Be sure to sign up early as seating is limited.

Preparing for the seminar

Hardware – a computer! (laptop or desktop)

Software – In order to get the most out of your training experience we recommend that you have the latest version of Photoshop Elements installed on your computer. If you don’t have it, Adobe has a TRIAL version available for FREE … here. The trial period is 30-days, so don’t download it too early.

Digital photos – you’ll want to have a nice collection available for class … ten or more will be a good start.

Stop by our Facebook Event and preview some of the material you’ll be learning!

MaskMaster’s Retreat!

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January 13-20, 2012

Legacy Vacation Club-Orlando Spa

Kissimmee, FL

OPTION 1 – Attend all 7 days (January 13 – 20)

Includes: A weekend full of classes, tutorials, fun and prizes! Classes all week long! Time to take in the sites! Plenty of time to enjoy the fabulous swim pools and hot tub! Your room and all meals except for weekday evening meals (we figure you’ll be out-on-the-town … that’s a great time to try out some of the fabulous local fare!) This includes your ROOM, all weekend meals, and breakfast/lunch during the weekdays!

Cost: $380  … talk about an AMAZING DEAL!

OPTION 2 – Attend Friday – Sunday (January 13 – 15)

Includes: A weekend full of classes, some great tutorials, all kinds of freebies and prizes, and yet there will be time for friends and relaxing by the pool or hot tub! Room and board included.

Cost: $295

OPTION 3 – Attend the weekday events only (January 16-20)

Includes: Five days of classes (exploring Organizer and all its capabilities, photo restoration/enhancement, and how to prepare and complete a large project such as a theme book ie: High School Graduate’e Memory Book, 50th Anniversary book “Through the Years”, Baby’s First Five, Our Amazing Vacation, etc.).  Room, breakfast, and lunch all week long.

Cost: $315

Newbie Add-on

For those who are new to digital scrapbooking, you’ll want to attend our special “Intro to Digi-Scrapping” class. There is a small fee … WELL worth the money! Not only will you jump-start your way into an amazing skill, but you’ll walk away with an amazing amount of supplies to help make your adventure more rewarding and fun!  This is a four hour class.

Cost:  $35 when purchased with any of the above options.

Registration Form (click here to complete your registration)

If you want to know more about our host/resort, click the link (above … at the top of this post … see it there, just above the Florida location? Legacy Vacation Club? yea…that…just click on it! you’ll see pics of the rooms and the facilities … it’s a fantastic place … especially if you are in need of some sunshine in January!)

Keep an eye on our website/blog … we’ll be posting sneak-peeks, teasers, and tips on making your retreat an AMAZING SHOW!

1. Open the photo file
2. Open a “frame” file
3. Put both the photo and the frame in the same file … just for the sake of this tutorial, let’s make THAT a new, blank file with a transparent background.
4. Name the photo layer:  PHOTO
5. Name the frame layer: FRAME
6. Name the transparent background layer: PHOTO MASK
7. Activate the PHOTO MASK layer (it should be at the BOTTOM of your layers mask)
8. With your marquee tool, make a selection that is slightly larger than the “glass” portion of the frame (you know…the part where you would be “seeing” the photo)
9. FILL the selection with any color paint!  (CTRL+Backspace or use paint can or any other method you wish)
10. Deselect (Ctrl+D…or Select>Deselect…or any other method you wish)
11. Group the PHOTO layer to the PHOTO MASK layer
12. Duplicate the PHOTO layer, rename it to OOB.
13. MOVE OOB layer to the top of your layers stack.
14. Create a selection that is exactly the size of the “glass” portion of your frame (the magic wand may be the best tool for this…just be sure you’ve grabbed all the little pixels next to the frame just inside the glassy-area…of course, we are just pretending that there is glass there, right?!)
15. Activate the OOP layer (it may still be the active layer if you’ve been following these steps exactly…maybe?)
16. Find the ADD A LAYER MASK icon at the bottom left corner of your Layers Palette … just to the right of the ADD NEW LAYER icon … see it there? If not…find the little miniature trash can down at the bottom of your Layers Palette, then look to the left of that about 6 icons or so…it kinda looks like an icon of a camera…a rectangle with a circle in the center…see it now?
17. CLICK on the ADD A LAYER MASK icon (it’s actually called the QUICK MASK icon…it’s just that your software will present a pop-up saying ADD A LAYER MASK if you hover over this icon…)
18. You will see a new thumbnail appear on the OOB layer in the Layers Palette (aka Layer Stack) … do you see it? Just to the right of the regular layer thumbnail…see it? OK…
    now…we are missing all the OOB parts, right? right! Let’s figure out how to get them to be visible!
19. Activate your paint brush and make sure you have the DEFAULT BRUSHES loaded.
20. Pick a soft, round brush…maybe start with something about 100px in size.
    NOTE: you can use your [ and ] (bracket) keys to change the size of your brush tip … GREAT HELP!
21. Set your foreground/background colors to Black/White … press D once … easy, peasy…
22. Make sure WHITE is the foreground color (press X once … more easy peasy!)
23. Move your cursor over to the place where some of the OOB parts are hiding (I know…you can’t see them, right? well … hang with me and soon you WILL!)
24. Click once … did some of the hidden parts get revealed?  YAY! This is a good time to mention:
    Black CONSEALS
    White REVEALS!!!!!
25. Continue using white paint to reveal more of the missing area!
    DON’T WORRY if you inadvertently reveal areas that need to be hidden!!! Simply press X (so black will be the foreground color) and paint over the areas you want to re-hide … see? they are GONE!!! WOOHOO!
26. Repeat … adding white for areas that need to be seen (revealed) and BLACK for areas you want hidden (consealed)!
27. DONE?  Now you need to create a PNG version of your canvas … so you can drag it into the template/layout and use it!
    Activate the top layer in your layer stack
    Press and hold: ALT, CONTROL/CMD, SHIFT and the letter “E”
28. Open you template file
29. Activate the layer where you want to place your OOB image/frame.
30. Reactivate the OOB file
31. Drag the top layer (the one you made in step 27) from the OOB file and drop it on the template file.

LOOK! … we have a GREAT template for you … our way to THANK YOU for participating in the scrapalong. This template is designed to work perfectly with a Bodum 16 oz photo travel mug. You add your page design and photos, get it printed (at home or at a photo lab), then cut and insert … VOILA! You’ll have an AMAZING mug for yourself or to use as a gift (can you imagine how MUCH your family/friends would love to get a custom designed mug from YOU?!!!)

I just got my two mug inserts back from the photo lab … I will be posting pics soon! I LOVE how they turned out!

1:30 – 3:30 pm October Scrapalong 1

and/or

7:00 – 9:00 pm October Scrapalong 2

To sign up for this event, click on the time slot (above) to be directed to our Facebook Event wall where you can indicate your plans to attend. The day before the event, we will send you a link to the free two-page template we will all be using during the Scrapalong.

And, as always, we have a free gift for you … our way to say Thank You and Keep on Scrapping!

In case you have been having so much fun that your year (like ours) has all but disappeared, we decided to create something useful in many different ways . . . your very own set of custom Monthly Calendar brushes!

We haven’t decided when or if we would be using these as a gift … read on … YOU can help us make our decision!

These brushes can be used in so many ways . . .  you’ll find yourself using them long past next year!

• Create your own custom desktop backgrounds (for your computer)
• Create custom calendars for yourself, friends and family for holiday gifts
• Create memory pages using the brushes to highlight a date-driven theme/topic
• Create custom background papers

The collection below is from our September Scrapalong (9-22-2011). As you can see, the results have similarities, but each one is unique. We thought you would enjoy seeing them all together in one place!

Here’s what we all started with:

Here’s what we ended up with:

If you’d like to see them full-size . . . stop by our Facebook Page and take a gander!

September Photo Gallery 1

September Photo Gallery 2

We are suspicious that you might be like us . . . a wee bit behind in getting all those summer pictures into memory books. Are we right? Let’s get together and help each other attack our stash … that’s what friends do best (help each other!)

Thanks to Google we have a wonderful way to “gather together” … visually! Google+ Hangouts are a great way for us to see, hear, and support each other while we work on our memory book pages. It’s AMAZING!

As always, we will provide you with a template … then, every 10 minutes we’ll give you a new set of instructions, meant to help you move through the various stages of page design. By the end of the scrapalong you will have two complete pages!

Your participation reward? In addition to the reward of having two pages done … we have a set of amazingly helpful templates and text paths for you!

You might ask, “Text paths? What are they? How would I use them?”  Let us explain:

A text path controls where your text goes … it may undulate across your page, or fill the shape of a star. You decide! Pick the text path shape, add it to your page layout, insert your text, and your page becomes a STAND-OUT!

This gift includes six text paths (a star outline, a star fill, a spiral, a circle outline, a circle fill, and a wavy line spanning 12″ horizontally). As a bonus for anyone who completes more than one layout using the Scrapalong Template Freebie, there will be an additional gift … the four templates in the preview above, designed to work with these text paths.

We hope you join us and that you will find “The Wandering Words” templates/text paths to be helpful tools as you work through your summer stash of photos!

Come join us! To get your invitation to the Google+ Hangout stop by our Facebook Event on September 17, 2011 and signup for the session you plan to attend!

Friday night’s events will be held at the home of MaskMaster student, Dixie! (Thanks Dixie for offering up a ‘comfy-cozy’ place for us to gather and get the weekend started off right!)

GPS address:  1316 Bel Aire Rd, Polk City, IA 50226-1022

MAP LINK:  HERE

SATURDAY, MARH 19, 2011

Saturday we are meeting in a more formal setting … we want everyone to be ‘on their toes’ and in full ‘learning mode’…  so we are going to be meeting at the United Methodist Church in Polk City. There is a daycare center on the property that has a classroom just right for our group … look for the outside door with a seminar sign!

GPS address:  1421 West Broadway Street, Polk City, IA 50226-1203

MAP LINK:  HERE

learning how to use Adobe Photoshop (Elements or CS) to create beautiful memory book pages

or

expanding your skills in both page design and photo enhancement

Check out this amazing opportunity!

Friday Night 6:30 pm to 9:30 pm (at 1316 Bel Aire Rd, Polk City, IA 50226-1022)

Track 1 – Beginners ($40)

Our famous Intro Class will take you from 0 to 80 in just three hours! This is not your normal “Beginner Class” … after a walk through the tools and functionality of the software you will learn and apply the basics as you create your FIRST scrapbook page! You will be well prepared for the Saturday classes!

Track 2 – Intermediates/Advanced ($20)

If you’ve been to any of our past events, this track is for you! We have some great new tutorials and techniques that you’ll want to learn! Check out our Facebook Group for posts with more information throughout the months of Feb and Mar. As always, we will have lots of fun and prizes throughout the evening!

Saturday 9:00 am – Noon; 1:30 – 5:00 pm (at UMC, 1421 West Broadway Street, Polk City, IA 50226-1203)

Track 1 – Beginners ($80)

Expand on the skills learned Friday night and create more pages for your memory book as you learn! Walk through the process of getting papers and elements from digital scrapbooking kits into your layout. Learn how to use templates, text paths, and more! Classes will also give you the basics on getting your photos to SHINE!

Track 2 – Intermediates/Advanced ($80)

Submit your requests for techniques you’d like to have us teach when you submit your registration form … don’t be shy! If you’ve seen someone do something pretty amazing in any of the online digiscrap galleries … SEND us a link or description and we will write a lesson that will help you duplicate it in your layouts! The request can even include techniques related to photo editing/enhancements!

If we don’t get any special requests … we have a STACK of ideas and will post the list on the board Friday night so the group can vote!

ONLINE REGISTRATION FORM (you can click that … it’s a link!)

Facebook Event (that’s a LINK…just click it!)