Hi All!  Melissa (rxdawg97) here to bring you this week’s edition of ScrapMatters Saturday Special. There are often many ways to accomplish the same task when digital scrapbooking.  Today I am going to show you one very simple way to recolor elements and alphabets on your layout.   I am going to be working in Photoshop Elements 5 – but this method should apply for virtually all Photoshop editions.
For my layout-I was searching for the perfect alphabet to match the colors of my page.  I found the perfect one in Andilynn Designs Fun Times Alpha, but it just happened to be the wrong color.  I first tried to change the color by adjusting the hue/saturation-but it only changed the outline of the alpha.  So instead, I tried this technique and the result was exactly the look I was after.
First, open the element that you want to recolor into a new document.  I have created part of my title “HEY NOW” and have merged the visible layers (in the layer palette you need to right click and choose MERGE VISIBLE).  This will allow me to change all of the letters to a different color at the same time.  You can do each letter individually too if you’d prefer.
Here’s how my screen looks:

Okay-now I want to make this part of my title red-so I am going to use one of the papers that came in the kit I am working with (Chelle’s Creations Go!Fight!Win! Red). I am going to drag that paper overtop of my letters.

Now I am going to create a mask overtop of the letters-so I will hit Ctrl-G on my keyboard

I could stop here-but then I would lose all of the small details of this totally cool alpha.  If I were recoloring an element-there would be no details showing either-just a colored version of the item.  So now I will experiment with the different blending modes in Photoshop.  First, I will select COLOR as my blend mode (found in the layer palette)

I like that effect-but I really want my alpha to be predominantly red-so I will try some more options.  Now I have selected LINEAR DODGE as my blend mode here

Okay, now we’re almost there!  This is perfect and just the look I was going after.  Now, I will merge the mask layer down by right clicking and selecting MERGE DOWN (or CTRL-E on my keyboard as a shortcut).
You can also repeat what I have just shown you and pick a different blending mode for even more options.  I have found that the OVERLAY, COLOR, LINEAR DODGE, and HUE Effects work the best.  The possibilities are endless!
Here’s my finished layout (I used Scraps by Number: Just Call Me “Y” Templates by Stolen Moments, Go!Fight!Win! Red by Chelle’s Creations, Happy Scrap Girl’s Basic Black Pack, Andilynn Designs Fun Times Alpha (Recolored), and Britt-ish Designs A Kid Again Alpha, Glam-o-Rama Paper Pack, and My Ribbon Jar)

Here are some more examples from the AWESOME ScrapMatters Creative Team

Heather (snowdrop) recolored the date (it was originally black with green writing) for her fun LO.  She  used the NEWLY RELEASED Hot For Teacher by Trixie Scraps and simply.scraps designs, Just Saying – Halloween by WM[squared] Designs, and Layers of Love Templates by Denise Beatty Originals.

Jenn (jennamy82) scrapped this adorable LO using Plum Dumpling Designs Adventures in Reading Kit & Add On and Date Bits.  She recolored the black and green alpha to orange and pink.

Amanda (panders77) created this merry and bright LO using the ScrapMatters November Newsletter Kit, Visions of Sugarplums by Haynay Designs and Andilynn Designs, In Stitches by Brittish Designs, Brownie Alpha by Chelle’s Creations (recolored), Holiday Cheer by WM Squared (recolored) and  Hustle and Bustle Add-On by Brittish Designs.  She recolored the word strips and the alpha.

Now for the details- you have until the rest of the month of November to complete the challenge. Upload it to the Saturday Special Gallery and leave your LO image and link in the Saturday Special Challenge thread HERE in the forum.  Please indicate what you recolored in your credits and in your forum post.
You will receive one point for completing the challenge .  You don’t have to use ScrapMatters products-but we sure love it when you do!  You can earn an additional point for using any NEWLY RELEASED product from the SM store! (Please indicate that you used something new with your LO/link in the forum.)  And, one lucky winner (random) will receive an ADDITIONAL point at the end of the month!

Remember no double dipping…your layout must be unique to this challenge.  I hope you have fun with this technique and can’t wait to see what you have recolored on your layouts!