Class Is Out...

What to blog, what to blog... I have so much to blog about lately and never the time. The past four weeks whenever I sit down to my computer to do something "fun", I immediately log on to JessicaSprague.com to work on another one of my lessons. Yesterday I finally finished my final layout and thought I would share some of the fun things I learned in this excellent class.


Week One:

(All papers and embellishments from Jessica Sprague's Up and Running Course materials.)

This layout was pretty basic. Mostly we learned about Photoshop's basics, such as opening papers and pictures, knowing where and using some of the basic tools, some of the shortcuts we use often, some basics on layers and how to save a document for the web or for printing, etc. The background was already set, we just added the embellishment, the photo, the frame around the photo, the title, date and the journaling. Here is my page with some details on what we learned:


We also were given midweek assignments each week to build on what we already learned and sometimes to teach another small skill. Here is the layout:

(All papers and embellishments from Beautiful You Mini Kit by Jessica Sprague)

This background was also done for us. We opened a photo, converted it to black and white, copied the photo to this document, and then rearranged the layers so that the photo peeks through the window. Then we added journaling to the journaling block and had to remember how to adjust the "leading" so it would sit on the lines correctly.



Week 2:

(Papers, Embellishments, Digital Brushes and Alphabet all from Jessica Sprague's Up and Running Course materials)

This layout was created on another already "put-together" background. Here is my page with some details of what we learned this week:


Our midweek assignment was to use some paper and digital brushes that she gave us to download and create a layout using multiple photos. This was a little tricky, as I was used to going off her already created designs. This is what I came up with on my own:

(White paper from Whitie Tighties Paper Pack by Amy Teets, Party Moments Stamp from Stamped Moments
Brush Set by Katie Pertiet at DesignerDigitals.com, Brown, Aqua and Striped papers and flower embellishment
all from Ronna Penner's free Express Yourself Kit)

Week 3:

(All papers, ribbon, alphabet and embellishments from Jessica Sprague's Up and Running Course materials)

This was our first layout from scratch. Here are all the details of this layout:



Our midweek assignment for week 3 was to learn and use templates. Wow, this was amazing!! Using a template is like using sketches in paper scrapbooking, except you get to just take the sketch and plunk down your elements right onto it. Seriously, AMAZING. This was beyond fun and I could totally see myself doing a majority of my digital scrapping this way. I didn't even know this existed when I started this class. You can find tons of templates out there and then you just customize them to your needs. Here is one of the templates she gave us to use:

(Digital Template designed by Jen Caputo at ScrapbookGraphics.com, donated for class use.)

This is how it looks when you open it in Photoshop. Then you just pinpoint each layer on the template and drag your papers right onto them. Using an easy keystroke, you "clip" your papers/photos/embellishments so they fit right into each section/layer. It takes literally minutes to create an entire layout. Even the journaling is just a double-click on the words and then write your own! Here is my layout from this template:

(All papers from free Shabby Fall Kit from ShabbyPrincess.com, Title uses Cry Kitty font downloaded free)

Here is the second template she gave us:

(Digital Template designed by Jen Caputo at ScrapbookGraphics.com, donated for class use.)

And here is my layout from this template:

(All papers from Ronna Penner's free Express Yourself Kit)

Week 4:

Week four was our last week in this class. I was so sad to see it come so quickly. Here is the weekly assignment layout for this week:

(All supplies used from Jessica Sprague's Up and Running Course materials)

And here are the details of what we did on this layout:



Our midweek assignment for this last week was to create a 3-photo block in a trapezoid shape, which she had a video tutorial on and then make a layout using those photos. She gave us a small paper kit to work with, but the rest was our own doing. I think I spent a few hours on this last night trying to make it look "just right". Here is the final product:

(Papers and Flower overlay from Jessica Sprague's Festa Mini Kit provided free to course participants, Font for "Smiles" word
is Adine-Kirnberg Script downloaded free, Title "Dirty" and date is from Katie Pertiet Acrylic Alphabet provided free for
class participants, journaling font is Pea Jamie B downloaded from Fonts For Peas *Thanks Brenda!*)

I was pretty darn proud of myself when it was all said and done. I even went out to good ol' Google to find out how to make my journaling fit inside a circle and figured it out on my own.

All in all, this class was so worth every penny spent. The next class is the second in her series of teaching digital scrapbooking in Photoshop. It starts in a couple weeks and I can't wait. You can go to her website and sign up to be notified when she'll be teaching another beginner course, also. They just revamped her entire website yesterday and are now offering a lot more classes. Go check it out at JessicaSprague.com. I also subscribe to her blog where she often adds little tips and tricks and Photoshop Phriday Tutorials. I know there's a lot of free tutorials and websites out there that can teach you the basics for free, but I loved the way this was so organized and set up to get you running from the ground up. I can't recommend it enough.