Christine Borgfeld Designs

Polka Dot Potato store closing

Well, not really, but Ashley has decided to stop selling digital artwork and focus on the print business and some other areas.  So after giving it a lot of thought I've decided not to move my products to another store right now.  I haven't been designing in some time, and I've had a very busy year in areas outside digital scrapbooking.  I don't think it would be fair to join a new store when I'm not available to contribute as much as I'd like. 

I will continue to scrapbook and make some brushes from time to time (and possibly post here to share), but right now I'm just not ready to design regularly.  Right now I'm just going to let life take its course for a while and see where things fall as I focus on some other areas.  So enjoy the last day of the clearance sale if you haven't already, and thanks to those who have offered me spots to sell in their stores. 

I also did a layout last weekend (wow!).  Here is the herd of deer that gathers every evening at my father's house to get a free meal and water.  This is one of the best times of year to watch them.

Photo masks aren't just for photos

This is the first of several posts on ideas for using brushes in your scrapbooking and designing. 

Photo masks have recently become popular in digital scrapbooking layouts.  Numerous designers are selling them (including me) and they can make some really stunning pages.  Here is an example from my favorites at DST (click to see credits). 

Basically the mask (or combination of brushes) is used to crop the picture.  I use this technique frequently in blended layouts, but I also use brushes and photo masks to crop part of a background paper and use it to highlight an image.  Here is a quick example of what you can do:

1. Start with an extracted image, a photo mask from my Distressed Elegance set, and a background paper from Jofia Devoe (The Smell of Summer kit).

2. Use the photo mask to cop a section of the background paper.

3. Place the cropped design behind the extracted image, rotate or position as you like, and you have the start of a stunning layout. 

 

 

December brushes are here!

Finally!  Yes I know...I just had to take a break however.  I had family visits, birthday parties and some travel for my real job back in late October and early November, so I couldn't get a set released for November.  But never fear...the new ones are out and ready for you to buy at PDP as usual!  Enjoy! 

PS - for some reason I can't reply to comments on the blog right now..still trying to figure that one out. 
I'm severely blog handicapped! 

Ideas wanted!

So I've been wanting to put together a list of ideas on how to use Photoshop brushes in scrapbook layouts, photos, cards etc. I have quite a few but I'd love to hear yours as well!  Feel free to leave comments and/or links to projects you have done as examples.  I'll compile everything and make it available as a download here and at PDP so everyone can check it out. 

Also - I always love to see any projects you use my brushes in, so please post links anytime.

New brushes for October!

 My new set of Photoshop brushes for October is finally here! I really love the way these turned out.  Now I need to go use them and actually do some scrapping instead of designing.  If only I could do both at the same time!  Anyway, check them out at PDP - $6 for them all for a few weeks or buy them individually for $2.50 each. 

September Brushes are here!

My bundle of Photoshop brushes are here for September!  You can get the whole set for $6 - just $1 each.  Just click on the picture to go to the store.

New brushes and tutorials for July

I have new sets of Brushes available for July and a free tutorial on the basics of how to use them.  You can get the tutorial for either Photoshop or Photoshop Elements.  You can get the brushes at $1 each if you buy the bundle - its available until the first Sunday in August when I'll have a new set for you.  Check them out here.

Alex at the Beach

Just a quick post of my most recent layout.  I was inspired by a layout from pixiedust at DST.  She has some wonderful work which you can see here.  This page uses my new circle frame brushes which I'll get around to posting here soon.  But for now you can see them here at PDP. 

New Photoshop brushs for June

I've just released 8 new sets of high resolution Photoshop brushes!  You can buy them individually or as a full set for a heavy discount.  The set will only be available for the next month, and I will have another set in July.  Look for new releases the first Sunday of each month. 

All of my brushes are made at high resolution (300ppi) with original art, public domain or unrestricted usage material, and commissioned designs. Brushes are provided in abr and png format. Brush files are created in Photoshop CS for maximum backward compatibility.

These are available with two license choices. The default PDP standard license allows personal use, scrap for others, and limited printed uses for profit. The extended license allows use in digital scrapbook products and other graphic uses for profit without credit or quantity requirements.

Here are the previews:

 

Action for creating brushes

Thanks to Carrie Stephens for taking things up a notch by suggesting an action!  Here is the fully automated version...

1. Create an action with two steps a.) define brush preset b.) close the file - here is my version Download Make_brush
2. Put all your png files in one directory
3. go to File>Automate>Batch
4. Select your new action and the source folder. You don't need a destination folder.  Click Ok and watch it go! 
5. Go into preset manager and save your set. 

By the way you can check out Carries site Fish Scraps here.