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A Photo and Artsy Transfers

By

On June 25, 2019

In Photography

There is a pond on the greenbelt behind our house. Periodically, I’ll see ducks or geese swimming on the water. Then I walk out to capture them with my camera, near sunset for these ducks. I like that I gave can give our simple pond an artsy look with a few Artsy Transfers. Below I share how I masked the photo and created the background.

Blend and Mask
  • Duplicate the photo and place on Solid Paper 1 from ArtPlay Palette Evenfall.
  • Add layer mask to a copy of the photo and stamp with brush 9 from ArtPlay Palette Evenfall.
  • Add layer mask to a second copy of the photo and stamp with white on a inverted layer mask with brush 10 from ArtPlay Palette Evenfall.
  • In Topaz Studio, apply a watercolor filter to another copy. Reduce the opacity to 50%.
  • Place another copy of the original photo above these layers on Normal blend mode and change the opacity to 50%.

Note: I adjusted the white balance of this .jpeg with the Camera Raw Filter in Photoshop.

Artsy Transfers
  • Place the layers of file 4 from Artsy Transfers Evenfall below the photo layers.
  • Below file 4 place the layers of transfer 2.

Note: I deleted two of the layers and added a layer mask to one to hide part of that layer.

  • Below those layers place transfer 8 from ArtPlay Palette Evenfall and reduce the size to 85%.
Embellish

This is a favorite photo of some ducks swimming in the pond, but I love the artsy look with my new background!

Peonies

By

On June 4, 2019

In Photography, Scrapbooking

Every Memorial Day my Sarah Bernhart Peonies bloom. This year I grabbed my camera and walked out to capture the blooms in the early morning light. Then this afternoon, I went out again to cut some for a bouquet. I love these flowers. I will cut the new blooms each day while I have them, but I wish that they lasted longer than a week. They are spectacular blooms. So when those buds start appearing, I’m out in the yard practicing with my camera, an art medium that I’ve been neglecting recently.

Place Photograph and Template Layers
  • Create a new 24×12 inch document in Photoshop
  • Select a focal photo and size it to fit one side.
  • Drag the layers of template 4 from FotoInspired Template Pack 2J.
  • Reduce the size of all layers to 85%.
Place Paper
  • Place solid paper 1 from ArtPlay Palette Rougir on the left side just above the large photo.
  • Add another copy of the paper but flip it so that the flowers are on the left.
  • Add a layer mask to the second copy of the paper.
  • Use an AnnaBlendz Artsy brush to mask out all but the flowers of that paper layer.
  • Add a Color Overlay from the FX panel at the bottom of the layers panel. Select a darker pink from the photo and change the blend mode to Color.
Clip Photographs to Small Masks
  • Clip photos to small masks.
  • Add Adjustment Layers as needed.

Note: I adjusted the white balance on the photos that I shot on my deck in the afternoon light. I clipped Levels Adjustment Layers on Soft Light blend mode to most of the photos.

Add Artsy Transfers
  • Place the layers of Transfer 1 from Artsy Transfers Rougir above the paper layers but under the double frame at the bottom of the template. Delete two transfer layers and dark splatters and art stroke. Adjust position.
  • Place the the layers of Transfer 3 below the masks on the left side of the template. Position and delete layers as desired.

Note: I added a Color Overlay to a stain in Transfer 1 and a transfer in Transfer 3 to coordinate with my photos.

Add a Button
  • Add a button and thread for dimension.
  • Give the button a shadow.

I had wonderful light as it rose above the roofs when I went out with my camera about six o’clock in the morning. There wasn’t even much wind, something we don’t get often in a prairie state like Nebraska. By the afternoon, the wind was blowing again, but I found a protected area with good indirect light on my deck. I placed a piece of white board on the table and used with my small macro lens to capture different arrangements of the blooms that I had cut before putting them in a vase to bring inside.

The hardest part of this page was deciding which photos best told the story about photographing my peonies. Looking through my photographs in Lightroom, I can see some changes that I need to make for better photographs next time. Unfortunately, as I look out the window, my poor peonies are bent to the ground with all the rain and wind we’ve had over the last two days. I could bring some in to photograph, but the time to capture them outdoors is over for this year.

I encourage you to play with your camera and some flowers both outside and indoors. Then create a page using one of Anna’s FotoInspired Templates. I will add this page to the other pages that I’ve created for a book with my flower photography.

Engagement

By

On May 12, 2019

In Scrapbooking

This two page spread tells the story of our engagement, another page for my anniversary project. I shared details about how I constructed the left side as part of a video event with Anna Aspnes, ARTPLAY LIVE 2019, available in Anna’s Store. Today I want to share a brief overview of the right side which uses some of the same techniques for using transfers and adapting templates that I shared at the event.

Place and Adjust FotoBlendz Mask
  • Place file 4 from Autumn Romance FotoBlendz Mask No. 1.
  • Clip a photo to the mask.
  • Add a layer mask to the fotoblendz layer and adjust to with a brush from AnnaBlendz Artsy to accommodate the photo shape and edges.
Add Transfers to Text
  • Copy text from newspaper announcement and add a title.
  • Place Transfer 6 from ArtPlay Palette Sashay above the text.
  • Align along the left edge Overlay 1 and Transfer 3.

Note: Just below the text box I stamped on a new blank layer with a soft round brush in white. Then I reduced the opacity just enough to make the text more visible against the photo.

Use Transfers to Soften the Edge of the Masked Photo
  • Open and place the layers from file 4 of Artsy Transfers Sashay just below the masked photo.
  • Adjust position of each layer to soften the abrupt line of the photo.

Note: I deleted three layers that didn’t fit with my photo.

Place Small Frames and Clip Photos
  • Place the threads, frames, masks and shadows from file 13 in WaterColor Template Album No. 7.
  • Turn off the frames and add a 20px white stroke to each mask.
  • Clip photos to masks.
  • Add adjustment layers as needed.
  • Clip a 4×6 file from ArtsyKardz Sashay MultiPack No. 1 to one of the small frames, reducing the size of the file to fit the mask on the top right.

Note: I added a Black and White Adjustment Layer to one photo. The other adjustment layers were all on Soft Light, the opacity varied depending on the photo.

I am almost finished with this project and looking forward to publishing soon. It’s taken time to sort the photos, decide which stories I wanted to write and create the layouts. If you want to create your own book, there are lots of tips and more information available on Anna’s Blog and in her classes. I encourage you to explore the opportunities.

South Lake Tahoe

By

On January 18, 2019

In Photography, Scrapbooking

We used to rent bicycles for the 3.8 mile ride from Camp Richardson to Spring Creek, the place where we turned around for the ride back. From the bike trail we’d take the road into the Tallic Estates. We walked the paths on the estate this year. We sat on a bench near the boat house where we had sat previously and we battled for a virtual creature, a Rhydon, at one of the Pokemon gyms on the grounds. There were no Pokemon gyms five years ago although I did have an iPhone by then. Below are the details for creating this page.

On the left, I placed layers from Artsy Layered Template No. 283. On the right side, I placed the frames and text boxes from template 7 of Project Template Album No. 3.

I then placed .jpeg mask 3 from Coolth FotoBlendz No. 1 on the left and mask 1 on the right. I clipped a photo to each mask, adjusted the masks to accommodate my photos and extracted us on a separate layers. I gave the extraction layers a shadow.

Next, I clipped additional photos to the small frames and added adjustment layers to the photos.

On the left, I combined layers from the artsy template with five of the layers from transfer 3 of Artsy Transfers Coolth below the masked photo and frames. On the right, I placed six layers from transfer 3 below the lower two frames and 7 layers from transfer 2 below the masked photo.

Note: I adjusted the color of one layer with a Color Overlay to accommodate the colors in my photos.

To finish the page, I placed three copies of the watercolor flower from ArtPlay Palette Coolth, rotating and resizing for variation. I also repeated a button from the ArtPlay palette. I tacked down the button on the left with thread 11 from ButtonThreadz No. 2. The threads on the right were included with the frames in the template.

Note: My title is in the same position as suggested by the template.

While the small photo on the right, taken in 1999, is the earliest photo that I could find at Pope Estates, we began exploring South Lake Tahoe much earlier. It’s been our favorite place to vacation over the years.

Summer 1970

By

On November 19, 2018

In Lightroom, Scrapbooking

We hadn’t been married two years when we volunteered to serve as leaders for a group of college students on a summer long trip to promote a singing group from our church, Van Nuys Baptist. We spent most of our time in the Philippines. I kept a journal in summer, 1970, handwritten pages tied together with yarn, filled with details about the Philippines: waking up to the sound of jeepneys, shopping for meat in open air markets, cooking in a pressure cooker, listening to the daily rain on a tin roof collected for cold showers, riding a bus out of the city, walking to a small village into a corn field to find a bathroom, laughing at our caribou ride, hearing Bill preach on David and Goliath in a little dirt floor church.The words tell a story not seen in these photos, my thoughts and feelings. Now that I think about it, summers before we had children, a detail about which Philippinos questioned us, are some of our best memories.

I continue to work on my heritage project, deciding which photos to include, what to write and simply remembering what it was like 50 years ago. It’s not as easy as I thought to create a page that conveys the essence of an experience in our early marriage. I took some time to think and plan before beginning this two page spread.

I began by reducing the size of templates 7 and 8 from Hipster Plume Album Template No. 2 to about 85% and placing them above solid paper 3 from ArtPlay Palette Sage on the template provided in Heritage Live.

Note: I deleted the masks included with the template for the small photos. To each matte, I added a stroke style to keep the framing consistent through my project.

Next, I clipped a photo to each of the fotoblendz masks and some of the stains. I also extracted us from the photos and created a custom shadow.

Note: The photos on these pages are from old slides and required some work in Lightroom as well as adjustments in Photoshop.

On the left, I placed the layers from transfer 5 of Artsy Transfers Sage between the extraction and the photo copy clipped to the fotoblendz mask. I placed layers from transfer 1 below the cluster of frames on the far left. On the right, layers from transfer 4 of Artsy Transfers Sage are below both the extraction and the fotoblendz mask.

To accommodate one additional photo, I duplicated the square matte and shadow on the right and moved it to the place where the text box was originally. I gave the matte the same stroke style and clipped my photo to it.

Finally, I photographed the handwritten journal I kept that summer, reduced the size and gave it a shadow. I tucked it next to one of the small photos. I gave the gold yarn, a popular color then, it’s own custom shadow.

After rereading my journal, I decided that if my family wants more details about the summer of 1970, they can read my journal too.

Honeymoon

By

On August 29, 2018

In Scrapbooking

Bill’s brother handcuffed us together as we left the church following our wedding, but his dad unlocked the cuffs on the way to the airport to catch our flight to San Francisco for a short honeymoon. We only had a few days before I began my first teaching assignment at Langdon Elementary. I didn’t capture many photos on our trip; I can’t remember what kind of camera I used. However, I will have my Fuji X-T2 when we return to San Francisco in a few weeks.

To create the right side of this layout, I clipped solid paper 1 from ArtPlay Palette Riant to both sides of the template that I received in Anna’s class, Heritage Live. On the right edge, I placed the layers of frame 1 from UrbanThreadz FotoBlendz Frames No. 2.

Next, I clipped my photo to the fotoblendz mask included in the psd file. I used a brush to darken parts to reveal more of my photo. I extracted myself from the photo and gave the extraction a custom shadow. I also duplicated the entire photo twice, one on Screen blend mode at 50% and the other on Soft Light at 50%.

Note: I blended my legs into the mask to disguise the way my feet were cut off in the original photo.

I placed the frames from template 10 of WaterColor Template Album No. 7 on my page and adjusted the placement of one frame to accommodate one of my photos.

Note The thread and text boxes was included in the template. The button is from ArtPlay Palette Riant.

After adjusting the position of the frame grouping, I clipped my photos to the frames. I adjusted the exposure by duplicating the photo copies and changing the blend modes to Screen or Soft Light.

Below the group of frames, I placed most of the layers of psd file 3 from Artsy Transfers Riant, adjusting the position of the layers to line up with the top frame.

Below the circular frame, I placed transfers 3 and 7 from ArtPlay Palette Riant.

Note: I adjusted the yellow in transfer 7 with a Hue and Saturation adjustment layer after I rotated it. I had already created the textbox on the left before adding the transfers so all I needed to do was adjust its position.

My friend, Adryane, is going to help us recreate a couple of these photos for the opposing page of this layout when we are in San Francisco. We are really looking forward to our trip.

The Boat

By

On August 23, 2018

In Scrapbooking

In the spring of 1971, we bought a 21 foot inboard outboard Gulf Stream. Why would two teachers who lived in a tiny apartment need a boat? I guess a boat sounded like a fun thing to have for our summers. We hooked the boat to our yellow Plymouth Duster and set off for Lake Havasu, Isabella, Folsom and Orville. Despite the fact that owning a boat turned out to be a bit more complicated than we anticipated, there is no denying that the boat was a great value for the time we owned it. We made some wonderful memories with friends. However, all good things come to an end. By the end of the summer I was pregnant with our son. We sold the boat for a downpayment on our first home.

To create this page I clipped solid paper 3 from ArtPlay Palette Mountain High to the template’s large masks before dragging the layers of templates 7 and 8 from WaterColor Template Album No. 4 on to my page.

Note: I chose the square shape of the fotoblendz masks from template 7 because they suited the 3.5×3.5 snapshots so common in the 1970s. I duplicated one frame on the right instead of using the longer framed mask included in the template.

However, because I wanted to include as much of the square photo as possible, I added overlay 2 from FotoBlendz Overlays No. 7 below the template’s mask on the right to square the mask shape more.

I then clipped copies of the photo to the two masks and stains below.

Note: I extended the photo by blending in an edge on a separate layer in order to get rid of the trapped space in the template.

I clipped two additional photos to the fotoblendz masks on the left as well as the stains below that were included in the template.

I clipped my photos to the small framed masks, adjusting the exposure and look by duplicating copies and changing the blend mode.

Next, I placed overlay 1 and 2 from ArtPlay Palette Coastline below the fotoblendz masks and stains on the left. On the right, I rotated overlay 2 and placed it below the fotoblendz masks and stains.

Finally, I added layers of psd file 5 from Artsy Transfers Coastline on the left. I used the same layered psd file on the right, but rotated it and moved some layers.

Writing our story was the last step in creating this page. Oh what memories we have made together.

Family

By

On August 16, 2018

In Scrapbooking

“Strive to capture the heartbeat of love in this family: preserve and transplant it into the hearts of its members both present and future,” my grandfather said. His children, including my father, reflected that love of family and it’s history. That is what I wanted to capture with these two pages.

First, I extracted my parents from a photo with the Quick Selection tool using a layer mask and gave the masked result a shadow.

Note: I used the Clone Stamp tool on solid paper 4 from ArtPlay Palette Bravura so that I could erase the transfer on the paper to create a background for both pages.

Next, I placed the overlay from ArtPlay Palette Bravura and blended into the background another photo of my father. I changed the blend mode to Overlay blend mode at 60%.

I then placed a small frame from a template from WaterColor Template Album No. 7 to the left of my dad and clipped a photo of my dad with his siblings to the mask. Below the frame I placed a splatter and stain from the template.

I then positioned the layers of file 3 from MultiMedia Flowers No. 5 below my mother. To ground my parents, I also added file 6 from UrbanStitchez No. 1.

To finish the right side, I wrote my journaling in the textbox included in the template and added a title.

After placing the same solid paper on the left side, I dragged the layers of template 4 from WaterColor Template Album No. 7 onto the page. I clipped a photo to the templates’s fotoblendz mask and adjusted the focal photo by clipping duplicated copies to the original: black and white at 90%, Screen blend mode at 30% and Soft Light at 100%. I switched out one frame by duplicating the top one to accommodate my photos.

Note: I adjusted the size and position of the lower two text boxes.

I clipped my photos to the small frame masks. I added a button from the artplay palette.

Note: I initially adjusted these photos in Lightroom but added a duplicate copy of each and changed the blend mode to Soft Light.

Below the frames, I placed most of the layers of the layers of transfer 5 from Artsy Transfers Bravura.

Note: The splatter is part of the template.

Finally, I added the quote from my grandfather. I thought the word family summarizes what was most important in my dad’s family.

Let’s Not Forget

By

On July 25, 2018

In Scrapbooking

At the moment, we are dealing with a sewer backup that flooded our daughter’s basement and the reconstruction entailed. So I am very grateful that I already have a plan for this project. As I explained last week, I am using a template provided in Anna’s Heritage Live class. In addition, I am using fotoblendz overlays and masks, artsy transfers and frames from templates.

I had already clipped the solid paper 3 from ArtPlay Palette Elysium to both masks. I placed overlay 3 from FotoBlendz Overlays No. 12 on the right side and clipped my focal photo to it. I reduced the size of both the photo and mask.

Note: I darkened parts with a brush directly on the mask and lightened other parts on a layer mask once I knew where I was going to place the text.

I then placed the frames from template 16 of Hipster Plume Template Album No. 1.

Note: I am selecting the frames based on the design I want with the mask I use. That way I don’t have to make adjustments, although I did reduce the size of the frames just a little.

I clipped my photos to the masks.

Note: Because I am clipping everything to the page mask, I cannot use adjustment layers on my photos as I normally do because those layers affect the entire page. So I am duplicating some photos to apply a blend mode like soft light for example.

I created the title and list subtitle.

Below the fotoblendz overlay, I placed the layers of file 4 from Artsy Transfers Elysium. I added a layer mask to one layer and reduced the opacity of a couple of others so that my text was more readable.

Finally, I finished writing the story in two text boxes that I created. I also added a button from ArtPlay Palette Routine and thread 5 from ButtonThreadz No. 3.

I’m enjoying remembering our stories.

First Page

By

On June 20, 2018

In Scrapbooking

I enjoy the challenge and learning involved in digital scrapbooking, especially when I begin a new project, i.e. completing the first page for my 50th Anniversary book. Just the process of experimenting and thinking about this first page helped me to define what I want to do in this book.

After initially completing the right side of the two page spread, I decided that I would focus on our stories using old photos clipped to fotoblendz masks and adding artsy transfers for depth. Simple enough, right? Rule number one, always do double page spreads at the same time. I didn’t, thinking I was only experimenting with an idea. As a result I had trouble with the balance when I began creating the left side to coordinate with my page on the right.

Note: The solid paper is from ArtPlay Palette Lateritious. I explain how I created the right side in a previous post.

For consistency with the right, I first clipped a photo to overlay 1 from FotoBlendz Overlays No. 12.

Then I added the frames and text boxes of file 5 from Project Template Album No. 3. Below the frames, I stamped brush 7 from Spackle Textured No. 8 on a new blank layer.

For interest on the left, I used the same psd transfer from Artsy Transfers Lateritious that I had used on the other side, reducing the size and deleting layers. I also placed transfer 4 from ArtPlay Palette Lateritious below the frames.  Just above the transfer layers, I combined layers from two different psd files from MultiMedia Suns No. 1. I stamped brush 4 from Bunny Rabbits No. 1 on a new blank layer to the left of the black and white photo. It is on normal blend mode at 100%.

It’s at this point that I realized I had a problem with balance. The left side was too heavy because it carried more weight with the frames and the black and white photo.

However, when I added two additional frames on the right side, the page looked more balanced.

I finished my double page spread with a button from ArtPlay Palette Delight below the thread included with the frames.

Now I have a tentative plan for my anniversary project which involves combining the stories with our old photos. I’m going to use primarily fotoblendz masks, artsy transfers, brushes and small frames from templates. Will my plan change as I work on this project? Probably, projects tend to take on a mind of their own. I’m looking forward to Anna’s heritage class in July. Right now, I’m trying to figure out which story I want to write next.

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