Hi Ladies! Bonnie here with this week’s Saturday Special! This is my first time hosting this challenge, so I hope you all enjoy it! 
For this week, we’re going to be taking some inspiration from RL crafting & learning how to create a Sprayed Mask effect.
If any of you are also into crafting computer-free like I am, you’ve probably heard of this technique. As I was just doing this the other day, I started thinking how cool it would be to do it on my digital layouts. So I launched Photoshop & started playing. You can use this look for masking elements, alphas, overlays, papers, shapes…pretty much anything you want. As is most everything with PS, this is just one way of creating this effect. In writing this tutorial, it became evident how much different PS & PSE are when attempting this effect. So, for all you PSE users out there, I created a tutorial just for you which you can find if you scroll down.
You’re welcome. 
You can click on any of the images below to see full-sized versions.
IF YOU USE PHOTOSHOP:
The first thing you want to do is choose what you want to mask. I used a heart lace doily from Erica Zane’s Love Happens Kit. Open the image in Photoshop or Elements & drag it onto a new page. You may find it easiest to mask over whatever paper you’re planning to use (I used Krafty Papers by Happy Scrap Girl), but you don’t have to.
Next, create a new layer for the spray mask. It doesn’t matter whether it’s above or below your element.
Control/Command + Click the icon of your element to select it (“marching ants” will appear around it). Go to Select > Inverse from the menu (or use the hotkey Shift + Control/Command + i). You can choose to hide the element now if you’d like by clicking the eye next to the element’s icon.
Choose your brush tool from the toolbar (the hotkey is B). The effect will look different depending on what brush tip you choose. Open your brush palette and choose a brush shape. The scatter brushes work the best for this technique. You can select one you already have, or do a search for Photoshop Spray Brushes & download some.
Once you’ve chosen your brush, check the Enable Airbrush Mode in your palette under ‘Brush Tip Shape’ (you should also see it in the Brush Menu along the top of your program). Play with the settings until you get the desired look you want. (See more on that here).
Make sure the new layer you’d created for the spray mask is selected. With quick, short bursts of clicking & dragging your brush, “spray” over the selection (the “marching ants”). I’ve found that the outcome looks much better if you spray from different angles & alter the direction you start your dragging. If you use something open or detailed (like the doily I used) make sure to spritz in the center of the selection to include all the detail.
If you’re not sure how things are turning out, you can hit Control/Command + D to deselect the selection so you can get a clearer picture of how it looks. If you still want to add more spritzing, hit Control/Command + Z to undo the deselecting & continue spraying with your brush.
When you’re finished spraying, deselect your selection. Drag the original element to the trash can to delete it from your layout as you won’t need it anymore. You can now give your mask some varying effects by changing the blend mode, adding a layer style, or changing the opacity.
Try adding a soft Bevel & Emboss style to it to give it a painted look (double click the layer in the layers palette to enable the effect)…
…or change the blend mode to give it a inked or bleached look.
If it’s too dark on your layout, soften it by decreasing the blend opacity or the fill opacity.
If it’s not bold enough, try changing the color of the “ink” or making a duplicate copy of the layer.
IF YOU USE ELEMENTS:
The first thing you want to do is choose what you want to mask. I used a heart lace doily from Erica Zane’s Love Happens Kit. Open the image in Elements & drag it onto a new page. You may find it easiest to mask over whatever paper you’re planning to use (I used Krafty Papers by Happy Scrap Girl), but you don’t have to.
Next, go to Layer > New > Layer to create a new layer for the spray mask (or use the hotkey command Shift + Command + N). It doesn’t matter whether the new layer is above or below your element, but do make it above your paper. LOL.
Control/Command + Click the icon of your element to select it (“marching ants” will appear around it). Go to Select > Inverse from the menu (or use the hotkey Shift + Control/Command + i). You can choose to hide the element now if you’d like by clicking the eye next to the element’s icon.
Choose your brush tool from the toolbar (the hotkey is B). Open your brush palette and choose a brush shape. The scatter brushes work the best for this technique. You can select one you already have, or do a search for Photoshop Spray Brushes & download some.
Once you’ve chosen your brush, check the Set to Enable Airbrush Capabilities button in your brush menu (you should see it along the top of your program). Play with the brush dynamic settings until you get the desired look you want. (See more on that here).
Make sure the new layer you’d created for the spray mask is selected. With quick, short bursts of clicking & dragging your brush, “spray” over the selection (the “marching ants”). I’ve found that the outcome looks much better if you spray from different angles & alter the direction you start your dragging. If you use something open or detailed (like the doily I used) make sure to spritz in the center of the selection to include all the detail.
This effect will look different depending on what brush tip you choose. For my example, I used the “Rough Round Bristle” on the left, and the “Dry Brush” on the right. See how different they turn out?
If you’re not sure how things are turning out, you can hit Control/Command + D to deselect the selection so you can get a clearer picture of how it looks. If you still want to add more spritzing, hit Control/Command + Z to undo the deselecting & continue spraying with your brush.
When you’re finished spraying, deselect your selection. Drag the original element to the trash can to delete it from your layout as you won’t need it anymore. You can now give your mask some varying effects by changing the blend mode, adding a layer style, or changing the opacity.
Try adding a soft Bevel style to it to give it a raised, painted look (NOTE: I’ve discovered this effect works much better in PS than PSE, but maybe I’m doing something wrong as I don’t ever use PSE… just in case you want to try it anyway, I’ve included the steps). Go to your effects palette on the right or under Window > Effects. Select the Layer Styles icon & then Bevel from the drop down menu. It appears “Simple Sharp Inner” is the only one that looks decent for this; it’s the fourth from the bottom.
To add an Emboss (which totally altered my color), go to Filter > Stylize > Emboss. This especially looked good on the heavier masked side (the right), only I couldn’t figure out how to get it to use the effect while still keeping my original color…
Double click the FX icon to the right of the layer to change some of the default settings for these effects.
You can also change the blend mode to give it a inked or bleached look.
If it’s too dark on your layout, soften it by decreasing the blend opacity or the fill opacity.
If it’s not bold enough, try changing the color of the “ink” or making a duplicate copy of the layer.
Have fun with this!
Here’s the page I made:
I used the technique on the doily and also on a couple of alpha characters to incorporate it into my title.
((using: Love Happens by Erica Zane; Krafty Papers, & Curvaceous Temples & Text Paths by Happy Scrap Girl))
& here’s some inspiration from our fabulous CT:
Melissa (profiler_mar) made these adorable scalloped hearts:
((using: What’s Cooking? The Whole Batch by Erica Zane))
Liz (mommy22girls) created these fabulous snowflake cutouts & title:
((using: Say It Ain’t Snow! by Erica Zane))
Becca (beca372) made these beautifully subtle florals:
((using: Happy Days Kit, Add-On, & Word Art by LDrag; & Fabulously Negative Vol. 6 Templates by WM[squared]))
Day (day) created All Boy:
((using Alex In Paperland by Erica Zane))
Some Challenge Reminders:
>>This challenge runs through the end of March, you’ll have until then to post your layout.
>>Remember, no double-dipping! Your layout must be unique to this challenge.
>>If you post your completed layout by February 28th, your points will be counted toward your February MOS Points earnings. If you post in March, you’ll have until the end of March for your points to be counted toward your March MOS Points!
>>You will receive one point for uploading your layout to <a href="http://scrapmatters.com/gallery3/showgallery.php/cat/503"]The Saturday Special Gallery & posting it in the forum.
>>You can earn an extra point for using any new ScrapMatters product during the first week of its release. (It too must be unique & only used for this challenge to count as an extra point). Please make a note of what new product(s) you used in your post. And at the end of the month you’ll be entered into a random drawing that could earn you some bonus points!
>>You don’t have to use ScrapMatters products, but we sure do love it when you do!
I hope you enjoyed this tutorial, & thanks so much for playing along! I can’t wait to see what you create!!
~Bonnie
