Last month I completed a course from Scrapaneers that was all about creating awesome titles for scrapbook pages.  By the end of the class I had finally figured out how to use Photoshop Elements 9 and was feeling really comfortable with it.  I learned some really cool techniques for jazzing up a flat font and for our final assignment I tried to put most of the techniques to good use.

The above layout was my final assignment and I used the distressed chipboard look on the square frames, made the round frame to look like a puffy sticker, and the word “smiles” incorporated two techniques: simple offset outline and a sticker effect.

I loved the Title Express class so much I signed up for another one, Design Star with designer Traci Reed.

This class teaches the basics and the secrets behind making digital kits.  Just in case you don’t know what that is, here is an example of a digital kit that I use for my photobooks and scrapbook layouts:

I mentioned I finally learned how to use Photoshop Elements 9 in the previous course I took.  Well, for this class I have to learn the more advanced Photoshop on Adobe’s new Creative Cloud.  So not only do I have this huge learning curve for the basics of Photoshop, but I also have to learn how to make patterned paper and embellishments!!  Let’s just say, I don’t have much free time these days!

I have finished week 3 of the Design Star course and learned how to draw basic shapes and make repeating patterns in order to create the digital papers.  I am making this kit for a future photobook that I have promised for my Dad which will include all of his family’s old photos and ancestry information.  The colours I chose will, hopefully, go nicely with old, faded photographs.

The first paper with the wood grain is a photo I took of the wooden walls of Fort Edmonton with the colours adjusted to match the colour scheme of the other papers.  I love geometric shapes, so many of my papers include circles, stripes, and arrows.   The one paper to note is the flower paper – I drew those flowers and leaves in Photoshop all by myself!  I am very proud of that paper because it took me a long time to figure out how to use the pen tool to just make one petal!!

There are still 5 more weeks left of this course and I am excited for all the new things I am going to learn about kit design and Photoshop!  So watch out for more Design Star updates in the coming weeks!

Leah