July 10, 2010

New MDS Downloads

I just decided to splurge on a whole bunch of new MDS downloads and I'm having a blast with the new selection.  I've even started a new album for my recent trip to Washington D.C. (so no Christmas layouts to share today, YEAH).  Here is my title page:


Don't you just love the way it turned out.  My whole family went on the trip, and this picture is courtesy of my brother- he's such an awesome photographer.  The "new" elements on this page include the vintage vogue and vintage overlay stamp sets, striped ribbon, corduroy buttons, and boho blossoms punch.

Now, for a couple of tricks I used to make this page:
First, I created the background paper myself using many layers on top of a solid color fill.  The bottom layer was the crinkled vintage overlay, stamped in the same color as the color fill but with a darker saturation.  In order to do this, when selecting the stamp color first select the basic color you want, then go to the "HSB" menu.  Click on the circle in front of the "B" and then to the left a sliding scale will appear where you can brighten or darken the color.  Adjust this saturation until you are pleased with the final result and click "OK."  My next background layer was a set of white script.  You don't need a stamp to do this, just make a very large text box and add whatever sayings or poems you desire, and select an elegant looking font.  For my script I decided to stick with white text, but I toned down the opacity to make it blend into the background.  Can anyone figure out what words I used??  The final layer of my background is the sponged vintage overlay- I actually applied this twice in black (once at full opacity and once at half) in order to get the depth of color I desired.

My second trick is how to create a title with a border.  This is actually quite simple to do.  To begin, make the title the final size and fond desired.  Then make a copy and paste it without an offset (this is one of the standard buttons).  Change the color to the outline color and send it back a layer.  Next, using your arrow keys move it up and left once (this will not work if the snap to grid is on).  Repeat the process moving it in all four directions to achieve the full outlined look.

The final trick is one I've mentioned before.  Did you notice all the shadows on my flower bouquet??  I love how they make it pop.  I tend to turn up the opacity on my shadows to 75% (much higher than the standard setting) to achieve this look.  Also, I will often center the shadow on the image so that it has a halo effect like the light is straight up instead of to the side.

I hope you've enjoyed these tips.  If you haven't checked out SUs new digital downloads I highly suggest you take a look at all their new additions.  Some of them are so much fun!  Also, lately they've been adding content every week, so check back often and maybe you're favorite stamp set or accessories will be available soon.

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