Archive | July 2019

Creating Word Art in Photoshop

Jul9
Have you hugged your polar bear shifter today?

I love Word Art, but I couldn’t find just what I wanted, so I created this picture and then figured out how to create the word art. For those who have Photoshop and don’t know how to do it, I created a white layer, wrote my text, and then I used the upper Warp Text box to vary the shape of the words. The text box next to it can be used to increase the spacing between words, letters, change the height of letters, etc. On the lower right is a fx tab and clicking on that allows me to change beveling, add shadow, etc.

Then I turn the white background transparent by setting the opacity to 0 and I have my Word Art that I can use on any background. Save as PSD if you want to change it up later, and I save as PNG to grab and overlay over my photo. To add color, I use two different methods. First, group all of the words and elements, if you have them and go to Styles (look in Window for Styles, check mark it) and while you have the group highlighted, click on the color scheme you like.

Using Styles to Color the Text

Another method is to add a texture layer above the word art group and clip it to the group (creating a clipping mask), and then you can use anything really–texture, flowers, any kind of a picture.

Using a Texture Layer to Color Text

I’m sure a lot of people know how to do this, but I didn’t and when I asked in a group, a lot of people didn’t. Anyway, if it helps, great. You need Photoshop and some knowledge of layers to do it. But it’s something I was trying to figure out yesterday, and I did it! Isn’t it wonderful when something finally sinks in? Grouping layers and adding clipping masks.

I only wrote about 800 words yesterday, but I started editing the first 3 chapters and I’m typing them up before I have to run a million errands. Yes, a million. Taking back 2 dead plants (the others have grown twice their size and the grass around where I planted the other two is growing like crazy, so are other plants, so not sure why these didn’t make it), getting dog food, you know like the dog that has no bone?, shipping another book to a fan, and more. I hate running errands, especially when the heat index is 100 plus. The car is an oven, so I’ll leave in a few minutes to start the day.

I’d much rather write.

Have a lovely day and hope it’s just right!!

Terry

“Giving new meaning to the term alpha male where fantasy is reality.”
Connect with Terry Spear:
Website: http://www.terryspear.com
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Making Scrap Art

Jul8
Image may contain: 1 person

I was writing yesterday, but my new obsession is creating scrap art. The golden jaguar at the bottom of the page on the left is a photo I took. The background was from Pixabay, the princess tower from Louise Nash’s freebies, the fur from Etsy fur photos, the word art, flowers and butterfly from Oscraps, the black jaguar from Renderosity. I used ink splotches to create the masks that made them appear like art scraps.

Curious Giraffes

For this one, I took a picture of a giraffe baby and junior and used a mask on a background from Pixabay. Then added flowers and a butterfly from Oscraps.

I did manage to get 3,000 words written on the novella. I only need about 3,000 more words to make my word count goal, but I have to figure out how to wrap the story up. Didn’t set my alarm last night and woke only 15 minutes before baby got here. ack! So I was rushing around getting ready.

She’s been tired and needy, so we’ve been cuddling and reading stories.

We’re off to walk in the heat before the sun gets too high in the sky, and the pool day after that.

Have a wondrous day!!!

Terry

“Giving new meaning to the term alpha male where fantasy is reality.”
Connect with Terry Spear:
Website: http://www.terryspear.com
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/421434.Terry_Spear
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TerrySpearParanormalRomantics
Twitter: https://twitter.com/TerrySpear
Wilde & Woolly Bears: http://www.celticbears.com
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The Wolf Guarding the Sheep

Jul7

See, I write about wolf shifters, so of course the wolf would guard the sheep.

The background was from Oscraps but I added the stream, grasses, and sky. I added texture, the wolf (from pixelsquid), the girl (DAZ3D), and the black-faced sheep and Highland cow are from pictures I took in Scotland.

I managed to get 3,000 words even after all our activities yesterday, and now have 6,000 words left to go!!!

Doggies fed and now it’s time to get to work!! Hope you have a stunning day!

Terry

“Giving new meaning to the term alpha male where fantasy is reality.”
Connect with Terry Spear:
Website: http://www.terryspear.com
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/421434.Terry_Spear
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TerrySpearParanormalRomantics
Twitter: https://twitter.com/TerrySpear
Wilde & Woolly Bears: http://www.celticbears.com
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Busy Day, but I Want to Write!

Jul6
A Fairy Feeding the Swan

Okay, so I’m getting near the end of word count. I’m nearly there!!! 9,000 words to go. Yay!!! But…I have to go swimming with the kids and go to a cat show that one of my fans will be showing her cats at. Isn’t that neat?

Anyway, I’m excited about all of it. But I want to write! I’m so excited about the next part of the book. Sometimes, that can be a good thing. I keep thinking of what is happening. But sometimes it is a bad thing. If I don’t write it down, I forget it. So trying to get as much done on it as I can.

Have a beautiful day!!!!

Terry

“Giving new meaning to the term alpha male where fantasy is reality.”
Connect with Terry Spear:
Website: http://www.terryspear.com
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/421434.Terry_Spear
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TerrySpearParanormalRomantics
Twitter: https://twitter.com/TerrySpear
Wilde & Woolly Bears: http://www.celticbears.com
Newsletter Sign Up: http://eepurl.com/u63qP

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Elf Couple in the Woods

Jul5

For the last couple of days, I was trying to get my Photoshop to work, layers weren’t working, so I missed posting yesterday. I wanted to do a 4th of July composite.

Anyway, I did write 3,000 words and go to a barbecue.

I’ve been trying different things with the art, so I’m sort of all over the place. The clouds are mine using a painterly effect from Topaz. The characters are Daz3D and everything else I purchased as PNGs.

Okay, before the morning gets too much later, I’ve got to write. I need at least 12,000 more words to finish the novella. That’s what I love about novellas. They’re short. I have over 13,000 done!

Have a wonderful day!!!

Terry

“Giving new meaning to the term alpha male where fantasy is reality.”
Connect with Terry Spear:
Website: http://www.terryspear.com
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/421434.Terry_Spear
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TerrySpearParanormalRomantics
Twitter: https://twitter.com/TerrySpear
Wilde & Woolly Bears: http://www.celticbears.com
Newsletter Sign Up: http://eepurl.com/u63qP

Follow Me for new releases and book deals: http://www.bookbub.com/authors/terry

Won Honorable Mention!

Jul3

Topaz Labs had a contest I entered. I figured I wouldn’t win because there are so many incredible photographers out there, but I had Topaz Adjust https://topazlabs.com/adjust-ai/ and I really hadn’t had time to use it yet. So I played around with some photos that I’d taken in Minnesota, entering the four different categories just for the fun of it. Because I LOVE photography, and I LOVE creating new things. No cost to me, though I was on book deadline, bad me, but then I got word yesterday that I made Honorable Mention! Eighty dollars credit for more of their products, and I’m thrilled!

It reminded me of writing a book. If you don’t write it, you can’t publish it. Once you write it, you have to publish, hoping readers will love it. But you’ll never know if you’ll “win” unless you take the chance.

Have you ever waffled about taking a chance like that? If it costs nothing, go for it. If it doesn’t win, try, try again. Or do something else that you can succeed at!

All right, I’m off to write. (Though I had to sneak some pictures of a monarch butterfly that was trying to warm up and dry out, so perfect time for some really closeup shots this morning.) Baby went to daycare today because the daycare is closed tomorrow, and her parents lose a day of babysitting care. And that means Grandma has a break and maybe can catch up on the writing. At least more than she would have had she been taking care of granddaughter today.

Yep, the edits for the last book (not the photo contest), put me behind. Again. I’m at 8,000, should be 12,000. So if I get at least 2,000, I’ll be doing better.

Have a beautiful day!!!!

Terry

“Giving new meaning to the term alpha male where fantasy is reality.”
Connect with Terry Spear:
Website: http://www.terryspear.com
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/421434.Terry_Spear
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TerrySpearParanormalRomantics
Twitter: https://twitter.com/TerrySpear
Wilde & Woolly Bears: http://www.celticbears.com
Newsletter Sign Up: http://eepurl.com/u63qP

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Shades of Gold

Jul2

When I captured the shot of the flame skimmer dragonfly, the sunlight was hitting it just right so that it made him look like he was etched in gold. The zinnia is a candy stripe, and it’s the only one that has shown up from the package of seeds I planted so far. It’s soooo cute. And the gold zinnia is just as pretty.

So yesterday, I took my granddaughter around the whole neighborhood, and holding my hand, she actually ran part of the way. This is good, exercise and wearing out, yes! And we spent 2 hours at the pool. She has always been afraid of getting her face wet, and she’s been afraid of the water, so it’s like taking itty bitty steps. She let me take her into the deeper water and with my hands under her tummy, she kicks and paddles a little. But this time, she also was in the shallow area and had her hands on the bottom of the pool and was allowing her body to float. So she’s getting more confidence. Hopefully, by the end of the summer, she will be doing better. And she napped for 2 1/2 hours. Yay!

I have so many different colors of zinnia, I took her by each of them and asked her, “What color?”

“Green.”

“Noooooo, pink.”

“Yeah, pink.”

“What’s that?”

“Green.”

“Noooo, pink.”

“Yeah, pink.”

“What’s that?”

“Yellow.”

“Yes! Yellow.”

“What’s that?”

“Green.”

“Noooo, pink.”

“Yeah, pink.”

She got the yellows right. She began to say pink on all the pinks. She said the reds after I showed her the first was red.

Okay, today is MY day, which means getting that other promo blog done and getting back to word count!

Have a wonderful day!!!

Terry

“Giving new meaning to the term alpha male where fantasy is reality.”
Connect with Terry Spear:
Website: http://www.terryspear.com
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/421434.Terry_Spear
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TerrySpearParanormalRomantics
Twitter: https://twitter.com/TerrySpear
Wilde & Woolly Bears: http://www.celticbears.com
Newsletter Sign Up: http://eepurl.com/u63qP

Follow Me for new releases and book deals: http://www.bookbub.com/authors/terry-spear

The Dog Ate My Blog Yesterday

Jul1

That’s my story and I’m sticking to it.

So I I almost didn’t take any pictures of the hummingbird that was eating from my zinnia flowers. I knew there was a reason to plant them in the backyard. So I could see them! But this was the first time I saw one feeding there. I was out in the backyard with the baby the other day to see the squirrel, and a hummer was on another flowering plant. We were so close, no camera. Sigh.

I took this one from a long distance away, through my window and a tomato plant. And I didn’t have my controls set for the higher speed hummingbird, not enough time before he was gone. But I thought I’d chance getting some pictures anyway. Despite all the problems, they turned out half decent. Since then, I moved the tomato plant!

And I really got to town on the Red Wolf Novella. I wrote 4300 words yesterday. I also finished one of the two blogs I needed to send in. Baby is here today, we’re supposed to go to the mailbox, which is way far away and I’m making her walk, not ride her stroller, an hour at the pool, longer if she is good, shorter if she is not, and the grocery store. Hopefully, it will all wear out baby, and I can reach another 1,000 words today. I took care of her on Saturday after 2 hours at the pool and what happened? She DID NOT SLEEP. They picked her up at 6 pm, and I’m sure she went right to sleep. lol

All right, got to get the dogs out, fed, out, and ready for my granddaughter’s arrival. You have fun now, you hear?

Terry

“Giving new meaning to the term alpha male where fantasy is reality.”
Connect with Terry Spear:
Website: http://www.terryspear.com
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/421434.Terry_Spear
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TerrySpearParanormalRomantics
Twitter: https://twitter.com/TerrySpear
Wilde & Woolly Bears: http://www.celticbears.com
Newsletter Sign Up: http://eepurl.com/u63qP

Follow Me for new releases and book deals: http://www.bookbub.com/authors/terry-spear