For those of you who are all about digital scrapbooking compositions, Anna Aspnes was here to guide you through creating beautiful scrapbooking style text! Anna's the best creative for this - she designs digital products and classes so that you can tell stories by blending your photos with her digital artistry. With over 17 years of experience in visual storytelling, she'll have you scrapbooking like a pro in no time!

Set the Foundation

Set the canvas at 6 x 6 inches and use one of the digital papers as a foundation. Set the resolution at 300 pixels per inch. This will ensure the best print quality when the art piece is finished and uploaded for print.

Zoom out to see the design and its integrity. Navigate to the papery part or the papery file of the Artsy Palette. Drag the paper into the workspace directly from the folder location. You can also go to file, open and navigate to the paper and import it through Photoshop. With the move tool selected from the tools panel, click down onto the paper. Drag and then release the left mouse button to drag that paper into position.

Click and drag to resize the paper or drag it onto the page design. Use the original card design as a reference roughly to position the paper.

Create a Focal Point

The next step is to create a focal point. Introduce a focal point by adding an Artsy Transfer to the composition. The Artsy Transfers are delivered in three different zip files under three different folders. Different elements have been copied and pasted into one folder, so you can view them back and forth.

Use different previews to see what each of the PSD files includes. Choose an Artsy Transfer. Click and drag it into the workspace to access all the different layers that are available. However, if you drag the file directly to the canvas, then you'll only be able to see one single file.

To access different layers, click on the first layer and hold down the shift button. This will help highlight all the layers. Unselect the auto select option and with the move tool, move the layer on the layout design. Resize and add it to the composition.

Pro tip: The beauty is that you can play around with the different layers. So if you want to get rid of the paper texture layer, rotate it or resize it. You can do so without affecting all the other layers in the layout design.

Any layer can be manipulated, recolored, rotated and resized to create a multitude of different options. This will form the foundation of the design.

Add Word Art

There are three techniques to add word art, i.e. using Clipping Masks, Blending Modes and Layer Styles.

Technique 1

Technique number one includes resizing, rotating, and using the Clipping Mask. To do this, navigate to Rise Word Art. To incorporate a Rise and Shine Wood art, drag the layer directly on the canvas or pull it into the background. Using transform controls, resize and make it larger. Then rotate it.

With the move tool selected, check the bounding box. The bounding box is the dotted box that goes around the art element and allows flexibility for placement. Reorder the layers by dragging the wood layer down the layers panel and depositing it directly above the background layer. Make sure that it is placed below the Artsy Transfer layers.

Select the first layer, hold down the shift key again and select them all. Go to group layers. Select any fancy artsy paper. Drag that directly on the canvas and go to the layer to create a clipping mask. With the move tool, select to drag it on the canvas.

This adds some visual interest to the piece. Clip to the word art design. Use the layers from the Artsy Transfers and the transfers of layers and add those to the clipping mask.

Pro tip: Don't limit yourself to the artsy papers. Think about all the different elements that you could potentially clip to the word art piece.

Technique 2

The word art technique number two is to duplicate and use the Clipping Mask with Blending Modes. Place a quote from the same word art collection into the white space on the design. Drag it on the workspace and resize it.

Click and drag to reposition the layers that exist on top of the design to create an area of interest within the white space. To colorize this particular word art element, duplicate one of the layers in the Artsy Transfer. Choose the brown paint layer and drag it down to the new layer icon in the latest panel. Drag this up to the top of the layer stack so that it sits directly above the word art layer. Go to layer and create a Clipping Mask.

Pro tip: If you're working in elements, the paint layer will be located at the top of your panel. You can also use the keyboard shortcuts for this method. Once the clipping set is created, you can then change the blending mode of the text layer. To do so, make sure that the word art layer is selected. Use the cursor to hover over different options.

Technique 3

Technique number three is using the type tools (layer styles). Select the type tool from the tools panel. Type in the word ‘sun’. Make sure it is placed at the top of the panel. Use the move tool with the transformed controls to resize it.

Place it between the two elements and rotate it slightly to give it a bit of visual interest. Make sure that you support the design ethos by continuing with one single trend throughout the design. Accept the transformation by clicking on the checkmark.

With the type tool selected, access all of the different fonts that are available and hover over them to get a preview of what that font is going to look like in the word ‘sun’. Choose the Alba Matter Font as it has curves that emulate the curves of the design, adding playfulness.

Add Effects

Once the word art foundation is ready, add different effects. Reuse the artsy paper number one, which was used previously to clip in the first word art technique. Go back to the files and duplicate the layer. Drag it directly to the top of the latest panel.

Resize this element and make it smaller or crop it. Create a Clipping Mask to apply a fun design to the title. Use the focal point of the design. Duplicate the paper a couple of times and apply different Blending Modes to those layers.

Multiply and adjust the effects by altering the opacity slider to lessen the effect of the Blending Mode. Add in the second layer and a different Blending Mode.

Customize the colors and the contrast of the papers. Apply style effects to any word to make changes or to intensify that word. Play with the Bevel and Emboss layer style option and settings. Add depth to make it look dimensional. Play with the size and the pixel value.

You can also soften the effect one by one. For shading, change the direction of the light on the design to get a different effect. Choose a 20-degree angle for this particular design. Click on the contour box and play around with the Gloss.

Activate the color picker and choose a sample color from the design. Pick a medium brown color and play with the opacity. Use the Blending Mode and add a linear burn to the word. Click on the control box and open the Contour Options for edges. Play around with the depth and adjust the color burn with Blending Mode.

Add a layer on the drop shadow, on top of the Bevel and Emboss Layer. Save the style to use later by clicking on save.

Pro tip: You can use the blending modes to change the color and contrast of the colors of the papers or the elements that you have clipped to your word. You can also use the layer styles to add on the Bevel and Emboss.

Add Dimensional Elements

Play with embellishments to add fun dimensional elements to the design. Search for the elements folder within the Art Play Palette. The elements that come in the folders are of different formats. Simply drag and drop the elements to add to the design. You can layer these two together where you have the leaf layer on top of the shadow layer.

Open the PSD file to see the shadow and the leaf on separate layers. Change its placement by using the arrow keys on the keyboard and move the shadow around. Recolor, edit, and fill a brown color. Make sure you have the preserve transparency box checked. Play around with the different blending modes and color burn for the elements.

Pro tip: The beauty of having a drop shadow on a separate layer is that you can adjust how harsh you want the drop shadow to be.

Add another element using the move tool. Move the pieces together as though they were pieces in a puzzle. Once they are all in position, add a drop shadow layer style to the sun element.

Include multimedia elements by adding a bird. Use the PSD files, hold down control or command on the keyboard, and select the two files to drag them into the workspace. Make sure to drag them into the background and not directly onto your canvas so that you have access to all the layers. Now extract the layers of the birds individually.

Add another element to create a trio of elements. Select the urban stitches layer and access them independently. Resize and add it to the mix. Add a little cluster to the right of the design to give it a strong visual interest. Pair the elements together to create a cluster.

Select edit, transform, and then flip the bird on the horizontal axis. Add the branch and flip it horizontally as well. Pick an orange flower from the files and use the drop shadow layer. Resize and rotate the flower and add it to the design. Go to image adjustments, image saturation, and play around with the color. Use photo glows and a sun flare.

Drag one of the suns from the files and drop it onto the design. Reposition that in front of the Artsy Transfer and edit, fill with the preserve transparency box checked. Add soft brown lighting to it. Add more yellow and play with the opacity. You can also play with the different blending modes. Finally, add photo glows to complete the design.

Congratulations, you have successfully learned how to create scrapbook-style text.