I played around with one of the illustrations and created a digital collage using textures, masks, vintage French script, digital papers, and watercolor spatter.
The digital collage was created with one of the monthly freebies (Subscribe to the newsletter to access all the fabulous freebies!) I also used textures, masks, vintage French script, and watercolor spatter from The Complete Inspirational Textures and Elements Collection. The green polka dot area is from the Fresh Essentials Digital Papers V.1 collection.
Of course, I couldn't resist trying out the design with some mockups!
Soap Mockup by Field Office on Creative Market. Children's Tee Mockup by Freeman Studio on Creative Market.
The shower curtain mockup is by mockups on Creative Market.
This gorgeous Provence interior style framed artwork mockup is by MyHomeMockups on Creative Market. (Some of my absolute favorite mockups!)
These illustrations are flattened .jpg files with a white background. Given the vignette style they were not suited for extracting from the white background. Here are a few tips for integrating them into your artwork.
Have fun with your freebies. I can't wait to see how you use them!
Note: Monthly freebies are available for ~2 years and then go into the store. If you are reading this and these illustrations are not longer available, you can get other graphics like this. There are regular new freebies as well as the core collections available when you subscribe.
]]>I love creating my own flower motifs to use in my designs. Most of my flowers come from my garden so there is also a personal connection to the flowers and a connection to the seasons. I eagerly await the blooming of my wisteria, roses, iris, and peonies to name a few. However, just taking a snapshot of a flower in the garden is usually not the optimum way to capture flowers for our designs. I'll be sharing my insights and experience using photographic flowers in surface design in an upcoming live tutorial with Design Cuts and in a 6 week class starting in April. Design Cuts Photography & Photo Editing Day
I created this design with the idea of licensing the design as a decoupage paper. I've been very inspired lately following the furniture renovation movement on Pinterest. Very creative re-imaginings! I also used this design as an exercise in using only elements from The Complete Inspirational Textures And Elements Collection that I created in partnership with Design Cuts. It's an incredibly versatile bundle of graphic assets!
Ikea Malm furniture mockup* by mock-ups. Side cabinet from Fabric Factory v.10 Mockup Bundle* by Creatsy5. (Also available individually - but the bundle is fantastic.)
The design also works as a wallpaper mural, framed artwork, and other home ware!
2 mockups below by VNmockup on Creative Market. I bought the Mockup Mega Bundle: Whole Store in 1.* Note: both of these were tweaked. I added the frame and the mural into the file. Most files have frames included.
Bath Curtain Mockup v.5* by creatsy2 on Creative Market.
I'll be talking about this design and using photographic flowers in your design in next week's FREE Live Photography & Photo Editing Day with Design Cuts. You can catch it live or watch the replay! If you can't make the live event, go ahead and register so you get the replay link. You can also ask questions ahead of time!
Thursday 23rd March @ 2pm GMT / 10am EDT
Register For The Live Event and Replay
I'll soon be announcing my guided Flower Photography Class so be sure to subscribe to the newsletter for details! (Plus, you get lots of free design goods when you subscribe!) Starting April 21st!
* There are affiliate links in this post. Anything you purchase by clicking through these links I receive a commission at no extra cost to you. I only refer companies and products I love and use. Thank you for your support!
]]>I'll be joining Design Cuts again for another fabulous free online event!
Join live on Thursday, March 23rd, 2PM UK Time. Can't make it Live? Go ahead and enroll to get the replay!
Join 5 expert teachers and artists, who will share a ton of useful techniques and tools to achieve a variety of photography styles. Each teacher will be using a variety of software and tools to show you how to achieve different desired outcomes.
Sessions start Thursday, March 23rd, at 2:00 PM UK time. If you can't make the live session, do sign up anyway so you can get the replay link. Also, you can ask questions ahead of time, so even if you aren't there you'll get an answer to a question!
I'll be in the opening session with Tom Ross, CEO and Co-Founder of Design Cuts and wonderful host! My session is titled Techniques For Flower Photography. Specifically, I'll be showing how I photograph flowers with the intent to use them in designs. So, I'll be showing my photography set up, processing, and design integration techniques.
I often use a light pad for my floral photography. This is one of the techniques I'll briefly cover.
Hope to "see" you there!
I'm 95% sure I'll be teaching a 6 week flower photography and design class this coming April. I'm think it will start April 14th. Be sure to subscribe to the newsletter to get updated info (plus all the fab freebies).
]]>My goal for the design was to create a modern touch of romance without overwhelming an interior with color. It would be perfect in this modern New York loft style bedroom.
The modern romantic design pairs equally well with a living room interior.
The flowers are peonies from my garden that I photographed. These were photographed with a Canon 7D with a Canon 60mm Macro lens. I now use a Canon 5D MKIII camera with a Canon 100mm Macro, but that former set up was quite good. While I normally photograph against a white background or even on a lightpad, these peonies were photographed against a yellow background. (I initially had the idea of doing a design with a yellow base.)
I then use Photoshop to select the flowers and isolate them from the background so they are easily placed into my designs.
I want my florals to almost look like illustrations, so I really push them in my processing. I use Topaz Labs* filters to draw out as much detail as I can get. (see note about this.)
I like to start with very vibrant, detailed flowers, but then I tweak to suit the design. For this design, I also used the Topaz Labs Impressions* filter. Note: The creative filters from Topaz Labs are no longer for sale. I'll have to find an equivalent filter in the future for demos. Basically, you will want as much detail and clarity in the flowers as you can get - without it going harsh and contrasty. This will have to be an entire post!
The yellow tinge around the edges of the flowers (see below) is because I photographed them against a yellow background. It's something I would have to take into account when using in a design. In this case, I desaturated the overall color with a Photoshop Hue/Saturation layer adjustment.
Besides my peony photographs, the mural uses these graphic assets. Check out the Resources below for links.
There are 3 different file formats included in the Vintage Flower Fairies Illustrations Collection. This video walks you through when to use each format to get the best results in your designs.
A quick recap of when to use each format.
Use these files if you are just working on a design with a plain white background or also if the background has a very subtle light texture like a watercolor paper. If you use a textured or tinted background, you will want to change the blend mode of the illustration layer to multiply. Note: you could also use the layered Photoshop files as well for more separation of the illustration from the background.
The only reasons to use the .png files:
The layered Photoshop files give you the ultimate control over blending and details.
Each Photoshop file is comprised of 3 layers:
The layered Photoshop files may seem complicated to use, but they are easy to place because the layers are linked. If you watch the video, you'll see how you can make adjustments to opacity and layer masks for the ultimate control over your design.
I hope you find this little tutorial useful in using these delightful illustrations! Feel free to ask questions in the comments.
Check out the entire collection Here.
]]>
Here's a list of all the recordings of my live Photoshop tutorial events with Design Cuts. There are tutorials and live demonstrations using textures in photography, Photoshop digital artistry, technical file formats, resolution, color modes and more.
I'll keep this page updated. If you would like advance notice of live events, be sure and subscribe to our newsletter (plus get the freebies!)
Each of these texture tutorials has slightly different approaches so if you really want to up your game with textures, you may wish to watch all of them.
I cover a lot of information on applying textures to photography plus I do a full demo of a flower still life with a texture and an overlay. Watch The Replay.
Another live recording with some advanced techniques for using textures in your photography. Watch The Replay.
Another live session on using textures with your photography. I always give a slightly different slant on each presentation with new information - so it's worth giving them all a watch. Watch The Replay.
In these tutorials, I go over a lot of techniques for creating artwork with Photoshop. The titles may be specific to outcomes like packaging, but the focus is more on the creative aspects of the process.
This was billed under the Scrapbooking event, but really - I show you just about everything you will want to know about using overlays like a pro. From changing color to blending and using layer masks. This tutorial works for using overlays with photos as well. Watch The Replay.
This was billed as packaging design, but it's really about creating digital artistry with photographed flowers, texture and other elements. Watch The Replay.
This is a really fun, addictive technique for turning simple plant photographs (or even scans!) into compelling photographic designs. The tutorial is in Photoshop, but the technique could be applied to other graphics software. Watch The Replay.
Fun tutorial creating a design with textures, watercolor spatter and vintage elements. Watch The Replay.
For this session, I talk about the design process, designing for concept, and different resources for publishing your designs. Then, I give a demo of this holiday card using typography, a vintage deer illustration, and other vintage elements and textures. Watch The Replay.
Important technical knowledge to power up your designs!
Understanding image resolution and color modes is something that a lot of people struggle with. As someone who has been in the digital imaging business for 30+ years and has worked in print design, I try to shed light on this complicated subject. Watch The Replay.
Are you confused about when to use different file types like .png, .jpg, .eps, .tif and which software accept each type? This tutorial is for you! I demystify the choices. Watch The Replay.
I had the first session in The Photography and Photo Editing Live event with Design Cuts. A good overview of my photography, editing, and usage of flower photographs for Surface Design and Surface Pattern Design. Watch The Replay.
I'll keep this page updated. If you would like advance notice of live events, be sure and subscribe to our newsletter (plus get the freebies!)
Note: This post contains affiliate links. If you purchase anything on Design Cuts through these links, I will get a commission - at no extra cost to you. Thank you for your support!
]]>This design uses 3 graphics from the freebies as well as graphics from current collections and future collections. I'm working on several collections right now including Vintage French Ephemera and Overlays plus Grunge Papers.
This looks lovely framed as wall art in this bedroom mockup. I think I'm going to frame this to put in my living room.You can get this month's free downloads by subscribing to the newsletter. The monthly downloads are usually available for 2 years and then they go into the store. You can also get the other free collections. Check it out HERE.
In this artwork I've also used graphics from these collections:
This year, I was one of the presenters at Design Cuts' Create More Live Event. I talked about Greeting Card Design and gave a demonstration of a card design.
You can watch the replay for free on Design Cuts. Click the Design Cuts Link or the image below.
Love these fonts used in my holiday card! Below are links to buying at Design Cuts.
Note-the font links are affiliate links.
]]>This great bundle just got even better check out what's new!
This illustration is from a great vintage French postcard. The original is in blue, which is a charming change from the traditional red, but I've also included a red version. There are flat versions with the landscape and isolated versions. Tip: combine the flat version and the isolated version. Set the flat version layer to multiply to merge with your background texture.
Another 2 lovely vintage Christmas bell illustrations with holly.
I found these charming French postcards with winter holiday snow scenes. I couldn't resist! Both have the original postcard version as well as a cleaner version.
Lucky horseshoe and holly vintage illustration plus 2 holly border patterns. Photoshop pattern .pat files included.
New Digital Papers. I've used all of these in Christmas designs. (You'll find examples in the new Design Starts Digital Papers.)
I've added another striped digital paper. This one was designed specifically to go with the lovely vintage Christmas girl and puppy scene to the right. Note: both paper design and girl are shown cropped.
Most of the new Vintage Christmas greetings. These are fun to use as background interest in holiday designs.
Bonus vintage French paper and overlay plus vintage digital frame. I've also included a few new versions of the previously published files. Note: that vintage frame was a freebie a few years ago, but I wanted to add it to this collection as it goes nicely and it's taken from one of the vintage Christmas bird images in the collection.
I wanted to give you digital papers with illustrations already placed and a few elements to whet your creativity. There are 9 themes with 10 variations. The variations start very bare and then more elements are added. Have fun!
OK, I'm pretty sure this is the last update! Just a few tweaks to add greater versatility to a few items.
I hope you enjoy the new updates! These updates are free to previous purchasers. I have sent out update notices. Check your email. The sender will be from fechapp.com - which is my digital delivery service.
If you don't have The Vintage Christmas Illustrations Compendium yet you can grab it here:
]]>Besides the fabulous freebies you get when subscribing to our newsletter, you also get monthly freebies. This month, I'm quite loving this watercolor texture I created. I tried it out with chrysanthemums I photographed. (I may do a tutorial for creating the chrysanthemum photo and design.) I also added a touch of a quatrefoil pattern overlay and additional watercolor spatter from The Complete Inspirational Textures and Elements Collection. By the way, if you like this free watercolor texture, that collection has a great watercolor texture collection as well.
I'm playing around with how these might be used in various Surface Pattern Design applications.
I may try making this design into a repeat pattern as well. These upholstered chairs give me an idea of that that might be like.
I can't wait to see how you will use this free watercolor texture as well as the other 2 textures in this month's free downloads! Show me on Instagram with #frenchkisstextures or #frenchkisscollections.
You may have noticed a trend in design using vintage French graphics and script to create a repeat pattern for use in fabrics and other surfaces.
I've tried my hand at the style using the design "bits" from the Vintage French Papers and Overlays V.1 collection. This collection used to be just French papers and overlays, but over the years in watching how people used the collection, I realized that customers were taking bits and pieces extracted from the overlays to use in their designs. I thought, why not add that ability in right from the beginning? I know that most of you are skilled enough to extract the bits yourself, but what a time savings to be able to concentrate on your design and not the menial production! Some of these were pretty easy extractions, but many of them required quite a bit of editing.
I created the design so that it could either be used as a design and as a repeat pattern. The first image above is just the design. As I wanted to be able to make a repeat pattern from this design, I kept that in mind as I designed. I used a Tossed or Random style of pattern.
To create a tossed pattern you need to have elements along the edges repeated across to the opposite edge and placed exactly where the other graphic fell off at the other edge. When you are done, you make a merged copy of the cropped square. Remember to leave out the background layer so you have transparent areas if you plan on using this pattern over a different background. You may need to make this copy smaller depending on the area and size you want to fill with pattern. Then, in Photoshop, choose Menu: Edit / Define Pattern and name your pattern to save.
To apply your pattern, create a new document in Photoshop and then choose a Pattern Fill Layer from the Layer Adjustments in the Layer Panel. Decrease the size in the Pattern Fill dialogue box if needed.
This vintage French pattern would work for many surfaces including upholstery, wallpaper, and gift wrap.
Gift Wrap Paper
Wallpaper
There are 160 vintage French "Bits" that are ready to drag and drop into your designs!
Are you feeling inspired to give your own repeat pattern a try? There are a 160 vintage French "bits" ready to use in the Vintage French Papers and Overlays V.1 collection. I'd love to see what you create!
I completely forgot about the fairly new Pattern Preview tool in Photoshop. I had tested it during Beta and then got busy and forgot about it. I've been playing around with it this week and it's much easier to view what's going on in your pattern as you work. I think I might redo this design with fine tweaks using this tool. Note: you'll need to make each graphic a Smart Object for it to work correctly. (Layer / Smart Objects / Convert to Smart Object. I'll do a post sometime to show how to use it.
Mockups are by Creatsy5 on Creative Market. Love their mockups.
Grab the the Vintage French Papers and Overlays V.1 collection.
]]>
They don't celebrate Thanksgiving over here in France of course, but I love this holiday so I always do a little something for me and my husband. I've sometimes had friends and family over for a bigger Thanksgiving.
Tomorrow, I'll put 2 turkey legs in my clay pot in the oven with some stuffing on the side. Honestly, I think this is the best way to cook turkey! The meat stays moist and takes little fuss or time.
I'm also making pumpkin pies. No running to the store for a can of pumpkin purée here - they don't have it. So, making it myself. Yum!
May you be warm, with loved ones, and in fine spirit for this holiday.
Illustrations are from the Fall Leaves and Berries vintage illustrations collection.
]]>This collection has been carefully curated from my personal collection of original vintage ephemera to provide a large range of styles and and subjects.
The collection includes vintage French ephemera, postcard backs, Eiffel Tower postcards, and French script. The French script includes longer excerpts, bits of script, ornate script, and songs.
The Ephemera Paper scans are isolated from the background and ready to use.
For your convenience, I've included bonus variations of graphics. Often, parts are extracted and further edited, which means you get more uses from the graphic and it doesn't slow down your creativity having to stop and edit the graphic yourself.
The overlays are transparent .PNG files. Colors are easily changed. Change the colours, blend modes and opacities and grunge it up with layer masks to add stunning enhancements to your photography or designs. (A link to a video of all these techniques is included in the downloads.)
I love adding bits of ephemera or French script to my textured photography!
If you like to design big – or just use graphics as big elements in your design – you’ll be pleased to find that these are extra-large. All files are at least 2x larger than the originals. Some are 4x larger!
You’ll also find Vintage French postcard backs including Tour Eiffel illustrations, stamps and postmarks. I found some wonderful postmarks from the Eiffel Tower inauguration years!
Just drag an overlay on top of your photo or design!
The French script has a comprehensive variety from full-page script to bits of lovely text and include styles that range from gorgeous to grungy. You’re sure to find the perfect fit for your project
I’ve included 42 of the original ephemera scans of select overlays. They are all at least 2x the size of the originals and come isolated from the background with wonderfully aged and ragged edges. Perfect as design elements or print out for craft projects.
This collection has unlimited usage possibilities. Create artwork for posters, art prints, murals, home ware, stationary, fabric, scrapbooking, art journaling and more! Or, use in your photographic art for depth and interest.
Note: While these graphics will work with Procreate, some of the graphics are quite large and may need resizing for multiple layer designs.
Included in this set:
Join me at this week-long virtual event for creatives where I will be speaking alongside 30 other world-class instructors, all delivering incredible free live workshops on a range of design related topics; from watercolor painting and lettering to branding processes and a whole range in between.
To get the most out of Create More Live check out the Official Event Pack - and enjoy the current early bird discount. This allows you to unlock immediate access to all the creative workshops, and includes bonus video content and 100+ exclusive premium assets.
Workshops are streamed free during event week, but can only be watched after the event with the Official Event Pack. Early Bird Pricing of $29 through the 10th.
I'll be one of the speakers on the last day of the event which is the photo manipulation and scrapbooking day. See you there!
]]>I'm pleased to introduce this compendium of vintage Christmas graphics that is the culmination of a decade of collecting originals and many, many hours of retouching and processing! Not only is this collection a fantastic resource but also an amazing deal. The originals' value is around $2000. Vintage Christmas postcards are collectors items and many of these postcards were quite expensive. The collection is an absolute steal at $29! Only $20.30 during the sale!
(The Buy Now button takes you to the product page to purchase.)
There are 181 original illustrations plus 216 variations. I've also included 2 digital paper collections that were created specifically for these images. There are also some miscellaneous bonus files like a gold foil texture, snow overlays, vintage elements, and washi tapes. All total, there are 224 original files plus 243 variations. Purchase The Collection Here
All of the illustrations are 600 PPI (also known as DPI). This makes them twice the size of the originals, giving you a large enough image for most design needs. The digital papers are 300 PPI. In the example below, I've placed a typical original on a 3600 px by 3600 px digital paper (12" x 12").
Many of the illustrations have several variations. Variations might include the slightly shabby original postcard (lightly retouched), versions with the original greeting and without, cleaned up versions, and often a version with the background extracted. Purchase The Collection Here
A wonderful variety of vintage Santa illustrations! There are 29 originals with 37 variations.
Above are a few examples of designs created with elements from the collection. (There are also a few elements not included.)
So versatile! The possibilities are endless. Purchase The Collection Here
Here's an example of a repeat pattern made with one of the vintage holly illustrations for Christmas gift wrap.
6 charming vintage angel illustrations and a design example. "Peace on Earth" also uses the bonus gold foil texture. Purchase The Collection Here
I absolutely love these vintage illustrations of children! I'm always so inspired to play around with incorporating these into new designs - or just to print out to enjoy!
Delightful vintage illustrations of children carrying Christmas presents.
Perfect for Christmas Greeting Cards!
Vintage illustrations of children enjoying winter sports. Purchase The Collection Here
OK, are these darling or what!? Purchase The Collection Here
Incorporate these vintage Christmas illustrations into your own greeting card and gift tag designs.
Nothing embodies the spirit of the Christmas season like Christmas trees, holly, and mistletoe.
Another Christmas gift tag design using one of the Christmas girl illustrations. This also uses other elements from the collection. Poinsettia and Holly at the top and a striped digital paper along the bottom. Purchase The Collection Here
Charming vintage illustrations of children out in the snow making snowmen, feeding birds, or just strolling arm in arm.
Create new designs, or print out as is to enjoy!
A collection of various illustrations of pine cones, evergreen, a Christmas tree, Hellebores, red berries, and more. Purchase The Collection Here
Lovely winter snowy scenic illustrations in gold frames and holly. Blank frame versions are also included as well as black and white overlays.
These illustrations stand alone or make wonderful additions to your designs! I loved that Bullfinches on a branch in the snow so much I got into a bidding war on eBay and payed a ridiculous amount for it. Absolutely no regrets! Purchase The Collection Here
These illustrations are lovely additions to your Christmas designs! Plus, the Poinsettia lady is a gorgeous art nouveau style. This card is a collector's item and is usually quite expensive.
These are also lovely additions to designs. All are extracted from the background with some of them also having a flattened version with the original shading. Purchase The Collection Here
Lovely snowy scenes. I particularly like the vignettes of winter pastimes.
10 digital papers (plus 4 color variations) chosen and created especially for this collection. Linen finish papers, gold, plaid, snowy watercolor paper, vintage neutral, opulent print, and more.
These colorful striped digital papers were created to complement illustrations in the collection. They make wonderful accent areas in a design! Purchase The Collection Here
These are bonus files with greetings extracted from the original postcards. They have the charming vintage roughness.
Additional bonus files. Use the gold foil to give a gilded look to your text. There are 3 snow overlays so you can incorporate the snowy illustrations into a larger design. I created these just for this purpose! I've also added in a few vintage elements, a couple of decorative washi tapes, and an ornate frame.
Thank you for having a look at the collection. I hope you will have as much fun with it as I do!
Purchase The Collection Here or with the button below.
]]>Luna is a 15 month old cat who adopted us last year as an abandoned kitten. Actually, our other numerous rescue cats brought her home. She recently somehow hurt her leg and the vet has scheduled a specialized operation to reset it. She has a sparkling personality and it would be a shame for her to limp for the rest of her life. We're taking her in tomorrow morning. The thing is, things are rather tight right now and this will cost us around $850. I started a donation on Facebook, but really, I prefer exchanges. So, I'm having a flash sale. Proceeds from this sale will go to her operation.
Why not get yourself a treat and at the same time, help Luna get her operation? We would appreciate it greatly.
With sincere thanks in advance, Leslie Nicole.
August 7, 2021
A big thank you to all of you who purchased to help support my rescue cat, Luna. I wanted to give you an update.
This morning, we drove an hour to the specialist surgeon and left Luna for her surgery. When we called in the afternoon to see how things went, they told us we could come in earlier than we thought. When we got there, it ended up they had decided not to do the surgery. After they put her under anesthesia and did more x-rays, they determined that it would actually make things worst to do the surgery. The vet thinks that she will eventually not be very handicapped.
So, the procedure cost me only about 1/4 of what I was anticipating. I do have other rescue cats that need attention, so the proceeds from the sale will still be used to care for my rescues. The sale will continue through Sunday as planned but we are now OK for Luna. Big hugs and appreciation for stepping up to help.
I'll be joining Design Cuts CEO, Tom Ross for this Live Session. Register to watch live or catch the replay!
Vintage can be used in an edgy, modern design!
This tutorial uses textures and elements from The Complete Inspirational Textures and Elements Collection.
]]>Don't miss this webinar where I show you one of my favorite creative techniques - creating designs and mandalas from floral photographs. It's a really fun, totally addictive process! Learn how easy and fun it is to turn photos, drawings, and textures into simple, evocative designs.
This technique also works fantastic with textures, vintage ornaments and script, and much more. Hopefully I'll have enough time to touch on those as well.
The video tutorial is hosted by Design Cuts and will Live Stream this coming Tuesday.
Tuesday, January 26th
Register even if you can't make the live session so you get an email confirmation with the link. You can also ask questions ahead of time.
If you are ever confused about when to use GIF, JPEG, PNG, and TIFF, then this is the webinar for you. Plus, the basics of file compatibility between some of the most common graphics software today. Hosted by Design Cuts.
Thursday, January 7th
3:00 UK Time
4:00 CET (Central European)
10:00 AM EST
7:00 AM PST
If you can't make the live session, catch the replay. Sign up to save your spot and get your reminder link.
]]>
I had a little fun last week designing my Christmas card from vintage elements, textures, and fonts. I always love playing with vintage for my holiday cards!
I'm a total font junkie! I love these fonts I purchased on Design Cuts*.
*These links to Design Cuts are affiliate links which means I will get a small commission from any purchases directed from these links - at no extra cost to you. Thank you!
No matter what you celebrate, be it Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, the Winter Solstice, or Festivus, I wish you a wonderful rest of the month and New Year 2021! Be safe, be warm, be loved.
What about you? Did you create your holiday card this year?
]]>If you can't catch the webinar live, register anyway so you will have the links for the replay. The replay will be available shortly after the live event and will always be available to watch.
While I will be showing the design in the following outcomes, the primary focus of the demo will be sharing my techniques for creating the photographic design starting with my flower photographs and adding textures, masks, and overlays. All textures and elements come from the Complete Inspirational Textures and Elements Collection. (50% off until October 20th!)
I like thinking beyond the frame when it comes to ways of using art in our everyday lives. What other surfaces or purposes might your art be used for? How would you like to enjoy your art in your own life or how might it serve a decorative purpose for to bring pleasure to other people's lives?
Matt Slightam, Creative Director and Co-Founder of Design Cuts remarked when he saw this design I created with textures and elements from the Complete Inspirational Textures and Elements Collection that he could see it used in perfume packaging. I've used a mockup here to test the idea. I know I'd buy this perfume!
This year for my birthday, I received a beautiful scented candle with gorgeous artwork and design on the packaging and candle. I immediately wanted to create my own! Plus, shopping bags are such a perfect way to showcase a design and enhance branding.
One of my personal fascinations is to create designs for clothing! What better way to enjoy our art and designs in a personal way?! I want this dress.
I hope these examples and the video inspire you to create your own designs. Check out the video demo to see how I created this design! I'd love to see your own creations made with French Kiss Collections. Be sure to use hashtag #frenchkisstextures on Instagram or share on the French Kiss Textures Facebook Page.
I decided I wanted to create a mini version of my own database in a way that also reflects my own approach to design. I like designing with layers of complementary graphics. I also wanted this collection to be an ultimate all-in-one collection. It would have a wide array of assets for maximum versatility, and would also be perfect for teaching various techniques. This meant creating quite a few element collections!
It turned out to be a very ambitious project. I created 4 unique texture collections with 8 complementary element collections. With a set deadline to meet, it almost broke me!
When the project started, I had rosy visions of sharing my progress on Social throughout the weeks and months with lovely video and beautiful flat lays. I'd do live tutorials on Facebook and share with my community. Yeah, that didn't happen. ;-)
Did you watch Jane The Virgin (love that series!) I think it was the last season when she was writing her novel and pretty much lived in sweat pants and missed more than one shower? That was me!
OK for the photo below, I did actually take a shower and change my clothes. This is the posed photo. (Although my studio is showing some suffering of months of work and little clean up.)
Painting watercolor textures at my art table.
Here's a real life iPhone capture of what life was really like. In my sweats, studio a mess, ear phones on, listening to music while I work.
It's been an extremely intense 5 months of work, but in the end it was worth it! This collection is really fun to create with. I can't wait to share it with you.
I'm proud to announce the Complete Inspirational Textures & Elements Collection! Check it out!
]]>This collection was created in partnership with Design Cuts. I worked closely with Matt Slightam the Creative Director and Co-Founder - a great experience!
Say hello to the Complete Inspirational Textures and Elements Collection! A unique selection of authentic resources to create beautiful designs, enhance your photography, or use for scrapbooking!
I’m so excited to share with you my essential collection of textures and elements! That beyond being an awesome array of assets (which it is!), also represents my own unique approach to creating layered designs with depth and impact.
After over five months of intensive work painting, spraying, scanning and retouching - it’s here!
You get these 8 different element groups which harmonize with the textures. Imagine the possibilities!
Hundreds of assets plus carefully edited bonus variations. (I didn't even include the bonus variations in the counts below!) All textures are a whopping 5286 x 7400 pixels! Maybe you have a recent DSLR and can’t find textures large enough or you just want to design big - either way, this collection has some of the largest textures and elements available on the market.
Have a look at all the goodies and inspirations! This collection was made with maximum versatility in mind so the possibilities are endless!
Bliss Textures are created from original, hand-painted and sprayed watercolors and dyes. The colors are fresh and bold but when changed to monochromatic also become wonderful backgrounds or the base of a design.
I created the following photographic art using 2 watercolor textures from the Bliss collection as well as other elements from the collection: watercolor spatter, a pattern overlay, an embellished clipping mask, vintage French script, vintage illustrations, and watercolor spatter. I'll be doing a live demonstration with Design Cuts October 9th! (Link to come.)
This peony photograph also uses a watercolor texture from the Bliss collection that already has vintage French Script added. I also added one of the vintage flourishes.
24 watercolor spatters and splats overlays. These are fantastic for adding another layer of detail to a design or photographic art, or use to enhance a photograph, or even use alone to embellish an invitation or logo!
All have 3 versions:
Bloom Textures are all hand-painted using fine acrylics on either canvas or fine art papers. The original colors are as vibrant as a Summer garden, but as shown with some of the included monochromatic variations, they become a fantastic base for a design. Convert to grayscale to add luscious paint texture to your photographs!
Acrylic spatter has a different feel to watercolor. It’s more opaque and you can get more of a dribble quality (think Jackson Pollack.) These are great both with using with the Bloom textures for extra dimension or as design elements.
Magpie is an eclectic collection of essential natural and created textures that are wonderful as backgrounds or as a base to your designs. Textures include vintage papers, stone walls, grungy canvas, crackled paint, vintage glass negative emulsion, and rubbed pastel.
Clipping masks are not only terrific for using with your photographs, they can also become a dynamic part of a design. There are also 5 embellished masks with yummy vintage details! I’ve included links to tutorials on using masks.
Edge overlays are such a fantastic way to add instant drama, depth, and focus to your designs or photographs. I’ve included a range of options that can be used subtly or as design elements.
Grunge overlays are valuable additions to your designs or even creating textures! Tutorials are included for changing the color of the overlays.
Bohème features chic fusions from textures and elements in the collection. Textures are mixed and touches of vintage, ornaments, spatter, patterns, and grunge layered to create rich backgrounds. Let them inspire you to create your own mixes!
Are you a vintage lover like me? I’ve include a wide range of vintage French graphics all from my private collection of original ephemera. Many of the papers and overlays are super-sized and all elements are at least 2x larger than the originals. Included are vintage French script, badges, illustrations, and decorative elements.
Mix things up to create original designs! Textures, overlays, ephemera...
More from the Oh, So Vintage Collection
Another example showing a combination of textures and elements from the collection.
More from the Oh, So Vintage! Collection
A detail from a texture in the Bohème collection showing the use of the Oh, So Vintage! overlays, plus a pattern overlay.
Vintage flourishes and decorative shapes have been converted to vector and saved in several formats for maximum convenience. Vector and shape versions allow for large upscaling. Also provided as .png overlays and Photoshop brushes.
3 vintage frames or borders 5286 x 7400 pixels in overlay or vector format. Colors easily changed.
A touch of pattern adds so much interest to a design! Included are iconic favourites like stripes, diamonds, chevron, quatrefoil, and trellis as well as a hand-drawn motif. All are PNG overlays sized perfectly for the textures in the collection.
I’ve included a layered file for you to get a peek at how to use the spatter, overlays and other elements. Watch for a tutorial with video coming soon!
Below is my design using photographs of flowers from my garden (with Nik and Topaz Labs filters) plus the layered example file in the collection.
This is months and months of work with hundreds of complementary textures and elements!
Don't miss out on announcements of specials, sales, and tutorials.
]]>If you can, join the Live Streamed Video class. You will be able to chat with other participants and ask questions.
The Live Event is April 16th, 2020:
If you can't join us live, you can always watch the recording at the same link.
]]>On February 20th I had my first live webinar class. The webinar was hosted by Design Cuts.
I wanted this webinar to be more than just "an introduction to textures" so I really packed a lot into roughly an hour and a quarter! I cover both introductory methods and advanced techniques. It's pretty jam packed, so if you are new to textures, don't get overwhelmed. Think of it as a road map. There will be more webinars and classes in the near future!
I was extremely touched by the wonderful comments and feedback both in the webinar chat and on Facebook and via email. Thank you all for the encouragement!
It's recommended that you use Chrome as your browser to watch the recording. If you have any technical difficulties, try restarting your browser and even clearing your cache.
In the final tutorial in the session, I show how I created this textured hyacinth photograph.
I used to use my @la_leslienicole Instagram profile for both my personal work and French Kiss but I've recently created @frenchkisstextures just for creative photography with a big emphasis on featuring your artwork.
I'm really loving seeing the incredible work and it's a delight to feature it. For quite awhile, I've been looking for a way to showcase user work and I realized Instagram is perfect! I'll also be doing some updates to the store so that the feed will appear on the front page. (For now, I'm mostly featuring photography. I may start a different Instagram profile for other graphics like vintage illustrations.)
I'll also be posting stories and images showing how I create graphics and what's up in the studio and shop.
Follow @frenchkisstextures on Instagram and start tagging your photography that uses French Kiss textures and overlays with #frenchkisstextures. I'll select 5 or more to feature each week. Please don't be discouraged if I don't feature you right away. There is so much awesome work it's hard to feature everything!
Can't wait to see your artwork!
]]>Here's the photo Straight Out Of Camera.
Below is an example of my first edits. I thought I was done at this point - but there was something bothering me about it. It felt dull.
As I mentioned above, the first round still felt a little dull to me, so on a merged layers copy, I applied two more Topaz Labs* filters. See first image in post for the results. These filters were applied in the *Topaz Labs Studio application via Photoshop.
It's harder to see the differences in these smaller resolution onscreen graphics, but there is a marked difference in the higher resolution version in vibrancy, detail and contrast - and also a more illustrative look.
Just for fun, here's another version using:
Don't be afraid to see how far you can push an image. You can see if you go too far, but it can be hard to see if you don't go far enough. Save your stages so you can check as you go.
Texture Collection: Autumn Rain Texture Collection.
*Topaz Labs Filters is an affiliate link. I get a small commission from any sales resulting from a click from this site (at no extra cost to you.) I really do love these filters. Nearly all of my own images use one of these filters. Thank you for supporting the site!
]]>Here's the photo Straight Out Of Camera.
Topaz Labs Clarity* Flower III setting is pretty much my go-to filter for post-processing flowers!
This little sprig of Lilac in a vase uses 3 textures.
Textures Used:
Nougat from the Craquelure Texture Collection.
2 Edge overlays from the Artistique Edge Overlays.
* Topaz Labs Filters is an affiliate link. I get a small commission from any sales resulting from a click from this site (at no extra cost to you.) I really do love these filters. Nearly all of my own images use one of these filters. Thank you for supporting the site!
]]>Vintage French Photo Studio is an updated and expanded collection. The original ephemera versions were added. There is an additional graphic as well as several bonus files and quite a few alternate and cropped versions.
The collection now contains:
This collection is now available in 2 different licenses:
See the Full Terms of Use
This is a free update for those who purchased the 20-25 overlay collection or the bundle before that. It's not a free update for the really small collections purchased separately in the past. update links were sent out 4/30/2019.
This collection is very versatile. Designers and artists as well as personal crafters will find multiple usages.
I enjoy adding the overlays to my photography.
See the production notes for this Lilac still life image here.
Hydrangea in a Bowl
This Hydrangea image uses the texture, Northern from the Tableaux Painterly collection as well as the Sponged Edges. It also has a little bit of the texture Ebullience from the Solstice collection.
The overlays come as grayscale transparent PNG files, but the colors are easily changed. Instructions included in the download.
See More of the Vintage French Photo Studio Papers and Overlay collection.
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Here is the original photograph straight from Lightroom.
Tableaux Painterly Texture Collection
French Photo Studio Vintage Overlays
* Topaz Labs Filters is an affiliate link. I get a small commission from any sales resulting from a click from this site (at no extra cost to you.) I really do love these filters. Nearly all of my own images use one of these filters. Thank you for supporting the site!
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