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Showing posts from September, 2009

Fae

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I love this fairy!! I got it as a freebie from a promotion at MPT. It was one of those buy 2 get 1 free kind of promos. I love this! I couldn't wait to do something with her. I have a bunch more of these fairies that I want to get, too. But this particular one really spoke to me. :) This tut is very very simple, but I loved it anyway. It didn't tell you what colors or fonts or elements to use. It left it entirely up to you. I used the elements that came with the fairy (butterflies) and I added a texture. I'm just so happy with this. It looks how I envisioned it in my head. Very satisfying. Tutorial Used: http://www.freewebs.com/vixpsp/noname.htm .

Liberty

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I really enjoyed this tut! It had some new and interesting things to learn, mostly through the plugins. I changed the quote. It was supposed to read "Enlightening the world." (Something about that sounded rather cocky, as if the rest of the world wants our enlightenment or something.) I rather preferred Patrick Henry's "Give me liberty or give me death." It's one of my favorite quotes. And it's more personal, instead of involving the entire world. :) Tutorial Used: http://www.camthalion.com/Tutorials/liberty.htm

A Rose is a Rose

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This tut was a dud for me. Almost everything was done for you, so all you had to do was layer. Yawn. So I (of course) added some animation. It only livened it up slightly for me. It would be a good beginner tut, since there is nothing complicated at all. It would have been better if we were taken step by step through making the word art, or something. Anything. Layering is just too simplified. I don't know if I chose the correct tube. I liked this one, but I guess I overdid the red a bit, lol. Oh well. I suspect Dh will like it. (By the way, it looks better if you click on it, and you can see it full size). Tutorial Used: http://www.insatiabledreams.net/AngelTown/html/aroseisarose.html .

Happy Fall

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I liked this tut! It didn't spell things out too much, and gave you a lot of flexibility with the elements. That's cool. It was very simple, so of course I then had to add animation, lol! (I do that when I get bored.) But you get to choose the colors, frame, elements, etc. I liked that. The elements in this kit are very cute. I'll probably revisit this again. Tutorial Used: http://www.simplytuts.co.uk/sensations/happyfall.html .

Triton

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DH bought a used boat recently, and he's been sprucing it up. He needed a siggy for his fishing sites, so I tubed his boat (and DS in the process). It was kinda fun, but it was really tiny. I'll make him a new one when we get better photos. :)

Hot Hot Hot

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This tut was okay. Kinda boring. I didn't really care for the look of it, so I added a little animation. I wanted some sizzle or fire. I probably would have added fire, but it didn't seem to blend well with the pink, so I went with sizzle instead. I don't know if I captured sizzle or not, but I gave it a shot. I like this tube better, too. Ironically, I had to PSP boards use the same tut in a challenge this week, so I just made one siggy and submitted it to each. I hope next week's is a little more interesting. Tutorial Used: http://s0s.sinfulcreativity.com/tuts/HotHotHot.html .

Pumpkin Patch

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I found the mask portion of this tut a little confusing, but finally figured out what was intended. I have to keep reminding myself there is more than one way to apply a mask, lol. This tube by Zindy, and I adore it. I added the animation to the lightning (it wasn't called for in the tut), and I haven't decided yet if I like it. I also did it as a static image without the lightning at all, and I may use that instead, I don't know. I sort of like the lightning and I sort of don't. You'll probably see this tube again. It's currently my favorite Halloween tube. :) Tutorial Used: http://designsbyirishlass.blogspot.com/2009/09/at-pumpkin-patch.html .

Pumpkin

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This was very simple, but an interesting effect. Kind reminded me of vexel, where you reduce the opacity of a layer so you can see a layer underneath to emphasize it. In this case, I erased an opaque overlay, where in vexel I was applying an overlay. Interesting. I liked the looks of this. I guess because of the imperfections of the pumpkin. And I loved how this font looked with it! I just stumbled across it when I was trying several fonts to see if one looked better. This one jumped out at me the second I saw it. It reminded me of the curlicues at the corners of the mask on this. Tutorial Used: http://www.artistrypsp.com/Jemima/Tutorials/Thanks/PM/pm1v8.htm .

Trick Or Treat part 2

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Same tag, different color

Trick Or Treat

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This was a rather fun tut to do. I liked the pool shadow plugin, and the way the mask was handled. I added the animation. I tried to add smoke too. It looked cool before I ran the animation, and it blended well with the smoke already on the tube. However, once the animation ran, the mask started to jump. I couldn't seem to get it to work right, so I gave up. I guess the movement, along with the dissolve feature I added to the mask, just don't go well together. Oh, and I changed the word art a little. I just took out the "smell my feet, give me something good to eat." It didn't seem to go with the look of the tube at all. I would have liked to add a little more movement or something, but perhaps I would have overdone it. (Who me? Would I do that?) heh heh Tutorial Used: http://horseplayspasturetutorials.blogspot.com/2009/09/trick-or-treat.html

Vexel Painting

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Oh, WOW! This was FUN! Frustrating (because I forgot to save, and lost everything half way though it, argh!!), and complicated, but so rewarding!! Vexel painting is sort of like tracing over an image, and filling it in. Kind of a paint by numbers idea. I took a photo, and traced over it to create this image. It was so thrilling to be able to create my own tube/image! I know, cheating by tracing, but still it was not an easy task, and it did use a lot of my own work to get the look I ended up with. I'm still no artist, by any stretch. But I was able to create something! And it was FUN! It made being a frustrated artist a lot less frustrating. I plan to use this technique again. And again! Tutorial Used: (This is a member only site) http://simplyelegant.yuku.com/

She Devil

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This tut used a PTU (pay to use) kit, and I don't have the extra funds right now. Let alone, I don't like to purchase kits if I know I won't use them again. While I liked this tut image, I wasn't that impressed with the scrap kit that I thought I would use it to create anything else. Not worth it to me to purchase. You might feel very differently. I am strangely picky on my tastes in holiday kits. I want a certain specific feel, and if I don't see it, I am turned off a bit. I'm sure it all goes back to your own idea of traditions, and family history, and all that. Not a reflection on the scrap kit designer at all. Just family tradition. I think the scrap kit designer is very good. It's just not my version of Halloween. Anyway, I did a lot of subbing on this. I used some of the images I gathered when working on the last kit. A lot of Billy designs went into this as well. I tried numerous tubes with it, too, and finally felt drawn to this PinUp T

Going Batty

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You can't tell I love Halloween, can you? ;) I messed with the colors on this tut, and I didn't like my own results so much. My fault entirely. It's okay, but a little humdrum in the colors. But I liked my addition of the bat floaties. My son likes them too, lol. I couldn't find the mask on this. So I subbed my own. I did a lot of subbing my own elements and tubes. I lost something along the way, though some things I liked better. Trial and error. Even though I missed the mark here, it's not a bad little tag. I'll use it. But I'll keep playing to get a tag I like better. I got a lot of the images from a tube artist called Billy. He does some nice work. Tutorial Used: http://www.freewebs.com/vixpsp/seasonofthewitchvol1.htm

Tulips 2

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This was a pretty design, I thought. It was frustrating to work on, because I could only use a demo of the plugin, which didn't seem to match up to the instruction in the tut. I suspect the tut was written before the plugin went PTU or something, and it was more simplified. Perhaps I'm wrong on that assumption, but that's the feeling I got. I had to fiddle with it to get it the way I wanted, and it was tiring. While I was proud of the finished result, for some reason I found this tut to be a let down, and was glad to be done with it. I guess my frustration with the plug in bothered me more than I thought. I don't think that's the fault of the tut writer. So don't go by my negativity and give the tut a try for yourself. I love the other tuts I've done by this writer. All very excellent. Tutorial Used: http://www.artistrypsp.com/Jemima/Tutorials/2005/TU/tu1v8.htm

Autumn Leaves

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I love fall leaves! I love the colors, this time of year. I've been looking for some tuts that emphasize this, and this one fit the bill. This was not a complicated tut, and it had a nice look, I thought. But when it was done, I kept wanting to see a leaf flutter to the ground in the background. It suddenly occurred to me that I might have some leaf floaties, and I did! They were a little smaller than I wanted, and a little too many, but what the heck. It looked okay, and it was less work than trying to animate it on my own. Lazy, I know. But I do need more experience with animations before I tackle creating my own floaties. The original tut used animated word art. But I wasn't thrilled with the art, nor was I thrilled with it's lack of definition. I couldn't read it without squinting at it, and it bored me. I much preferred my floaties instead. And I preferred my choice of a background image. That came from StockVault.net. Love that site! Tutorial Used:

Puzzled Topper

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Hmm. I used the season forum topper and played with it to create my own. Somewhere along the way, I pretty much killed all the things I liked about the topper, lol. The look is not what I was going for. There should have been more colors, and more contrast. I didn't like how the puzzle font came out. I didn't like the blue against the pink. Rats. I did use the topper, however. It will definitely have to be changed, but it was an okay change for now. It was a step in the right direction, including puzzle pieces and photos, but it is not aesthetically pleasing to me. I'll keep working on that. I already have some ideas, and expect I'll go back to the original concept of using more of a focus on contrasting colors. Keep in mind, I'm still learning here. .

Seasons

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Ah, a fun tut! There's something intriguing about the way this forum topper looks. I like it. I will play with this some more. I like the vibrant colors on the silvery grey background. I like the vibrant shadows. I like the season images. I like the cut off at the bottom. Neat effect, and it's done with a mask. I didn't know you could do that with a mask. I want to play with my blogs and dress them up a bit, and this is a good learning tool for that. I still have a long way to go before I start getting my blogs to look the way I want. Tutorial Used: http://fairymist.fr/topsaisonsanglais/topsaisonsanglais.htm

Far Away

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This was interesting. I learned about selections on this tut. I wasn't even aware that my software had them. I can't say I particularly like the looks of the tag all that much. It's okay I guess. I do like the top part. It's sort of outer space looking, but in a modern way. I might use that again, maybe. But the rest of it was kind of...eh. But I love working on any tut that teaches me something new, and this did fit the bill. Tutorial Used: http://i213.photobucket.com/albums/cc272/twin3rd/FarAway395.jpg

Avec Grace (an Oriental look)

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This was an interesting tut. I'm not sure that I particularly like it, and liked it less and less the longer I worked on it, but it was cool because it used a lot of techniques and plugins that I was not familiar with. I like Silver Lines. I didn't use it the way I thought I would, but I'm glad I got it, and plan to play with it more. Tutorial Used: http://fairymist.fr/tagavecgraceanglais/tagavecgraceanglais.htm

Within

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This tut drove me NUTS! LOL! I couldn't seem to get the stripes moving across the image. They kept fanning out from the center. I even went so far as to seek help from one of the boards I belong to. They figured out that if you follow the tut, you will not necessarily get the same effect that the sample shows. So it wasn't just me. They also suggested playing with the settings on the soft vignette. That was a big help. And incredibly validating, because I had assumed it was my error, when in fact none of the people who tried to assist me were able to get the desired look. Phew. I finally got it to look the way I wanted to. And I do like this tag. It's hypnotic in a way. And that tube is a big favorite of mine. Now that I've got the gist of what's going on with the soft vignette, I believe I will use that plugin again. I like adding Constellation effects to it as well. Interesting look, when it works. Tutorial Used: http://www.freewebs.com/vixpsp/wi

Forum Banners

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These didn't turn out quite the way I wanted, but I did learn from the tut. I am getting better at that stripe effect. I found that the tut won't give you that effect. I had other people try it, and get the same results as I did. But we did play with it and tweak the effect, and it worked pretty well on other designs. I'll show you in a future post. The tut is still good and valid, but you might want to play with the soft vignette settings a lot before you settle on your look. It will pay off. Tutorial Used: http://www.freewebs.com/vixpsp/forumstyleiv.htm .

Love (Anniversary Part 2)

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Click on the image to see a larger version of it. That's me and DH in the lower left hand corner of the L. That was our "wedding" picture. Well, not really. We eloped, so we didn't have a true wedding photo. But we did have our picture taken at a family wedding shortly after, and have always considered that our wedding photo. The rest of the pictures in the collage are from 16 years of home photos. It was a lot of fun to make this. It was for a challenge, topic Love, anything but a siggy. I submitted this. I also gave it to DH as a kind of anniversary card. You probably recognize the texture I used previously. I love that texture. I made the frame much the same way I did in the Jack tutorial (go back several posts). I also submitted this, sans frame, in a contest on another board. We were supposed to submit something we made, not a siggy, no scrap kits, no tubes. When I submitted the full image, he said to remove the frame and resubmit, because frames a

Happy Anniversary Part 1

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It was my anniversary a couple weeks back, and I made this for hubby for a little greeting card. :) Tutorial Used: http://pspmagic.us/tutorials/goodvibrations.html

Psyco Girl

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I LOVE this tut!! Most of all, I love this texture! I'm so happy with it. I love the colors, I love the grungyness I love the overall look. I was so pleased with how this turned out! I sent a copy to the artist (Psyco Jimi) and the gals that run the group. Tutorial Used: http://fisfault.co.uk/tuts/EliasGirl.html .

Sweet Dreams

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Another pleasant image from StockVault. I just did this for the heck of it. I liked the colors. The background mask has a little sparkly effect, though it probably isn't visible at this size. I do have larger versions. Tutorial Used: http://fisfault.co.uk/tuts/SweetDreams.html .

Tropical Dream

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I did this to learn the water effect, and it was cool to work on. I would like to use this technique again. Tutorial Used: http://sites.google.com/site/littlemamadeespsptuts/tropical-dreams .

Texture Challenge 08/21

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I did this for a texture challenge. I was really happy with it, and thought it had a chance to win, but I guess I was the only one who felt that way. Oh well, beauty is in the eye of the beholder, right? I still love gazing at this image. It was a cool photo that I got from StockVault. I love that site for images. This one just felt so melancholy and peaceful. It reminds me of being on the water at night, so one with nature.

Tryptych

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I did this for a challenge. Stupid me, though, forgot to post the before picture with it, and therefore got disqualified from the voting. Bummer. Not that it would have necessarily won, but I was rather disgusted with myself anyway. I do like to participate. And I'm wishing someone would have warned me that I forgot the other image. Oh well. Still my stupid mistake and no one else's. I guess I'll be more careful in the future.

Do You Believe

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I had some fun with this tut. I found it to be a bit confusing in parts, but that might have just been me. Sometimes I jump ahead, thinking I know where this is going, only to find out I went the wrong way. Ooops. That's not the tut writer's fault. Just mine. I started this out with different colors, and hated it. But after changing it numerous times, I was finally satisfied with the colors. I guess it was a dumb idea to use these two fairy tubes together, because it seems like all the elements would clash with one or the other. I finally got it to a point where I was satisfied with it. I don't know, I think it's a look that has to grow on you, but this tag just sort of makes me feel warm and fuzzy inside. I can't explain why. I just have a fondness for it. I think my look is very different from the tut, but that's okay. I am not crazy about the tube used in the tut, so I like that mine is very different. And I like my colors better. And I like my

Jack

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I loved working on this. I created the background by taking a small square of the tube and doing a seamless tile of it. I wasn't quite satisfied with it, so I added the sphere. Then I created the frame and added the golden elements. I varied from the tut a bit. I didn't have the jiggle plugin, so I tried a few things. I wasn't happy with any of it. So I finally just added some constellation effect, and I liked the look of that. I was rather pleased with how it all turned out. And I just love that tube of Jack. That's by Psyco Jimi, and I'm simply mesmerized by it. I found that quote and thought it complimented the expression well. I sent the tag to the artist. :) Frame tutorial used: http://www.geocities.com/bubbles2u_97/tuts/jiggleframe.html .

Pain & Sorrow Part 2

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I made this for someone on another board. I love the looks of this tube.