Needles and Pins

 By Michelle Bradshaw

 Our digital designers have spoiled us with many realistic elements in the kits they create and I am most certain all of us appreciate it. For this tutorial I’m referencing the element -needles however the same can hold true for a realistic effect with a paper clip as well.

Let’s start with a needle or a pin and place it on top of a paper or an element.

2. Add a drop shadow to the needle. Since we are going to manipulate the shadow in a bit and will need to place the shadow onto its own layer.

In CS, right click on the effects in the layer palette and select create layer. A dialog box may state that some aspects cannot be reproduced, just click ok.

In PSE, duplicate your needle element > ctrl/cmd and click the layers thumb to get the marching ants > edit >fill selection with a shadow color. I am using 2c1901. Name the layer ‘shadow’ and place under the needle.

3. Activate the layer under the needle that has the element or paper.  Since I’ve sewn most of my life, I would like this needle to give the appearance of going through the element I’ve selected.

4. Select the polygonal lasso tool ‘L’ from the toolbox. Draw out a rectangle on the element or paper. When the marching ants appear, ctrl /cmd J to place on its own layer and move that layer above both the needle and needle shadow layers.

5. Select the dodge and burn tool, keyboard shortcut ‘O’. Burn > will darken, Dodge > will lighten. On the added piece recently moved to the top, use these tools with a small soft brush to create a more realistic feel of the needle thru something. I used dodge just above the actual needle [my settings on the option bar were range midtones and exposure 43]  and the burn where the top piece contacts the lower [my settings were range: midtones and exposure 50].

6. Select the eraser tool E, and do a bit of housekeeping at the edges by the needle if you choose.

7. It is time to activate the separate shadow layer that goes with the needle. Duplicate it, because we will mess a bit more. On the new shadow, name it top and the original name bottom, because now the shadow will be independent above and below where the needle is threaded. On the one labeled top “erase” the lower part. On the one labeled bottom “erase” the top part. The shadow is in 2 pieces to manipulate easier. Feel free to adjust their placement to suit your needs as well as adjust the opacity.

Here is my final page.

Credits:

Joyeux Noel by Stolen Moments Designs and by Becca

First Christmas by Kim B Designs

Some of the layering pieces and layer ideas are from Cluster Queen Creations

Needle…not in a kit, I made it…a long time ago. IF anyone wants it, I’m happy to share, or I will write the tutorial to make your own.

Happy New Year and Happy Scrapping.

m