SG Newsletter 12/6/10|Extra Chit Chat

So, it's been "cray cray" here in my real world. December is a whirlwind month for us because on top of Christmas, there are a million December babies in my family. We just celebrated the first birthday of the month: my baby girl turned 1 on the 5th! I will have photos, layouts, hybrid goodness that the event spawned showing up here on the blog soon one day. Even though I don't have that stuff post-ready yet, I'd like to give you a little bit of eye candy. I try to post my "Extra Chit Chat" series on Mondays when the newsletter comes out but it's not Monday anymore and I don't want to wait because this LO is one of my favorite ones to date. I had a blast playing with Melissa Renfro's Inspired Child Collection Biggie. Perfect for layouts about kids but I think it's versatile enough to be used for non-kid pages as well. So although it's not Monday, I thought I'd share with you all a new layout from me as seen in the Monday Dec. 6 edition of the ScrapGirls newsletter. Also, don't forget to check out the newsletter to see more fab layouts from the Layout Artist team.

"Kindergarten Star"|Supply list + links below

Newsletter blurb:

"I love to create layouts that look as realistic as possible so I use drop shadows on almost every element on my page. However, with so many layers, adding drop shadows can be time consuming. To streamline this process, I highlight all of my paper layers in the Layers Palette by pressing CTRL+CLICK. Once all of the layers are selected, I add a drop shadow by clicking on the fx symbol at the bottom of the Layers Palette. I repeat these steps for the next grouping of embellishments, such as flowers, and in no time, all of my page elements are appropriately shadowed."

It's true. I've been spending A LOT of time studying the "art of drop shadowing" and I am convinced it's an art. I used to be happy dropping a preset shadow style on my layers and called it good. And Sarah Batdorf's ScrapSimple Tools - Styles: Basic Shadows 6501 is a good one. My layouts would go from flat to dimensional with it. But now, I've learned you can start off with a style preset but if you want your drop shadows to go from good to awesome, you're going to have to play around with them. Also, I actually don't use the 120 degree light source for my shadows anymore. For some reason, they seem to pop more for me when I use a 45 degree light source. Papers, especially those sitting right on the background, should have a thin, uniform, slightly dark shadow. Buttons will have a dark but small shadow. Ribbons, ah ribbons, you have to put the drop shadow on its own layer and start playing around with it because some parts of the shadow should be more crisp where other parts will be lighter and less defined.

So that's it for today. While it wasn't a full blown out tutorial on drop shadows, I hope I've given you a starting point. Open up your program and start scrapping!

Until next time everyone!

"Kindergarten Star" supply list:
Alpha Bit Blocks Alpha Biggie by Amanda Sok
Basic: White Paper Mini by Angie Briggs
Dynamic Brush Set: Doodle Borders 5404 Biggie by Erica Hite
Dynamic Brush Set: Stars 5001 by Melissa Renfro
Inspired Child Collection Biggie by Melissa Renfro
Lettering Delights Modern Print Font by Lettering Delights
ScrapSimple Embellishment Templates: Flower Curls by Melissa Renfro
ScrapSimple Tools - Actions: Clarify 11301 Mini by Heidi Dillon
ScrapSimple Tools - Actions: Corner Rounder 5001 Mini by Melissa Renfro
ScrapSimple Tools - Actions: Photos That Pop 1801 Mini by Mandy Steward
ScrapSimple Tools - Actions: Spray Paint 5401 by Erica Hite
ScrapSimple Tools - Actions: Vintage PS 6502 Mini by Sarah Batdorf
ScrapSimple Tools - Styles: Painted Plastic 6401 Super Biggie by Amanda Sok
Commercial Use products available
Dynamic Brush Set: Doodle Borders 5404 Biggie by Erica Hite
Dynamic Brush Set: Stars 5001 by Melissa Renfro
Inspired Child Collection Biggie by Melissa Renfro
Lettering Delights Modern Print Font by Lettering Delights
ScrapSimple Embellishment Templates: Flower Curls by Melissa Renfro
ScrapSimple Tools - Actions: Clarify 11301 Mini by Heidi Dillon
ScrapSimple Tools - Actions: Corner Rounder 5001 Mini by Melissa Renfro
ScrapSimple Tools - Actions: Photos That Pop 1801 Mini by Mandy Steward
ScrapSimple Tools - Actions: Spray Paint 5401 by Erica Hite
ScrapSimple Tools - Actions: Vintage PS 6502 Mini by Sarah Batdorf
ScrapSimple Tools - Styles: Painted Plastic 6401 Super Biggie by Amanda Sok