Sue Thomas

Thank you, I must confess. I love the snow. It's magical. It simplifies an image, whilst enhancing fences, trees, branches, buildings and the like.

I can't take credit for the colour of the door Michele. Saying that you have given me an idea for possibly colourizing doors and or other parts of a building that I have, and in the future shoot. It's extremely rare for me to edit any of my photos in that way.

I have just logged in, and read some comments. I can't take credit for the colour of the door. The door is actually that colour. Rather cool I thought!

Welsh Snowbrops. Image taken on the 29th January. The Daffs are slower to bloom, but the native milk white Snowdrops are daintily blooming across the Welsh countryside.

Of course, I had forgotten all about that song, and the lyrics. Me too, one of my favourite singers and song back in the day. I'm pleased that I triggered some fond memories for you.

Thank you ever so much ladies for your kinds words welcoming me back into the fold. It is very much appreciated. It was an incredidible time being home, especially being around the little girls. Ages 3 and 5. By the time I left they were already rolling the letter r, as we do in Welsh, and other letters. Also picking up many of my mannerisms. As for the memories, well they have left an indelible mark in my mind. Here we go again Susan. Haven't you ever heard the saying upside down and inside out. hahaha! I use it in reference to being topsy tervy. Being in disorder, until I get back into my ususal routines. Perhaps it's another British saying.

Week two

I am back! My first PSP pages in almost 8 weeks. I'm currently upside down and inside out, so much do in order to get back on track to settle back into my routine. The first two weeks are older photos. ( Local landscape, Sharp Tailed Grouse). This monring's sunrise.

It was my pleasure, also thank you Carole for allowing me to contribute to the countdown again this year. As usual it was a great success.

You mind you use it in one of your lovely festive pages. Also your kind words are very much appreciated.

I may save this one or the other one I posted for next year's Christmas countdown. Possibly by putting it to a vote. Thanks for all the loves, wows and likes.

I was taught it would depend on the quotation. If the quotation ended the sentence, in a complete grammarly sentence, then the full stop would be inside. Otherwise it goes outside. For example " I love your creative style." "Effects, 3D effects, drop shadow was used in this project". The word the was taken away making the sentence incomplete.

Brolly is most commonly used. I can not recall anyone ever calling it an umbrella, not even my parents. Even Umbrella manufacturers refer to them as brollys in their marketing. It isn't a slang word either.

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.

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.

Very nice. I like the inner yellow frame, a nice added touch. To clarify, did you use adjustment layers? If so saying transparent frames may be misleading. As the adjustment layers doesn't lower the opacity. Unless you did what Mary did.

I always appreciate your kind words, my dearest campus friend!

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'll take it as a compliment, and it's my pleasure to widen the realm of creative possibilities within PSP. I can see, we are going to have to start another holic group. Only this time for scripts. For scriptaholics. I hold Carole totally responsible for this addiction. As how can anyone resist the temptation of her wonderful time saving scripts. hahahahaha.

You emphasise 'easy way'. 🙂 Most things become easy or easier with a little know how and practice. I firmly believe, that once you have created an adjustment layer, there'll be no stopping you. It only takes about 5 steps. If I was you, I would use the adjustment layer the conventional way, contracting by the number of pixels of your frames. Then save as a PSP. To be reused over and over. I have never created an adjustment layer template.

Where as you created actual frames around your image, and then lowered the opacity of those frames, the image stayed the same. The brightness and contrast adjustment layer alters the actual image, whilst still retaining the sharpness, colours, and quality, although they might be made brighter or less bright. It doesn't alter the opacity. There are a lot of adjustment layers to play with, depending on the look you want to achieve. While you still have the selection tool active, you can add textures, even an inner bevel. Personally I rarely do that. I'm only making you aware of some of the possibilities.

You are so absolutely right. The brolly is a necessity, all year round. I've packed my British waterproof clothing. My Canada winter clothing will be to hot for home. I won't be taking a laptop this time, but I will have my phone to check in on you all.

It wouldn't be christmas without cold, and the white stuff in the northern hemisphere. A perfect combo. You have a nack of arranging elements, creating beautiful layouts, without going overboard.

You are absolutely right, I fly out on Wednesday afternoon, arriving at mid day the following day. I will be away for more than a couple of weeks. I fly back on the 31st January. It's going to be a wonderful, special time. I'm told that the girls are now counting down the days of my arrival using their advent calendars. Thank you!