Freebie & SM's Birthday Blog Hop! :)

Hello everyone!!!!  There is SO much going on!  You've stopped here for the ScrapMatter's Birthday Reunion Blog Hop!  Yay!  Be sure to collect the freebie - but I'd love it if you came back and checked out some of my other tutorials!  Or even let me know what you want to see in a tutorial! Anyway.... getting to why you are here! 

Don't forget - a whipping 40% off sale too! YAY!  

Here is an awesome collab that you can get for free with your $15 purchase!  After seeing all these ads, I think it is a great kit, very fun! 

You've come from KimB Designs Blog, and after my freebie, you will be heading over to Ophelia's (navaja77) Blog.  If you get lost along the way, or want to see the list of all the blogs that you will hop - check out the ScrapMatters Blog. 

Now... freebie.  Here it is, and I hope you like it. I'm loving clusters and shapes lately, and this combined them!  Have fun and I would LOVE to see you use it on a layout - so link me up! Just click on the preview or HERE!

Off to the next blog you go... but thanks for stopping by!  Happy Birthday ScrapMatters!
Come back soon!
Jenn (jk703)

Hello! Hello! & PS Tips

Hi Everyone.... How are you all doing?! LOL!  I don't even know if anyone reads my blog much, but that may be beacause I have blogged anytime recently!  I always wonder if these tutorisals or my random chatter is boring!  :) 


I've been busy with life, mostly my kids!  They are trying to make me nuts - most of the time. The other times, they are so sweet and cute... then that evil smirk shows up on their faces!  LOL!  The sure do keep me laughing and happy though!  


Summer is here i full swing. It's been so hot... but I love not having homework!  Makes the summer worthwhile!  lol!  


So, here is a little tutorial for you.... bunch of random tips and tricks that you can use in Photoshop or Photoshop elements!  Some may be repeats, but I think there are a few new ones in there too!  


If you want to share your favorite tip, I'd love to hear it!  This was originally written by me, and posted at Scrap Orchard, on the blog and in the Scrap Orchard University. 

Tip #1:
Save your Workspace. I'm not sure about your household, but my husband and my kids are on my desktop, but no one else uses my laptop. So, when I want to use Photoshop, and use the menus my way, I save my workspace. It shows just the palettes that I want, and I don't have to make changes to what my husband uses. We can each have our own space. Once I had my workspace just as I liked it, I clicked on Windows > Workspace > Save Workspace. I named it Digi and saved it. My husband named his "Mine," lol! You can also click on the double right pointed arrows in the top left corner of the worksapce, and choose Save Workspace. You can save many - one for photo editing, scrapbooking, and designing. Saves a lot of time moving and changing the palettes! 

Tip #2: 
Marching Ants Go Round and Round. So, you have them and now you don't know how to stop seeing them march for a minute, but at the same time, keep your selection. Press Command + H (Control for PC) and they will stop marching, press the shortcut again, and presto, they are back exactly where they were before you hid them! So easy! 

Tip #3
Default Color Selections. This little box has easy shortcuts! All you have to do is press D to reset your color squares to default settings - which is black as the foreground color and white as the background color. If you press the X next, it will switch the foreground color and your background color. If you want a specific color in one of the squares, just click on it and the Color Picker pops up!

Tip #4
Where are the Palettes Hiding? You have all your palettes up, and all over your screen, but you need more space! Quickly hide your palettes by pressing the Tab key. To get them back on your screen, press Tab again. If you need your Toolbar, you can keep that one by pressing Shift + Tab. Here is a screen with my Palette's showing and a screen without. All by pressing that Tab key! 

Tip #5
Marquee Move. There have been times that I have made a selection using my Marquee Tool, and it isn't in the right spot. As you make your selection, don't let go of that mouse button! If it is in the wrong spot, just press the Shift key, and still holding that mouse button down, start to drag your selection to the correct place. When in the correct position and the right size, let go of the mouse button, and then the marching ants will appear - and in the correct location.

Tip #6

100% Zoom Zoom. Sometimes you want to get up close and personal in your workspace. Just click on the magnifying glass two times, and boom - you are viewing at 100%! Easy!

Tip #7
Fit to Screen. Now that you've just clicked to 100% zoom, you want to see the whole picture in your screen. Just click on the Hand Tool two times, and you've got everything that you are working on fitted into your photoshop workspace screen! Another Easy one! 

Tip #8
Fast Unhide/Hide. You want to hide about 8 layers and don't want to hide them all individually! All those repeated clicks could be done with a little single click and drag. Click on one layer's "eye" and hold that click. Next, drag the cursor over all the layers you want to hide, and you will see the "eye" disappear for each one. Want them all back, this tip works the opposite way too! 

Tip #9
Opacity by Numbers. The opacity for each layer can easily be change by using your keyboards number buttons. Want 90% opacity, press 9. Want 50% opacity, press 5. I use this one a lot - and easy way to quickly see the changes when working with blend modes. 

Tip #10
Quick - I need a New Layer. Command + N brings up the New Layer pop up box to create a new layer above the one selected in the layers palette! Fast! 

How about them apples?! Well, tips... lol! I hope you found something useful in all these tips! There are loads of shortcuts to make you work faster and easier in your scrapping! Learning just a couple that you can use all the time will really be a surprise!






Thanks for visiting... If there are any tutorials that you would like me to do, please let me know! 
Have a great weekend!
Jenn/jk703
The Typative Scrapper

I DID IT! Printed My 1st Album! & RadLab

Hi Everyone.... Lots to share... SO... I actually bit the bullet, and had my 2011 Rewind Album printed!  Yes... printed!  I was waiting as patiently as I could wait, and it arrived on Monday afternoon!  I was sitting at work, itching to leave and rip open the box! I LOVE it!

It is so awesome to see it IRL rather than my computer. No matter how much anyone tells you that it is great - you need to print to realize what they mean!  The pic on your screen is nothing like the real thing! Actually seeing it and holding it is weird and so cool! Seriously!

OK... I am not the best scrapper ever, not the best speller, or the best at thinking things through. BUT, I love my album, and what mistakes I notice are mine and mine alone. Most are really silly and make me laugh at myself - like the HUGE staple, or a Misspelled Title (Litte instead of Little, lol!) and the numerous spelling/typing errors in my journaling. For me, it's sort of like "It is what it is..." I wasn't able to fit all my pages so far into this album, so I made a first chronological album, and may print pages for a second album... yes, I scrapped a lot! :)

It was 98 pages long, and I got a nice brown leather album, and had a peek spot for an image. Each page has a nice thickness, and my kids loved looking at them already!  My oldest wanted to take pieces off the pages, and loved that they looked real to him!  Made my night when he said that!  He already asked if he could take it to school!  LOL!  Um... not yet, I have to show it off first!

My images are not the greatest!  I haven't replaced my camera, so I had to use my distance lens, and I put my book on the floor!  I was standing on my couch up high, trying to get the pictures!  I couldn't take a picture for every page, but I got a bunch! Here are some pages... All of the images are linked to my layouts in the gallery if you need credits.

Spinky Dink Scraps Kit

Spinky Dink Scraps Kit

Chelle's Creations Kit, Happy Scrap Girl Watercolor 

Textures and Scrapping with Liz Template

Chelle's Creations Kit, Happy Scrap Girl Watercolor 

Textures and Scrapping with Liz Template

mle: Scraps by the Brush Kit and 

Scrapping with Liz Templates

Jennifer Labre Designs Kit

 Crossbones Cuts Kit and 

Scrapping with Liz Templates

LCC by Amy Stoffel Kit and 

Scrapping with Liz Templates

Tracie Srtoud Designs and Captivated Visions 

Kit with Scrapping with Liz Templates

Designs by Kat Kit and 

Fiddle Dee Dee Templates

LCC by Amy Stoffel kit and 

Fiddle Dee Dee Templates 

Tracie Stroud Designs Kit and 

Fiddle Dee Dee Templates

Tracie Stroud Designs and 

Fiddle Dee Dee Templates

Stolen Moments and Flergs Kit with 

Templates by Fizzy Pop Designs

Chelle's Creations Kit with 

Scrapping with Liz Templates

Chelle's Creations Kit with Scrapping with Liz Templates, 

and my handwriting font - Typative Tall by wm[squared]

Awesome!  I love it!  I'm so glad this venture into digital scrapbooking has really made me proud of my creativity!  My husband loves it too!  He sat for a long time and read each page, and really loved looking at the book!  Made my night!

On top of that wonderful album... I can share that I am a RADvocate!  WOOT!  This means if anyone tried and eventually buys a purchase from Totally Rad, I can ear a comission!  No pressure there... especially if you give it the 30 day trial of the RadLab... you will not want to use anything else for photo editing!  Check it out here!

Well, there you have it!  My Album, and Totally Rad!  YAY!  Thanks for visiting and I hope you come back soon!
Jenn
jk703/The Typative Scrapper

Hello... Hello... anyone there? Catch Up & Tutorial

Hey everyone!  Yes.... I intended to start the year blogging away, but things got away from me... and I seemed to take a long break.  Well, I've decided that I need to get commited and back to at least a weekly post!  Even if it is just layouts to share.

So.... I have about 15 tutorials that you have to check out and I must continue to share... whether of not anyone reads these, I know I have used my own blog as a reference!  Just last night, I was looking at the Cross Processing Tutorial, and I was laughing at myself!

Plus, today - I signed up to be approved for a RADvocate. I know... what?! is going right through your mind!  OK... I'll explain!  Totally Rad is an awesome photshop plug in that transforms your photos in as few clicks as possible - and it is that easy!  Check out this video from their website: Watch RadLab in Action!  Hopefully, I am accepted as a RADvocate. That means that anyone who purchases something at Totally Rad, from clicking on a banner or from my posts, earns me a commission.  Actually, I'm not too worried about a commission - but sharing this awesome feature is really cool!  I already know of two friends that got it when I told them about RadLab!  Plus, you can try it before you buy - so people know what they are getting beforehand!  Awesome in Photoshop Plugin form! Check it out and keep your fingers crossed for me! :)

Anyway... there is lots going on in life.... My boys are getting bigger, my life crazier, and my work even more boring-er!  LOL!  Making lemonade here!  :)  I'll share the good stuff - kids, and scrapping!  I've completed my first digital scrapbooking album!  Yes... my first and I've been doing this for two years. the first was learning, and the second had a goal - and I completed it!  Yay!  Check it out! I'd love to know what you think!  :)

See it larger, click HERE!

It is iNSD, WOW... there is lots going on!  Check out Scrap Orchard, ScrapMatters, Scrapbook Graphics to get awesome goodies. Those are the stores my designers sell at, lol! There are some awesome deals going on this weekend!

Here are some favorite recent layouts.... 

First one I wasn't even sure of - it's a double, 12 x 24, and that large photo is not the norm for me, but I love it and got a Gallery StandOut at ScrapMatters!  That sure makes you feel better about a layout you aren't sure about, lol!  Colin at the beach with the NYC skyline in the background - April 2012. 

Mix and Match by Scrapping with Liz
Fiddlesticks by Amy Stoffel
Font is SNF Journaling Bold.

Here is one more... I just love the outcome of this layout and no template - which is unheard of from me!  LOL! Here is Colin (again) smiling from the pool last summer. 

I need to look for favorites with Shayne in them for my next post! :)

The Mane Even by Chelle's Creations

Worn Out Pieces from Happy Scrap Girl

Font is LD Thankful (Catch) and The Chuck Wearer by Heather Hess. 

Now... I'll end with a tutorial.... one of my favorites!  Adding Texture to Paint...

I find that I really like my pages to look as paper-like as possible. I love great textured papers, felties, scatters and paint. Paint stumped me for awhile, especially how to make it look like it was painted on my paper. Today, I'm going to show you a technique to get paper "painted" on your layout.

I'm using Chelle's Creation's Home for the Holiday Bundle, Scrapping with Liz's 3's a Charm template pack and Watercolor Overlays 3 by Happy Scrap Girl. I'm in the middle of working on my layout, and added a paint swatch to my layout. I want to give it some texture, but I really didn't like the textures that Photoshop has, so I dug into my digital scrap supplies, and pulled out a watercolor overlay.






Step 1:
Open the overlay that you would like to use as your texture in a new photoshop file. Then File > Save As a .psd file. I leave the name of the file as is, so that I can give credit to the designer when uploading my layouts. Remember where you saved your new overlay.

Step 2:
Once you have that overlay saved as a .psd file, click back into your layout. With the paint layer selected, choose Filter > Texture > Texturizer.

Step 3:
A new Texturizing screen will pop up. On the right side of the pop up, you will see a small triangle pointing down with some lines. Click on this, and choose Load Texture.

Step 4:
A second new pop up menu will appear and you should choose the overlay .psd file that you just created a bit ago. Now, under the small triangle, there are 2 sliders. Play with those, until you like the look of your paint. This is a more personal option, and choose what pleases you. For mine, I left the scaling at 50, changed my Relief to 21. There is one more option called Light, and you can change this depending on how you shadow and your angle on your layouts.

Step 5:

Here is what my paint looks like after applying a watercolor texture.

My Final Layout - share YOUR LAYOUT using this technique in the comments - I'll be sure to visit and leave some love! 

I know.... I know... that was a long post!  LOL!  Lots goin on!  Hope you come back soon, and I'll be back maybe to share some iNSD goodies... 

This tutorial was created for Scrap Orchard, originally by me. You can view it: HERE! 

Thanks for visiting!  Hope you decided to come back and take a look see - I'm glad to have you!  

Jenn/jk703

The Typative Scrapper

P52: Round 2... Trying Again... and a Type Path Tutorial!

Hi Everyone.... I'm back after a bit of a hiatus with the holidays and new year!  Can you believe it is 2012?  Though... I'm still writing 2011 all over the place!  Oops... :) I hope you all had a most wonderful holiday and new year!  What was your most favorite memory or favorite gift!?

I decided to try again at my modified version of P52, yay... but I need to keep myself motivated and actually complete it!  I think I only got in to about 7 or 8 weeks last year and then it all went down hill!  I think one major difference between this year and last year is my phone.  I'm going to take random shots more often!  I have an iPhone.... and Instagram has started a photo craze in me!  I usually take pictures on the sun, sky, and especially flowers... the nature side I like... but now, I will incorporate my P52 into my Instagram and use those photos too!  OH.... on Instagram, my user name is jk703!  Come check it out... let me know that you came form my blog!

Anyway... I'm being chattery!  So... here is my first P52 Modified layout!  I used a special kit from the Scrap Orchard Designers called The Bees Knees, and wonderful Paper Blocks 365 templates by Little Green Frog Designs and Michelle Batton!

I also did a tutorial using my layout as an example for Scrap Orchard.  You can check it out HERE!  (Though, it will eventually be recycled to here too!) Did you know I write new tutorials every other week over there, and then on my off weeks, I get to show off other tutorials that are located in the forums!  How cool is that?!

One last item about this page.... I got my first GSO for 2012 with it!  I was SOOOO stoked to see it included on the Me So Scrappy blog.  You can check it out HERE! I was floored and sooo happy.  I don't usually get GSO's so they are really special to me!

And my first P52 double pages for 2012..... dun dun dun duuuuuuunnnnnnn...

WOOOOOOT! LOL... can't help it!  :)  I''ll be posting alternate posts with tutorials and layouts hopefully! That is my intention this year... at least a weekly to bi weekly posting of tutorials and layouts!  Lemme know what you want to see tutorial wise!

Enjoy the weekend everyone!
Thanks for visiting and come back soon!
Jenn (jk703/The Typative Scrapper)