Color Garden’s process began and ended with gradients. The photo is a mask used on a gradient layer. The concentric circle design is masked using a gradients and duplicate photos too. Using multiple gradient masks can be challenging because once layered on top of each other, they pick up the colors and objects behind them. But the solution is the Bamboo tablet and pen.
The pen allows me to pull up the Gradient Fill menu and fine tune the angle, opacity level, and blending mode. I don’t have to worry about manipulating specific numbers; I can easily use the pen to play around with my settings until each gradient works with the final design. And I like to play!
Tiny details, like gradient harmonies, communicate a personality on the page. In this layout, it’s really a harmony of three autumn colors entangled in a dance. I used the gradients to downplay the additional colors and focus on the three color motif.
Scarecrow::Cutecrow is about perfecting small details with a pen tablet too. The pen tablet allows me to fine tune my shadows allowing the illusion for realistic images to work together with the graphic images. I wanted my shadows to look real and that isn’t often accomplished by using the default shadow mode. Each element’s shadow must be ‘dragged’ into position and the pen tablet allows for precise movement. Yeah, I want someone to run their fingers over my pages when printed; test if it’s real! That’s my goal.
The graphic images are blended together using a combination of layer styles, blend modes and non-destructive erasing. All are accomplished easier with the use of a pen tablet. And those small details really make me smile.
I started using paper, glue and photos in March of 2005. Sure, it was a great creative outlet. But really I needed those Friday night crops to give my one-year old daughter and Daddy some private time. Scrapbooking soon became my new best hobby. I switched to digital scrapbooking in the fall of 2005 when the cost of paper and glue begin to eat into my family’s budget. A passionate journaler at heart, I now use paper, pens, photos AND pixels to share the story of my family.
I was inducted into the Creating Keepsakes Hall of Fame in 2006 and a 2006 finalist for Creating Keepsakes Scrapbooker of the Year. In a previous life, I was a web designer. Now I am a student at Old Dominion University working diligently on a BFA with a concentration in Graphic Design. I am a Creating Keepsakes Magazine Dream Team member and a digital product designer. My products can be purchased at Little Dreamer Designs.
I use a Bamboo Fun 8.5 x 5.3 on my main computer and a Wacom Intuos3 4 x 6 on my laptop. I have a constant need to draw in Illustrator and my pen and tablets allow me the creative control to sketch, color, and fix even the smallest detail on my illustrations.
When I’m not designing, you can find me … at the beach catching a wave or building sand castles with my daughter.
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Just released, the Bamboo Craft is a special edition pen tablet, designed especially for the digital scrapper. It comes bundled with everything you need to get started.
These are really great pages especially the scarecrow. I think they would look real when printed.
Love the blending and swirls. Great quote too.