June 2010 desktop calendar

I just loved Kim B's Merry A Round kit the moment I saw it.

I used it to make my June 2010 desktop calendar.

Enjoy

May DSO colour challenge

I started work on the May colour challenge at DSO early, but illness & various commitments forced it onto the back burner which is why I'm cutting it so close now. What May Be is essentially a garden kit with a couple of unexpected elements tossed in. In case the main folder link fails, I'll also list the individual zip links.

zip01 zip02 zip03 zip04 zip05

zip06 zip07 zip08 zip09 zip10

I did a layout using the kit to scrap a photo of a friend's daughter, & then made a matching quick page.

Comments always appreciated.

Enjoy

Country Life

I've spent my adult years in a city, but I was raised a country girl. The only billboard in the area stayed the same year after year, so I initially tried using billboards in the city as landmarks too find my way around. I had no idea they changed them so often - lol!
Gina's new kit, "Alabamatown" reminds me of my childhood years. It comes in both tag & full sizes.
http://www.scrappinbratz.com/shoppe/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=19_32&products_id=41522 (full)
http://www.scrappinbratz.com/shoppe/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=19_32&products_id=4153 (tag)

I've done 2 layouts, made one of them into a quickpage for you, & a tag with tutorial.

Tutorial for “Country Girl” tag

What I used:
“Alabamatown” kit by KiKeKa kits crafted by Gina, available in full or tag
http://www.scrappinbratz.com/shoppe/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=19_32&products_id=4152 (full)
http://www.scrappinbratz.com/shoppe/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=19_32&products_id=4153 (tag)
Poser © Sinful Mindz http://sinfulmindz.com/poser
Adobe Photoshop Creative Suite 4.0 (make sure “show transform controls” is checked for easy resizing of elements)

What I did:
Open a new transparent canvas 700 pixels x 700 pixels. Use circular selection tool to create a circle & fill with your background of choice (paper 12).
Create a new layer. Use preset shapes to create a multi-pointed star or multi-petal flower in top left corner. With “use previous layer to create a clipping mask” checked, fill shape with background of choice (paper 5).
Choose your background elements to copy & paste; resize & position the elements as desired. I used the barn & corn stalk. I applied a bevel & emboss effect to the corn.
Copy & paste your poser of choice (ellie mae 1-5). Resize as necessary & position as desired.
Enter desired text. I used Simpson 12. I used font size 4 for the tag information.
Merge visible & save.

Enjoy

a gentle soul who lit up our lives

Those of you who aren't animal people probably won't understand, but a very close friend just lost her cat Kelly to illness. Kelly was part of our lives for over 13 years, had a very gentle, loving nature & will be sadly missed. I wanted to do a layout & wanted a kit flattering to her colours. The other day I bought Bright Times by Lady Saphira in full size, & when I hunted down the folder on my computer to use it for this layout, I discovered I had already bought the kit in tag size a few months earlier - lol - I guess I really like it, eh?

It's very bright & cheerful & just what I needed. So I did a layout of Kelly, made a quick page version of the layout as a freebie for you & then made a tag with tutorial.

Tutorial for Beautiful Day tag

What I used:
Bright Times kit by Lady Saphira http://saphirasworld.de/scrapdesign
http://yourscrapaddiction.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=1_127&products_id=1127&zenid=3d158636ee35a59001e7037e0d83a910 (full)
http://yourscrapaddiction.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=1_127&products_id=1126 (tag)
Posers by Aisne http://aisne-creations.blogspot.com
Corel Paintshop Pro X with pick tool activated for easy resizing of elements

What I did:
1. Open a new blank canvas 700 pixels x 700 pixels. Create a circle either with the preset shapes tool or the circular selection tool. Fill with background of choice (paper 2). Create a new layer & create another circle slightly smaller than the first circle & fill with background of choice (paper 1).
2. Copy & paste your background element of choice (fence 1). Decorate the background with other elements of choice. I used leaf 5, leafs 2, & flowers 1-4, 6 to decorate the fence, copying the elements multiple times & then pasting, resizing, & positioning as appeared pleasing.
3. Copy & paste another element if desired, resizing & positioning as desired. I used the butterfly, 3 times, applying a bevel effect. You may want to experiment with bevels to find the one that looks best.
4. Copy & paste your poser(s) of choice. I used blossom 1 & dandelion 3 & applied a bevel effect to each.
5. Enter desired text. I used Notnorval HMK 12 for the name. Use a smaller font for tag information, like Arial 3.
6. Merge visible & save.

Enjoy.

Colours of Spring

I don't know about where you live but spring has been slow in coming here thanks to cool temperatures & I'm still waiting to see that burst of colour in neighbouring gardens. So far I've had to settle for PSP Girl's Colori Di Primavera a very colourful kit.

Tagger size made at 300 dpi & complete with a set of posers from Sinful Mindz, it can be used for layouts or tags. To prove it I've made you a quick page & a tag with tutorial.

Tutorial for “Come Play With Me” tag

What I used:
Tag kit from PSP Girl “Colori Di Primavera” http://yourscrapaddiction.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=1_164&products_id=2103 which includes lovely posers by Sinful Mindz http://sinfulmindz.com
Adobe Photoshop Creative Suite 4 (Make sure “show transform controls” is checked for easy resizing of elements.)

What I did:
Start with a new transparent canvas 700 pixels x 700 pixels, use the circular selection tool to create a circle, & fill it with the background of your choice (paper 11).
The elements in the kit are numbered & I used #12-14, 22, 25, 25, 37, 59,61 & poser 3.
Let me say now that I applied the bevel & emboss effect to every single element I used for this tag, including the poser. Copy, paste, resize & position your choice of elements as you desire. I will make note of any extra steps I took.
I decide the fence (35) would anchor the tag. When I copied & pasted the fence I didn’t like how it looked when resized, so I left it original size & instead copied a complete fencepost to add an extra fencepost at each end of the fence.
I resized the birdhouse (59) considerably to fit it at the middle of the fence top. Sizing may vary depending upon you placement choices. I then chose a bird (61) to put with the birdhouse.
I used multiple copies of flowers (12-14, 37) & I erased the bows from flowers 12-14 & also copied only the bottom part of those flowers to fill out the covering on the fence. I had trouble deciding where to position my choice of butterfly (25). You may want to play around with it.
I knew I wanted the cell phone (22). I used Arial 04 to type the message on the phone (same as main text). I chose the poser (3) because she was the most appropriate poser to add the phone to.
I usually do the tag information last but since I was using Arial in a small size for the phone, I added the tag information at that time. After the poser & phone were in place, I increased the font size to 10, retyped the phone message, right clicked the text in the layer palette, and chose “warp text – arch”. I applied an italics effect to the name.
When satisfied, merge visible & save.

Enjoy.