A tip about extractions

Chances are you already know what I'm going to tell you, but for those who don't here goes. This is an ai generated whimsical boy done in Bing

I want to make it a png. I notice that there are some white/light areas and know these make extraction, especially extraction using the magic eraser, difficult. The first thing I do is crop the image, then I use the polygonal lasso tool and trace the areas where the white is to delete them first. Like this:

Next I try the magic eraser and find that there are some areas the magic eraser removes that I don't want erased, so I undo that step. I go back to hand erase the problem areas.

Looks like it will be good. So I go to Enchance . Adjust Color> Color Variations> Darken. I'll darken the image 3 times. Now I can use the magic eraser. The rest of the background is gone and I go back and lighten the image as many times as I darkened it and this is my result.

This is the procedure I use most often. It doesn't work for everything but helps a lot. Hope this is information you can use.

Vintage Women brushes

Link https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/6hqiu93vvgk2spacz8vv3/ws_VintageWomen.zip?rlkey=8yocvdxsp4jvbgno9ubgqeyl8&st=mhdll9n5&dl=0

Making the most of your stash = bad title

What I really want to do to just share some tips about scraping. I should preface all this by saying I use PhotoShhop. Tried PSP once but couldn't get into it. Recently I looked into getting an updated PS program but learned they no longer sell the programs, instead charging a monthly subscription. I think it is ridiculous to pay $30 a month when, for me at least, there will be times I may be unable to use the program all or ost of the month. I'm open to exploring other software if you can recommend something but for now I'll be working my very old PS Elements until it dies. I do have a copy of PS Creative Suite 3 - also old - but it isn't on the computer. Anyway . . . I'm certain that like most of us, you keep your eyes open for freebies. You may have seen some great looking tagger kits (people still make those, right?) and thohught, what a shame it's tagger. Just because you may not do tags, don't dismiss these freebies right away. While the backgrounds are small, too small for most purposes, the elements may be sized for tags or left larger. I usually ditch the backgrounds unless there is an unusually interesting one. If so, I might keep it to use for cutout elements like flowers, or might be able to stretch it a little to use as an ATC (Artist Trading Card) background. The elements can be used in regular scrap pages if large enough. If small, those elements can be used for journal pages or ATCs. I was going to make an example ATC made with tagger kit but got called away. I have a St. Paddy's Day zip for you today with more to come. No preview on this. It is a combination of elements, some extracted, some not. Hope some of it will be useful to you. https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fo/7367w9xg2c3qoyfyczyo0/AI-UtaDrLXDbZ323IL2JA_Q?rlkey=maqzgba4y93nlt45ncz7naq6w&dl=0

Thank you and a note about March

Thank you for your responses to my questions (soorry about misspelling but you got it). Now I know I can share more things with you. In March, I'm going to start a series of posts about Making the Most of Your Stash. I also intend to put up a litle something each week if all is going well.

Quesrions - Please respond here

1- Do you like brushes? 2- Do you use overlayes? 3- Can you do extractions? I'm asking because I'm leaning away from organized "kits" right now but still doing a lot of creative work. I'm using AI to create things I otherwise can't do. I'm experimenting with textures for overlays and papers, making more brushes. So I need to know what you can use before I post things you can't use which would waste your time and mine. Are you looking for something specific? I can't promise anything but maybe I can help.

More Valentine Stuff

Although I'm way behind and this isn't exactly what I wanted to give you, perhaps something here will be useful. I intended to make a soft Valentine kit in pink, lavender and silver and created a bunch of patterns and elements in AI. Patterns made in AI might look great in the download but they aren't sized to be used directly. Supposedly seamless patterns often aren't so you either get creative with them , not using PS pattern feature, or else you toss them. You will see what I mean in these zips. So use or toss the following as you please.

Links: https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/jh16niway014qkntmlfoo/ws_ValThoughtsPastel_els.zip?rlkey=edayfx5y4irnomkrj0ztfztv9&dl=0 https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/3c63czumomq6nlu0f3ud1/ws_ValThoughtsPastel_pprs.zip?rlkey=49cdquxxgwtp555yaxm2a1kyc&dl=0

Late Valentine stuff

Sorry, not feeling well. Nothing serious but running behind on everything because of it. I'd been trying to work up a kit in pink, lavendar and silver but never finished. I also played arounf with a lot of pattern making on AI. What I have for you tonight is not a kit, just an assortment of Valentine things in mostly red. Maybe you can find a use for some of it. I didn't even include a TOU because most of this is just my AI art.

Links: https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/zv1qujyxr31wewe97b7dw/ws_Val_red_el.zip?rlkey=bd7021trzlniwj102q1jj6m1m&dl=0 https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/jxs5sw50c5x5lexpkk6dt/ws_Val_red_ppr.zip?rlkey=gqcgsycy5xpyflzqiljsrks0v&dl=0

January Junk Box

I'm certain you think I've forgotten you but this month just got away from me. I have put together a little freebie you can download today. No preview but I can tell you that the contents are Winter themed. *Please note: this is not a mini kit. It is a Junk Box meaning a group of things originally intended for other kits but not used. These items are yours to play with, add to your stash, combine with other things you might have. You can re-color, cut-up, whatever. https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/i4rvesq3l6nwz4v6seko0/ws_JanJunkBox.zip?rlkey=xunn37g7t2sbr7of0jlhcdn90&st=zt8vomid&dl=0 Virginia is under state of emergency due to severe Winter storm warning. We thought it would reach us last night but here it is Saturday afternoon and rhus far nothing. Not complaining, mind you but I wouldn't mind seeing a little snow. No ice, pl;ease. Weather still saying we will see major change in next 48 hours and may experience power outages.

Happy New Year!

Yes, already the 9th of the month and I don't have a good feel for how 2026 is going to go. Haven't been feeling so great - had a touch of the flu but mostly it has been pain in lower back. Think my sacriliac joint(s) is infammed making getting up and dow and bending uncomfortable. I've been alternating Motrin for the pain and Tylenol for inflammatio plus drinking ginger peach turmeric tea which also helps inflammation. Will make appointment with my orthopedic to see what can be done. I don't have plans to make a kit this month but will share some things with you. I don''t know how many of you are good at doing extractions but I have a big zip of angels I've created in ai that I'm going to give you. No preview but the angels are of all sorts and styles. You can get that here: https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/e4utfk2jfydjkapflkfkm/SherryD_Angels.zip?rlkey=2b9uv7iecu8l4qou3kke7dolp&st=0ehbcmp9&dl=0 Here is an ATC I made with one of them

Over the weekend I'll see what else I can post for you.