My daughter and friend were in from San Francisco for a wedding, and we rented a little cabin in the Delaware Water Gap for a few days beforehand to hang out with them, to raft, to relax, and to celebrate my daughter's upcoming birthday. Much better than Skyping, though we love to do that, too. This is a spread from the album I'm doing to document our time together. It will magically show up under the Christmas Tree.
Products:
Spring Template No 2, pp 14-15 http://www.oscraps.com/shop/Spring-Template-Album-No.-2.html
Party Artplay Palette http://www.oscraps.com/shop/ArtPlay-Palette-Party.html
MultiMedia Balloons No 2 http://www.oscraps.com/shop/MultiMedia-Balloons-No.-2.html
Jazzed up LoopDaLoop No. 5 http://www.oscraps.com/shop/JazzedUp-LoopDaLoop-No.-5.html
Spackle Textures No 4 http://www.oscraps.com/shop/Spackle-Textured-No.-4.html
More spackle from Tinge Artplay Palette: http://www.oscraps.com/shop/ArtPlay-Palette-Tinge-SKU10011771.html
Process for Photoshop Elements 14:
August is Template Month on the aA blog, so make sure to check frequently for new tutorials. Here's the link: http://www.annaaspnesdesigns.com/blog/
I love templates and don't usually change them around muchwhy should I, since Anna does all the work for me? Although I almost always wind up nudging photos a little bit here or there to make more space for my journaling. In this layout I nudged, and I also duplicated a frame to hold a third photo on the left. I relocated the word art and then plunked a Fotoblendz right down the middle to hold yet another image. Since I will be printing this book for my daughter in a lay-flat style, I like to use as much ink as possible to justify the printing cost and take advantage of the seamless construction. If there's an edge on the template pages (and there were edges on these pages), I always remove it, because it can be awkward if some of it is cut off in printing and some of it isn't.
Other than those small tweaks, completing this layout was a matter of clipping in the photos and then creating a party vibe with the digital supplies and THEN creating that fulsome texture at the bottom. I got it into my head that it HAD to resemble the icing on the birthday cake...you can get lost in something like that (and I did). What saved my sanity was a video tutorial I had seen on the annaBlog, about the importance of connecting the ENDS of each spackle/tape/tissue image to create a realistic flow. Once you know to do that, the exercise becomes a whole lot easier. See Suzie's most excellent video here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y_eppG1F76s I never got it to look like quite what I pictured in my head, but there comes a time to say it's good enough and next time.
