Fun Letters Journaling Pad

You can make journaling pads using Inkscape and Gimp. They are a lot of fun and no two will turn out alike!
This tutorial assumes that you have Inkscape installed on your computer.
It also assumes that you have a basic knowledge of how to use the software.

Fire up Inkscape.
Choose a font you like. The best ones are the ones that are in cursive style.
Write as many letters as you want your journaling pad to have (the desired width)
Change the color if you like. Then select the row of letters and copy.
Now click on the 4th tool at the top of the page, right under the Layers menu, to rotate the copied letters.
With your mouse, drag them to meet the first set of letters, paste your copy again and do the same, inverting the direction, continue this until you have formed a square with letters.Join the corners closely to form a box.
Now, drag your mouse over them all, choose object, group.
If you want to, use the pencil tool and draw freehand lines for your journaling.
Export as a Bitmap.

Now open Gimp.
Because Inkscape makes all the Bitmap background transparent, we're going to have to "fill" out the center with color in Gimp. Open your file. Choose the rectangle tool and draw a square selection that reaches only just below, above and inside the sides of your pad, but does not reach all the way to the letters.
Fill with the color of your choice. you can also fill it with a paper texture if you like.
Save again as a PNG.
Experiment with different letters which you think would make fun journaling blocks.
Here is another idea.
Choose the font AR Julian and type 1 capital O, 1 lower case o, and repeat this for as long as you want for the width of your journaling pad. Then follow the steps as for the previous journaling pad.
You can also do this to make fun frames for your scrapbooking photos.
In Gimp, you can fill the os with textures using the Bucket fill tool, or if you have SVG photos, you can do that in Inskcape as well.
Here is how a journaling block made with this technique would look like.

And this is an embellished version of it.

That's all there is to it! Have fun making your own.



Bible Universe

Making Elements with Inkscape and Gimp Using Letters

Fun Oval Element Based on Letters

A digital scrapbooker never has too much elements to use (at least, that is my experience,) and learning to make new ones is always fun and comes in handy!

What you will need before you start:
Inkscape and Gimp installed on your computer
Two textures of your choice for Gimp (there are hundreds of free textures available)
Script-Fu installed and part of your Gimp (you can easily find it online)

• Fire up Inkscape
• Choose the text tool.
• Pick the font Aharoni, size 144. Write the letter U (in caps)
• Then go to Edit, Duplicate. Move the duplicated U to the top of the first one. Then, select the second U with the select tool or arrow, and, while the U is selected, from the top of the page, Click on the 7th tool from the left, to flip the U around. Now, drag it down to sit on top of the previous V. Click on the Select tool again, and drag your mouse over the two Us, now go to Object, Group. Now they are joined together. Click on one of the arrows and drag the Vs to make them larger.
• When you have the size you want, go to File, Export Bitmap. Save it in the folder you want and close Inkscape.

• Fire up Gimp.
• Open your File from Inkscape. 
• Change the Foreground color to a color that matches the patterns you will be using. Pick the bucket took. Click on the center of the joined letter Us, which are now an oval and fill the center hole with the chosen color. Select the Ellipse tool and draw an oval in the center of the colored spot.
• If it does not come out of the size you want, click on it, arrows will appear and you can pull it into the shape and size you want. 
• Go to Layer, New Layer and then choose the blend or gradient tool. Get the Golden gradient and choose a linear gradient, stroking with your mouse downward, fill the oval with the golden color. Go to Select, shrink and shrink the selection by 25 pixels, then go to Layer, New Layer.  Click on the bucket tool, change it to Pattern Fill and fill the oval is still selected, fill it with the first pattern of your choice. Then go to Select None.
• Finally, choose the bucket fill again, and fill the rest of your element (the outside of the joined letter Us) with the second pattern.
• Go to Filters, Blur.
• You could stop right there and you would have a lovely element to use. But let us go a bit further.
• Go to Script-fu, Bevel and Emboss. Choose for Style: Outer Bevel
• For Depth: 5, Direction: Up, Shadow Color: Black. Leave the rest as is. Click OK.
• It will raise the center oval, giving it an almost 3D look. If you want to add a little bit of gloss to it, click on brush. Change the brush to Cirlce Fuzzy (19),
• change the color of the Foreground color to the color you want for the glow, move the scale size to 10.00 and click on the image where you want the glow to go.
• I did my gloss in yellow because I have too much white in my patterns and because it looks like a sparkle in the gold, but you can try any color you want.
• Save your image as a PNG and that's it!

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Creating Elements with Letters in Inkscape and Gimp

This is a super easy photo corner you can make in a jiffy and change in many ways to your heart's content.

• Fire up Inkscape.
• From the side toolbar, choose the text tool.
• Select the Font Garamond, size 144, for the color, choose Black.
• Click on the canvas and make the capital letter O.
• Choose the Select or Arrow tool and select your O, drag one corner of the letter to make it even bigger. Now go to Edit, copy and paste 5 more copies of your original O.
• Click on each O and drag it to position it overlapping the original O, right next to it but forming a chain, repeat with another O to form the bottom of your corner and then, drag the other two Os to overlap the top of the original, to form the rest of the corner chain.
• Now, click on the Arrow tool again to choose it and drag a selection over all of your chain photo corner. You will see all of your Os selected. Now go to Object Group. This will join the links of your chain so that they will not come undone. Now go to File, Export Bitmap and choose PNG. Save your work.

• Fire up Gimp.
• Open your PNG file. 
• Now choose the bucket fill and fill the chain corner with a pattern of your choice that you have preciously uploaded to be used in Gimp. Fill the chain photo corner element with the chosen pattern.
• Now Choose Script-Fu, Bevel and Emboss.
• Choose the following settings: Style: Outer Bevel; Depth: 5; Direction: Up; Gloss Contour: Linear; Highlight Color White; Shadow Color Black, and leave the rest as is.
• Click OK. Let it apply.
• Now go to Filters, Blur. 
• Once the simple blur is applied, go to Layer, Merge Down.
• Now, go to File, Save as, Save File Tpe (By Extension) and choose PNG, then say yes to merging layers and exporting, and you're set.

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Very Easy Fun Text in Gimp

This is a very simple tutorial which you can play around with until you can get the look you want for very fun and attractive text for your scrapbooking pages.
This tutorial assumes you have Gimp installed on your computer and that you have also downloaded some of the free patterns that are readily available online.

• Open up Gimp.
• Choose any size image you like.
• Now look for a thick font that will show off the pattern that you will use.
• I picked Accord Heavy SF Bold, size 76. Make sure your foreground color is Black (you can choose a background color of your choice, a gradient, or nothing. I chose to leave it blank.)
• Click on the bucket tool and choose a pattern that you like (previously downloaded into your computer and placed in Gimp’s patterns folder.) Try not to choose a pattern that has White in it, because that will be mostly our Gloss color.
• Now, right-click on the text layer that has your text in the layers menu, and choose Alpha to Selection. Now pick the Ellipse tool and draw an oval over top section of the text, leaving the bottom untouched.
• Now choose White as your Foreground and a very light version of one of the colors of your pattern (in my case it was a light green.) Choose the blend or gradient tool and stroke from the bottom of your oval upward, filling the area with your gradient. Give it an opacity of 50% by moving the lever down in the toolbox. Go to Filters, Blur and then
• Save. Got to File, Save as and then choose Select File Type by Extension and choose to save your text as a PNG.

That’s It! Experiment with different fonts and different patterns for different looks and add fun text to your pages, Enjoy!

Bible Universe

Sleek Modern Bow Element in Inkscape and Gimp

This is a super simple element which can take many looks accorind to your taste and to the effects you apply to it!

Note- This tutorial assumes you have Inkscape and Gimp installed on your computer. It also assumes you have at least a basic understanding of both softwares. Please, see our previous tutorials, since they are quite simple for beginners.


Open Inkscape

• Choose a color you like, I chose a hot pink. Create a horizontal rectangle of the size and width you like.
• I chose rounded corners but you can leave the edge straight if you want to.
• Now click on the Arrow tool and then select your rectangle, click again. You will notice some rounded arrows have appeared, you will use those to rotate your rectangle. To rotate your rectangle, drag the corner top arrow and while holding down the space bar of your keyboard, slowly drag your rectangle around until you have formed a bow. Let go when you are pleased with what you've got.

If you are not very sure, practice rotating your rectangle before you press the spacebar. If the space baris not pressed down, the stamping function will not be active and you will not be repeating the pattern.

When you are happy with what you have, go to File, Export as Bitmap.

Fire up Gimp.

• Open your stamped bow in Gimp.
• Choose the bucket tool. Select a texture you like. I have a pea green fabric with white polka dots that is perfect for this.
• Fill the topmost rectangle with the texture you chose. Now click on the Ellipse tool. Make a narrow oval at the center of your bow.
• Go to Layer, New Layer. Click on the bucket tool. Make sure your Foreground color is Black and fill the oval with Black.
• Go to Select, Shrink, and shrink your oval by 10 pixels. Choose the gradient tool, and click on the little menu and find Golden, click
• to select it. Stroke downward with your mouse to make a golden linear gradient to fill the circle in the middle of your bow.

• Go to Select, Shink, and shrink by 20 pixels. Go to Layer, New Layer. Select the Bucket tool and fill with Black again.
• Go to Select, Shink and shrink by 15 pixels.Click on your Bucket tool again, and choose another texture and fill your new layer with the texture.
• I chose a yellow fabric with white polka dots. You can leave it as is, but I chose to go a bit further.
• Go to Script-Fu, Bevel and Emboss. Choose Outer Bevel, Dept 5, Direction: Up and leave the rest as ic. Click OK and allow Gimp to apply the special effect.
• Then go to Filters, Blur and apply a soft blur. That's it.

Play with it all you want and make your own bows!

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Cute Tag Line Button for Your Blog in Gimp

A tag line is a catchy phrase or short sentence that either describes you, your interests or what you're blog's all about. It is crucial if you have a business!

Here is how to make a cute but super easy tagline button.

This tutorial assumes that you have Gimp installed in your computer, and that you have some basic knowledge of Gimp and that you have made our previous tutorials.
Open Gimp.
Choose a file size convenient for you. Choose the Rectangle tool and make a square in a size you like. Click on the menu to give it rounded corners.
Select the bucket fill and pick a color you like. Fill the square with the color of your choice. Click on the toolbox and look for a color lighter than the color of your square. Choose the ellipse tool and make a circle that almost covers the whole square, except for the bottom corner.
Fill this circle with the lighter color and give it only a 50% transparency (choose transparency from the toolbox by moving the lever in the direction you want.)
Click on the text tool, chose the color black.
Write whatever tag line you like.
Click on the bucket tool. Fill it with a pattern of your choice by selecting pattern fill rather than a color fill.
Go to Layer, New Layer. Then go to Script-Fu and click on Bevel and Emboss.
Choose the following settings:
Style: Outer Bevel
Depth: 10
Direction: Up
Size: 5
Soften: 0
Angle: 120
Gloss Contour: Linear
Highlight Color: White
Shadow Color: Black
Shadow Opacity: 75.0
Surface Contour Linear
and leave the rest as is. Click OK.

Go to Layer, Merge Down.
Save as, Select File Type (By Extension) and save as a Png.
If you need a transparent background, open the file after you have saved it and go to Layer, Add transparency,
choose the fuzzy select tool and click on the background and holding the control key down, click X to delete the background. Save again as a PNG.


You can make a lovely presentation of what your blog is all about with a button like this one. Here is an example to give you an idea.

 Bible Universe, Come and See!

Cottage Flower Element for Scrapbooking

This tutorial assumes the following:
-That you have Inkscape and Gimp installed on your computer.
-That you have already gone through our previous tutorials to learn the basics.
Fire up inkscape.

• From the vertical toolbar at the left of your page, choose the Polygon tool. Once the Polygons appear at the top of your page, choose Star, for corners, pick 8, spoke ratio, select 0.500 leave the rest of the settings as is.
• Select the color pink from the palette at the bottom of your page, and draw your star by dragging your mouse. Now, to turn the star into a flower, go to Path, object to Path. Then Edit your paths by clicking on the tool right underneath the select tool arrow. After selecting the toll, click on the star and While you hold the shift key down, click on the node that is at the tip of every point of your star to select it. You will notice that they change color to signify that they are selected.At the top of your page, where the paths editing tools are click on the 9th button, counting from the left (make nodes symmetric) that will make the star look more like a flower. You will see some horizontal handles at the top of your flower "petal" pull on those handles gently to smooth out the petals and make them rounder. When you are happy with what you have, you will click on the selection tool (arrow) and then go to Edit, Duplicate. 
• Move the duplicated flower to one side and make it a lighter pink, so you can see it better. Click on the arrow tool and then on the duplicated flower until the rotation arrows appear and rotate it a little bit so that the new petals will not cover the ones from the previous flower but be seen on top of them. Click on the arrow tool again and move the new rotated flower on top of the previous one. While holding the ctrl key down, push the new flower in with your mouse fo shrink it just a little bit. Go to Object, Align and Distribute, and choose Center on Vertical Axis, and Center on Horizontal Axis.
• Now create a new star of 9 spokes (keep the other settings intact) You will notice when you click on the paths tool (you don't have to go to Object, Object to Paths) that there are 2 nodes on the star. Ignore the node at the tip of the star and drag at the node that is near on the edge near the center of the star, while holding the ctrl key to keep things even. Keep this star smaller than the rest of the flower and make the color darker. Drag it to the center of your flower. Now choose the Ellipse or circle tool, choose a darker shade of pink and while holding the ctrl key down, make a circle to go in the center. (Make sure that none of your pieces has a visible stroke color!) Click on the select tool and drag your circle to the centerof your composite flower. Save the flower as a Bitmap. Close Inkscape and open Gimp.
• Open your flower as a PNG in Gimp. 
• (This step assumes you have texture patterns installed in your Gimp Patterns folder, please refer to previous tutorials to find out how to do it!)
• Click on the Bucket Tool, then Pattern Fill and choosing at least 3 different pattern fills, click ont he different portions of your flower and fill them with patterns of your liking.
• I chose pink pastel fabric patterns. Then go to Filters, Blur. Then Script-Fu, Drop Shadow. Finally, save as a PNG bu clicking on Select File by Extention.
• Say yes to Merge Visible Layers to export it and save it. 

That's it, now you have a pretty cottage flower element to use for scrapbooking!

Bible Universe