Freebie and Nonsense

February 27, 2013 by suruha

Hey, there! Has anyone been watching CreativeLive’s Photoshop Week? If not, all this week, assorted PS gurus are doing workshops for ya at CL. Each one is only a few hours long, as opposed to CL’s usual time frame of 6-8 hours. The week long activities are sponsored by Adobe. There has been segments on actions, content aware and brushes, so far, along with some other beneficial sessions on retouching photos, PS workspaces, etc. Today’s line up looks promising, too. This morning there is one on ‘Advanced Actions’ and another on working non-destructively. They are running two at a time, so, be sure to look up at the very top of CL’s page for the green button that says, “Watch Live 2”. A drop down menu will appear with the two that are currently running. Click on the one you like to see and watch away! They also do re-broadcasts in the evenings if you happen to miss one you like. You can also purchase the courses so you can watch them whenever you want. When you purchase, you also get any related course material with it, such as files that allow you to work along with the video/class. On the PS Week feature page there is a schedule of the courses so you can map out which ones you like. Do realize that CL is in the PST time zone and adjust your schedule accordingly.

Digital Whisper has re-opened! My old haunt is back and going full speed ahead! DW is a Ning group site with all kinds of good things! There are individual groups, plenty of challenges and, so much support and help. The art some of these folks create is stunning! I am so honored to be exposed to their personal styles and tips/advice. I run the “Learning Center” and the “Photo-Manipulation” groups, myself. I’m not that much an authority, but, we manage! LOL There is a small fee for new members, if you are interested. (Ning charges now, so, the fee is to offset costs.) The role of the group is to give aspiring artists feedback and support in ways that are beneficial. It’s also a place to hone your digi skills. They are a wonderful bunch! DW is where I learned a good deal of what I do. If we don’t know, we find out!

I have yet another goody for you from “A Rose is a Rose”. You have the whole kit. I had forgotten a couple of items, so, I want to give you those here. The other day, I gave you the cherub frame, and today, another frame:

And, some lips:

and, last, but, not least, a word art cluster I played around with:

BE SURE TO CLICK ON THE IMAGE AND SAVE AS A .PNG! While I do host these, they aren’t zipped. They should open a new page. M’kay?

That will be it for today. CL is starting up! Until next time,

Be Happy!

Hugs,

Freebie and a Trip Down Memory Lane

February 19, 2013 by suruha

Hello! Ya’ll want to see something funny? If you click on the image, it will take you to the actual post where I gave this away. (Oh, yes, I did! LOL)

This is a close-up of an element from a kit I did back in December of 2008 – when I was first getting to learn Photoshop AND digital scrapbooking! LOL I’ve sure come a long way, as would anyone, hopefully, over a five year span. I’m sure others have their ‘early’ stuff that they are less than flattered with. In all honestly, that isn’t even my first ‘kit’. I don’t know what happened to that, but, it was even more awful to look at! I’ve learned so much over this time! Not only have I had more exposure to learning, but, experience, as well. To me, this represents a lot of work, not just on my part, but, on the part of all the patient souls who walked me through those early days. God bless those who did! Thank you for your patience! LOL

Not that my work now is the most awesome stuff online, but, I think it is fun to see the difference. I remember feeling so frustrated that I didn’t know more than I did. I still feel that way often, but, those times are less frequent than ‘back then’. If you are new to Photoshop, trust me. You will learn it. It takes time. In the mean time, read, read, read – read everything you see on Photoshop and/or techniques to use with it. Watch the video tuts and read the tutorials. Go back to them again, later. You’d be surprised at how much you may have over-looked, simply because you don’t quite realize what it is they are teaching you. If you don’t understand or can’t find info on something you want, ask. Time and again, I see good folks offering their expertise, ‘because they want to give back to the community in which they learned’. There are very few folks who won’t take the time to share what they know or, at least, link you to some place that might help you. It seems to be an unwritten law, with PS, that those who have struggled to learn something are quick to offer help to those who are desirous of that knowledge. Truthfully, when I am ‘teaching’ something to another, I almost always learn something new myself. I like that!

While so many folks have struggled and grown, Photoshop itself has under gone some learning itself. I found this article where there are some screenshots of some of the PS interface from way back – CS2, I believe. The article was on Creative Bits recently. Here is one shot:

Isn’t that a hoot? LOL Can you imagine trying to learn something like that!? LOL To view more of these images, visit Creative Bits.

I had some more things to go with the freebie, “A Rose is a Rose”. Some, I overlooked. Others, were in sheet format. I will give them to you here, individually. The first one was this cute cherub fame. Click on the image to download. Be sure you save it as a .png.

Thanks for joining me for my little trip down Yesterday Lane. I hope your week is going well!

Until next time,

Smile! Laugh! Whatever! Just ENJOY life!

Hugs,

Freebie – Gesso-Look Canvas Textures

January 17, 2013 by suruha

Hiya! I wanted to pop in with some things to share with you! Yay! One, right off, is my ‘logo’. I ‘slipped’ it in on the first parts of the Dec freebie. My friend, Su, from StarSunflowerStudios, actually commented on it. Thank you, Su! The two hands holding a card with my name on it was too big. It covered too much of a preview. So, I looked to do something else. Since my nickname was one I picked up in my ‘hippie chick’ days, I thought about something along those lines. The ‘whirling dervishes’, as they were referred to, were the chicks, and a few dudes, who would dance and spin around to the music at the live events. Yeah, I was one of those! LOL I had seen the ‘gypsy’ silhouette at 123RF stock, so, I used one with some paint spattering and texture. It takes up a lot less room on a preview, yet, I think, it still stands out. I had hoped you would like it!

Looking back, still, ever since my teen years I have kept some kind of journal/sketchbook. With journaling, if I was in a dilemma over something, by the time I transferred my feelings to paper, I had usually ‘worked through’ what ever it was. That happened a lot! I think that, with me giving the matter(s) their due while writing, I would mull it over and, more often than not, find answers or, at least, some measure of resolve.

Journaling carried over to my adult years, writing about my children and the ‘occasional issue with my hubby’. (What an understatement! LOL) Family, moves, jobs, schools, friends, I always had something to write about. I know some of you can relate. It wasn’t until I started learning digital art, though, that ‘art journal’ came to me. That was just what I wanted to do! I saw all the beautiful, impactful pages others had done and I liked it! I love art anyway, but, coupling art with the written word was perfect! Most of all, though, anything goes – just about. Using bits and scraps of my life and the world around me is, to me, the greatest form of art! Whatever is ‘relevant’ works in art journaling. Hell, it doesn’t even have to be that! LOL

The ‘free’ spirit in me has always bucked tradition and art journaling was built to order for this chick! I just haven’t ever set out to do a ‘journal’, like in a book format, yet. I’d like to. So far, though, I have just been creating art, and only occasionally adding some prose or text expressing a feeling. After my most recent drama, here, at home, I could really use the opportunity to work through some of it via my art and/or writing. To get it out in an art piece, or, in a little journaling, I think, would do wonders for me!

There are some awesome kits and sets available for journaling anything and everything. One look at almost any scrapbooking site and there is a section on journaling. But, they were designed by another for whatever use they had in mind. They just aren’t my own. I knew I wanted to use a ‘canvas’ for my base and went in search. There aren’t very many available and those that are, well, they are quite pricey. So, I decided to start totally from scratch and make my own.

The very first need was a canvas/page. ‘Gesso-smeared canvas’ is a look that is really popular, perfect for art journaling. I couldn’t find much along those lines, though. So, that is what I made. Five(5) of them! They are free to use any ol’ way your little hearts desire! Well, other than harmful. LOL Click on the preview to download!

Here is a close-up of one of the textures so you can see what the canvas and gesso look like.

Like the one above, the rest of the textures are all neutral, 3600X3600px in size, 300 ppi, and free to use, no credit necessary!

Have fun and enjoy! Until next time,

Hugs,

Freebie PS Brushes and a Tutorial

October 31, 2012 by suruha

A good Tuesday to you! ‘Tis a little out of the norm for me, but, I had something to share with ya’ll. I saw a design I really liked somewhere over the weekend. I wish I had saved the link or something. Anyway, it was several ‘floral ornaments’, so they are called, grouped together, for a really nice page embellishment. So, I got the idea of creating some brushes of these ornaments for use in my scrap work and I thought I would share them with you all. The designs came from Snap2Objects.com.

Click on the Preview if you would like to go snag these Vectors for yourself. If you don’t know, Vectors, like .AI or .EPS file formats, will open in Photoshop. They’re all Adobe. (Directions below.)

These would look nice behind a photo, as an element, or even as a background design. You could create a pattern from them, as well. The uses are only as limited as your imagination! The ones I saw were ‘grunged’, but, I wanted to leave these ‘un-grunged’ to allow for different looks. You can always grunge them up after you stamp them, right? I’ll even show you how, if you want. LOL Here we go!

Download, unzip and install the brushes. These were made in CS6. What other programs they work in, I don’t know. I’m sorry. Open a new document at the size you would like the element to be. I like 800-1500px, depending on the element. Make it 300dpi, RGB, 8-bit, Transparent. You can put a color background if you like. That won’t matter. We’ll just be using this to create the element.

Select a brush of your choice from the download and change the size to the size of your document, maybe a slight bit smaller. These brushes are 1800-1900pxs, so, they are kind of large. Choosing the color you would like, ‘stamp’ the ornament onto the page, on a New Layer. You may have to stamp more than once, so, don’t lift the brush until you get the results. Or, you can just copy the Layer until you get the desired strength. Here is what mine looks like:

That’s it! If you want it to look a little grungey, click on the Eraser tool, then, select a different brush from the set. Lower the size down to about ‘one/fourth(1/4)’ the size of your element. I set mine to 500px. Set the Opacity down low, like to 10-30%, as in the settings in the image above, then, ‘stamp’ over the element in a few random spots to get the desired degree of grunginess. Go as intense or as subtle as you like with the erasure/grunginess. It’s whatever you like. You can leave it with out grunging it up if you prefer. Here is what I got:

I put mine on a white background for display purposes, but, you can leave yours transparent. Save it as a .PNG file and there ya go! A new element to embellish a page or design.

Another cool thing you can do is to save the embellishment as a Pattern. Make sure you have selected the Layer with the design on it. Go to ‘Edit’>’Define Pattern’. When the text box pops up, give it a name and hit ‘OK’.

If you’ve left the size at your element size, like my 1200px, the pattern will be rather large. Either reduce the size of the element before you Define the Pattern or just lower the ‘Scale’ of the Pattern down when you go to apply it. If you want a scrapbook-sized paper, for example, create a New Document the size and with whatever settings you need for your paper. Click on the ‘Create Layer Adjustment’ icon at the bottom of the Layers Palette.

When the drop-down list opens, select Pattern.

The Pattern you just ‘Defined and Saved’ should be the one that opens. If not, click on the tiny arrow on the right side of the visible pattern in the Pattern selection box and select your Pattern from the list.

Adjust the Scale of the Pattern and Move it around where you like at this time, then, click on ‘OK’. Here is mine. I created a Layer just beneath my Pattern and filled it with color.

So, there you have it. One brush set, several different uses!

Here is an embellishment that is sort of what I saw and wanted to make:

Or, they could be used as a Tag:

Click on the preview above to download the brushes. I put the circular matte in the file, too, in case you might want that. I did not include the .PNGS as they were uber ‘weighty’ – 15mbs average. With 7 of them, that would make the folder to download humongous! LOL If you need them, I will provide them for you – no problem. Please leave me a comment and I will zip them up and send you a link. You could also go to Snap2Objects and download the ornaments there, since they did originate there. When you open the .AI file in Photoshop, they’ll be in .PNG format and right at 3000px on the long side. All you have to do is click ‘OK’. This, or something similar, is what you will see, :

You would have to separate them for individual use. If you use the Vectors, be sure you follow their Terms and link to Snap2Objects.com – not me.

I want to thank you for stopping by. I hope the brushes and this tutorial will come in handy for you!

Soon, Miss Edna and I start giving you a new freebie for the month of November. That will start the second Monday of the month, the 12th, I believe. I have some more things to share with you, but, they can wait. It’s late and I need to go to sleep! LOL

Until next time,

SMILE!!

Blessings,

“The Worms Crawl In, The Worms Crawl Out” – Freebie and Tut

October 21, 2012 by suruha

Greetings, All! I’m back to share a little more gross-ness with ya for the spooky holidays coming up! If you saw the QP’s for this month’s freebie, “Goth-n-Gore”, last week, one of them had a dirt background with grub worms crawling throughout. I meant to include just the background in the kit, but, I forgot it. So, I am going to go ya one better! I will give it to you here, plus, I’ll show you how I made it, complete with resources!

Here is a preview of the QP’s from last week’s post:

Click on image to visit post.

Here is a preview of the ‘dirt’ texture I made:

The ‘grubs’ are from an ‘.ASL’ file from Sonarpos at DeviantArt. Here is a preview of what it looks like:

Here is a zip of the texture and the pattern:

http://www.suruha.com/download/su_oct12/su_DirtWorms.zip

And, finally, the tutorial for the wormy-dirt background!

1 – In Photoshop, open the 3600X3600px ‘Dirt Texture’ from above. Load the ‘.PAT’, Pattern, file.

2 – Create a ‘New File Document’ at 3600X3600px, 300DPI, RGB, Transparent Background. Copy and paste the ‘Dirt Texture’ into this ‘new doc’.

3 – Create a ‘New Layer’ in the Layers Palette and fill it with the ‘Worm’ pattern. I increased the ‘Size’ of the pattern to 200% for a better look. This pattern is not seamless, but, since we are only showing several of the worms, it won’t matter. Just avoid any ‘lines’ where the patterns don’t match.

4 – Slip the ‘Worm’ layer down underneath the ‘Dirt Texture’.

5 – Add a Layer Mask to the ‘Dirt Texture’ layer.

(A Layer Mask is white when you first apply it. The image it is fully visible. By painting over it with black, it ‘erases’ those parts of the Dirt Texture the mask is on. This allows the image/pattern beneath to show through. The beauty of masks is that, if you mess up, simply paint back over the area with white and start again!)

6 – Lower the Opacity of the ‘Dirt’ layer enough to see the Worms underneath.

7 – Click on the Mask to activate it. With a soft brush, using black, ‘paint over’ several of the worms to expose them. I lowered the ‘opacity’ of my brush to 15% to let the worms peek through gradually. Brush over the lighter areas more than the darker areas, following the highlights and shading of the worm pattern. You can vary the strokes to achieve a more random look. It will appear as though the ‘worms’ are coming through the soil.

8 – Raise the Opacity of the Dirt Texture layer back to 100%.

9 – Add any enhancements or adjustments to the overall image, merge the layers and save! That’s it!

Finally, here is one background I made if you don’t want to make this yourself. Click on image to save it full size. It is 3600x3600px @ 1.6mb.

I hope you understand my directions. If not, post a comment and I will get back to you. Have fun!

Hugs,

a free spirit

the life and times of a lady in florida

Tag Archives: freebie

Freebie and Nonsense

Freebie and a Trip Down Memory Lane

Freebie – Gesso-Look Canvas Textures

Freebie PS Brushes and a Tutorial

“The Worms Crawl In, The Worms Crawl Out” – Freebie and Tut