Dash of Inspiration – Christmas in July, Part 4

A Dash of Inspiration, A Cup of Creativity by Doreen

Christmas in July, Part IV

Week four of our Christmas in July Series – One of the most valuable tools any of us have at our fingertips is the World Wide Web.  Earlier in this series I mentioned using this resource to research customs, colors and verbiage used for  holidays and occasions you are not completely familiar with, but it’s also our very own library and classroom!  Though I have a wonderfully up-to-date library of books in my studio, I find these days that when I want to create an effect or element that I’ve never attempted before, one quick search and I am lead through the doors of free online classrooms!

Usually I find that the tutorial does not create exactly what I was after, but they always give me enough knowledge base to then tweak these steps and allow the vision in my mind to be put to screen.  So, this week I’m offering links to some great tutorials for Photoshop, Paint Shop Pro and Illustrator users.  I would encourage you to step out of the ‘what you know’ box and learn something new . . . there is no end to the uses and creations you can make when you learn just one new design technique!

PHOTOSHOP Users

45 Best Light Effect Tutorials in Photoshop by Akash.FuRax

How to Create and decorate Christmas tree in Photoshop by ART-D Posted in Adobe Photoshop

Create a Seamless Pattern Tile for Christmas by Johnson Koh, an Art Director based in Singapore

PAINT SHOP PRO Users

Ribbon Twisting Tutorial by Jemima

Michele’s Paint Shop Newbie 101

Adobe ILLUSTRATOR Users

Adobe Illustrator: Christmas Lights by Corey Barker at LayersMagazine.com

Design Gift Boxes Using Illustrator’s 3D Tools by Peter Akuratny at VectorTuts+

For those new to the GCU Community you can catch up with our Dash of Inspiration posts here:  Salon of Art Dash of Inspiration

Remember to keep tuning in Mondays in July, the Dash of Inspiration will be offering inspiration and design freebies to help you get those new 2012 Holiday Cards on the market!  ENJOY!

Last year I had a client that said “I want a holiday card that is both ‘home’ related and not ‘realtor typical’ to send from my real estate office.” For some reason, what came to my mind was a play on “there’s no place like home” and thanks to the world of tutorials out there, I was able to improve my design skills enough to be able to create this image which the client was extremely happy with . . . and many other customers too!