Boho Junk Journal Flip Through

I finished this Boho junk journal a couple months ago, but finally took some photos to share. I created many of the printables as I was learning Photoshop Elements. I used some of my batik fabric stash and scraps, plus some sari silk in places. A mix of unique papers came from recent swaps. I love the word-strip quotes that I placed throughout the JJ. 

I sewed in four 8-page signatures, for a total of 128 pages.

About half of the pages are for journaling.

Batik fabric on the cover. I added some sheer fabric with gold feathers that I received in a swap. Finally, I used a sari silk ribbon for a closure.

Turned out pretty chunky! I added some brass tinkle bells. They really do make a fun tinkle sound when I move the JJ.

The music pages in this JJ are from Clair De Lune by Debussy. It was music I've had ever since I learned to play this while taking piano lessons. I've been waiting for just the right JJ to use it in. The music seems to fit the boho theme, and I wanted to use it in a JJ I would be keeping for myself.

Inside the back cover -- a tri-fold tag with pockets.

Thanks for stopping by.

Free Printables: Tabbed Pockets

These measure 4 inches wide by about 2-3/4 inches high. I loved using the letters that look like old-fashioned typewriter keys. (I learned to type on a typewriter like that. My parents had splurged on it when my dad was in college so my mom could type up his papers. And they had it well into the late 1960s.)

Enjoy.

Free Printables: Retro Christmas Tags

Just playing with some fun retro Christmas images. I wanted to make some tags with different shapes. Hence the Gothic arch-shaped tags and the Christmas stocking-shaped tags below.

I loved using this image that also had a Gothic arched window with stained glass.

And who can resist a stained-glass rose window.

And here are the two Christmas-stocking tags.

Enjoy!

Photoshop Elements Blending Modes -- Variations on a Theme

One of the unique capabilities in Photoshop and Photoshop Elements is changing how one layer (an image) blends with the layer below it (another image or background or color). I created a simple bee-themed printable. Then I added kind of a grunge layer and tried out different blending modes with that layer to see the different results. Here are those results. (If you see any you like, you may download and use.)

Here's the printable without the grunge layer.

A very "clean" and simple image, but I like it. But then again, I pretty much 

like anything with bees and beehives!

And now with the grunge layer added. Each image below used a different blend mode for the grunge layer.

This used the "Soft Light" blending mode.

You can see a little texture along the edges. Since the grunge layer 

was in different browns and rust colors, the resulting image has a little more warmth to it. 

This one uses the "Darker Color" blend mode. The grunged edges 

show up nicely, while the honeycomb background is still fairly light. 

I like the contrast and how the edges work well with the color of the bee.. 

This used the "Multiply" blending mode. Similar to the previous one, 

but the honeycomb background darkened a bit more as you can see.

This uses the "Luminosity" blending mode. The background became very neutral, 

which makes the "A Bee C" the main focal point of the printable. 

I'm surprised at how much I like these results, except that the 

honeycomb background disappeared. But when I switched the order

of the grunge and honeycomb layers, this was the result (below).

Now the honeycomb background shows up and the overall background is once again neutral.

So that was a fun experiment. I usually play around with the blending modes while I'm designing printables (there are a couple dozen of them). Some work better than others for a particular layer.

Enjoy!