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2/14 Technique challenge: Pink Chocolates


luckyladybug
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After a bit of a long hiatus, I found myself in a creative pickle. I was struggling to find my creative voice, and also found my skills annoyingly rusty. To spark my creative juices, I upgraded to PSE 11. This inspired me to sharpen old skills as I discovered the in's and out's of the new program. (BTW--PSE 11 is AWESOME!)

 

I used a lot of different techniques in this layout. I started with Brandy Murray's ArtDiary paper, and pulled up some pretty background papers to begin working with. I recolored papers to the desired shades from my color palette--my makeup bag. I used clipping masks to attach these papers to various layers of Brandy's layout. I also reoriented the layout, flipping it horizontally.

 

I used a Christmas photo that I liked, and "fit it" to the face layer. The shape in Brandy's layout wasn't quite right for my photo, so I altered it. I clipped the photo to the face layer, then used a brush to add to the underlying face layer. As I painted, my photo miraculously transformed! Woo-Hoo!

 

I wanted a more sketched look for the photo, so I played with Sydney Nuckles' Vintage Postcard action. This was listed as a PS only product, but I was able to make it work pretty well in PSE 11. How? Magic maybe? I fiddled around a long time with it, and can't tell you the steps. Suffice it to say that the results were effective and interesting, and merit further investigation--HAVE FUN with it!

 

After the transformation, I found myself looking at a lovely brown-eyed girl. Cute, but not me. I selected the eye, copied it to a new layer, and recolored it, playing with the transparency until I got to back to my natural blue-green eye color.

 

For this layout, I was inspired by my makeup palette, so I pulled up JPEGs of my makeup bag. I transformed a JPEG of my eyeshadow into a digital sticker by removing the white using the magic wand. I also skewed the image to make it "lay" flatter on the paper. I used the eye dropped tool to select from the colors to recolor other elements.

 

I found a clip art image of a lipstick that I liked, and recolored it to match my palette. I also "broke it apart" in order to apply a brushed metal PSE style to the tube.

 

I tried to create my own font for the word art, but ended up just scanning in hand-written words. I applied a chocolate piping style to the letters to add to the “Pink chocolate” theme.

 

Another fun touch was designing my own tea cup! I borrowed a cup from Brandy’s Cottage Rose cupboard, and recolored it, and added a nice ivy from Angela Blanchard. Can you find the lucky ladybugs? And yes, I am guilty of leaving lipstick smudges on my morning cuppa—so I added one here courtesy of Shalea Tippett’s Chocolate Kiss brush set.

 

I added some brush work, using regular and dynamic brushes, adjusting color, size and transparency as needed.

 

When all was said and done, I had found my creative self looking back at me from the page—Where have you been, ScrapGirlFriend??? No worries! I’ve found you now!

 

 

 

 

 

Papers:

ABR_SweetWords_BrownSolid

ASO_WinterWhite_Flakey

BMU_SSPaper_ArtDiary3

JRA_HomeSweetHome_Paper2

 

Embellishments:

AB:_CountryFlowers_ladybug

ABL_FarmersMarket_Vine

BMU_CottageRose_Cup

BMU_ShabbyBlanc_Handmirror

STI_Brush_ChocKisses

JRA_Emb_DoodleHeart2.png

Lipstick from sweetclipart.com and adapted using PSE11

 

Tools & Styles:

AMC_SStools_Water

BMU_DynBrush_ArtDiary

Ro_SSTools_Styles_IceSnow

SNU_SSTools_Styles_ChocCandy

SNU_SSActions_VintagePostcard

STI_ChocKiss_BrushesMini_Lips

 

Other:

Colors inspired by Clinique Pink Chocolate eye shadow

Lyrics by Aretha Franklin, 1967

Photo Information for 2/14 Technique challenge: Pink Chocolates

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Recommended Comments

Jaymee! This is fabulous! I LOVE THIS! I like what Eden said - "your Scrap Girl Friend is definitely someone worth knowing! What a wonderful, creative layout - it's magical!

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Your text made me chuckle, too funny. What a great assortment of techniques, too. The blending in the background looks wonderful & I love that hair, especially the curl big curl on your forehead.

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This is great! Love the colors you used and how it is filled with creativity. Love the big swirls and how you used them as hair. The lipstick on the cup made me laugh - great touch. I also love the hearts!

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Jaymee this wonderful - how creatively beautiful, both you and your layout! I love what you did with the photo and your background coloring is gorgeous. I really, really enjoyed reading your notes and all about the process of how you put this page together - you write so well and tell an interesting and informative story. I also really like how you made your own embellishments and used your own handwriting, what a lovely and personal touch. I FOUND the ladybugs and the lipstick on your teacup is an adorable touch.

And -- "Magic", indeed. Your page comes together so super-special and is so inspiring, I LOVE it and am marking it for future scraplifting. Thanks for the inspiration.

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Oh my, this is just wonderful! I love everything about it. The colors are so pleasing and the patterns look terrific together. You did a great job with the dynamic hearts brush -- I find it gets away from me if I'm not careful. ;) Most of all, I love your whole concept, including the fun quote.

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You want to know what I love most??? The fact that it sounds to me as if you had fun doing it. The result certainly says so. I love it, you ROCK ScrapGirlFriend! wub.gif

 

Oh and PS...scanning your own writing..perfect!

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Jaymee, when you make a comeback, you don't do it quietly! THIS IS AMAZING! I love the Art Diary look. Your techniques sound amazing. And I'm so glad you changed the brown eyes to blue. You wouldn't be you without blue eyes! Love your color palette too. AWESOME PAGE!

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Amazing page! I like all the different techniques you used to make your layout uniquely yours. I especially like the outline-type effect you used on your photo.

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