Working with templates (and a "freebie!')

I just LOVE specific requests! Especially when I know how to fill them! :D I'm going to try more of a bullet point type of instructions this time and see how that goes.

About Templates
With templates, the layout of your page is done for you. All you do is fill it in with the photos, papers and (sometimes) extra embellishments to make it uniquely yours. That being said, it may seem harder than it really is, once you try to do it. For some reason, in GIMP, the "select" feature can combine specifics of different layers to accomplish one goal. And that is necessary when using templates (apparently) in GIMP. It's the only way I've figured out how to get the job done. So... here goes:

Instructions
1. In your layers dialogue, position your paper underneath the template layer you want to use.
2. Select the template layer.
3. From the drop-down menu, choose "Select" then "by color"
4. Click on the layer, in your layout. It will now have a dotted line around it that looks like it's floating a bit, or, as someone else said once, like ants marching around your selection. :D
5. Go back to your layers dialogue and choose your paper.
6. From the drop-down menu, choose "Select" then "Invert".
7. From the drop-down menu again, choose "Edit" then "cut"
8. In your layers dialogue, raise your paper layer so that it is ABOVE your template layer.
9. DONE!

Okay, now here's the freebie! It's not really a freebie, but it's something I feel worth mentioning here. When you've cropped a layer, like you just did, the "outline" of the layer remains the same size, even though the content of the layer is drastically smaller. What I do, for visual clarity, is shrink the size of the "outline" or "layer boundary" as GIMP calls it. Here's how: From the drop-down menu, click on "Layer" then "Auto-crop". Unless there is some of your layer outside of the image boundary (which I can address later if you like), your layer boundary should shrink to the new size of your layer. Also, try playing around with "Layer Boundary Size" in the "Layer"drop-down menu. It's pretty fun!

Well, that's all I have for today. I'm thrilled with the feedback I've been getting so please keep the questions and comments coming. They make my day! :~) ~Jen

Ooooo, Drop Shadows!

When I was learning how to create drop shadows, a friend of mine said to me, "once you figure them out, you'll be addicted!" Well, she was right! And drop shadows are SO EASY!

GIMP has two ways to create drop shadows that I like. You'll find them both in the same drop-down menu: "Script-fu". I have no idea what script-fu means, but there is a lot of cool stuff in there, drop shadows being one. (Now, if you don't see the script-fu drop down menu, you've got a little bit more learning to do. I'll get to you in a later post, since I'm on a roll right here with the shadows. ;) For now, try looking at a different GIMP window to see if that helps.)

Now I'm not going to get fancy and try to include screen shots so bear with me in the descriptions and please let me know if you need more help! Click on "Script-Fu" and then go down and click on "Shadow", then click on "Drop Shadow". GIMP has already entered some numbers for you which will be the degree of shadow and darkness of shadow that will appear on your layer. Did I forget to mention you need to choose a layer you want a shadow on? Well, click cancel on the drop-shadow window and go back and do that. We'll wait for you!

So you've got your layer highlighted in the layers dialogue, and you're back on the drop-shadow option. No click..... "OK"! Wasn't that easy? Really--it's THAT easy! What you just did was create a new layer (take a peek in your layers dialogue!) that is JUST shadow. If you don't believe me, try this: see the little eye next to each layer? Click on the eye next to the layer that the shadow is behind. Now look at your layout. You should just see that shadow! Now click on the eye again and your layer will be back. Now try drop shadows on text, photos, ribbons, etc--your layouts are going to POP!

I'll go into more detail with drop-shadows in another post. I'll also show you another way to create drop shadows. For now, have fun scrapping! ~Jen

A goal for myself...

I want to set a goal for myself. Do you have any scrapping goals? I think mine is going to be to start participating in some challenges. I'm going to start with the freebie challenge over here and hopefully get over this block I have of not posting LO's on public galleries. What is YOUR current digi-scrapping goal?

Did you hear that?

There was some serious partying going on this past weekend! It was National Scrapbook Day on Saturday and some of the digi-scrapping sites were hoppin'! I hope you got in on some of the goodies they all were giving away. :D

Did I speak too soon?

My poor baby is suffering miserably from GI problems, and I have not had ANY time whatsoever to devote to digi-scrapping for what seems like forever. So I'll just throw a few of my favorite sites out there, in case you all need a creative pick-me-up. Here's a partial list of my favorite places for FREE digi-supplies:

www.digitalfreebies.com

www.scrapgirls.com

www.oscraps.com

www.digitalscrapbookplace.com

Most sites have newsletters to sign-up for where you can get lots of freebies, or blogs where they often will post links to freebies as well.

So, there, I wrote something. Not a tutorial, which I would like to write more of, but at least it's something to whet your appetite. :D

More later! ~Jen

Writer not Reader

I want to be a writer, not a reader. At least I want my emphasis to be that way. Look forward to more posts from me soon!

Learning Curve vs. New Baby

Well, I'm starting to get a few moments here and there to scrap more, recently. We adopted an 8 month old baby in August and since I am a stay-at-home-mom (SAHM) I have been VERY busy. Did I mention we have a 3.5 year old, too? If you're a mom, I KNOW you can feel my pain! LOL! That said, my learning curve on GIMP has been virtually NON-EXISTENT! I sometimes wondered if I was ever going to digi-scrap again.... :(

Today I was playing around with a photo, trying to make it look like those old prints with the white border around them.... Well, I used the "rounded rectangle" feature on it under the "select" menu option (I think) and was able to make the corners of my photo rounded. It was very cool!

Here's the scoop on the rounded corners:

1. Place your photo or whatever in a new window by itself (mine was part of a LO that I was working on, so I did "copy" and then "paste as new")
2. Choose "select" from the drop down menus, then choose "rounded rectangle"
3. I chose 5% radius for my little photo and it turned out great, but you can fiddle around with the number to find what works best for you
4. Once you have the rounded corners on your screen, choose "select" then "invert"
5. Choose "edit" "cut" and this should cut off the rounded corners from your picture

Pretty cool, huh?

Happy New Year and happy scrapping!

My apologies...

I just added a link to some wonderful tutorials and must apologize to their author "laurarid" for not putting it up sooner. Hope you all enjoy!

Do you use overlays when you scrap?

Well, I will now, now that I've figured out HOW! Some girlfriends and I have used the overlay mode before when altering outdoor photographs for a more bright contrasty look. But it never dawned on me to use the overlay mode with an --oh my gosh!-- overlay! LOL! Let me tell you about the mode first. It is so cool! :D Overlay mode takes on the color of the paper underneath what is in overlay mode. Does that make sense? Here we go:

Open a plain colored paper for your background. Open a highly textured layer or overlay for your top layer. Open your layers dialogue if you haven't already, and make sure that the overlay layer is selected. Now go to the mode drop down menu in your layers dialogue and choose "overlay." An AMAZING THING will happen! :D

Now that you know this new trick, if you need some great papers and overlays, check out www.scrapgirls.com !

I've added a couple of links...

I hope these tutorials have been helpful for you all that already use the GIMP. I've found Photoshop tutorials online that have helped me tremendously in breaking new ground in my GIMP knowledge, but here you get it directly for GIMP. Please let me know if there is something specific you would like to see here, or if these tutorials have been helpful for you...

Here's a random thought: check out the latest issue of Simple Scrapbooks Digital Scrapbooking 5! It is amazing to sit in front of my computer with my magazine in my lap and learn so many new and amazing ways to scrap!

But I digress... this blog entry was supposed to be for those of you who scrap with something other than GIMP, or are curious about scrapping or who stumbled upon this blog and are curious. If you are interested in absolute FREEDOM in digital scrapbooking, check out the GIMP!

I think I need to not be so excited about this...but it's hard when I want to eat breathe and sleep digital scrapbooking! Are you like that, too? Post a comment and tell me about your passion for scrapbooking. And then post another one and tell me about your passion for the GIMP!

Ciao for now!