Day 2 of 12 Days of Christmas Cards

Hello!   Today I am here with my Christmas card for sketch and template #2 on the route for the 12 days of Christmas Cards and Tutorials!   Here is the card I made using CS6 digitally with the template and then I printed it out both the card and envelope so they are ready to send off!

In this tutorial I will show you how to use one of my favorite techniques to align your elements and perhaps photos and mats perfectly and quickly every time!   I will show you screen shots from PSE 10 since that seems to be the most common program ... enjoy!  

We are going to add stars to the circles in the template.  

1) So once you open the template and clip your pattern paper to the circles merge the layers for easier movement on the card. (Shortcut CMD + G for Mac  Alt + G for PC)

2) Now add the star and drag it over near the circle.  As you can probably tell it is pretty difficult to get it to line up perfectly and evenly inside that circle.  So here is the secret...

3) Select BOTH layers, the star and the circle embellishment.  Now for PSE go to the top where it says "Align" and select the option to "Align vertical centers" from the drop down menu.  Repeat and select the "Align horizontal centers" option to make sure it is centered completely inside the circle.

VOILA! 

4) Add a little drop shadow to each of the two layers and it is perfect!

*Quick tip:  You can do this as well if you have embellishments that need equal spacing.  By using the option right next to "Align" the "Distribute" function.  This is perfect if you are adding in buttons or something.  You can Align them so they are all even along the bottom or top, and then distribute them evenly along a certain space!   Great tools for making things even and spaced!

For this I just duplicated one of the circles and made it three.

1) Choose the "Align" menu and align the bottoms of the circles because as you can see they are not even after I copied and moved it.

2) Select the distribute menu now and distribute centers:

EASY right?   I love this little trick for adding in buttons or sequins and having things spaced for me so I don't have to do all the zooming and guess work!

For this card I used my brand new "Christmas Wishes" kit available in my Etsy store here.

Thanks for stopping by... if you have friends that want to join in on the fun be sure to have them sign up for the 12 Days here!