Using Digital Templates

Happy Thursday & Happy Halloween!

I noticed a thread in the Club Scrap Forums this week about digital templates, so I thought I would take a few moments to review how to use them.

I’m using template #2 from the Lock & Key Digital Kit, along with the Bookshelves Digital Kit.

1. Re-save the Template with a new name so you don’t accidentally alter the original template file. You can use the original template again and again with different collections.

2. Drag in a new background and delete the white background layer of the template.

Tip: Holding the Shift key while you drag in a new background will automatically keep it centered on your new layout.

3. Drag in another background, just above the first one.

4. Select a layer to replace with the new background. I've chosen to replace the three light-grey squares with the red digital background.

5. Ctrl+Click (Windows) or Command+Click (Mac) on the thumbnail of the layer in the Layer Palette; you’ll see ‘matching ants’ around the elements in the layer.

6. Click on the background layer (added in step three) to make it active.

7. Select -> Inverse (Shift+Ctrl+I in Windows, or ShiftCommand+I in Mac) and press the Delete key. You’ll remove all of the background except the selected elements.

8. Delete the template layer to reveal the new ‘paper layer.’

9. Repeat steps 3-8 for any ‘paper layers’ (mattes, etc.) you want to replace.

10. Use embellishments from the kit to replace the embellishment layers in the template. I've swapped out flowers and stems for the keys and different beads. This is your chance to get a little creative.

11. Add photos.

12. Add drop shadows and any other desired effects to finish your layout.

That’s it! You’ve recreated the layout with a different kit (or different papers and elements of the same kit). For variety, you can also rearrange the parts and pieces or rotate the layout at 90 or 180 degrees to create something entirely new.

The templates that come in each digital kit are made using the collection's Quick Drop Layouts. Here’s the same layout using the Lock & Key Digital Kit (and the same photos!):

I hope you’ll try using the templates that come in the digital kit. It’s a quick and easy way to create a layout without having to do any measuring or positioning.

See you next week!

-Ron

Lock & Key Blog Hop

Welcome! Today's Hop focuses on artwork created using Club Scrap's October Lock & Key collection. I just love the colors, quotes and artwork, so I had a hard time deciding what I wanted to do for today's project.

I settled on making a couple of scrapbook pages created with Lock & Key digital. My good friend, Kay, took some really nice photos of my husband (aka: "the Mike-man") and me at the October Retreat. Mike and I rarely dress up and rarely get photos taken together, so I couldn't wait to document them.

(Thanks, Kay!)

Now on to see what our other bloggers have up their creative sleeves today. Next up is Julie...enjoy!

Julie--Cape Cod Scrapper

Roni--Inkstains with Roni

Deb--Liftbridge Cards and Crafts

Deb--Deb Duz Scrappin

Jill--Jill's Place

Tricia--The Efficient Crafter

Hetty--Craft Chaos

Kay--Kay's Keepsakes

Cathy--The Artful Gamut

Anne Marie--Artfully Balanced

Ann--Crzy Mom's Tidbits

Shona--Shona Scraps

Debby--Masculine Inspirations

Tiare--iClassy Girl

Lisa--Carpe Memoria

Marya--A Notebook Novel

Annette--Digital Musings

Creatively yours,

Karen

Keys to Digital “Misting”

Happy Thursday!

Did you see the cool technique that Kay did in the Rap with mists and the 12x12 Lock & Key stencil?

Did you know that this is totally doable digitally? Let me show you how!

Note: I’m using Photoshop CC, but any graphics software that supports layers should work for this.

Because the Lock & Key Digital Kit doesn’t include that awesome stencil graphic, we’re going to make our own version of the stencil and then use it to mimic that shadow effect, so we’ll tackle this technique in two parts:

First, let’s make a stencil . . .

1. Create a 12x12 300ppi document with a white background.

2. Open 1013LockKeyCSD_Xtra01.png and drag it onto your new document.

3. Click and drag on one of the corner handles to resize the key image until it’s about 6-8 inches across.

Tip: Hold down the Shift key while resizing to maintain the graphic’s proportion.

4. Ctrl+Click (Windows) or Command+Click (Mac) on the key image layer in the Layers Palette; this will select the key graphic. You’ll see "marching ants" around the graphic.

5. Color the graphic Black: Edit -> Fill and select Black. Click on Okay. The key graphic is now solid black.

6. Deselect the key graphic: Ctrl+D (Windows) or Command+D (Mac).

7. Duplicate the key graphic layer.

8, Move, rotate, and resize the new key layer, positioning it so that it touches the original layer.

9. Repeat steps 7-8 as many times as needed to create a stencil-like image that fills the page. Don’t worry if some of the graphics extend off the page, or if the graphics don’t fit together ‘perfectly’ - it’s all good! Keep playing until you’re satisfied with the overall look.

10. Select all of the key graphic layers and merge them together: With the layers selected, Ctrl+E (Windows) or Command+E (Mac).

Note: Do not select the white background layer in step 10!

11. Delete the background layer and save this file as a PSD or a PNG (with transparent background) so that you can use it over and over again.

Okay, that’s the stencil part - now, let’s make a background . . .

1. Create a 12x12 300ppi document with a transparent background.

2. Open one of the Lock & Key backgrounds, I used #6.

3. Drag your newly made stencil onto the document.

4. Ctrl+Click (Windows) or Command+Click (Mac) on the stencil layer in the Layers Palette; this will select the stencil. You'll have those "marching ants" around the graphic.

5. Invert your selection so that everything EXCEPT the stencil is selected: Select -> Inverse or Shift+Ctrl+I (Windows) or Shift+Command+I (Mac).

6. Pick a color - I chose a turquoise shade: Click the foreground color in the Tools Palette and select a color in the color picker, then click Okay.

7. Switch to the Brush Tool and select a ‘Spatter’ brush; enlarge it to around 1200 pixels and reduce the opacity to about 65%.

8. Create a new layer ABOVE the background layer.

Tip: Create a new layer for each color - if you don’t like a particular color or effect, it’s easy to delete that layer and start again!

9. Create a ‘spray’ effect, by clicking once somewhere on your page; move your cursor and click again. Continue this ‘Click-Move-Click-Move’ technique until your satisfied with the color spread. You’re looking for fairly even color, with a few ‘unsprayed’ spots. Don’t be afraid to vary the size of the brush or change the opacity. Play until you’re happy with the look.

10. Select the stencil layer and deselect it: Ctrl+D (Windows) or Command+D (Mac).

11. Use your arrow keys to move the stencil slightly - I hit the down arrow 3 times and the right arrow twice.

12. Repeat steps 6-10 with a second color - I chose a medium-dark brown for my second color.

13. Hide the stencil layer by clicking on the ‘eye’ icon on that layer in the Layers Pallette.

Cool, huh?

So what can you do with this amazing creation? Merge all the layers together and save it as a new background. Then use it in a layout or part of it for a digital (or hybrid) card. Try it with Different graphics to create your own custom stencils! The sky’s the limit!

Here's a layout made with my new background.

And here's a digital card!

So go and have some fun with 'misting' your digital stencils and thanks for stopping by. See you next week. Or maybe I'll see you at Retreat today!

-Ron

New 12x12" Stencil in Lock & Key Lite!

Happy Tuesdee! It's Lock & Key Lite Shipping Day!

This stencil is sort of a "big" deal. Twelve inches of glorious creative potential--yum. It has been exciting to watch fresh enthusiasm for stencils making its way through the paper crafting industry. After manufacturing stencils every month since 1999, I happen to have quite a few of them available for lovin'.

That makes about 172 monthly stencils? Really? Wow.

Kay reviewed some lovely misting techniques in the latest edition of the Scrap Rap, so I decided to have some playtime with Gelatos by Faber-Castell.

Protect your work surface and thoroughly mist the stencil with water. 

Pick a color scheme of Gelatos or watercolor crayons and color the stencil. (No need to color the openings of the stencil.) If nothing is happening as you color, add water.

Press paper panels onto the colored stencil, and burnish to make good contact on the entire surface.

Re-mist the stencil between each impression. End with a full misting of water, and press a 12x12 sheet of paper onto the stencil. Use a brayer to burnish the paper onto the stencil.

And heck, with all of the baby wiping going on around here, I figured I'd use them, too. Carefully lift the stencil from the craft sheet, and clean the craft sheet (not the stencil). Place a 12x12 White Plain onto the craft sheet, and top with the stencil. Use a baby wipe to clean the stencil, moving any remaining color onto the paper. It creates a lovely pastel impression, don't you think?

Look at all of the art panels I created with just one "coloring effort"! Go, Gelatos!

Off to make some fun cards and layouts after the paper dries. Stay tuned for my finished artwork.

Oh, and a reminder--if you are a member of Club Scrap Lite, this stencil is included right in your Lock & Key shipment leaving the warehouse today! Not a member? We can fix that!

Have a crafty, stencily, baby wipey kind of day!

Tricia

Lock & Key Lite Spoiler Time!

It's Friday, already! Here at Club Scrap we are hard at work, preparing for Tuesday's Lite Kit shipping day. We're already enjoying the gorgeous prints and papers, fun cutaparts, goodies, and a really BIG cool stencil! I don't want to totally spoil the surprise for those of you getting your shipment next week; however, here are a few snapshots of what we've been working on - I hope you like them!!

If you want to know more about the Lite Membership, check this out!

Enjoy Lock & Key Lite and have a great weekend!

Kay here at Club Scrap

Digital Mix Up: Lock and Key and More!

Happy Thursday!

There’s been a lot of chatter about ‘mixing it up’ on the CS forums lately - CS Member Norma started a thread about it  (you can read that thread HERE) and Member Liaison, Julie Heyer began one that includes a challenge (check that one out HERE)!

So I figured I’d jump on that bandwagon and mix it up with This month’s Lock & Key Digital Kit.

First up, Lock & Key and Bookshelves - these 2 kits were made for each other! I pulled a few things from each digital kit and came up with this layout:

Next, I grabbed a few pieces of Random Doorways and mixed in some Lock & Key and got this:

Finally, I combined Lock & Key with the Basic Patterns Digital Overlays and created this digital card:

And there you have it - 3 quick and easy mix ups with Lock & Key! So the next time you’re wondering what you can do to punch up a layout or card, trying mixing it up a bit - the results can be amazing!

See you next week,

-Ron

Handmade Cards For Silly Days

Being the handmade card makers that we are, it's nice to be able to make a silly greeting now and then!

Today I'm inspired by Tricia's post from Tuesday, Handmade Cards For Those Sad Days. Her great formula would work well for happy moments, too. I opened up my binder of stamps and selected the cute, funny and silly quotes that Club Scrap sprinkles into the collections. It started with the Lock & Key Collection Unmounted Rubber Stamp Set and the silly Steve Martin quote:

Then I continued stamping and attaching fun quotes in a random fashion to my cards. (Tricia's card making formula would have looked great on these too, but I ended up randomly filling my card fronts with quotes).

I hope you have time for a little silliness in your day!
Thanks for stopping by and have a great weekend!
Kay

Creating Digital Art

Happy Thursday and Happy October!

Have you seen this month’s kit, Lock and Key? Wowza, it’s spectacular! I was reading throughout this month’s Scrap Rap on Tuesday and literally gasped when I saw the book on page four. My first thought was “Wouldn’t that cover make a great piece of framed art?”

But what if we did this digitally? (C’mon, you knew that was coming, right?) Then we could make it any size we wanted!

So, this is how you can do what I did . . .

1. Create a 6”x6” document in Photoshop.

2. Open the following backgrounds from the Lock and Key Digital Kit and drag them onto your new document. Resize as indicated.

Background.....................Size
Turquoise plain.................6x6
Brown patterned...............5.75x5.75
Dark Brown patterned......5x5
Cream plain......................4.5x4.5

Tip: if you hold the Shift key when you drag the background, it will stay centered in the new document. Also, hold the Shift key when resizing to maintain the proportion of the background.

3. Add a bevel to all layers except the turquoise. Use the settings I outlined in step 8 last week (click HERE to see last week’s blog). You can also add a drop shadow each of the layers, if desired.

4. Open the stamp graphic and drag it onto the left side of the cream layer; resize as needed.

5. Open one of the keys and drag it only the right side of the cream layer; resize as needed.

6. Recolor the key - from the Image menu, choose Adjustments -> Hue/Saturation (or Ctrl+U on Windows, Command+U on Mac). This will give it a warm brass color. Add a drop shadow.

Click 'Colorize' before adjusting the Hue, Saturation, & Lightness

7. Add the twine that ties down the key. I used Xtra08 from the Welcome kit (April, 2011).

8. Select the cream layer and then click the new layer button, This will create a new layer UNDER the stamp image.

9. Use the eyedropper tool to select a turquoise color from the turquoise background.

10. Select a fuzzy round brush and make is small (~25 pixels). Also lower the opacity (~45%) and begin to ‘color’ the image. Increase the size of the brush once you’ve colored in all of the small areas.

Tip: Don’t worry about being perfect or too precise - a few blank areas give it a more natural look.

11. Repeat steps 7-9, choose a burnt orange color and color the area outside the emblem area.

12. Print it out - photo paper would probably be best for something like this - and frame it.

Quick, easy, and beautiful art.

Now go make one of your own and hang it on a wall or give it as a gift.

See you next week!

-Ron