It’s “just another Manic Monday” at ScrapMatters.com!!! Monday ONLY!! Select items for $2 or 50% off!! Visit theScrapMatters Shop for more details!!

*Manic Monday sales go into the shop early Monday morning and will “disappear” around midnight! HURRY! What are you waiting for!?! *

Tropical Paradise by WM squared Designs:

A La Mode by Stolen Moments

We are honored to have Angie as a Designer at ScrapMatters after she tackled task after task in our Design Star Competition earlier this year.  Here is what she had to say when we asked her a few questions.

1. Your screen name? Down This Road Your real name? Angie

2. What is your main job/career? Elementary School Reading Aide

3. Are you married/children/pets? I am Married and we have 2 children. Boston 11 and Brooke 9.

4. Where is home for you? I live in Utah, USA.

5. What are your 3 favorite foods? Chocolate, yogurt, pasta

6. What is your favorite flavor of ice cream? Dole Pineapple whip!!!! I just found it available at a frozen yogurt bar just up the street from my house. YUM!!

7. Snacks…Salty or Sweet? Both!!

8. Beverage of choice? Water first…Dr. Pepper second

9. What’s your least favorite food? Blue cheese

10. PC or Mac? What program do you use? PC, PSCS4

11. How long have you been digi-scrapping? 6 years How did you get started? I stumbled upon digital while looking for clip art for traditional scrapping.

12. What was your 1st LO about? (Pics and links will be needed for the blog post) There is no way I am sharing my first ever layout, but I will share the first layout I posted publicly. LOL!!! It was about my son and this huge inflatable water slide we had in the summer of 2005.

13. Do you have any other hobbies besides digi-scrapping (are there other hobbies)? I love all crafts and traveling when I can.

14. What is the most challenging part of scrapbooking for you? time and journaling.

15. What would you like to learn to do (or do better) not related to scrapbooking? I would like to learn more about fitness and nutrition!!

16. What are your favorite movies/TV shows? Favorite movie is French Kiss and favorite TV Shoe Modern Family.

17. Describe your “scrapping” environment. Music? TV in the background? Drinks? Snacks? Where? Usually at my computer desk with music.

18. If you only had 2 elements to use on a LO, what would they be? flowers and buttons.

19. Would you like to share a little known fact about you…? I am one of 9 children.

20. When did you start designing? March 2009 What is your favorite product that you’ve designed? Best Wishes

21. How would you describe your design style? I love designing kits that are fun and colorful, I also love vintage and heritage kits too.

22. Where do you get your inspiration/motivation? My life and family.

23. Which of your kits showcases you style the most? Blast Off

24. What is your favorite color scheme to design with? I love bold colors and more on the masculine side.

Thanks for letting us get to know you better, Angie!

Hildur (Hildur)

There were so many beautiful projects in the gallery this week, but I just couldn’t take my eyes off this one:

I love all the dainty flowers on her head and bouquet. I wish I could hold this card!  Congrats to SylviaB for this beauty!  This image is linked so please go leave her some well deserved love in her gallery!

-Joann (MichaelsMomJo)

Using Layer Masks to correct your photos

One thing we all have in common is that we all love to take photos. If you are anything like me, you’ll have a few (or a bunch, lol) that capture the moment perfectly, but the photo itself is not quite perfect. Thank goodness for the magic of photo editing!

Today I’m going to show you how to use a layer mask to isolate parts of your photo. This can be done in both PhotoShop and PhotoShop Elements. I will give the PS instructions first and then show you the little cheat to make it work in PSE.

I wanted to put together a photo collage for my living room using black and white photos. I started with this candid shot of my daughter.

I converted it to black and white using an action from Pioneer Woman (PW’s B&W) and removed the edge burn. Then I merged all the layers together.

Parts of my photo were a little too dark and her face was a little washed out. I’ll need to do some more editing to try to fix that.

First, I duplicated the layer and ran the highpass filter on it (set at 10) to bring out some of the details. I changed the blend mode to soft light.

I duplicated the base layer again and moved it to the top layer. I then changed the blend mode to screen at 74%. This lighted up the background.

But then her face was pretty washed out. And lots of her facial details were lost.

I really need to just make adjustments to that part of the photo now and not the whole thing. So I’m going to use a layer mask to work on just that area.

First I duplicated my base black and white layer again and moved it to the top layer. The next part is a little different for PS and PSE users.

Ø In PS, click on the “add vector mask” button. This will give you a layer mask on your photo layer. Click inside the white layer mask box in the layers palette.

Ø In PSE, click on “create a new adjustment layer” and select “Hue/Saturation”.

Now move this adjustment layer below your top photo layer. CTRL+G to clip your photo to the adjustment layer. This makes a layer mask. Now click on the Hue/Saturation mask layer and then click in the white box.

Now type “D” on your keyboard to set your color swatches to default. Now hold the CTRL key and press the backspace key. This will change the white box to a black box. When you use a layer mask, anything that is black on the mask will hide those areas of the layer they are attached to. Anything in white on the mask box will show on that area of the layer. By filling the box with black, we are hiding the entire layer.

Since her face is washed out, I want to make it darker. So I select a soft white brush (make sure you have clicked on the black layer mask box) and use it to brush over her face. Then I changed the blend mode on the layer to multiply and lowered the opacity to 38%. It really brings back her facial features. I then lightly (with a brush opacity of 20%) went over her hands to bring out more details in them.

I’m almost happy with this picture now. The background needs to be a little lighter, so I duplicated the main layer again and brought it to the top and applied another mask. I filled the mask with black again and then I brushed over the dark areas with a white brush. Then I changed this layer to screen at 30% opacity to lighten the background even more.

Here is what the 2 photos look like side by side…

The final version on the right has a much lighter background but her facial features are no longer washed out!

Now your challenge is to use a layer mask to do some corrective editing in your photos. You can use them to correct light and dark areas as I have or you can use them to slightly blur out a background or apply a filter to part of your photo. Scrap that pic to get some points!!! I’d love to see the before pics – but you don’t have to post them.

If you do not use Photoshop/Photoshop elements – please don’t be mad it me for making a PS specific tut :blusing: Show us how you can do some selective editing in your program and earn some points too!!

Now for the rules/guidelines:

-You will receive one point for posting in this thread & in the Saturday Special gallery. You can receive an additional point for using new Scrap Matters products; please make a note of new products 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 have until the end of June to complete this challenge for June MOS points.

-Remember no double dipping…your photo and/or layout must be unique to this challenge.

-You don’t have to use Scrap Matters products, but we love it when you do!

Hi everyone!! It’s Fiona (canadianmommy) and I’m so happy to be your host for this week’s Grand Theft Layout challenge. We are going to be lifting the FANTASTIC Patti! I drool every time I see a layout of Patti’s. Her clustering and layering skills are just amazing so I couldn’t wait to lift one. You can see what I mean by checking out her gallery right here.

It was so hard to choose but here is the layout I decided to lift:

Here is my take on it:

(Using Don’t Rush, Plum Simple Masks, and The Great Outdoors WordArt by Plum Dumpling Designs)

Now have a look at some awesome inspiration from the CT…..

camijo lifted this one:

her version:

Chel chose this one:

her lift:

kendallt picked this layout:

her lift:

prettypeaches lifted this one:

her page:

and anrobe picked this one:

here’s her layout:

Some gorgeous eye candy there, now it’s your turn to pick one!

Some reminders:

-You will receive one point for posting in both the GTL thread & in the GTL Gallery. You can receive an additional point for using new ScrapMatters products (released within 7 days); please make a note of new products 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 have until the end of June to complete this challenge to earn MOS points.
-Remember no double dipping…your layout must be unique to this challenge.
-You don’t have to use ScrapMatters products, but we love it when you do!

I can’t wait to see those lifts!

Hey everyone! Heather from Haynay Designs here! Hope everyone is doing well! One of my favorite challenges here at ScrapMatters is the Tuesday Template Challenge, and finally, I get to host one again!?!?

Today, there are no rules for this Tuesday Template Challenge…only, use the template as you will and make a fabulous page! Let’s take a look at the template I made for you!

I used this template–flipped and rotated it–with Erica Zane’s Love Happens.

Here is some inspiration from the ScrapMatters Creative Team:

Fonnetta made this with  Sultry Summer by Erica Zane & LDrag and Summer Sunshine Alpha by WM2 (June MAK)

Simona used Destination: Vacation by Jeanine De Ore and Elise’s Pieces.

Amanda used pieces from the June Mix-a-Kit!

Trista used Weekend Fun, Weekend Sun collab from Haynay and Simply J Studio and Weekend Fun, Weekend Sun May Newsletter Sampler from Haynay and Simply J Studio.

Chel also used the June Mix-a-Kit pieces.

Carolyn made this fun page with Amy Stoffel’s Wonderful World.

Aren’t they all fun and wonderful!

You can DOWNLOAD the template HERE!

And

And don’t forget a few rules:

*post your entries in the Tuesday Template Gallery, plus the Tuesday Template June 14 thread!
*You can receive an additional point for using new Scrap Matters products; please make a note of new products 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!
*Your layout MUST be unique to this challenge, no double-dipping!
*You will have until the end of June to complete this challenge.
*You do not have to use ScrapMatters products, but we certainly love it when you do!

Can’t wait to see what you create!

It’s “just another Manic Monday” at ScrapMatters.com!!! Monday ONLY!! Select items for $2 or 50% off!! Visit theScrapMatters Shop for more details!!

*Manic Monday sales go into the shop early Monday morning and will “disappear” around midnight! HURRY! What are you waiting for!?! *

Welcome all to this month’s edition of Home Matters.  Ami here with a quick little project to help spice up your fridge.

I’ve always been drawn to magnets- for the most part they are inexpensive.  Whether its a memento from travels or a sovenir for a friend, a magnet can be a quick gift that shouts “hey, I was thinking about you!”.  I have found that the inspirational magnets tend to be a little more pricey.  So today, I am going to show you how I’ve made my own using some of the wonderful product in the ScrapMatters store.

First I gathered up my supplies!  Some bottle caps, a few spare magnets, my glue, a hot glue gun, pop dots, a hammer, a block of wood and my trusty scissors.  Then I did a quick search of the ScrapMatters store for flairs.  Did you know that this turned up 181 items?  Now that’s a lot of options!  For today’s project, I am going to be using:

So after a little playing around (and some help from my husband), I found that I preferred the look of the bottle cap to be neatly smashed with the ribbed edge to be folded towards the inside of the cap.

I then measured the diameter of the cap to find it was almost an inch.  I opened my scrap program (PSE 6) and created a quick template of 1″ circles using the elipse tool and these settings -

Using the template I created I sized the flairs to fit, printed and cut them out.  For extra stability, I printed on watercolor paper and coated it with mod podge.  Once dry, it was time to affix the flairs and the magnets to the bottle caps with the hot glue gun.  Here’s my new set of magnets-

Thanks for looking!

The border frame and random buttons on the background circles are perfect touches! And the kite placement is awesome!

Congrats to gracelikerain on getting LOTW!  This image is linked so head over to her gallery and leave her some well deserved LOVE on her beautiful layout!

-Dolores (Dolores)

I love how she used a card template to create a bag topper that is versatile for different occasions!

What a fun Father’s Day gift idea!  This image is linked so please leave her some LOVE in her gallery on this amazing idea!

-Dolores (Dolores)