Susan Ewart

This one looks nice. I see the words are closer together too, that's another thing I need to take note of. I for one like the new "chockolate", the longer the word, the more time to savior the tastiness. ?

Wow, this is really helpful. Also I noticed how the color you chose for each word is representative of that word (eg. a bright sunny yellow for "bright" or blue calming color for "Peace" and so on). I dont think I would have thought about that, but just seeing your Word Art it popped right out. I think it's all in the little details isnt it. And this makes me want to try it. But first I must tackle my new camera, I think it might take a 7 yr degree in engineering to figure it all out.

Mary, thank you for being brave and showing your struggles with word art, we will all learn along with you. I am in the same boat. It's not like there is a "formula" you can follow. Word Art is not easy.

I saw that paper (that someone used) too and wondered how to make it. Yours are fabulous. You must have a lot of supplies now that you are so far into the labs. I estimate at my pace 3 or more years. I hope to up the pace soon. I get what you mean about your "mojo". I wonder where I lost it? Is this what it's like getting older (I"m 57), I thought it would much better than this. My parents made it look so easy ( I wonder if they just didnt show to us adult kids).

Thank you Carole, I will check it out and give it a try.

I've never tried it. I have 2022 and 2023 (not loaded yet). Is it pretty straightforward to use. I should try it on some of the elements I've made that were too small and see what happens.

Thank you Corrie, it really is an enjoyable Lab, both parts, I cant see using both these techniques frequently. I think the font sizing issue was because I made my stencil on a full size canvas (3600x3600). I've always made elements on a smaller canvas size and then when it's a raster and I'm using them I found I couldnt size it as large as I needed for my layout as it would get blurry. So I figured I needed to make the elements bigger and size down if need be. Some of the fonts I picked didnt take well to the thicker outline and the problem with going on a large canvas to start with, is some fonts just dont go big enough for the circle (which I had to make smaller). It's a good to learn that there is such a thing as starting "too small" or "too big". I did size up the fonts when they were Vectors with the pick tool. But if I wanted to make them all the same size it would have added more work, at least it's do-able to do that beyound the size in the drop down menu.

Sue, thank you for you kind and supportive words. My heart is singing right now. I feel daunted with word art. I love your creations and wonder how you just know where to put it all. I will surely give it a go though.

I dont deal with it. But this year I must purge the studios. I promised myself I'd be brutal. The space is needed for the hobbies I am doing. I did sell all my silversmith tools/supplies/silver last fall to make room for a new camera...it takes up way less room ? . Purging is never easy, I wish I had a delete button for that.

I tried the 2nd part of LAB 13-1 tonight. Finding the right font is key, I didnt get enough overlap on some letters to make it look as nice as Carole's example. I put the same texture on all of it because it looked like it was painted on a cement wall. It probably wont show in the smaller size. Font is called Listing Packs (weird, I know), probably from Creative Fabrica. My font program came with access to Google fonts so now they are all mixed in and I dont know who came from where. This is just me trying the exercise, I think I would do it differently next time adding some pattern to the letters. My head got muddled up when I was remembering which letter was behind of in front of the other. It was fun to do though, and any vector practice is good for me. Realized I didnt put shadows in, here it is with shadows.

I would love to see your interpretation too Corrie. Even if you think it's a similar concept, it will still have your spin on it. I bought PSP 2023 too but have not downloaded it yet. It's a big job. I have a list that I go through....if I can find the list!

Wow! You have vultures in your front yard. How cool is that? Are they big?

Ann, this is awesome. I've done negative image too, it's very interesting isnt it. This is a great concept and I totally get the space reference.

Oh what fun Lab 13-1 is! Two out of one Susans recommend it (I'm a Gemini; 2 peeps in one body). Stencils! I didnt know I needed to know this, to do some of the ideas floating around in my head. I really like this technique. And now I'm ready for next Christmas...except I'll probably forget about this by then. The font is Bornsa (Creative Fabrica I think). I used texture effects on the background and on the stencil itself and the frame around the background. I sure need practice getting my circles lined up when I'm first making them. They seem to build/land not where I'm expecting. Good thing we can move and resize. It wasnt until I finished that I noticed I didnt get one lined up well. Photo is mine from a Christmas card a few years back, BPSPATSC (Before PSP and the Scrapbook Campus). ?

Wonderful layout Mary! Love the teeth on the 'B' and the nose and mustache on the 'M'. The bone letters are very fun looking. Did you make a whole alphabet? At my Lab pace I'll be doing that in a couple of years.?

I'll have to look into it more, I'm interested in the control over compression. I have the optimizers on the toolbar too with the Open as a New Layer-rename. Lately I've been dragging my supplies into PSP from my supplies folder. I now have two monitors (as my husband works from home and needs two) so I can do it that way. I will bind the guides script too.

I think that's a good idea. And it's doesnt take much space to duplicate and keep the vector(and hide it) in case you need to edit it later. Saves a step I'm doing by closing and opening again to resize. Did we read somewhere that using the jpg optimizer didnt have that problem. I cant remember. I dont use the optimizer, even having it explained to me I still dont see the difference in just using Save As, isnt it still the same amount of clicks. Maybe I'm missing something.

That happens to me. I usually save the large jpg then close it and open the jpg again and resize it and the text stays intact. There is another way other members do it and Carole will likely chime in to tell you about. It happens to us all.

Corrie, this is really beautiful. I love honeycombs and this stencil is really fabulous. The owls are so cute too.

Thank you Julie. I hope i have the grit and determination to see it through. At my current pace it's going to be at least a couple years! I think however you (or anyone) do them is the right way to do them. If you jump around, that's perfect too. In the end...we will have gotten to the same finish line, using two different routes. How fun to see what people are doing in any of the labs, especially ones I havent done that I can look forward to. I do think I will try not and be so ridged about the order if I decide to do one oout of order. Going in order means I dont have to choose which one to do, isnt that lazy of me. Sometimes I dont want to think of where do I go next. I also watched Mary go through them and saw all the techniques she was learning and thought, by the end of them, maybe, just maybe, I will remember the techniques without needing a tutorial. A girl can dream eh?

Beautiful Julie. Sorry for you loss. Even if it's expected it's still sad.