Jacquelin Vanderwood
April 2005
Start by using the Rectangle tool. Click on the screen and specify 10 inches by 8 inches. Open the Brushes library and select Borders_Floral. I have chosen Rose as this will be an award for Mom.
Open Symbols and select a new symbols library. I've selected Decorative Elements and chose Corner Elements 4.
Copy to all four corners using the Reflect tool's Copy button.
At this point we want to start adding text. Let's give the award a title. As you can see, I have selected to name this award Great Mom using a fairly thick font.
Go ahead and change the color of the title to offset a color in the frame.
We want to bend the title into a curve using Warp Options and Arc.
Use an Inner Glow set to Center with an Opacity of 45% for the text.
Next I added the word Award in a color that was in the frame by selecting the text and then using the Eyedropper tool and clicking on the color.
I used the Line Segment tool to create the line. Next I opened Symbols and chose Decorative Elements. I dropped the one liked onto the document and then used the Reflect tool to make a copy. Using the Shift and the right facing arrow, I moved the copied element into place.
I used the Line Segment tool again and made another shorter line and then duplicated it. I also added more text underneath following the same color palette as is already present.
I selected two graphics from the Symbols library Occasions to add to the piece. The heart was enlarged by selecting it and holding shift key down dragging on the corner.
To align certain areas, I began by selecting them either in a group and then holding the shift key and selecting the other parts to be included.
In the Align palette I selected the Horizontal Align Center button to center everything selected. I discovered that the corner decorations should be grouped with the frame so I deselected everything and used the shift key to select everything for the group. I also did the same thing for the decoration below the line. I repeated the procedure below.
For the signature area do the same thing but use the Horizontal Align Left button. Now everything is either centered correctly and left aligned as well.
Now you're ready to print the award and sign it.
Copyright (c) 2005, Jacquelin Vanderwood, All Rights Reserved