Cassel

If you go to the pages with visual thumbnails, you can use the search field to find all the "knot" tutorials 🙂

Although PSP is likely the primary program you use, I am sure your "toolbox" includes other programs. What are they? What do you use them for? Maybe you use a commonly known program, but maybe not?

Let's make things a little fun for you. Are you looking for ways to spark your creativity and still create something meaningful? This will be a fairly regular challenge for you. Every time, you will be given instructions to use 1, 2, and 3 of something. Would that be more than you usually use? or less? Let's see. Create a layout using : 1 streamer 2 metallic words 3 knots on ropes (it could be one rope or more than one) You can create those elements or use what you currently have in your stash. Showcase any photo, use any template (if you want). Just make sure you include the required elements.

C = Camping

With your experience, you can surely replicate the main parts as if they were sketches!

Anyone who wants to have a cheat sheet for dingbats can check this article.

Do you want to challenge yourself to take photos every week for a year? Maybe you want to practice your photography skills, or just try to capture "ordinary" daily occurrences. Let's just encourage each other. This is a no-pressure thread, and you can share the photos you took or the theme you are going for (if you are going with a theme). And if you don't want to share the photos yet, and only showcase them once they are in a montage or a scrapbook page, you can just say that you did it. And it is ok to start your 52 weeks at any time. It does not have to start in January!

It is a new month and new projects. Show off what you are working on in August 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.

The theme for August is ADVENTURE. What is an adventure for you? A bike ride? An afternoon watching birds and wildlife? A slow walk in a national park? Or you have some bolder adventures to tell us about? Let's go! Post your project in the gallery.

In August, our monthly theme is ADVENTURE. Where do you escape for new thrills? The mountain? The river? The forest? What kind of adventures attract you? There are so many kinds of adventures for all seasons too. Let's think of different words we can associate with the multiple adventures available to us. Let's go!

I can't find any recent post but I seem to remember that it is no longer working with PSP. I think it was discussed in the old user-to-user forum. Maybe you can contact Corel/Alludo support to confirm that?

Various areas in the world might have some very specific wildlife that is not found elsewhere. What would your area/neighbourhood be known for? Do you have some exclusive species in your neighbourhood? Share the stories and pictures if you can.

@Bonnie Ballentine I bet you still remember the smell of that market too! I remember that quote about fear used by Sheldon in The Big Bang Theory!! Interestingly, I have vertigo if I even SEE a video or a picture of someone on an edge, yet, I am ok with those coasters. But you won't see me walk on the edge of the CN tower!!! EVER! @Susan EwartThe shadow for the horse would depend on where the "surface" is. Is it a wall behind? If so, how far is it? Is there a floor? Those are the questions you will need to ask yourself before creating the shadow and tweaking it. Did your mom change her cooking of the roast beef after hearing of that nickname? @Corrie Kinkel I feel that we are allowed not to like something, but what I see too often is that kids are picky and parents will enable that. For me, if I am picky and I get invited somewhere, I'll eat enough before going and I usually find something I can eat there, without saying anything. My mom was also scared of lightning, and I was too, when young. But by the time I was a teen, somehow, I conquered that fear and loved watching thunderstorms. My kids would also love it when it was lightning. If it was at night, we would pull out the hide-a-bed and watch the show through the large livingroom window @Ann Seeber I bet it was the way many kids learned to swim (or fear water) in those days! I learned to swim around 3-4, yet later, I convinced myself that I didn't know how to swim and once, in a pool, the inflatable toy I had around my waist got off me, and I sank (I was in the shallow end and could have stood up), yet I tucked in a ball and waved my arms around, making me go round and round and round, until my aunt saw me! Strangely, I still HATE to touch the bottom of a pool (except in the shallow end) or the ocean. I was once cut by razor clam under my foot. Another story I should write down on a page! The word COUP in French also means HIT/PUNCH. But also that political overthrowing. @Donna Sillia Be thankful that it happened in the 60's. If it was in modern days, there would be dozens of clips of it on YouTube! @Daniel Hess If you add text inside a shape, you can contract the selection before adding the text to give a little padding on the edges. @Dan GreenwoodThose shadows make a world of difference! Did your nephew ever found out about their mystery gifter? @Gerry Landreth You should team up with Ann at the Drive-in!! 🙂 @Michele Funny, I never played with a pink ball. I seem to remember our balls were red, white, and blue. Maybe they were a different kind. @Anja Pelzer That is such a fun layout!!! I bet they didn't have unbreakable glasses back then! The laundry story is a nice angle to the topic! @Julie MagerkaIsn't it amazing how our imagination would make us fear things? As for issues with PSP2023, it is true. There was an update #2 in August 2023 that fixed some bugs and added some fixes. However, it added that bug related to the wrapped text getting unwrapped when you need to edit it afterward. I will investigate to see if there is a workaround. In the meantime, I have no clue if there will be another update/patch this year as Corel/Alludo has dissolved the beta-testing group a few weeks ago. That is where I would get some of the "inside information". And I agree with everyone saying that this workshop is a great way to learn some things about each other. Maybe, next time, I will offer different prompts for the lessons so we can learn even more!

It works but differently. In previous versions, you could erase with any tool (Eraser or DELETE) but now, since a few versions (not sure how many), it will only work if you erased with the Eraser tool.

@Daniel Hess That story is cute. I think it is not natural for kids to get messy right away with the cake and icing. It seems like the adults often have to do part of the work! I guess scaring the others might have been a way for you to deal with the fear yourself? @Susan Ewart I had the same Easy-Bake!!! I remember making my mom's 31st birthday cake and my dad writing 31 on it with little sprinkles. @Michele Office pranks!!! I remember filling one colleagues' office with "magic bubbles". They are bubbles available at the dollar store that probably contain a lot of glycerine because they typically don't burst. So there were bubbles on her desk, her wall, her computer, even on the ceiling! And for the record, we tested one bubble on our own filing cabinet (and had to tell the cleaning lady), and it lasted there two weeks (although it was deflating by then). @Minka Glasier When I went to such a park, it was the time when cars commonly had "fabric/leather" rooftops (the 70's) and too often, drivers would come back with torn roof because the monkeys scratched them off! I guess those roofs are not as common anymore. @Ann Seeber getting close to those colorful birds must be quite special! Do you still have opportunities to play some of those games even if not with as many people? @Gerry Landreth Simple story but something that surely brings smiles to your face every time you tell it. Yes, kids can easily misunderstand words or phrases they hear and strangely, they rarely tell the grown-ups so it is only later that we can laugh at it! @Dan Greenwood I know it probably was not funny for you at the time, but I could just picture you stuck on the roof and couldn't help but laugh. Sorry! 🙂 On your layout, is it possible that you forgot the shadows (or posted a non-shadow version)? @Anne Lamp I never heard of putting sugar on spinach, but I guess there are many food combinations that some people like and others would never want to try! @Julie Magerka That fall must have been scary!!! @Corrie KinkelI often hear about food people hated when they were young but re-discovered (and loved) later on. Sadly, I am still a very picky eater!

@Anja Pelzer Make sure you don't try to combine everything in one layout. The experiments (and even the tutorials) are not meant to be together. If it fits, that is ok but make sure you don't force anything while you go through all those modules! 🙂

You can make so many different elements with this technique!!! Beautiful!

Fonts can offer some fun dingbats and for the summer, how about some summer elements? Seashells, sunshine, beach elements, etc. You can get this free font HERE. Of course, you won't write with them but you can use them to decorate tags, backgrounds, frames, etc. What will you do with this free font?

@Anja Pelzer Are those pictures of you? How cute! That Good Friends title does look great. That is a good choice. @Michele when people ask if Carole spells with one or two L's, I say I am not an angel, so I have only one L (in French L is pronounced the same as "wing") so that joke does not work in English! I like your "explanation"! It is great that you found some Hanukkah-related supplies. It might seem "ordinary" for you, but I am always interested in hearing of other's traditions. @Susan Ewart We feel like our lives are "boring", but even if everyone's story is "ordinary", it is also very different and that is the beauty of those. We don't have to have extreme events to talk about, but I am sure that if we were sitting together, we would still tell all kinds of stories. That is what I did, for two years, in the Remember when? series on the blog. Everyone's story can trigger another memory. Let's put those down on paper! I love that "simple story" of mini-golf! @Ann Seeber I guess your story of mischief at work brings me some memories of tricks we have played at work too. Maybe I should do a layout! I guess we don't stop having fun when we grow up! @Daniel HessAlthough it is nice to have photos, sometimes, the stories are quite enough. That is the important part in this workshop! @Dan Greenwood That iron still works after 40 years!? Talk about quality! I guess it was a good investment! @Gerry LandrethThat is a great use of the selective coloring on a photo! @Corrie Kinkel I never saw a tennis court used as an ice rink, but thinking of it, it is brilliant! Looking forward to reading more stories tomorrow and Sunday!

@Bonnie Ballentine That is quite a prank to do. Hopefully, it didn't keep going back and forth pranking each other! Fantastic that you have a photo of your mother playing sport!! @Michele I was in a similar situation when we chose the name for our daughter: we wanted it to be bilingual, so we spelled it Michelle (with one L it would have had an accent in French). @Daniel Hess Did you get my response to your email about the "broken link"? @Minka Glasier Are you referring to the accident that happened this week where a whale tipped a boat, and it was captured on camera? I typically am not fond of going in the sea (or the bay here), not for sharks, but for jellyfish! @Donna Sillia Ah, those shadows are really adding to the layout! @Ann Seeber I never thought of the fact that game birds might have pellets in them. Yuck! @Anne Lamp Those alphas are so cute. Do you happen to have any pictures left of a child in the middle of all those papers? That must have made for fun and colorful pictures! @Gerry Landreth "Are we there yet?" Quite a typical phrase for a kid!!! @Dan Greenwood Maybe you should try pickleball? You would have a few people cheering you up in this forum! @Corrie Kinkel Reading your story, I also thought you might have been caught for those seeds! Sh... we won't tell anyone! @Linda J Walker I can definitely envision that many kids with the same surname in rural areas. By the way, did you add shadows to your flowers or are they not visible due to the resizing? @Anja Pelzer It is nice to see that you have some photos of yourself. Often, at our age, we don't have as many as the younger generation!

Can you try again? I had the wrong name on the updated file!

It was brought to my attention that the quick-page for day 3 was only 600x600 instead of the full-size of 3600x3600. I have fixed it and if you wanted Day 3 quick-page, you can re-download it. Sorry for the inconvenience.

I am happy to see more layouts and stories! @Daniel Hess Great layout. I suspect you might have distorted some of the photos in your page. Check out this article about resizing to fit. It might save some headaches on your subjects. You have so much to say, you could easily create a whole book with all those stories! @Ann Seeber Yeah, I saw your Ice Baby layout but did not comment on it. @Corrie Kinkel Isn't that the case most of the time that parents would use the child's full name only when they "meant business"!? @Minka Glasier I am glad you got to revisit some of those memories. There are so many stories in our heads. Let's take the time to get them on paper! @Dan Greenwood I think you had a great idea to cover some of the lines under the text. If you still find them overpowering, you can lower the opacity of that layer and see how the page looks. As long as you still have a version in layers, you can tweak that and try. I think that both backgrounds look good. @Donna Sillia I don't know if it is only due to the resizing of the layout but I think the shadows could be a bit more important. But if it is only due to the resizing, just ignore my comment! @Julie Magerka If you don't remember what happened after that lipstick event, it might not have been traumatizing! @Gerry Landreth A Universal Birthday Party is such a great idea if you can gather everyone together! Will you still try again? @Bonnie Ballentine Yes, this is a known bug of the latest version of PSP2023. That is a fun idea to have a Celebration of Courts. You really got a great gift from the city!

@Linda J Walker Isn't it interesting all the questions we never think of asking when people could answer us? @Susan Ewart I had never heard of the Cabbage Patch kids to mean adoptees. Something I learned today! @Corrie Kinkel So is your name Corrie or is that a nickname? @Minka Glasier That is a very appropriate theme for the topic! And great photos for your extra layout! @Dan Greenwood That is a fun club you had!!! I bet you had many great game nights! I only learned about Euchre after I met my husband as their family used to play that all the time. In fact, tonight, my son was over and that is what we played! @Donna Sillia That is an interesting way to use those presets. I would not have recognized them if you had not mentioned it. @Gerry Landreth I bet he just relied on what he HEARD when your name was pronounced! @Julie MagerkaHow old were you when you finally "liked" carrot cake? @Bonnie Ballentine Yes, I remember. I called them "weather-brellas". I had a few printed for my kids and myself. For those who don't know, it is a twist on the temperature blanket idea. Now, let's see more posters. I know you are there!

Neighbourhoods often have playgrounds for kids. Some are old, some are new, some are very original, some are very traditional. I love to see kids play in their playgrounds, and find it fascinating how diverse those playgrounds can be. Is there a playground nearby? Do you happen to have photos? Let's share.