BriannaNichole Wedding Monogram Tutorials

Last Name Keepers

2011-05-05T16:21:00.001-07:00

So, you are getting married but you want to keep your last name? It's not a problem, there are still lots of monogram options; You can have a monogram with just your first names/initals and forgoe the whole last name thing, or you could create a monograms that includes both of your last names. I say go for the second option. It still shows that you are blending your lifes together, but it lets you display your last name.

In this blog entry I am going to show you a couple of monogram choices for ladies that want to keep their last name...and display it proudly on their monogram.

Here are some that I have already created:

You can pretty much do this with any monogram. Go ahead, pick one of my monogram tutorials and try it.

Good luck and Happy Monogram-ing,
BriannaNichole.

Wedding Invitation Template Deal

2010-06-10T13:43:00.000-07:00

Hello all you out there in wedding planning land. Hopefully all is going well. I wanted to thank everyone for their monogram requests. I am still as busy as a little bee working on completing them all. I am still taking requests so feel free to email me with your requests. Just a reminder it is $3.00 for one monogram. Choose from three proofs. Can't decided, get all three for $5.00.

I am working on some wedding invitation templates and tutorials. If you don't have Photoshop or if you just don't want to make your own, you can purchase the template along with the customization. There will be no custom designs, but you will have the choice of colors and content. Designs, pricing and details to come.

I'm working on getting the designs to fit on some pocketfolds. I'm even thinking about adding RSVP, directions and other insert cards to go along with the invitation.

Please feel free to email me questions and monogram inquiries.

Hugs,

Brianna.

p.s. Looking for an invitation template now? Check out my Get This Invitation Look post

Monogram Sneak Peak

2010-06-03T13:16:00.000-07:00

Thought I would share some of the latest monogram designs I have been working on.

More monograms and tutorials to come. You can get your own monogram for $3.00. Choose from three totally custom designs. Can't choose, get all three for $5.00.

Happy Wedding Planning,
BriannaNichole

Monograms, Monograms Everywhere Wedding Monograms

2010-05-27T14:10:00.000-07:00

Happy Thursday all! I hope everyone is excited for the three day weekend, I know I am. To get some more ideas for monogram tutorials I am reinstating the cheap monogram. This time you will get 1 monogram for $3.00, choose from three personalized styles. You can choose all 3 monogram styles for just $5.00.

How do you get it? Just email me at: weddingmonograms@gmail.com with the following information:

Names - Bride & grooms name. Include his last name and tell me if you want it on the monogram.
Wedding Date
Colors - Pick one to four colors from this site: http://www.computerhope.com/htmcolor.htm
Wedding type - Casual, contemporary, classic/romantic, symbolic (palm tree, damask, ornate).
Anything else you think I might need to know (designs you like, wedding location, where you may use it etc).

Payment? I use paypal. Once I send you choose the monogram you would like I will send you the invoice. Once payment is made I will send you the high resolution files.

Please feel free to email me with questions, comments.

Thanks,

BriannaNichole!

Thanks and Emails

2010-05-24T12:59:00.000-07:00

Afternoon all you DIY brides and wedding helpers. I am still working diligently on lots of new tutorials and helpful hints for the blog. I will post asap. I wanted to address everyone who has emailed me recently.

First off, thanks so much for all the compliments. Everyone of them are much appreciated. I don't always have the time to respond but they still mean the world to me. Secondly, I have been getting so much email that I had an auto responder on my email box. I have since removed it and will be responding to everyone who emails me. Lastly, I will be open to doing paid monograms again. Please feel free to email me for all your monogram inquiries, whether they be tutorial needs, questions or monogram needs. I will do my best to help or to steer you into the right direction.

Thanks again, and as always happy wedding planning,
BriannaNichole!

Not an April Fools Joke :)

2010-04-01T14:09:00.000-07:00

Ok so I just noticed that I have not posted on this blog for a year! I decided that it is time for a new tutorial. I cannot promise that I will continue to update but I will be working on a new tutorial this weekend and will hopefully have it up by Monday. Thanks to all of you who continue to check out and recommend this blog to others. I always appreciate the kind comments that I receive.

Happy Easter,
BriannaNichole.

Goodbye Wedding Monogram Blog

2009-04-01T12:25:00.000-07:00

I am blogging today to say farewell to my wedding monogram blog. Unfortunately I just simply don't have the time or passion to keep the site up anymore. I am sure you all have noticed my lack of blog posts. I really appreciate all the great comments/emails I have received about the site. I wish all of you girls lots of luck with your wedding planning. I have decided to keep the blog posted so people can continue to use all my old tutorials.

Happy Planning,
BriannaNichole!

Rock Band

2009-02-20T16:57:00.001-08:00

Raise your hand if you played Rock Band the last two nights instead of creating tutorials. [raising hand]

Oops,
BriannaNichole!

Tutorial Inspiration

2009-02-18T10:28:00.000-08:00

I am in some serious need of some tutorial inspiration. Please email me any tutorials you would like to see: Weddingmonograms@gmail.com. I'm open to Monograms, Invitations, Save-The-Dates, Programs, Table Numbers, etc. I need to be able to get the creative juices flowing again.

Happy Planning,
BriannaNichole!

Monograms Are Done

2009-02-16T13:54:00.000-08:00

Happy Presidents Day All! I hope everyone is having a nice day. All the holiday monograms are now finished. I got a lot of requests so if somehow I missed your please shoot me over an email.

I have a lot of new tutorials planned so please stay tuned.

BriannaNichole!

Holiday Monograms Update

2009-01-20T14:33:00.000-08:00

Thanks to everyone who emailed me looking for a monogram. I just wanted to let you all know I am working on them right now and I will have monograms fro everyone very very soon.

Thanks,
BriannaNichole.

Holiday Monogram Time

2008-12-14T14:50:00.000-08:00

Happy Holidays Everyone! I was feeling very inspired by the holiday season and I wanted to extend a very specail monogram offer to all of my blog readers. From now until December 30th, you can order one monogram for a $1.00*. To get started I need:

Any Monogram you like from my blog

You and your FI full names (make sure to mention if you are not taking his name>

Wedding Date

Wedding location (optional)

Monogram Color be very specific

Anything else you want included; images, fonts, etc

*The $1.00 price includes one edit, once the design is approved another $1.00 chrage will be incured for additional changes.

Email: Brianna.fabulous.morrow@gmail.com to take part of this special offer.

Reader Emails

2008-10-10T21:53:00.000-07:00

Ug, I have to tell you guys how very, very sorry I am! Not only have I not been blogging, I have not been answering my email! I know I have just not gotten back to anyone. If it makes you all feel better I have not be blogging much on my personal blog either. Since I have been so bad at getting back to emails I thought I would answer some emails I received on my blog so others might benefit from it too. Here goes:

Email From Sarah
How would I create embellished / ornate fonts and flourish designs.

I know you cannot see the images she attached so I will explain them. She is looking for an ornate letter as the back of her monogram.

BriannaNichole
The best, and easiest, way to have an ornate design is to use a dingbat or a font. Learn more about Dingbats. One of my favorite dingbat sites is Houseoflime.com.
Here is one that I created using the Ornate Initials B font.

I simply added a box to make it a little fancier. You can find similar instructions on my How to Create a Border tutorial.

Email From Ashley
So first off, I LOVE your site! You are soo freaking creative! OMG I have been on photoshop for hours playing with my monogram! I have a few questions though because I'm having some problems. My colors are Red and White. So its been hard to do monograms with it cause they are boring, I have tried incorporation black and grey and like a beige but Im having alot of difficulty. Does it have to match my color theme or can you think of some other colors I can throw in with red? Ugh its super aggravating. Also our names are Ashley & Matthew soon to be last name Donovan. These are such hard letters to work together! Exceptionally the D!Im trying but Im not having much luck. My wedding is 05/30/09 si I still have time, but Im getting pretty frustrated. Is there any way you could help me come up with a good idea? Thanks.

BriannaNichole
First off I have to say thanks so much for the compliment on the site. You will have to thank my old boss who let me make monogram tutorials when I should have been working ;).

To answer your question I think that there are a lot of colors that you can do with red and white. I love the idea of doing back and grey with some red for an accent. It just screams chic and modern to me. I don't think you have to 100% match your color scheme. If you add punches of other colors no one would even know. In fact you could do invitations and STDs that are a totally different color pallet than your wedding. No one would be the wiser. Another great way to work with a 'boring' color pallet is to go monochromatic. Why not use several shades of the same color.

I do agree that some letters are harder to work with than others! My monogram consisted of B, D and another D for the last name. I could not pick harder letters to work with than those. What I figured out was that by adding a different type of font (cursive swirly vs. modern serif) you can overcome those difficult font issues.

By using a serif, or plain, font for the D I was able to get around the fact that it is hard to find a good 'fancy font' D.

That is all of the emails for this time. I hope you found this helpful. I am going to really try to make an effort to post lots more monogram tutorial annnnnnnnnd to answer my emails.

Happy Planning,
BriannaNichole!

I swear I will Post Soon!

2008-06-08T21:17:00.000-07:00

I will, I will, I will!

BriannaNichole!

I'm a Big Fat AW

2008-05-13T12:57:00.000-07:00

For those of you not in the know, that is attention whore. I just had to toot my own horn because I just got a shout out from Card of The Week for Tutorial Tuesday.

Her blog is pretty cool, go check it out.

BriannaNichole!

How To Draw Lines

2008-05-08T14:55:00.000-07:00

If you look at a lot of my monograms, or other designs, you will notice that I have included lines in them. I think they add a lot to a monogram. The are especially good if you want to have a lot of elem nets to a monogram, they help to separate the monogram and make it look 'cleaner'. In this tutorial I am going to show you how you can create one of my favorite monograms that include lines.

Step 1 Open Photoshop and create a new canvas: File > New or Ctrl + N.

Step 2 Create a new Layer by clicking on the Add a New Layer icon and select the Rectangle Marquee tool.

Step 3 You are going to use the Marquee tool to draw your line. Just Left-Click on the canvas and drag the line to the side until you are happy with the length of your line. Don't worry if it is too thick or long we can fix that later.

Step 4 Select the Foreground Color Tool and change it to the color you desire. Select the Paintbucket Tool and click once on the line to add the color.

Step 5 If your line is too thick; use the down arrow key on your keyboard to move the section (dancing ants) down. When the line is as thick as you want it hit the Delete button to remove the excess. When you are finished hit Ctrl + D to remove the selection (dancing ants).

Step 6 Create a new layer, select the Type Tool and type the: Bride and Grooms Name, Wedding Date and Location. I am going to use Times New Roman, All Caps, 16pt and I am using 4 spaces between each word. You may need to play around with this a little until you are happy with the result.

Step 7 Duplicate the layer that has the line: Ctrl + J. Select the Move Tool and move the Line layer copy under the text you created.

Step 8 Create a new layer, select the Type Tool and type the last name of the bride and groom. Make sure to select a script font that is a bigger size. This text will sit on top of the line.

Step 9 Use the Crop Tool to remove the excess canvas.

You are finished. Try being creative and adding some elements to the monogram. I added some dots and a Palm Tree dingbat to mine.

Monogram Contest Winner!!!

2008-05-01T14:02:00.000-07:00

I just wanted to thank all of you that participated in the monogram contest. I got so many amazing entries that it was super hard to choose. Here are some of the AMAZING things that you have been doing with my tutorials:

Karneisha created some beautiful invitations using my Get This Look Invitation,Photoshop Brushes and the Dumask Design Tutorials.

Gina made some cool Mr. and Mrs. signs and a great monogram using my Mr. and Mrs. and Letter Behind Monogram Photoshop Tutorials.

Shelley created a shabby chic damask invitation using Damask Photoshop tutorial.

Laura made one of my favorite monogram styles with the Letter Behind Monogram Photoshop Tutorials.

Thanks to everyone who sent in designs. You guys all did an amazing job! Too bad there can only be one winner. I think I have to say my favorite design, both for creativity and beauty has to be Karneisha. I loved that she took the a few tutorials and combined them to make some really great invitations.

Thanks,
BriannaNichole!

Monogram Contest Update

2008-04-24T14:15:00.000-07:00

Hi all! The entry period for the monogram contest is now over. Please keep checking back for your monogram entries, the free monograms and for the contest winner.

Plus, there will soon be lots of new tutorials.

BriannaNichole!

Paid Monograms

2008-04-23T08:31:00.000-07:00

Good Morning Brides. You may notice that I removed the information on how to purchase monograms. I have just been so busy with creating monograms for people that I have not had time to create any new tutorials. So, for the time being I will not be taking any orders to create paid monograms. I will be focusing on creating tutorials and the monogram contest.

Also, if you are looking for Photoshop Tutorials on how to edit pictures, check out my personal blog FabBriannaNichole.blogspot.com.

Happy Planning,
BriannaNichole!

Free Monogram Contest Reminder!

2008-04-22T10:47:00.000-07:00

I wanted to thank everyone who has already participated in the free monogram contest. All the designs I have received look amazing, you all are doing a great job. I want to remind you that Thursday April 24, 2008 is the cut off for entries. Once I receive all the entries I will pick the winner based on creativity, overall look and difficulty of the design. The winner will receive a set of table number designs custom to your wedding. Everyone who enters will get a free monogram.

Thanks Guys,
BriannaNichole!

Monogram Contest...Free Monogram

2008-04-17T15:01:00.000-07:00

I would love to see all the monograms/Invitations/Table numbers/Mr. and Mrs. Signs/Reception Menus/Etc. That you created by using one of my tutorials. All entires will win a Free Monogram. My favorite design can win Free Custom Table Numbers/Names for their wedding.

All you have to do is email me your design and allow me to post it on my blog. I will email you back with all the information I need for your free monogram. The winner will be announced next week.

Email Monograms in a .jpg format to WeddingMonograms@gmail.com

Good Luck and Happy Monogram-ing!
BriannaNichole!

Keeping Your Last Name?

2008-04-17T13:21:00.000-07:00

Reception Menu Tutorial

2008-04-15T11:00:00.000-07:00

If you are like me, you enjoy the little touches that paper products can add to a wedding. I love when people include table numbers, escort cards, seating charts, Mr and Mrs signs and such.
For this blog entry I wanted to show you how simple it can be to create a dinner menu for your reception. They look so pretty on the table and they, just like flowers, add a nice touch of color to your reception.

Your menu cards can range from the very very simple, to the super ornate and fancy. Here I am going to show you one that falls somewhere in the middle. I will, also, be giving you the link so you can download the template and edit it with your info.

I am sooooo in love with black and lime green right now (like you couldn't tell from new blog look), so those are the colors I am going to be using. You will be able to change the colors to match your needs.

Step 1 Open Photoshop and create a new canvas: Ctrl + N. I am going to make mine 4.5x6.5, because I am going to add a border. If you don't want a border, or you want your menu a different size, enter your values here. Make sure the resolution is set to 300dpi.

Step 2 Change the foreground color to White > Select the Paintbucket tool and click once on the canvas. This will change the background to white.

Step 3 Change the Foreground color to Black and the Background color to Green. Add a new Layer: Layer > New > Layer.

Step 4 Select the Text tool and change the font to Frames and Headers and use the following settings. Download Here

Step 5 Type Q, on your keyboard. Select Ctrl + T and stretch the image to make it wider. Click on the green check mark when finished.

Step 6 Create a new layer (Layer > New > Layer or use the Add New Layer Icon) and Select the Text Tool.

Step 7 Change the font to Times New Roman (or a similar serif font) and change the size to 32. Type in Dinner Menu. Don't worry about it being centered, we can change that later.

Step 8 Highlight the text and select the Character and Paragraph Pallet. Change the spacing to 100 and click on the Small Caps button. Click the Green Arrow when finished.

Step 9 Create a new layer (Layer > New > Layer or use the Add New Layer Icon) and cut and paste your whole dinner menu into the new layer. Don't worry if the formatting is all messed up, we are going to fix that.

Step 10 With the Text too selected, highlight all the text you just pasted into the canvas. Change the font size to 14 (you may need to go smaller or larger if your menu is bigger, but you can adjust that later). Select the Left Align Text button. Select the Green check mark when you are finished.

Step 11 Select the Move Tool to center your text.

Step 12 Select each Header, like Entree, 1st course, Desert etc, and change the font, color, text size, remove small caps and spacing.

Here is what it should look like after step 12.

Step 13 In this step you will fix the formatting. Move all the extra spaces between lines, move text to new lines and just overall fix the formatting. Play around with font sizes until you are happy with the results.

Step 14 Create a new layer (Layer > New > Layer or use the Add New Layer Icon), select the Text tool and change the Foreground color to black. Select Times New Roman with 22 as the size. Select the Character and Paragraph Pallet and click on the Small Caps button.

Step 15 Type in you and your FI's name.

Step 16 Create a new layer (Layer > New > Layer or use the Add New Layer Icon), select the Text tool and change the Foreground color to green. Select a Script font with 22 as the size. Select the Character and Paragraph Pallet and click on the Small Caps button.

Step 17 Type in your wedding date, and use the move tool to position it where you think it looks best. I am going to make it look like the date and names are twined. Check out my Twine Monograms Tutorial for steps.

I added a border as a finishing touch. You can find the steps in my How to Create a Border Blog entry.

Here is the finished product:

You can download my template here

Note: This is only a photoshop (.psd) file, it will not work in other programs.

Désolé, Spiacente, Traurig...Sorry

2008-04-13T21:03:00.000-07:00

I'm so sorry for the lack of tutorials posts!! I have been super busy creating monograms for brides. My next blog entry will be a tutorial on how to create a menu for a Wedding Reception. I will make sure to post the file so you gals can download it as a template. In the future I'll be creating some more 'Get This Look' invitation tutorials, with the file so you can use it as a template, as well as the inserts for the previous Get This Look invitation. I will, also, have a tutorial for those gals that are keeping their last name and want it on their monogram.

I wanted to clear up some Photoshop Elements questions. I don't have the program, but from what I undersaatnd you can create monograms and invitations in this version of Photoshop. The program is about $500.00 less than the full version of Photoshop.

As always, feel free to email me with tutorials you would like to see or Photoshop questions you might have. I may not know the answer, but I might be able to point you in the right direction.

Big Hugs,
BriannaNichole!

Wedding Maps

2008-04-10T09:28:00.000-07:00

I just found this really great wedding map site called http://www.weddingmapper.com/. It lets you location where your Ceremony, Reception, RD etc are located on a map. You can show your guests where local hotels and attractions are. Which is really prefect if you have a lot of out-of-town guests or you are having a destination wedding. Its totally free and really cool. I just wish I knew about this when I was planning my wedding!

Happy Planning,
BriannaNichole!

Mr. and Mrs. Signs

2008-04-08T16:08:00.000-07:00

The Mr. and Mrs. or Bride and Groom signs are a great way to let all of your reception know just who you are, like the big white dress and glowing faces were not a dead give away. They are designed to hang on the back of your chair and announce to the world your newly married status. Here is an example of some that I created for Chastity and Albert's beautiful wedding:

What is so easy about these signs is that they are designed to be the size of standard paper....so no cutting!

Step 1 Open Photoshop and create a new Canvas: Ctrl + N or File > New. The canvas should be the following setting:

Step 2 Select the Type Tool and a Script font. For this tutorial I am going to use the Carpenter Script, which you may remember from a previous blog entry. Set the font size to 250pt.

Step 3 Type in Mrs. You may need to use the Move Tool to center the type on the canvas.

Step 4 Create a new layer and Select the Rectangle Marquee Tool.

Step 5 Hold down the Left mouse button and drag it to the side, creating a line.

Step 6 Select the Paintbucket tool and fill the line with the color of your choice.

If the line is too thick you can use the Down-Arrow, on your keyboard. This will move the selection (marching ants) down. Hit the Delete button.

Step 7 Select the Type tool and change the font to a block, or serif font. In this case I am going to use Copperplate Gothic Bold. Set the size to 50Pt.

Step 8 Type in 'The Bride' and highlight the text. Select the Character and Paragraph pallet.

Step 9 Change the width to . Depending on the font you use you may need to play around with this setting.

Step 10 Select the layer with the line and duplicate the layer: Ctrl + J.

Step 11 Select the move tool. Move the duplicated line layer to the bottom of 'The Bride' text.

You are finished. Just change the text to 'Mr' and 'The Groom'.

Try adding a border or a Cardstock backing to the sign. to add some depth.

Use ribbon to attach it to the chair, or get creative!

Thanks,
BriannaNichole!

Free Wedding Monograms...So Far.

2008-04-01T15:59:00.000-07:00

UPDATE!!! I have added more monograms

All the free monograms are now finished. Thanks to everyone who inquired about monograms. I hope they work out for you. I would love to see pictures of what you use them for. Please send them to: weddingmonograms@gmail.com.

I have listed the monograms under your names and wedding date. Please email me with the monogram you would like for free, and I can email it to you. If you would like to purchase the other monograms it will be $5. At that time you can request any edits; font, colors etc.

BriannaNichole!

Nikki & Jeff 8.30.08

Andrea & Jeff 10.11.08

Lashunda & Lawrence 7.31.08

Stacey & Joe

Lyndsay & Luke 7.11.09

Jessica & Philip 8.15.09

Erin & Adam 4.14.2009

Holly & Kyle 6.6.2009

Kerlyne & Davidson 10.10.10

Lindsay & Jacob 6.13.08

Heidi & Brad 4.31.08

Kelly & Will 8.9.08

Sarah & Gordon 6.14.08

Stephanie & John 1.1.09

Thanks to You All

2008-04-01T06:54:00.000-07:00

Thanks to all the ladies who emailed and left me comments in regaurds to the free monograms. I am working on them right now. I will be posting them soon for you to choose.

BriannaNichole!

Free Monograms for a Monday

2008-03-31T08:53:00.000-07:00

Since I am so nice, I am going to give away some free monograms today. If you email or leave me a comment today (March 31, 2008) I will give you one free monogram.

Here is how we do it:
- You give me: You & Your FI name (his last), your wedding date, wedding colors (be specific), location (if you want included), wedding style (contemporary etc) and any fonts you like.

- I create 4 monograms for you.

- You choose the monogram you like best & I give it to you FOR FREE.

You can decide to buy the other monograms for $5. At that time you can ask for edits to the monogram ( a different font, dingbat, etc).

Happy Wedding Planning!
BriannaNichole.

weddingmonograms@gmail.com

Font for a Sunday

2008-03-30T20:10:00.000-07:00

Good Evening everyone. I hope you are enjoing what is left of your weekend. Although, if you are like me you are dreding going back to work tomorrow. *sigh* Anyway, I thought this would be a good time to introduce you all to a new font. So, *drum roll please* the font for this evening is............Carpenter Script.

Carpenter Script (which you can download for free by clicking on Carpenter script listed above) is one of my favorite fonts. I like it because it is scripty (my own special font description word) yet is works great for a casual or contemporary wedding. I love that it looks sort of like handwriting so it gives you a more personal feel to your wedding paper products.

The only drawback, which my Hubby like to point out every time I use this font, is that it can be hard to read. You have to make sure that you have a design that is big enough where you can read the font. My suggestion is to play around with it a little.

Also, when you use it, I suggest you make the letters closer together. Sometimes they do not match up perfectly. It is pretty simple to do this in photoshop. You just need to:
1. Write & highlight your text
2. Select the Charachter and Paragraph Pallete
3. Slect -10 for the text spacing.

If you need help installing this, or any other font, please visit my blog entry on the subject: So, You Need Help Installing Fonts

In fact, this blog header is using the Carolina font.

Happy Planning,
BriannaNichole!

The Illusive Damask Design

2008-03-26T13:25:00.000-07:00

Like the siren song, the damask design, seductively calls to brides. It speaks of a classy and elegant wedding. In the end it becomes costly, frustrating and annoying. Worry not, for I have found a easy way to recreate the Damask design that is not costly or frustrating.

How can I attain such a feat, you ask? Like many others I was annoyed because I could not find a Damask dingbat to save my life. Why not? The answer is simple; Damask, by definition, is a design or pattern. A dingbat is usually a single design. To create the Damask look you will need to create the design.

Your first step is to find a design that you can use to create the Damask look. There are a few way that you can do this;
1) Look for dingbats that could be made into the Damask pattern. Try searching Google for; Ornamental dingbats, flourish ding bats, design dingbats.

2) Photoshop Patterns. Photoshop patterns are just that, its a pattern that you can use with the paintbucket tool. They are very limited and I would not suggest this avenue unless you are familiar with Photoshop patterns.

3) Try looking for clipart that has the Damask style shape. The only problem with this is that you are limited to the size and color of the design you download. Most of the good ones you will have to pay for.

and the way that we are going to use....

4) Photoshop Brushes. There are not may out there, again because they do not call them Damask designs. You will have to look for Ornamental or Flower Photoshop brushes. I have found a few that will work.

The Photoshop Brushes that I liked the best were from http://seishido.biz. I found three that would really work:

You can find them all in the Ornamental set under BushyCats. Each brush is Dollar and worth it IMO. The only thing that made me mad was that I had to wait for her to email me the brushes. Granted it only took her about an hour or so, but I kind of expect to get what I pay for right away. I guess I am just impatient *sigh*.

For this tutorial we are going to use the Requiem Brush. If you need some help installing and using Photoshop Brushes, take a look at my blog on the subject.

Here is the look that we are going for:

Step 1 Open Photoshop and create a new Canvas: Ctrl + N or File > New

Step 2 Click on the Add New Layer icon.

Step 3 Select the Paint Brush Tool.

Step 4 Click on the Down-Arrow in the brush tool bar, and then click on the Left-Arrow in the brush pallet.

Step 5 Select your brush from the list. In this case I am going to select the Seishido.biz_requiem brush. Click Ok.

Step 6 Select the first brush on the last row, and then change the size to 300 pixels.

Step 7 Click once on the canvas, make sure layer 1 is highlighted (it will appear blue).

Step 8 Select the Move Tool and move layer 1 to the top right hand corner of the canvas. This will allow the Damask design to go all the way to the end of the canvas.

Step 9 Duplicate Layer 1: Ctrl + J.

This next part may be a bit confusing. You are going to use the arrows on your keyboard to move the design around on your canvas. You will count how many times you hit each key to make sure each image is perfectly centered. The screen shots will help.

Step 10 With Layer 1 Copy highlighted; you are going to hit the Right-arrow on your keyboard 65 times.

Step 11 You are going to duplicate the layer and move it to the right 4 more times. This will fill the top row. Notice the last image will be completely off the page.

Step 12 Highlight Layer 1 and all the Layer 1 copies, make sure to hold down the Ctrl button so you can select them at the same time.

Step 13 Merge the layers: Layer > Merge Layers or Ctrl + E. This will make all the Damask images on one layer. Rename the layer to Top.

Step 14 Duplicate the 'Top' Layer; Ctrl + J. It will show up as 'Top Copy'.

Step 15 With the 'Top Copy' layer highlighted; use the Down-arrow to move the layer down 56 times.

Step 16 Use the Left-arrow, on your keyboard, to move the layer to the left 33 times.

Yay, you have successfully (hopefully) completed your first two rows of your Damask design.

Step 17 Hold down the Ctrl button and highlight the Top and Top Copy layers. Merge the layers: Layer > Merge Layers or Ctrl + E.

This will rename the layer to 'Top Copy'.

Step 18 Duplicate the 'Top' Layer; Ctrl + J.The new layer will be named 'Top Copy 2'. Use the Down arrow to move the layer 112 times (56+56).

Step 19 Keep duplicating and moving down the layers until the whole canvas is filled with your design.

AT this point you have finished your Damask design. There are a lot of things that you can do with it, at this point. I am going to make a table number from mine.

Step 20 I am going to merge all my Layers (except the background layer) so it doesn't get confusing. Hold down the Ctrl button and highlight Top Copy layers. Merge the layers: Layer > Merge Layers or Ctrl + E. Add a new Layer.

Step 21 Change the foreground color to white, and select the Marquee tool.

Step 22 Draw a square leaving 1/2 and inch on every side. Select the Paintbucket Tool and fill it in with white. De-select the square: Ctrl + D.

Step 23 Click on the Add a New Layer Style and select Stroke.

Step 24 Here are the settings I used. Click Ok to save the settings.

Step 25 Add a new layer and select the Type tool to add in your table information.

Be creative and play around with the sizing and shapes.

Hope you enjoyed the tutorial,
Brianna!

Triple Box Monogram Tutorial

2008-03-25T16:10:00.000-07:00

I saw this monogram on an invitation and I fell in love with it. There is really so much that you can do with it. I could see it on an invitation, program, menu or even on an aisle runner.

There are a lot of steps to this tutorial, but don't get discouraged. It may seem like a lot of steps but they are pretty easy and very similar.

Good Luck!

So here is the design that we are going for:

Step 1 Open Photoshop and create a new Canvas: Ctrl + N or File > New. The canvas should be the following setting:

Step 2 Create a new layer and select the Marquee tool.

Step 3 Draw a square 1 inch x 1 inch. Draw the square by left-clicking on the mouse and dragging it to the right.

Note: You can turn the rulers on by hitting Ctrl + R.

Step 4 Select the Paintbucket tool and click on the canvas to fill in your color.

Step 5 Go to Select > Modify > Contract.

Step 6 Set the contact size to 6 pixels, and then click the Ok button to save the settings.

Step 7 Hit the delete button button on your keyboard and follow steps 5 and 6.

Step 8 Select the Paintbucket tool and click on the canvas to fill in your color. Select Ctrl + D to deselect (remove the Dancing Ants).

Your Smaller square is finished.

Step 9 Select the Type Tool, set the font to Times and the size to 90.

Step 10 Type in the first letter of the Bride's name. Depending on the letter you use, you may need to adjust the size to better fit in the box.

Step 11 In the layers pallet; select the layer with the box and the layer with the first initial. Hold down the Ctrl button to select both layers at the same time. They will both appear blue.

Step 12 Drag those layers to the Add New Layer icon. This will duplicate both layers.

Step 13 Select the Move Tool and hold down the Shift key. Move the 2nd box and initial to the right. Make sure to leave enough room for another box, in the center.

Step 14 Select the Type Tool and highlight the second letter and change the letter to the Groom's first name letter. Click on the Green Check when you are finished.

Your second Box is Finished!

Step 15 Add a new layer and select the Marquee Tool.

Step 16 Draw a square 2 inches x 2 inches. Select the Paintbucket Tool and fill in the square.

Step 17 Go to Select > Modify > Contract.

Step 18 Set the contact size to 8 pixels, and then click the Ok button to save the settings.

Step 19 Hit the Delete button on your keyboard.

Step 20 Follow Steps 17 & 18.

Step 21 Select the Paintbucket Tool and fill in the square.

Step 22 Select the Type tool, set the font to Brock Script, or another script font and set the size to 120.

Note: Depending on the letter you may need to adjust the size of the font.

Step 23 In the third box; type in the first initial of the groom's last name.

Step 24 Select the Crop Tool and trim your canvas.

You are finished!

St. Patrick's Day Shamrock Monogram

2008-03-17T12:51:00.000-07:00

In honor of St Patty's day I thought it might be nice to do a Shamrock monogram. So here is the look we are going for:

Step 1 Open Photoshop and create a new canvas, Ctrl + N or File > New.

Step 2 Use the Color tool and set the foreground color to green and the background color to black.

Step 3 Select the Custom Shape Tool.

Step 4 Set the shape to the Clover shape.

Step 5 Hold down the left-click button on your mouse and drag it to draw your shape. Don't worry if it is not centered because we can center it with the move tool later. The clover will appear in a new layer automatically.

Step 6 Create a new layer and change the foreground color to black.

Step 7 Select the Type Tool and select a script font. I am going to use the Sloop Script font. Type in your names.

Step 8 Create a new layer, make the text size smaller and type in your wedding date.

Step 9 Select the Move Tool and move around the layers until you are happy with the results.

Step 10 Select the Crop Tool and trip the canvas as needed.

You are finished!! If you really want to get fun a creative try downloading some Shamrock Photoshop brushes.

Letter Behind Monogram Tutorial

2008-03-13T14:54:00.000-07:00

I call this monogram the 'Letter Behind' because I really had no idea what else to call it. This monogram consists of the couples names with their last name (or soon to be last name) first initial behind the names. Thus the name 'Letter Behind' monogram.

This monogram can be done in two ways, its just a matter of switching the type of fonts that we use. I'll show you two different ways.

Here is look #1:

Step 1 Open a new canvas in Photoshop. Mine monogram is going to be Pink and Black.

Step 2 Select the color you want for the names in front. I am going to use black. Select the Type tool. and a good Serif or Block font, nothing that is a script. I am going to use Book Antiqua, which is built into Windows.

Step 3 Type in you and your FIs names. Use the Move tool to center your text.

Step 4 Add a new layer by selecting the Add a New Layer icon.

Step 5 Change; the font color, the font size (somewhere around 150) and the font to a script font (I am using the Brock Font). Type in the first initial of your France's last name.

Step 6 If you notice the last name is now in front of the names. If you grab the initial layer and drag it below the names layer it will be behind the names.

Step 7 Depending on your colors you may not be able to read the names. If your last name initial is too dark you can lower the opacity by using the slider in your Layer Pallet

Step 8 Use the same font as the initial to add the date.

Step 9 Use the Crop tool to get rid of the extra canvas.

You are finished

The second way to do this tutorial is to have the names in a script font and the last name initial in a block or serif font. Use the steps I have provided but just switch the font types.

Hope this tutorial was helpful!
BriannaNichole!

What You Need Help With Answers I

2008-03-13T10:20:00.000-07:00

Hello and happy Thursday to all! I received a few responses to my What Do You Need Help with in Photoshop blog entry. I wanted to take a minute to answer them.

kwhited asked:
- How she could save a Photoshop file and import it into Word so she could print it at home.

Dear kwhited,
First off I would not put any files into Microsoft Word. When you insert the file it compresses the image and lowers the resolution (quality). If you are just trying to print it from home you can save the Photoshop design as a .tiff. This is like a .jpg but it allows you to save the layers of the file and it doesn't compress the image as much as a .jpg.

When you get home just open the file in the Windows Viewer (built in program in Windows) and print it from there.

This should give you the best results as well as save you the time of putting the file into a word document.

MunleysWifey asked:
- What all the tools were in Photoshop.
- How to make a 10x10 wedding album page so she could upload it. She wanted to be able to cut a picture in 1/2 so one was on the right page and 1/2 was on the left.

Dear MunleysWifey,
You are sure asking for a tall order! Instead of reinventing the wheel I will refer you to a great tutorial for Photoshop beginners: http://www.g3fusion.com/?p=8. This tutorial will walk you through all the basic functions of the Photoshop Tools.

Hopefully I understand what you are looking for with the other request, if not please leave me a comment to let me know. I will show you how to cut a picture in half and save each image as a separate file.

Step 1 Open your photo in Photoshop: From Photoshop you can hit Ctrl + O, then select the location of your image.

Step 2 Turn on the Rulers by hitting Ctrl + R. Or you can go to View . Rulers.

Step 3 Select the square Marquee tool and select 1/2 of the picture.

Step 4 Hit Ctrl + C to select what you drew a selection around.

Step 5 Hit Ctrl + N to open a new canvas. This canvas will automatically be the size you need (it does that when you select ctrl + c). Hit Hit Ctrl + V to paste your image onto the new canvas.

Step 6 Go back to the original image and Inverse, Shift + Ctrl + I or Select > Inverse, the selection. This will select the other half of the image.

Follow steps 4 and 5 for this section and you are finished.
Original Photo

Right Half

Left Half

I hope these tutorials answered some questions and were of help.
Thanks,
BriannaNichole!

Dots in a Circle Monogram

2008-03-10T20:53:00.000-07:00

I am so into dots right now. They are perfect for a contemporary monogram design. So, I have decided to do a tutorial to show you how to create a monogram like the logo on my personal blog FabBriannaNichole.blogspot.com. Which, btw, has lots of photoshop tutorials on how to edit pictures.

Here is the look that we are going for:

Step 1 Open Photoshop and create a new Canvas (Ctrl + N or File > New). Use my settings.

Step 2 Click on the Add New Layer icon, to add a new layer.

Step 3 Select the Ellipse Tool and select Paths (the square at the top with a pen in it).

Step 4 Hold down the Shift key and draw a circle. Holding the shift key will constran the proportions. Select the Painbrush tool and set it to hard edged brush about 70 pixels.

Step 5 Hit F5 or go to Window > Brushes to open the bush settings.

Step 6 Highlight Brush Tip Shape. Change the Angle to 0% and Set the Spacing to around 200%.

Step 7 In the Layer Pallet window select the Paths tab. Click on the Open Circle icon at the bottom. Your dots should appear.

Note: The dots in your circle may not be spaced correctly. If so; hit Ctrl + Z. This will undo the last action. Go back to the brush settings (f5) and change the spacing. Keep doing this until your dot spacing is perfect.

Step 8 Select the WorkPath layer and drag it to the trash can. This will get rid of the line between your dots. Select the Layers tab.

Step 9 Select the Ellipse tool, and change the type to Shape Layers, create a new layer and draw a circle smaller than the one you already created. Remember to hold down the Shift button.

I made mine red, feel free to use any color you like.

The rest of the steps are up to you. Use your imagination and make a totally unique monogram, or copy the one I created.

Step 10 Follow the pervious steps to create another circlee of dots in another color. Use the Move tool to move it down a little, like in my monogram.

Just add some text and you are finished.

Hope you enjoyed the monogram tutorial,
Brianna!

What Do You Need Help With in Photoshop?

2008-03-10T13:51:00.000-07:00

Is there something in Photoshop that you just don't understand? Are you looking to re-create a specific monogram or design? Is there some step that has just been stumping you? Well, this is your chance to get some help. Leave me a comment with your question or problem and I will create a Photoshop tutorial just for you.

Hope to hear from you,
BriannaNichole!

So you need some Help Installing Fonts

2008-03-06T16:17:00.000-08:00

* Note this tutorial is for those using Windows 2000 and XP. I have heard people are having problems installing in Windows Vista, but I don't have that OS so I cannot try it out.

Step 1 Create a folder where you want to put your fonts. I like to download the fonts to my desktop in a folder called fonts. Right Click your desktop and select New > Folder. Name the folder Fonts.

Step 2 Find the font that you want to download. If you need some help finding font websites you can check out my Font Bio or you can Google 'Free Fonts', or the name of the font you are looking for. Download the font you want and click Save.

Step 3 Select the location of your Fonts folder and click Save.

Step 4 Open the fonts folder you created on the desktop and unzip the file. Select the xxx.ttf file and hit Ctrl + C.

Step 5 Go to the Fonts Folder: My computer > C Drive > WINDOWS folder > Fonts folder.

Double-Click the My Computer icon.

Double-Click on the Local Disk drive, usually the C drive.

Double-Click on the WINDOWS folder.

Double-Click on the Fonts folder.

Step 5 In the Fonts folder, click Ctrl + V. This will paste the font file into the fonts folder. Click on the X in the right hand corner to close the Window.

Step 6 You must re-boot your computer to use your new font.

Your Font should now be installed and ready to use.
BriannaNichole!

Create a Border

2008-03-05T16:02:00.000-08:00

Borders are a great way to make your design look nice. You will see this a lot in invitations, table numbers and other wedding paper designs. There are a couple of ways that you can add a border to a design; one is to add a piece of colored cardstock that is a bit bigger than the design and the other is to use photoshop to create the band of color. I think that the cardstock option produces better results, but it can be costly and timely to cut all the cardstock. Using Photoshop to create the border is a great alternative.

There are a few ways that you can create the border in PhotoShop, but I will show you the one that works the best for me.

Here is the look that we are going for

You need to figure out how big you want your design to be and you need to figure out how big you want your Border to be. If you are not sure what sizes, you may just need to play around with it a bit until you get the results you like

Step 1 Open Photoshop and create a new canvas, you will need to set the canvas size a bit smaller than you want the whole design to be. Basically, when you create the canvas it will be the size of the design minus the size of the border.

Example: My completed design is going to be 5x7, and I want my border to be .25 (1/4 of an inch). So when I create my design I will set the canvas size to 4.75 x 6.75 (.25 less then the final size).

Step 2 Select the Paintbucket tool and click on the canvas to fill it with the color of your design. In this case I am using white for the background.

Step 3 Select the New Layer icon to add a new layer. Select the new layer and drag it below the first layer.

Step 4 Go to Image and Canvas Size or Alt+Ctrl+C.

Step 5 Uncheck the Relative box, and enter in the size you want the completed design to be. In this case I am changing it to 5 Width and 7 Length. Click Ok when you are finished.

Step 6 With the bottom layer highlighted; Use the Paintbucket tool and click on the canvas once.

At this point you are finished! If you wish to include a second border color you can use the same steps as we already did, or you can add a stroke. Follow the steps below to add a stroke (another border) to your design.

Step 7 Click on the Fx (add layer style) icon and select Stroke

Step 8 Change the Size to the thickness you desire and change the Position to Inside.

Step 9 Click on the colored square next to Color option. Select your color and click the Ok button.

Step 10 Click the Ok button to save the settings. Your canvas will look something like this.

You are finished! I created a table number from my design.

I hope you found this tutorial helpful.

Hugs,
BriannaNichole!

Get This Look Part I - 'The Invitation'

2008-02-29T16:52:00.000-08:00

This tutorial is designed to create a pocketfold invitation. It should be all the steps, sizes, design, fonts and everything else you to to create this invitation. All you should have to do is download the fonts, the file,change the personal information & colors.

Note: You must have Photoshop to be able to edit and use this Invitation. I will try and come up with the design for Microsoft Word or PowerPoint, but right now it can only be used with Photoshop.

Download Invitation File

The Invitation, Reception, RSVP, Direction and Accommodation cards are all the correct sizes to be used in the Signature Pocketfold from Cards and Pockets.com.

Fonts used:
Medieval Motif II: This is the dingbat for the flourish at the top of the invitation.
Bickham fancy script: Used with Beautiful ES Script as the scrip font. This font is not free, but you can use the Beautiful Caps Script and Beautiful ES Script to create the same look.
Beautiful Caps ES
Beautiful ES
Carlos: Font used for the block letters. This font can be replaced with any block font you like.

**Note: All fonts are for PC only. Sorry Mac guys :(

Sizing - The Signature pocketfold (from cardsandpockets.com) is 5x7. The Invitation is designed to be 4.5 x 6.5 or 4.75 x 6.75, the size will depend on if you plan on having a mat behind your invitation.

**The invitation mat is a colored piece of cardstock that sits between the invitation and the pocketfolder. It is slightly smaller than the pocketfolder and slightly bigger than the invitation. Thus giving you the mat look (like on a picture in a frame)

If you have an invitation mat then the invitation will be 4.5 x 6.5, if you opt not to have one the invitation will be 4.75 x 6.5. Generally the invitation mat will be 4.75 x 6.75. You can purchase the mat already pre-cut from Cardsandpockets.com.

My invitation is created to be 4.5 x 6.5. If you wish your invitation to be bigger; simply increase the canvas size by .25 inches.

The Invitation:

Step Download the fonts and the .psd file. You will need to place the fonts in your fonts folder: My Computer > C Drive > Windows Folder > Fonts Folder.

You will need to reboot your computer before you can use your new fonts.

Step Open the invitation.psd file in Photoshop.

Each layer is labeled so it should be easy to see what layer you need to edit.

Step 2 Click on the Color Pallet tool to select the colors that you want the invitation to be. In this case I am going to use black and hot pink.

We are going to change all the color first and then customize it with your personal information.

Step 3 Select the layer you want to edit, select the Text Tool and highlight your text. Click on the arrow next to the Color Pallet tool to switch the colors. Keep switching them until the color you want is set to the foreground (i.e. The first color box).

Do this with all the layers until your invitation is the colors you desire.

Step 4 Select the Type tool and the layer with which you want to edit the type. Highlight the text you wish to change, and type in the new text.

Continue doing this until the invitation has been personalized with all your information.

The next step is optional. If you notice the Bickham Fancy Script can be hard to read some letters. If you wish you can select certain letters and substitute the font with the Beautiful Script.

Step 5 Select the Type tool and highlight the letters you wish to edit. Click on the down arrow to change the font. When you are finished click on the Arrow.

Step 6 Since you changed the text, you may need to move it around some. Select the Move tool to re-center your text.

You are done!

In the next blog entry I will go over sizing and creation of the inserts for the pocktfolder. Including; Directions card, Accommodations card, RSVP card and Reception card. Also, I will be going over how to order the supplies to make everything and the prices.

Hugs,
BriannaNichole!

Upcoming Blog Tutorial

2008-02-27T11:10:00.000-08:00

Hi, and Happy Wednesday! I hope everyone is having a great week. I wanted to post a little teaser for my next blog entry. The next entry will be all about how to 'Get This Look'. I will post a wedding invitation and everything you need to do to create that look. I will even post my invitation for you to download and to customize with your colors, names, dates etc. I'll even tell you where you can buy the supplies and where you can get them printed.

Here is the look that I am going for.

Stay tuned,
Brianna!

Photoshop Tutorial: Cappy

2008-02-22T17:10:00.000-08:00

If you are like me you like to use all caps for wedding paper projects (monograms, table numbers,invitations etc). I get tired of using the Caps Lock button, and if I want to use caps but have the first letter bigger I have to start messing with the size of the fonts. All in all it gets pretty tiresome. Well, in most programs you can set small caps or all caps. In this blog
I am going to show you how to create a simple monogram in all caps without using the Caps Lock key.
Here is the look that I am going for:

Step 1 Open Photoshop, create a new canvas and select the Type Tool.

Pick a font that is not already all caps. In this case I am using Bookman Old Style which is built into most versions of Windows.

Step 2 Type in you and your FH (future hubby's) names. Make sure to put one or two spaces between the names so we can add an ampersand (&) sign later.

Step 3 Highlight the text and select the Character and Paragraph Palette.

Step 4 Select the Character tab.
For Small Caps: Select the button with the Big and Little T's.

For All Caps: Select the button with two Big T's.

Step 5 Add a new layer, select a script font and type an ampersand sign.

Step 6 You may need to increase the size of the ampersand. Once you are happy with the look use the move tool to place it between the names.

Step 7 Highlight the & Layer and move it below the names layer.
Lower the opacity of the & Layer, until you are satified with the results.

Step 8 Use the same script font and type out the wedding date. Use the Crop Tool to trim the canvus.

You are finished!

If you want to change the colors, simply highlight the text and select a new color.

I hope you enjoyed this tutorial,
BriannaNichole!

Tropical Dingbats

2008-02-20T17:41:00.000-08:00

Most people trying to design wedding monograms, invitations, table numbers etc are not graphic designers. You may not have expensive programs (or knowledge) to create the designs you want. You can use clipart or you can page for images from stock web sites. Or you could download a dingbat. A Dingbat is a term for a font that is an image. It is used just like a font. In fact, I use a lot of dingbats for monograms and other wedding stationary.

I get a lot of requests for Tropical, Nautical or Beach themed stuff. I thought I would share of the free dingbats that I use.

WM Trees
These are all kinds of trees. I mainly use them for the palm tree images, however you can use them for the other tree designs.

Tropicana BV
All kinds of casual tropical images. I like to use three of the letters together to create a really pretty flower.

WM Aquatic
Mostly shells and fish.

SC Down by the Sea
Lots of fish, shells, some starfish and even a few boats.

Ocean Lacy
Fish, shells and beach critters.

KR Down by the Sea
Lots of shells and some beach scenes.

GE Out to Sea
Lots of sea life.

GE Nautica
Lots of ocean scenery; boats, ropes, dingy etc.

Check out some of the monograms that you can make with these dingbats:

As always, I hope you found this tutorial helpful!
BriannaNichole!

Template and Helpful Bios

2008-02-18T17:27:00.000-08:00

Hello and welcome to my second blog for the day :) I wanted to share some helpful templates, bios and web sites. I came across most of these while planning my wedding. Hopefully they will prove to be helpful to you to.
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How to add Designs and Images to Monograms or Wedding stationary:

Dingbats are a font that is an image. These are really great for your invitations, programs, monograms, table numbers etc. If you are looking for an interesting design you may want to search for a Flourish dingbat. You can Google dingbats and get some really good free web sites.
Here are some I found:
- http://www.dingbatdepot.com/
- http://simplythebest.net/fonts/dingbats.html
- http://www.houseoflime.com/

You can also use clipart in lieu of a dingbat. There are lots of places to get them, but most of the good sites make you pay. One of my favorite free sites is Microsoft's Clip Art page. Microsoft is great if you are using Power Point or Word because you can import your image right in. If you are looking for something and don't mind paying you should check out http://www.istockphoto.com/index.php. They have a lot of really great designs.

There are, also, a bunch of amazing and FREE photoshop brushes out there. The downside to this is that you will need to have photoshop to be able to use the brushes. Although, they may have them for other Adobe products, like Elements. Please take a look at my blog entry on Photoshop Brushes.

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DIY Templates:
Looking for the perfect template for your ceremony program or RSVP card. Look no further. Here is a list of web sites that have all kinds of wedding related stationary templates.
- http://www.gartnerstudios.com: Program Template, Favor Tags and Wording Ideas.
- http://www.finger-foods.com/wedding/#download
- Water Bottle label template.
- http://www.geocities.com/ChicagoRuby821/: Includes; Icons for the big day time line (not the template), fonts, 2 types of programs and chair seating cards.
- http://hawaiianwedding05.bravehost.com/heathers_program.html: CD Favor Templates
- Fan Program Template in Word.
- Time line Template in Word.

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Knot Bio Lists:
- Uncommon Bliss
- Knot Bio Vault
- Specialty Bios
- Beautiful Bios

Helpful Bios
- Readings and Poems Bio: NOTE: This bio looks like nothing, but if you highlight it you will see the text.
- Sand Ceremony Bio

Hopefully this was able to help you a bit. Please stay tuned to my next blog entry, it will be on 'How to Get This Look'. I will post an invitation and tell you; 1. How to Create it, 2. Where you can Purchase the Cardstock and 3. How to put it all together. It will be everything you need to create that very invitation. You will also be able to download my design and the fonts I used to create it.

Hugs,
BriannaNichole!

Knottie Help I

2008-02-15T13:12:00.000-08:00

If you are planning a wedding, and have not visited The Knot then you are crazy. The Knot is your one stop shop for all things wedding. They have all kinda of great ideas there for everything having to do with weddings. They even have boards where you can talk to brides and former brides. In fact the boards are my favorite. I found most of my ideas there. I would highly recommend checking it out.

Since I found so much help there, I though I would give a little back. This blog entry is going to be for all those knotties who need some help with the forum boards. You will find information about; all kinds of bio help, how to add pictures/links to your signature, how to post a picture into a post and more.

Bio Help:
YAY for bios. Who doesn't love taking a look at other knotties bios to see all the great ideas they have collected? There are lots of new and easy ways to create your bio. Which one you will use can depend on your skill level with HTML.

Bio Creators
- BriannaNichole's Free html bio template. You can download my bio template for free. You will need to have some knowledge of HTML to use it.
- Google Pages. Lots of knotties are using this. It is a really easy and FREE way to create your bio.
- The Bio Builder The free version is very limited, but the pro version has lots of features.
- STL WedBio Builder Another bio creator/editor.

Picture In Post:
Just use this code and a picture will appear in your post.
1. Upload your image, I like flickr.com or photobucket.
2. Right click the image to get the URL.
3. Go to TinyUrl.com and make the url tiny
4. Enter this code into your post: [img]Tinyurlhere[/img] make sure your tiny url is not bold.

Siggy Help
A signature, or siggy, is what appears at the end of your posts. You can customize it with links, text and pictures.

Add a Link: <*a href="URL Goes Here" target =_"blank">Name of Link<*/a>
- The a href sends you to your link
- The URL is where you want the person to go, i.e your bio etc.
- The Target="blank" makes it open in a new window
- Name of link can be changed to anything you want it to say
- Make sure to add the <*/a> at the end to close the tag
- Take out the *

Here is what it looks like when I link to my bio: My Knot Bio

Add a Picture: <*img src="Picture URL Here" width="250">
- Make sure to remove the *
- The Img src is the image source
- The width is the amount of pixels the picture will be. for the knot I like to set it around 200 - 250.

Here is what it looks like:

Please come back to check out my next blog entry. It will contain links to helpful templates and helpful bios.

I hope you found this blog helpful.
BriannaNichole

Table Number Ideas and Whatnot.

2008-02-08T10:21:00.001-08:00

Happy Friday all! Today I wanted to talk about table numbers. For those of you not familiar; table numbers/names identify tables at a wedding reception or event. Table numbers/names are generally used when you have assigned seating. However, if you decide not to assign seating you can still use table numbers/names to add personality to your wedding.

Here are some ideas for table numbers/names.
- Numbers: Simple but effective. By using numbers on the tables you make it easy for your guests and yourself. A nice play on this would be to type the name of the number out, possibly in a different language.
Example: Uno - Spanish for 1.

- Places You Have Visited: This is great if you and your future hubby like to travel. You could even add a picture of you at the location.
Example: Hawaii (at the bottom you could even have a description of the location you went, or the dates and times or why it is special to you.

- I Love You or Love in Different Languages: This has to be one of my favorite ideas. I found a bunch of websites with plenty of info. I Love You List. Documents and Designs have some examples of this.
Examples:
Chinese : Wo ie ni (Manderin, Cantonese)
Danish : Jeg elsker dig
Dutch : Ik hou van jou
ersian (Farsi) : Tora dust midaram
Flemish : Ik zie oe geerne
Finnish : Mina" rakastan sinua
French : Je t'aime
Gaelic : Ta gra agam ort
German : Ich liebe Dich or I mog Di ganz arg! (Suebian: South German dialekt.)
Greek : S' ayapo
Hebrew : aNEE oHEIVET oTKHA (female to male) aNEE oHEIV otAKH (male to female)
Ani ohev at (man to woman) Ani ohevet atah (woman to man)
Hindi: Mein Tumse Pyar Karta Hoon
Hopi : Nu' umi unangwa'ta
Italian : Ti amo
Irish : taim i' ngra leat
Japanese : Kimi o ai shiteru
Korean : Tangsinul sarang ha yo
Latin : Te amo Vos amo
Mohawk : Konoronhkwa
Navajo : Ayor anosh'ni
Norwegian : Jeg elsker deg (Bokmaal)
Pakistani : Muje se mu habbat hai
Persian : Tora dost daram
Pilipino : Mahal Kita Iniibig Kita
Polish : Ja Cie Kocham or Kocham Cie (Pronounced Yacha kocham)
Portuguese : Eu te amo
Romanian : Te iu besc
Russian : Ya lyublyu tebya Ya vas lyublyu
Scot Gaelic : Tha gra\dh agam ort
Shona : Ndinokuda
Sioux : Techihhila
Slovak : lubim ta
Spanish : Te amo
Swedish : Jag a"lskar dig
Swiss-German : Ch'ha di ga"rn

- Fruits of The Spirit: I love this one. Its really perfect for a religious wedding. You can do it a myriad of ways. You can put the attribute on the top (i.e. Love etc) then have the full verse of the fruits of the spirit at the bottom, or just the part that talks about that attribute. Plus the verse.
The Fruits of the Spirit:
Love - "And so we know and rely on the love God has for us. God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in him" (1 John 4:16). Through Jesus Christ, our greatest goal is to do all things in love. "Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails" (1 Corinthians 13:4-8).

Joy - "The joy of the Lord is your strength" (Nehemiah 8:10). "Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God" (Hebrews 12:2).

Peace - "Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ" (Romans 5:1). "May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit" (Romans 15:13).

Longsuffering (patience) -- We are "strengthened with all might, according to his glorious power, unto all patience and longsuffering with joyfulness" (Colossians 1:11). "With all lowliness and meekness, with longsuffering, forbearing one another in love" (Ephesians 4:2).

Gentleness (kindness) -- We should live "in purity, understanding, patience and kindness; in the Holy Spirit and in sincere love; in truthful speech and in the power of God; with weapons of righteousness in the right hand and in the left" (2 Corinthians 6:6-7).

Goodness - "Wherefore also we pray always for you, that our God would count you worthy of this calling, and fulfill all the good pleasure of his goodness, and the work of faith with power" (2 Thessalonians 1:11). "For the fruit of the Spirit is in all goodness and righteousness and truth" (Ephesians 5:9).

Faith (faithfulness) - "O Lord, thou art my God; I will exalt thee, I will praise thy name; for thou hast done wonderful things; thy counsels of old are faithfulness and truth" (Isaiah 25:1). "I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith" (Ephesians 3:16-17).

Meekness - "Brethren, if a man be overtaken in a fault, ye which are spiritual, restore such an one in the spirit of meekness; considering thyself, lest thou also be tempted" (Galatians 6:1). "With all lowliness and meekness, with longsuffering, forbearing one another in love" (Ephesians 4:2).

Temperance (self-control) - "But also for this very reason, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue, to virtue knowledge, to knowledge self-control, to self-control perseverance, to perseverance godliness, to godliness brotherly kindness, and to brotherly kindness love" (2 Peter 1:5-7).

- Wine Grapes/Vineyards: Do you and your future hubby love wine, wine tasting, or getting married at a vineyard? Why not name your tables after different Wine Grapes, Wine Manufacturers or Vineyards?
Examples: Chardonnay, Riesling, Cabernet or Champagne.

- Disneyland: Do you love Disneyland, did you get engaged there? You could name your tables after rides or lands at Disneyland. You could even add pictures of you an FH at Disneyland to them.
Examples: Tomorrow Land, Fantasy Land etc.

- Famous Couples: If you are a romantic you might want to name your tables after famous couples.
Examples:Romeo & Juliet, Anthony & Cleopatra, Fred & Ginger or Micky & Minnie.

- Fav. TV Shows/Films: If you and your FH are film or TV buffs you might want to name your tables after some of your fav. TV Shows or Films. You could do this with love songs too.
Examples: Dirty Dancing, Casablanca etc.

- Beaches: If you are having a destination wedding, getting married at/overlooking the beach or you just love the ocean you can name your tables after beaches, shells, oceans etc..
Example: Hermosa Beach.

- Qualities and Sentiments: Inseparable - Happiness - Laughter - Cherish - Love - Fun - Friendship - Adore - Passion - Bliss - Devotion - Affection - Faith
Honesty - Hope - Loyalty - Kindness - Admire - Patience - Respect
Trust - Commitment - Eternal - Eternity - Sharing - Sincerity
Support - Peace - Forever - Forgiveness - Sacrifice - Dreams
Communication - Vows -Caring - Understanding - Expectations
Family - Promise - Life- Everlasting - Romance

Here are some examples of Table Numbers/Names I created. Stay tuned for free downloads and directions on how to edit these table numbers.

Thanks so much for checking out my blog. I hope this was helpful.

Hugs,
BriannaNichole.

Brushes are My New Friend!

2008-02-03T14:59:00.001-08:00

Oh Photoshop Brushes, how do I love thee? Let me count the ways; flowers, flourishes, animals............

I am so very excited to have discovered photoshop brushes. Lots of very nice people have gone through all the trouble to create free brushes for non-commercial use. Photoshop brushes allow you to add just about anything to a canvas. So if you are looking for a flourish, heart, flower, border etc try searching the Internet for a brush.

How do find a Photoshop Brush? You can find Photoshop brushes all over the internet. Just go to Google and search PhotoShop Brushes and you will be amazed at how many sites there are.

How Do I Install The Brushes?
1. Download the Brush and Unzip the file (if needed)
2. Put the file in the Brushes Folder: My Computer > C Drive > Program Files > Adobe > Adobe Photoshop X (x is the version of photoshop you have, in my case its CS 2) > Presets > Brushes
C:\Program Files\Adobe\Adobe Photoshop CS2\Presets\Brushes
3. Reboot your Computer and you are ready to go!

How Do I Use My New Brushes?
1. Open Photoshop
2. Select the Paintbrush Tool
3. Click on the down arrow next to the paintbrush type
4. Click on the right facing arrow, next to the paintbrush size
5. Select the brush you want and click ok.

The only problem I have found with using the new brushes is that you are limited to the size of the brush. Making it smaller is fine, but when you make it bigger it damages the quality. I have not found a way around this yet.

The brushes can be used for pretty much anything. The only limit is your imagination. I had so much fun playing with my new brushes. Check out a few of the designs I came up with.

Hope you enjoyed this tutorial,
BriannaNichole!

Power Point Monogram Tutorial

2008-02-01T16:01:00.000-08:00

So, I tried to sit down and create a tutorial on how to create monograms in Power Point. I thought it might be helpful for all those girls who do not have a copy of photoshop. Turns out there is already a really great video tutorial on how to do this. I'm not usually a fan of video tutorials, but this one is really easy to follow. Power Point Monogram Tutorial.

Hope you all find it helpful!
BriannaNichole!

Beautiful Font

2008-01-30T10:08:00.000-08:00

The name really hits the nail on the head, the Beautiful ES font is in fact beautiful. It also just happens to be one of my favorite fonts to use....and it is free! Actually, its two fonts, but I use them as one. They are Beautiful Caps ES and Beautiful ES. As you can imagine the Caps version only has uppercase letters and the other version has both. I typically use the Caps version for just the first letter, and then use Beautiful ES for the rest of the letters. Beautiful ES does have capital letters but they are not as pretty/fancy as the other.

The Beautiful font is actually very similar to the Bickham Scrip suite of fonts. You get a lot more fonts with the Bickham suite, but the Beautiful fonts are free. In fact I like to mix the Bickham and Beautiful fonts together since I don't like some of the Bickham letters.

You can download both fonts for free all over the web or here:
Beautiful ES
Beautiful Caps ES

Here are some monogram examples in the Beautiful fonts:

In fact, the header for this blog uses both the fonts.

I hope you found this helpful,
BriannaNichole!

Monograms for a Monday Morning

2008-01-28T10:33:00.000-08:00

Like the use of M in my title? Ok, so I am pretty lame when it comes to creating post titles, sue me. Deanna contacted me this weekend for some monogram help. I decided not to charge her since I'm not really making them anymore. I think the monograms came out pretty well. She really had some pretty colors; Tiffany Blue and Chocolate Brown. I always enjoy making monograms more when I like the colors the bride has chosen. I have gotten some funky color combinations and they always seem to make the monogram look bad.

Anyway, here are some of the monograms I created for Deanna.

Try to play around with different color combinations, you never know what is going to end up looking the best.

Hope some of these monograms gave you inspiration.
BriannaNichole!

Twined Initial Monogram Tutorial.

2008-01-26T19:21:00.000-08:00

This is by far my favorite type of monogram. There are so many ways to do it depending on the type of font you use and your initials. The twine monogram, as I like to call it, is two initials that wrap around one another. You get the 'wrap around' effect by erasing part of one letter. This tutorial can be used in most of the latter versions of Photoshop, including CS versions.

Here is my final product:

Step 1 Start by opening photoshop. Create a new canvas by hitting Ctrl + N on your keyboard, or going to File > New. I like to make the canvas big, here are my settings:

Step 2 Highlight the background layer, and then use the paint bucket tool to fill the layer with white.

Tip: I find it best to use two to three colors for the Twine Monogram. The initials need to be different colors so you get the effect of the letters wrapping around one another.

Step 3 Create a new layer using the New Layer icon.

Step 4 Select two fonts; one cursive and one block. If you need some help with finding fonts visit my font bio. I am going to use Sloop-ScriptTwo and Rutaban as my fonts.

Note Not all fonts work with all initials. You may find that you love how a B looks like in Arial, but you may hate it for a D. The best way is to play around with fonts until you get ones that you like for your initials.

Step 5 Select Layer 2, the top layer, and select the type tool.

Step 6 Type in your first letter. Create a new layer, by using the New Layer Icon. Type in your second letter on the new layer. Use move tool to place the second letter on top of the first letter.

Step 7 Right click each layer with the letters and select Rastersize Type. This will make the layer an image and allow us to erase a section.

Tip: Make sure you are not right clicking on the thumbnail of the layer or you will not get the Rastersize option.

Step 8 Ctrl + Click On the thumbnail of the layer second from the top and highlight the top layer. You will see the marching ants on the bottom letter.

Tip: To make the image appear bigger Ctrl + + sign. This will make it easier to see what needs to be erased.

Step 9 Select the Eraser tool and begin erasing sections of the top layer. I like to eraser every other section to see what looks best. If you do not like what you did you can 'step back' by hitting Ctrl + Alt + Z.

When you are finished hit Ctrl + D, to deselect the bottom letter. You are finished! Try to be create and add names, your wedding date or even your wedding location.

Here is my finished product, and some other examples of this type of monogram:

Hopefully you found this tutorial helpful. Since it was my first monogram tutorial I would love to hear you feedback. Even if you give me something negative! :)

BriannaNichole!

Blogging in Style!

2008-01-25T20:13:00.000-08:00

Ok, so I am not really sure what that blog post title means, but it sounded good at the time. I decided to create this blog to help other brides with their wedding paper stuff. I used to sell my Monograms, Save-The-Dates, Invitations, Ceremony Programs, Seating Charts, Table Numbers/Names, Place Cards etc. I just decided that I don't have enough time to devote to really running a business, so I thought I would take all that information and expertize and devote it to helping out other brides. So, here on my blog, you will find the following goodies:
- Monogram Tutorials
- Font Help
- Invitation Vendors
- Paper Goods
- Invitation Creation Tutorials and Tips
- Ideas
- Helpful Web Sites
- Wedding Stationary Tutorials and Tip
- And hopefully much more.

Here is some of the work that I have created for other brides:

Thanks for checking it out,
BriannaNichole!