Scraptorial 2 - Using Brushes to Make Misty Paper

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Scraptorial 2 - Using Brushes to Make Misty Paper

I'm ba-a-a-ack! smiley WELCOME to Week Two's Scraptorial. I am Annette and I share my creations in the Commons as "Made by Annette Marie." I am so happy you are here and hope you have fun working with brushes and creating misty paper with me. I design in Photoshop CC so the instructions are for that software, however, I am hopeful it will translate to other designing software as well. I've tried to make the instructions very thorough in case you are new to Photoshop, but please don't hesitate to ask questions if something is not clear enough.

If working with brushes is new to you, I've made a one-page instruction sheet to show several ways to get new brush sets uploaded into PS.

  • Loading Brushes into Photoshop


    • Page One

    • Page Two

    • Page Three

    • Page Four

    • Page Five

    • Download Brushes here.

    • Zip - The zip file contains a link to download the brushes suggested for this project, all the Scraptorial pages of instructions, plus my finished misty paper. Download the zip and open each page in Photoshop as you work through the instructions. I made the font big so you can easily read it in PS at a reduced size. The pictures are on the smaller side, so increase the page to 100% or more if you want a better view of the pictures. I am hoping that arrangement makes it easy to follow along. The pages are also 8.5 by 11" if anyone would desire to print them out and work from a printed copy.

      Once again, there is no due date for these challenges. These Scraptorials will remain open and active for you whenever you find time to do them. Please post your results in the comments when you are done so we all can see and "ooooh" and "ahhhhh." smiley I know your Misty Papers are going to be AMAZING, and I can't wait to see 'em! Don't hesitate to ask any questions you may have, offer suggestions for improvements, or just say "hello." I love to chat and am hoping for lively interaction here with my scrappy friends - returning and brand spanking new!


      . . . Creative Fabrica offers three commercial use daily gifts at their site? They also have a very active freebie section that is updated with new offerings all the time. Their commercial use terms are generous in my opinion, and they only ask that you not share the assets as is, but modify them with your own efforts before offering them to others. This is explained in their TOU and is very similar to the guidelines here at DS. I would also mention that they ask you not share an entire alphabet using their fonts. (I know! Boo.) smiley But you are free to use them to make word-art.

      In conclusion, it's not DigitalScrapbook.com, but it is another place to gather assets for your designs, and you can never have too many assets at hand, am I right, or am I right?

Ooh, I will have to come back tomorrow to play with this tutorial! (Actually later today, as it's 2am here.)

Annette, I agree with you about Creative Fabrica. I have a full subscription there, which means I have access to everything on the site -- Graphics, Fonts, and Crafts. It's a wonderful site, with a huge variety of items. If they don't have quite what you're looking for, you can even put in a request for their designers to create something that will be exactly what you want.

What are you still doing up at this hour, young lady? I bet it has to do with DESIGNING! smiley (Well, that is why I am usually up at that hour, so I figure it might be the same with you.) I am tickled you are excited to check out this week's offering and I will be most anxious to see what you create.

I finally got a subscription to Creative Fabrica here recently. What a great deal it is, huh? I mean, except for my poor ol' computer that positively groans every time I start downloading yet more things I can't live without! I didn't know about being able to request things. That is a super fun perk. Can't imagine what they don't already have available though--tee hee.

Sweet dreams, Robyn! smiley

smiley Fab tut again. Many thanks. I want to play...

Creative Fabrica looks cool. For graphics, what kind of files should we use? They have a lot of SGV files. How do we use them? Thanks so much. Can't wait to try the tutorial!

The file type would depend on what you intend to do with it, but for versatility, a PNG (with transparency) is probably gonna be most useful for design purposes. If you scroll down in the description of each item they offer, they will tell you the file types you get with each download. A file might be primarily advertised as an SVG (for an automatic cutting machine, like Silhouette) but most are also offered as a PNG.

If there is a file you want that is only offered as an SVG, I found a free place online that converts them to PNGs. I haven't tried it out, but here is the link if you need it.

If you like to create word-art, they offer a free font every day and there are lots of them in the freebie section as well.

If you are intending to download for design purposes (as opposed to personal use) mostly you just have to think about how you could modify the files enough to make them your own, like they show in the terms of use. Just a small word of caution: sharing assets from there without modifying them significantly most likely would not meet the TOU expectations.

Looking forward to seeing your misty paper, Sarah! smiley

Awwwww . . . thanks so much for the kind comment, Bina. You are welcome, of course and I do so hope you find time (and hard drive power) enough to play soon. smiley smiley smiley Right back atcha, friend!

My first attempt at a Misty Paper...

Credits:
Glitter n Smoke Brushes by Obsidian Dawn
Brushes used | Smoke 01, Smoke 04, Smoke 05 [all at full 2500 pixel size, and 100% opacity]

Texture is PSE 15 Graphics Background - Canvas [desaturated]
Blending Mode - Soft Light; 38% opacity

(I have desaturated all of PSE 15's backgrounds to use as textures. This one "Canvas" is probably the one I use the most, plus I have also made a lot of textures from photographs my daughter or I have taken, as well as photos from Pixabay.)

Attempt # 2

Credits:
Ghibli Inspired Brushes for Photoshop and Procreate by Madeleine Bellwoar [Design Cuts]
Brush used: Soft Watercolor Clouds
(Various sizes and opacities)

Texture is PSE 15 Graphics Background - Canvas [desaturated]
Blending Mode - Soft Light; 60% opacity

An experiment:

This is an untextured version of #2, which has been further processed in Jixipix Watercolor Studio Pro (Setting: Wet - Liquid Wash)

(I use quite a few Jixipix programs, plus the free FotoSketcher.)

Thanks bunches for this challenge, Annette Marie smiley
click to dl

@Robyn Denton: Fantastic papers, Robyn! Love them. smiley

Thank you, Bina! Yours are gorgeous, too!

Annette Marie, I absolutely LOVE LOVE LOVE your Scraptorials! It's obvious how much time and effort you're putting into them, and I love your friendly, chatty style of teaching. Long may this series continue!

*print screen* I am just a big ol' goofball, and definitely not sniffling back happy tears at the moment. When I get a comment like this--that touches my heart and makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside--I just hafta do a screencap and tuck it into a little folder of happiness I have on my desktop. The next time I am feeling blue, I will see this comment in my folder and be cheered. What a gift--can't thank you enough for taking the time to say such nice things, Robyn. You are a DELIGHT and I am metaphorically rolling around on the floor in sheer unfettered glee. (Not literally, because I am old and wouldn't want to strain something, but you get what I am saying.) smiley I am positively THRILLED you are enjoying the Scraptorials I have cobbled together and bless your generous heart for wanting them to continue. I am having the best time putting them together. They make me think--really think--and that helps keep my brain happy and firing on most of the cylinders so it really seems it is a good situation for both of us--YAY. Thank goodness Marisa so generously offered to let me post here, and thank goodness some super nice people--LIKE YOU--have shown up and made all my hopes for this venture, a reality! THANK YOU! smiley

WOW, Bina--look at YOU making a whole collection of misty papers and packing them up to share! You get a gold star. smiley I love the BT palette you have chosen to use for this--perfect bunch of colors to swirl together. You got some great textures with the brushes--love the glitter bits especially--and seeing them together in a group on your preview really shows how much variety you can get with this technique using the same palette, but with totally different results each time depending on the design choices you make along the way. Thanks so much for illustrating that point so beautifully. I have cheerfully, gratefully snagged your set of Misty Papers and look forward to using them with the other August BT goodies I have stashed away. So, so happy your finicky internet/computer situation allowed you to play.

And you are most welcome for the challenge. It only seems fair since you have provided me with so many amazing designer challenges! (I am noodling on the pattern and sticker and traveler's journal page challenges, but I will get there and sooooooooooon. So fun to try new things! Thanks for making me get out of my comfort zone and stretch.) And thank you for playing with us and sharing your gorgeous results. You are awesome for doing so! smiley

Robyn, what joyous, appealing papers you've shared with us today! The colors and textures are a FEAST for the eyes and will make gorgeous backgrounds for scrapping. I especially like the pink, blue, and purple color palette you've used for the first one--those colors speak to me. A+

Thanks so much for making misty papers and for sharing them with us. And for telling us about your "ingredients." I have gotten a whole list of things to Google and maybe snag/buy/bookmark later today! Selfishly, I was hoping to learn about new resources and new tricks from these discussions, and I have not been disappointed. (I snagged stuff from Marisa the other day because someone used it in their pattern-making and I thought I had greedily grabbed everything I could possibly use from her already.) Jixipix, FotoSketcher, PS textures I can make grayscale for overlays, Ghibli Inspired Brushes at Design Cuts (those brushes really made a soft, pretty mist--I probably need them!) So many things to explore. smiley Thank you! Extra pudding cup for you at snack time today! smiley

smiley Thank you! I am so happy you like them. I am a bit stuck on the August 2022 colors. The papers were a lot of fun to make and I also made one paper starting out with @Robyn Denton's smiley (cheers, mate smiley ) jixpix settings and called the preset 'wettest water'. Like full on bleed and really wet. Will show off in another color challenge.

Thanks so much for the Scraptorial Annette smiley It is wonderful that you are taking the time to share your knowledge. I very much appreciate you!!

Also thanks for the interesting brush set.

After looking through your misty papers in commons, I am re-making my pages with less overlapping color.

Papers Attribution:
Obsidian Dawn "Glitter-n-Smoke" Brushes
Spoon Graphics "Grain Shader" Brushes
The Scrappin Cop "30 Hi Resolution Watercolor Brushes"
Scrapflower "2013 iDSD Blog Train by grace {bennett}" texture
ps_elif-sahin_148466_style-no61watercolor-actions_cu texture 3
clouds-4215608-klickblick-Elisa-pixabay - Clouds Nature Sky Cumulus (used as overlay)
Brooke Gazarek - Clouds Brushes Kit

paper 1 inspired by your The Best is Yet to Come_Misted Paper 309483
paper 2 inspired by your Speckled Fall Ombre Paper 306842
papers 3-6 use Kristmess Designs CU Layered Paper Templates~Marbled

And the original set in addition used:
sahindesigns-woodstyles-60073 -modified

My revised set:

Original set:

I will get these uploaded to commons for the December blog train since I used those colors smiley

Thanks Annette, this was an interesting technique ヘ( ^o^)ノ

I learned on the second set that using the brushes as an eraser or with the lightest color gave more of the misty effect than only using them with colors.

Wow, another scraptorial. These are so great for beginners like me. Thanks so much.

Such cool papers!

And one I can publish now that matches September colors:

Thanks again Annette!! smiley

@Tricia - great papers. How did you make the swirly pattern? Thanks.

Sarah, it is a marble paper template "Kristmess Designs CU Layered Paper Templates~Marbled." Linked in my post above. She has three kits I think. I didn't look if they are all CU. Happy Scrapping smiley

Oh, I love them, Bina! And I hear you about that August palette. I left it uploaded even after I was done with the BT because the colors were just so much fun to use. I am so happy you had fun making your papers. That is music to my ears. And I will be anxious to see your wet version using Jixipix when you share it. It sounds really cool from your description.

Those templates look like fantastic fun, Tricia and Sarah. I just love swirly marbled papers and having templates would be just one more way to make them. Combining them with the misty paper idea is such a fun idea . . . can't wait to try something similar out! Thanks for the spark of inspiration, Tricia. (And for the excuse to go shopping!) smiley

Tricia, you've been so busy! This is all kinds of pretty. Love that color palette, love the marble template look and adding the layer of mist makes it even MORE fun! Just so dang beautiful, Tricia. I will be snagging it with glee! Thank you for sharing your energy and talent with us! (I might need to discuss vitamins with you 'cause you are on FIRE! And I took two naps today.) smiley And of course you are welcome, my friend, always. It is such a pleasure seeing all the wonderful papers that have come about from this scraptorial . . . I am positively verklempt and in the best possible way!

Hi, Marisa and thanks so much for stopping by! I am so stoked you like all the misty papers we've shared so far and I know everyone here values your opinion so bless your generous heart for the kind words. smiley

Hi, Leslie. I am so happy to hear you find the scraptorials useful as a beginning designer. YAY! I know it all can be a bit overwhelming when you are perhaps just opening up PS (or whatever software you decide to use) and are making your first things, so one of my goals for this endeavor was to create a place where questions could be asked and friendly, helpful answers would be offered up to inspire and encourage. Thanks so much for joining in and I am hopeful we will see some of your efforts posted here soon. No pressure, but I want you to know you are welcome to share whenever you might be ready to, and if it isn't your thing, that is perfectly fine, too. You are so, so welcome for the scraptorials. I plan to share one a week on Tuesdays. smiley

Oh, Sarah, your paper turned out GREAT! I love the colors you combined. Very appropriate for Fall, and that is timely. I hope you had fun making it and might be inspired to explore this technique/brushes in your future designing. I end up making a misty paper for just about every kit I put together 'cause it's quick and FUN and scrappers seem to really like them. Thanks so much for joining in and sharing your pretty paper in the Commons. That is awesome of you! smiley

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