I saw this done on a Christmas card and I knew immediately I had to try it on a layout. So. Much. Fun!

Forgive me if I jump right in? I’m going to start with a blank canvas at our normal size for digital scrapbooking:

  • 3600 x 3600 pixels;
  • @300 dpi

I’m immediately going to the Type Tool and typing in a favorite phrase. Since we are in the middle of our LAD: Snowed IN event, I choose a “snowy” phrase: It’s Snowing Outside
Note: do not use any spaces or punctuation. You need all parts of the font to be touching for this to work.

Remember to always click the check mark to confirm your typing

I wanted a fun, curvy font for my phrase. I choose Batthsion (currently FREE at fontbundles.net). I love the effect the loops give when colored in with a background paper. So. How do we color those in?

It’s easy! Simply grab your hand-dandy Magic Wand tool and select everything underneath your phrase. Make sure you are on your Type layer!

You can do this next step either way, but for me it’s easiest to Inverse my selection first:

  • Top Menu: Select –>Inverse
    Shortcut for PC: Shift + CTR: + I
  • Create a New Layer (again underneath your Type layer)
    Now called: Layer 1
  • Colorfill Layer 1 with a color of your choice using the Paint Bucket Tool

That’s really it! You can switch up the color of your text, or even click a paper to it. I kept mine white & added a drop shadow:

  • I used a darker color from my background paper (it’s coming!)
    Hex #313545
  • Blend Mode: Linear Burn
  • Opacity: 54%
  • Angle: 96%
  • Distance: 14 px
  • Size: 18 px

As a final step, I dragged in two papers from our LAD: Snowed IN prizes both by Nibbles Skribbles:

I love this! And it’s so much fun to create, I made a second example for all of you without snow. This time I used the phrase:
It’s a bright, bright sunshiny day

Obviously Snowed In papers won’t work with this phrase. I didn’t want to go the obvious route & search for summer or “sun” in the store. Instead I looked at our new releases & fell in love with the color combos in Aimee Harrison’s new So Fanciful. I love how this one turned out too!

I know that not all software programs can recreate this little trick. I also know not all of you have the patience or time to recreate this. For all of you, I’ve turned both pages into quick & easy templates. Just click to download & enjoy!