Designer Challenge - Make An Alpha Set

Thanks Susan, I have been trying...kinda new to making scrap stuff. I used to play around with making tagger stuff years ago, only recently started doing scrap & have a lot to learn.

Such fun alphas..Great work everybody..I also hope i can join..

Thank you Arlene.

Very pretty alpha Judy!

Great stuff going on here! I have a slight panic attack when I think of trying to create an alpha!

Um, okay...this is on my "try to do" list for today...

Deb, it's pretty easy. Here are a few ideas for simple alpha sets:
-Take a commercial-use-okay font and add a layer style or pattern, or both. Make a glossy plastic look on a thinner font, or maybe a plaid with a stitched-look outline for autumn. I've seen gorgeous ones where someone simply clipped a photo to a chunky font and then added a plastic glossy bevel to it.
-Take a commercial-use-okay font and add an element on the letters somewhere. I've seen beautiful ones with swirls and butterflies and flowers, or adorably cute ones with a colored outline and googly eyes added to them. The one problem I have with these is that themed elements limit their usefulness somewhat.
-Make a basic element like a brad or flair using a template and add a second layer just above the background with the character on it.
-If you have a graphics tablet, draw your own letters. Handwritten looks are really popular in digital scrapbooking anyway. My handwriting isn't pretty by nature, but I managed to make a couple of nice alphas by drawing the letters I wanted to make (even if I did have to try to make each stroke half a dozen times!) and you see one of them above.
-I've seen some neat effects when people have chosen two complementary fonts and stacked them, like a simple sans serif with a script font on top of it. (Or use the script letter as a pattern overlay for the sans serif, perhaps?)

There are tons of possibilities, and it's not really any more difficult than making elements--it just requires a little bit of vision as to the page/kit you see it being used with, and then matching the feel of the font to the feel and colors of the kit.

Holly your tips are always important for me..You're a great tutor, you know!!

Thanks to Holly's tips, I gave this a shot. I wish I had photoshop to write an action instead of doing it all step by step, but that being said, it didn't really take as long as I thought it would.

I made a caps only (with numerals, an ampersand, and an exclamation point) brushed metal alphabet. I have so many "manly" pages to do that I needed something in the masculine category.

Here is the free download if you'd like this set. MamaGoose_Brushed Metal Alpha
Thanks for the nudge, Holly!!

Thank you, Sherry!!

Thanks, Liza!!

Thank you, Ania!

That looks great, Deb! I knew you could do it!