It’s time once again for SSD’s Going, Going Gone sale.  The following products of mine are all 50% off through September 3rd, then they will be retired. Just click on a preview to see the product in the shop.

Items in Penny Candy are also 50% off through the duration of the GGG sale.  Afterwards they will remain in the store at 30% off their original price.

Sometimes trying something new can be a bit intimidating and I went through several processes until I found one that worked for me.  Thought I’d share it here for others who may want to try.

First I identified a photo I wanted to use as my primary background photo.  We spent a few days this summer with friends an family on Jetty Island and my mom got this great shot that capture the sand, water and surrounding mountains.

Next I ‘hide’ the photo background so I could scrap my remaining photos. You can hide and layer by clicking on the eye icon to the left of it in the layers palette. To scrap the rest of my photos, I decided to use this template from Cindy Schneider’s Set 96.

I focused only on creating the cluster around the photos and deleted the templates background layers.

Unhiding my background photo by clicking on the eye icon again, I ended up with something that looks like this.

I resized and moved the photo cluster.  To easily move them all at once, I held down the control key and clicked on each layer in the layers palette.  Then I clicked the links icon (looks like a chain) at the bottom of the layers palette.  Once linked, layers will move and resize together.  See the Creating Your First Page tutorial for an introduction to moving and resizing. I ended up moving around a few elements and added my title.

As a last touch I used a mask from Sanded Photo Masks 2 to rough up the edges on the main photo. A tutorial on photo masks is available here.

Credits: Shore Thing by Misty Cato and Amanda Heimann, Sanded Photo Masks 2 by Misty Cato, Cindy’s Layered Templates Set 96

1. Cooking Time by Thaty Borges and Kristin Aagard
2. Sweet Afternoon Bits and Pieces by Flergs
3. Jaune et gris by Flergs
4. Reflections by Miki
5. Are We There Yet? by Dawn Inskip
6. 3 Little Words by Rosey Posey
7. Mademoiselle by JMdesigns
8. Baby Bee Garden by Lorie Davison

I love layouts in which photos take center stage.  These templates are based off of some of my own recent pages.

Here is a look at how my creative team and the SSD Babes put them to use.

If you like these templates, be sure not to miss Go Large 1 and Go Large 2.

1. No. 1 Fan by Sara Schmutz
2. Stitched Alpha by Karen Funk
3. Vintage Findings – Black and Cream Papers by Jen Allyson
4. Rocketman by Deena Rutter
5. Modern Master Templates by Tiffany Tillman
6. Renewed Spirit Collaboration by Agnes Biro and Yellow Butterfly Designs
7. Direction Alphabet by Robyn Meierotto
8. Favorite Things Papers by Gennifer Bursett

Those of you arriving from Amanda and Millie’s Designs, you’ve successfully arrived at the next stop.

To my regular readers who may be new to the the DST Blog Train.  The train is a large group of designers who have all put together mini kits or products using the same color scheme. By following the ‘train’ to each site, you can collect a host of coordinating goodies.  If you’d like to see a list of participants and a preview of the freebies, stop by the Blog Train Blog.

Here is a look at my contribution (links below preview).

These are direct downloads.  They will be up for the month of August, so if you have trouble this first couple of days, come back later in the month when traffic decreases.  The first download includes the patterned papers and elements, the second is coordinating set of simple solids.

Hip Chick Papers and Elements (25MB)

Hip Chick Simple Solids (15MB)

If you like these, I invite you to sign up for my weekly newsletter which includes information about my latest products, freebies and digital scrapbooking tips and tutorials.

Next stop … Word Art World.