Oh Martha Marta!!

For the month of December, I had the pleasure of working with Marta Van Eck's designs, which really helped me to flex my fantasy muscles (hee hee) and create some scrap-art.

I chose to play with her Christmas Carol packs. She has an Element Pack, a Patterned Papers Pack, and a Scene Papers Pack (and she is currently having a sale).

I don't feel particularly skilled at making fantasy pages. I am, in fact, intimidated by them in general. I decided to try my hand at a scene layout, and did an extraction to do so. The magnetic lasso tool is my usual stand-by for extractions, but I really wanted to use a masking tool in case I made mistakes. I don't know the "usual" way to make a mask, so I "snuck" my mask by using the "Smart Brush Tool" set to "Brighten" for the background, and then selecting the inverse (I think) to select my mask. I somehow ended up applying it as a clipping mask type of deal. Not sure I if I could recreate it if I tried, but if you know an easier way to make a mask in PSE, please let me know. LOL.

Anyway, when you make a mask, you can add to or take away from the mask without destroying your picture. I'm sure there is a better way to explain this, but anyway, that is what I did. Eventually I got the mask to work and I made this:



It looks like I worked really hard, doesn't it? But, honestly, it was super easy to make. The hardest part was the extraction!!! The scene paper I chose had the tree and fireplace already set for me. I added the ornaments, and the wreath on the wall. I added a few presents by the tree (there were already a few), a rocking horse, the filled vase, the chair and pillow and I was done! (Well, I added shadowing too.) I am not saying I'm a pro, but my layout looks like I knew what I was doing, doesn't it? It was really easy! So, if you can pull off an extraction, I'd definitely give this a shot. Marta made it too easy for me! :)

I made a second page using the elements and her patterned paper pack. It comes with 18 papers! They are all really beautiful and unique. I made this layout using one of my favorite photos of Chase when he was a baby. I've scrapped 3 layouts using this photo, but this one is probably my favorite ... (I LOVE BLUE!).



So, Martha Marta ... thank you for stretching me to think outside the box and make these two beautiful pages! (or at least I think they rock!)

~Melinda