Four Seasons Clipping Masks AND a Freebie!

Well, I was supposed to be working on Back-to-School clipping (photo) masks but I got distracted when I discovered these other masks I had start to create awhile back! I decided to finish them up first, then go on to the Back-to-School masks.

I had a lot of fun creating these, and then using them in layouts. Here is my layout using all four masks:

(paper & element by Amy Clegg)

You could do a similar layout with photos of your kids from each season, or your baby's first year of seasons, document your garden in each season, whatever your imagine comes up with!

The masks work great individually, too:

My photos are only so-so (I am not a great photographer -- yet), but if you've got totally awesome photos of the four seasons in your area, you could do them individually like the layouts above, perhaps use a more coordinating background than I have, print them out, and frame and hang them as a quartet as home decor. I can envision that looking pretty nice! Or, how cute would it be to do the same thing with baby's first year photos, framed in white, and hung in baby's room?

I'm getting some great ideas, and I hope you are, too.

You can get all four of these clipping masks in my online store here for just $1.49!

If you'd like to try one of the masks first (FREE!), simply sign up to be notified via email whenever I update my blog. Use the "Opt In" button on the left-hand side of my blog and, in the comments section of the form, indicate which mask you'd like. I'll send it to you via return email.

Thx for stopping by!

Happy Birthday Freebie for Digital Scrapbookers

Today is my birthday so I have a gift for you: two photo masks for birthday layouts!

I made these really large, they nearly fill a 12 x 12 canvas so in addition to resizing the mask and using it for a single photo, you could leave it at the large size and put a collage of photos inside (something I've been wanting to try).
Download them both at 4shared or mediafire along with a copy of my new Terms of Use which states that my digital designs and products are ALL copyright-free!

{Sorry, links have expired, but you can still get the photo masks here.}

You may recall a tutorial that I wrote recently on how to use photo masks? A lot of you downloaded it, and left me nice comments or sent emails. I'm glad to hear it was useful for so many of you. Because at least one person (who is using PSE 5 & who has become a goldmine in feedback) was still having trouble I added some more descriptive step-by-step instructions. I've updated the tutuorial and re-uploaded it to 4shared and mediafire. If you are using an earlier version of Elements, and had trouble with the first version of the tutorial, try this new one!

The tutorial is also copyright-free per my TOU so go ahead and share it with your friends and fellow digi-scrappers, pass around the link, or even post the contents on your own blog or website. Credit to me is appreciated but not required, as are small donations.

If you'd like to give ME a birthday gift? Send me your layouts (or a link to them) using any of my products! I really enjoy seeing what people do with my humble offerings. There are so many talented designers out there Be sure to let me know whether or not it's ok to use your layout on my blog and/or website.

Stop back by soon for more FREE photo masks - in honor of Father's Day and Graduation.

Now, go scrapbook something!

FREE Tutorial - Creating Digital Photo Masks

You've seen layouts like these:

So fun! Made using a photo mask to shape the photo, or as a layer with the photo on top, or in lots of other ways.

Lots of digital designers (including me) offer these photo/word masks for sale. But did you know these masks are super-easy to make??? You can custom-design your own, using just the right word for the layout you have in mind, or use your child's name, or your family's last name, or use two or more words, the possibilities are endless.

Want to know how to make these masks? Just click here (4shared) or here (mediafire) for a tutorial (in Word format). This tutorial is FREE for a limited time after which it will be available in my online store for only $1.

INCLUDED is a second, bonus tutorial detailing two quick and easy ways to USE your photo masks once you've created them.

And, in accordance with my latest Terms of Use, these tutorials are copyright-free. Share them with your friends!

NOTE: I would love feedback on my tutorials ('cuz I'm kind of a newbie at writing them). If you find them difficult to use, or the instructions are not clear, etc., please let me know! Use the "Contact Me" button on the right-hand side of my blog. Thanks!!!