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Hello everyone, well i finished the lessons. here is Lesson 7. The sleeping Koala photo from Pixabay and the Koala awake photo from Unsplash. Flower freebie from Chantahlia Design. Leaves from an abr brush set. For the 2 white circle places in the template i replaced them with an element created with the Star Shape tool in Affinity from a tutorial by Andrew Buckle on his youtube channel Graphicxtras.com titled Affinity Photo Create colorful Curved Designs. i have enjoyed doing this workshop with Affinity Photo . will be using it a lot more. Best wishes to everyone, Dawn

I would love to see your W/C pencil flowers. I hope you use them in a layout.

Welcome back, Corrie! We've missed you. And that's why the phrase, "playing 'possum" is so apt!

I will post my results here too because I see the thread is still in use. I'm back from my trip, have overcome my jetlag and installed all the goodies from Carole's birthday sale. Now I can start with the workshop amongst a million of things that I have to do as well. This is a photo from the opossum that almost every night was sitting on the fence in my daughters garden. When they put the garden light on or use a torchlight it will freeze and stay put. This is a defense mechanism of opossums but alas it doesn't work in the modern world. Where I live there are no opossums, it was nice to see one. All the papers are from the Meadow bundle by Jessica Dunn, the font is Brellos and I gave the little balls a faint color and a little bit of noise with a very small shadow. At first I wanted to mirror my photo but that looked weird, so I mirrored the template.

Template 6 Papers and elements from Digital Scrapbook (Gina Jones, Jessica Dunn, Sheila Reid and one paper that says ABM-Christmas Joy). the background paper is Creative Fabrica. I used also a pattern paper that i blended into the texture layer and added a PSP texture on top (Striation). I selected the light bulbs in the string and promoted them so i could add an outer glow to just the bulbs. Title font: Christmas Ink (CF) and I blended it into the background as if it was written with a felt pen. Journal: words of the song...oops I forgot the authors (in the layout) Lee Mendelson and Vince Guaraldi and it's one of my most favorite Christmas songs. Photos are mine from driving around the neighbourhood. The lights on the fence I didnt have to angle the photo to match, as the fence is on a street that has a pretty steep hill and it fit perfectly.

Hi Susan, i have in the past posted some cards where have used line art drawings that i have pencil coloured. I intend to do more of them some time in the future and will use them again and some new ones when get them scanned into my computer. Hello Jeni , I also use Prisma ,Polychromos and Inktense pencils i really find it relaxing to colour with them. as i can't freehand draw i use old tiff lineart floral drawings that are in my stash and also line art digital stamps that i have purchased and some freebies .. just enjoy sitting down for awhile and colouring them up and use them in my cardmaking.. i can highly recommend Kit and Clowder here in Australia for classes using Pencils or Markers . Best wishes to you both, Dawn.

Dawn, I enjoy a mix of watercolour, watercolour pencils, graphite, and coloured pencils. I use Polychromos and Prismacolor, which I often use along with Inktense and pastels. I have enjoyed some classes with Udemy, I used to go into town for classes, although not since finding online classes.

Thank you to everyone who left kind comments on my Bird Paintings really appreciated it. spent many hours back then learning how to paint with oils, but enjoyed it. Thank You Anne Lamp for your post with comment about thinners, it was very thoughtful of you to do that. These days i have chosen to paint with Watercolor Pencils and Prisma Color pencils for my little bit of artwork. find it better for my health and it is relaxing and enjoyable , mainly colour florals now, have not attempted to colour birds with pencils yet... maybe one day. Best wishes, Dawn.

Thank you Ann, I missed the campus too! I didn't know that particular phrase but after checking its meaning I understand it.

For lesson 2 I used 2 photos of my family's dogs. They are so cute and they remember me when I come to visit, even after a year! Dante is a poodle and the smartest; Koko is a schnoodle, a crossing of a schnauzer and a poodle, and the naughtiest. All the papers are from Jessica Dunn's kit Furry Cuddles, the title font is Berlin Sans and I used the adjustment layer HLS on the dark layer with diamonds to show the diamonds better. I wanted to use the adjustment levels as in lesson 1 but that didn't give a good result.

J is for Jigsaw Puzzles. Dad passed away in June 2016. When the holidays came around later in the year, beside being in my seasonal depression, I was feeling very down about my first holiday season without either parent. I saw jigsaw puzzles at Wal-Mart and picked one up thinking it would keep my mind occupied. As I was working on it, I felt completely at peace. My dad also did jigsaw puzzles at various times of his life, quite often when he was in Florida for the winter. He'd start a puzzle and work on it a little every day. I even bought him a jigsaw puzzle carrier for Christmas one year before Mom passed away (bought one for me as well). He would put the puzzle on it then if needed, it could be put away without tearing it apart. I ended up buying more puzzles in 2016 and every year since then I spend the month of December working on puzzles as much as I can. This photo is just a few of the ones I have stocked up on. As I see puzzles I'm interested in doing, I buy them so right now I have around 12 to 15 in a box. There are times I will pull one out and work on it at others times of the year as well. I definitely have too many hobbies...Scrapping, Counted Cross Stitch, Genealogy and Jigsaw Puzzles.

Oops I should have read ahead. You are home, Yay! I love opossums and I've seen them freeze in the light.

Thank you Corrie. Are you back home now? Looking forward to your photos from your visit.

Will we get to see some of your work as well. It's interesting to see the other creative endeavors that the members have.

JARS resonated with me. Here are a couple of my Mason jars...

I know how much you wanted to make it perfect and I'm glad the bride loved it, of course she did! Knowing your creativity and eye for detail that couldn't be otherwise. It is good to have you back here with new ideas and projects!

I felt a weight lift off my shoulders, it was a great feeling. I learned a lot and like all things made for someone else I worried that she would be happy or not. I was happy with the result, the bride-to-be said she was too. There was a lot of steps in the build and I feel so much better that it's done. I'm getting back to the creative stuff I've been looking forward to.

I finally finished this Template Workshop, and until the next one, the Affinity Vector Workshop on the 26th, I will be watching tutorials and practicing the Affinity and PSE programs. Here and there, I will also work on something in PSP. 😊

Day7 – Affinity I chose the Diamond template for this page. There are many ways to modify the number of photo placeholders. However, I took advantage of a technique I learned some time ago from Affinity Revolution titled "How to Make a Photo Collage in Affinity Photo," and practiced the method using the Transform Tool to tweak the photo placeholders. Papers and Elements are from Lynn Grieveson’s Taste Like Sumer kit. Cassel’s DateScript#12 done in PSP. Fonts: Canastra and Clarkson Script

I do it the same way, Jenny, but I save it already under the new name (Template Workshop Day 1, 2, etc).

I love your paintings. When I saw you had to quit using the oil paint because of being allergic, I wondered if there was an alternative to the regular thinners. I googled it and came up with this answer. It would be as shame to have to quit painting them as you create beautiful work. "Yes, there are alternative thinners available for oil paints for individuals with allergies to traditional solvents like turpentine or mineral spirits. These alternatives include low-odor solvents, natural alternatives like citrus-based turpentines, and even solvent-free painting techniques" I don't know if this will be helpful or not, but I figured it could not hurt to post it.

Wow! April, your paintings are so beautiful. The detail in them is incredible.

Thank you so much Jeni, yes my hubby of 53years has alway supported me in my craft endeavours he is a real blessing in my life. The papers are from the template itself just re-coloured. after i did paint those birds i became allergic to the thinners used for oils so had to stop using them. . have 2 bird paintings hanging on our wall and gave 1 as a gift to a friend . hubby took photos of them and we scanned them into my computer so could use them for card making etc. and for use in my campus projects. Best wishes to you Jeni, Dawn

I have been playing and trying some things; here I placed some of my experiments together on a backgroundpaper. There is a tutorial from the LilyPad on how to use jpg pattern tiles and I have some jpg pattern tiles by Carole that placed in a folder called Assets (in the Window menu on top). Then I made a custom shape, outline no fill and with the gradient fill tool (I had to find that via customize and placed it on the lefthand side toolbar) active click on the pattern and by magic it is inside the shape. Afterwards it is possible to change the size of the pattern. That was the heart, then I tried it on a text and it works the same. Then I used a text and filled it with a photo which works just like we did in the Bootcamp with text filled with a paper. The word Spring has a small bevel and Coming has a very thick one, just to get more familiar with the settings and both have a dropshadow as well. Before using two different effects on a same layer(text) I had to duplicate and use the bevel on the top and the shadow on the bottom layer of the two. The heart has a shadow and a reverse shadow, also on a duplicate layer and then group them. This is something I have to get used to, more duplicating layers! I have a lot of abr. brushes imported in PSP but luckily I kept the zipfiles too and now I can use them in Affinity as well. I tried to use 2 of them as a stamp and recolored them just to practice. I find the colorpicker very difficult to use, especially picking a color from a photo because it uses 1px by 1px size. Not doable with my unsteady hands but in the lefthand toolbar is a colorpicker icon too and if you click on it, there is a toolmenu on the top where you can set the size of that picker to your liking or needs. That is it for today, I think next I will try text on a path and reverse text, wrapped text and whatever comes up to explore.

My J is for Jugendstil. Many years ago we did a city trip to Berlin and visited the Hackesche Höfe (Hacke's Courtyards). This is a building complex situated in the center of Berlin and is designed in Jugendstil (Art Nouveau). It was badly damaged in WWII but is beautifully restored now. A lot of the buildings have magnificent tiles and those are remade and we bought one; we are still sorry we only bought one.

I've kept a few of my favorites but the rest I donated to a local thrift store. I have a closet with shelves that I put them in when I'm done. When the shelves get full, I donate. Then I learned last summer that when the library has their annual book sale in August, jigsaw puzzles and games are also included. I was too late to donate but one of my genealogy friends (actually a 3rd or 4th cousin), has a friend that loves to do them but has a limited income. So I ended up selling her friend 20 puzzles for $10.00. 50 cents is the cost of a puzzle at the library sale where her friend usually would get puzzles. I still ended up donating another 10 to 15 puzzles to the thrift store.

I love jars too and was thinking of that for the layout. But never fear I had chosen something even more simple that it perhaps should even count....if I ever get to that point.

I used a template to showcase the houses I've lived in. From 1941-1960 was my childhood home in Rutherford, NJ. From 1960-1966 when I was first married but still living in Rutherford. From 1966-1976, shown separately, we had moved to Wantage Twp, Sussex County, NJ. From 1977-1997 after my divorce and remarriage we moved to the Village of Warwick, NY. (It was a close comparison to my old hometown of Rutherford.) We then lived in New Hampton, NY from 1997-2008. We moved back to Warwick for the years 2008-2018. We then moved to a 2 bedroom/2 bath condo in Middletown, NY from 2018 to the present. My husband passed away in 2019, but I still live in the same unit.

Carole, I think this needs to be labeled May, not April.

My second attempt: The papers are mine that I used for the 2025 Bootcamp. The dog silhouettes are from Adobe Express. I made the paw print frame from a CF paw print clip art and a frame from Procreate. The font is Majestic Inline Grunge, probably from CF. I played with Styles on the font, using bevel, color overlay, 3D and outline. I love playing with styles.

I havent been on the forum as much, thanks for the heads up about the Aff-Vector Workshop. I will watch it as well, and when i get the suite I can start learning. Jacques endorsement of Affinity has peaked my excitement at trying this progam.

You can always refresh your knowledge with PSP while waiting for the Affinity one! 🙂

I finally broke down and downloaded the trial version of Affinity. It is only the 7 day trial, but I am pretty sure that I will invest. The papers, hearts and scatters are all mine. I'm not really happy with the font which is from my Hallmark card program, but experimented with a bevel along with the shadow.

Well, after our cake discussion, I decided to go with Ice Cream Cake for my entry for the Letter I: The font is Bremen.

Dawn, it’s wonderful to see your beautiful paintings again!

You probably relieved a heavy burden! It was a big responsibility, but knowing your work, I am confident that the outcome was excellent!

I just love the colour combinations of your layout and the birds are just beautiful, actually I love it all.

I have been getting to know my way around Affinity Photo by watching videos I came across a one to turn your image into a pencil sketch .I downloaded the wooden background with the note book on it copied the note book on a new layer and then placed my pencil sketch into it and resized it to fit the notebook page. I placed it on top of the notebook that was on the wooden background and this is my finished effort.

Oils? Good for you. These are beautiful, and the colours work beautifully with the ribbons and papers you have used. You are very fortunate to have a husband who must be very supportive of your art, too.

Firstly would like to say Thank You to all who have left me Hearts for my projects they have been a great encouragement and appreciated very much. This is Lesson 6, the ribbon elements are freebies from Chantahlia Design, the floral elements are from a purchased Digi Kit that i got for Craft Artist software quite a few years ago. The Birds i painted in oils many years ago now from instructions in a book called SongBirds. The font is Brock Script. did not know what to use for this template but my hubby said to me, what about your painted birds and he was full of encouragement for me to use them.. so here it is. Still using Affinity Photo. Best wishes to everyone, Dawn

hello everyone, here is my Lesson 5... slowly but surely i am getting to the finish 2 more to go. the flower is a freebie from Chantahlia Design. Photos.. parrot with bottlebrush from pixabay by Buntysmum and the 2 pink bottlebrush from pixabay by Sandid. the top one have had a long time and can't remember where i got it from. Font is Broadway. leaves used from an abr brush set. Middle green paper i created in inkscape using a filter called cracked glass. Background paper created in Affinity Photo using Procedural Texture filter and a youtube tutorial by Graphicxtras.com by Andrew Buckle called Affinity Photo Eye Popping Diamond Pattern and i tried various layer modes to get this result that i really liked. I am enjoying using Affinity very much. thank you again Carole for this workshop. best wishes to all,

I took that course as well. Affinity Revolution is one of the first channels I found about Affinity. I agree that they are well explained. I also downloaded her freebies that came with the course.

I have been watching many tutorials, whatever YouTube suggests, and I find it interesting. One of the videos was from the Affinity Revolution Channel from 2021. The videos are short and well-explained. The video description offered a free Photo Course in one of them. However, following the link to the Affinity site, the only free course offered is "The Affinity Freebie Bundle." I took it and liked it.

Thank you but I too have found this option by using a short video, maybe we saw the same 🥰

I don't know if you've already used this method, but I watched a video, and there are two places to get the Color Picker Tool. One is the one on the top right side, which is more accurate. The other is on the left side, and it works like PSP. Under the same tool, there is a Style Picker Tool, which is perfect for repeating the same style (color, bevel, shadow, etc.) on something else.

I only found this thread today, thanks to Rene, who pointed me here. It would be good to have just one part of the Forum just for Affinity Stuff, such as already existing Lobby, Showroom, Let's Talk, Challenges, etc., because I think the tendency is to increase the interest in this program over time. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Corrie, these are very nice examples of what can be done in Affinity. It's good to see what others are discovering, too. Learning together is more fun. Both apps (Affinity and PSE) have great features, but one of the things I like most about PSP is the ability to check the dimensions of an image at the bottom right corner. However, I would love it if they offered a great deal to purchase the suite after the Trial version ends.

Today I looked at text on a path, text on a shape (circle) with the text inside the shape on top and outside on the bottom. For wrapped text in a shape I choose I a heart and I'm so happy that in Affinity I can finally use this feature again! I like it very much and am still a bit disappointed that PSP 2023 won't do this any longer and that this bug will stay for ever now PSP is terminated. Furthermore I tried the tutorial from the Lily Pad about a simple warped shadow with the mesh warp tool. I used a journal card from Jessica Dunn for this, but I could have used a photo as well. I found it very much like the mesh warp in PSP. In Affinity you have to set all the lines for the mesh yourself, which is a bit tedious if you want to use many. Maybe there is a further setting that takes care of this, but I haven't explored the tool settings much further for now. However I have the same problem with both PSP and Affinity; my hands are not stable enough, I have to redo many times until I get something that is acceptable. I don't complain, it is a fact that I live with it for almost 30 years now and I make the best of it🥲