Digital Stencil Crackle Paint Technique, Part 1

Recently, Julie published a great blog entry on using crackle paint with stencils. Then, CS Member Norma posted a question in the forum asking if this could be accomplished digitally. Since I love a challenge, I thought I’d try this using Club Scrap’s Blueprints Digital Kit. Like many things digital, there isn’t any one right way, but I’ll show you how I achieved a similar look.

Although this isn’t difficult to do, it does require quite a few steps, so I’m only going to cover two parts today - creating the stencil, and creating a crackle texture. My next post (appearing later this month) will cover how to create a layout similar to Julie’s.

CREATE A STENCIL

1. Open 0914BlueprintsCSD_Overlay7.png.

2. Select the Magic Wand tool in the Tool palette and set the tolerance to 35. Make sure ‘contiguous’ is not checked.

3. Click in an empty area of the overlay. If you’re having trouble distinguishing the blank areas, add a new white layer under the overlay layer.

4. Select -> Inverse to select the letters.

Notice the 'marching ants' - that's what you want to see!

5. Fill with Black.

Voila! You've created a stencil!

6. Delete the white layer you created in step 3.

7. Save this as 0914BlueprintsCSD_Stencil.png so you can use it whenever you’d like.

CREATE A CRACKLE TEXTURE

1. Create a new document about 8 inches by 6 inches, with a white background.

2. Open a texture stamp; I used 0311RakuCSD_StampGraphic04.png.

You can use any image with an interesting texture, but Raku is rather crackly!

3. Using the Marquee Tool, select the portion of the image that you want.

4. Drag that portion of the image to your new document.

5. Duplicate and tile the image, repeating as needed to fill the canvas.

As is, the repeat is quite obvious, but you won't notice it once it's applied.

6. Delete the white layer.

7. Merge the layers together and save the file.

That's all for now. Remember, these digital stencils and textures can be used for a variety of techniques, so if you've got a chance to play with them, you might come up with some neat results!

Visit again later this month, and we'll use the components we made to create a cool crackle stencil layout.

Get crackin', and I'll see you soon!

 -Ron

Digital Stamp Shadows

Recently, Julie wrote a blog entitled “Stencil Shadow,” showing a great technique using stencils and two different colors of ink. If you missed it, you can read it HERE. Since the inks have a bit of transparency to them, a third color is created where the inks overlap.

If you look closely, you can see the third color where the two inks overlap.

This technique is easily replicated digitally. Since we don't have digital stencils, we'll just use stamp images. Here’s how . . .

1. Create a new square document with a white background.

2. Open a stamp image and drag it onto the new document. I’m using an image from the Versailles Digital Kit.

3. Resize the image so it fills the document; rotate it slightly.

4. Reduce the image opacity to 60%. This mimics the CS Ash ink nicely.

5. Duplicate the layer.

6. Command+Click (Mac OS) or CTRL+Click (Windows) on the new layer thumbnail in the Layers Palette. You’ll see marching ants around the image.

7. Use the Fill command to change the color; I used turquoise.

8. Press Command+D (Mac OS) or CTRL+D (Windows) to deselect the image.

9. Use your arrow keys to nudge the image a few pixels up and to the left. Because the opacity is reduced on the two image layers, a third color is created where they overlap - just like the paper version!

10. Merge the layers together and save your file.

To use the image to make cards . . .

1. Create a new document - I made mine 4.25x5.5".

2. Add a background. I chose a shade of turquoise to match the art.

3. Using the Marquee tool, grab a section of the newly created file and drag it onto your card.

4. Resize as needed.

5. Add a sentiment.

Wasn't that easy?

Sentiment from Oopsie Daisy

Sentiment from Hydrangeas

Make these in several colors and you can whip up a bunch of digi-cards in no time. You can also print out your original art, trim it into panels like Julie did, and make some easy hybrid cards!

Until next time, thanks for stopping by!

-Ron

Acrylic Block Stamping, Digital Style

A couple of weeks ago, Karen blogged about using an acrylic block to create a stamp background. You can read that post HERE. The digital wheels started turning the minute I saw her idea.

Here’s my digital version of that technique , , ,

I’m using Photoshop CC for this tutorial, but you should be able to do this with any graphics program that supports layers.

1. Create a new document with a white background.

2. Create a new Layer.

3. Using the Marquee tool, create a 4x5.25" rectangle.

4. Switch to the Brush tool and pick a 'spatter' style brush. I used 'Spatter 24 pixels'.

5. Increase the size to 700 pixels.

6. Choose a light blue color and ‘click’ along the edge of the rectangle.

7. Continue to ‘click’ along the outer edge to create a frame.

8. Create a new layer, choose a darker blue, and reduce the size of the brush to 500 pixels.

9. ‘Click’ along the outer edge to form a second frame.

10. Reduce the opacity of each of the layers until you achieve a look you like.

11. Add a couple of mattes and images to complete a card panel. I used a background and a few stamps from the Cinema Digital Kit.

I hope you’ll give this quick and easy technique a try the next time you need to frame some stamped images for your digital cards and layouts.

Until next time, thanks for stopping by.

-Ron

Creating a Digital Layout in Three Easy Steps

Each CS Digital Kit comes with six Quick Drop Digital Layouts (QDDLs). These template make it easy to create layouts by just adding photos. But sometimes you just want to make something that's more "your own."

The digital clusters that are part of each kit can help you accomplish that. Clusters are pre-assembled groupings of various parts and pieces of the digital kit, even including the appropriate shadows. This helps add detail to your layout without having to do a lot of work. In fact, you can make your own digital layout in just three steps.

Using this month’s Oopsie Daisy Digital Kit, let me show you how!

1. Open one of the digital backgrounds.

2. Add a cluster.

. . . or two!

3. Add a photo, cropping if necessary.

Done! Wasn't that simple?

The next time you want to make a quick and easy digital layout, check out the clusters in the kit. They can make light work of building a layout of your own . . . as easy as 1, 2, 3!

Until next time, thanks for stopping by.

-Ron

Mixed Media Look with Oopsie Daisy Digi

I'm really enjoying making backgrounds with the Oopsie Daisy digital kit! In the paper world I've been into mixed media and layers lately--all kinds of layers--so I wanted to create the same type of look using digital. 

Each digital collection comes with an assortment of backgrounds and overlays. I created the muted background below using Background #3 with various blending modes, like gradient overlays in multiple and lighter colors - your choice of which effects to use will vary, based on both background & overlay colors, so experiment until you get something you like.

I really like the look of text in my work, so I added Background #1, with more blending options. 

To achieve the look above, flip Overlay #2 horizontally (so the daisies are on the right side) and layer onto the piece, using more blending tools. Adding the ink splatter stamp from Extra 01 was the icing on the cake for my final "look." I added several splotches of “ink” by picking up colors, from white and taking the opacity down, to using an array of colors on the background page. This "splatter" image will be a real "go-to" stamp for me, both in digital format and on paper using the same rubber stamp image from the Borders & Backgrounds unmounted sheet.

To finish the page, I added some really neat, ready-to-use elements from Extras 08 and 10, Sasha’s picture, shadows and journaling text using the Skinny Chick font. I finally achieved a digital layout with the many layered "mixed-media" look I was going for!

Love this kit!

CS Member Cathy Gray

Make Your Own Digital Embellishments

As I was playing with this month's Oopsie Daisy Digital Kit, I looked at one of the backgrounds and thought it would make a nice looking embellishment, so I had to give it a try!

1. Open a new document with a transparent background.

2. Create a 3x3" square in a new layer using the Marquee tool. Color the square white. Tip: to make the square exactly 3", use the settings panel for the Marquee tool to specify a 3" square.

3. Open Background03 and drag it onto the new document.

4. Resize it to fit in the square, leaving about 1/8" border of white showing all the way around.
Tip: to constrain the shape so it remains a square while resizing, hold the Shift key.

5. Add a small bevel to the white layer using this setting:

The bevel effect is subtle, but really helps give the item depth.

Bonus: Add a black layer between the background and white layer for added 'pop.'

I really liked the look of this, so I duplicated the embellishment in a few different sizes and used it for one of this month's QDDLs:

Repeating the embellishment in different sizes and using the same image in the background helps tie it all together!

Next, I tried the same technique with parts of a few of the other backgrounds and overlays. Here's what I came up with . . .

Bonus: Create several of these in different sizes and print them out to use as cutaparts on your cards and layouts. You don't need to add the bevel effect in step five if you're going to print these out. Simply use your grid ruler to keep a 1/8" white border around the items when trimming.

The next time you're looking for an embellishment or two, look no further than your digital kit backgrounds and overlays. There's no limit to what you can do!

Until next time, thanks for stopping by!

-Ron

Easy Digital Hybrid Cards, Part 2

In my last blog (CLICK HERE if you missed it), I showed you how to create a few simple hybrid cards using the Picnic Digital Kit. Truth be told, in the course of figuring out what those cards would look like, I printed out a few extra sheets of that paper, including one with the blue checkerboard background. Being the true hoarder crafter that I am, I kept those extra sheets and have been looking for a different way to use them..

Then, I saw Tricia's post - New Formulas for Picnic Papers - and I was inspired. Thanks, Tricia!

I took those extra backgrounds and cut some into 1" squares and punched some into 1" circles.

I arranged them on two card bases made from one sheet of the 8.5x11 Dark Green paper from the Club Stamp kit. They looked okay, but I felt something was missing. I thought about inking the edges, but then saw a piece of sand paper on my craft table and thought, "Hmmm, would that work?" You bet it did!

I'm sure you have some kind of sanding tool in your craft supplies - I have several!

I really like that shabby, sanded look and it's so easy to achieve with digital background paper that you make yourself! This technique will work with the printed text weight paper in the Club Stamp kit, but be careful - if you sand too hard, you'll go right through the paper. (Go ahead. Ask me how I know.) That white edge really makes the shapes pop on the dark card base.

I had a little extra space on the left card, but a 1/4" strip of green filled that nicely!

For the sentiments, I simply flipped a few pieces over and stamped on the white side. Yup, I actually stamped those, although you could print out the digital stamps and then cut or punch as needed.

So there you have it . . . two more quick and easy hybrid cards. I hope you'll give this a try.

Until next time, thanks for stopping by!

-Ron

Easy Digital Hybrid Cards, Picnic-Style!

You know how much I love digital, but I need to play with paper every once in a while. When I saw the art in the Picnic Digital Kit, I knew that I could do both! The graphics are bold with fairly simple lines, so they can be used as cut-outs for a hybrid card without too much 'fussiness' with a scissors.

To make these two Picnic Hybrid cards, you'll need two sheets of letter-sized card stock, your favorite layout program (I'm using Photoshop CC), and a printer, plus your usual card-making tools: paper trimmer, scissors (or craft knife and ruler), and some adhesive. Let's get started . . .

1. Create a new 8.5x11 document, 300ppi, white background (in Photoshop, you can use the US Letter Preset).

2. Pull out horizontal and vertical guidelines to divide the page into four 4.25x5.5" quadrants.

3. Open the Pink 'watermelon' background and drag it onto your new document. Resize it to fit into one quadrant.

4. Repeat step 3 with the 'lime' and 'multi-stripe' backgrounds.

5. Open 0614PicnicCSD_StampGraphics3.png and 0614PicnicCSD_Xtra04.png and use the marquee tool to select the desired sentiments and images to drag them into the blank quadrant. Note: I enlarged some of the items and rotated them to fit.

6. Print artwork onto one sheet of white card stock. Note: Make sure you adjust your printer's setting to print 'borderless' if available.

7. Trim the watermelon and lime panels to 4x5.25 and the striped panel to 5.25x1.5"; trim the sentiments into the rectangles. Using scissors or a craft knife, trim the graphics, leaving a small white border.

8. Score and cut the second sheet of card stock into two folded 4.25x5.5" card bases.

9. Assemble the cards. Note: I inked edges with Fuchsia and Leaf Hybrid Inks, and used pop-dots to adhere the sentiments and graphics.

Easy-Peasy, Lemon Melon-Squeezy!

The next time you need a card or two, look no further than your digital kit for some hybrid inspiration!

Thanks for stopping by!

-Ron