Mindless Scrap

This is for a challenge. They vote on this one. I don't expect to win, because I saw some submissions that I thought were much better, but I hope to at least make a respectable showing. Here's the challenge: Using your PSP color in the page. Use different color, textures and patterns to fill in the page. You may only color the page no other edits are acceptable and no animation You may use plugins on the panels themselves like bevel edge or glass or wetpaint, but only to the panels only I hope this is okay. I kind liked it. It turned out much better than I expected. Tutorial Used: None .

On this one, we were instructed to create a siggy using orange and brown. I first looked through my tubes to see if I had any artwork that would suit the color choice. The one that seemed to match the scheme the best was a cowgirl. So that dictated the type of papers and elements I would use. I found a free kit that I thought worked well, and had the right color scheme. And for the record, I'm not a cowgirl by any stretch of the imagination. I've been on a horse once in my life, and that was a laughable experience. I'm a suburban brat, all the way! But what the heck, it was kinda fun to be a cyber cowgirl for a change, LOL! Tutorial Used: None. .

I had a few more tags that I would have shown you, but Photobucket didn't like them. They were deleted by them, with a message left behind that said I was in violation of their terms of service. Whoops. I didn't even have full frontal nudity or anything. A partial cheek shot, and a side view of a breast. I guess that was too graphic. On a cartoon image no less. Oh well. Ironically, I had them in my own name and under Mindless Scrap, with the same exact design, and Photobucket only rejected one of them. Didn't make much sense. But I didn't intend to be in violation of anything, so I deleted that image as well. Another misstep, and another lesson learned. I hope I start to get the knack of this stuff one of these days.

I learned how to take an image, and some text, and twist them together! I thought this was the bees knees, LOL! What fun to make! I'll be doing more of this, I'm sure. Tutorial Used: http://www.cafemom.com/group/49603/forums/read/7148452/Various_Tuts_From_PSP_XI_to_PSP_7_Beginners_Intermediate_and_Advanced?next=11#replies

This is for the weekly Signature Challenge. This one they do vote on. I didn't use the recommended tube, but I did find one that seemed to go very well with the kit. I added a little glitter for the heck of it. We'll see how it does in the vote. Tutorial Used: http://www.cafemom.com/group/14196/forums/read/8050416/_Signature_Challenge_for_the_week_of_2_23_to_3_1

Okay, I HATE the colors in this. But this was a scrap challenge, in which they provide the kit, and you make something out of it. You can add masks and tubes, but not much else - no elements from any outside kit. I hated the color, but I wasn't too displeased with how this pulled together. Maybe I'll do something similar only in a color I can stomach, lol. Tutorial Used: None .

I really liked the looks of this tag. This was Amour, and it was a weekly challenge, but on the forum without votes. I veered from the original only slightly, using a different tube (I'm too broke to buy tubes for all these tuts), and I switched out the mask for one I liked better. I didn't really learn anything new, but I enjoyed the practice and was very pleased with the results. I thought it was very pretty, and sexy. Tutorial Used: http://www.chaotichousedesignz.com/index.php?pr=Amour

I was getting addicted to creating tags, so I explored around the site where I got the Dirty Little Secrets tut. This one I did just for fun. I learned I could colorize the butterflies, and drop in numerous animations into one tag. It was fun to play around with the butterflies. And I was getting some spring fever, so I wanted to see flowers and butterflies and spring colors. So this was for no particular reason, just play. Tutorial Used (loosely): http://www.weescotslass.co.uk/Tutorials/SpringBeauty/SpringBeauty.html

I was having so much fun with making tags in the tag exchange, that I just kept going. Someone requested the tag Intwined. She said she like the color, but wanted a tube that wasn't so sexy. I found a couple tubes that would work, both with less revealing outfits, and both containing shades of red or redish pink. So I made them both. I wasn't sure which one I liked better, so I gave her both and let her pick which one she wanted to use. One leaned more toward red, the other seemed more pink. I thought they both came out kinda neat. I thought it was particularly interesting how the same tag takes on a completely different look and feel with a different pin up. Tutorial Used: http://crazedcreationz.co.uk/tuts/Intwined.html .

I had a busy weekend. So busy, in fact, that I didn't post the majority of my projects. I'll try to catch up. They had a game on one of my forums, called Tut for You, Tag for Me. The first person posted a tutorial that they wanted someone to make for them. Whoever made it got to post a request for a tutorial for someone to make for them in return. I created this tag in exchange for a St. Patrick's Day tag. I was pretty happy with the exchange. Not only was I pleased with the tag I made, and the one I received, but I was also happy to discover a little shortcut in Animation Shop. If you copy the animation, then when you click control E, it gives you the animation again to place on the tag - so if you're using a small animation in numerous places on a tag, that saves some steps. Cool! Tutorial Used: http://www.weescotslass.co.uk/Tutorials/DirtyLittleSecret/DirtyLittleSecret.html .

I just realized that I've been doing this digital scrapping for a month now. I was scanning back at my posts, and watched the progression as I went from a very basic siggy to where I'm at now. I never would have believed a month ago that I would be here. I never thought I would be using animation, glitter, or designing my own blog bling. I had no idea what masks, tubes or brushes were. Oh, and today I learned about scripts! (Interesting concept. I'm not sure how I'll use that yet, but it's neat to know about it.) I'm not only learning some of the lingo and the abbreviations, I'm also learning techniques, and I'm learning how to use the software and where to find the tools I need. I wouldn't say it was hard to learn. I've had too much fun to say that. But it was frustrating at times. I think I've jumped in far over my head on more than one occasion, but the irritation was worth it. I learned. I've also found some great mentors

Well, I finally created a new background and header. I'm wondering if everyone can see it okay...? I read somewhere that if you make it too small, then it won't show up properly on larger monitors. I had trouble finding the correct dimensions for making a background. Well, if this doesn't look right, let me know. I'll do my best to straighten it out. It looks fine on my monitor, and I'm rather happy with it at this point. Now I'll need a blinkie that will suit the design, lol! .

This was a similar design to Not Your Girl Next Door, but it has a different kind of animation. I am really going to have to buy Alien Skin Xenofex 2. Sigh. I wish this didn't keep requiring more money! Tutorial Used: http://littlemamaspsptutorials.homestead.com/LoveIsTheBridgeTutorial.html .

I followed a tutorial that was in another older challenge. This was from last summer. I didn't have access to the tutorials I normally skim through, due to an update going on down at CM, but I did find this one that suggested we pick any tutorial from the site and make a siggy for at least one other member of the group. I picked someone I knew was new to the group. I didn't really learn anything new on this one, but I did discover another free art site that was interesting. Tutorial Used: http://fisfault.co.uk/tuts/EllipticalOrNot.html Tube site .

This tutorial I found from the same site that had the Not Your Girl Next Door siggy. I liked the looks of this, so I did it for more practice. Tutorial Used: http://littlemamaspsptutorials.homestead.com/LoveableTutorial.html .

I tried a tutorial from another place today. I played more with that concept of printing around a shape. This time, instead of printing around a circle, I printed around the corner of a square. Tutorial Used: http://fisfault.co.uk/tuts/BeMyValentine.html .

I revamped the look of the blog again. I finally figured out how to get my images to be smaller, so they aren't cut off by the sidebar. Someday, I hope to design a blog layout myself. Somehow, that doesn't seem as far-fetched to me as it once did... .

I have not been too fond of blinkies in the past. Always thought they were distracting. But I have to admit, they are great fun to make! I enjoyed learning this. I made a couple, just for the fun of it. Blinkie Templates Tutorial Used: http://www.cafemom.com/group/14196/forums/read/1247934/How_to_Make_a_Blinkie?last#last .

Okay, I re-did the coloring challenge. I colored in the panels and applied a leather effect to the panels. I liked trying the different effect and seeing how they changed the look of the image. It made a big difference if I highlighted the entire circle, or if I highlighted individual panels. Good learning experience.

This is another scrapbook kit tutorial. It was a lot of fun to do! I made a bunch of them. They're very easy. DOWNLOADS Shiny Button 1 Blue Flowers Shiny Button 2 Heart Shiny Button 3 Ribbon Shiny Button 4 Putting the Pieces Shiny Button 5 Single Puzzle Piece Tutorial Used: http://www.cafemom.com/group/14196/forums/read/7617308/Scrap_Kit_Challenge_5_Shiny_Button_Brads?last#last .

In honor of St. Patrick's Day, one of my forums is hosting a green and yellow challenge. The idea was to colorize your work to get it green and yellow (except artwork - you aren't supposed to colorize that unless it's an all over wash). I took my fairy siggy and revamped it in green and yellow. .

I tried a simple tutorial today. I didn't expect to learn anything from this one, since it was designed to be a simple beginner tut, but I was pleasantly surprised. Not that I saw myself as anything but a beginner, but when I first looked at the sample I thought I could copy it with little instruction. I'm not quite sure why I still followed the directions to the letter, but I'm glad I did. They showed me how to add a texture to the frame, and I realized how easily I could create my own frames, without having to find a pre-made one. Fascinating! Excellent reminder not to blow off a tutorial because it appears too easy at first glance. No matter how simple, it still has the potential to teach me something. Another thing I learned was about using texture to create the shadow effect on the name. I used Effect-Texture-Blinds for that, and then reduced the transparency to create a striped shadow effect. Fun! Tutorial Used: http://fisfault.co.uk/tuts/PictureOfElegance.

Geez, I have GOT to be more careful. I didn't read the directions carefully enough on the coloring challenge. It said "no animation." So my submission was deleted. Doggone it. I'm not so upset about not being entered in the challenge, but I feel so foolish for not reading the directions carefully. I seem to make more mistakes in this group than I do anywhere else. (Or are they just more vocal about pointing out the error of my ways?) Anyways, back to the drawing board. Or coloring board. I'll let you know if I resubmit to the challenge.

I tried a new challenge today. The challenge was to color something in. They provided the black and white thing to color, and you go to town. I just had fun with it. I had this idea of filling it with water animations. I wanted it to have a kind of fluid texture. It didn't work out the way I wanted it to, but it was fun to work on. A learning experience. I think if I were to do it again, I'd use larger animations to give a better water effect, and leave off the glitter. But what the heck. It was amusing. I'll try to do better next time.

Another week another round of challenges. This time, I have been provide with all of the elements I need, and I must use them all. They provided the tube, frame, mask, brushes and font. This time I added a little animation. I glittered the flowers on her gown and the font. I also used the mask twice, once in pink and once in navy. I was happy with the effect. I wasn't so crazy about this design, but I was rather limited by the terms of the challenge. I was kinda proud of what I did come up with, however. I may never actually use this siggy, but at least I feel confident that I did a respectable job of it. Tutorial Used: None .

This week's siggy challenge is called Pretty Little Girl. It featured one of those Gorjuss tube, and quite honestly, they are far too youthful and cutsie for my tastes. I had no intention of purchasing a tube for that one. But I did have some of those lovely free tubes I got last night from Zindy Zone, so I substituted that. It's a whole different look and feel to it now. I had a new plug in, called DSB Bright Noise. It's a glitter add in. That was pretty simple and basic, no hassles at all. I'm getting more confident with these siggy challenges. They are getting easier. Or maybe I'm lucking out and getting easy siggys, LOL! Tutorial Used: http://sites.google.com/site/littlemamadeespsptuts/pretty-little-girl .

I tried a different tutorial today. It's actually a Photoshop tutorial, which added some extra frustration, but I eventually got it figured out. This one had a plug in called Sparkle. Gee, was that ever irritating. I couldn't seem to get it right. I finally got it to resemble the way it was on the sample, after messing with it for a very long time. Argh. I do kind of like the looks of this. And it introduced me to another artist that I like very much. The artist is Zindy S. D. Nielsen at the Zindy Zone. She has some lovely pieces. I would have purchased some of her tubes, had money not been so tight. Hopefully I'll go back there soon. In the meantime, however, she does offer some free tubes on her site! And they are quite pretty! I used one in this tutorial. You could say that this project spoke to the flower child in me. The Zindy artwork reminded me of a Carole King song, so I went with it. Oh, I almost forgot! I learned how to write curved text! That was

Tried to practice a little more of the magic water I showed you earlier. This time I used typical colors instead of the pink.

I learned something new today. There was another tutorial for scrapbooking, and it showed us how to create something that looks like a puffy, shiny sticker. This is one I made from an autism awareness ribbon. I also registered for 4 Shared. I've never done this before. But just in case someone wants this little puffy sticker, you are welcome to it. Download here (psp file) Tutorial Used: http://scrap-stuff-with-psp-tutorials.blogspot.com/2007/07/puffy-shiny-sticker.html .

I had a challenge in a different forum today. They posted a scrap kit that was all black and white. We were to make a siggy from it, without using any elements from outside the kit. (Masks, tubes and templates were okay, but nothing from another kit.) I looked through my selection of tubes to see if I had anything in black and white. This tube called Leah by Keith Garvey was as close as I could get. I could do a black and white wash on the tube, to remove all color, but I rather liked the fact that she's in color. I think she stands out more that way. See what you think. I posted both. Do you like the black and white better? Or the color? The Mask is ButterflyFlutterby Mask 23 . Scrap Kit: http://www.cafemom.com/group/49603/boards/read/4214235/4_shared_scrap_kit_Black_and_White Tutorial Used: None. This one's all mine, for better or for worse. :D .

For Valentine's Day, I tried a tutorial called Love All Around. I liked it in pink, with this blonde pin up. So, for today, and in digi world only, I'm going blonde. I learned something new with this one. Using the gradients and applying the color to a mask. I like the effect. But I also like it a little less dark. With this pin up, though, with pink and black, it worked quite well I think. Happy Valentine's Day! Tutorial Used: http://www.freewebs.com/vixpsp/loveallaround.htm .

I learned about blending today! Very interesting stuff! I didn't realize I could take a layer and blend it with another to create a different look. I like this! The flowered pattern in the center was the original. I added a solid pink layer and came up with all the other samples, depending on how I blended it, and whether the pink was on the bottom or top layer. Fascinating! This will be very helpful in creating papers, or if I have a paper I want to use, but it doesn't quite match the rest of my goodies. Neat! Tutorial Used: http://www.scrapgirls.com/tutorial_an_introduction_to_blend_modes.htm .

They have this cool thing called a Creative Challenge. That's where you are given a tube, frame, mask, font and brushes, and you are to create a siggy. You must use all of the goodies. (You can enter twice, and split them up between the two, but you must use all goodies between the two.) It must be sized appropriately, so that it isn't cut off when you post it. (I resized it larger here for better viewing). I got some more practice with brushes on this. The flowers behind my name were brushed in. I also got practice at resizing masks. To get this to look the way I wanted, I resized the mask to fit around the frame, which was kinda fun. I also got all my frames and masks that were given to me (from the tutorial group)uploaded into the program! That was neat. FINALLY my tubes are readily available, too. And I've started uploading my brushes. To do these things, I had to learn where they are all located, which was a challenge in itself. But now that I know where

I've been busy today! I not only finished that alpha this morning, I also made Dh another valentine. (Sorry, the pin up for this has nudity, so I don't plan on sharing that one.) After that, I created a siggy for this week's siggy challenge. I can't say I learned anything new in this particular challenge. That's okay, though, because I need practice. The tutorial was called "I'm Sorry." It used a tube that was crying, but I didn't want to purchase the artwork for this. So I substituted one from my collection of Keith Garvey tubes. Tutorial Used: http://designsbyirishlass.blogspot.com/search/label/Tutorials%20(FTU) .

I did another tutorial this morning on alphas. This was so neat! I didn't realize how easy this was. Too cool. I was only instructed to make one letter, but I went ahead and created the whole alpha. I liked doing this. I can't wait to try other patterns and fonts! Tutorial Used: http://scrap-stuff-with-psp-tutorials.blogspot.com/2007/04/satin-heart-alphabet-tutorial.html .

This used the same kind of glitter that was in the LOVE tutorial, except this was a little more scattered. I love the way this turned out. And I have GOT to get that plug in. It's costly - even more than I paid for the PSP. Dh told me to get it, bless his heart. But I can't justify that right now, and well, the bills are calling louder than my hobbies. Perhaps if we can pick up a little at work (it's the slow season for us) then I might consider it. But for the moment, I'm just going to enjoy the free demo version, and hope we start to get busy at work so my hours increase (and my paycheck). Tutorial Used: http://www.fall3nangel.com/ButterflySprite.html The plug in is Alien Skin Xenofex 2. You cam get a 30 day free demo here . .

Sigh. I'm such a newbie. I flubbed it up again. They were trying to teach us how to take a dingbat font and turn it into a preset shape, so that we could learn how to make some elements for a scrapbook kit. I should have just left it alone. I used it to cut out a photo, like they did in another tutorial. That was the wrong thing to do. You don't include photos in a kit for someone else. Of course not. So I deleted my entry. I re-submitted, using a string of chocolate bunnies, suitable for an Easter kit, I guess. It could be used as a border. Let's see if I did THIS correctly. :(

This time I was using Alien Skin to do the glitter. Boy, between that and the Eye Candy software, I know what I want to ask for when my birthday rolls around. I'm using a demo for the time being, but that's only good for 30 days. Alien Skin did the glitter. Eye Candy did the interesting drop shadow in front of the LOVE. Geez, this stuff just keeps adding to the cost of the PSP software. I guess it's like any hobby. You have to keep pouring money into it. This was really difficult for me to get the animation right. It was hard to line up. But it's an interesting look, so I'm glad I learned it. Tutorial Used: http://www.candystreats.co.uk/psptutLOVE.html .

I enjoyed learning this. I was to find a dingbat font, and use one of the dingbats to create a preset shape. The dingbat challenge is to help us figure out how to make scrapbook kits, papers, elements, etc. I’m not sure yet how I’ll use it, but it’s good to know anyway. At least now I know there are preset shapes in there, and how to find them. You can find dingbat fonts (free!) that will provide you with most any shape you can imagine. So my first step was to go seeking dingbats. I found lots of them. One that I wanted to try had several different bunnies on it. (I like bunnies a lot, and I collect bunnies.) Then I followed the tutorial to create a preset shape. You discovered in my last two posts that I could use a preset shape to cut out a photo, so I tried the process again. Practice makes perfect, right? There wasn't any purpose to using a bunny font, but hey, I like bunnies so what the heck. It's just for learning purposes. Yes, I entered it as a challenge su

After exploring other challenges, I discovered one for creating a preset shape from a dingbat font. Very cool! But it also clued me in that I did the previous challenge incorrectly. Whoops. At least I could go back and delete it and re-enter. Sometimes this program makes me feel so foolish. I went back and redid the "Cut Out a Photo With Preset Shapes" tutorial. The purpose of the tutorial was to take a preset shape and use it to cut out a photo. I used the preset shape of a puzzle piece, since autism is a cause that is near and dear to my heart. In my next post I'll show you how I took a dingbat font and created a preset shape. Then I used this same technique I used here and used it to cut out a photo. Tutorial: http://www.cafemom.com/group/14196/boards/read/5579877/HELP_How_do_I_use_the_shapes_to_cut_out_a_picture .

Okay, I'm starting to branch out a slight bit, and try other challenges on the forum besides siggys. They have all kinds of challenges. I'm a long ways from doing the edit challenges. The submissions there look like professional photographers have entered. Yikes. But they do have some other challenges each week, and some are geared toward the newbie like me. So that's what I'm working on presently. This particular challenge was for using a preset shape to cut out a picture, sort of like using it as a cookie cutter. I didn't know what a preset shape was. (doh!) In my defense, there was a typo, and she said "Use your present shape." (I'm not confident that had she said "preset" that I would have understood it any better, but I'll pretend like this is the only reason I messed up, just to preserve my shredded dignity, okay?) I made one submission using the tubes tool because I knew there were basic (preset?) shapes in there. That

I'm not quite sure what I'll do with this yet, but it was something I've been interested in learning. I found a tutorial called Magic Water, that explains how to create a 'water wave' animation. It was pretty simple, and I felt proud of myself when it was all done. Only took minutes to do. When I figure out how I want to apply it, I'll show you. Tutorial Used: http://www.cafemom.com/group/49603/boards/read.php?post_id=4279500&email_id=267770520 .

After making that Love Bug siggy, a friend told me that her husband wanted to know if I would make him a pin up siggy! It sounded like fun. I had a scrap kit I bought for myself which was very masculine. I'm surrounded by men in this house, so I got something without any bows and lace. This one is called Man Oh Man. Perfect for a man's siggy, don't you think? After all, what guy doesn't like duct tape? And screws? (No pun intended. Okay, you're right. Yes it was.) I don't know if my friend's hubby was really serious or not. Hard to tell over the internet. But I rather liked the creative challenge of it. And let it not be said that I discriminate against men. ;) I showed it to Dh. I asked him if it was manly enough. He thought it was, so I thought that was a safe thing to send along to my friend. So what do you think of my Man-Siggy? This was completely without a net, now. No tutorials, nothing to go off of. I can't say that I've ev

A friend liked my submission for the 3rd siggy challenge, so I made one for her. I thought this tube looked more like her. She said she liked it. It was a lot of fun for me, to make this for her. Tutorial Used: http://maykstutorials.com/LoveBug.html .

I've been busy with a special training at work, and didn't think I'd have much to report for this week, but I do! I submitted another challenge for a competition. This is another one I don't have any expectation of winning, but that's okay. It's kind of along the lines of entering a marathon race, when you know you won't win. It's just to test yourself, and see if you can do it, and to see how you compare to others in the same race. Even if I'm the last poor slob dragging my sorry butt across the finish line, I'm still going to finish that race. So here goes. On this one, there is animation again. But this time, the animation was supplied. I didn't create it, I just had to plop it into my design. That was kind of disappointing to me, because I would have liked to see what goes into making an animation of this sort. So guess what?! I'm practicing it on my own, and I'll let you know how it goes. So far, I'm not even throu

I tried my hand at another siggy challenge. This one was very exciting for me, because I figured out how to do animation. Woohoo!! It's amazing how something as simple as a butterfly's fluttering wings can bring me such joy. But it took a lot of work to get it figured out. Once I figured out what I was doing, it turned out to be no where near as complicated as I first thought. The instructions look worse than they really are. It's one of those things that you just have to dive into, to find out that it wasn't all that bad. Take your time, read it carefully, and enjoy. It doesn't even take all that long. I used Animation Shop 3. (The software says it isn't compatible with Vista, but I found it works just fine on my Vista computer. Phew!) On this tutorial, I know their artwork really fit the design better, but I wasn't going to throw cash at a bunch of designs that I really didn't think I would get that much use out of. (It came in a package d

Looks like I'll need to make some changes to this blog's set up. My posts are getting cut off. I'll see if I can find a template more suitable to the width of my work. While I'm at it, I think I'll go back and post links to the tutorials I've been using to create my designs. Just in case someone else wants to follow the same footsteps.

A friend of mine is very into fairies. I rather like fairies, too, so I purchased some fairy tubes to play with. Here's what I made for her (and me, too). You'll see more fairies to come, I'm sure. Tutorial Used: http://www.fall3nangel.com/Believe.html .