Continuing on the Theme of Scanning....

In Photoshop Elements you can create patterns and I am always looking for new patterns to add.  I was doodling on a piece of paper today while I was waiting for lunch to cook and decided I quite liked the squiggly doodle in the middle so decided to make a pattern of it.

Here is the completed pattern.

Here is how I did it:

• Open the scanned image and select the crop tool and crop the image to the size of the doodle:

• Then select Enhance > Auto Sharpen just to make the black squiggles a bit darker.
• Next, remove the background by selecting the Background Eraser Tool, making the brush as big as you can and then clicking on the white area.  You must set the limits to Discontiguous.
• Now select Edit > Define Pattern and give the pattern a name.
• To use the pattern, open a new document and create a new layer 
• Then go to Edit > Fill Layer.  Set the use to pattern and select the pattern you have saved.

• Remember to save your pattern by going to Edit > Preset Manager. Select pattern as preset type, select the pattern/s you want to save and then save them.

Here's a picture my husband took in New York which I did some while back using doodles I scanned in.  Not sure it has any use but it was good practise:

Scanning in Bits and Bobs

It's amazing what you can do with stuff you have around the house to include in PE collages.  If I have a piece of fabric which I have dyed or painted which is really good, I scan it into my computer knowing that I may well use it in something else.

I use acetate sheets for monoprinting and the patterns that are left on the sheets are often better than the monoprint!  Here is one I did a while back:

Another fun thing I like to do is scan in scraps of fabric and then use it as a background:

Combine that with this picture of a zebra I took at a game reserve in South Africa:

And you have this:

I'm looking forward to the embroidery course I have just signed up for which is starting in a week's time - could do something great with this I reckon!