Pierced Vellum Journaling Box (Photoshop Elements)

Don’t you love the smooth look and feel of translucent white vellum paper? I do! It adds such a sophisticated touch to formal announcements and fancy cards. And if you’re also a hybrid or traditional paper scrapper, you’ve probably used vellum in your creations.

So, how do you recreate that same elegant look digitally? In this week’s tip, I’ll show you how to make a vellum journaling box with pretty cut-out shapes in 7 simple steps! Let’s get started…

Step 1) Create a new document

• In the Menu bar, choose File>New >Blank File.
• In the New dialog box, enter:
  • Width: 4 inches
  • Height 6 inches
  • Resolution: 300 pixels/inch
  • Mode: RGB Color
  • Background contents: Transparent

• Press D to return the Color Chips to their default setting of black over white. Press X to reverse the colors to white over black.

Step 2) Create your shape

• Get the Rounded Rectangle tool in the Toolbar.
• In the Options bar, set your Radius to 120 pixels.
• Position your cursor in the upper left corner of your document and click and drag out a rounded rectangle the width and length of your document.

Step 3) Add An Ornament

• Press D to return the Color Chips to their default setting of black over white.
• In the Tool Bar, get the Custom Shape tool. (It’s nested with the Rounded Rectangle tool.)

• In the Options Bar open the Shape Picker and double click on Ornament 5. If you don’t see this ornament, click on the right-facing triangles in the upper, right corner of the Shape Picker to get a fly-out menu. Choose Ornaments and then Ornament 5.

• Click and drag out the ornament shape. Hold down the shift key as you drag to maintain the original proportions. Make it roughly two-thirds the width of your document.
• Use the Move tool to center it near the top of your rounded rectangle.

Step 4) Duplicate, flip and re-size the ornament

• Press Ctrl J (Mac: Cmd J) to duplicate the ornament.
• Select the Move tool and check “Show Bounding Box” in the Options Bar. Click on a corner handle and drag inward until the second ornament is roughly half the size of the original custom shape. Before confirming the change, click and drag the second ornament to the bottom, center of your document. Click on the green check mark to confirm the change.
• Choose Image>Rotate>Flip Layer Vertical.

Step 5) Make journaling lines

• Get the Line tool (also nested with the Rounded Rectangle and Custom Shapes tools).
• In the Options Bar, set your line Weight to 8 pixels.
• Hold down the Shift key and click and drag out a line that extends from the left to the right on your document, leaving some margin on both sides. You can use the Move tool or the Arrow keys to center it, if necessary. Make sure to leave a good bit of space between the custom shape at the top and the first line.
• Double click on the name of the new line layer in the Layers panel, and change the name to “Line.” Press Enter to confirm the name.

• Press Ctrl J (Mac: Cmd J) 7 times to duplicate the line for a total of 8 lines. You won’t see them all because they will be stacked over the original Line layer.
• Make sure the top line layer (Line copy 7) is selected in the Layers panel.
• On your document, use the Move tool to click and drag the top line to the bottom of your journaling block, slightly above the bottom ornament.
• In the Layers panel select all of the line layers by Shift clicking on the original Line layer.

• In the Options Bar click on Distribute >Vertical Centers. Your lines will be evenly distributed down the document.
• Select all the line layers along with both shape layers (but not the white rounded rectangle layer) and press Ctrl E (Mac: Cmd E) to merge them.

There’s your journaling box… now let’s make the cutouts!

Step 6) Make the cut-outs

• In the Layers panel, click on the white rounded rectangle layer. Then go to the Options Bar and choose Layer > Simplify Layer.
• Hold down the Ctrl key (Mac: Cmd key) and click on the thumbnail of the merged lines and shapes layer in the Layers panel to get a selection outline.

• Make sure you’re still on the white rounded rectangle layer in the Layers panel, and press Ctrl X (Mac: Cmd X) to make the cutout.

• Drag the merged layer to the trash. You will see that the cutouts have been made, revealing the gray and white checkerboard pattern of your transparent background.

Step 7) Reduce the opacity

• Reduce the Opacity at the top of the Layers panel to make the journaling box translucent. I set mine to 50% opacity, but you can experiment to achieve the look you want. Here’s how it looks on the page:

You now have a pretty, pierced vellum journaling box! Save it as a .PNG file, which can be used over and over again.

Bonus Tip: You can create pierced vellum journaling boxes in a variety of shapes and sizes, and use different custom shapes for the cutouts. You can even leave off the lines, if you prefer. Keep making them, and before long you’ll have a great collection that will work for any page or occasion!

Enjoy… and remember, post your creations in our Tip of the Week Gallery, so we can take a look at how you used this week’s tip!

Credits: Kit used is Simply Love by Michelle Shefveland, Cottage Arts. Page by Jan Walker.

Download a PDF version of this “Pierced Vellum Journaling Box” tutorial.

Windows: Right click on the link and choose “Save Target As” or a similar command.
Mac: Click on the link to download the file.

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