Blog | Linda Matthews

Photoshop Tutorial: Quick fix for dark or underexposed photos

Have you ever taken a photo where the flash didn't go off or you were too far away from the object and the photo turned out a little dark or underexposed? Here's a super quick fix. Note: This tutorial is presented using Photoshop however the steps should be similar in...

Vision Card: Breathe

My vision card for October - Breathe. Some photo art ... a metal frame ... and of course some beading ...

Acceptance

My latest vision card ...

Printing on Fabric – Canvas Art: Remembering Summer

This last week I managed to get two new canvas art pieces finished using some new "photo art" designs printed on fabric and stitched to a stretched canvas. I really like this triptych and I plan to use this design in an art quilt very soon. I haven't made an art quilt...

Vision Card: Bliss

As I've mentioned before, vision cards are not only a great way to help keep you focused for the month ahead, but they are also a great size to test out new techniques. If the technique doesn't work out, then it doesn't hurt so much to throw your work away. But if it...

Life Unfolding

Sometimes life unfolds slowly. It's good to slow down and enjoy.

How do you see yourself?

I finally managed to get a little sewing in recently and finally finished a self-portrait challenge for my local fiber art group. I wanted to do this piece all in fabric but I don't work much with commercial fabrics any more and after I moved recently I gave away...

Grow

And the day came when the risk to remain tight in a bud was more painful than the risk it took to blossom. Anaïs Nin I've been working with vision cards for some time now and I've found them to be a wonderful tool for achieving personal visions or goals. The process...

Exploring image transfer for mixed media

I've just started a brand new project ... an Image Transfer Art Journal - and I've already finished the first page which is a double page and isn't it just beeeauutiful? I first painted and textured some mixed media paper sheets. This one has crumpled tissue paper...

Thoughts on becoming a Golden Girl

I've enjoyed spending a bit of time recently working with Golden paints, gels, pastes and mediums. I think I'm definitely becoming a "Golden Girl". It's been fun experimenting with the different textures that can be made using the pastes and mediums. And I really love...

Exploring mixed media

The first month of this year has been crazy busy, but I finally found some time this week to catch up with some artful creativity. Exploring some photoshopping This image was manipulated in photoshop elements to enhance the figure of the statue and replace the...

Printing on Tissue Paper

One of my favorite techniques is image transfer. Mostly I like to transfer images directly to fabric using various methods, however sometimes I also like to transfer images to "fabric paper". "Fabric paper" can be made using many different methods, but it's main...

More mixed media and photoshop

This is another of the mixed media pieces that I've been working with this week. This one has a different texture to the previous mixed media piece I showed you which you can see here, and I used only one color to paint it. Again I've highlighted the texture so that...

Fun with mixed media and photoshop

Welcome to another week! I hope your weekend was as much fun as mine! This is how mine started - a table-top full of fun stuff just waiting to be played with. And this is one of the pieces that emerged - a beautiful textural mixed media collage background made using...

Photoshop Elements: Removing backgrounds just got easier

Remember this recent tutorial for removing backgrounds in Photoshop Elements when I showed you how to go from this to this Well that process just got a little easier. I don't know what I was thinking when I took this photo using my old cutting board for a background...

Photoshop Elements Tutorial: Cut Out Text Effect

I don't know about you, but some photoshop elements techniques I only use once in a very long while. And of course you tend to forget how to do things after a while, memory being the way it is and all. I've found the best way to remember how to do things in photoshop...

Things to do with fabric scraps

I was recently going through some of my old art quilts looking for samples where I've used fabric paper, and rediscovered this cute little art quilt "Scraps". "Scraps" is about 18" x 12" and it was made from - well - scraps! - stuff that would normally end up in the...

Video Tutorial: Moldable Foam Stamps

I was playing around the other day doing some fabric stamping using moldable foam stamp blocks. If you've never used these types of stamping blocks before, they are fun and easy to use. But best of all they're reusable so you can use them again and again by impressing...

Imagine – a Book Cover

I actually got some work done yesterday! Using the fabric paper that I made last week (you can see it here) I constructed a notebook cover/organizer for my journal and notes. The fabric paper makes a strong, tough cover fabric, and I collaged together an inkjet print...

Printing on Texture

Last week I finished designing a new clutch purse using fabric beads in unusual ways - for handgrips and purse feet. You can see the finished design it here. Now the same clutch purse design takes on a whole new persona. Instead of using plain fabric, this one is...

Photoshop Elements 9: Layer Masks

If you've been following along, I'm currently doing a review of all the cool new stuff in the latest version 9 of Photoshop Elements. If you haven't yet tried Photoshop Elements, Adobe offers a free 30 day trial. You can download it here. In this tutorial I'm going to...