Making Template Layers Look Like Elements


Lately, I've been having a lot of fun playing around with the different clipping masks on my templates when I've been scrapping. Some templates come with special clipping masks. Take my Envelope Journaling Masks, for example, they have clipping mask layers that look like an envelope. Sometimes with these more unique clipping mask layers, you might want to do more than just clip a piece of paper to it. So I'm going to show you how I do that.

Here's my before page with just paper clipped to the envelope and to some of the other layers.

Here's my completed page. You can see I played with the envelope, date tag, scalloped trim, and banner to make them seem more like an element that you might find in a kit.


And Megan Turnidge's Kit Delightful.

So here's the video tutorial showing you how I did it and below is a written tutorial with a few pics!
I used Photoshop CS3.




I use an inner shadow to give the layers on my templates a more realistic look. I'm sure there are bigger and better ways of doing this but it's the way I do it. 

1. Double click on the layer that you want to edit. Make sure you are not on the paper layer but on the clipping mask layer.
2. Click on Inner Shadow.
3. Set your distance and choke at 0 and play with your size. It will be different depending on the size of the element you are playing with and the look you are going for. 


4. Play with the blending modes. I usually use Overlay as my blending mode but sometimes I'll change it up. There's no right or wrong here...whatever looks good, at least that's what I say.

You can go back and play with the size and opacity until you get just the right look. Don't be afraid to play with the other layer styles too, it can be a lot of fun.

-Liz




My Newest Digi Gallery Wall.....and Adoption Update!

Do you remember a while ago when I wrote a blog post about My Walls? Do you remember that lonely, empty wall I showed you at the bottom of the post? Well, it's not empty anymore! Now that things are rolling along with our adoption I decided it was time to finish up that wall for our newest little girl.

Of course, I had to use some kind of digital scrapbook products to decorate that wall. I found this cute kit called Spring-A-Ling from Tracie Stroud, Nikki Beaudreau, and Sabrina Dupree. I started by making this 8.5x11 page in photoshop. Then I printed it on my home printer and placed it in a frame.


The color is off a little on the print (most likely my cheapo printer). 

I had been collecting different things (for several months) that I wanted to hang on her wall so I just kind of arranged them all how I wanted (on the floor first) and then hung them up.

Let me explain the pics a little bit. The top left, with the little girl praying, was a picture that used to hang in my room as a little girl. The 3 ladybugs that you see surrounding her name were made by Lydia's older sisters. They each made a ladybug out of traditional scrapbook paper. It was super easy. Just cut a big circle, cut it in half, cut a somewhat smaller circle for underneath the bigger circle and then cut a little circle for the head and glue it all together. They each signed their name on the bottom right-hand corner of their ladybug picture. The right-hand picture was given to me by my mom (a long time ago). She loves Bessie Pease Gutmann prints. And then the little ornate frame on the bottom right has an L made out of buttons (you know, like the ones you see on Pinterest, at least that's where I got my idea).


Here's a corner view. The ABC picture came from Target.

Just yesterday we got an update on our little girl! Just in time for this blog post. So here are a few updated pictures. She seems to be doing really well. They say she's a sweet little girl. Isn't she a cutie? We'll be going to get her soon!


No more lonely walls in my house! Just a lonely bed that will be filled soon.
-Liz

Invites, Thank You Cards and FREEBIES!

Last month was my daughter's 5th birthday. She's really into ponies, cowgirls, etc... So, of course, I had to do something with that sort of theme. Since I like to start my party planning by making the invitations first, I went on over to Scrap Orchard and searched for western themed digital scrapbook kits. I found Life is Like a Rodeo (talk about perfect!) from Captivated Visions and I already had Chelle's Cowgirl Up kit from a previous project. I used these to make my invite.

My daughter and nephew *almost* share a birthday so we combined their party and this is the invite I made. Cute, huh?


I turned it into a template for Y'all. ;) I did previously give this away on my facebook page but wanted to post it here in case you missed it. Just click the image to download.

*no longer available*


After the party, I decided to use the same kits to make thank you cards to give to those who came to the party and for those who gave gifts. 


And I made one with pictures of both birthday kids. I just wrote little notes on the back of each card telling everyone how thankful we were that they helped celebrate her birthday and to thank them for the gifts.


And of course, I had to turn them into templates for you!
Just click the image to download.

*download is expired*


And here are some pics of the birthday kids. Kyla loves ponies, and I have a super sweet friend who has a pony. She let us come to her house for the party. Kyla got her birthday wish: to ride a pony.



Here are both birthday kids. Not the best of pics but it was over 100 degrees outside that day, and I just wanted to make it through the party!


I hope this will help you make some personalized digital scrapbook invites and don't forget those thank you cards!

-Liz

My June Pages

It's time to show you my June pages. I did pretty good this month.  I finished scrapping all of my June 2011 pictures (Yay!). As far as my June 2012 pics. Well, we won't go there (Boo!), but I did catch up on a few of my May 2012 photos (remember, last month I didn't do so hot on my current photos). So at least I'm still working on getting my 2012 pics caught up and I'm still on track to finish my 2011 album by the end of the year. Look at the positive, right?

So here goes. This is what I scrapped this past month.

These are pics from a trip our family took to Charlotte with my hubby while he was on a business trip. The girls and I had all the fun while he had to do all the work. Really though, I would have rather had him enjoying it with us. I used the one template and rotated it to make it a double pager...although I didn't take the time to put it together as a double. You'll just have to imagine it as a two pager.

Left Side

Right Side
Using Fan Templates
And Leavin' On a Jet Plane by Laura Banasiak and Jenn Barrette

Here are some photos at Chimney Rock. We stopped on our way back from Charlotte. I actually scrapped this for the June Challenge that was on my blog.
Using Fan Templates
 and using Captivating May 2012 by Captivated Visions
 And more photos of our trip. We did get to go out one night with the whole family. This was made with my 2 in 1 Templates. I thought this template was perfect for showing day/night photos.
Using 2 in 1 Templates
and Scrap Orchard May 2012 Mega
and Foliferous Full Kit by Captivated Visions
Oh my. More pictures from our trip! I'm beginning to think I should have made an album just for this trip. I caught my oldest daughter being the little photographer. She must have seen her mamma taking all these pics and wanted to get in on the action.
One of my templates from a recent challenge. It will soon be in one of my Recyclables sets.
Using Perfect Shot by mle Card Designs.


Finally! Something other than our trip. Actually, these pics are from May 2011, not June, BUT I just scrapped them this month because I was waiting for this kit to come out from Chelle and mle. I knew that this gymnastics kit was coming and I just had to wait for it to scrap this photos. Now my May 2011 pics are officially done!
Using Yin and Yang 2 from Fiddle Dee Dee and me!
And then the kit I was waiting for!
Gymnastics Bundle from Chelle's Creations and mle Card Designs.

Once I got my June 2011 pics done I decided to go back and try to get caught up on some of my May 2012 photos. So I made this recap page. I still want to do some more pages about some of the individual events. Look how the girls have grown in just one year!
Using my Perpetual Calendar 12x12 Page Templates
and Captivation May 2012 by Captivated Visions (I really like this kit!)
And then my one lone page of pics from June 2012. At least I got one done! I actually scrapped this for the July Blog Challenge that is on my blog right now. Go grab the FREE template and you can scrap one kind of like this....if you like it.
FREE Template here on my blog.
Using My Chances by Amanda Heimann

Just another reminder to keep on scrapping even if you are behind on your goals!
-Liz

© Scrapping with Liz
Maira Gall