Sue Thomas

I'm going to come to the defence of the Cowbrid. They are very much underappreciated, and outright hated at worst. They are remarkable birds in their own right. In their defence you don't have to love then but you should certainly respect. Unlike the Starling and the common house sparrow which were introduced by the Europeans, do have an effect on the native birds. I get several breeding pairs every year, that follow the horses around the field feeding on insects that the horses kick up. Trailing cows for ranchers, I"d see loads of them, picking insects, not only off the ground but off the cattle backs. Before the demise of the buffalo, they would follow the buffalo, which meant they weren't in any given area for any length of time to raise young. I see Cowbrid eggs and nestinglings in other birds nests. That's nature for you, it's not my place place to interfere with Nature.

Thanks Julie. Unless I use the corner punches to create labels, or other small elements, it's my opinion and personal preference to use them very large , and not as tiny punches on the corners of large background pages. Making them insignificant. This way they really pack a punch, as they should. Pardon the pun!! Of course it depends the layout and the creator.

It's very rural where I am, wide open spaces in every direction. I'm on a farm surrounded by arable land. I have 25 acres for the horses, the rest is rented out, as we don't farm ourselves. Which I miss, I miss the livestock, especially the sheep.

Good thinking to create the brunt edges on the paper. I love it. As the sky is certainly on fire. Like you we also have incredibly stunning sunrises and sunsets. Which I'm addicted to photographing.

Thank you very much Susan. It's easy to distinguish males from females. These two are mature females, younger females aren't as heavily barred.

Days 6 and 7. Friday and Saturday proved to be productive full hiking days. Corner punches used on both pages, lino paper, and instead of using polka dots, I used 2 different snowflakes, with different sizes. I used 2 overlays on the 18th Feb page. Brushes to create the masks. Pages sized down to 5x7 photo paper. I haven't exactly conformed with what Carole demonstrated. I sort of went off on a whim.

When creating this particular mask I used 2 layers, which meant I can edit each layer to my liking. The white circle I did on its own page, then copied and paste. I used different techniques to what you have been shown in this workshop.

The vector paint script does the same as the vector tube script, follow a vector path. Instead of using a picture tube it uses a brush. Both are free scripts by Levi in Carole's store.

Corrie, another lovely fungi page. I'm delighted to have given you the idea for the framing. I've been doing that kind of framing for years, along with adding fonts and brushes to the frames, and lifting the corners of photos over the frame. It adds a really nice touch to any page. If my memory serves me well Susan Ewart, Carole did a master class several months back, I think it's called dynamic frames, where Carole demonstrates how to create the over and under frames, and other cool frames.

Day 5. I'm burning the mid night oil, after a most enjoyable day hiking in the river hills, in mild weather for the time of year. I used 2 overlays for the background paper. Created a mask using a swirl brush and the vector paint script. All I had to do was apply that mask to the photo. (layers, new mask layer, from image)

I hadn't considered the reason that Carole gave, but it does make sense to me. Sizing down from 3,600 to 600 pixels is such a huge reduction in size. I adopt another way to resize.

I did, thank you! I found it in the store. You lucky girl, winning it!!!! x

If it happens again using a different gradient, it may be a jpeg saving issue. I don't have a clue on how you check jpeg specifications. If you even can.

Out of curiosity, change the gradient you used with a similar one, and see what happens.

You don't need to make a copy of the PSP file. Make sure you have saved the psp first, then merge all flatten, and save as a jpeg. You won't loose the psp file.

There you are, the text is perfect now! ?. At least you have an alternative way to save. You can always resave the Png as a jpeg, if need be. Hopefully it was just a one off, possibly that particular gradient had a bug or something.

Ann, that is strange, does the same thing happen when you save it as a PNG file? Before saving as a jpeg, do you merge all (flatten) before you resize and then save. Perhaps Carole will have an explanation.

Day 4. I applied 2 overlays to the background paper. Extracted the notice from a photo, perspective, placed it just a tad under the rope. I wanted to make a visual reference, As a reference to the rope is in the notice. It's the same notice which my granddaughter is reading out to me. She had memorized the words, as she had been there many times before. Which reads, in case it's not very legible, after being resized down. Ssssh, the Mud Maid is sleeping, Please do not climb over the fence, step on her moss blanket, or disturb her dreams. Thank you. Ann, I afraid I don't have an answer for the gradient. I haven't experienced that before. With regard to your text, I notice that your joined up writing isn't joined up. Was the kerning set to 0, if it was try a minus number to join the letters. A lovely Male Snowy, I see far more females, than males. Maybe because they are harder to spot, being almost all snow white.

Corrie, I love fungi, lichen and mosses. Here, we don't get the variety, and quantity, like a home. I have loads of pics of fungi, which I take every time I go home. If the opportunity ever arises to visit Heligan, take it! Their Delhia garden is phenomenal. You'd love it. During my time home we made 3 trips there. Spending the whole day each time. Taking packed lunches for picnics.

Outstanding work Marie-Claire. When was that script added to the store? I had no idea it existed. The background paper is busy, yet it's subtle, and not overpowering, a great job all round.

Carole, thank you for the comments on my pages. The lack of advice, suggestions etc, can mean only one thing. You have taught me well over the years. I have taken on board everything, some things I have temporarily forgotten, but soon comes to the forefront when needed to be used. I do like to put emphasis on details, which to me is important. PSP is a never ending learning process. As we have only just scratched the surface of it's capabilities.

Thank you so much Susan. I will be doing another page tomorrow on Heligan.

I knew what I was going to do for today's page last night. I had already chosen the photos. I started last night by trying to replicate the label on the poster photo. Using a font bracket, and got as close as I could to replicating the font used. Used a slightly different font, and font dingbats for the Love label. We were frequent visitors to Heligan, which is in Cornwall. The estate owned by the same family for 400 yrs. In the 1970's the house was converted to flats, The gardens were neglected, then in 1990 this sleeping beauty was discovered and re-awakened. Becoming Europe's largest garden restoration. A truly magical place for the young and old.

My first recollection of blackberry picking was when I was around 4 with my gran and mum. Then my mum and I. I continued blackberry picking after I got married, introducing my own children, as young as babies in arms. My grandfather and father wouldn't start hedge cutting until after we had finished harvesting the hedgerows. My husband wouldn't start either until I gave him the go ahead. Sloes, Damsons, Rosehips and Elderberries were also gathered for acholic beverages, such as Sloe Gin and tea. When I was home last year, I took my 2 granddaughters blackberry picking several times, what an absolute joy it was. We ate as much as we picked, which was always the norn. I can still smell the blackberry and apple tarts we made, and ate with piping hot custard. I don't half miss the fruit picking season.

I had already put my mind to using the background photo as the main photo for day 1 of the Mask challenge. We can have clear blue skies, but when the wind blows with such force, visibility is greatly diminished by blowing snow. I used the mask which came with Day 1 of the Love story challenge (Masks) back in 2017. I did have to edit it to accommodate the Blue Jay. The mask suited the layout I had in mind. I placed the blue frame, over and under the brown one. The page itself came together quickly, the word art took a little longer. I didn't use a 12x12 scrap page, I used the size of the photo.