On the 10th Day Of Christmas....

... We bring a new gift to thee.....

Come on sing it with me now??   Who has carols pumping through the house and their tree up?  Now that we are in the spirit let's round the bend and get our cards done and out the door!


I'm BACCCCKKKK!!! And today I bring a quick tutorial on how to add and change out drop shadows!  In this tutorial I am using CS6 version, in PSE you can follow along in most versions until I separate the shadow onto a new layer.  In older versions of PSE you cannot put the shadow on it's own layer but you can still change the color... and of course I will show you how!


To get started open up the template for the card #10 given to you in the email.

1) Choose a chunky or bold font to type out your title.  Here I used Cooper STD, which is free.

2) I typed each letter of "merry" on it's own layer, so that I could change the colors or add pattern as I desired without changing the whole word.

3) Use the tutorial on alignment and distribution from Dec 2nd (here if you missed it).

4) Now I used papers from the kit this card was made from because I like the texture added in.  But you can easily just change the color of the letters to suit your needs.

5) Now that each letter is complete with pattern paper, you can merge it and make it into one word.

6) First you need to rasterize the type and then make them all one layer.  Select ALL the layers of the word you are working with.

7) Add a stroke to the word.  I used size of about 20 here.
Layer --> Layer Style --> Stroke

FOR PSE USERS... HERE IS WHERE YOU CHANGE YOUR COLOR TO MATCH YOUR CARD.  CLICK JUST TO THE RIGHT OF THE SIZE LINE AND THAT IS YOUR COLOR CHANGE OPTION.

8) Put the stroke on it's own layer by clicking the word "Stroke" on the layers panel and using the drop down menu that says "Create layer"

9) Once it is on its own layer you can manipulate the color and or add another pattern to it as well.

10) Finally I decided I needed a little more oomph to the word so I added a SECOND stroke to both the "merry" and the stroke outline... only at 7 this time and a green to make them pop.

11) Add in a small drop shadow and you have a beautiful title on your card.

Note:  You can do this for more than just words.  I repeated this WHOLE process to add an exact matting around the rectangle in the template so I wouldn't have to guess size or alignment!  Give it a try!  Here is my finished card... Be sure to share yours with us!  ENJOY!

It's not to late to share the fun with friends.. get them in on the 12 Days of Christmas cards and envelopes by signing up here. 

For this card I used the "Christmas Wishes" Digital kit that can be found in my shop on Etsy here. 

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!