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)

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

Tutorial: Content Aware

Photos that we take during our travels are always perfect, right? No way, at least not for me! I usually end up with someone in the background, a hand off to the side, or even a bird in the wrong spot. Whatever it is that has marred your photo, you can try to remove it. There are many options in Photoshop and Photoshop Elements, such as the Eraser Tool, Spot Healing Tool, and the Clone Tool. Photoshop CS5 or Photoshop Elements 9 and up offer a cool new feature to remove unwanted "pieces" of your photo: Content Aware. Content Aware is a function that, while not perfect, can really improve your photos with a little tweaking and patience. This single feature allows you to edit your photos without the visual signs that the edits were completed. Give it a try on a simple removal in one of your photos and you might surprise yourself!

Step 1: Open your photo in Photoshop, and be sure to save it as a new document. Here is my son, Shayne, climbing up the slide. You can see his little brother, Colin, in the background in blue.

Step 2: Choose the Lasso Tool and click around the item that you will be removing from your picture. Here is a close up of Colin and what I plan to remove from my photo. I stayed relatively close to the edge so I don't remove other parts of the photo that I want to stay.

Step 3: Choose Edit in the toolbar, and then click on Fill.

Step 4: A menu will pop up before you can continue. Within this menu, click on the drop down arrow under "Contents:" and "Use:" and choose Content-Aware. Click Ok.

Step 5: Here is a close up of the Content Aware fill that the software generated. Not too bad at all! Since I have played around with the Content Aware feature, I have found that sometimes there is a need to complete the fills by making a new selection and using the tool again (or maybe a few more times).

Step 6: Since I still have a jagged edge on the green slide, I will run a Content Aware Fill again by following the same steps as I did previously. If you need to complete a second round of the fill, you will press Control-D to deselect the area. Then begin again at Step 2 with the Lasso Tool. Here is my second go round of a Content Aware fill with the image from Step 5. 

Step 7: I like my image, but I am one who likes smooth edges and a continuous look. I decided to try using the Content Aware one last time. Here are my final results, still a little jagged, but after I zoom out, it will look great!

Final Image:

Remember, Content Aware is a feature to help make your photos better; it cannot make them perfect. I showed a picture that used multiple steps to remove the unwanted portion. You have the ability to step back or "undo" what you have filled in, so there isn't a worry about damaging your photo memories. Not all pictures will be difficult; some may be easy. Here are a few before and after photos with easy Content Aware removals.

Before, with a dock piling:



After, dock piling removed:




Before, fence and cell tower:



After, fence and cell tower removed:

There you go!  Hope that helps removing some of those unwanted background items!  I originally wrote this article for the ScrapMatters Quarterly Magazine!

Thanks for visiting!
Jenn (jk703/The Typative Scrapper)

Birthday Bash Blog Hop

Hi Everyone!!!! Aren't you excited?! I am, lol! It's ScrapMatters 4th Birthday and there is a lot going on! Don't miss it!

If you are chugging along on the birthday blog hop, you may have come from Kim's blog at http://kimbsdesigns.blogspot.com/ and after this stop, head on over to Fran's blog here: http://franscraps.blogspot.com. Don't forget to visit EVERY blog on the blog hop - there is a 10 piece puzzle within the downloads that can get you a fantastic prize!

If you've fallen off the blog train, you can just visit the ScrapMatters Blog, http://scrapmatters.com/wordpress/

Here are the plans for the fun filled Birthday bash!  Make sure you check out all the awesome sales going on in the shop!

Don't forget to hop in on a Speed Scrap or Chat!  Lots of fun and laughs - plus I'm sure there are awesome participation prizes!

Lastly, don't forget to pick up your freebie!  The image is linked, and the link is also below, just in case!  If there are any problems, please e-mail me at thetypativescrapper@gmail.com.

ScrapMatters Birthday Blog Freebie by Jenn (jk703)

I'm so happy you've stopped by me blog!  I hope you like my cluster; I loved this kit!  Be sure to check out the forums for games, prizes and some more birthday fun!   I'd love if you'd visit or follow - so be sure to check out my blog!  I'd love to know what tutorials you would like to see!  

Have a great weekend!

Jenn 

(jk703/TheTypativeScrapper)

Vanquish That Green Eyed Monster!

Does the family pet or your furry friend give you the "green" eye? Many times when I take a picture of an animal, such as dogs, cats, birds, hamsters and the like, they are posing for the picture but they have these crazy green or yellow glowing pet eyes! That is the animal version of red eye that we sometimes get in our photos. Many animals eyes have an extra reflective layer which causes those pesky eyes to turn odd colors. Here is a tutorial for removing that reflective glow from your pets' eyes.

I'd like to introduce you to Harvi. Here he is in the original version of the photo I'll be working with for this tutorial. To start off, I've opened, cropped, and saved a new version of my photo so the original will be available if I need it in the future.

You begin by using the Polygonal Lasso Tool to select the portion of the pet eyes that you want to fix. I prefer to use the Polygonal Lasso Tool, as the Magic Wand always seems to grab other areas that I do not need included from all over the picture. The Polygonal Lasso allows for a more detailed selection than the regular Lasso tools. Since animal eyes are not always round or oval and some times are just odd shape, I find that the Circle or Elliptical Lasso Tools are not the best choice for this type of selection. You will need to zoom in close to each eye to make your selections. Also, make sure the "Add to Selection" is chosen from the Polygonal Lasso Tool menu bar. Additionally, when using the Polygonal Lasso Tool on a rounded edge, to make sure it remains rounded, just use extra anchor points as you go around the curve.

With your picture selected in the Layers Palette on the menu bar, choose Layer > New > Layer Via Copy.

Next, rename the copied layer in the Layers Palette to "Eye Desaturate." With this layer selected in the Layers Palette, you will now desaturate the selection. Choose Image > Adjustments > Desaturate. This quickly allows you to change the layer's color to grey. The eyes should look similar to this:  

Next, duplicate the Eye Desaturation Layer and rename the new copied layer "Burn Tool and Blur Tool." Press D on your computer to make sure your foreground and background colors return to the default setting.

Choose the Burn Tool (a sub tool with the Sponge) and change the exposure to 50%. Now paint black on the eye all over. The white parts should remain white while the grey parts will darken. Paint until all areas are colored. They may look similar to my image, here:

In this picture, the eyes are too bright for my taste and I want to add a little more light reflection. I decided to lower the layer'ss opacity to 55%. You can play with the opacity in your photo so the color of the eyes is to your liking.

Sometimes there are harsh lines that you may feel need to be softened on the eye; you can use the Blur Tool to fix those. Choose the Blur Tool and change the strength to a range of 10% - 25%. With the "Burn Tool and Blur Tool" layer Selected, blur the edges that you want softened.

 

Merge your layers by right clicking on the top most layer in the layers palette. Choose Merge Layers. The Green Eyed Monster has now been vanquished, and your family pet is back to stay!

Before:

After:

Tips: 

• If you didn't get the whole area that needs to be color changed, you can modify your selection. Choose Select > Modify > Expand. When the submenu pops up, enter the number of pixels the selection should be expanded by. I've seen ranges from 1-8 used, but go by your picture and selection. 

• If you add catchlights back to the eyes or want to brighten certain spots, make sure to create a new layer. Use the white foreground color, and brush onto each eye carefully. 
• For cat's eyes, try using an oval shaped brush when adding reflections back to the eye.
• For my example of a cat, here is Nala. I used a white oval brush to add some bright spots back to the eyes. Cats' eyes are a little more difficult to on because of the shape of their eyes and pupils.

Before:

After:

Special Thanks to Photonut71/Kris for the picture of Harvi and MsBrad/Michelle for pictures of Nala.


This article was originally created by me for the ScrapMatters Newsletter.  You can sign up and recieve these too!


Thanks for visiting!
Jenn
(jk703/The Typative Scrapper)