Day: October 25, 2011

Behind the Scenes: Creating Journal Mats from Custom Shapes

The other day, I created a layout on which I used a leaf for my journaling, and after uploading it to the gallery, I got several comments because of that, so I thought, today I’d show you how to create a journal mat just like that, using custom shapes and working with a text path. Anyways, I haven’t done a tutorial in so long, it’s really time for something new … In this tutorial you will learn how  to … … create a custom shape and clip a paper to it; … ink the edges for a more worn look; … create a text path from a custom shape and fill it with your journaling; … add a border to your shape. Here is how it works … Step 1: Create a Custom Shape On your canvas, go to “Custom Shapes” (U), choose a shape, and holding down the shift key, create a proportional shape. Step 2: Rasterize Shape Rasterize the shape.   Step 3: Create an Expanded Selection With the Magic Wand Tool (W), …

Golden October

It’s October alright. Where I come from, October means golden days – bright yellow and red leaves against deep blue skies; we call it the Golden October. Here, however, it’s more October than it’s golden. And usually, before you know it, the leaves have turned brown and dead, and then everything is gone! Well, but I have hopes for this year. The weather has turned quite chilly these last couple of days, and so far, this has been the chilliest autumn we’ve had (as far as I remember) since coming to China. So, my hope is that maybe the chill will do a thing or two to help those leaves find their colors. Oh, and guess what? I was just out with my camera today, trying to catch that golden fall (after all, we don’t get sunny days and blue skies very often), when a patch of yellow flowers caught my eye. I thought, those flowers would make a good shoot for my upcoming Friday challenge, when I discovered something even more exciting. Did I …