What are you working on (in December 2023)?

[Cassel]

It is a new month and new projects.

Show off what you are working on in December be it a scrapbook page, a collage, a tutorial, or anything else you want.

We are curious and want to see, learn, and get inspired.

These threads are quickly becoming a fantastic source of inspiration, support, and friendship. Keep them coming!

Remember to size down your image to about 600x600 pixels and save it in .jpg format before posting it (if you are creating a double page, you can resize it to 1000 pixels in width if you don't want to post the pages separately).

Here are a few guidelines for everyone:

• when you post a project, give as much information on your sources or techniques used. It will help others who are curious and would like to do the same.
• if someone uses something that you like on their page, ask where they got it. Sometimes, you can go get it too and it will be better quality than trying to extract it (as it would have been resized to post in the forum anyway).
• if it is something that they did from scratch, ask how they did it. It would be so helpful to everyone!
• if you like a photo and would like to “play with it”, ALWAYS ask permission. Sometimes, there are some limitations and the person is not allowed to let others use it. Don’t get them in trouble. Usually, people are happy to say yes (if they can) when you ask politely. And if you get permission, you might get a better-quality image than the resized image anyway.

[Ann Seeber]

Welcome to December. Here is the December calendar featuring the Amur Leopard this time. Enjoy. I even used a little Out of Bounds on this one.  I have posted a full size version on Facebook that will print 11"x8.5" I feature mine on my desktop. The leopard information is from the Beardsley Zoo in Connecticut, where they have successfully bred some new members of this endangered species. 

Edit: forgot to name the Amur Jaguar font - Sedalia and the journaling is Arial Narrow.

 

Edited December 1, 2023 by Ann Seeber
Font names

[Cassel]

That little out-of-bound effect is subtle but gives a nice touch!

[Sue Thomas]

I put  this page in November by mistake.  I like  the gold.  I'm going to use this in  some of next year's festive cards, as the greeting/verse on the inside page.  It ill make for a novel layout. I will also be able change some of the wording, depending who the recipient of the card is going to be. 

[Michele]

The Yule Ball is from the Harry Potter stories. I pieced together a bunch of different elements including a few touches from Particle Shop onto a background pic of the empty ballroom. The font is, appropriately, Harry P.

 

[Lynda DiGregor]

On 12/1/2023 at 5:42 AM, Ann Seeber said:

Welcome to December. Here is the December calendar featuring the Amur Leopard this time. Enjoy. I even used a little Out of Bounds on this one.  I have posted a full size version on Facebook that will print 11"x8.5" I feature mine on my desktop. The leopard information is from the Beardsley Zoo in Connecticut, where they have successfully bred some new members of this endangered species. 

Edit: forgot to name the Amur Jaguar font - Sedalia and the journaling is Arial Narrow.

 

This is beautiful. A very good use of the "Just Out Of It" masterclass. 

[Lynda DiGregor]

I was just trying out the 2023 Holiday postcard freebee and the Echo script.

I changed a few things on the postcard.  Text, colors, and bevels.

[Sue Thomas]

Now then, don't anyone dare laugh, but seeing as I  had completed  all my festive cards, calendars and everything else related to the festive season a while back.  I decided to start thinking of Christmas 2024. I'm currently working on greetings for the inside of  cards, something other than the usual  plain journaling.  I posted the  wordart tree earlier. Since then I have done 3 similar to the one below.  Although it's white vectors on a black background,  they will be colourized.  This is how I start any of my word/subway art.   I used from vector shape to cut out the & from the bauble.

Edited December 3, 2023 by Sue Thomas

[Shirley]

2 old fishermen with many tales to tell

[Mary Solaas]

Back to transparent frames.  I tried out the Adjustment layers and added texture effects.  Can't colorize them though.  So back to my original transparent frames made with the selection tool and opacity changes.  I can colorize them as well as texturize them.  I even put Lucy's paws outside the 2 inner frames.  I find that you can save the adjustment layers and slip in any picture, so you can save it and reuse it. In my  original transparent frames, I also inner beveled them

[Sue Thomas]

Would you like to use this  festive word art in a seasonal page. If so head over to facebook, files, to download the PNG file. Perhaps you would  like to change the colours to suit your project, if so, it's easy to change. It is unique, you  will not find it anywhere else.  Once again created using vectors. 

[Bonnie Ballentine]

I really struggled with this one. I found a couple of bird pngs on Creative Fabrica but I just didn't like anything I created. Finally I used the photo for my background. Cut out the cardinal and promoted it to a layer. Added texture to the photo/background and reduced the opacity a little. Certainly not my original idea but I like this the best of all my ideas. Font is Bahuraksa. I think it is a Window's font. This is an old photo and I noticed after I had taken the photo that there was a heart shape on the branch beneath the cardinal.

Edited December 5, 2023 by Bonnie Ballentine
added text

[Bonnie Ballentine]

This is a template from the 2023 December A Love For Layout Templates Blog Train. Template was created by The Cherry On Top. I added texture to the tree and snowman. The photos are from Christmas, 2020. Friends, under the cover of darkness, left the snowmen on my front porch. Each snowman was 3 boxes which contained Christmas gifts. What a nice surprise!

[Sue Thomas]

13 hours ago, Sue Thomas said:

Would you like to use this  festive word art in a seasonal page. If so head over to facebook, files, to download the PNG file. Perhaps you would  like to change the colours to suit your project, if so, it's easy to change. It is unique, you  will not find it anywhere else.  Once again created using vectors. 

A suggestion and request for a masterclass  on  being creative using  vector swashes, swirls, flourishes, dividers. 

For this decorative festive wordart I used several  of the above vectors.  To create the banner I used a flourish, duplicated it,  mirrored, flipped, then added another decorative swirl in the same manner for extra curls on the banner.  Using a vector I was able to easily created text following the path of the banner.  I  used a divider for the main stem of the  mistletoe.  added  foliage which I took from a font monogram.  The holly and berries, stars, snowflakes, ribboned  bauble and date also came from  font extras. Pen tool  to hang the  2 decorations from the  banner.   I find it rewarding  to  be able to create my own.  It is also much quicker than endless searching for something  suitable online which would be in PNG format.  Although I will scroll through some for inspiration.    The beauty of using vectors is that you can  use a 100 pixel size and resize it to  1000pixels plus whilst retaining it's clarity and sharpness.  Using the pen tool you can  also  make adjustments to your liking.  For those  that  didn't know or was curious to know, this is how I created the above festive wordart.

[kasany]

Happy Christmas: )/first  IMHO/.

 

[Michele]

I found this gorgeous solstice background on Creative Fabrica in a bundle of twelve. It was hard to pick just one. The girls are from pngtree, I think. To create the "window" I combined a rectangular vector with an ellipse vector, magic wand selected on the outside, switched to a layer with a duplicate of the background, and deleted. Then I modified the selection with Select Selection Borders for the outline around the window. Added a little inner bevel on the text (Avenida LET font) and a drop shadow with 100% opacity and no blur. The singers got a smaller inner bevel just to give them a little depth. I kind of liked having the same background design in two different sizes. Any suggestions?

 

[Ann Seeber]

12 minutes ago, Michele said:

I found this gorgeous solstice background on Creative Fabrica in a bundle of twelve. It was hard to pick just one. The girls are from pngtree, I think. To create the "window" I combined a rectangular vector with an ellipse vector, magic wand selected on the outside, switched to a layer with a duplicate of the background, and deleted. Then I modified the selection with Select Selection Borders for the outline around the window. Added a little inner bevel on the text (Avenida LET font) and a drop shadow with 100% opacity and no blur. The singers got a smaller inner bevel just to give them a little depth. I kind of liked having the same background design in two different sizes. Any suggestions?

 

Michele: you work is stunning, as always! You really ARE a Fab Diva!! 😉

[Michele]

1 hour ago, Ann Seeber said:

Michele: you work is stunning, as always! You really ARE a Fab Diva!! 😉

Ann, you are a sweetheart. ❤️

[Anne Lamp]

3 hours ago, Michele said:

I found this gorgeous solstice background on Creative Fabrica in a bundle of twelve. It was hard to pick just one. The girls are from pngtree, I think. To create the "window" I combined a rectangular vector with an ellipse vector, magic wand selected on the outside, switched to a layer with a duplicate of the background, and deleted. Then I modified the selection with Select Selection Borders for the outline around the window. Added a little inner bevel on the text (Avenida LET font) and a drop shadow with 100% opacity and no blur. The singers got a smaller inner bevel just to give them a little depth. I kind of liked having the same background design in two different sizes. Any suggestions?

 

 

3 hours ago, Michele said:

I found this gorgeous solstice background on Creative Fabrica in a bundle of twelve. It was hard to pick just one. The girls are from pngtree, I think. To create the "window" I combined a rectangular vector with an ellipse vector, magic wand selected on the outside, switched to a layer with a duplicate of the background, and deleted. Then I modified the selection with Select Selection Borders for the outline around the window. Added a little inner bevel on the text (Avenida LET font) and a drop shadow with 100% opacity and no blur. The singers got a smaller inner bevel just to give them a little depth. I kind of liked having the same background design in two different sizes. Any suggestions?

 

Gorgeous! Thanks for telling us how you created this.

[Anne Lamp]

8 hours ago, Michele said:

I found this gorgeous solstice background on Creative Fabrica in a bundle of twelve. It was hard to pick just one. The girls are from pngtree, I think. To create the "window" I combined a rectangular vector with an ellipse vector, magic wand selected on the outside, switched to a layer with a duplicate of the background, and deleted. Then I modified the selection with Select Selection Borders for the outline around the window. Added a little inner bevel on the text (Avenida LET font) and a drop shadow with 100% opacity and no blur. The singers got a smaller inner bevel just to give them a little depth. I kind of liked having the same background design in two different sizes. Any suggestions?

 

 

8 hours ago, Michele said:

I found this gorgeous solstice background on Creative Fabrica in a bundle of twelve. It was hard to pick just one. The girls are from pngtree, I think. To create the "window" I combined a rectangular vector with an ellipse vector, magic wand selected on the outside, switched to a layer with a duplicate of the background, and deleted. Then I modified the selection with Select Selection Borders for the outline around the window. Added a little inner bevel on the text (Avenida LET font) and a drop shadow with 100% opacity and no blur. The singers got a smaller inner bevel just to give them a little depth. I kind of liked having the same background design in two different sizes. Any suggestions?

 

Gorgeous! Thanks for telling us how you created this.

[Anne Lamp]

The doors etc in the center are from a photo I took yesterday with my new camera,  standing in the the foyer of my church.  The other elements are some I have saved over the years probable from C F as that is where a lot of them are from.

[Mary Solaas]

I'm back on the Alphabet Soup (from a challenge or workshop in 2022!).  I'm down to X.

[Ann Seeber]

Used one the Corel freebies to showcase this gorgeous winter photo by Nadia Povalinska, a friend of Heather Cox Richarson, the history professor I read daily on Substack and no, I didn't use the Selective Color script. 

Edited December 10, 2023 by Ann Seeber

[Susan Ewart]

On 12/3/2023 at 12:33 PM, Sue Thomas said:

Now then, don't anyone dare laugh, but seeing as I  had completed  all my festive cards, calendars and everything else related to the festive season a while back.  I decided to start thinking of Christmas 2024. I'm currently working on greetings for the inside of  cards, something other than the usual  plain journaling.  I posted the  wordart tree earlier. Since then I have done 3 similar to the one below.  Although it's white vectors on a black background,  they will be colourized.  This is how I start any of my word/subway art.   I used from vector shape to cut out the & from the bauble.

I was thinking of starting my 2024 cards in January/February, well, the photographs for them and that way I can be less rushed that I usually am, since it's also the busy time at work.  Your word art is something to behold.  You are such a natural at the design of it  from choosing the fonts, the elements and the balance of the layout.      

[Susan Ewart]

On 12/4/2023 at 4:19 PM, Sue Thomas said:

Would you like to use this  festive word art in a seasonal page. If so head over to facebook, files, to download the PNG file. Perhaps you would  like to change the colours to suit your project, if so, it's easy to change. It is unique, you  will not find it anywhere else.  Once again created using vectors. 

Beautiful and thank you, I'll head to FB, havent been on in while.