Creating Custom Page Elements

Digital and "hybrid" (a mix of traditional paper-crafting and digital) scrapbooking is all the rage right now. With a degree in graphic design, and a full-time job as a web designer, it was only a matter of time before the siren song of digital scrapbooking lured me in. While I don't think I'll ever go fully digital (paper crafting is far too therapeutic for me to give up!), I do enjoy making and printing my own page elements. It allows me to get the exact element I want without spending any extra money!

Everyone has seen the awesome tags, tickets, library cards, die cuts and other pre-printed cardstock page elements that are available from just about every popular scrapbooking company. My favorite are the ones offered by 7 Gypsies. So when I needed a distressed ticket element for a project I was working on, I fired up Photoshop and created this little gem...


This element was made with nothing more than simple shape tools and brush shapes already available in Photoshop, and a font downloaded from 1001fonts.com - no special Photohop skills, plug-ins or other complicated things were involved.

If you would like to learn more about using Photoshop to enhance your scrapbook layouts, visit the Photo & Image Software Center in the Scrap Therapy forum. I will be hosting monthly "how-tos" and tutorials that will teach you how to enhance your photography skills, as well as how to get the most out of your photo editing software!

Take care!
~Angel~