Challenge - Digital Challenge 10/6/06 - Using Text as a Design Element

Your challenge this week is to use text as a design element or to make patterned paper with one or multiple fonts. Another fun thing to use is one or more of the fun hand drawn picture fonts like the new 2 Peas All Hallows Eve or any dingbat font. You can make word circles (if you have PS, check out the tutorial in the digital section of 2 Peas on how to type text on a path). Or use an X from a hand drawn font to make some stitching. I can’t wait to see what you come up with.

To create this layout, I used Adobe Photoshop CS2.

1. I opened a new 11 x 8.5 document. I left the background white. I used the Horn shape from the 2 Peas Holy Cow Shape Shifter kit and Transform>Rotate>RotateCCW (under the Edit menu) to turn it the way I wanted.

2. I used a clipping mask and the small stripe paper from the 2 Peas Holy Cow Designer kit to make it a striped shape. I put a stroke around it in brown (stroke is one of the layer styles at the bottom of the layers palette, the f with the circle around it) **If you’re not familiar with clipping masks or grouping and have PS or PSE check out the tutorials in the Digital section of 2 Peas on how to use these wonderful functions.

3. I copied and pasted the green textured cardstock from the 2 Peas Holy Cow Shape Shifters kit on a layer below the Horn shape so it would go behind it.

4. Next, I placed my photo on top of that with a frame from the 2 Peas Holy Cow Designer kit on top of the photo.

5. Using my move tool, I pulled on the oval tag from the 2 Peas Holy Cow Designer kit and reduced it in size using the Free Transform tool so it would fit under the photo of each person but not obscure the tie. I copied it twice so that I could put one below each photo.

6. To get rid of the journaling lines, I opened a new layer above the three oval tags and painted over the lines using my brush tool and white.

7. I used the type tool to write out “A bit crooked”, “Perfect” & “A bit chubby” using the 2 Peas Handwritten font.

8. Using my move tool I pulled on the scrolled label from the 2 Peas Holy Cow Designer kit and used the 2 Peas Old Type font to type my journaling.

9. I opened a new layer below the Horn shape (so that the type would run behind it) and typed out my large title text “The Art of Tying the Tie” on the left side of the layout. I did each word on its own layer.

10. I added the OH BOY word art embellishment in the center of the “O.”

11. Last, I used the X from the 2 Peas Handwritten font to make my stitching. I typed out four X’s and then copied them and used my Free Transform tool to turn them so they followed the curve of the Horn shape.