BLENDING WITH BRUSHES
A few weeks ago I learned how to do something new!!! It made me so happy!! I love to learn new things and have made a goal to learn something new in digital scrapbooking at least once a month. That is why I love the Saturday Special. So I thought I would teach you what I have just learned. Some of you may already know this technique, but I didn’t have any idea that it could be done and love the final result. I have been loving blending papers and photos and this is just a new technique for blending your photo using brushes.
To start off you need to pick a photo that will look good blended. Let’s face it not all photos are created equal.
Open up a new project and place your background paper on the bottom layer. Next create another layer and choose a brush. I picked a basic brush that is already in PSE for this challenge to show you. I picked the round brush, soft mechanical 65 pixels, with the fuzzy border. Next paint with your brush a few times to create a big blob – really technical I know. I typically do this in white, but it really depends on what the background paper looks like.
Then you will simply place your photo on a new layer over your brushed layer and clip it to it (CTRL G in PSE will do the trick)
You will then just simply play around with your photo until it blends into the background the way you want it to. You may have to make the photo bigger or the brush strokes smaller in order to eliminate the borders of the photo. Don’t be afraid to play around with it until it looks just right – you can always undo anything that you don’t like. Use your blending modes and make your photo pop. For a LO like this I always think that less is more. Less elements or really small ones. Play around with it until you are happy with the final result. Here is mine:
If you usually blend in a different way, for this challenge give this technique a try. Don’t be afraid to try something new you may love the results.
Don’t forget the basics:
- no double dipping – this must be a uniqe LO just for the challenge
- if you use a new product you get an extra point (make sure you note it in this thread)
- you have until the end of the month to complete this challenge.
- have fun!!!
Upload your LO to the gallery and then post it to http://scrapmatters.com/forums/showthread.php?p=30802#post30802
Here are a few more examples:
Monique using Blissfully Blue by Digi Keepsakes:
Andrea (chia) using Romance and Blues {revisited} by Brenda Smith Designs:
Christine (alamama) using Jeni Hopewell’s *Benjamin* alpha, Mikey B’s *Autumn Breeze* & Jeni Hopewell’s *WonderFALL* kits:
February 8th, 2009 at 4:23 pm
This is a great tutorial! Thanks so much for sharing your technique. That photo of Rylee looks fantastic blended. What inspirational layouts.
February 9th, 2009 at 12:32 pm
Thanks for the fabulous idea. Who would have thought something so elegant was so easy to achieve!
February 10th, 2009 at 9:48 am
That is a really neat technique! I have some photo clipping masks I use, but this helps me to get exactly what I want! TFS!
February 13th, 2009 at 7:13 pm
thank you for this tutorial
I really didn’t know how to do it. And now I know – because of you 
Thanks!!