Sunday 31 July 2011

Sunday School: Creating Shaped Text

In todays Sunday School we are going to be learning how to use custom shapes as text frames in photoshop. Who says that journaling has to be written in neat little boxes? Today I will teach you how to get creative and add text shapes as an additional design element to your pages. There's even another little freebie at the end for you all!
How to Create shaped text
Note: I have created a document 3600x3600 to work on for this tutorial but you can just as easily do all these steps directly onto your layout.  There is no need to create a new document just for creating your text paths.
1. Select the custom shape tool.
2. Once you have selected Custom Shape Tool go to the drop down shape menu in the options bar along the top of the screen and choose the shape you wish to use for your text frame.  The best shapes have a wide spaces inside to write in, if they are too small and fiddly the text will be very difficult to read.
3. In the far left of the options bar is a row of three 'square' icons, these give you different options when creating shapes. In order to create a text frame we need to select the square with the pen tool in the middle. This is the 'path' option and will allow is to draw a shape which is essentially a frame and allow us to write inside it.
4. Now draw your shape on to your document. Holding down the shift key as you draw your shape will allow it to maintain its proportions and not get stretched out of shape.
5. Use Ctrl+T (pc) or Command+T (Mac) to bring up your free transform bounding box. You can now resize, rotate and move your text frame shape as you would any other shape. So play with it on your layout until you are ahppy with the position.
6. Once you are happy with the position of your text frame select the Type Tool from the Tools Menu and move the type cursor anywhere into the middle of your shape frame. You will see 2 dotted brackets appear either side of the cursor which indicates that we are about to type inside a text frame. You can now fill your shape with your journaling. Once you have finished typing remember to accept by selecting the tick (checkmark) on the far right of the options bar. Your text can now be treated the same as regular text; select the style, size, justification and colour that is right for your layout.
Now I promised you all a little freebie and here it is, 4 shaped texts for use in photoshop or photoshop elements. Enjoy adding these to your layouts. 
Don't forget to let me know what else you would like to see covered in Sunday School.

Have a happy Scrappy week!

Friday 29 July 2011

7/29 It's Friday ~ New Releases ~

Yay - it's Friday ! Which means I've managed to survive Week 1 of the school holidays which even included a 3 boy sleep over (imagine 3 tall 11 year olds with size 10 feet imitating 6 adult elephants lumbering across the floor and you'll understand why I was worried about the integrity of my ceilings !!) Ellie, on the other hand has been quite well behaved thus far although she has grounded me at least twice this week !! 

Anyway, moving on to the real reason you read this blog (I hope ! lol). Here are this week's goodies !! 

Breakthrough

Are you ready to see what my CT did with these ? Take a look :
Fiona
Tammy
Tronesia
Elbow Room

And here's some more fabulous CT inspiration for you :

Simona
Debby

Jordan
Kim
 Both packs are 25% off until Monday.

I have really enjoyed seeing your pages using my templates in the galleries - I can't wait to see what you do with these !! You never know, Kim may be highlighting your page on Thursday's GSO post :)

Thursday 28 July 2011

GSO Thursday 7/28 and LAYOUT OF THE MONTH!

How can it already be time for another Layout of the Month pick? I lost track of a whole week in there somewhere! The summer months sure do fly by, don't they??


Before we get to our LOTM pick, let's have some more gallery standouts for this week.
There are four pages I would like to show off this week.


First up is this page from Natascha using a Mish Mash template. I just love looking at this page. All the pretty patterns, the elements, great title...it's just awesome. I wish I could read the journaling, I would love to know more!!

Our second page this week is by Akizo using a new Cottage Garden template. Teehee, just look at this, isn't it ADORABLE?! I just love how she added the elements to the face in the picture, SO creative! The title is awesome and there are tons of layers and cute elements to look at.

Third, we have a page from calliclaire using a Now You See Me template. I love the floating photo and how she put it in upside down. The soft colors, word art and blue circles are all the just perfect. I feel soothed just looking at it!

Finally, feast your eyes on this stunner from zoebearsmom using a new Fragmented template. The colors of the kit she used are gorgeous, I love the banner, and her shadows are just exquisite. Beautiful page! 

Ladies, thank you for getting the awesome pages in the gallery for this week's post. 
Now, it's time to name the page chosen as our Layout of the Month, and the winner of a SUPER awesome 8 DOLLAR coupon from Andrea. Remember that pages are chosen for this honor because they represent an outstanding use of an LGF template. After carefully reviewing the pages from the past four weeks of entries, a decision has been made! 

Wondering which one it is?
Trying to remember what amazing pages we have featured over the last four weeks? 
Reviewing the old posts and choosing your own favorite?

Wait no more! 

Here is this month's LGF LOTM! 

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I Wanna be a Pilot, by Akizo! This page is a complete standout. The photos are fun and the papers and elements have great visual impact. However, I think you would agree that the titlework and the large photo at the bottom really take the cake here. The large title going all the way across the page in bold black letters is an awesome initial focal point, and it draws your eyes right down to her creative artistry on the large photo. The dialogue bubble with journaling told from the little man's perspective is the final perfect whimsical touch to this creative and stunning page using a Cottage Garden template. Congratulations Akizo, well deserved! I will be pming you with information regarding your prize.

 Well, that's a month! Join me next Thursday for a new week of standout pages made with Little Green Frog templates. I can't wait to see what's out there! As always, please consider linking us up in the comments to this post to make it easier to find your pages. Have a great weekend! 



Wednesday 27 July 2011

Meet Sarah in my latest CT interview and a little sneak peek with a chance to win!!


I know, I know, I'm a day late !!! I've had a rough few days due to illness and am only just now feeling "with it" enough to sit at my computer.

This week my CT spotlight is shining on Sarah (aka Zachandavasmom). 


Here's what Sarah had to say -

How did you get started and how long have you been digiscrapping? I was doing paper scrapping but getting nothing done with a toddler that was into everything! A friend was doing digi and I just watched in awe! That was late 2008 and I haven't looked back since. 

What advice would you give someone just starting out digi-scrapping? Make sure to do it often because it gets frustrating learning something and then forgetting it because it's been to long in between!

On average, how much time do you spend scrapping each week? Depends! Usually an hour or two most nights.

What are your scrapping strengths/weaknesses ? My shadows are my strength and my weakness! I am always trying to make them look more realistic but I also get frustrated at times with them. 

Who or what inspires you in the scrapping community? Any person or site in particular that you look to for inspiration? I love Tamara (scrapper@heart) she is just so talented and an amazing person too! She has helped me a lot with the above mentioned shadows :-) 

If you could have Andrea create a template pack just for you, what would it be and why? Templates with lots of pictures and clusters, oh, wait, she already has a bunch of those! 

What is your favorite LO you have ever done for Little Green Frog Designs?
Posted Image

What wish have you not yet fulfilled? 
I want to go to Australia and now that my kids are obsessed with it I want to bring them too! 

If you could spend a day with anyone (dead or alive, famous or not), who would it be and why ?
I would spend it with my father. He died before I was able to say goodbye in person and we had a lot of things to talk about before he passed. 

If you were invisible for a day - what is the first thing you would do ?
Sneak onto the set of True Blood or Twilight! 
Describe yourself in 4 words : outspoken, strong willed, loyal, unrelenting
What bad habits do you have ? I speak my mind and some people don't like that!

You can check out more of Sarah's gorgeous pages here

As it's Wednesday, that also means it's time for a Sneaky Peek at my new goodies. Well here it is !!


If you head on over to DST, I am running a RAK with a chance to win BOTH packs of templates. You can find that thread here

And as a final reminder, my July Blog Challenge ends on Friday. So if you want the chance to win a guest spot on my CT, make sure you get the challenge done before then ! I'll be contacting the lucky winner over the weekend to get them set up on my team :) Can't wait to see who that will be.

Sunday 24 July 2011

Sunday School: Creating Text Paths



Today for Sunday School I am going to carry on with our creative journaling topic and teach you how to make text paths in photoshop. I know that PSE users can not make these themselves so I have included a little freebie for you at the end of this post.


How to create a text path
Note: I have created a document 3600x3600 to work on for this tutorial but you can just as easily do all these steps directly onto your layout.  There is no need to create a new document just for creating your text paths.
1. Select the shape tool.
2. Choose the shape that you want your text path to be either a regular shape or if you want something a little more fancy go to your custom shape tool. Then draw your shape on your document. I have chosen a heart.
3. Right click on the shape in the layer window and select - Rasterize Layer.
4. Right click again and this time choose - Select Pixels. You will see the marching ants appear around the outline of your shape.
5. Now go to your Paths window and at the bottom click the - Make Work Path from Selection icon (see below)
6. The marching ants will disappear and a solid line will appear around your shape, it is hard to see but it will be there I promise! Now select your Text tool, put the cursor near the edge of your shape where you want to start writing. You will see the cursor change from just an I to an I with a ~ through it. 
7. Once you have clicked you will see a text layer appear in your layer window. You can now start typing and you will see that your words will follow the edge of your shape. You can treat this text as regular text, change the size, style, colour etc. 
8. You can now delete your shape layer and just your text path will remain.
Tip
You can use the shapes in Andrea's templates to create your own text paths. If you want to write around the edge of a photo or a paper mat just treat that part of the template as your shape. Make sure the photo mat for instance is selected in your layer window and then right click on that layer to Select Pixels and then continue as outlined in the tutorial above.

Now I promised you all a little freebie and here it is, 4 text paths for use in photoshop or photoshop elements. Enjoy adding these to your layouts. 
I will be back next week with another journalling tutorial and another freebie.  Don't forget to let me know here what other tutorials you would like to see covered.  
Also don't forget to link Kim up with your Little Green Frog Designs layouts here and you might see your page featured in our gallery standouts. There is also only 1 week left to enter Andrea's fantastic blog challenge enter for the chance to win a guest CT spot!!

Have a great week.

Friday 22 July 2011

7/22 - It's Friday !!

Hope you've all had a great week so far and looking forward to the weekend. It's been a hectic week this week - it's been my son's last week at primary school. But what a week - he starred in the school production of Bugsy Malone, it was his 11th birthday yesterday and today he is celebrating his birthday with friends. A house full of boys !! Just what I always wanted - lol.

Now on to this week's releases !

Cottage Garden

And as always - my fabulous CT got busy !
Fiona
Tamara
Kim
Fragmented

And even more fab pages :
Jennifer - Guest
Debby
Annisa
As always both packs are 25% off until Monday. 



Don't forget there is only 1 week left to take part in my blog challenge. If you have trouble leaving your link - please either pm me at my store or email me through the contact me link. The winner will be announced next Friday - I can't wait to see who'll be guesting for me in August !! 


There is only 1 more day to grab my Build It Yourself : Everyday template bundle at 50% off. 


Use coupon code : LGFD-SoS50%. Offer expires July 23rd. 

Have a fantastic weekend !