Hi friends and welcome to the hybrid tutorial featuring Strong AF! There are so many options and choices and different ways to use Traci Reed’s collections, and this one definitely hits that mark! Today I wanted to create a layout for our daughter as an empowering layout reminding her of her own strength and power. Today I wanted to share how I created this fantastic floral wreath and printed and cut them as two pieces for the layout, using Photoshop and Silhouette Cameo.

Of course, you can print and cut each floral individually and place them each individually on your pages, but sometimes you want your computer to do all the work for you, so to speak. The way I did this started in Photoshop:

Open your blank canvas at 12x12 and 300 ppi, and select your patterned paper for your background. You can go ahead and place your background paper onto the blank canvas, or you can work on the blank canvas if you like. One of the main reasons I like to go ahead and add the background is so I can make sure that the background and the floral wreath do not compete with each other. These work out perfect together because the patterned paper is subtle and allows the colors of the wreath to pop.
In Photoshop, go to FileàScriptsàLoad Files Into Stack. It will bring up a box and within that box it will allow you to go into your product folder and select the floral embellishments you wish to use. This collection in the digital kit had five floral clusters, and it also has a few individual florals you could use as well. Click ok and the computer will load those into a single tab for you.
Once they are all loaded, copy and paste all five layers into your blank canvas. You can also select all five layers and drag them into your canvas, and drop them in.
At this stage you can arrange your five florals into a half circle shape, or you can create your full circle shape if you prefer. I found the floral clusters to be the perfect size and scale to create a half circle.
After arranging your florals how you want them, go to LayersàSelect all four Layersàright click on the Layers and select Merge Layers. You can also select Create Smart Object. This will turn your separate florals into one piece.
If you created the half circle, now you can duplicate that layout and reposition it to form the whole circle.
Save your two floral elements as PNG’s, making a mental note of their dimension.
Open your Silhouette, open your PNG’s, and size them to the dimension you had created in Photoshop. Lock your aspect ratio and designate the height you want, then bring them onto the X and Y axis.
Now you can print and cut these florals onto your clear sticker paper. To create the vibrant colors you see in my layout, I printed and cut these twice – once on clear sticker paper and once on semi-gloss photo paper. When I cut it out of the sticker paper, I did not allow a white border around the flowers.
For the print and cut onto photo paper, however, I did add the white border. In the Silhouette, select your Offset tool in the right hand menu. Click Offset and notice how it adds a preset white border around your floral. You can adjust the amount up or down depending on how thick or thin you want your border. I typically use 1.10 or 1.15, but you can experiment to find your preference.
After that, go to your Trace tool in the right hand toolbar. Click on Select Trace Area, and draw a rectangle around one of your floral wreaths. Increase the Threshold to 100% and select Trace Outer Edge. Now you have created your cut lines.
You can now print for the second time onto photo paper, but before you cut move your floral wreath off of the cut lines. Feed your photo paper with registration marks (of course) and cut just the outside line.
Carefully peel your sticker paper cut and adhere it to the photo paper cut, and place it on your layout as you like!

I’ve used a similar technique with the alphabet to create my title, only I left them as individual letters and simply loaded the letters I needed into Photoshop, saved as PNG, and brought the words into Silhouette. This saves ink and cutting mats and blades!

Thank you so much for joining me today! I hope I have given you some new tools to add to your hybrid scrapping toolbelt!

You can see my full process in Photoshop, in Silhouette, and also my hybrid process after printing here:

See you again real soon,

Theresa Moxley

Photoshop In Five | Create A Gorgeous Floral Wreath!