If you haven't seen it yet, be sure to check out Digiscrap 101. Such a super fun site created by Kayla Lamoreaux with all kinds of great features, you can watch great tutorials, chat with friends, set up your own page, and meet some new friends! But be warned.....it's addicting!
It's about that time of year again when the big yellow buses start running around bunches of adorably prepared kids for the first days of school. Boy do I miss back to school shopping! But I do not miss memorizing multiplication tables. One of the many joys of being a "grown up."
And kudos to all of you who conquer finding everything on your shopping lists, and do it so well year after year. We have a new school digital scrapbooking kit up on the pcLayers website for just such an occasion, if you like this freebie be sure to check out "Teacher's Pet." It would be perfect paired up with Aly Dosdall's recently released "School" layered template. So quick and easy!
And here's a word from Jessie about our new challenge on pcLayers:
Hey everybody, we are going to start having digital scrapbooking challenges periodically at the www.pclayers.com community. We would love for you to join us and play along. This is my first time ever hosting a challenge and I really want you all to join me and participate, also any feedback you have for me on how you feel the challenge went is gratefully appreciated! The winner of each challenge will receive a prize. Beginners welcome! Everybody, experienced or not should join the fun and see what you can come up with! Here are the rules…
1. *All entries must include at least 2 pieces of pcLayers artwork in order to be qualified to win (freebies count).
2. *All entries must be named like the following… “pcL_Challenge01_(name of your page)”
*All entries must be uploaded to our gallery by 09/17/2008 (with the correct name scheme) in order to be qualified to win.
3. *Have fun and be creative.
5. *Have questions? Email us at support@pclayers.com.
6. *Winner will be posted on our blog by 6pm MST 09/19/2008 be sure to check back then to see if you won!
Winner of each challenge will get $10.00 in their pcPurse for pcLayers.com (winners for this challenge will be chosen at random)
Now for the challenge. This challenge will be for you to create a digital page (using at least 2 images from pclayers) the theme is “Back to School” you can create anything around this theme, don’t be afraid to be creative! One of our artists Natalie Malan has created 2 great freebie kits to get you all started. One is below, and you'll find the other on her blog. Good luck and have fun!! I can’t wait to see what you create!!
And if you are looking for another cute coordinating freebie, check out this one available on my blog:
Looking for something summery and sweet to scrap your summer photos? Try this new kit by Sara Schmutz: Summer Sorbet! We bet your sweet tooth will like it as much as ours did.
I just wanted to be sure to let you all know we just introduced Aly Dosdall's fabulous layered templates exclusively at pcLayers!!! This first release is of a "School" themed layered Photoshop CS3 or Elements Template. Be sure to check out her great blog too at: http://alydosdall.blogspot.com She's got some wonderful examples of fun pages you can create with this template, and much more!
I am a flag/American/liberty lovin'/freedom/patriotic country girl! {I also love banners} Leere' Aldrich created this beautiful digital scrapbooking kit exclusively for pcLayers.com and I was so inspired by the rich colors that I knew I would use this to do something very special and close to my heart. Download this Freebie and enjoy your LIBERTY this Independence Day...take tons of pictures...run through a sprinkler...put your hand on your heart and celebrate!!! A hug from my heart, Lori G. PS...forgive the photo, yikes!
all terms of use from pcLayers.com apply to this download
If you're like me you can never have too many butterflies. And this spring it seems like butterflies are everywhere in fashion and design, so what better time to offer a butterfly themed digital freebie! These particular butterflies co-ordinate with the new Flutter digital scrapbooking kit available now in the pcLayers shoppe. Spend a few moments perusing Melissa Phillips' fabulous blog and you'll endlessly spot inspirational ways to use butterflies on your projects! Also new this week in the shoppe are some fantastic glitter layer styles by Natalie Malan. what are you waiting for, check them out!
Also be sure to head on over to my blog for another co-ordinating freebie, PLUS a chance to WIN a FREE FLUTTER KIT!! (winner will be announced monday june 23rd)
happy weekend!
Hey...it's April Anderton doing the guest bloggy thingy this week for PCL! I'll be blogging from New York City in just a couple days but wanted to give you a little refresher on a great kit for all the graduation layouts coming up!!
It seems like I hear the word "Finals" about once a day lately. My son has finals, my sister is back in school and had her final exam while I was visiting, my friend from high school that I see once every couple months just today said she finished all her finals. I'm really glad that the learning I do now is not graded! :) I' don't really like finals all that much!
All of that finals talk reminded me of the first layout I did with 7 Gypsies product ever! I used photos of my husband from when he had just finished ALL his finals and graduated with his second degree! All done! Now he's 'evaluated' instead of graded. It really never ends, huh?
So, here's the layout I did using my first 7Gs 'schtuff':
About 9 years of scrapbooking and I had never used a 7 gypsies product (excluding albums). Being digital from about my 10th page, that's probably to be expected, but now having the option to use cool product in digital format is the best thing ever! Now I can sit at the cool kids table and say...yeah, it's 7 Gypsies.
So, if you have a grad out there...don't forget this super cool 7 gypsies kit called Angelo! Go get it in the shop and be a cool kid! :P
See you soon from NYC!!!
AA
Let's not forget Mother's day is this week! You can get a jump start on some fabulous projects for that special Mother in your life with this freebie chipboard "mom" accent (created using the pcLayers "chipboard" alphabet). And pcLayers is having a Mother's Day SALE! 20% off all kits! Hurry, this sale ends Sunday. While you're there, be sure to check out the new "Mom" word art in the pcLayers shop, at only $1.95 it's perfect for those handmade cards and scrapbook layouts. Need something for grandma? check out the freebie on my blog!
This is Erin, and I get to be the pclayers blogger this week! I thought I'd just share some random photoshop fun stuff this week, because to me, playing around in photoshop is half the fun of scrapbooking.
Today I thought I'd start out with some workspace stuff. I'm all about being efficient, so I use tons of shortcuts and have everything all laid out for me the way I want.
This is what my workspace looks like. I realize my pictures are a little small, but you can click on them and they'll show up bigger. Did you know you don't have to keep your pallets organized the way adobe likes them. You can drag whichever ones you want in and out. You can have up to 4 per grouping. You can also stick a bunch up at the top, but the amount depends on the size of your monitor. So if you don't use your channels and histogram pallets everyday, get rid of them!
The next step is shortcuts.
I'm sure most of you have figured out that the letters next to your tools in their flyout menus are the shortcuts. For example, if you want the type tool press "t".
Some of my favorites aren't obvious though. For example, there's no flyout menu for the move tool and wand tool. So here's a quick list of "must knows".
move tool = v
wand tool = w
reset your foreground and background
colors to black and white = d
switch between your foreground and
background colors = x
(stay tuned later this week, and you'll
find out why this last one is so important!)
toggle through screen modes = f
hide pallets and menus = tab
You can also find the shortcuts for other items in the menus at the top. For example, to copy a layer, press ctrl-j (on a pc of course; mac shortcuts use the little apple instead).
Ctrl-J is a great one to know, but it's
a pain to find it in the menu. I don't know every shortcut, just the
ones I use a lot while I'm working. If you find yourself digging
through menus to find something frequently, then take a look at the
shortcut, and by the end of your scrapping session you'll probably
have it memorized. What happens though if there isn't a shortcut for
something you use all the time? Make your own shortcut of course!
See how I have a shortcut for gradient map. I bet you don't! This was something I was using all the time, and I wanted a shortcut. It's pretty simple, just follow along.
Go to -->window --> workspace --> keyboard shortcuts & menus
Next click on the keyboard shortcuts tab
Find your menu. For example, gradient map is found in the image menu, in the adjustment submenu.
Once you've found what you're looking for, just click on it and you'll be able to type your shortcut. (Use the ctrl and shift buttons, don't spell them out.) Pick some random combination you'll remember. If the shortcut is already in use, you'll get a little message telling you that. You can override a shortcut, but don't override one you'll ever use. Press ok when you've picked something you want.
Now that you've spent the time to set-up everything the way you want, you need to save your workspace. Go to -->window -->workspace --> save workspace. Name your workspace and press ok.
Now if you look in your -->window --> workspace menu, you'll see your new workspace at the bottom. If you ever need to go back to the default settings, just select the default workspace option from the menu. Then you can go right back to your settings. This is also really helpful if you've got more than one person working on a computer.
Have fun setting up your workspace, and of course, if you have any tips be sure to post them in the comments!
Well, it's been a blast!! I hope y'all have enjoyed our NSD celebration here at pcLayers. I hope you stocked up on some sweet digi products and even got you some nice freebies as well. Our last sale items are well worth the wait, so if you've stuck with us this long you deserve at your disposal ANY Tinkering Ink Quick Page for ONLY 25 CENTS...that's right...ONLY 25 CENTS...ready, set, SHOP!!
Be sure to check back at the store...we've got a lot of wonderful products from some of the industry's top designers coming in the next few months. And post the pages you create with your pcLayers products in our online gallery. It's getting late, so all I have to say is...thank you, good night, and good bye!
