Hello everyone! :o)  It’s Kylie here today and I’m dropping in quickly to share the next set of layered templates for projectScrap 2012! Yipee!!  I fell a little behind with scrapping my June pages (a nasty winter flu had a huge hand in that!!…ick!) but I’m literally bursting at the seams to scrap my July pages.  I LOVE the new templates and have lots of photos & lots of ideas…perfect!!  How about you?…how are you going with your album…up-to-date & having FUN, I hope??  I must admit though, when I first designed this template duo I was a bit ho-hum about it…I couldn’t quite see its potential.  Then…SP added her fantabulous seasonal color scheme & a few special SP touches…and made them shine…I love how she does that!!  What a team!! LOL!!

You can click on the image below…or, CLICK HERE to download your NEW templates!!

Are you new to project SCRAP? …well then, if you are not familiar with our little scrap project (if you ARE familiar with it, skip this paragraph, as always, lol)… THIS POST is a great place to learn more! Also, if you click on the PROJECT SCRAP 2012 category (on the right side of the blog)…you can ALWAYS easily find ALL posts related to the subject! It’s your go-to place if you want to keep up with everything in 2012! But, as a quick little reminder… here is the project in a nutshell:::

I hope you are enjoying taking your pictures each week…& can’t wait to see them all scrapped and looking gorgeous with the help of these sparkly new templates!!  Be sure to post your finished July layouts in our specially-dedicated 2012 project scrap GALLERY…we ALL love to see how everyone works with the very latest project SCRAP templates…as well as all the beautiful Shabby Shoppe products - of course! :o)  SP will be posting her July ‘check-in’ in a few weeks time and will be including some gallery inspiration…so stay tuned for that post!

Thanks for checking in with the Shabby Shoppe Blog, today!  Wishing everyone a wonderful end of week and we’ll see you back here on Monday for another special Layout of the Week!  XOXO

KylieFree (not desktops), project Scrap 2012, Uncategorized 8 Comments

Hello Shabby Shoppe readers!  This is Rosy, here to talk (write) about a favorite little trick of mine involving blending modes in Photoshop; more specifically, the Soft Light blending mode.  This is by far the blend mode that I use the most!  Actually, I would be satisfied if there were only two blending modes in PSE as long as they were Soft Light and Multiply! :)

So what do I do with the Soft Light blending mode?  First, let’s talk about what this blend mode does.  Soft Light will multiply the dark tones and screen the light tones, so any blacks will become a darker version of the background color and whites will become a lighter version of the background color.  There are many uses for this in photo editing, but on scrapbook paper this is what it will look like.

I often use this on fonts and brushwork to get a softer look; but that’s not all!  This works well to make your own tone-on-tone papers.  Sometimes you have a beautiful solid paper that needs just a little pattern for a finished look to your page.  Here’s one way to add some pattern to your paper.

(note: these instructions are shown in Photoshop Elements 9)

1. Open a solid (or almost solid) paper and a paper that has the pattern that you’d like to add.

2. Layer the patterned paper on top of the solid paper.

3. Convert the patterned paper to black and white using whatever method you prefer.  (I usually adjust it to have more contrast.)

4. With your patterned paper selected, go to the drop down box with blending modes and select Soft Light.

Now your paper has a tone-on-tone pattern!

You can lower the opacity or duplicate the patterned layer, depending on the look you want.  Another option is to invert the black and white layer.  It’s a great way to stretch your stash of digital papers and use SP’s beautiful patterned papers with any color palette!

Here is a page that I’ve scrapped using this trick.  The background paper and the purple patterned paper have been blended and the title and date both have the Soft Light blend mode applied as well!

Thank you for stopping in at the Shabby Shoppe blog and I hope you find this trick useful!

Tomorrow Kylie will be here with the projectSCRAP July templates for us!

RosyTips and Tricks, Uncategorized 16 Comments

Happy Monday everyone!  Casharina here with this week’s LOTW post!!  As usual, this was a terribly difficult choice because there are so many beautiful, creative, and inspiring layouts shared here in our gallery.  I always find lots of inspiration when looking at the many talented scrappers who share their work with us each day!  So without further ado here is my choice for this week, titled: “Last day of First Grade!” created by con01008.

There are so many parts of this layout that inspire me to get creative with my own scrapping style.  I believe my favorite elements of this page are the Hopscotch SCHOOL additions pencils and the way she has tied them together with the little ribbon to create the perfect little cluster…I love clusters and continue to try to improve my own!  I also adore how she was able to layer in the various papers from the Heartfelt collection to help give depth to her layout, topping them off with the perfect ribbon from Hopscotch.  I love how well these two kits complement one another.  Thank you con01008 for sharing this beautiful layout with us!

 Once again, congratulations con01008, for sharing your layout with us, please be sure to check your email along with your spam folder for a $10 gift card to enjoy some shoppe’ing fun!

Thanks for stopping by!  Join us on Wednesday for a tips & tricks post!

CasharinaLayout of the Week, Uncategorized 4 Comments

Happy Friday everyone!  This is Kim here today to share with you a little hybrid project I’ve been working on with my children.  You see, my oldest son is heading to Kindergarten when school starts again, and his preschool teachers have done such a great job of getting him excited about it.  He loves school and anything involving learning and I am definitely one to encourage a love of learning.  So when he saw that a friend of his had a “school” calendar at home, he decided he needed one for his own room.  He actually created his own calendar with construction paper and markers – it was too cute!  But… it wasn’t quite as functional as he had hoped!  It was then and there that I promised him we would make one together this summer.  Which brings us to this hybrid project post today!  Here is our creation.

I wanted to keep this project as simple as possible, as I knew I would have some not-so-patient helpers!  And the first thing I needed was a blank calendar grid that could be used to build each month.  Instead of trying to create one from scratch, I used a page from an SP two-page calendar.  (Note that the two-page calendars have a top and bottom page, but I used only the bottom for this project.)  I made only a few modifications to it.  One was to add a place for the day’s weather (because this was a big deal to my son).  I also tweaked the design to make it into a 14″ x 11″ size.  I wanted to do this so my calendar would be just a little bit bigger and print out as a standard size photo.  Since I was going to frame this calendar, I wanted a standard size so I could find a frame.  I printed the calendar at a photo lab, and it was ready for my project.  And wasn’t this SP design perfect for my project?

The next thing I needed to do was create the squares that would be put on the calendar each month for the numbers, special dates, and weather.  I wanted to be able to print these at a photo lab too, so I made 6″ x 4″ files to print.  I realize that if you were going to print these at home, this wouldn’t be necessary.  But here is what I did.  To be sure the squares I designed were the right size, I opened up the calendar base and drew a square shape in one of the calendar squares.

Then I copied this square into my 6″ x 4″ file that I would later print.  This made sure the size of my squares would be right.

I repeated the same process to make the month names.  I was able to fit 4 months on a 7″ x 5″ image.  So what I sent to the lab to print were 6″ x 4″ files with the number squares and 7″ x 5″ files with the month names.

Not only did I create numbers, but I made a list of all the special dates I wanted to have a special square for (birthdays, holidays, the list would be different for each family).  I also made the weather squares that my son requested and I left a few squares blank in case I wanted to write in something that came up later.  SP has a lot of great elements in her kits that helped me design these squares, and I will give all the credits when I post this project to the gallery.  Here is a sampling of my squares.

Once I had designed and printed the calendar, squares, and names, the rest was pretty easy to put together.  This was the part the kids enjoyed the most too!

The supplies I used were:

• My printed 14″ x 11″ blank calendar
• A frame for the calendar (with glass)
• My printed calendar squares and month names
• Paper cutter (or scissors)
• Laminating machine and laminating pages (if you don’t have a machine available, they do make self-sealing laminating pages)
• Velcro circles (mine came with adhesive on the back).  You will need enough for all of the month names and squares you are making, so count them up before you go to purchase the velcro.

This is how to put the calendar together:

• Frame the blank calendar.
• Cut out all the squares and month names and laminate them.  A tip if you haven’t done much laminating: It’s best to cut out each piece, then laminate them separately, then cut them out again.  If you laminate the whole sheet of squares together, then cut them out, you don’t leave a rim of the laminating sheet around each piece to hold it together firmly.
• Attach one side of the velcro to the blank calendar in the places you will want to attach month names and squares.  I debated on whether I would leave the glass in the frame or not at this point.  I decided to leave the glass in and adhere the velcro directly to the glass.  I was afraid that if I left the calendar in the frame without the glass, the repeated process of taking the squares off the calendar (by not-so-gentle hands) would eventually rip the calendar.  With the glass there, I avoid that problem.
• Attach the other side of the velcro to the backs of the month names and squares.
• Get started using the calendar by putting the squares on for your first month!

That’s it!  Pretty simple, but something that is a big hit at my house.  My son doesn’t actually put the whole month on the calendar at once.  Each day he adds the square for that day and changes the weather.  I think this is how they did the calendar at preschool.  I have enjoyed watching him… he is quite proud of his calendar!

I hope you’ve enjoyed seeing our little project too.  Have a great weekend and stop back by the blog on Monday as Casharina reveals our next Layout of the Week!  Bye!

KimHybrid Projects, Uncategorized 6 Comments

 Hello project SCRAPPERS :o)  SP here with you today…for our JUNE project SCRAP check-in!  I’ll keep this one short and sweet…since this is really all about the inspiration :o)  HOWEVER, since we are now technically in the second half of the year…it’s a great time to see if we are all up-to-date on our pages?  How about a little ROLL-CALL?  If you are still with us – leave a comment and let us know how you are doing with this years’ project SCRAP so far?  Enjoying it?  If you’re behind – never fear…we are not so far in that we can’t get back up-to-speed :o)  Just don’t wait too long or you might find it too overwhelming to catch back up!  Can’t wait to hear how everyone is doing so far!

In the event you missed the JUNE project SCRAP 2012 pages - you can download them HERE :o)

So…June was yet another busy month for us…full of family time, celebrations and travel!  Of course…Father’s Day was a big part of the month – so fun :o)  I also got to spend some quality time with my precious little niece (a total highlight)…and lots more!  Here are my pages (I did a little bit of tweaking to the temlate to suit my photos, etc.)…

 Now, for more inspiration - let’s start with lil_goldie’s CUTE pages!  Love the color palette here…and the focus on dad :o) And the title is super fun, too!

 Next we have Kim’s layouts!  Totally love all of the fun little embellishments and details…AND, can I just say that it looks like a full and fun month (as her perfect title indicates – ‘the great summer adventure’)!  FANTASTIC!

 Rosys’ pictures always capture my attention, and this month is no exception!  The strawberry pic immediately grabbed me, and just screamed SUMMER!  Love how she added extra pics…and all of the titles on the photos!  AWESOME!

 Now, I had to smile when I came across jessg26′s pages…as she and I had some similarities in our layouts!  I just thought it funny how we both used the same gingham bows…the star on a string…yellow backgrounds…and even recolored the same little birdie element, lol!  LOVE IT!  And, I have to say that the main photo is breathtaking and total perfection :o)  What a perfect daddy’s day pic – one I’m sure they will always treasure!

 And we wrap up our inspiration with Amber’s gorgeous and happy pages!  That beach picture is just calling my name, lol!  Fabulous summer layouts and colors, with lots of CUTE pics – LOVE IT ALL :o)

And, as I have done the past couple of months, I wanted to share a little ‘sneak peek’ of the JULY project SCRAP pages to come :o)  Aren’t they adorable?  Kylie will be sharing them with you next Thurdsay…

 That completes our mid-year/June check-in…again – don’t forget to leave a comment so we know how your year of scrapping is coming along!  And, as always – we would LOVE to see YOUR pages in our project SCRAP 2012 gallery :o)

Thanks so much for stopping by today…and for scrapping 2012 along with us :o)  You won’t want to miss the BLOG tomorrow as Kim shares some FANTABULOUS hybrid inspiration (I peeked and it’s awesome, he he)!  ENJOY your day/night and have lots of fun scrapping!  XOXO — SP

Shabby Princessproject Scrap 2012, Uncategorized 11 Comments