Ivy Scraps 2011 Designer Contest Winners

WooooooHooooooo! And a BIG Congratulations to the Top 10!!!!!

I would like to say that every one of the contestants are winners!!!  They completed the weeks challenges and grew so much with each passing week.  I hope they will continue to learn and grow in their designing journey.

Ivy Scraps Design Contest Winners

We are so very pleased and excited to announce the winners of the 2011 Ivy Scraps Designer Contest.

HisKid Kreations aka Cheri ~~ 1st Place: Bamboo Pen & Touch tablet & Ivy Scraps Store

OsDesign aka Orsi ~~ 2nd Place: Scrapper's Guide Premium Membership 4 months & Ivy Scraps Store

Brown Eyed Susan aka Mendy ~~ 3rd Place: AV BROS Page Curl Pro 2.2 Value $49.95

December Daydream aka Beth ~~ 4th Place: All Ivy Scraps Mega Kits from 2009 to Current $100 Value

Moments In Time Scraps aka Jenni ~~ 5th Place: Scrapbooks to Share Gift Certificate 15 prints $30 Value

Diane’s Designs Diane/camperchow ~~ 6th Place: AV BROS Puzzle Pro 3.1 Value $49.95

Lovin Life Gurl aka Denise ~~ 7th Place: Designs by Gloria Val Verde Gift Certificate $25 Value

Scrappy Sab’s Designs aka Sabrina ~~ 8th Place: Waite For The Moment Designs Gift Certificate $25 Value

Lizard Dau Designs aka Liz ~~ 9th Place: Ivy Scraps Designs Gift Certificate $25 Value

Jessica’s Sweet Nothings aka Donna ~~ 10th Place: A Blinkie Package by Carmen aka Lightning Bug Creations

This contest was a LOT of work, but also a lot of fun. I learned a whole lot about what I hope we can do better next year! But the best part was getting to know all the contestants and seeing what they came up with each week. I'm going to miss all the excitement. However, I will be grateful to have a little bit more time to scrap and design. Whew!!!! I think we actually pulled this off fairly well! Thanks to the wonderful Design Team at Ivy Scraps: Meegan, Jan, Gloria and Carmen!!!!!!!! 

Birdsong Mini Kit

I had 4 grandkids, ranging in age from 5 months to 14 years, stay over last night. Took them home at noon today, but I kinda feel like I just ran a marathon!?! Somehow, I managed to get this finished up today. Yay! I made the birdies first and this was one of those projects that was just screaming at me to get it finished. So much fun!!! This is for the Color Challenge at TheStudio hosted by Monika Designs. I love the colors she picks because they are sooooo different from what I would choose on my own. It's really made me stretch out of my comfort zone as far as colors. Thanks so much, Monika!!! Birdsong Mini includes 6 papers and 12 elements. All items have been checked for missing and stray pixels. Items are 300ppi in .jpeg and .png formats. Shadows are for preview only.

 Now available in my Ivy Scraps Store HERE

**Freebie** CU Brush Set and Paper

Made this up for the Mar 2011 Shapes Challenge at Ivy Scraps. The abstract shape was provided by Designs by Gloria. Thanks sweetie!!! I used the shape to make a brushed paper that co-ordinates with our Spring Is In Mega kit available in the store now for just $3.00. I included a set of .abr brushes for Photoshop. One is the abstract shape that was used to make the paper. The rest are just for fun. They are larger and better quality than the default brushes I have in PS CS5. I was surprised to discover that the square default brush doesn't enlarge very well, and isn't truly square???  So, I made a set of the ones I use most often and included them with the abstract shape. The solid circle brush can be used to create a Bokeh effect by using various shades of gray and adjusting scatter and opacity settings. Paper and brushes are re-sized for preview. Shadow on paper is for preview only. Hope you have fun playing!!!

 

Download HERE

**Freebie** CU OK Laptop Frame and Element

Just a quick but fun freebie today. I made these for my avi and siggy a while back. A couple of people said they liked them, so thought I'd share. Hope you have a little fun playing with them! Shadows on preview only, element re-sized for preview.

Download HERE

March Challenges At Ivy Scraps

There's been so much fun and excitement the last couple weeks with the Designer Contest. Week Two entries are available HERE. WoooHooo! Such fabulous work from all the contestants again this week.

My March 2011 Color Challenge is up. Would love to have you join us HERE and share a layout or create a mini kit to share. Color Challenges are a wonderful way for Scrappers interested in Designing to get some practice and maybe get some recognition!!
This is the color palette this month

This is the FREEBIE mini kit that you get for participating

The March 2011 Newspaper Challenge can be found HERE. This month's inspirations comes from the Comics Section of the newspaper. There are links to free PS comic and sketch effect actions. I can't wait to see what our scrappers come up with this month!!!

Here is my FAV comic/sketch technique. I love it because even though it takes a little extra time, there are no extra filters or actions required. Best of all, the results can be very, very cool!!!

Comic/Sketch Effect Technique for Photoshop

Desaturate photo (cntrl+shift+u) or use a black and white filter on it. Adjust the levels and any other editing that may need to be done.

Duplicate the layer. Try never to work on the original layer.

Filter>Sketch>Photocopy Raise the detail setting till you get enough detail and a good outline of your subject(s) in the photo.

Erase any unwanted parts of the photo or you can extract the subject(s)

Use the magic wand tool to select the white areas of the photo. Click on Select>Similar (cntl+shift+m) Delete or you can use the eraser tool.

On layers beneath, use the airbrush tool and carefully paint back in color. You can use the original photo layer to select the colors. I would increase the saturation of the colors for a more comic like effect. Use a large soft low opacity brush. Use a separate layer for each color or area that you paint. Try to paint each area with one brush stroke. Clean up any overspray and merge.
You can also try a different brush, the watercolor brush gives a nice effect.