I've been putting together some layouts for an upcoming class where I'll be featured at Masterful Scrapbook Design. Speaking of, I'm currently one of the featured scrappers there for the Telling Stories class, and I was part of April's Artful Embellishing class. Anyway, this upcoming class has me thinking a lot about the techniques that I use on a regular basis. The layout below (which is from the Artful Embellishing class, incidentally) is a perfect example of many of my go-to techniques: using bold patterns, including different types of journaling, replicating a paper style, and including negative space.

Today's tutorial focuses on that last technique -- using negative space to create a title.
At first glance, it may seem as though the letters in my title are simply created with the same paper used for the background beneath the patterned paper. However, if you look more closely at the shadows, you'll see that the title has been cut out of the patterned paper, which was then placed on top of the teal paper and shadowed. So the negative space created by removing the letters creates the title. This is the same look you would get by using a Silhouette or a Cameo, both items that are very popular in paper scrapbooking right now. I like using this technique because it's a little bit unexpected, and I just really like how it looks on the page. Here's how I do it:
Step 1:
You'll want to begin with at least two sheets of paper. In this example, I have an ombre paper as my bottom layer and a chevron-patterned paper as my top layer. (These papers are part of my Confetti & Cupcake kit, which will be releasing on 8/2).

Step 2:
Select a color which highly contrasts against your patterned paper. In this instance, I used the color picker to choose a bright pink.

Step 3:
Select a font and type your title across the page. I'm using Bebas for this example. In my experience, I've found that bold blocky texts work best if you are cutting them from heavily-patterned papers. If you opt to use a fussier text, with lots of swirls or serifs or other details, then you'll want to cut it from a solid-colored pattern paper; otherwise all the details can get lost in the pattern.
Step 4:
Once you've placed the title where you want it, you'll need to simplify (rasterize) it. Then you'll need to merge the title layer to your top paper layer (Ctrl+G).

Step 5:
Use your Magic Wand Tool to select one of the letters in your title. Right click on the mouse and select "similar." This will select the rest of the letters that are the same color. This is why it is important to make sure you use a high-contrast color for the title, particularly if you are using a heavily-detailed patterned paper or a fussy font. Once your entire title is selected, just hit the Delete button on your keyboard. This will "cut" the title from your paper.

Step 6:
Add a shadow to the top layer. At this point, I chose to substitute a different patterned paper for my top layer, because I didn't think there was enough contrast between the two layers. But this didn't mean I had to start over! Instead, I just opened up a new piece of paper, placed it on top of my cut-out paper, and then "clipped" them together (Ctrl+G, Ctrl+E).

Of course, this technique isn't limited to text. You can create the same look with the custom shapes tool, with brushes, or with the patterns on a piece of paper.
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