After an extended break from the Paperwhimsy Design Team, to play and learn new art and digital techniques, I’m thrilled to be back to do a little digital design.  I still consider myself a beginner, learning new things every day, and hoping to share my love of the digital world with all of you.

Being a beginner, I will focus on collages and techniques a beginner can create, and maybe someone who has wanted to start playing in the dgital media, will find a starting point.  I will be using Photoshop Elements for all of my examples.

So lets get started.

For the three digital collages, I am using 3 or 4 Paperwhimsy hybrid files with the same two texture files.

Here are the hybrid files used:

Royalty 13

Steampunkery 02

Artichokes & Fleurs 01

Text Background 01

I start by opening the Royalty image, and cropping the image to remove the bottom title.  I then delete the background, making sure the background is transparent.  This can be done in several ways.  Eraser, magic wand, magic eraser, whichever you are most comfortable using.  In order to have a transparent background, double click on the original image in the layers panel, to unlock it.

Open the Steampunk hybrid image, and create a PNG file format.  You can find instructions here.  You might want to save this file, with extension png for later use.  You don’t want to save it over the original file. I then cropped the top most image to work with.

I opened a new 5×7 inch, 300 dpi file.  This is nice size if you later want to print.  Also the hybrid images will come as 300dpi.  You can resize it smaller with a lower dpi for posting on the web.

Click on your opened Royalty image, and drag it to the new file.  Resize and/or position with the move tool.  Open the Artichoke png file, select one image with marquee tool, and copy and paste to a new layer.  It should be place above the royalty image. Resize and/or reposition.  Next click on the open Steampunk image and drag it to the new file.  It should be place above the artichoke image in the layers panel.  Resize and position the steampunk image.  For this collage I duplicated this layer.  On the duplicated layer, I used the move tool to flip the image vertically, and positioned it so it line up with the original image.  I also duplicated the original steampunk layer two more times, and resized and repositioned them in the corners of the collage.

On the steampunk layer that covers her face, I used the eraser tool, to remove the unwanted lines.

In the layers panel, I reduced the opacity of the artichoke and steampunk images, to give them a softer feel.  I also added a drop shadow to the the steampunk images from the effects panel.

Tip: A great way to use the same image multiple times, is to flip, rotate, resize, and repostion.  Remember you do not have to use the entire image in your composition.

This is what your collage should look like at this point.  I also added two of my favorite texture layers for color, changing the blending modes, hues, brightness, and saturation from the Enhance Menu.  I also colorized her crown and cheeks in separate layers, and varied the opaque setting, and blending mode.

The following two digital collages were done using the same basic steps.

Hybrid files used:

Royalty 16

Artichokes & Fleurs 01

Architecture 01

Hybrid files used:

Royalty 15

Botanique 02

Botanique 01

Architecture 02

Hope you will try these.

Rande

It is with much excitement that I announce the addition of Rande Hanson to the PaperWhimsy Design Team.  Joining Nancy Maxwell James who has taken on the role as Design Artist for paper, mixed media, and collage arts, Rande will be the head designer for the digital side of PaperWhimsy.

Rande is a self-taught mixed-media artist who loves painting, collage, jewelry-making, assemblage and fabric-art and has now added digital art to her creative palette.  Rande has been creating all her life and broke onto the scene of the mixed media art world about five years ago selling her artwork on eBay and joining several art groups and participating in numerous art swaps.  As Rande tells it (and I like to listen to it), that is when she first spied PaperWhimsy and purchased her first PaperWhimsy image.  She’s been addicted to PW ever since (lucky me!).  Rande once told me that she has framed one of my collage sheets from my eBay days (it was the first print of a new sheet and probably worth millions, now). 

As you may recall, Rande served as PaperWhimsy Design Artist for two years, from August 2007-2009.  After an extended break to focus on learning new mediums and techniques and to delve into learning the digital medium, she’s back!  Rande’s focus will be on the art of digital collage using the PaperWhimsy Hybrid line of products.

Welcome (back), Ms Rande Hanson!

What to do on a HOT, HOT day in July?? Drag your hubby off to find bottles! I found these small bottles while visiting our local antique mall. My husband and I scoured the booths hunting high and low for little clear bottles that were not too expensive. I wanted a nice shape (and condition) and tried to keep the price under two dollars per bottle. I cleaned the bottles and allowed drying time before starting my project. I selected shells that were not too deep and had enough space for Paper Whimsy images. I used images Sheet 220, Sheet 085, and Sheet 183

Apply a coat of gel medium on the inside of the shell and allow time to dry. Trim the images and find pieces of text from old books to add under each photo. Add more gel medium to the interior of each shell and gently add your image. You may have to patiently press down your brush to allow the image to attach to the shell. When the image is secure, add a bit of text or word art from old books to the bottom of each image. When the text and image are dry, add another coat of gel medium along the outer edge of the shell and sprinkle with ultra fine white glitter.

When the shells are dry, select the bottle you wish to attach the seashell to and add a bit of E6000 glue. It is best to lay the bottle down and allow the shell time to dry overnight (this way it won’t slip off your bottle.) To decorate the bottle top, I used bits of old antique lace glued on with E6000. Once the lace is dry, I wrapped jewelry wire around the bottle top adding beads and small charms. I finished off the bottle by tying a piece of vintage seam binding ribbon.

I wanted to keep my bottles fairly simple and the glass clear. The glass could be colored using tissue paper, alcohol inks, patterned paper napkins, or bits of pattern paper. You can also fill the bottles with old buttons, tiny seashells, tulle, and lace, or anything your little heart desires.

Nancy

For this project I used a combination of hybrid images and collage sheets. I find the hybrid images very versatile. They can be used for paper and digital projects. The hybrid images used for the background scenes are: French Garden 01, French Garden 02, French Garden 04, and Buttefly 01 PNG.

I printed the images on to a heavy cardstock brochure paper. The background scenes were then cut to the sizes I wished and edges distressed with ink. Bits of old Shakespeare text were added. I selected images from Royalty 17B Sheet and added to the piece. The background panels were mounted to cardstock and trimmed, then applied to black script pattern paper. The panel pieces were added to a strip of black cardstock I had cut into 5 x 5 sections and scored so it would fold. A fan made from folded book text was added to the back of the piece and a stamped crown for finishing touches. Eyelets were set at the sides and seam binding ribbon tied through holes.

I can visualize oodles of projects using these images (bookmarks, cards, mixed media projects etc.) and look forward to creating more art with each.

Nancy

When I first saw Single06 JPG I couldn’t wait to create something with her! She has just the sweetest face and makes my heart swoon! This card was created using Digi 079, Digi 174, and Backgrounds 02 PNG. The hybrid images are super easy to work with! I printed mine out from a Word document and resized each image in the program. This allows for endless hours of creativity using various sizes of the images. A bit of old book text, plain white tag, buttons, and a prima flower were added for embellishments.

Nancy

I am delighted to welcome Nancy Maxwell James as the designer for PaperWhimsy!  Nancy’s portfolio of work is simply amazing and to have her working with me at PaperWhimsy is a dream come true.  Nancy brings with her a very broad background in art and her art and written work have been featured in several publications.

We’ll be starting out this collaboration with a ~!BANG!~ as Nancy has already been at work in her studio creating art to inspire our readers and have one and all dashing to their art tables in a flurry of excited energy.

Stay tuned to the Inspiration blog here at PaperWhimsy for lots of beautiful and exciting ideas compliments of the talented Nancy Maxwell James!

P.S.  Please be sure to check out the links section to the right for links to Nancy’s website, blog and Etsy store.

These were the favorites for a Go Green Challenge using at least five recycle type items from around the house.

First Place Favorite

by Chris Capista

Soul Mate

Second Place Favorite

by Terri Heinz

The Spark of Imagination

Third Place Favorite

by Christine Laudigs

Wounded Love:  The Broken Promises of Marriage

Congratulations to the Favorites and all that participated.

Here are two cards using one of the newest digisheets #130.  These are great all by themselves, but I added some text from the new digisheet #123, and images from sheet #173 and  #187.

With just a few background papers to frame these these little treasures, and a bit of glitter,  these small works of art will make a wonderful trio to frame and hang on your wall.  These are ATC sized.

Digisheets #131 and #132.

Over at the Paperwhimsy Forum we have been doing a Quote Challenge using poems from Hilda Conkling.  This is the current poem.  If you would like to see more, please join us.