Scraptorial 3 - 10 Ways to Jazz Up Word Art Part 1

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Scraptorial 3 - 10 Ways to Jazz Up Word Art Part 1

The first thing I am going to give you today is not a scraptorial . . . it is permission to laugh at me. I was so busy working on the second half of this scraptorial, that it totally escaped me that YESTERDAY WAS TUESDAY! My apologies! Total dereliction of scrappy duty on my part! (I am so embarrassed, but I will get over it . . . eventually.) Now, go on and have a good chuckle at my expense. smiley


  • Page One

  • Page Two

  • Page Three

  • Page Four

  • Page Five

  • Page Six

  • Page Seven

  • Page Eight

  • Page Nine

  • Zip - The zip file contains all the Scraptorial pages of instructions, plus my jazzed up word art. 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.

    As always, 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 (or the Commons) when you are done so we all can see your hard work and applaud your efforts. Don't hesitate to ask any questions you may have, offer suggestions for calendar alerts improvements, or just say "You actually forgot yesterday was Tuesday?" I love to chat and laugh at my silly time-challenged self so go on and tease me all you want! smiley

    . . . there are a bazillion shortcuts to speed up just about every task in PS? I know! smiley I need to spend some time learning at least a few of them. Our very own Elif Sahin of Sahin Studio has put together a great blog article and designed a printable cheat sheet with the most essential PS shortcuts and you better believe I am printing out a copy today and setting aside some time to practice them and hopefully commit a few of the most-used ones to memory. (This is from 2012, and I haven't checked to make sure everything translates to 2022, but I don't think the shortcuts have changed. LMK if I am wrong about that and I will Google up a more recent cheat sheet.)

    Okay let's all get speedier with shortcuts so we can make even MORE cool things! smiley

I did look for your post several times yesterday. I'm so glad that nothing is wrong, so no tease smiley
Good to see you! smiley

The irony of me doing a victory dance because I was done ahead of time, and then forgetting to post, is not lost on me . . . but I just have to laugh. This is what happens when you retire. You lose track of time and one glorious day just blends into the next. Do daaaaaaa doooooo. Sorry I kept you waiting and it is very good to see you, too, Tricia. smiley

In commons:

Thanks Annette for helping me to Jazz Up my word art. I will include it in the Tied DC Oct 2022 03 Word Art Kit for the December Blog Train. smiley

This was a wonderful tutorial & I appreciated it!!!

And I appreciate you taking the time to do the Scraptorial and share your awesome results! (And your resources.) So much glittery, Christmas goodness, Tricia. I think my very favorite bit of all is the radial gradient behind the snapped gingerbread man. I don't think I have ever used the radial style for a gradient, but you did and it looks AWESOME on the circular photo mask. Must remember that idea. I also love your "Christmas" word art with the lights. A circle brush with a diffuse glow in a matching color on each to make them look like glowing lights? Am I even close to your technique? Very FESTIVE and very FUN and you've made me very, very happy! smiley (Maybe I need to get you to take a week and share a Scraptorial, my friend, 'cause you have some cool tricks up your designing sleeve! You'd probably even remember to post on Tuesday! LMAO!)

Thank you Annette, you are always such an encouragement. I am glad you like the radiant and the Lights. You could probably do it your way. I tried it that way, and maybe it is PSE, but it didn't give the look I wanted.

Layer 1 is lights, a solid circle, with an outer glow of 13 px 75% opacity.
Layer 2 is the word outline
Layer 3 is what I called "extra glow"...a fill of layer 1 in a larger size with a feather on it, then set to 40%. This you could achieve with a diffuse brush.

The lights on top of the cord if they were not solid, looked wrong to me. But, the glow didn't look "glow-y" enough. Then if all the glow was on top of the cord, it obscured the word...so extra glow underneath.

I started with the word and made it an outline only, added the random lights in the 3 colors. Then I messed with the glow and feathered layers until I liked the look. For the colors, the glow is a lighter color than the 'bulb'.

I was inspired by:
https://www.digitalscrapbook.com/elif-sahin/kits/light-string-words-kit-candy-holiday-xmas-christmas-snow-bells-cheer-cookies

I did try at one time to add a variety of colors to an element from Elif's kit....what a pain!! Maybe with the full photoshop you could do it, but not in PSE.

And as far as doing a tutorial, I don't mind sharing techniques, but your beautiful and official scraptorials would be daunting for me to produce. I am not as clear in giving instructions, and not as nice or as fun. You are amazing and I appreciate you!

Ha, this is great @Annette Marie. So fun and beautiful @Tricia.

Oh, Tricia, THANK YOU! I just love your Christmas Lights and I am so tickled you shared your awesome technique. (You went to a lot of work to share and how I appreciate that!) I screen-capped your excellent instructions and I will be trying this out. It's just such a fun effect. And nothing I have ever tried before, so WOO HOO! (It makes me think of word art I have seen around that says, "Christmas Lights are my favorite color!") SO TRUE and I can't wait to try this out. I have GOT to finish up my October BT contribution first, but this is gonna be spurring me on to find time to play. (Totally missed that kit by Elif, too, so thanks for pointing that out as well.) You made me laugh . . . "not as nice or as fun." Bah! Not true, not true! Okay, if you won't let me foist my work off on you, will you at least give me a nudge if Tuesday rolls around and it gets to be late in the day and I haven't remembered to post? LOL I need supervision, obviously! Thanks again, I adore your Christmas lights! smiley

Thanks, Bina! smiley Some of the techniques are pretty basic, but I thought that might be a good idea since we are just starting out with this endeavor and these scraptorials might attract some new users of PS who need to learn the basics and then we can build on that.

Didn't Tricia do a great job? I am so pleased with her results and I hope to see some word art from you if you find a spare minute, but no pressure, my dear, I am just always greedy, greedy, greedy for MORE! smiley

smiley You are welcome Annette. I am glad that the lights make you happy and look forward to seeing your "Christmas Lights are my favorite color!" word art. I do like Christmas lights!! Happy scrapping on your Oct BT.

I can certainly let you know if you miss a Tuesday again. I look forward to your beautifully made and fun scraptorials. I'd be willing to be a resource or explain any techniques I use (just not make the instructions!) LOL. I've been designing minis on PSE since 2011...but I am FAR from professional.

My first mini, apparently I really liked buttons and brads (or didn't know how to do much else):

By 2012 I'd decided to be Desert Digi-scrap:

It was fun to look back. I'll have to qc & upload that alpha for February. Too cute!
There is also a cute pasta kit & cactus Christmas & others from my brief stint as a Stuff-to-Scrap designer in 2013.

Ha, always!!! Thanks for the tut also @Tricia. smiley

Oh, how fun! (I don't even remember what my first kit was . . . I guess it was forgettable! LOL) I love the colors in yours and the peacock feathers . . . big surprise that I would like bright colorful peacock feathers, huh? And, yes, you must share that alpha in the Commons. It is all kinds of adorable. I'd forgotten about 2 Peas. Are they even still around? I think I have a folder of some of their alphas languishing on my hard drive somewhere. Might have to take a peek now that you've reminded me of them. Isn't it cool that scrap stuff doesn't ever really go out of style? I didn't find Pixel Scrapper and start making stuff until 2013, but I am so happy that stuff is still relevant. I don't think I ever knew about Stuff-to-Scrap or I have forgotten. Did you not like selling stuff? I've toyed with the idea of selling but it seems like pressure I don't need in my life. It seems like a lot more fun to offer it up for free and the scrapper can take it or leave it. Thanks so much for sharing your golden oldies, Tricia. I had no idea you had been designing for so long. No wonder you have so many good ideas! You've been gathering them for a long time.

I'm glad you like the kit Annette, peacocks are beautiful. The two peas fonts I didn't remember either, haven't looked back at my old stuff in a long time. I think I kept a copy of everything... hoarder lol! But, one time I lost all of my CU fonts when we had computer problem. So, I had to go redownload that one now that I I remembered it.
I'm pretty sure I found Pixel Scrapper about the same time I started designing. It was probably one of the recommendations from the stuff to scrap ladies.
As far as selling, it made the hobby into work. I don't see how anybody makes any money at it because kits sell for so little and take so long to make. I wasn't going to have the time or patience to make it a job instead of a hobby. Mostly because as a job it's about advertising and networking rather than designing . Just not fun . And I spent way too much money on supplies smiley
I agree that I am glad that scrap design templates and materials that don't go out of style. I have a huge amount of them!

Hi Annette

Once again thanks for the magic tutorial. I am running a bit behind, but I will catchup.

Hello, Annette (and other followers)!

I am VERY late to this scraptorial, as my living circumstances have now changed. My daughter and her family moved in with me this week, and we have been trying to fit 3 adults, one very energetic toddler, and five cats into my tiny house! Definitely not an easy (or quick) task! I don't know what the rental market is like in other parts of the world, but here in Australia it's in crisis. My daughter and her family's lease ended, and to stay in the same place would have cost them an extra $100 per week!!

It's almost impossible to find properties to rent here these days, and the ones that are available are ridiculous prices. So they will be staying with me for approximately six months, until they can find somewhere they can afford. They are paying board, and supplying all meals for all of us (me included), and doing some gardening and housework for me while they're here. It's costing them less than they were paying, and it's giving me some help, too, so hopefully it will be a win-win for all of us. Eventually, anyway, as it's extremely chaotic right now!

I have a niece and nephew who live in the state capital city, Brisbane, and the situation is no better there. My nephew and his family are, luckily, building their own home, but my niece and her family are also looking for a place to live, as their rental house has been deemed "unliveable" until repairs have been carried out, after flood damage earlier this year.

Anyway, if you don't see me hanging around here for a while, you'll know the reason why!

I'm now off to download this week's scraptorial, and hopefully have a bit of a play with it.

Scrap-Supply Hoarders UNITE! smiley We need t-shirts and mugs . . . and probably weekly meetings to start working on a 12-step program! LOL Thanks for confirming my suspicions that selling is more work and way less fun than just playing around and sharing what you create for the sheer joy of creating and sharing. Speaking of spending money . . . my husband (bless him) surprised me with a new computer. I guess he got tired of hearing me grouse about PS being slow and my storage space getting low! Now, I just need to find time to let him install it, but I am just so BUSY . . . using slower-than-molasses-in January photoshop and hoarding even more goodies on my groaning hard drive! What a "horrible" problem to have! smiley

Hi, Robyn . . . I am so glad you found time to check-in. It sounds like things are very chaotic in your life right now. Rentals are very scarce around my parts, too. And buying a house is getting harder every day. I can't believe the prices houses are selling for! I hope the situation is indeed good for everyone involved once the logistics and routines get worked out.

The good news is whenever things settle, the Scraptorials will be here. And I will be here, sitting on the edge of my computer chair, anxiously waiting to see what you create! Hope to see you around very, very soon! smiley

Hi, Gail. You, of course, are so very welcome. I hope when you have a chance to catch-up that we get to see some fun word art from you and hear how the scraptorial went for you. I will be here whenever you find the time to play! Thanks so much for checking in and saying such kind things. I do appreciate it! smiley

(′̥̥̥ ꆚ ‵̥̥̥) ʱªʱªʱª

Whoohoo! Yes, lets get t-shirts and have weekly meetings smiley we can share with each other where to get more to hoard LOL.

A new computer, I'm jelly! Mine is over ten years old and even PSE is slow. Maybe for Christmas??? So excited for you to have more storage and speed! I do (not fondly) remember our last upgrade and how long it took to get it working smoothly. I think that is when I lost my original CU font stash. smiley

Hi Annette, & others playing along!
Is this acceptable? I haven't added any decorations - yet -...or anything else...All done in Powerpoint.
I realize this is not the point of the tutorials not using PS smiley ...but I couldn't resist... smiley

The words look pretty dull here, but they are not I assure you!

I can think of a bunch of words to describe your word art, Chitra, and not a one of them is "dull." Appealing. Beautiful. Colorful. Fun. Artsy. Clever. Those all apply, but not "dull." I usually agree with you (great minds think alike smiley ) but not this time. smiley

Acceptable? Heck, YES! And very, very fun. I especially love that last glittery "beautiful" and the colorful "sentimental" but they are all absolutely fantastic examples of gorgeous word art that any scrapper would find very appealing and snaggable. Thanks so much for playing with us. It is always fun to see what you create, Chitra, and I certainly do not care what software you use to work through the scraptorials. The only reason they are done in photoshop, is because I don't know any other software. If they work for you and your preferred software, even if it is just to spark an idea to try something new or look at creating a tiny bit of a different way, then they have served their purpose. It doesn't matter to me how you get there, I just love that you get there and want to share. Personally, *I* think the point of the scraptorials is to gather like-minded creators and interact in a meaningful way, and if some fun assets get created, too--YAY! My only goal is to hopefully make creating just a bit more fun and personally rewarding for anyone who cares to show up and participate. I can't even begin to tell you how much I appreciate you showing up and participating! smiley

You made me laugh so hard, Tricia and that is just about my favorite thing here on Earth. smiley Well, that is it then. The "Scrapping Hoarders Unite" Club is established! I nominate you to be President. I will volunteer to design the t-shirts. I am thinking each letter needs to be in a different font--ransom note style. I think that would be super cute and definitely not because I could use that as an excuse to go out and gather a couple dozen more FONTS for my HOARD! (Always working the "need more supplies" angle. I could teach classes in how to develop rationalizations for gathering more and more supplies if anyone wanting to join our club needs help with that! Hoardtorials!)

I am crossing my fingers that Santa brings you a new computer. That would be all kinds of awesome. (Hey, I will mention this here just in case it applies to PSE. I discovered that PS is set to default to using 70% of the available memory on whatever drive you are using it on. There is a way to up that percentage. I whooped mine up to 90% because if I am PSing, I am not doing much of anything else. The suggestion I saw was to raise it by increments to make sure it wouldn't interfere with your other processes, but I threw caution to the wind and went for it and it has been fine AND it helped a lot with PS being bogged down and making me wait and wait for it to do things. Edit > Preferences > Performance. Just a thought for what it might be worth to you.) I still haven't found time to let my husband install new computer. I am dreading the transition as much as I am looking forward to it being faster and bigger. Husband works in IT, so I kinda-sorta trust him, but I am always scared of losing important things and am not looking forward to Win11 or getting things just so again. Again, terrible problem to have. I need to bite the bullet and just let him do it before he sends it back! smiley

ROFL!
Oh, I'm in for the "Scrapping Hoarders Unite" Club!
And I think tutorials on where to find stuff, how to find stuff, what to look for, and where to get MORE are all acceptable topics!
Oh what fun!

Wow, thanks so much!! I followed your instructions and PSE was set to only 60%. Upped now to 90 just as you did! Thanks again!

You made me laugh as well. "Scrapping Hoarders Unite"!!! But, I think you should be President & I will be the side-kick. Your idea for t-shirts is awesome. I just downoaded a font like that from 2Peas (when I picked up the heart font again). Such fun!
https://www.fontspace.com/2peas-gg-mix-font-f3844
and Kingthings has an extortion font...now I want it too. smiley

This is mostly the 2peas gg, the capital S is too cute (smart sassy scrapper):

smiley

Whoohoo! Lisel is joining. Up to three members. "Vote Annette for President!" \( °□° )/

(✿◠‿◠)

smiley smiley I'm glad!

Very generous of you, Annette! I feel relieved & not guilty of cheating! like I was feeling when I uploaded my effort. Thanks for giving me this freedom! I do appreciate it; especially your words...because they made me feel so positive & inspired to create more!

Here are my results in the commons. Thanks for this wonderful tutorial. Can't wait to start the next batch tomorrow.

https://www.digitalscrapbook.com/sarah-evans/kits/christmas-village-word-art-vol-1-kit-green-brown

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