When Cristina asked me if I would like to take this month‘s Hybrid Corner I gladly agreed, because I absolutely needed to get started on my vacation planner if it was supposed to be useful for the planning process of our summer vacation at all. And it was a good thing I did! Life is so busy at the moment, that I had to put in some nightshifts to get it done for today.

To justify the investment into my Bind-It-All I made my planner from scratch, but if you do not have the tools or want a quicker project you can just as well take spiral notebooks apart to decorate the covers and to add a few custom pages/dividers, and put it back together after. Or you could use a ring binder and decorate the front, or bind your book with binding rings or even ribbon.

So, let’s get started. I first searched a kit that I wanted to use and found Jady Day Studio’s wonderful new travel kit: Summertime Fun – On Travel . I just love the vintage feel to this kit.

The next step was to figure out the size I wanted my planner to be so I knew what the right size of my canvas for the covers would be. – I chose international size A5 which is about half a legal size page. And this is what my digital cover looks like.

I copied this image onto a new blank A4 (~ legal size) canvas to print.

On the back cover you can see the shadowed part in the middle. That’s the actual cover. The extra width is to wrap the cover paper around my chipboard. I shadowed the actual cover part so I could better see the boundaries of my cover for the placement of embellies and such. It would be good to remember to take the shadows out before printing, though. (*cough cough) Fortunately they are not really visible on the finished project.
One thing to remember is that the canvas for the back cover needs to be decorated on the opposite side from the cover page. On the cover the binding will be on the left, and on the back cover it will be on the right side.
But I also just now realized that I actually flipped the document over for the back cover and did not renew the background paper so the printing is now a mirror image *lol* . What is the saying, a few mistakes make a project more charming?

After printing my cover sheets, I sanded the edges of my chipboard so the edges would be a little smoother in the hope that the wrapped paper will not break so easily at those edges, positioned my chipboard on the printed cover sheets and adhered it with Modpodge.
I then cut the corners off, put strong sticky tape on the edges of the printed sheet and wrapped the paper around to the back…

…decorated it with a strip of another of the kit’s papers, and covered the inside with a piece of matching cardstock.

The same with the back cover

I then printed some extra pages that I scored and folded down the middle of the long side to use as dividers.
And I also made two pocket dividers to store receipts, tickets and other stuff you collect during trips. To make these I also printed on whole sheet of paper that I scored down the middle. But instead of just sticking the two sides together like with the divider pages I glued one strip of paper between the fold to close the bottom of the pocket.

Then I took a longer strip that I punched with a border punch, put sticky tape right next to the punched edge and aligned this with the edge of the pocket page. That way the pocket will be wider than if you just glue shut along the edge, and will also stick out a bit so that it can be used as a section divider as well.

I alreaday designed the inside pages for last year’s book, and I was quite happy with that book, so this part was easy as I just needed to print out some more of them. Two of the inside pages fit on one sheet of my printer paper and I printed double sided. The headers of the pages are: To Do, Shopping List, Packing List, The Trip (to journal about the long drive there, things to remember, and as reference for next year’s trip – good or bad rest stops etc ), This was Week…(the part where I journal about our activities etc.), Addresses, Notes, and some pages without header for anything that comes up unplanned.
On the picture the printed pages are already cut in half.

Here’s all the divider and pocket pages. For the second pocket page I used a paper that I love from Wendy’s (WM[squared]) travel kit The Great Escape. I also punched three tabs for the divider pages

Now that I had prepared all the parts needed for the book I could start the assembly. As I already said I bound my book with my bind-it-all. What I also like about this way of binding it is that I can store the pen inside the rings and always have it with my book.
And this is my finished vacation planner and journal. I have some extra papers and elements printed so I can add some more embellishments later on if I want to. A diary is a work in progress and that also goes for the decorations, right?

And some images of the inside pages

As you can see we already started using it.

It is really fun to have and use your own custom made vacation planner/diary and I hope you enjoyed my tutorial today.

Karen (bydelstorp)

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 folks!  Chelle here with a little tutorial to make journaling elements more fun!  I LOVE the “undo” part of digi-scrapping…and typing my journaling so there are no errors, but I also like the look of “hand-written” journaling on all those fun journal elements…especially the ones with lines.

There is a simple tool in photoshop & photoshop elements for quickly and easily lining up your journaling on those lines. It’s called adjusting the leading.

Here’s how to do it:

Step 1: Make a text box. With the text tool, click down in the upper left corner of the journaling element, then drag down to the bottom right corner without letting up on the mouse button. When you are in the bottom corner THEN let go. You should see your new text box highlighted (the marching border)

Step 2: Paste your text in the box. I suggest you write your story in a program with spell-check, then paste it into Photoshop/Photoshop Elements. You may need to edit it to fit. Move the text so that the TOP line of your journaling is sitting nicely on the top line of your journaling element.

Now we’ll be adjusting the leading. THIS is the little box where we adjust it. (In Photoshop it’s under Window>Character.)

Step 3: Highlight all of your text (Ctrl-A) Then using the drop-down box try some of the preset numbers. Here I tried 18 (too small) then 24 (too large)

Step 4: Be a little goldilocks and figure out the exact amount to make your text line up with your journaling element lines. Mine turned out to be 19.2

That’s all there is to it. Now you can have “hand written” journaling “on the lines” on all your layouts. It also works great on lined papers…like those in back to school kits.

Take a look at your scrapping stash…I’ll bet you’ve got some lined elements in your collection…but if not, here’s a freebie you can use to complete the challenge: (This is not a “newly released” product–it’s been in the store for a couple of years)

There are journaling elements in lots of kits in the store. And a few lined journaling element packs:

Your challenge is to use a lined journaling element and line your journaling up with the element lines.
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!

Check out this inspiration from the SMCT:

From Ami:

From Kairyn:

From Tronesia:

Can’t wait to see what you create!

Can you believe that it is June already? Where is this year going? Hey there everyone, Cathy here to host the June 2011 Getting Hybrid Challenge. This month I thought it would be fun to help get people involved in hybrid crafting by challenging you to make flowers. You can make any type of flower that you want, from simple to extravagant.

There are so many options for how to make hybrid flowers to go with your scrapbook pages, cards and other crafts. With the use of digital papers, the possibilities are endless! You can simply print out some digi papers and use your flower punches to create blossoms. You can make use of some of the hybrid helpers we have in the shop as templates for fussy cutting or cutting with your electronic cutter.

These flower templates by Krisi’s Kreations are a great place to start. The set includes files types that you can use right in your digital designs, or for cutting with a machine or by hand!

I’m going to share a tutorial for creating some beautiful paper roses. For my project I’m using Summer Lovin’ Prints by Kim B and Summer Breeze by Jennifer Labre. They are both part of the June Mix-a-Kit which is on sale through June 7!!

You’ll need to cut 3 6-petal flowers for each rose that you are making. The Sizzix Flower Layer #5 die works great for this. It includes a large and small flower die so you can make 2 different sized roses.

You will need to snip between each petal to allow for curling the petals into shape. You will also need to cut the first flower one time, straight between 2 petals all the way to the center. The second flower you will cut on either side of one petal into the center and separate that petal. Save it, you will be using it. With the third flower, you will cut to the center on either side of 2 petals and separate the double petal. Save this too, you’ll be using it.

You should have what is pictured above for each rose that you are going to create.

Once you have your flower parts cut, ink the edges. Since I am using digital papers that I printed, I also inked the backs.

With the first flower (slit cut to center), place some Glossy Accents glue on one petal at the slit that was cut to the center. Manipulate the petal on the other side of the slit to cover over the glued petal, creating a cone shape with the flower as you do this. Use a paper clip to hold this in place to allow the glue to dry. Repeat this process with the remaining 2 flowers, creating a cone shape and gluing the overlapping petals. Secure with paper clips while you wait for the glue to dry.

Take the double petal cut from flower #3. Curl the petal to the left toward the back of the flower piece. Carefully curl the flat side in toward the curled petal. Curl it tightly creating a center petal for the rose. Pinch it together with your fingers and glue. Hold it together to allow the glue to set momentarily. Sticky fingers are a good sign of hybrid crafty goodness!

Take the single petal that was cut from flower #2. Curl each side of the petal in towards the center as shown above.

Curl the petals back on each of the cone shaped flower pieces. I like to use the handle of a small paint brush to do this. For the larger petals I can use the thicker part of the handle, and for the smaller petals, I can use the thinner part. You can also snip a small piece from the tip of each cone. You may need to snip slightly more on the 2 smaller cone pieces to help them set into the rose as you assemble it.

After you’ve curled your petals, begin to assemble the rose. Start with the largest cone piece and then insert the medium one inside it. I turn it so that the petals are a bit offset. Place some Glossy Accents into the center of the cone to glue in place. Repeat with the third cone piece nesting it inside the rose and gluing in place. Then take your 2 center petal pieces and set as the center of your rose. I have no magic suggestions here, I play with it until I like the way it looks. Sometimes I have to snip a bit more off the bottom of these pieces in order for them to sit down in the rose the way I want them.

Now comes even more fun! You can dress up your flowers. I sprayed mine with some Tatter Angels Bronze Mist. Then I added some glitter to the edges of the petals for extra bling. Some Stickles glitter glue in the center of one of the roses added a little pizazz!

I used the roses on a picture frame that I had covered in paper from the Summer Lovin Prints pack. Here is a closer look at the flowers:

I’m showing these flowers on a finished project, but you don’t have to for this challenge. You can just make some flowers and share them!

Here are some wonderful samples that our talented Creative Team made for you:

Look at this stunning cake that LeAnn made. I think the cake is gorgeous on it’s own! Then she added a beautiful rolled rose bouquet, amazing! She used Kim Brodelet’s Roche kit. The little white flowers are simply cut-outs of elements from Kim’s kit. (Special thank you to Mari Koegelenberg for the rolled flower template).

Tracy made these brilliant flowers by printing out a bunch of the digi flowers from Jennifer Labre’s Sunkissed: Sunset. She then layers them to create these beauties!

She used them to decorate a card. Isn’t that sweet?

Melanie created this bouquet using papers and flowers from It’s Midnight by WM[squared] and GeniaBeana Scraps. I see a few different types of flowers in there, some print and cut from the kit, some rolled and some using the scrunch technique. She adhered them to the lid for a mason jar. Would that make a super cute gift package?

Tamara made this flower using the April Mix a Kit, a paper flower and some ribbon. The perfect addition to her super sweet project!

This flower by Karen is just so cute! She combined a few techniques to create it from the Mix a Kit April: Footloose and Fancy Papers by Graham Like The Cracker, Springy – the Elements by Wm squared, Carefree Solids paperpack by Kim B, Sprung patterns by Stolen Moments

Wow, that’s a whole bouquet of blooming creation!!! I hope we’ve planted the seeds and have you wanting to let your hybrid skills blossom! (you saw all those puns coming, didn’t you??

OK so here’s the scoop on the challenge:

-You will receive one point for posting a photo of your finished flower/s in the Getting Hybrid Gallery and then linking it up to the Getting Hybrid Forum thread HERE . You can receive an additional point for using new Scrap Matters products; please make a note of new products in your forum post to help me give you the correct credits. 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 project must be unique to this challenge.
-You don’t have to use Scrap Matters products, but we love it when you do!

And don’t forget, you don’t have to use your flowers on a completed project, but we would sure love to see it if you do!

So, let’s fill the gallery with some beautiful flowers!!!

Hello! Hello! Trista here to share with you a fun technique for my very first ever Saturday Special hostessing gig! I hope you all brought snacks!

Soooo, Let’s make some waves.

Adding a wavy edge to a strip of paper is fairly simple. Please note that I use Photoshop 7, so these instructions may take a little tweaking on your part to achieve the same affect with other photo editing software. Here we go!

1. Open a new transparent document in Photoshop. I start with 12inx12in (300dpi) in size.

2. Select the Polygonal Lasso tool from the tools palette.

3. Click the mouse to create a starting point. (Something to note: Clicking beyond the boundary of your open document is best to assure the wave is from one edge of the open document to the other. Continue to click the mouse to draw a wave across the open document. Don’t forget to draw the sides and bottom so that the mouse is back to the starting point. Marching ants appear around the selected area. There is no need to worry that the edges are not smooth. That is next on our to do list.

4. Select “Edit in Quick Mask Mode” on the tools palette or press the shortcut key “Q”. This is the first step in smoothing the rough edge on the wave that was just created.

The non selected part of the document will be pink. This is a mask.

5. Next, from the top menu, select Filter, then Noise, then Median. Reduce the size of the preview image in the popup window so that the curve can be seen. (From what I have read, but have not tested the work around in Photoshop Elements for smoothing the edges is to paint/erase with a soft brush, reduce stroke opacity, or to feather the mask with the Gaussian Blur filter.)

6. Toggle the Radius slider to 93. This will smooth out the edge of the wave. Click OK.

7. Return to regular editing mode by selecting the Edit in Standard Mode icon on the tools palette or by pressing the shortcut key Q again. This action removes the pink mask and returns the marching ants from the previous selection, but now the wave is smooth.

8. Now it’s time to decorate. Fill the wavy border with color or paper and you are on your way to a fabulous layout.

For those that find it difficult to create a smooth wave, there is still another option. You can let our fabulous designers here at ScrapMatters do all of the hard work and use some of the premade curve templates that are in the store. Here are some examples.

Behind Me Curves Template Pack from Graham Like the Cracker.

Wendy of wm[squared] has Got Curves? Templates. There are three versions.

More than Just Curves from Happy Scrap Girl

Happy Scrapping.

My page using Serenity by Andilynn Designs

I gotta show ya what the team did!

Kayla used a wave element from Harbor Bay from Dream Big Designs .

Chel used Up All Night: Boys from Whimpy Chompers

Kairyn used Let Me Be Me from Band Geek Designs and Got Curves? Vol. 1 Templates from wm[squared]

Sharon used Got Curves? Vol. 1 Templates from wm[squared]‘s and Opening Night from Stolen Moments Designs and Britt-ish Designs.

Now on to the details of the challenge. Create a wave using the instructions in the tutorial above (you may use a template). Place the wave somewhere on a layout. That is it! Be sure and upload your finished page to The Saturday Special Challenge gallery and then post in the MOS Challenge forum.

Challenge reminders:

-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 May to complete this challenge to earn 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, Karen here with the Getting Hybrid Challenge for May. This is the very first time that I am hosting a challenge so I am very excited and also a bit nervous.

This month’s challenge is about gift wrapping ideas. These can be as simple as decorating a paper wrapped package with a hybrid flower or some cut out element, or using printed wrapping paper etc. Or you can make something more elaborate like a box for example.

Our hybrid designers have some beautiful box templates in their store that can be used to put small or even larger gifts inside.

I gave one of these Big & Tall gable boxes to my mother in law for easter stuffed to the brim with her favourite and hard to get easter eggs. She’ll probably just have finished her stash when the Christmas candy hits the stores.

Or look at this fun Popcorn Box Template
<

And this pretty Jewelry Box

I decided to decorate a recycled soup can that I opened at the bottom.

and took the paper off to measure it

I then created a Photoshop document in that size and decorated it using some April Mix A Kit items: Sprung: Patterns from Stolen Moments Designs, Footloose and Fancy Papers from Graham Like The Cracker, Carefree Tags & Metal Wordarts from Jady Day Studio, and Springy – the elements from WM[squared].

I then created a new document in my printer paper size (in my case A4) and printed. As you can see I printed some more paper than just the cover for the can. I do not like to waste my good inkjet cardstock and that way I can always make and add some more embellishments. I was not sure what I wanted to add to the design later so I printed a little more of the pretty papers. After printing I gave it a little protective cover with acrylic sealant spray.

I then cut the cover out, put some strong sticky tape around the edges and glued it to the outside of my can

And here’s my embellished can ready to be filled. I intend to fill it with some seed packets and a gift card to our local flower store.

Just remember to put the gifts in upside down, because you are filling the can from the bottom. After the gift is put inside the can bottom needs to be sealed and I found that the glue gun works best. It may need a few tries to get the bottom on straight before the glue gets hard (wonder how I know? ), but the result is worth it.

And here’s what our amazing Creative Team came up with for this challenge:

I was totally blown away by this stunning gift set Jaime from Simply J Studio made using the ScrapMatters Collab Up, Up and Away and Krisi’s Kreations’ Big and Tall Gable Box.

Aren’t those Paper Pom Poms darling? Jaime got the idea from Nicepackageblog.com

And just look what Ami (steami) came up with. She put her gifts in a package that is a gift in itself and sure to be treasured even after the gift inside is taken out.

She used Boxed Up: Templates (hybrid) by Stolen Moments and Only The Sky Is The Limit by Amy Stoffel

Sharon (quietangelsb) used the Fry box template and Simply Labeled Vol 2 from Simply J Studios and Serenity by Andilynn Designs  to create this lovely gift box.

Isn’t this lovely? So much prettier than just putting the gifts in a simple bag. I just love the center medallion on top of the ribbon.

I hope we got you inspired. So get out your scissors and glue and join us in the forum.

And here’s the fine print, the ScrapMatters Challenge Guidelines:

-You will receive one point for posting a photo of your finished project in this thread & in the Getting Hybrid 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 May to complete this challenge to earn 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!

Woo Hoo! Tiff here with my very first challenge… hopefully you like it as much as I do!

The instructions here are for Photoshop, The techniques may be slightly different depending on your program.

Find something you’d like to make into a sticker. For my page, I extracted myself out of a picture, but you could do any element, draw a shape and clip something to it, or even make your own word art for a title. Just use the type tool and then rastersize the type.

1. Add a stroke. Click the little fx icon at the bottom of the layers palette, and choose Stroke. (My background is blue so you can better see the stroke).

2. I chose 35 px, an outside stroke, and I changed the color to pure white. Just click on the color box and choose your color.

3. If we just added a drop shadow, it would be hidden under the stroke. We need to make the stroke part of the original layer. Check to see that your original layer is chosen, and then go to Layer > Layer Style > Create Layer. Now you should have two layers: one being your photo/element, and the other is the stroke.

3 a. I forgot to get a print screen of this, but you need to combine the two layers into one. Click the top one (mine is the photo of me), and hit Ctrl + E. It will merge the two layers into one.

4. Now add a drop shadow. (Click the little fx at the bottom of the layers palette again and this time choose drop shadow.)

Now just drag your “sticker” layer into your layout.

Here’s my finished layout:
(using BFF by wm[squared])

And here’s another one I did – this time changing the colors of the stroke:
(using Couch Potato by Jennifer Labre and Vintage Summer Bonus Alpha by wm[squared])

Here is some more amazing inspiration from the lovely creative team:

Kendall (kendallt) made her title into a sticker to help it stand out a little more:
(using Spring into Easter by Jady Day Studio & Sweet Spring Templates 1 by True Blue Studio)

Amanda (dznyscrapper) made her title and date into a stickers, and I love how even a small stroke and drop shadow can makes them stand out:

(using XoXo by Amy Stoffel, Handwritten Dates by Haynay and Just 4 Mom Templates by KimB)

Are you inspired to make some stickers? I can’t wait to see them… And if you have any questions… don’t hesitate to comment or PM me! I’m happy to help!

Challenge reminders:
-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 March to complete this challenge for March MOS points or wait to post in April for April 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!  Welcome to The Hybrid Corner.  I’m Ami and I’m going to be walking you through a quick and easy chore chart.  Thanks to Mom’s Little Helper by Amy Stoffel creating my daughter’s chore chart really wasn’t a chore at all.

My first step was to design the chart.  Being that there is already a chart in the kit, I didn’t have to worry about lines or squares.  My daughter is only 4 so I chose a couple of elements to be visual aids and to add a little flair to the daily grind of chores.  To minimize cutting, I placed all elements for the chart in my computer program; I also felt that it would provide more durability to have a flat chart.  Once I was satisfied with my design, I sent it to the printer and gathered the rest of my supplies.

Pictured above: chore chart, check marks, matte mod podge, a repurposed magnet and scissors. For me, I enjoy hybrid creations because you can make it as specialized or as basic as you need- my scissors are everyday paper scissors and I used them because they feel good in my hand- my magnet was repurposed cause that’s what I had on the fridge.  You don’t need mod podge- a general purpose white glue would also do.

First I cut the check marks out.  Then because the magnet was repurposed, I pulled of the current advertising to better adhere the check mark.  Take the magnet, apply mod podge, stick down the check marks and apply another coat of mod podge.  You can add multiple coats if you wish, further protecting the check marks.

Care does need to be taken when handling the wet mod podge as a misplaced finger can cause damage.

This project was completed in maybe one hour (including dry time).  With a few simple digital items and a few household items, you too can create this quick chore chart.

Now lets get excited about our chores!

You know those neat layouts where there is a section (or sections) of the photo that they make just POP? Or those cool layouts where the photos look like a set of offset tiles? Well this tutorial will teach you how to achieve that effect.

First open the photo or photos you are going to use on your layout. Find a photo that you really love the whole photo but that also has something in it that you really want to stand out.

Now, open a blank 3600×3600 (like you do to start a layout) and paste your photo(s) into it. Position your photo on your layout. Then click on your Marquee tool in your tool box. Draw a selection around the item in your photo you want to highlight or pop up.

Now press Ctrl-J to make a new layer from your selection. This will make a new layer out of your selection and will not affect the original photo layer. Repeat this process as many times as you like, making sure you are on the original photo layer when drawing out your marquee.

Now add a drop shadow to really make your selection pop! The larger the shadow, the further off the page your selection will appear to be. Try different setting, play and have fun!

And here is what I created using Erica Zane’s What’s Cooking Bundle:

Check out the fun our creative team had using this simple method:

Cara:

Using Chelle’s Creations: Fetch That

Bonnie:

Using – That’s Not My Clover Kit & Add-On; & D.B. Wannabes v.2 by Erica Zane; & Doodle-Its: Borders Bundle by Jennifer Labre

Kim:

Using: The Places You’ll Go and Precious Alphabet from Amy Stoffel

Chel:

Challenge reminders:
-You will receive one point for posting in the appropriate 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 March 2011 to complete this challenge to earn 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!

Can’t wait to see what you create!!

Hey everyone!  LuAnn here with your March Getting Hybrid Challenge!

This month we’re going to be decorating candles, votive holders, jar candles and more with beautiful decorative wraps. They are the perfect way to add color or a personal touch to tables, shelves, centerpieces and more.

But most importantly….
**These candles are for decorative purposes only – please do not ever light a candle that has paper and other flammables on/or near it**

Here is my candle sporting a gorgeous new wrap using Jady Day Studio’s collab kit with KimB’s Designs called What Matters Most.

and a close up of the details:

So let’s get started with how to make your own candle wrap!
Supplies:

• Candle

• Epson Matte Presentation Paper

• digital kit of choice

• embellishments of choice – buttons, ribbon, brads, punches, flowers, dies, ink, pop dots, 3D foam squares, etc.

• double sided tape (or other adhesives of choice)

1.  Measure around your candle – allow for an overlap.  Determine how tall you want your candle wrap to be.

(My candle is a 6 inch pillar – my wrap is going to be 9 1/2 inches wide by about 3 1/2 inches tall)

2.  Create your candle wrap using a photo editing program of choice.  I’m using Jady Day Studio’s What Matters Most digital kit.

3.  Determine if you want your candle wrap to be all digital including shadows or if you want to print each layer of your wrap and then assemble true “hybrid” style.
(I decided to print my paper layers separately.)

4.  Determine how you want to decorate your candle wrap – now don’t panic!  Just think of it as a long narrow layout that you will print out and wrap around a candle. 

5.  Print your wrapper and/or the pieces to your wrapper on matte presentation or matte photo paper using your printer’s best print option.

6.  I distressed the edge of my patterned paper and used a lacey border punch on the cream colored plain paper and inked the edges. I adhered the lacey punched papers to the back of the edge of the patterned paper.  After wrapping my papers around my candle, I used double sided tape on the overlapping area to secure the wrap.

7.  To create the flowers, I printed some square blocks of the solid pink and solid cream digital papers in the kit.  Using my Big Shot, I die cut some Cherry Blossom flowers.  I also die cut a butterfly from the solid pink digital paper and added two small crystals to the center of the butterfly.

8.  After inking the edges, I punched two small holes in one petal of each of the pink flowers and two small holes in opposite sides of the cream colored petal.   I used twine to create a cross stitch to attach the flowers together.  Then I added a flat back pearl to the center of each flower.  The pearls were a little too white in the middle so I lightly dabbed the pearl with the same ink that I used on the edges of the flower.

9  The flowers and butterfly are attached to the candle with 3D foam squares.
And there you have it – a beautiful candle perfect to display or give as a gift!

How about some inspiration from the team?

Cathy (Scrappycath) created this beautiful jar candle wrap using Thankful for you by Mye De Leon:

Jewelle (jubeejewels) created this fun candle wrap using So Silly by Amy Stoffel:

Amanda (Abhall76) created this gorgeous wineglass lamp shade which uses a battery operated tea light – she used Zen Garden by Inspirations from Day:

**Again…This candle is for decorative purposes only – please do not ever light a candle that has paper and other flammables on it**

Here are the ScrapMatters challenge guidelines:
- Entries must be posted in the Getting Hybrid challenge gallery HERE and also linked up in the comments section of this post.
- You will have until the end of March to complete your project
- You’ll get 1 point for designing, printing and putting together your project, and then posting the photo of it in the gallery. You will get a bonus point if you use a new release within one week of it’s release to complete your project. You must mention that you used a new product in the comment section of this post to get the bonus point!

I can’t wait to see what you create so be sure to link me up so I can leave you some luvin’!!!

LuAnn