Simply Kelly Designs

2 Ways To Convert A Color Photo to Black And White In Photoshop Elements

Kelly — Mon, 27 Feb 2012 13:08:48 +0000

One simple way to make a photo pop in a layout is to convert the photo from color to black and white. In the layout on the right my eye is immediately drawn to the black and white photo.

layout uses Celebrate Kit and Slightly Skewed Template from Simply Kelly Designs

Here are 2 easy ways ways to create this effect in Photoshop Elements 10.

1. Convert To Black And White Menu Option

This menu option is a destructive change. The change is made to the actual photo layer.

- Select the layer of the photo you want to change.
- Go to the Enhance Menu.
- Select Convert to Black and White

2. Hue/Saturation Mask

The hue/saturation mask in a non-destructive change. The mask is created in its own layer above the photo layer.

- Select the layer of the photo you want to change.
- Go to the bottom of the layer’s palette and select the half gray/half white circle to create an adjustment layer.

- Select Hue/Saturation.

- The Saturation level is initially set at 0. Pull the Saturation slider all the way to the left to remove all color.

- There will be a Hue/Saturation Layer above the photo in the layers palette. Right now the Hue/Saturation layer is applied to the photo and all layers underneath the photo including any papers or embellishments.

- Create a clipping mask to apply the Hue/Saturation layer to just the photo. Select the Hue/Saturation layer and then go to Layer->Create Clipping Mask in the menu.

I hope this tutorial helps you add some pop to your scrapbook layouts!

February Swap

Kelly — Fri, 24 Feb 2012 23:01:21 +0000

This month I was matched with Janet of Little Feet Digital Designs for the Simply Kelly Designs layout swap. I sent her photos and journaling of Kara working on her family crest with a note that I would like her to include the date on the layout. Janet sent me this amazing page!

color scribble by Nicole Young's Outside The Lines Kit, Everything else by Janet (Little Feet Digital Designs)

I absolutely adore it!!! It keeps the focus on the photos of my sweet girl and definitely evokes the memory of working on that project with Kara.

Janet sent me 6 photos to create a page about one of her life goals. I think this is a great way to write down what you want to do and it has inspired me to create a concrete bucket list.I know generally what I would like to accomplish in my head with a few specifics but it would be great to have a list I can cross things off on. Here’s the layout I created for Janet.

Facebook Collab by OScraps

My favorite photo is of the little girl standing in the middle of the road with her hands on her hips! I can see her wondering in her head where to go next.

Next time you are stuck on a layout, the solution might be to swap photos with another scrapper and see what happens. I love our monthly layout swap!

Facebook Freebie

Kelly — Wed, 22 Feb 2012 22:04:23 +0000

This two page PSD template is my first Facebook fan freebie.

“Like” the Simply Kelly Designs Facebook page and you will get access to this free template in the Fan Freebie tab on the left side of the page. Enjoy!

Pink Layout Inspiration

Kelly — Thu, 16 Feb 2012 16:11:21 +0000

I mentioned a few weeks ago on Facebook that I have been seeing pink in most of my layouts. The cause is that my daughter is going through a princess phase. There seems to always be a tiara on her head when she is in the house. That is in contrast to when she was younger and only wanted to wear blue! I miss those days because blue is my favorite color. Here is some pink layout inspiration for you thanks to Kara.

This first layout is from when she brought cupcakes to school on her birthday. She was very specific in requesting Hello Kitty cupcakes with pink icing. Take note of the pink princess birthday tiara on her head!

Hey Cupcake Kit by Ellie Lash | October 2011 Challenge Template by Scrapping With Liz

When she is not being a girly girl, Kara is out running – literally. She loves to run and recently did a 1 mile race (4 times around the track at one of the local high schools). She finished the mile in 12:07. I am not sure I can do the mile that fast!

Runner Girl Kit by Simply Kelly Designs | Template 25 of 52 Templates by Simply Tiffany Studio

Do you have any pink layout inspiration for me? Please link me up!

New Release: Lucky Template

Kelly — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 12:30:56 +0000

A few weeks ago I was thinking about making a template for Valentine’s Day or one for St. Patrick’s Day and then I came up with a design perfect for both!

The Lucky Template is a 4 leaf clover with leaves in the shape of hearts! Here’s how I used this template.

Lucky Template by Simply Kelly Designs | Love Birds Kit by Simply Kelly Designs

Here’s more layout inspiration from my creative team.

Layout by CT member Miranda | Lucky Template by Simply Kelly Designs | Romantique Kit by Tracy Martin Scrapbook Designs

Layout by CT member Diane | Lucky Template by Simply Kelly Designs | Anna Aspnes ArtPlay Palette Autumnal, Snow Paperie, Script Tease Learn No 1, Artsy Layered Template No 6 (flares and plumes) | Maya de Groot Artsy Fartsy, All About, An Altered Treat | Melanie Britt Scrabble Freebie

The Lucky Template is 30% off through February. Snatch it up to document what makes you lucky!

Family Crest

Kelly — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 12:55:28 +0000

Kara had homework to create a large family crest. She was provided with a large white piece of poster board in the shape of a crest (from Oriental Trading). This was the end result.

The assignment was to divide the crest into four parts 1) number of people in the family 2) last name 3) favorite family activity 4) favorite family vacation/food/pet. We had a family discussion and decided that attending and participating in running races is our favorite family activity. Kara picked out all the photos and paper. I lined up and adhered the paper to the poster board. Then Kara did the rest. I had to help her spell Busch Gardens. Overall it took us about an hour to do and we both enjoyed it! I hope one day Kara will scrapbook with me!

New Release: Project 365 Template Set 3

Kelly — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 12:04:45 +0000

The last two years it has taken me a few weeks into the year to decide how I want to do my Project 365 and this year was no different. My main goal was to keep the design simple so that it would take me less time to do the layouts. The last two years I opted for a template design where I could easily change the size and orientations of my photos. That made the designs more flexible but it did take me longer to do the layouts. This year with my Project 365 Template Set 3, I am using fixed size photos to keep the layouts easier and faster to create.

The end product of my Project 365 layouts is a photo book so this year I opted to create templates with a distinct left and right side. All of my odd weeks will use the left side templates and all of my even weeks will use my right side templates. This template set contains 4 left side and 4 right side templates in PSD, TIFF and PNG formats.

Here are my first two weeks of 2012.

Project 365 Template Set 3 by Simply Kelly Designs | Little Stacker Kit by Simply Kelly Designs

CT member Diane used the template to scrap week 2 of her Project 365. I love how Diane blended in a photo for the background. Just beautiful!

Project 365 Template Set 2 by Simply Kelly Designs | Anna AspnesProject 366 Word Art 1 | ArtPlay Palettes Sophistica | Something Springy and Artsy Blenz Snow Paperie

CT member Miranda used the template and my Little Stacker Kit for her son’s pirate birthday party. She has one cute pirate!

The Project 365 Template Set 3 is 30% off through February, 2012. Snatch it up now to quickly and easily preserve your memories!

2011 Project 365 Photo Book

Kelly — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 15:14:35 +0000

Yesterday afternoon I was curled up with a book when I heard a loud knock on the door. My kids were napping so I was not too happy about the loud sound until I got to the door and saw a bright orange package from Shutterly! Inside was my my 2011 Project 365 photo book!

I was super excited to open up the package and examine the book! It was amazing all the little memories that the photos and journaling reminded me of. My kids have changed so much in the past year and it is wonderful to have this keepsake to document our 2011.

I was thrilled when my kids looked through the book this morning and commented on almost every photo!

I used my Project 365 Template Set 2 to create all my layouts for this photo book. How do you capture your Project 365? Photo book? Individual layouts? Online gallery?

I will share with you next week how I am doing my Project 365 layouts this year!

My Chibi

Kelly — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 20:18:47 +0000

I turned 35 last year. Whenever I have a milestone birthday I like to commemorate it with a drawing or some time of art based on me. My friend Kristy of Some Odd Girl hand drew and colored a chibi based on a photo of myself that I sent her. I also sent her some details of my personality. Here is the chibi that Kristy created for me at 35!

I just adore it. I love the fact that my hair is black with white streaks – yes, I am going gray! My chibi is so simple and wearing blue (my favorite color). If you are interested in having Kristy do a fun chibi for you, you can find all the info here.

January Swap

Kelly — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 13:57:54 +0000

January is the fourth month that we have been doing layout swaps in the Simply Kelly Designs Forum. This month I sent photos and journaling to Miranda from a Goo Goo Dolls concert that I went to with my husband. Miranda told me she initially had to google the band but in the end she knew who they were. I was really at a loss on how to scrap these photos but Miranda created this awesome layout for me!

Rapsody Digital Kit from PxLCafe.com

I love how Miranda highlighted the photos of the band and enlarged the photo of me and my husband for the background.

I received photos and journaling from Hannah about a cookie recipe that has been passed down through 4 generations. I thought about doing a traditional cookie recipe layout but the cookies are called monster cookies so I went with a monster theme.

Lil' Monster Kit by Everyday Mom Ideas Designs

Are you interested in participating in February’s swap? You can find all the info on the swap here and signup here. You will need to register for the forum first to see the forum threads. I hope you will join us!