This is an open letter to our students, partners and friends from Renee Pearson. Warning! Long post ahead.

I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but ReneePearson.com has been a little quiet since the first of the year. That’s because my husband, soul mate and business partner, Kent, suffered a cerebral hemorrhage on January 5th. In plain language, that’s called a stroke.

On January 5th, my whole world turned upside down. Kent was healthy and fit…much more in charge of his health than I was of mine. He was out running errands that morning and visiting a sick aunt in a small regional hospital. He wanted to get everything done to make it home in time to relax and watch the NFL Playoffs.

Kent survived thanks to God’s hand in providing quick action by gifted surgeons, physicians and nurses. (I think of them as angels.) I have never felt so blessed, and we will never be able to thank the medical professionals enough. When it comes to strokes, time is everything and their swiftness meant not only Kent’s life but his ability to achieve full recovery with very little visible damage.

I got the phone call we all dread sometime after noon. Kent was able to tell the ER nurse my name and the code to unlock his cell phone. That kind nurse found my number in his phone and called to let me know what had happened. She was concerned about me driving the distance to the hospital alone. I was concerned about getting there as fast as I could. When I arrived, all the doctor could tell me was that it was “very serious.”

But the efficiency of our health care system saved Kent’s life. By the time I arrived, the regional hospital ER had arranged for Kent to be airlifted to Emory University Hospital where a neurosurgeon awaited him. He immediately underwent cranial surgery to relieve the pressure on his brain from the bleeding. After that it was ICU for two-weeks until the surgeon was satisfied that the danger had passed and he was ready to move on to rehabilitation.

Kent was transferred to Shepherd Center, one of the top 10 hospitals for brain and spinal cord injury rehabilitation in the country. It was at Shepherd that he took his first steps with his physical therapist, assumed responsibility for his daily grooming (with the encouragement of his occupational therapist) and played Yahtzee (among other therapy) every day with his Speech Therapist.

It’s hard for me to believe that was almost three months ago. For two months I slept on hospital recliners. I became comfortable with my daily routine…learning about caregiving by watching his therapists, chatting with the nurses, making my “bed” each night and setting up my window sill as my nightstand. And most importantly…encouraging, encouraging, encouraging Kent. Routine is a good thing when you’re under stress.

At this point Kent is well on the road to recovery. It’s hard work and I admire his tenacity and commitment. I keep remembering (and reminding him) that this, too, shall pass. He’s anxious to get back to life as he knew it.

Our love is strong. Our marriage is strong. Our family is strong. Kent is strong and I am strong. Together we’ll do whatever it takes for him to achieve full recovery.

In the meantime, I’m managing ReneePearson.com with the help of my amazing sister, Vivienne, and our wonderful teachers, Laura, Molly & Tiffany. They have each been amazingly supportive and are committed to helping me keep things moving at ReneePearson.com.

The message of this post and the lesson of this experience will some day make it into a scrapbook. That will be my form of therapy. It’s already helped just writing it down.

Thanks for listening, and thanks for hanging in there with us!

Love, Renee

and Happy Holidays
A special greeting at Christmas time to express to you our sincere appreciation for your confidence and loyalty. We are deeply thankful and extend to you our best wishes for a happy and healthy Holiday Season.

The winner of the Creating Keepsakes subscription giveaway is commenter #2, Joscie who commented:

I love when CK offers Digital Scrap Tips. and a chance to win a subscription to a mag I love, well that’s just icing on the cake!

Congratulations Joscie!

Hey RP fans! Deena Boese from Creating Keepsakes magazine back with another quick and easy Photoshop tutorial! I tend to love simple yet strong pages. The old adage “less is more” repeatedly calls my name. But while I love to create simple pages, sometimes they need just a little something extra. So what do you do without adding more “fluff”? Create design with your text! This week I’ll show you how to take an ordinary title and integrate it into your layout design.

Creating a text border is a great way not only to separate photos and paper; it adds a great design element to any project while still keeping the page simple and the focus on the photo.

Wanna learn how simple it is to create these fun text borders? Read on! 

1. Create a new Photoshop document and position photo, accents, and paper as desired. Select the HORIZONTAL TYPE TOOL and add your title. Make sure the text runs from margin to margin and you use a connecting script font. (Here I used Carpenter ICG font.)

2. Right click on the text layer in the layers panel and select RASTERIZE TYPE.

3. With the layer still highlighted click on EDIT > STROKE. Select the width and color of your choice and for LOCATION select OUTSIDE. Click OK.

4. With the layer still highlighted, click on the MAGIC WAND TOOL and click in the area above your text.

5. Click on SELECT > MODIFY > EXPAND. Enter 10 pixels and click OK.

6. In the layers panel, click on the patterned paper layer and hit DELETE. Press Ctrl+D to deselect the area. You now have a unique text border that separates photo and paper.

And now you know! I hope you have fun experimenting with text borders and the different looks you can create! Use this quick and easy type technique to enhance your next layout, card or project. For easy reference, I’ve included a PDF handout you can download and add to your “Wanna Learn How” library. And as a bonus gift, I’ve also included this holiday card Photoshop layered template you can download for FREE (for those last-minute holiday emails)!

As always, we want to hear from you! Have you seen a digital technique that made you say, “Oooh! I wanna learn how to do that!”? Leave a comment to let us know what techniques you want to see here. I have a free one-year subscription to Creating Keepsakes magazine in my hands that will go to one random (and lucky) commenter. So be sure to drop us a line to be entered in the drawing! Good luck!

 DOWNLOADS

Tutorial — How To Create a Text Border
Download — How To Create a Text Border

Create dramatic images with Snapseed’s powerful editing tools.

My personal favorite photo editing app, Snapseed, is celebrating the release of their new version 1.5 with FREE downloads for a short time only. This fantastic app is usually $4.99, so this is an incredible deal! Jump on it quickly so you don’t miss out.

Android users rejoice! Snapseed’s now available for your mobile device for the first time ever.

And once you’ve downloaded Snapseed, there’s no better way to learn to use it than with my Snap To It! workshop. In 13 video lessons (plus new lessons coming soon to cover Snapseed 1.5’s new features), you’ll learn how to use this powerful, flexible app for all your on-the-go editing needs.

Download Snapseed for Android
Download Snapseed for iOS 

The winner of the Creating Keepsakes subscription giveaway is commenter #3, Debbie Joegenson who commented:

Great info. I’d love to win a subscription.

Congratulations Debbie!

Hey RP fans! Deena Boese from Creating Keepsakes magazine back at the table with another quick and easy Photoshop tutorial! This week we’ll focus on our photos and how much of an influence they make on the overall look of our scrapbook layouts.

There is a lot to be said for the casual images you snap yourself and the emotional ties we have to them. The problem? Sometimes the quality falls short of our expectations. Well, I have good news! You don’t have to be a professional photographer to enjoy the impact you get from professional shots. Even photos snapped on AUTO can rival those pro shots you love. The secret? The magic happens long after the shutter button is ever released.

The fact is nearly every photo can benefit from simply adjusting three aspects in Photoshop: Sharpness, Light, and Contrast. And it’s easier than you think! Now, there are literally hundreds of different and involved ways to edit photos in Photoshop, but after several years this easy technique still proves to be my favorite always producing dramatic results. With a few simple steps, you can take a standard photo from this:

to this:

Wanna learn how simple it is to edit photos like a Pro? Read on! 

1. Open photo in Photoshop and select FILTER > SHARPEN > UNSHARP MASK.

2. Adjust the sliders as follows: Amount: 20%, Radius: 60 pixels, Threshold: 1. Click OK.

3. Click on the NEW ADJUSTMENT LAYER icon and select LEVELS.

4. Drag the white slider towards the center to boost the brightness and the black slider towards the center to boost the contrast. Adjust the center slider to alter the midtones as desired.

5. Right click on the photo layer in the Layers Panel and select DUPLICATE LAYER.

6. Select the SOFT LIGHT blending mode and adjust the opacity as desired to add additional depth and contrast.

And now you know! I hope have fun experimenting with the joys of photo editing. It’s a quick and easy technique that can make a dramatic difference in your layouts and projects! For easy reference, I’ve included a PDF handout you can download and add to your “Wanna Learn How” library. And as a bonus gift, I’ve also included the word art I used in the above layout along with a set of 12 accents you can download for FREE!

As always, we want to hear from you! Have you seen a digital technique that made you say, “Oooh! I wanna learn how to do that?” Leave a comment to let us know what techniques you want to see here. I have a free one-year subscription to Creating Keepsakes magazine in my hands that will go to one random (and lucky) commenter. So be sure to drop us a line to be entered in the drawing! Good luck!

 DOWNLOADS

How To Edit Photos Like A Pro
Word Art Graphic
Accents

Today is Cyber Monday and all* of our self-paced workshops will be 30% off at ReneePearson.com. We’re also launching the self-paced versions of iScrapit by Renee Pearson and Building Color Confidence by Cilenia Curtis!

Don’t snooze on this one, though, because the sale is for today only. This is your chance to pick up those fabulous workshops you’ve been dying to take, including Snap To It by Molly Newman, Digital Scrapbooker’s Guide to Blending by Tiffany Tlllman and the Adobe Illustrator series* by Laura Coyle.

All you need is the super secret (okay not so secret) coupon code: CYBERMONDAY. Add it to your registration to get the 30% discount.

*Holly Shop is excluded from this sale. It’s already reduced to $15 through the end of December.

We’ve lowered the price of Laura Coyle’s Holly Shop to just $15. Holly Shop is the step-by-step Adobe Illustrator project workshop that will help you create personalized holiday greetings while keeping your Illustrator skills sparkling. Like all of Laura’s Illustrator workshops, take Holly Shop at your own pace, you’ll have lifetime access.

When the New Year arrives, we’ll pack up Holly Shop with the rest of the ornaments for another year so get it now!

Tis the Season

Tiffany Tillman’s popular 25 Days of Templates workshop is back and this season we will capture the Heart of the Holidays!

25 Days of Templates began as an online workshop in 2009, and each year since, it has helped hundreds of digital scrapbookers record their favorite December memories. This year’s focus presents weekly presentations featuring the best album strategy, photography, and digital technique lessons from previous editions. And new this year, are Monday — Friday journaling prompts by master storyteller, Sara Gleason of Plant Your Story.

Using your choice of Tiffany’s square or letter-sized holiday-inspired template sets as a foundation plus a generous, digital mega-kit by Karla Dudley and Mye De Leon, you’ll have everything you need to complete a detailed or relaxed album featuring your most-cherished holiday memories.

Be sure to join Tiffany on ReneeTV Tuesday, November 13 at 9pm EST (New York City) for a live webinar related to Heart of the Holidays. Everyone’s invited to attend.

Register Now!

I can remember it as if it was yesterday—my first contact with Stacy Julian of (at that time) Simple Scrapbooks Magazine and the resulting invitation to join Simple’s Contributing Editorial team along with popular scrapbookers Cathy Zielske, Donna Downey and others.

Yes, that first step was a bit intimidating, but my excitement at the possibility of sharing the fun and creativity of digital scrapbooking was motivation enough to “just do it.”

Fast forward to today. With the success of ReneePearson.com, now I need a group of creative individuals possessing a similar passion and spirit to form the Charter 2013 Renee Pearson Creative Team.

Are you a digital crafter, artist or photographer passionate about what you do?
Would you like to inspire others to learn digital techniques by sharing your own digital creations?
Are you connected to an active online digital crafting, photography or design community?
Are you an active blogger?
Do you post to Facebook frequently and have a large group of “Friends?”
Are you a frequent “Tweeter” with followers?

If the answer is a resounding yes, then we want you!

Creative Team members will be required to:

• Accept a one year commitment to the team.
• Spread the word about what we do via blog posts, community activities and Facebook/Twitter posts.
• Demonstrate the skills students learn in our classes and workshops by producing visual layouts, photographs and projects.
• Participate in and initiate discussions in our public community forums.

Team members gain free access to classes and workshops and may also be offered the opportunity to “beta test” new class content before it’s available to the public.

To apply for the 2013 Renee Pearson Creative Team, go to the search page and complete the application. Be sure to add three examples of your work.

The deadline to apply is Tuesday, November 20th. I can’t wait to hear from you!

The winner of the Creating Keepsakes subscription giveaway is commenter #5, Kathi Heifner who commented:

I have Photoshop Elements and haven’t learned all the tricks. Thanks for the tip, can’t wait to try.

Congratulations Kathi!

Hey RP fans! Deena Boese from Creating Keepsakes magazine back at the table with another quick and easy Photoshop tutorial! This week’s tip comes from the request of last month’s tutorial reader Melinda. She wrote:

We’ve all seen those stunning black and white photos with a single item highlighted with a bright pop of color. If you’ve ever wondered how to recreate this look yourself, today is your day! There are probably a dozen different ways to add selective color to a black and white image in Photoshop. But today I’m going to show you my favorite quick and easy technique that can take a photo from blah to beautiful in under 5 minutes.

With just a few clicks of the mouse you can transform an ordinary photo from this:

to this:

Wanna learn how simple it is to selectively color a black and white photo? Read on! 

1. Open photo in Photoshop, click on the CREATE NEW FILL OR ADJUSTMENT LAYER icon and select HUE/SATURATION.

2. Adjust the SATURATION slider all the way to the left (-100) to convert the photo to black and white.

3. In the layers panel, you will see a white rectangle beside the Hue/Saturation adjustment. This is the LAYER MASK that will allow you to reveal color from the original photo layer.

4. Select the BRUSH TOOL from the toolbar and press D to ensure the foreground color is set to black and the background is set to white.

5. Using the Brush Preset Picker, select the desired brush size and hardness.

6. Now it’s time for the magic! Use your brush to paint over the photo portion you want to appear in color. The black brush will reveal the color in the underlying layer. Adjust the brush size as needed for large areas and small details. If you make a mistake, simply change your brush color to white and paint over the error to conceal the unwanted color. Remember: Black reveals. White conceals.

And now you know! I hope have fun experimenting with creative ways to add selective coloring to your photos and layouts! It’s a quick and easy technique that has endless uses and options. For easy reference, I’ve included a PDF handout you can download and add to your “Wanna Learn How” library. And as a bonus gift, I’ve also included this 4x6 digital photo overlay you can download for FREE!

As always, we want to hear from you! Have you seen a digital technique that made you say, “Oooh! I wanna learn how to do that!”? Leave a comment to let us know what techniques you want to see here.

I have a free one-year subscription to Creating Keepsakes magazine in my hands that will go to one random (and lucky) commenter. So be sure to drop us a line to be entered in the drawing! Good luck!

 DOWNLOADS

Tutorial:  How To Selectively Color a Black and White Photo
Download:  Digital Photo Overlay