Rachel Jefferies Mixed Media Challenge + Tutorial | June 2022 + May winners CLOSED

Happy 1st of June scrappers,

Kayla here, bringing you the Rachel Jefferies' June 2022 mixed media challenge, but first let's announce the winners from last month.

May Winners - Congratulations to our random winners, @SanVHM and @Kendra @Rachel Jefferies will be in touch with your coupon soon.

Now, let's get to the challenge. It's no secret that I'm a HUGE fan of BIG photos. I love a BIG photo scrapbook page and am always looking for new ways to showcase them on my layouts. Today we are going to use the threshold filter in Photoshop and/or PSE to create a BIG silhouette. It's easy and is a great technique to scrapbook those not so great photos too.

My example:


Team examples:


Recap:

• Use a BIG silhouette photo (1/3 of the page) on your layout. You can add additional photos if you want.
  • See post #2 for tutorial on using the threshold filter to create a silhouette photo.
• Finish your layout as desired while meeting the requirements below.

Challenge Requirements:

• Your layout must be comprised of 100% Rachel Jefferies products; 90% must be currently available in her store. You may use up to 10% of retired products.
• You may use any items (any designer) from collections of which Rachel is a contributor.
• Upload your layout to the Rachel Jefferies Designs Gallery at TLP and list all products used in your credits.
• For your challenge entry to be counted, you MUST upload your finished layout to this thread. Please link to your gallery image (share BB code img) as it helps us leave love on your layout and validate your project.
• No double-dipping. Your layout must be used for this challenge only, no others. You must create a new layout for this challenge.
• This challenge will remain open through June 30, 2022.

Prizes:

• One lucky artist will be randomly drawn to win an $8 coupon to Rachel Jefferies shop.

If you have any questions, please tag me and I will get back to you as soon as possible. I can't wait to see what you create.

Until then, take care and keep scrappin!

 

Threshold Filter - Silhouette Tutorial:

The Threshold filter (Photoshop & PSE) is an adjustment filter that converts a photo to pure black and white, creating a silhouette.

Here's the steps in PSE and they are similar in PSCC. Sorry I don't have the steps for other programs, but you can probably search the internet to find a way to get a similar effect in your program.

• Duplicate your photo (File -> Duplicate -> OK) and close the original.
• Double click the background layer to unlock it.

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• Select the photo layer and go to the half filled circle in the layers palette or select Layer -> New Adjustment Layer -> Threshold from the menu bar. Click ok. You will get a threshold window. You can change the Threshold Level if you want. I moved the slider to the left to get more white and detail in the photo. Move the slider to the right if you need more black in the photo.

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• Select the threshold layer above your photo - right click -> merge down

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• Open a new 12x12 document for your layout and bring in your background paper. It can be a solid or a lightly patterned or textured paper.
• Add your silhouette photo above the paper.
• Change the blend mode of your photo to either multiply or color burn. Try the different blend modes to see what looks best with your photo and background paper. If your photo is mostly white you may want to try lighten, screen, overlay or soft light blend modes to get your desired look.
• Use the eraser tool or a layer mask to remove unwanted areas of your photo.
• If you want a more blended look, select the photo layer and adjust the fill opacity by holding the shift key and a number key. Fill opacity is only available in PSE by using the shortcuts of shift and a number.
  • 100% fill opacity is shift 0
  • 90% fill opacity is shift 9
  • 80% fill opacity is shift 8 and so forth.
• Now you can add paints, textures, brushwork, elements, word art, etc to finish off your layout.

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holding for questions/answers