Hello, lego here with my little introductory post.  As you can imagine, I’m a bit nervous but even more excited and thrilled to be part of what I have always called “My First Scrapbooking Love”: Shabby Princess’ site.  Two and a half years ago, when I first discovered this wonderful website, I would not even have dreamt of being a member of this creative “family”, so you might guess how happy I am now ;-)

   Well, let’s get started … shall we?  Today I’m going to show you one of my favourite Photoshop tricks, which I call “The Stamp Effect”.  It’s really easy but very effective.  Actually, I think I use it on almost all my pages ;-)

  First, let me show you what I’m talking about, and then I’ll tell you the tiny bit of tech stuff you need to know in order to apply this yourself:

See the difference?  The surface under the text on the right is somewhat absorbed and it gets a more realistic and less digital feel.  And to be honest, that’s one of my major goals: to preserve the idea that a page could really have been made with paper, glue, stamps and all the rest.

So here are the instructions:

• Mark/highlight the text layer in your layer panel.
• Click on the layer and the layer style menu will pop open – with the Blending Options shown as the default. (If you have a PC you can double click on the layer OR right-click and choose Blending Options)
• Now choose the “gradient bar” at the very bottom and holding the “alt”-key at the same time click on the white triangle. (That’s really important otherwise you cannot select one half of the triangle only, and your element/text will disappear.  By holding the “alt-key“, the triangle will split as you move).
• Move the split triangle to the left.  The further left, the more absorption you’ll get.

Here is what you’ll see in photoshop.  (Please note: the second screenshot is from my German version – but everything is exactly the same except for the words)

legoTips and Tricks, Uncategorized 12 Comments

Happy Wednesday everyone!  This is Kim here today to share a shadowing trick I love.  Back when the Shabby Team did this post looking back at some of our first digital layouts, a common theme was that we all wished we had known more about shadows when we started.  It got me thinking about where I am with using shadows and I’ve been attempting to learn even more about them and think more about making the shadows in my layouts more realistic.  Along the way I’ve found a few tricks that I love to use, and I hope you’ll enjoy looking at one of them in this post today.  It’s really quick and easy – YAY!

First of all, let’s take a look at a layout I made for this post today.

I see a lot of layouts right now that use the technique of “cutting out” papers to show another paper layer underneath.  In this layout, I created a wheel shape and wanted that to be cut out to show the red layer underneath.  Now, I could have actually cut it out of the top layers (something we’ll not cover in this post), but I would have had to cut through several layers.  Sometimes it can be a bit tricky to get everything lined up just right on a cut out like this.  So what’s the trick??  An inner shadow.  Here’s how you can use an inner shadow to give the effect that a shape is cut out.  (Please note that I’m using Photoshop CS5 and it’s possible that your version could use a different menu or shortcut to get to these options.)

• Step 1: Create the shape that you want to “cut out”.
• Step 2: Open up the blending options for the shape’s layer (I double click on the layer in my layers palette).
• Step 3: Create an inner shadow.  As with all shadowing, you can change the settings to get the look you are going for.  Try different blend modes, opacities, angles, sizes, etc.  For the inner shadow in my layout, I used the settings shown below.  (As a side note, I’ve recently started using the blend mode “linear burn” for many of my shadows.  I like the look better in most cases. )

• Step 4: Bring in the background paper you would like to show under your cut out.  Clip it to your shape.  (Layer -> Create Clipping Mask or  Ctrl-Alt-G)

All done!  Your shape now looks like it is cut out, but it actually isn’t.  One of the things I love about this trick is that as I work more on the layout, I can still move the cut out shape around or resize as I need.  The shape has not been merged with any other layers.  How many times have I created a cut out, merged it, then wished I could move it later??  Many times – lol!

I thought I would also share a recent layout I posted in the gallery that uses this technique as well (might as well give a little more inspiration while we’re talking about it!)  This layout was inspired by Beckie’s rainbow post.  In this layout, the dotted papers all look like they are under the squares of the kraft paper.  But they’re not!  I created this layout with a series of squares layered on top of each other.  It is just that the squares that have the dotted paper have an inner shadow on them that makes them look cut out from the kraft paper squares around them.

Using inner shadows really is an easy way to get a cool cut out effect.  Hope you give it a try sometime!  And be sure to stop by tomorrow as SP is going to check in with us on Project Scrap 2012.  I’m sure there will be lots of great inspiration for those September pages!!  Bye bye!

KimTips and Tricks, Uncategorized 9 Comments

Hi all!  Casharina here!  I am so excited to share a new trick with you that I have JUST recently learned…so let’s get started shall we??  As far as I know this trick can only be done in Photoshop CS5 or newer…so apologies to those of you that don’t have that particular software…but for readers that do have CS5 or CS6 it would be a shame not to share my latest trick with you guys!!

• First of all you need to get your straight item.  You can do this while working on a layout if you choose, but for this tutorial I’ve chosen to open only the element.  I’m using the straight pink ric rac from the beautiful blossom collection.
• Next, go to Edit -> Puppet Warp

• You’ll see a weird looking grid show up on your element, don’t worry, it’s normal!
• Next you’ll want to place your cursor on the outer edge of your ric rac, the cursor will turn into a pushpin-type illustration.  This is simply a step to “pin” the ric rac in place and not allow that spot to move.  Pin each side of the ric rac.

• Then you’ll put a pin in the center of the ric rac.  If you’d like to make it curve here you will simply drag this pin downwards/upwards and you will see the ric rac start to bend.  In previous versions when elements were transformed the pixels would warp – this new trick avoids that icky warped look.

• If you choose, you can add another “pin” to another spot along the ric rac and drag it down.  This is helpful if you’re trying to attach the ric rac to a banner etc.
• Once you’ve got your element curved the way you want it simply hit ENTER and you’re finished.

How simple is that…I’m SO excited to start using this trick in my scrapbook pages.  I’d love to see your finished layouts showing off this new tip…so don’t forget to load them up to the Shoppe Gallery!!

Be sure to stop by tomorrow when SP brings us the latest projectScrap check-in!!

CasharinaTips and Tricks, Uncategorized 12 Comments

Happy Friday everyone!  Jenelle here today with an inspiration post that will hopefully have you firing up your creative software and getting some more fabulous pages scrapped for your albums and our gallery!

I absolutely LOVE digital scrapbooking – such a creative and fun hobby for me!  I used to really enjoy graphic and art classes when I was in school, even though I never considered myself to be naturally talented in those subjects.  I still remember learning about ‘rules’ of design in those classes and I found that by following those rules (and putting in lots of effort) I could create some pleasing pieces of art work.

Well those rules (or design principles you could also call them) I studied back in school, naturally transfer over to scrapbooking.  They are also closely followed in interior design/decorating, floral arranging, print advertising and even architecture – to name just a few.

Being aware of these design principles can really help you pull together an eye-catching layout and today I would like to explore in detail one of those design principles .  It is called the ‘Visual Triangle’.

The Visual Triangle is a concept that involves an imaginary triangle on your scrapbook page.  It is created by placing three similar elements (eg:- embellishments, clusters, photos, colours, text etc) at the corners, or points, of the imaginary triangle.  It helps create balance on a page (you could even liken it to the number and arrangement of legs needed for a stool to be stable.  3 = balance).

Our brains have a tendency to perceive images in familiar shapes and when you place elements on your scrapbook pages in a triangle, it allows your brain to see the page as a whole, rather than being distracted by one or two items on the layout. It brings your eye all the way around the layout.  It can also direct you to the one area of your page you want your viewer to focus on.  It’s a fairly simple technique that can take your pages from looking good to looking great in a jiffy!  I also believe it’s a technique you can use on every layout – it won’t get old or ever stop having an effect.

There are a myriad of ways you can create visual triangles on a scrapbook layout.  You could create them with:-

• Photos
• Clusters
• Colours
• Text (title, journalling, date)
• Repeated single elements or embellishments

I think the best way to illustrate what I am talking about is to take a look at some example layouts from our team gallery, that use the technique of the visual triangle perfectly.

I hope these 3 examples (remember 3=balance!) have highlighted this technique for you.  There are plenty more layouts in the team gallery that use this technique – next time you are browsing through, take a closer look and see what appeals to you about each particular layout.  It may well be that elements/colours/photos are placed within this visual triangle format!  Subconsciously, we are drawn to designs that use familiar shapes as they are visually appealing to us (eye-candy in a way!  LOL!!).

Why don’t you try this technique out yourself on your next layout – you might be very surprised with the end result!  We’d love to see you post some new pages in the gallery that use this concept.  You may have already been following this design rule and we’d love to hear your thoughts as well.

I do hope you’ve enjoyed reading along today, just as I hope you’ve enjoyed reading all my posts here at the Shabby Shoppe Blog.  I have loved being a part of this wonderful team, but it is now time for me to take on some new ventures and I will be signing off from here as a current team member.

A huge thank you to SP, Kylie and the fabulous team for having me here!  I’ve loved every minute!   I will still be ‘lurking’ around in the gallery and reading along with you all though – you can’t get rid of me that easily!!  LOL!!

Have a wonderful weekend and we’ll see you back here on Monday with our latest LOTW winner.  Until then, happy scrapping to you all, THANK YOU and bye for now :)

JenelleInspiration, Tips and Tricks, Uncategorized 11 Comments

Hello everyone…Casharina here!  Today I’m bringing you our post for Focus on the Photos.  I honestly had a difficult time coming up with something that hadn’t already been shared by the one of our talented team members as they have shared some wonderful tips and tricks!  I decided to do a post showing how I fix under eye shadows, or shadows around the face for that matter!

•  To begin have your photo edited to the desired brightness.
• Then you will select the quick mask tool.  It’s the little icon that looks like a square with a circle in the middle, or a “camera.”

• Change your cursor to a brush by either clicking on the brush tool or hitting the B key on the keyboard.
• Ensure that your brush is a soft rounded brush and make the size appropriate to what you are working on.
• If I’m working on shadows under the eye I like my brush fairly small, however if I’m going to adjust shadows on the side of someone’s face I like it to be a little bigger for faster coverage.
• Paint over the area you are fixing.

Tip: it’s fine if you get outside the area that needs fixed, you can always adjust it if needed.

• When you are finished hit the quick mask icon again.
• It will select the OUTSIDE portions of the brushed area, so you will need to invert it, by selecting CTRL+I.
• Now you are ready to adjust that portion of the photo.
• I like to use the Curves adjustments.
• You can adjust the diagonal line to meet your needs.  Moving the line towards the middle makes the photo brighter, while moving it down will make it darker.

• Once your finished you can add merge the layers together and you are finished!

I hope you’ve enjoyed this Focus on the Photos post today!

Check back tomorrow for for SP’s project SCRAP July check-in!

CasharinaPhotography, Tips and Tricks, Uncategorized 6 Comments