Note: Tutorial is written using Photoshop Elements.

 

In this tutorial, I'm going to show you one way to use a variety of styles and patterns with the ScrapSimple Embellishment Templates: Beads to create a mixed look of metals and stone when creating your own digital scrapbooking embellishments. First, I opened the Bead Templates in PSE.

 

Next, I have to decide what I want my final product to look like. So what I have done is use the Fill Bucket to color the digital scrapbooking stones the way I want my beads.

As you can see here, I'm going to have three different looks/styles to my beads. Now, since I'm going to be adding different styles to each bead, I need to create new layers to do this.

 

The first thing I have done is select my Magic Wand Tool and chosen a white bead from my template. Once that has been selected, you will see the marching ants appear around the bead. Then go up to the Tool Bar across the top and choose Select> Similar.

You will now see the marching ants around all the white beads. To create a new layer with just the white beads on it, hold down the Ctrl key and press the "J" key. This will create a new layer.

Follow the above steps again for the black beads, making sure your first layer is your active layer when choosing your beads.

Once you have followed the above steps, you will have three layers. The bottom layer will be the original bead template that has been colored, and above that will be one layer with the white beads and then one with the black beads. Before we are ready to add our colors and styles to the beads, we will need to do one last thing... get rid of the white and black beads on the original layer.

 

Turn off the visibility of the top two layers. To do this, click on the "eye" next to each of them. Next, with the Magic Wand Tool, select the orange stone and then go to your Tool Bar and choose Select> Similar. Once you have the marching ants around all your orange beads, you are once again going to go to the Tool Bar across the top and choose Select> Inverse. What this will do is select everything except for the orange beads.

 

Press Delete and your black and white beads will be erased. Then press Ctrl+D to get rid of the marching ants.

 

Now we get to apply the styles to our beads. The first thing I'm going to do is add a new Fill Layer to my beads. To do this, with the layer active, go to New> Layer> New Fill Layer> Pattern.

 

Once you have done this, a box will come up asking you to rename the layer. Click "OK" and another box will come up. In this box you will be able to choose which pattern you want to add to your beads. For this I chose the ScrapSimple Tools - Patterns: Paint 2101.

 

Once I have my pattern applied, I then change the Blend Mode of it to get my desired look. To do this, I use the drop-down list in the Layers Palette.

 

Once I got the look I wanted, I merged the visible layers using the drop menu in the Layers Palette. You must do this step; if you don't and you try to add a bevel to these stones, it will add it to the pattern only.

 

Finally to finish off that stone, I add an Inner Bevel to it.

 

Now I'm going to make my next layer active, and I'm going to choose to fill these stones with blue and add a bevel. First, I use the Magic Wand to select a black diamond, and then I go to Select> Similar. This will choose all the black diamonds. Then I go to Edit> Fill Selection. I choose a color from the pop-up box and picked a shade of blue.

 

Next, I go over to my Styles and Effects Palette and choose a simple sharp bevel.

 

Finally for my last layer, I make it active in the Layers Palette. Select the pull-down menu from the Styles and Effects Menu and choose ScrapSimple Tools - Styles: Silver 5701.

 

I choose the silver Style that I'd like to apply, and merge my layers. I now have a chain of digital scrapbooking beads that I can use on my next digital scrapbook layout.

Layout by Angie Briggs

	Note: Commercial license versions of ScrapSimple Embellishment Templates: Beads 2, ScrapSimple Tools - Styles: Silver 5701, ScrapSimple Tools - Patterns: Paint 2101, ScrapSimple Tools - Styles: Acrylic Primary 5504 and ScrapSimple Embellishment Templates: Stitches are also available.

Tutorial written by Angie Briggs