Hello everyone!  This is Kim here today with a bit of scrapbooking inspiration.  It’s that time again… the beginning of another year.  I know the beginning of a year makes us think of all sorts of things, but for us as scrap bookers, it often means the beginning of scrap projects!  I don’t know if that makes you excited or intimidated or both!!  I do know that sometimes the thought of starting a big scrap project can be overwhelming and I get asked a lot by friends how I get “organized” to start a scrapbook.  Since these people know me and my obsession with taking pictures, I think what they mean is “How do you take the mountain of photos you have and make that into a scrapbook?”  I’m not sure I have a simple answer to that question, and really there are lots of ways people organize their photos and scrapbooks.  But I am going to share a few of my thoughts on scrapbooking with you and hopefully you can take some inspiration from these thoughts to help you get started in scrapping 2012 (or whatever project you are working on).  So here it is… my “top ten” list of scrapbook advice!

Now for a little more about each of my top ten items. 

 Consider what the purpose of the scrapbook is:  What is it you are trying to capture and want to remember when you look back at your book?  For example, the baby books I have done for my children were meant to capture their first year in detail.  I wanted to include lots of little stats like what they weighed and when they first rolled over and what their first food was.  These books will be given to them when they are older so that hopefully when they have children and enjoy all those milestones, they can look back and see their own.  However, when I create my family yearbooks, I don’t include quite as many of those details.  Point is, think about what YOU want to show in your book, and let that help you decide what is important to be included.

 Set certain times to sort through pictures and pick what will go in your scrapbook:  This is one of the most important things I do myself to stay organized through a year of taking pictures.  Why?  Because our lives are busy and if you don’t set a goal for yourself and be intentional about it, it probably won’t happen.  (This is my experience at least!!)  For me, I stop at the end of each month and look at all the pictures I’ve taken.  I copy all the pictures I want to include in my scrapbook to a certain folder in my computer I’ve set up for this.  The folder can be deleted later when the scrapbook is done so you don’t have two copies of the same pictures.  But I find it helps me to have the pictures I want to scrap set aside in a certain place. 

 Keep a running list of layouts/pages you want in your book:  Once I have my folder of pictures for the month, I go ahead and organize them so I know what pages they will go on in my scrapbook.  Because I am a list person, I keep a list of the pages I still need to work on.  One good thing about this is that it helps me make sure there is not a single page layout that will not have another single page layout to print next to it.  In grouping my pictures, some things are easy.  If there’s a big event like a birthday, I know those all go together in a birthday layout.  Some things are harder and take a little more creativity to decide how to group them.  This is one of the things I have come to love about Project Scrap 2011.  I can take several of the “random” pictures from my month that I love and intentionally include them in my book with a journaling overview of our month.  I intend to keep doing this as we start up Project Scrap 2012… coming this Thursday!

 Be realistic about how much time you have to scrap: Let’s face it.  We love to scrap, but it’s not the most important thing in our lives.  So I think it’s important to be real about the amount of time we have.  Two things can help you be real about the time you have to scrap.  Number one, pick a reasonable number of pictures to scrap.  For me, I may take 200 photos each month, but I only have 50-75 that make the cut for my scrapbook!  There’s no way I can scrap every photo I take!  I say that just as an example.  Your number may be different than mine, but make a realistic decision about what you will have time to scrap.  Number two, remember that it’s OK to simplify the design of some of your pages.  You may not be able to create a masterpiece layout for all your pages in the time you have.  I very often do some “collage” style pages with simple design when I am getting behind on my scrapbook.  Although I love to spend a lot of time on a layout and think over every detail, I can’t do that in every page of every project.  It’s OK to simplify!  And I might add that there are great products in the Shoppe that can help you too.  Take a look at the piece-a-cake pages and easy-as-pie templates for some great ways to get layouts done more quickly.

 Write down things you want to remember as they happen: If you like to include journaling in your scrapbooks, it is helpful to record things as they happen.  There are a ton of ways to do this and different ways work for different people.  I would just encourage you to be intentional about doing it!

 Try not to get behind:  Let’s face it.  It can be hard not to get behind!  When I mentioned that I look at my pictures at the end of each month and figure out which I’m going to scrap and group them by pages, I would love to add, “Then I go ahead and scrap all of the layouts from that month.”  Sometimes that may happen.  Other times, it just can’t happen!  That’s why I like to do what I can to stay organized and keep a list of what I want to work on.  But I will say that I do attempt not to get too far behind.  It’s always my goal!!

 Research book printers and pick one before you start:  SP talked about this in her post to close Project Scrap 2011.  She had a lot of great advice, so I won’t repeat what she said here.  I do agree with her that it is best if possible to know what printer you will use before you begin a project and to follow their bleed and trim guidelines.  It will save you time and headache later.  One other comment I would add about book printers is that I find it helpful to know what their page limit is.  One popular book printer I have used works great when I am doing a shorter book, but will not work for my family yearbooks, which go over their 100-page limit.  You may not know how many pages your book will be at the start, but you don’t want to be surprised when you go to print and find there is a page limit.

 Don’t forget the simple moments:  It’s sometimes the everyday pictures and moments that will mean the most, so make a point to capture those too!

 Stick to your style:  I admit that I forget this sometimes myself.  There is a lot of GREAT inspiration shared on blogs and galleries, especially our Shabby Shoppe gallery.  And you should use that to inspire you.  But you should not feel that your layouts need to look like everyone else’s.  Make them your own!  Create layouts that will make you proud because they come from your creativity.  And related to this, I would encourage you if you are new to scrapbooking not to become discouraged if you can’t do everything you’d like to from the very beginning.  Trust me, if you could see my first digital scrapbook, you would see how simple I started out!  But you know what?  It still records that year of my family’s life and I am glad I have it.  So feel good about what you create!! 

  And last but not least… Have FUN!!  That’s what it’s about, right??

I hope there’s something I’ve shared today that helps as you get started with your next scrap project.  I know many of you are getting ready for Project Scrap 2012, which SP will kick off here on the blog this Thursday!  It really is a great way to know that you are not alone in scrapping your year.  There will be beautiful (FREE!) templates given away each month and lots of inspiration along the way.  I can’t wait!!

But before then, stop by tomorrow for another fantastic post by the very talented Beckie.  I always look forward to those!  Have a great day!!

KimInspiration, Tips and Tricks, Uncategorized 17 Comments

Hi again, it’s Casharina here and for today’s Tips and Tricks post I’ve chosen to share how I use Photoshop CS5 to change the colors of various elements in my kits to make them match my page.  When I learned this trick it really gave me a whole new perspective of how to mix and match various elements from different kits into my layouts.

 To apply this trick, you need a program that will allow you to select colors, such as a magic wand, adjust the hue/saturation and then colorize.  Really it’s that simple!  Here you can see how I was able to change the colors of the layout to match this new layout…

 First, choose the element you would like to adjust the colors of.

 Now, find your magic wand tool on your tools sidebar and be sure that the option “contiguous” is NOT selected (this will be found at the top of your tool bars).  This will allow the tool to pick up the color throughout the FULL element.  This is a great tool to use when you are changing only ONE color to a piece, such as the sand bucket seen below.  (I used the tool to ONLY change the orange to a brighter pink, and then made another adjustment to change the green to a brighter green.  I also used this to change the color of the large flower on the above page to the purple, and then I did another layer to change the center green pearl to a pink.)

 Next, choose the NEW color. To do this you will want to use your color picker tool (just hit I on the keyboard).

 Now, click on the Hue/Saturation box. (It’s the box that has three horizontal lines in it).  Or in your menu options you’ll find it under Image -> Adjustments -> Hue/Saturation.

Here you will find the option to “colorize” the selected portion. (It’s near the bottom of Hue/Saturation dialog box.)

 After you click on colorize the color will show up…it may not be the right color at first, that’s where this process takes a personal touch and you manipulate the hue, saturation and lightness to the point where it matches the color you want.  If you find that there are areas that you’ve missed just go back to the element layer and use your wand tool (W on the keyboard) to select the missing parts and then go back up to your hue/saturation layer and press delete, which will then mask out the former color.  Continue this process until you have the look you want to achieve.

Lastly, you can merge any layers/mask layers you’ve added together by pressing CRTL+E.

 There are times that I like to duplicate my hue/saturation layer for future coloring so that I am sure that I get the SAME color combination.  I do this mostly when I’m working on an alpha that I’m coloring such in the below “ballerina” alpha where I changed the pink to an aqua, or if I’m using elements with the same color scheme and I want to change them all to the same color like in my “drinking nectar” layout. Here are a few more examples of how I use the color adjustment tools to complete my layouts…

*This trick doesn’t always work using the colors as is, if I have trouble getting an element to work with the color I want, sometimes I first change the whole element to black and white and then adjust the hue/saturation or colorize.

There are many different ways of adjusting colors with each of the different software programs each of us use…this is just one (so be on the look out for more of them in future Tips & Tricks posts).  What’s your favorite tip?  Feel free to share it in the comments  - we’d love to here about it! 

So that’s it for this topic (for today, at least)…if you have any questions feel free to leave a reply and I’ll try my very best to answer them!  Don’t forget to check back tomorrow as SP wraps up ProjectSCRAP 2011 and to download your COVERS…they’re awesome!!  Goodbye! 

CasharinaTips and Tricks, Uncategorized 18 Comments

Hey all you beginners out there!  It’s Anna here with something I’ve done that has changed my digi-scrappin’ life!

The holidays are an extremely busy time for me.  I bet they are for you, too!  This week I have been working with my daughter to create a book for her husband for Christmas.  While I was helping her, she commented “You are so fast!!!” I started to think about the reasons why I am able to work so quickly, and that gave me the idea to share some knowledge with all you newbies!

If you are still reading you must be in search of a faster way to digi-scrap.  I know that when I first started scrapping, I would spend hours and hours working on a layout.  I am a busy mom with a part time job.  I am constantly on the lookout for a faster way to do what I do every day!  In fact, people in my family laugh because I am always analyzing different driving routes to figure out which is the faster way! LOL!!!  Do you do that?

Anyway, I realized that if I wanted to continue this hobby, I needed to find a way to fit it into my busy schedule. When I first started using keyboard shortcuts, I realized their potential.  Basically, anything you do over and over again in Photoshop can be done faster.  One way is by getting into the habit of using keyboard shortcuts.

I know for many of you this is basic knowledge.  But I didn’t grow up with a computer, so it amazed  me how much faster using a few keystrokes made my layout creation process.  For a time, I would put a post-it-note on my computer with a new shortcut.  I would leave that note up until I had that one mastered before creating a new one and working on it!  I kept doing that until I very rarely used the drop down menus.

By doing this over and over, I became an extremely fast digi-scrapper!  It also made the process of creating a layout a whole lot more fun.  I could focus on my design instead of  “now where is that command in the drop down menu…hmmm…is it under edit?…select?” Anyway, you get the idea!  I want to challenge all you scrappers out there to learn a new keystroke this week and maybe even create one of your own (but that is for a different lesson).

Every version of Photoshop has different keyboard shortcuts.  You will want to learn the ones compatible with your program.  I use CS5, but most are universal or similar.  It was nearly impossible to narrow down the shortcuts I use to just ten keystrokes…but I didn’t want to overwhelm you all!

For a more extensive list, one of my favorite finds is located HERE!

Thanks for stopping by!  Casharina and Jenelle will be here tomorrow with more happy holiday hybrids!

AnnaTips and Tricks, Uncategorized 12 Comments

Hello Shabby Shoppe readers! Rosy here with this week’s Tips & Tricks post on…sketches!

I’ve read different tutorials on how to make photos into sketches in Photoshop or Photoshop Elements, but this is the method that I found works (and is simple enough) for me.

There is a filter/sketch action in Photoshop Elements, but from my experience this produces less than pleasing results for using on a scrapbook layout.  I’ve written this using Photoshop Elements 9.0, so if you are using a different version your steps may vary slightly.

First I’m going to give you the simple steps that I use on the photo.

For some of you that may even be enough instructions, but for the rest of you, I’ll give more details with a few visuals to help.

• Convert your image to black & white using whatever method you prefer. I usually use an action that produces a good amount of contrast.

• Duplicate by right clicking on the image layer and select “duplicate”.
• With the top layer selected, go to filter/adjustments and select invert.

Which will give you a terrible looking photo like this…

• With the top layer still selected, change the blend mode to “color dodge”.  Don’t panic if it seems like your photo disappears!  This is normal :)
• Now (still on the top layer) run the “gaussian blur” action on it (found under effects/filter/blur), and you should have an image looking something like this…

Sometimes the sketch is too light and in those cases, I flatten my image; duplicate it, and turn the blend mode of the top layer to “multiply”.  Flatten again.

Now you’re ready to put your sketch onto your layout!  Position it on top of your background paper and then, once again we change the blend mode.  On my example I used “multiply”, but I’ve used “linear burn” too.  Experiment with the blend mode and opacity until you are satisfied!  (For more information on blend modes…click HERE)  Also, Shabby Princess has a lovely range of textured digital papers in her kits, ideal for that authentic sketched look we wish achieve.  The new GRACIE cardstocks are perfect!

Depending on the look you want and whether your photo has distractions in the background, you can mask out (or erase) around your subject. I used a soft edge brush on a layer mask on my example.

Am I making any sense?  Are you ready to go play with sketches? or are you shaking your head, wondering what in the world I’m trying to say?! ;)  I am by no means an expert (in sketches or writing tutorials!), but I’ll try to answer any questions you may have in the comments.

Using sketches on scrapbook layouts can really give you a unique look!  I hope you try it out and I’d love to see your layout in the gallery if you do!

Here is the layout that I created with my sketch.

Thanks for joining us at the Blog today, Kylie will be along tomorrow with the brand new NOVEMBER projectSCRAP templates!  And make sure you check out the new & festive EASY-AS-PIE HOLIDAY CARD TEMPLATE SETS that were released in the Shoppe yesterday!  You’ll love them!! :)

RosyTips and Tricks, Uncategorized 13 Comments

Happy Wednesday everyone!  It’s Beckie here again, bringing you the latest edition of Shoppe Tips & Tricks!

Previously, I shared with you a digital way to replicate one of my favorite paper scrapping techniques – watercolor painting.  Today, I’m back with another – this time it’s ink!  We’ll be using a simple layer style to achieve the inked edges effect in this sample below:

See the subtle effect of ink around the edges of the vanilla cardstock and the “fall” letters?…it’s SUPER simple with Inner Glow!  On my sample, I simply selected the vanilla cardstock layer (once it was cropped to the final size) and then with my menu followed this path: Layer –> Layer Style –> Inner Glow.  In the Layer Style box that opened, I set the following values:

The new Gracie alpha – used for the “fall” letters in my sample today – is PERFECT for this technique! 

A few things I’ve learned:

• PLAY with these settings.  Every one of them.  Just drag the slider all the way to the right and watch what happens.  Don’t like it? Move it back!  You’ll learn a lot just from playing around!
• Expect that the “correct” opacity and size will change based on the combination of  “ink” and paper colors you’re using.
• Got a combination you really like?  Simply click the “New Style” button in the upper right corner and you can save your new Inner Glow creation to use over and over again!
• The easiest method I’ve found to quickly apply styles to multiple elements (like letters in a title) is to get one letter all set with all of my desired styles, then right-click on the that layer in the layers palette and select “Copy Layer Style“.  Then select all of the layers on which you’d like to add these styles, and then right-click again and select “Paste Layer Style“.
• If you’ve added a Layer Style like our Inner Glow inked edges and you want to ADD an additional style, like a basic Drop Shadow, you will need to re-open the Layer Style dialog box again to be able to apply an additional style.  Simply check the “Drop Shadow” check box along the left edge, then click on the word drop shadow, and you can then set all of your shadow settings as you want them. The below image is of the Layer Style box showing multiple layer styles applied to the one layer.

 You can get really interesting effects by changing the Contour in the layer style dialog box.  How about this version?!

See the difference in the border around the cardstock and the new “tie-dye” feel to the letters?  For the cardstock, I changed the Contour to “Cone”.  And for the letters, I changed the Contour to “Ring- Double”.  SUPER simple!!  I really, really love the look of the line around the inside edge of the cardstock…close-up, you can see that it’s a realistic looking inked line!

Well, I hope this is one more fun trick you’ll add to your scrapping arsenal :)  Be sure to join us again tomorrow because Kylie will be bringing you her newest FABULOUS Easy-As-Pie Template Challenge!!

BeckieTips and Tricks, Uncategorized 13 Comments