This week our CT Spotlight shines brightly on the very talented Karen.  Read all about her below and take a look at her fabulous gallery here.

Give us the Cliff Notes version of you.
I am 36 years old and am a wife to Simon and mom to Rhys who is 8 and Finlay 6,We live in the uk with our gorgeous staffie Ruby,If you dont find me scrapping you will find me with my head in a book i just love to read

How did you get into scrapping?
I first discovered psp and joined many msn groups doing siggys and was then introduced to scrap booking and thought this was worth while and i soon became addicted in scrapping my childrens storys

What program do you use to scrap?
ps3

What is your favorite NSBR thing to do?
I love to chill out with a good book and a brew

What are the top 5 songs on your list right now?
I rarely listen to music anymore just dont find time to but my top band would be Erasure i totally love Erasure and go and see them in concert whenever they play

What accomplishment are you most proud of?
My Family they mean the world to me and i wouldnt be who i am with out them

Are you musically inclined?
Hmmm Nah,i tried the violin at school but i was so bad in the end i kept forgetting to take it on purpose so they booted me out in the end lol

What is a typical day like for you?
My day starts by getting up early getting the boys up and ready for the day,then i will sit with my laptop check emails and ct forums and facebook then basically my day revolves around that,on a few evenings a week i go to work in a supermarket

What inspires you?
Colours,themes,Parks and my family

What are your top 5 layouts you’ve ever done?

How do you start a layout?
I rarely start a page with a photo the photo normally comes last,Ill start with a paper but can gaurantee it will not end with that paper

What made you want to apply for your first CT?
Hmm cause i wanted freebies lol,No not really i liked the designers work that much that thought i could help promote,the hardest part of applying for a ct is waiting for the answer,im on 2 fabulous store cts now and can cope with that just nice

What did you want to be when you grew up?
A nursery nurse but i was bought up to get a job as soon as you left school to support yaself but i dont hold that against my parents because i would of never met my husband and had my children if i hadnt of worked where i did

How long does it take you to create a layout?
Hours,im a slow scrapper and it takes me ages to be completely happy with a page

Who are your scrapping/designing heros?
My four hens has to be my favourite,as for designers i love them all but nikki holds a place in my heart

Do you have a specific style?
White space id love to be able to do whimsical and fantasy but just dont know where to start

Do you have a vision of what a layout will look like when you start it?
No Never!

What would be your dream vacation?
Anywhere hot and with a beach will do me,Im easily pleased you have to be living in cold and rainy Britain

And no After 5 interview would be complete without this question…What is your favorite after hours drink?

Baileys over ice or in coffee or hot chocolate yum yum!

Once again thank you so much to everyone who added some eye candy to the GSO thread this week in the forums. WOW - I can honestly say it is so very difficult to only pick a few!! I love all the gorgeous inspiration here!

The first gorgeous LO is by babelek. Ooohh I’m ready for Spring!

Next is this whimsical beauty by altalena:

And the third LO this week is by anubis. This could not be more darling!

Congrats to all three of you! You are now entered into the final drawing at the end of the month for a $10 GC to the A5D store!!!

Now keep sharing your art with us in the After 5 Designs gallery and showing us your favorites in the new GSO thread! Thanks for helping to make this such an inspiring place!

Cropping Your Photos

1. One of the easiest ways to crop your photos and to be able to instantly try on different aspect ratios and crops is by creating a clipping mask. Start by opening up a photo and dragging it onto your page.

2. Create a rectangle on the layer underneath your photo and “clip” the photo to it. This can be done by selecting Layer>Clipping Mask from the pull down menu or by pressing the shortcut key, Alt-Ctrl-G, while in your photo layer. Don’t worry if you get something odd, we will fix that in the next step.

3. Next, select the rectangle layer and the Move tool from the toolbar. Boxes will occur at the four corners of the rectangle. Click and drag on these handles until you find a crop for your photo that you like. In this example, I cropped the left side of my photo to get rid of some distracting white areas in the photograph and to move the subject’s eyes closer to the third points of the photograph.

4. This same technique may be used with any of the custom shapes, such as this postage stamp shape, found in Photoshop or with any other layer in your file. Try clipping your photo to text, to layers with a funky shaped edge, or to a premade photo mask in a creative shape.

Hi all — Colleen here with this week spotlight Re-Creation 23 by Catherine Designs and Createwings Designs

This is seriously jam packed with unique one of a kind hand made designs that all flow easily and work together. “Inspired by mixed media and altered art you will see we left no stone unturned! In fact we had a hard time finally stopping from creating elements for this collab as we have so much fun working together.  Many hours and a lot of love was put into this collaboration and it is one that is close to our hearts.” - Catherine

I loved playing with this kit! Here’s some inspiration to get you excited too:
Me

Laura

Catherine even scrapped

Shay

Malacima

Jimena

Claire

to see all the details visit the shoppe.

I’m sure you will enjoy it as much as I do!

Joyce Paul is our super fabulous Guest Mixologist this month.  Take some time to read and learn more about this fantastic designer.

Happy Shopping everyone!

First of all, thank you to everyone for all of the gorgeous LOs that you post to the A5D gallery - what a source of inspiration!  I always know where to go when my mojo is low!

And, secondly thanks for taking the time to spotlight those LOs that are particularly inspiring to the weekly GSO thread. You make it SO hard to pick a just a couple to spotlight here!

The first LO going into this month’s drawing is by the ever talented Kathitownz - isn’t this sweet?

The other irresistible LO this week is by Monicca

Congrats to both of you! You are now entered into the final drawing at the end of the month for a $10 GC to the A5D store!!!

Now keep sharing your art with us in the After 5 Designs gallery and showing us your favorites in the new GSO thread.  Have a great week!

Hallo liebe A5D Blogleser

Huete bin ich hier mit Tipps und Tricks zum Thema

arbeiten mit Texturen

ich hatte das schon auf meinem eigenen Blog gepostet und werde es jetzt einfach

hier einfügen um es allen die Interesse daran haben zugänglich zu machen

Zuerst wählt ihr ein Bild eurer wahl
ich nehme als Beispiel das Bild das ihr alle so toll fandet
ihr Bearbeitet das Bild erst mal vor
in diesem fall hab ich das Bild aufgehellt ein wenig den Kontrast erhöht und dann die Komplette Sättigung rasugenommen so das es S/W ist
(Natürlich hab ich wie immer die Augen Bearbeitet hihi)

alls nächsten schritt öffnet ihr eine Textur eurer wahl und zieht diese wie elemente auf eure Bild drauf ( in meinem Fall ist es eine Textur von Kasia Design)
und im nächsten schritt geht auf Ebenen ineinaderkopieren
(natürlich gibt es mehrere möglichkeiten in diesem schritt zum einen es mit hartem oder weichem licht ineinenader zu kopieren da sind keine grenzen gesetzt )
auch könnt ihr bei den Flächen und Dekraft Prozenten rumschrauben wenn ihr wollt ich hab das in diesem Beispiel nicht gemacht

wenn ihr das alles gemacht habt dann sieht euer Bild jetzt so aus,hier ist natürlich das gesicht durch die textur verdeckt und das ist das was viele dann als komisch empfinden
ich hab irgentwann mal bei naty endeckt wie es anderst geht

nun klickt ihr in eure Textureben aktiviert danach den Radiergummi nehmt einen weichen Pinsel in diesem Fall No 21 und schraubt die deckkraft runter auf zwischen 20 -25 im ersten
damit radiert ihr über euer objet euer gesicht eure person
im zweiten schritt dreht ihr die deckkraft auf 40-45 und radiert damit in der mitte des gesichts
ich hab hier auf meinen Bild einfach nur den mittleren focus fast weg radiert und dannach nach ausen hin die Deckraft wieder dünner werden lassen .
da sind aber auch wieder keine grenzen gesetzt
wenn ihr das alles befolgt habt dann ist das hier jetzt das ergebnis

um dann noch das love hinzubekommen schreib man einfach die sätze und legt es dann zwischen Bild und textur fertig ach ja und zieht noch die deckkraft bz die fläche noch bissi runter

fertig ist ein Bild mit Textur

Schönen Wochenendstart

Grüßle Shay

This week we’re shining our flashlight on our sweet CT member Eva!  I’m sure you’ve seen her gorgeous pages in our gallery.  Now it’ time to get to know her a little better.

Give us the Cliff Notes version of you.
28 years old - from Germany - proud SAHM - blessed with my baby boy, my hubby and my dog - scrapbooker and photographer - creative, shy, funny

How did you get into scrapping?
I saw some layouts on a dog forum, and I was totally fascinated by them. So I tried it out myself and became addicted.

What program do you use to scrap?
Photoshop CS4

What is your favorite NSBR thing to do?
Photography

What are the top 5 songs on your list right now?
Oh that’s hard. I often listen to the radio. But if you ask for my favorite band, it’s The Rasmus, my favorite song is “Not like the other Girls”.

What accomplishment are you most proud of?
My creativity.

Are you musically inclined?
Yes, I play the piano, the violin and the guitar.

What inspires you?
My baby boy

What are your top 5 layouts you’ve ever done?

How do you start a layout?

I always choose a paper first and then look for some elements that I love and that will probably fit together.

What made you want to apply for your first CT?
I loved the stuff she created and was curious on CT work.

What did you want to be when you grew up?
A nurse.

How long does it take you to create a layout?
Between 1 and 4 hours.

Who are your scrapping/designing heros?
Oh that’s a difficult question. I love all the designers I am creative for. Beside that I am a fan of Kaye Winiecki who was one of my first CTs ever! I don’t have scrapping idols, but I am fan of so many ladies - there’s so much talent around in the galleries! But one of my all time favs - not only for scrappers but also because she’s a wonderful friend - is Summer!

Do you have a specific style?

I don’t think so.

Do you have a vision of what a layout will look like when you start it?

Never!

What would be your dream vacation?

I’d love to go to New Zealand or Canada with my family.

And no After 5 interview would be complete without this question…What is your favorite after hours drink?
I love Pina Colada, but only without alcohol.