Cassel

Catching up on my end (sorry I missed the daily feedback yesterday). @Bill Pearson There is no requirement to be "original" with these lessons. They are meant to be a practice, and just like any lesson, the first one is often to follow to the letter, so the next time, you can vary. That is why some people redo the Bootcamp several times, varying their application of the same techniques, over time. I love that ball in place of the letter. @Barbara Caulton The fuzzy edges of the paper would have generated fuzzy shadows so that is the whole explanation. Good correction. More puppies!!! who can be annoyed by those cuties? @James Thomas I think I have an explanation for that "ghosty" section. Did you use the Background Eraser instead of the Eraser itself? They are similar tools and can easily be taken for the other. That would explain why the dots were not deleted. Can you just check that? Otherwise, we might need to call Ghostbuster! That fishing rod for the letter "I" is so smart. Your layout is the first one I see where that letter is replaced. Good work. @Jeni Simpson That sheep is so cute on the title!!! @Rodney Boyd Yes, sad things can also be the topic of scrapbooking as those stories are still worth being told. @bina greene I hope you are getting a little more comfortable in using PSP by now 🙂 @Bonnie Ballentine It is fun that you used the acorns for the holes instead of the whole letters. Very creative. @Jen Brown Even if it looks like "tigor", it makes him look more ferocious! I think it is still legible so why not? Glad you enjoyed the Bootcamp! @Linda J Walker I guess PSP just wanted you to practice more??? If you kept all the layers, you might get up one morning with an inspiration, and be able to make it work for you. Now, you still have a couple of days to post your projects if you have not done so. I suspect some registrants did the work but are too shy to post! Don't be shy! We want to see them. Remember to fill out the survey too. If you liked the bootcamp, the format, the lessons, etc., it is your opportunity to let others know. If you could recommend it to others, I could add that to the registration page for others to join, next time. And if you have any questions, don't hesitate to ask too.

This photo could win a wildlife photo contest!!

I am sure you are not the only one doing that now! Isn't it fun when you can at least "read" the inside of a script and get a feel for it, even if some things are not 100% clear yet?

We all work with a graphic program and can create very interesting projects. How about creating a wordart from a fun quote related to PSP or scrapbooking? Who knows? Maybe we can turn them into frames, mugs, t-shirts, etc. The quote to use now is: "Life is like a digital scrapbook; sometimes you have to crop out the negativity." I will look for places where we can use those wordarts for merchandise!

@James Thomas Keep it up! The gold glitters work very well with the theme and it gives a great texture. Your pinked edge seems a little odd. It almost looks like the Opacity was less than 100%. Is that possible? Also, the polkadots seem to be on a separate layer from the green strip. Do you see the same thing or is it only in the resized version? @Jen Brown Great choice of colors to go with those photos. Meerkats always remind me of Lion King and make me smile. @Ann Seeber Your use of inner bevel gives a lot of dimensions to your page! @Donna Sillia For your title, make sure you increase the kerning more when you want to replace one letter with something else. In some fonts, a simple space is not the same width as a regular character. @Bonnie Ballentine It is interesting that, instead of alternating the colors by letter, you alternated with phrase segments! That is a great way to highlight words. @Corrie Kinkel It is also great to have you as a student! You make me look good! I smiled when I saw another stamp on your layout 🙂 Keep it up. If you post 4 out of 5 projects by Monday night, your name will be in the random draw for great prizes!

If you are having issues with the freebies, just drop me an email so we can troubleshoot. My first question will likely be "do you have an account on the blog?". The store, the store blog, and the Campus are built on different platforms so they need different logins (annoying, I know!)

@Bill Pearson That is a great composition with all those stars. You also used the pinking technique in an interesting way! @Jeni Simpson You will see that the pinking technique can become addictive! You can use the same technique with different shapes and settings for different end results. I also feel like those very thin photos are unusual but work very well. @Barbara CaultonBe very afraid. Puppies again!??? 🙂 Go ahead, show us as many puppies photos as you want. You will always have fans here. One question I have about your shadows is what color do you use? I suspect that you EITHER use grey (instead of black) or you have a very low opacity (which makes the black look grey). That seems most obvious on the paper shadows (not the photos) and they look fuzzy. Is that just on the resized version? Or is that just the feathered edges? @MoniqueN.Those three photos are a great way to display a single photo. I might use that approach at some point because it really focus on the detail you want to showcase. Wow! windmill without the wings looks so "naked"! I see some missing shadows. Maybe they are just hidden? One on the blue strip and the top photo. @Rodney Boyd It took me a while to notice the bees you added to the individual photos, but that is a great detail to add. @Linda J Walker If you have elements that don't seem to match, you can try just adjusting the colors so you might not have to search too long. If you like the patterns or the textures, you can control the colors! @bina greene No need to send the layout. I was just curious if you just felt it was not suitable for the theme or the vision. Tomorrow, you should receive the link to the last project of the Bootcamp, however, you still have the whole weekend (plus Monday) to catch up if you have not done all the projects so far. As I said many times, this is not a speed contest and the goal is just for you to become more comfortable using your program while showcasing some photos and stories. Keep it up!

It is actually on April 8th, and it will be very close to here so we plan on driving an hour to get on the central part of the total eclipse path. Hopefully, the weather will cooperate.

Have you ever been to a Cat Cafe? Here is the IG account for the Purrfect Cup: https://www.instagram.com/thepurrfectcup/ Is there even one in your area? Let's chat.

@Jen Brown I am glad to see that you used different formats of photos and made them all the same height without distortion. @Ann Seeber It is interesting to see a photo used for the background. @bina greene I hope you will find an occasion to use the pinked edge technique, in some future projects! @Donna Sillia Is that a layered font that you used from CF? @Corrie Kinkel I am sure we are going to see more stamps of yours now that you made a script for that! @Sue Booth You are very consistent with your shadows. Maybe you will want to try to tweak them for the ribbon or make them larger for the flowers. Give it a try!

Since making one layout per week is often difficult for many, we opted to suggest one photo per week, but if you can do a whole layout, that is even better!

@Rodney Boyd If you are to add some drop shadow, it will give a more realistic appearance. All the papers, photos, and flowers can use shadows. @Bill Pearson great to see that you resized the photos evenly without distortion. @Donna Sillia Layered fonts can be addictive. It is amazing that they can be available for free or very little. @Jeni Simpson You know, you CAN use those three photos to make them the same height. Of course, they won't be the same width but it is possible if you want to try it. But your second layout is great! @Sue Booth I see that you tweaked the shadow on the ribbon a little bit. Great job! @Linda J Walker Using the "glitters" with a different color would simply make an interesting texture, so why not?

@Barbara Caulton Nobody will get bored of puppies' photos! Keep them coming! @Jeni Simpson Great consistent shadows now. @James Thomas Welcome to the bootamp. With projects every other day, you should be able to catch up. Great projects 1 and 2. Good shadows. And yes, keyboard shortcuts can really save time! @Rodney Boyd In order to help me know which project you did, can you specify which lesson you are showcasing? @Ann SeeberWe are traveling with you! @Corrie Kinkel It is fun to see you use your scripts! @bina greene I don't know if the photos were already the same size but they are great like that without any distortion. @Linda J Walker Great use of the pain splashes. If you want to up that one notch, you can use the technique to have paint/writing on different surfaces, explained on this blog post. It is not essential but something to keep in mind. @Bonnie BallentineIt looks like we know all your friends by now 🙂 Keep them coming!

Great new projects! @bina greeneAlthough you might be more comfortable with EC for the shadows, may I suggest that you try them with PSP. Even if you still want to use EC afterward, at least you will know where it is in PSP and how to use it. @Jamie Carey That is interesting. I think you are the first participant to ever make it a table for two! And I guess the two sandwiches are different from the look of them. @Bill Pearson Since you have added a shadow to the country outline, you might want to add a similar shadow to the elephants. That would make them look like paper/stickers added to your page. @Jeni Simpson I see that you used a ready-made template instead of using the lesson. Would you be able to showcase the same photo using the lesson? That would allow you to practice the shadows with different layers of paper. The template is not the best base for shadows because there is already one on the photo. But use the same photo! It is a cute one! On the "Mother" layout, is it possible that the vertical strip is missing its shadow? The other papers have the correct and visible shadows. @Ann Seeber Yes, now that flower has dimension. @MoniqueN. Strangely, the bottom shadow on the photo does not show. Does it show on the full-size page? @Jen Brown Did you check your spam? At least, on Day 4, there is no tutorial, but if you still don't have it, I can send you my copy. @Bonnie BallentineHow far away were you to take that picture? It is strange because there IS a Day 4 email. It starts with "Let's just take a little breather now." Who else got it/didn't get it?

Can you try again. I had to disable one plugin to test for something and had not re-enabled it. I did now. Can you retry?

Let's continue this new challenge. We might often be the ones taking pictures but we are not the feature of our layouts, so let's change that since we ARE important and we have lots to say. Every month or so, the layout will be about YOU, and a prompt will be given. If you have taken the Story Week Challenge, you will find some similarities but it won't be the same. For the March layout, tell us something about a favorite toy. Do you still have some toys from your childhood? If not, you can surely find a photo online to illustrate it. It might be something new to us but it could also be something we also played with. And remember that if you want to create pages for previous prompts, those threads are staying open for you. There is no right or wrong order to share about you.

Interesting. PSP has shadow and sharpen too. I will have to look at EyeCandy to see what it has. What version are you using? For the sharpen, you can find it under Adjust > Sharpness and there are different options. Have a look.

Once you resized to 600 pixels, the size of the jog might depend on a variety of factors. In recent PSP versions, the compression can be set when you Save as... but in older versions, you would need the optimizer to adjust it. Maybe you had previously used the Optimizer and set the compression lower for some reasons, and the next time you used the Save as... it just remembered that setting. Check next time if you have a correct filesize, if it remembers your recent setting.

@Ann Seeber Great photo! I think you could add a large shadow on the flower to give it some dimension. @MoniqueN.A subtle shadow tweak on the bow is a great touch! On your first page, I am still wondering if there is a vertical offset on the photo shadow. @Linda J Walker Since you are already familiar with the Bootcamp, I am sure you will have time to catch up. But take it easy if your health is affecting your PSP work. Your health has priority! That is a great photo of a daffodil. That seems like a popular theme. You could probably add a larger shadow to the flower since it is likely thicker than the papers! 🙂 @bina greene Out of curiosity, why do you use Eye Candy for shadows when PSP has it right there? @Donna Sillia That is quite an interesting font that you used for the title. @Bill Pearson Did you try to post a photo? It is not showing. @Corrie Kinkel That dark background really makes the photos stand out! @Rodney Boyd I see some shadow on your top paper but you could add similar shadows on all the papers, the photo and even the title if you make it out of paper. @Bonnie Ballentine Oh, I recognize that paper! That is the linoleum technique, right? Let's keep them coming!

Just make sure that you clearly state what lesson you followed, and try to follow the "principles" or tips in each lesson just in a way that I can recognize it in your project. It will just make it easier.

It is just so that I can identify which lessons were done. When they differ considerably, I am never sure if it was from the lesson or something else 🙂

Did you use a different setting? As you said, it LOOKS like a double shadow. Did you add a reverse shadow? Maybe it was applied to the shadow and not the paper? Also, the shadow on the photo does not seem to have a vertical offset (at least, on the resized version, which might be different from the full-size one).

I am glad to see someone new post in our Bootcamp. Welcome to @Jeni Simpson @Jeni Simpson You really balanced the words well. I think the title is great. I would suggest you adjust the shadows. On the title, it looks like the letters are hovering over the paper. I suspect the Blur value was quite high and the offset fairly small. @Barbara Caulton We will never get tired of puppies! Glad to hear that you feel more comfortable this time around. @MoniqueN. Great photo of the windmills. @Ann SeeberLooking at your plate, it is like someone waved a magic wand over mine, and poof... it is now a realistic sandwich! 🙂 Did you use a different shape for the bevel? @bina greene Just for information, was that your project 1 or something else? I am just asking because I keep track of the Bootcamp projects for the upcoming draw. Are you all ready for the second project, tomorrow? If not, you can still catch up. Where are our silent participants?

Have you ever used the Random Challenge Generator in the Campus? So far, it includes options for a few features, but I wonder if you can suggest other "criteria" that I could incorporate? It can only be text-based, so I cannot have a color palette for example, or a sketch. Or do you think it is already fine the way it is?

I am so happy to still see new projects! I am still waiting for new faces! Don't be shy, post away. @Barbara Caulton That is quite a lunch. I am glad you feel more comfortable with layers and PSP in general. I really hope that more people can find us as a reliable reference for PSP work! @MoniqueN. so, you put your sandwich directly on the table? I guess that is how a sandwich can be eaten when you don't really need cutlery! Looking forward to your scrapbook projects now that you are familiar with the bootcamp @Jen Brown Now that you know more about PSP, you can definitely make your own supplies if what you find does not suit you. May I suggest that you use a simpler font on a patterned paper? It would just make it easier to read. OR you can move it to a lighter area with less contrast. However, I only rely on the resized version of your page, so maybe on a full-size version, it is easy to read. @Sue Booth Some people love a lot of stuff on their page, but I am like you: I want the photo and the story to shine and not have to fight with all the decorations. Did you add a shadow on your photo (or maybe the layer is hidden)? You resized the page to 400 pixels. You can resize to 600 pixels, which would let us see more of the details. @Donna Sillia What app do you use to identify flowers? @Corrie KinkelIs that a stamp you created with your script? 🙂 Keep them coming. If you have not finished your sandwich or your first project, don't worry. There will be an email tomorrow, but no tutorial so it will give you time to catch up. I want to see you!