ScrapGirls Newsletter 2.14.11 | Extra Chit Chat

It’s another Monday, but this is an extra special Monday since it’s Valentine’s Day! I hope you’re all soaking up the love today. Sorry for the lack of extra chit chat the last few Mondays but such is life, it gets busy and the old blog gets neglected. :)

As usual, the newsletter is packed full of awesome layouts and great tips, some of which I’m going to try. Plus, Paula Wright completely reaffirmed my reason for scrapbooking in her “A Designer’s Life” column. Check out the newsletter in its entirety here: Monday, February 14, 2011: Then and Now.

Remember how I said this Monday is extra special? Well today marks 4 years of togetherness with my super sweet love dove. It truly has flown by and we’ve had our share of ups and downs as most couples do I’m sure. I look forward to having many more of them with him—well, the ups. Who looks forward to the downs? Anyway, all that was to say, that my layout in the newsletter this week is extra special because it’s all about the conversation that started it all.

"Sweethearts" | Supply List + Links below

In the newsletter, I explain how I made the multicolored border around my layout. It was super duper easy so check out the newsletter for a mini-tutorial on that.

Those little conversation sweetheart candies were the inspiration for this layout. The colors, the journaling, and even the title were all a play on those cute little hearts with the short but sweet sayings on them. Because I had very specific colors in mind, I used ScrapSimple products. They are completely customizable so you get the best of both worlds—a product that has been designed for you and the ease of customizing it to fit the needs of your layout. The acrylic hearts are a combination of Brandie Valenzuela’s Dynamic Brush Set: Bokeh 1501 and Syndee Nuckles’ ScrapSimple Tools - Styles: Resin 6401 Super Biggie. The same style has been applied to the flowers which are from Brandie’s Brush Set: Handy Dandy Doodles 2.

So, I hope you enjoyed the extra chit chat! Sooner or later, I’ll be updating the old blog with some new material. Look out for posts about the status of my Project 365/52, a couple exciting new products available at ScrapGirls, and in non-scrapbooking related news, an update on my natural hair journey and a frustrating transition for my youngest babe.

Until next time peeps!

"Sweethearts" Supply List
Brush Set: Grungy Text by Brandie Valenzuela
Brush Set: Handy Dandy Doodles 2 by Brandie Valenzuela
Dynamic Brush Set: Bokeh 1501 by Brandie Valenzuela
Lettering Delights Mother's Typewriter Font by Lettering Delights
Lettering Delights Scratchy Pen Font by Lettering Delights
ScrapSimple Embellishment Templates: Spackling by Brandie Valenzuela
ScrapSimple Paper Templates: Bokeh Blur by Brandie Valenzuela
ScrapSimple Paper Templates: Paper Textures by Ariadna Wiczling
ScrapSimple Tools - Actions: Clarify 11301 Mini by Heidi Dillon
ScrapSimple Tools - Actions: Photos That Pop 1801 Mini by Mandy Steward
ScrapSimple Tools - Styles: Resin 6401 Super Biggie by Amanda Sok
Available Commercial Use products
Brush Set: Grungy Text by Brandie Valenzuela
Brush Set: Handy Dandy Doodles 2 by Brandie Valenzuela
Dynamic Brush Set: Bokeh 1501 by Brandie Valenzuela
Lettering Delights Mother's Typewriter Font by Lettering Delights
Lettering Delights Scratchy Pen Font by Lettering Delights
ScrapSimple Embellishment Templates: Spackling by Brandie Valenzuela
ScrapSimple Paper Templates: Bokeh Blur by Brandie Valenzuela
ScrapSimple Paper Templates: Paper Textures by Ariadna Wiczling
ScrapSimple Tools - Actions: Clarify 11301 Mini by Heidi Dillon
ScrapSimple Tools - Actions: Photos That Pop 1801 Mini by Mandy Steward
ScrapSimple Tools - Styles: Resin 6401 Super Biggie by Amanda Sok

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."

The main collection I used here is Paula Wright's To You From Me Collection Biggie. It's a lovely Christmas kit full of traditional colors & patterns. I really enjoyed scrapping with it. The only thing that didn't work from this collection for this particular layout was the alpha. Don't get me wrong, it is a lovely alpha but it was too traditional for the title work I wanted to do. I wanted the alpha to be a bit quirky, just like our crazy gingerbread house so I used the alpha from Trish Yochum's Main St. Holiday Collection. The letters 'C, R, Z, & Y" were a different color originally; I simply adjusted the color using Image>Adjust Hue/Saturation. This is one of the main advantages of digi-scrapping. Of course, if you're a paper scrapper, you can change the color of your alpha stickers by using paint or covering with patterned or solid paper. Not as easy as a click of the mouse, but not impossible either. 


Well, that's it for today! Hope you enjoyed! 
Until next time...


"Our Crazy Gingerbread House" Supply List
Comfort and Joy Collection Mini by Thao Cosgrove
Lettering Delights Monique Font by Lettering Delights
Lettering Delights Scratchy Pen Font by Lettering Delights
Main St. Holiday Collection by Trish Yochum
ScrapSimple Embellishment Templates: Bow Borders by Paula Wright
ScrapSimple Tools - Actions: Clarify 11301 Mini by Heidi Dillon
ScrapSimple Tools - Actions: Corner Rounder 5001 Mini by Melissa Renfro
ScrapSimple Tools - Actions: Mega Lift I - Squared Biggie by Brandy Murry
ScrapSimple Tools - Styles: Photo Borders 6501 by Sarah Batdorf
To You From Me Collection Biggie by Paula Wright
Available Commercial Use Products:
Lettering Delights Monique Font by Lettering Delights
Lettering Delights Scratchy Pen Font by Lettering Delights
ScrapSimple Embellishment Templates: Bow Borders by Paula Wright
ScrapSimple Tools - Actions: Clarify 11301 Mini by Heidi Dillon
ScrapSimple Tools - Actions: Corner Rounder 5001 Mini by Melissa Renfro
ScrapSimple Tools - Actions: Mega Lift I - Squared Biggie by Brandy Murry
ScrapSimple Tools - Styles: Photo Borders 6501 by Sarah Batdorf

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

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