Technique Tuesday!
Putting together the series of postcards and clip art that became Jim’s Story was a lot of fun!  I used Photoshop, but I think you could do something similar with another good image editing program.  If you missed any of the postcards, the links are below, along with a link to step by step instructions to combine cartoon or clip art images with vintage pictures.

Part One
Part Two
Part Three
Step by step instructions

Yeah, I know!  Summer is a silly time to be thinking about the fall, but sometimes we just can’t help it.  As soon as the leaves start to turn, which can be as early as mid-August here in New England, I’ve got to go outside and gather them up.
I’ve done a lot of projects in the past that used the colored autumn leaves, so just in case any of you are as nuts about them as I am, I thought I’d gather up some of the tutorial links for you so that you can make your autumn plans now and …read more

Once I get started messing around with Photoshop, I can’t seem to stop. One idea leads to the next, to the next, to the next.
Recently I was playing around with ideas about borders that can be custom-made to suit the style of the digital work you need to “frame”. One of those experiments was the glowing blurred border from a couple of weeks ago. Today, it’s a border with an inner edge that looks burned. My example shown here is fairly simple and crude so that you can easily see the effects. With a bit more work and finesse, …read more

Technique Tuesday!
Start with a beautiful picture taken on a clear sunny day.

Add a touch of menace.

Why would you want to do this?  I don’t really know, but it’s fun to know how!  With Photoshop, there are always multiple ways to accomplish tasks, but here’s how I did it:
Step by step instructions

Make Art Monday!
You all know that I love Photoshop and am totally devoted to it.  You also know that there are times when you may need to do photo editing away from home.  Then it’s great to know about online editors.

At  Art + Creativity, there are links to ten more online toys tools that you can use to jazz up your pictures.  The list includes Animoto, which I told you about before…a very fun way to turn some shots into a short music video

This is a fun way to finish off some of your experimental pieces that you create in Photoshop.  I love this particular border for expressionistic, impressionistic, or surreal pieces, or for anything that doesn’t use a lot of hard edges.  This method allows the border to blur and glow, while keeping the central image as sharp as you want it.

Step by step instructions

I’ve enjoyed watching my daughter play with her Christmas gift, Photoshop Elements 7, as she experiments with photos and gets ideas for her quilting and fabric art.  It’s amazing what all can be done with photos to improve them, to combine them, and to give them new looks.  You then can transform these into fabric art.
I’m fascinated as I watch Beth with this program…and she’s just begun to learn the fundamentals.  She also purchased some books that give her more techniques and ideas.
What are some of the uses?

Print off your photos and “new” photos on fabric for your projects.
Use the Photoshop results as inspiration …read more