure yet of all that I've done! I'm gonna have to go back to my tutorial for the references in order to get a list compiled, sheesh!

For a minute I thought that maybe this class was a bit over my head. But only for a minute.

Or less.

Because I then realized that, Hey, I can do all this stuff~ I just need to do it over and over and over and over again. Until it all sticks!

Somehow I keep forgetting that part. ;)

We're now into Week 3, so I have a couple of layouts to show you! This first one here was a speed scrap with a 30 min. time frame... from start to finish. Including the photo that was to be used. And I must admit that this was very first speed scrap...E.V.E.R. (So be kind.) I kept going back and forth with myself about whether or not to be intimidated.

I'm happy to say though that the non-intimidation side of myself won out in the end. And I turned it in just how you see it below, without drop shadows as I ran out of time at the end.

And I have absolutely no info whatsoever for this layout.
I know~ I'm so sorry. Very not like me.
(And if you were wondering, that's a diorama my daughter made for school for the walrus.
Yep, that's supposed to be a walrus.)

Then there's this wonderful looking page next. (As opposed to the above layout...)

Week 2 NKOTB 2008 From KPertiet: Papers Cotton Easter-red, GraphNotepaper, KingMePaper,
Overlays GraphicSunPrintsOV, Elements StickPinzRndTag
From Jessica Sprague: JSprague_4_squareTemplate, JSprague_grungeFrame1
Fonts: Asman, Century Gothic

This is what we made for Week 2, and we learned how to:
Create a grungy-edged focal photo
Clean up color casts on photos
Practice hotkeys for opening, creating, and closing documents, and creating new layers
Use a four-square template to create a circular photo block
Create reversed-out journaling strips
Darken paper edges for dramatic effect
Re-color and blend an overlay


Then to bring you current~ here's last Monday's layout.

Week 3 Super Fly 2009
From KPertiet: FairyDreamer-8, BotanistNo7-2, BrownStitching,
OntheEdgeFluorishes2-1G, OntheEdgeFluorishes3-6G, SnapFrames, Katie_Quotes
From JSprague: RedSolid,
Brushes: DD_MWISE_A_LA_MODE_Brushes_Scroll3, Jack-n-MeAlpha_blank
Fonts: American Typewriter

And this is what we made for Week 3, where we learned how to:
Create a layout using a sampled color scheme
Cut patterned paper without cutting
Sharpen photos
Create a mask with a combination of brushes and drawing tools
Cut and paste to resize frames
Create a custom brush from an image file
Add a semi-transparent photo to the background of our layout

Seriously, I *love* this class. I'm learning a lot, and a bunch of shortcuts (finally), and creating some rockin' layouts in the process.

Thanks for lookin' and listenin'!
~Amie

01/26/09

Hey Everybody~ sorry there's no freebie list up today. I know~ Bummer! I'm kinda put out by it too. BUT~ Mondays are full of all sorts of never-a-moments rest for me these days.

Although~ I am happy to say that for the time being, as of today, I am able to say that I have one less obligation to attend to on Mondays. My daughter is no longer in dance at the place where she's been, and we've not yet found the next location/teacher for her. So I have a bit of a break ahead of me for the next few weeks! Yay!

I'll tell ya what~ Mondays really wear me out!

And due to the constant PhotoBucket hacking/listing on my site... I've decided to change where I get my template from. (no, I currently do not make my own backgrounds...yet.)

So I hope you aren't too surprised with it. Or too bothered by the change.

Me likey you looky my bloggie.

And that's about as far as I'm going tonight, since it's already technically tomorrow.

Thanks ya'll!

1/23/09 Layout

So I'm completely taken with all of the classes available for digital scrapbooking!

Check 'em all out over at jessicasprague.com! I'm currently in a class called 'Now We're Rockin' with Photoshop', a digital scrapbooking class for intermediates.

LOVE IT!

This week was only week 1 and I'm already SO glad I signed up. And just look at what I did!

Always Remember Papers: Trish Jones
Torn Paper: KPertiet
Alpha: mfen september afternoon alpha
Heart Element: JSprague
Brushes: JGaylor Valentine, JSprague Rounded Corners
Font: Century Gothic
Actions on Photo: Pioneer Woman Set 1; Fresh & Colorful, Pioneer Woman Set 2; Bring On the Eyes
Photoshop CS2

Ye-heya! We did a ton on this layout here. The coolest part was that it was all on a video tutorial! Can I just say, "TH-HANK YOU!"? Because I am, oh so very much so, a hands-on-learner.

Do as I do. Ever heard of that? Yeh~ that's it. That works. (for me.)

So we got down and dirty and up to our elbows in techique and everything!

This is what we did:

Changed a color pic to a sepia tone
Created a mask and let color peak through at the focus point
(the ball in my case above- not *that* great, I know... I'm working on it.)
Used the curled edges paper over the photo
Created guidlines for the columned jornaling (nice and handy technique there)
Used an overlay for the outside edges
Stamped with a brush (white hearts on the photo)
Copied and Pasted the Alpha
Rounded Corner Edges (w/a brush)
And more that I'm sure I forgot to add here.
A few more things.
I'm just goin' off the top of my head here.

So! Fun stuff, right?! Now I've gotta go and practice some more on my own so it all sticks. Isn't there some saying or study out there that says if you use repetition 7 times it'll be committed to your memory?

Right.

I'm gonna go get busy then!