Life was her Canvas

Girls Weekend Scrapbooking

2010-03-26T19:16:00.000-07:00

Amazingly, I completed 15 scrapbook pages over the past weekend. YAY! I feel so caught up. I am far from it, though, but know that scrapbooking is always a work in progress. It will never be "finished.".

Katie and I made a goal for ourselves.... to scrap a page a week. We are going to open up the challenge to everyone who scraps. Sunday will be called Sunday Scraps.... post your weekly scrapbook page on your blog on Sunday night. Monday will be Day 1 of the new week.

For now, here are my 15 (actually more.... ) pages I completed. That makes up for the past 15 weeks I've been a scrap slacker, right?

Fall Tree

2008-10-28T19:34:00.000-07:00

Another simple no-brainer project...

Trace arm/hand on brown construction paper.

Glue onto white paper (or grey in my case)

Let child fingerprint leaves onto tree with paint.

I

Footprint Ghosts

2008-10-28T19:32:00.000-07:00

Pretty simple... white acrylic paint, black cardstock.

Paint feet.

Press on paper carefully.

Draw on face.

Voila!

(I laminated them because I want to keep them around for years)

Lately...

2008-10-26T09:38:00.000-07:00

I've been scrapbooking...

Destination: Mars.... Journaling poem from Purple is a Fruit: Parenting poetry from the heart (more here too)

Sometimes I want to put you in a spaceship
and push "Destination: Mars"
and wave goodbye to you my sweet
and pray for those unsuspecting Martians.
But then you smile
and laugh with me.
And I say oh okay
you can stay.
Those Martians don't deserve you anyway.

Oops... my "e" got disconnected.... LOL!

Black and White

2008-04-09T19:54:00.000-07:00

Jac left a comment about converting to black and white (sorry, Jac, it left no email or blog link so I have no way of contacting you directly) in PhotoShop.

Jac said...: Nicole,

I have to ask....how do you convert your pics to black & white in photoshop? They always look amazing. Would you mind sharing some tips and tricks?

Thanks!

It seems like I'm asked that question more and more often, and what cracks me up is that just a year ago I was saying to myself "I have GOT to perfect my black and white conversion... whatever I'm doing sucks." And so I dinked around, tried a few different actions, tinkered with those actions and somehow came up with my own. And since then, I've been complimented numerous, numerous times on my B&W conversion. Thank you, those of you who have done so.

Now... I really don't want to let anyone in on my technique as I feel that has become part of me and my photography... it really isn't a "secret" as its just a bunch of tweaking to get the conversion to how I like it. I'll give a few tips, though, and link to some free black and white actions.

First, here are the basic steps I take to convert to black and white. Again, I am not giving specifics as most of the time I play around with them on each image. Also, I don't think some of these steps will work in Photoshop Elements (such as curves...).

I basically run a Channel Mixer on the image. Go to Image>Adjustments>Channel Mixer. In Channel Mixer, I select Monochrome and then tinker with the channels. After that I tinker around with some Levels, Curves etc to get the image to my liking. I found a combination that I liked and then recorded it and voila... my conversion was born.

Now, for those of you with Photoshop that can run actions, you might check out ActionCentral for some free downloadable actions or 640Pixels for a few B&W Actions (I used to use Johny's Black and White a lot until I created my own). If you're up for paying for actions... you might try Totally Rad Actions (which I have and use occasionally) or Actions by Brenda (I have a few of her actions, but rarely use them anymore).

Anyhow... I hope that was helpful!

Creating a banner for blogger in Photoshop

2008-03-11T20:55:00.000-07:00

Jane asked me today how to make a banner for Blogger. I figured that I would just post it on here in case anyone else wanted to know how to do this.

Now... I'm going to give specific directions on how to make a banner for the template that I use. Other templates in Blogger require the banners to be different sizes (and you can easily create the banner the same exact way, you just have to make sure the banner size is correct for that blog template). (I'm also wondering if techie Kim has any other quick tricks to make this process easier... feel free to share if you have a different way that is quicker!)

I use the Denim template. In Blogger, if you go to the "Layout" tab and then to "Pick New Template" it will be the second one over in the top row. I use the plain ol' "Denim" (not stretch denim etc)

The banner size for this template is 760px width. The height is adjustable, but I usually use a 350px height (give or take 50px, depending on how my pictures fit in there)

So... to make a banner.

First, open Photoshop (Elements, 6.0, CS2 etc...)

Go to >File >New

Type in these dimensions:
width: 760 pixels
height: 350 pixels
resolution: 300 pixels/inch

Click "OK" This will be the background of your banner.

From here you can change the background color:
-click the paint bucket
-and then the square in the front
-select your color of choice
-click the paintbucket onto your banner background

Now, if you plan to fill your banner with a picture, you don't need to do a background color.

To add a picture (or two or three):
1. Open the photo files you want.
2. Decide the width the photos will need to be (you know the height already: 350pixels). If you want to do two photos, divide 760 by 2. Three photos: divide 760 by 3 and yadda yadda yadda. for the banner that I currently have on my Oh. My. Words. blog I took my horizontal (larger/wider) photo and shrunk it to 350 pixels high like this:

(make sure the photo you want to edit is selected/in the top layer of photoshop.. .you can do this by clicking on the photo)

>Click "Image"
>"Image Size"
>Under "Document Size" change the resolution to 300 pixels/inch
>Under "Pixel Dimensions" change the height to 350 pixels/inch

This will make the photo the same height as your banner.

I then drag/drop the photo onto my banner. I still had a little "tall" strip of space left so I put in a vertical photo. I did the same thing, just changed the image height to 350pixels/inch. After this, you may need to move photos slightly to have them fit.

You could also easily do this: Say "Ok, I want one to be 400px wide by 350px height and the other will be 350px by 350px (leaving 10px space inbetween photos). Then just go to your crop tool and crop the photo to those dimensions.

Crop the pictures to the size you want. Select the crop tool (arrow pointing to it). Change the Width and Height to whatever you want the picture to be (in this, you'll put the number with px after it... such as width: 400px height: 350px). Make sure the resolution (circled) is the same as what you made the canvas. I just always use 300 pixels/inch.

Select the area of the picture to crop. (hold curser on corner of pic, drag to select the area of the picture you want, and then hit enter)
Then, drag/drop the photos onto your canvas

After you have your images in place, go to >Layer >Flatten Image

Now you can add text.

Go to the little "T" in the tool bar (see the image above, where the red arrow is pointing to the crop tool? The "T" is all the way at the bottom to the right).
At the top of the page you can select the font and size you want
Click on the page where you want to put your text and type. You may need to adjust the size (select the text and then change the font size)
You can then reposition the text by choosing the "Move" tool and then clicking on the text and dragging it to where you want it.

When you're done doing this, go to >Layer >Flatten Image. Save this to your files somewhere you'll remember to find it. (File>Save)

Now, to upload to Blogger...

Go to the "Layout" tab. 'Page Elements' should be the first screen.
Click on "Edit" for the Header section.
A box pops up.

Select Image: From your computer and then browse to add your image
Select Placement: Instead of title and description
Save changes

Now up at the top go to "Fonts and Colors"

You can change all sorts of colors on your blog. In the circled area, select the page element you want to change. Then you click on the color box to the right of that list.
If you want more customized colors, you can change the hex code.Changing the hex code

Changing the hex code:

Back in Photoshop, click on the colored box in the toolbar to the left
A box pops up. You can slide the cursor along the rainbow bar and choose a color from the box. A hex code will show up (circled). This is the 6 digit code you'll put into the hex code box in Blogger under "Fonts and Colors"

9x6 Collage with 5 images

2008-03-09T12:43:00.000-07:00

My actual collage is not these exact image sizes... not sure what I was doing when I created the collage. Anyhow, when making this sample template, I decided I'd make the dimensions a little more rounded out (my images are more like 2.8x1.9 etc..)

Anyhow... here it is... the template, my collage, and the final layout.

Basic "Signature" Collage

2008-03-07T13:10:00.001-08:00

Its no secret that I take a lot of pictures. I don't necessarily take out my camera every day, but when I do I take upwards of 50-200 pictures at a time. And weeding through those and trying to decide which ones to print for scrapbooking to best document that moment/time/event is a headache.

I started making this collage last Christmas, when I wanted to have a ton of Porter's first Christmas pictures on a layout but didn't have time or energy to devote to one layout and make it super creative. I knew every holiday and family event was going to be overflowing with pictures. I don't have the time or energy or creativity to do a zillion layouts for each holiday. What I do now is create a collage, and that documents important/special images and then I print a few additional 4x6's, 5x7's or other smaller scale collages to make separate layouts of specific, more detailed moments.

This layout is pretty simple. All images are 2.125" x 2.125". I know the width is 8.5" but not sure of the exact height of the total collage. I first open a 10"w x 8"h canvas and then crop 12 images to 2.125x2.125 and then drag/drop them onto the canvas. I flatten it and then print it as an 8x10. Super, super simple.

*You could also use this collage on a horizontal 11 x 8.5 layout... so the images will be 3 across and 4 high

9.5 x 5 Collage

2008-03-07T12:47:00.000-08:00

This one is a little odd shaped... I was trying to work with the images I had available and this is just how it turned out.

The full collage is 10"height by 4.5"width, again 300 pixels/inch. After creating and flattening the collage, I changed the canvas size to 10"height by 8"width to print as an 8x10.

10x8 Collage Layout

2008-03-07T12:21:00.001-08:00

Just like the collage tutorial says, the canvas size is 10"width by 8"height, 300 pixels/inch. Crop images to sizes shown, at 300 pixels/inch.

This prints just like any old 8x10 image at any old photo lab.

Making a Collage in PhotoShop

2008-03-06T21:03:00.000-08:00

Ok, I've had 4 different people ask me how to make collages in Photoshop (I've been using collages on my scrapbook pages to fit multiple pictures on there) and I finally decided to just make a little "How To" post for everyone. I hope I can explain this well enough!

First, you need to decide what size you want your collage. I did a few basic "Layouts" for my scrapbook pages and then chose the picture sizes in the collage afterward. Since I do both 12x12 scrapbook page and 8.5x11, here are a couple (the gray is the collage, the white is the whole scrapbook page)

{8.5 x 11 Page with an 8.5x6 collage}

{12x12 scrapbook page with a 6x8 collage}

{12x12 scrapbook page with a 12x3 collage}
(this was printed on a 12x12 canvas through my pro lab)

Ok, once you kind of think out what size you want the FULL collage, you need to figure out what size the pictures will fit. This involves a little math and figuring out ratio of pictures (vertical and horizontal etc...) but my suggestion would be to sketch out the layout on a paper and use a ruler to measure and see what will fit. Maybe later I'll post some basic layouts with the photo sizes... I'll have to make that up though. I usually play it by ear when I make collages... I pick out my pictures and try to fit them in.

The one I'll do today is a 6x8 collage. The images are as follows: Six 2x3 images and Two 3x2 images (width is listed first, height is listed second... ie... 2x3 is a 2"wide pic by 3"height pic)

So.. on to making the collage.

1. Open Photoshop (I have CS2 so if you don't, hopefully these steps will still be similar...). Go to File > New

2. A box will open and you will select the size you want your canvas. You want to do this in "inches". If you want a 6x8 Collage, change width to 6 inches and height to 8 inches. I always do my resolution at 300 pixesl/inch. IMPORTANT: Make sure your resolution on your canvas and your resolution on the pictures you crop are the same. Don't worry about this right now, just make sure you remember what resolution you set the canvas at in this step.

(note: in this picture I'm making an 8x10 canvas... but the collage is a 6x8 so just ignore this part that says 8x10....)

3. Open the pictures you wish to use in the collage.

4. Crop the pictures to the size you want. Select the crop tool (arrow pointing to it). Change the Width and Height to whatever you want the picture to be. Make sure the resolution (circled) is the same as what you made the canvas. I just always use 300 pixels/inch.

5. Select the area of the picture to crop. (hold curser on corner of pic, drag to select the area of the picture you want, and then hit enter)

6. Choose the "Move" tool (circled). Click on the picture that you just cropped and drag/drop it onto your canvas. Once its on your canvas you can move it around to whatever position you want.

7. Repeat Step 6 for all photos on the collage. Just change the width/height to whatever size you decided you need and then drag/drop it onto the canvas. Then, arrange the photos.

8. Once your collage is arranged, go to Layer > Flatten

Now your image is a flat 6x8 canvas. If you want to print them out at Target/Walmart etc... where they have the basic 5x7/8x10 sizes... you might want to make the canvas an 8x10 so that you can print it as an 8x10. (some online places you can order custom sizes like 6x8, but I'm not positive...).

To make the canvas an 8x10 you will:

1. Go to Image > Canvas Size

2. A box will pop up like this: You will change the Width and height to 8 x 10. (Now... remember... if you do a collage that is, say 9 inches wide by 4 inches height you'll want to make the canvas width 10 inches and height 8 inches. If you do the width 8inches, you'll lose an inch of your collage). Since the collage we made was 6 inches wide by 8 inches high, I'll leave the height 8 inches and just change the width to 10 inches.

The Anchor toggle thing down there... The little white box represents your image (or your collage). When you change the width or height, those arrows tell you where the extra width/height will go. The white box is in the middle, so the canvas will expand on all 4 sides like so...
Now, if I click on the top left corner and put the white box in the top left corner like so...
The collage will stay in the top corner of my 8x10 canvas and the "blank" space will go to those two edges where the arrows are. Like this:
You can do it either way. I usually push the collage to the edge that way when I print it as an 8x10 I just have to chop off that one white edge and not cut all the way around my collage.

Now you're finished. Go to File > Save and save it. You can then upload it to whatever online place you print through. Make sure you print it as an 8x10. I'll print out with that extra white space (it'll be like a blank photo on that side) but all you do is cut off the collage part and voila!

If you have any questions, leave a comment and I'll do my best to explain! I hope this wasn't too confusing!

The beginning....

2008-03-05T21:02:00.001-08:00

Well, here it is. A creative blog. A documentation how-to blog. A photoshop tips and tricks blog.

Whatever you want to call it... here it is.

I am not sure exactly what I'll be putting on here. I might just share creative/artsy things I do. Or maybe post my scrapbook pages that I love. I will probably throw in some photoshop tutorials as I'm often asked how to do things in photoshop (although I will put it in writing here and now... I know just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to photoshop...).

The next few, or zillion, posts will probably be about scrapbooking, collages and layouts. Since we've been doing our monthly (or bi-montly) scrapbook nights, lots of my scrapbooking girlfriends have been asking me how I do my collages. I tried briefly explaining it and realized it'd be easier to just type up a tutorial. I hope that has proven to be helpful.

I also think it'd be fun to share some collages with everyone, as well as how I ended up using them on layouts. I'll post each of those separately, and since lately I've been using a lot of collages to get through events where I've taken a ton of pictures. Look out for those updates soon!

Well, I guess that's it for an intro. Welcome to Life is a Canvas.... making everyday life into art.