Ashleigh: In Blog Form: 01.2011

1.21.2011

Dateline–not the TV show ;)

It’s the beginning of the year and across digiscrap land, heck, just scrapland in general, all you hear about is Project 365|52|12. Well, I started thinking about it around late November/December. Should I do it? If I do, how am I going to do it? etc etc. I decided I would but I needed to keep it really really really really simple. The key to that was to pick just one kit to use for the entire album. After much deliberation, I settled on Caroline Kaiser’s Document It Collection Biggie. I chose this kit because it has 16 different papers and a whole bunch of embellies and I absolutely fell in love with the alpha. It was created with P365/52/12 projects in mind so it was really a no-brainer. I couldn’t wait for the new year to arrive so I could start using it for my album.

Soooooo…..imagine my utter delight when Caroline asked me to do a layout to showcase a new product that expands upon the collection!!! Caroline created two embellishment template sets that gives you even more options for adding the date to your layouts: ScrapSimple Embellishment Templates: Dateline 1 & ScrapSimple Embellishment Templates: Document It Dateline 2. I love that it includes different font styles and because it’s a template, you can use it in so many different ways—let your mojo run wild!
So here’s my layout:

"Happy New Year" | See end of post for supplies

I was inspired by the product name here. Datelines made me think of headlines so I played on the “what’s black, white, and re(a)d all over” concept. I can’t wait to use these templates in other ways. This layout will be in my P365 album and so far….it’s the only layout I’ve done. Yep, I’m already behind. I forsee some power scrapping in my future!

Have you decided to tackle the behemoth that is Project 365/52? If so, how are you doing so far?

Until next time peeps!

“Happy New Year” Supply List
Document It Collection Biggie by Caroline Kaiser
Lettering Delights Scrap Casual Font by Lettering Delights
ScrapSimple Embellishment Templates: Dateline 1 by Caroline Kaiser
ScrapSimple Tools - Actions: Clarify 11301 Mini by Heidi Dillon
ScrapSimple Tools - Actions: Photos That Pop 1801 Mini by Mandy Steward
Available Commercial Use products:
Lettering Delights Scrap Casual Font by Lettering Delights
ScrapSimple Embellishment Templates: Dateline 1 by Caroline Kaiser
ScrapSimple Tools - Actions: Clarify 11301 Mini by Heidi Dillon
ScrapSimple Tools - Actions: Photos That Pop 1801 Mini by Mandy Steward

1.10.2011

ScrapGirls Newsletter 01.10.11|Extra Chit Chat

Another Monday is here! That made me think of Office Space (do you have a case of the Mondays?) bwahahaha! Anyway, another Monday and so begins a new week of wonderful ScrapGirls newsletters. FYI: The newsletter is published SIX! days a week and each day there is a freebie. Also, on Tuesdays, there's a recap of the previous week in case you don't want to receive the daily installment. Here's the link for today's newsletter, just in case you haven't read it yet. Monday 01.10.11: It'll Be an Adventure And I do advise reading it. I learned so much today from all of the tips shared by the Layout Artist Team. I'm especially itching to try Charlene's method of dealing with tricky digital reflections. Also, Kerry Veale's designer spotlight was amazing. I'm in awe of how she has gracefully coped with a very difficult life change.

And without further ado, here's my layout featured in the newsletter today. All about crazy gingerbread houses. We had a normally sane house this year. Just didn't have the same spunk!

"Our Crazy Gingerbread House"|Supply List + Links below

Here's my blurb from the newsletter:

"I wanted the berry sprig to appear tucked behind my photo but on top of the green ribbon frame. However, the green ribbon frame was on top of the other layers and I didn’t want to have to rearrange a lot of layers. The solution: using a layer mask. First, I placed the berry sprig layer under the ribbon frame layer. Then, I added a layer mask to the ribbon frame layer (Layer>Layer Mask). Next, I made a direct selection (CTRL+click on berry thumbnail) of the berry sprig layer. This ensured that I would only brush away the part of the frame that covered the berries. Making a direct selection makes it easier and faster to use layer masks to extract finely detailed embellishments."

1.03.2011

ScrapGirls Newsletter 01.03.11|Extra Chit Chat

Happy Monday! Today I'm sharing my latest layout to appear in the ScrapGirls newsletter. You can find the newsletter here. As always, I encourage you to check out the entire newsletter. The layout artist team does a great job and there's also a freebie!

"2011 Resolutions"|Supply List + Links below

Here's my blurb in the newsletter:

"When creating a holiday layout, don’t feel confined to using holiday themed collections. I associate New Year’s with feelings of happiness, excitement, and fun so I used Sheri Johnson’s Cabana Paper Solids and SummerTime Collection. Although these supplies are geared towards summer themed layouts, they allowed me to create a bright and fun layout perfect for New Year’s."

I had a lot of fun playing with Sheri Johnson's Brush Set: Halftone Circles and Brush Set: Distressed Halftone Circles to create the background here. I simply brushed a few different layers with different brushes from the set and then clipped various papers from the Cabana Paper Solids pack, added a few styles and some New Year's themed embellies. I spent a lot of time playing with different blending modes and I used a new trick (well, new to me). Some of the blended areas of the background weren't as smooth as I'd liked so I merged all of my background layers and then ran a Lens Blur on that layer. I retained the original layers of the background so after running the Blur filter, I lowered the opacity of the "blurred" layer and that really helped the blending seem more organic.

Until next time!!

"2011 Resolutions" Supply List
Brush Set: Distressed Halftone Circles by Sheri Johnson
Brush Set: Halftone Circles by Sheri Johnson
Cabana Paper Solids by Sheri Johnson
Digital Stickers: New Year's Embellishments by Valerie Randall
Lettering Delights Scrap Casual Font by Lettering Delights
ScrapSimple Paper Templates: Background Blenders II Biggie by Brandy Murry
ScrapSimple Tools - Actions: Clarify 11301 Mini by Heidi Dillon
ScrapSimple Tools - Actions: Corner Rounder 5001 Mini by Melissa Renfro
ScrapSimple Tools - Styles: Blended 8201 Super Biggie by Ariadna Wiczling
ScrapSimple Tools - Styles: Greyscale 6401 by Amanda Sok
ScrapSimple Tools - Styles: Shiny Silver 11001 by Doris Castle
SummerTime Collection by Sheri Johnson
Commercial Use versions of these products are available:
Brush Set: Distressed Halftone Circles by Sheri Johnson
Brush Set: Halftone Circles by Sheri Johnson
Lettering Delights Scrap Casual Font by Lettering Delights
ScrapSimple Paper Templates: Background Blenders II Biggie by Brandy Murry
ScrapSimple Tools - Actions: Clarify 11301 Mini by Heidi Dillon
ScrapSimple Tools - Actions: Corner Rounder 5001 Mini by Melissa Renfro
ScrapSimple Tools - Styles: Blended 8201 Super Biggie by Ariadna Wiczling
ScrapSimple Tools - Styles: Greyscale 6401 by Amanda Sok
ScrapSimple Tools - Styles: Shiny Silver 11001 by Doris Castle

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