Cassel | Creation Cassel

Challenge results

January 2, 2017May 10, 2014 by Cassel

Last week, in the newsletter, i provided a layered covered frame, in greyscale and challenged everyone to do something original with it. It was really interesting to see what people came up with.

Did you participate in that challenge?

This is not a challenge to win something, or accumulate points, but a challenge to simply encourage you to be creative and share your result to inspire others. It is so easy to use elements in a “traditional” way, while in fact, there is much more that one can do with Paintshop Pro.

Let’s have a look at those projects.

Garry has been a regular attendees to the live presentations.

He likely used the colors from the photo (a nice looking cat by the way) to colorize the frame. Simple, yet effective!

Judy provided 3 very different uses of the same starting image.

As she said, you don’t need to use all the individual ribbons separately, so she merged the ribbon layers, colorized them, and used the PSP curlicues effect.

Very different from Garry’s frame, isn’t it? but that’s not all.

Here is another frame made by Judy. She said:

“The green one is also layers merged, then colored with a pattern, then the PSP weave effect applied. The birds and bows were added just to show how you could frame a picture with this.”

Finally, this one is very colorful and likely took longer as each individual ribbon layer had to be colorized separately instead of merging all the layers.

I think this is a great use of the traditional blue, white and red colors for our American friends (i think the French ones would like it, if the 4th was switched to the 14th). Of course, the decorative elements inside add to the theme.

How about you? What could you make with that layered wrapped frame? Not a subscriber to the weekly newsletter? Not a problem. You can SUBSCRIBE now.

New script – Quick Scallops

May 10, 2014May 9, 2014 by Cassel

Scallops can be a delicate addition to the edges of elements. Although it is not too hard to make, we always love the idea of achieving that effect quickly and mostly, accurately.

This PSP script will do that for you much faster than you could do it by hand. In addition, it will always match the size of your element perfectly. You will not end up with a half scallop on the end of the ribbon or on the edge of the tag. The script will do the measuring perfectly. Furthermore, this will be extremely important if you want to add scallops on all four sides of an element, a photo or a mat.

What can you use this script on? Anything that has a straight, horizontal and vertical edge. It could be the bottom of a tag, a photo mat, a journaling card, a long ribbon, a frame, or more.

You can grab this time saving script in my store: Quick Scallops script.

What will YOU do with scallops?

If you want a chance to win this script, post your response in the RAK thread in the DST forum.

New script – Wrapped Frame–Round

May 3, 2014May 2, 2014 by Cassel

A few years ago, i wrote a tutorial on how to create a wrapped frame effect with Paintshop Pro. It is a fairly simple tutorial, but it is a long process, and requires precision.

Although you can surely do that yourself, using a tutorial in the Creative Scrap Course, you might also want the convenience and speed of using a script instead.

This is what i came up, when i was looking at that tutorial. You can use ANY ribbon you have, whether it is wide or thin, opaque or translucent, plain or patterned, or even if you are using a directional design on it (like that measuring tape in the preview).

But you are not limited to only one-size-fits-all type of frame. You can choose a frame from 400 pixels in diameter for a tiny photo to a 3000 pixels frame for a whole page. Furthermore, you can have a thin frame or a thick one. But you think that is all? Think again. You can also have the ribbons overlapping, to wrap the frame almost completely, or leave some obvious space between the ribbons for a totally different effect. Do you want the ribbons to look like they are around a thick base? Add a bevel. The script will also add a drop shadow to all the pieces if you want. Most of the time, that will be your choice, but in case you want to manipulate the end result more, maybe have some flipped ends, or something like that, you can skip the shadow step and add them yourself afterward.

And yes, since all the layers are left unmerged, you still have a lot of options to manipulate and tweak them to create something really custom.

The base frame is even left in there also for you to possibly use it as a template to create something else.

See what i did with the same frame:

What else could be done? Your imagination can go wild with this!

Grab this fun time saving script: the Wrapped Frame – Round script.

Did you ever wrap a frame with a ribbon like this? Tell me in this thread in the Happy Place for a chance to win it. I’ll be back next week with the name of a winner.

This week, i wanted to give you a little challenge.

In the newsletter, i will include this layered ribbon wrapped frame, in grey scale. It will be up to you to turn this “ordinary” looking frame into a piece of art.

It is fairly big (2000 pixels wide) so you will have plenty of room to do something cool. I saved it in PSD format, so all the non-PSP users can also get into the fun of it.

What can you do with it? Here are some ideas:

- colorize the layers (all or some)

- remove some layers to make room for something else

- use the base template to create a prettier base

- add decorative elements to the whole project, like a cluster

- resize copies of the frame to layer them

What else will you do? Make sure you check the newsletter tomorrow morning so you can work on this challenge and show us your result. You can post it on our Facebook page, in a comment below, or just send it to me by email and i can post it either in the store or the newsletter.

Time to have fun!

New tubes – Wool

April 26, 2014April 25, 2014 by Cassel

Do you like the look and feel of soft woolly elements? Are you looking for those elements all over the net to add to your graphic projects? Although you can probably find strings, ropes and ribbons, wool is harder to find because of that fuzzy texture that is terribly hard to extract. And if you are lucky enough to find one, it might not be in the color you want, or the shape or size or length you want. What can you do?

If you have Paintshop Pro, you can use these fun tubes. Yes they are tubes, which means you can simply draw with them and have a wool “string” in any shape, or length you want. You can use straight lines, place the wool along a vector shape (with the Vector Tube script), or just hand draw it.

This set includes 12 different colors. They are slightly different in size and texture, which will make for something more realistic, don’t you think?

You can grab this set of Wool tubes in my store. Remember they are 25% off until Tuesday.

If you want a chance to win this set, just check out the thread in the Happy Place and add your name to the thread and give me one suggestion on how these could be used. Who knows? I might just create something from your ideas!

What can you do with those? See what i did. I used a heart shape and since it was a vector, i just ran the VectorTube script on it. Then, on a new layer, i simply wrote, freehand, the phrase “I LOVE YOU”. Simple enough, isn’t it?

This actually reminds me of a little pillow i sewed fr my husband, many years ago. I did some simple patchwork on one side and on the plain side, i put the words “I Love You” in wool, but just sewed the wool on the fabric. I think we still have that pillow somewhere as i seem to remember seeing it not long ago when we moved things around.

What would you do with those?

New script – Engraved Rocks

April 17, 2021April 18, 2014 by Cassel

Whether you want to add a date, a name, an event or simply an inspirational quote, this script will help you create these elements in just a few seconds.

You can start with any single word, phrase, number or even a design and the script will create a rock based on the size of that text (or design). You can use any size you want and the end result will be about one an a half time the width of the text. Beware that very large image will be slower to create.

Since the script will create a DIFFERENT rock every time, maybe you have some preferences for lighter rocks or darker ones, or specific shapes might look better. Ask the script to create more than one (you can ask for as many as 20) and you can pick and choose which one you want to keep.

As a bonus, for each engraved rock the script creates, it will also generate a blank version of it. This will allow you to possibly “paint” something else on the rock or just have a blank one for another project.

Grab this inspirational script of Engraved Rocks in the store.

Do you want a chance to win this script? Head over to the Happy Place and tell me of one word you would like to see in a rock that you would use. Next week, i will draw for a winner, but not only that, EVERYONE who will post with their one word, will get an inspirational rock made with that word. So, you don’t even have to be a Paintshop Pro user to get a rock!

This week, i thought i could do something traditional, yet a little different. I created a series of 3 rocks with some common words “Live”, “Love” and “Laugh”, but i thought of adding a little twist by also creating a “Scrap” rock!

Each rock is around 500-600 pixels wide.

What do you think? This set of rocks will be sent out in the newsletter this weekend. Are you subscribed yet?

If not, subscribe now.

New script – Folded Edge

April 5, 2014April 4, 2014 by Cassel

Creating a folded edge on papers, photos or mats can add a definite 3D effect, but it is not always easy to do.

If you are using templates, with each folded piece on a separate layer, you can probably get away with using a plain type of paper, however, as soon as you want to use a patterned paper, or something directional, the templates will not give a realistic result.

Creating the folds manually is one way to get the correct angles on the patterns, but it is quite tedious to match the angles whether you are using the Pick tool or the Rotate function. But, yes, it can be done.

However, using this script will make the whole process much faster and more accurate.

You can use a single paper, and have it fold on itself with both sides being identical or you can pretend you have a two-sided paper, by using two different papers layered on top of each other before you run the script.

The folds will also be custom made. You will choose how many folds you will have, where they will be and how deep they will be because you will place the dots where you want, and the script will execute the commands based on those dots. You can have as many dots as you want, anywhere you want, for a custom look.

You can get this Folded Edge script in the store.

See how this script works:

Do you want a chance to win this script? Check out this thread. Tell me how you would create a folded edge if you didn’t have the script. I’ll be back next week with the name of a winner.

See what can be done with a photo and a slightly patterned paper as the “backing”:

What i did was open a large photo, and added a greyish paper on the layer below. I ran the script on one edge (the top one) first. Then, because it made for a lot of layers and because i was fairly happy with the default shadowing, i hid the photo and paper layers and merged the visible layers. That gave me one layer for all the top folds.

Then, i moved the photo and paper layers on top of the layer palette and ran the script for the right edge. Again, i merged all the little pieces for the right edge making sure i didn’t merge the ones from the top. This allowed me to erase the little bit that extended beyond the right edge (the script didn’t know i had run it on another edge before).

Then, i repeated the same thing for the other two edges. Finally, i just moved the photo below all the folded edge layers.

What do you think?

New script – Ribbon Tag Corners

January 19, 2021March 28, 2014 by Cassel

In traditional paper scrapbooking, what would you do with small bits and pieces of ribbons? I am sure you can think of many things you could do. In fact, i saw someone create fun little corners with ribbons and i figured it would be interesting to have a script to randomly select ribbons, cut pieces and a arrange them more or less like a corner and add a fastener.

I know, it is easy to cut two pieces of ribbons, and layer them together. But it is so much more fun to have the option to have 10 of them created in one run, all different and simply pick our favorite.

With this script, you can choose to have as many starting ribbons as you want, and you can create up to 10 corners at once. You also have 3 fastener options: brads, eyelets or staples. For the brads and eyelets, you can choose the color or pattern you want so it is easy to have something that matches the actual ribbons you are using, or you can have a metallic pattern for them too. If you choose staples, there are some staples that come from Rachael’s Scraps, included in the script. Or you can also choose to have no fastener added by the script so you can add your own, like a button, a gem, stitching, or any other element you have in your stash.

You can grab this fun Ribbon Tag Corners script in my store.

You have a chance to win this script for free by adding your name to this thread in the forum. I’ll be back next week with the name of a winner.

cass-RibbonCorner As a sample of what you can do with this script, i have this one. I started with 3 ribbons from Rachael’s and generated 5 corners. I only picked one to work with.

First, i chose the eyelet as a fastener and used a gold pattern instead of a solid color. I think it turned out pretty good.

I added shadows on separate layers for the ribbons and using the Warp Brush, i tweaked the shadows on the ends of the ribbons to give the impression that they were lifted.

For the eyelet, i thought it would be cool to imagine that the ribbons were thick and the eyelet was very tight so i selected a circle almost as large as the eyelet itself, inverted the selection and then, on the top ribbon, i added a wide inner bevel. That is what gives that impression that the ribbon is “indented” by the eyelet. Isn’t that a cool effect?

You need to be logged in to download this sample. You can either login, or register on the top of this page.

New brushes – Corner punches A and B

February 25, 2017March 21, 2014 by Cassel

Last week, i released a set of brushes to be used like corner punches are used in the traditional paper crafting world. Those brushes are really brush tips that can be used with the Eraser tool to punch out the design but they can also be used with the Brush tool to add a corner “stamp” to the projects.

These brushes were so well received that i thought of making a second set, using mostly circles (the first ones were using mostly squares). They work exactly in the same way.

Each set includes 12 different designs, in two sizes: 500 pixels if you are using PSPX and older and a 999 pixels if you are using a newer PSP version. Of course, you can always size them down when you use them to match your particular project. Add a rotation and you can punch all four corners.

(and there is also a set for PS and PSE users!).

You can get those sets here:Set A and Set B.

There is still another thread in the DST forum where you can add your name and have a chance to win this Set B. Check out this thread, and tell me what graphic program you are using. I’ll be back next week with the name of a winner.

Are you unsure how to install brushes in PSP? No worries. I uploaded a short video tutorial just for you. You might also want to subscribe to this new channel so you can see the newest videos i will upload as i do.

If you are not yet subscribed to the newsletter, get on that list now! It is free to register and you get advanced notice of sales, and exclusive tips and tricks to make you more efficient with your PSP.

Register NOW

New script – Stitched Edges 2

January 19, 2021February 28, 2014 by Cassel

If you love the look of stitching around the edge of elements, letters and shapes, you will LOVE this script. It is using a simple tube to create the stitching, and another tube for the holes.

Using any vector shape, you will just run a free script (that you’ll have to download separately) and follow the steps. The script integrates various options, like the width of the edge, the puffiness, the texture of the element and even the color of the stitching as it will colorize it for you. However, in the end, you will have unmerged layers, so you can tweak the color further, or add other details to the element, like shading, stains, or other printing.

Use preset shapes or draw your own. It is also great to create alpha in a (almost) single operation.

The zip file includes the thread and hole tubes that you can also use separately, in other projects.

You can grab this Stitched Edges 2 script in my store.

If you want a chance to win this script, check out this thread in the Happy Place and tell me what element you can think would really use some stitching around. I’ll be back next week with the name of a winner.

cass-StitchedEdge2-sample-WhiteDigits For this week, i decided to play with the idea of creating a whole alpha in one run with this script. I started with the digits (as there were fewer elements in the end). On a large image, i typed in the digits in white. I had to adjust the kerning to make sure the letters would not touch each other when the edge was added. Then, i ran the script. Everything went smoothly from there. I added the texture that came with the Clothes Label script to give a more “fabric” texture to those puffy digits.

Once the whole set of 10 digits was done, sewn and puffed, i just used the Alpha Sheet Separator script to cut out, and save all the individual files. That took less than one minute!

You need to be logged in to download this sample. You can either login, or register on the top of this page.

With the speed and ease of doing this set of digits, i could not help myself than repeat the process with the full alpha! And you can get it in the newsletter. If you have not yet subscribed, fill out the form on the left.

News from the Campus

This month, the live presentation will be about directional tubes. Do you know about those? Do you know what they are? Did you ever use them? Although you might know that Picture tubes are unique to Paintshop Pro, you will love to learn that the directional tubes are so much more powerful!

Join us this Sunday, March 2nd, at 5pm Eastern Time.

New script – Custom Playing Cards

January 19, 2021February 21, 2014 by Cassel

You can be an Ace, or a King or a Queen all you want with this fun script. Although you could, conceivably have a separate template for all 52 cards of a deck, this script will just do the cards you want without the need to search for the correct template.

You can have four of a kind, or a full house, or a royal flush in hand.

Just pick the value and the suit for the card and the script will create it. Then, open the photo you want to display and the script will take care of resizing it, and will create a mask for you so you can actually SEE what it looks like as you can move, resize or rotate your image in that “space”. If the image is higher than the card, the script will resize it. If your image is in a landscape format, you will get the option to either keep the full height of the image or to use two halves of the central space.

You can get this fun script and create your own Custom Playing Cards in the store.

For a chance to win this script, check outthis thread in the DST forum and add your name to the thread. Also, remember to give me an idea on how you could use this script for something OTHER than a game theme project.

cass-CustomPlayingCard-sample-Aces For this week, i decided to give you a template for 4 aces. I am sure you can enjoy havnig 4 aces up your sleeve, right?

Each card is full size, meaning 900 x 1300 pixels and has a separate layer for the center image. Since it is saved in a PSD format, you don’t have to have Paintshop Pro to use it.

What will you display with those cards? Four loves of your life? Four places you have visited? Four children or siblings? Maybe four seasons of the same location? Or four funny faces you have of yourself (or someone else)?

You can use one card or all four too.

You need to be logged in to download this sample. You can either login, or register on the top of this page.