Circles & Flowers Frame

Resources:

Floral Brushes by SummerAIR from deviantart.com

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This will be the finished result:

Click on the image for full size view

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Open a new document, 900 x 600, 72px resolution

Create a new layer

Select the Gradient Fill Tool

Set to Linear Gradient

Click on the gradient at the top of the screen and apply the following settings:

Drag a line with the cursor from the top left corner to the bottom right corner

Create a new layer

Select the Brush Tool and a soft, round brush, size 500px, foreground colour #F1E7BA

Set the opacity to 50%

Place the brush so it makes part of a circle in the bottom left corner

Click the mouse 3 times in the same place:

Right click on the layer in the layers palette and click Merge Down

Create a new layer

Select a soft round brush, size 150px, foreground colour #FBEBA2

Set the opacity to 100% and click once, position as shown below:

Right click on the layer in the layers palette and click Merge Down

Create a new layer

Select the Brush Tool, foreground colour white, set opacity at 12%

Using the brush at sizes 75px, 150px and 300px (other sizes if you wish), place some cicles randomly on the canvas:

Reduce the layer opacity to 75%

Right click on the layer in the layers palette and click Merge Down

Create a new layer

Set the foreground colour to #EBDEB9

Select the Rounded Rectangle Tool and apply fixed size settings as shown below:

Click once on the canvas to produce a rectangle

Create a new layer

Set the foreground colour to #796C5D

Click on the canvas for another rectangle

Create a new layer

Set the foreground colour to #CD8849

Click on the canvas for the last rectangle

Using the Move Tool, place the rectangles as required

Double click on one of the rectangle layers in the layers palette to bring up the blending options, and apply the following Inner Shadow settings:

Copy and paste the layer style to the other two rectangle layers

Make the top layer active

Hold down the shift key and click on both of the other rectangle layers

(They should all 3 be selected)

Right click and click Merge Layers

Create a new layer

Select the Brush Tool and Floral Brushes, foreground colour unimportant

Select Brush number 8 and set the size to around 260px

Click once on the canvas

Ctrl + T to transform the object

Right click in the box and click Flip Horizontal

Now rotate the flower so it fits nicely up the side of the rectangle

Hit the delete key to accept the transformation

Select the Eraser Tool or method of your choice and erase the parts of the flower you want to appear under the rectangle:

Select the Lasso Tool and draw a selection around the stem and tendril of the flower

Edit>Cut

Edit>Paste

You may have to move the selection back into place

Double click on the stem layer in the layers palette to bring up the blending options and apply the following Drop Shadow and Gradient Overlay settings:

Double click on the flower layer in the layers palette to bring up the blending options and add the following Drop Shadow and Gradient Overlay settings:

Make the top layer active and hold down the shift key and click on the flower layer

Right click and click Merge Layers

Duplicate the layer and move it into place on the middle rectangle

Duplicate the layer and move it into place on the right rectangle

Select all three layers (as previously explained), right click and click Merge Layers

Open the pictures you wish to use and cut them to the correct shape if necessary

Select>All

Edit>Copy (Ctrl + C)

Make your project active

Make the frames layer active (so the pasted layer will go above it)

Edit>Paste (Ctrl + V)

Ctrl + T to transform the object and resize to fit as you require inside the rectangle

Create a new layer below the photo layer

Set white as the foreground colour

Select the Rectangle Tool

Drag out a rectangle just a little bigger than your photo

Duplicate the layer

Drag it above the photo layer and move it to the middle frame – I would recommend doing this using the right arrow key as it will then stay lined up top and bottom

Open another of your photos and import it into your project and resize it as previously.

Repeat these steps for the final photo

Right click on each photo layer in turn and click Merge Down to merge the photo with its corresponding white rectangle

Create a new layer above the photos but below the flowers

Set the foreground colour to black

Select the Rectangle Tool and set the fixed size as shown below:

Click once on the canvas

Select the Polygonal Lasso Tool and select half of the rectangle as shown below:

Hit the delete key

Move the photo corner into position

Duplicate the layer

Ctrl + T to transform the object

Right click in the box and click Flip Horizontal

Move the new corner into position

Right click on the layer in the layers palette and click Merge Down

Duplicate the layer

Ctrl + T to transform the object

Right click in the transform box and click Flip Vertical

Move the new corners into position

Right click on the layer in the layers palette and click Merge Down

Duplicate the layer

Move the new set of corners into position on the middle photo

Duplicate the layer

Move the new set of corners into position on the right photo

Select the 3 corners layers in the layers palette

Right click and click Merge Layers

Double click on the layer in the layers palette to bring up the blending options and apply the following Drop Shadow settings:

Click on the image for full size view