Bits&Pieces

Video Tutorial: create at least one, or two , or two opposing rounded corners using Photoshop Elements

2009-11-09T05:00:00-06:00

A blog reader recently asked, "Cathy, how do you get some of the corners rounded in your designs, but not all of them?" and I thought it'd be a good idea for a quick video tutorial.

For many moons, I did this effect of opposing or single rounded corners using an Apple script for use only in Adobe InDesign, the page layout program. But since I've been working in Photoshop and creating templates for scrapbooking, I figured I'd better learn how to do this in Photoshop. Here, I present the results of my figuring as figured using Photoshop Elements 8. (Note: to watch this video in a larger size, simply click on the Rounded Corners Tutorial link below the video to go directly to the Vimeo site.)

A Rounded Corners Tutorial for Photoshop Elements from Cathy Zielske on Vimeo.

Of course in Photoshop, there is always more than one way to achieve the same end result. I just wanted to share with you how I would achieve this result using PSE 8. (A side note: you can't actually do Command+Z until the cows come home. Usually there's a set limit and honestly, I'm not sure what it is, but just keeping Command+Z'ing until you hear something resembling mooing. You get my point.)

To create an outline to a shape in Photoshop CS, you simply apply layer styles by double clicking on your shape layer and selecting the Stroke option, and then under Blending Options, change the opacity of the Fill to "0"

Note: I have my PSE and my PS grid set up to 1 inch increments so that when I am designing with my grid on, I can easily see in inches as I go. You can access your grid specs through Preferences, or in some versions of PSE, under the Edit menu.

P.S. Isn't that the most AWESOME shot above of my 10-year-old boy? So many of them look like this:

Rounded corners or not, let's hear it for good shots of pre-teen boys.

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As always, feel free to share your best tip for achieving the same end result! As I said, there are more than one way to accomplish goals in PSE and PS. Don't be shy if you know of another way.

From blog to page (a.k.a. The Blog Grab)

2009-11-06T05:00:00-06:00

When I started blogging back in the Days of Yore, I remember distinctly thinking how awesome it was going to be to have all these new little bits of story telling and pictures to scrapbook with.

It made perfect sense. I'd put all this time and energy into crafting blog posts, then I'd transfer it all to a scrapbook page to preserve forever in the so-called real world.

While it's a sound idea, I've probably only done this a handful of times. For example, one time I told a rather sweet story about something Dan said to me (read it here), and then I made this page:

A true and victorious example of blog to page. But I can count on a few fingers how many times this has actually happened.

Enter the Blog Grab.

(Not to be confused with the very familiar and all-too-prevalent Boob Grab):

As I was working on some new template ideas for Designer Digitals, I thought: I want to create something that easily lets me transfer a word-heavy and photo-laden blog post to a simple layout design. You know, a design with lots of room for journaling, and accordingly, room for multiple photos if need be. And here's what I came up with:

These templates (one for 12 x 12 scrappers, and one for 8.5 x 11 scrappers) are my solution for taking a longer story that I love, like this one, and being able to save it to the real world scrapbook page, like this:

Or, the page I actually printed out for Cole's album, in 8.5 x 11:

SUPPLIES: Layered Template No. 7 (12 x 12) • Layered Template No. 8 (8.5 x 11) • Spot Dots Paper Pack No 11, Digital Dates Date Stamps Vol. 12 (Katie Pertiet) • Archer font • Adobe Photoshop CS4 • (Note: I cut the larger shot on this template in two, to add a few more shots.)

Because I was on a roll, I also did this hybrid page with another blog post about my girl turning 13:

(click on the image to see a larger version of the layout in new window)

I tweaked the template a bit by first turning off all of the photo layers and backgrounds, then erasing the lower left hand horizontal line on the overlay for the left page, and then flipping the overlay itself and moving the journaling block over to continue the journaling on a second page. Next I copied and pasted my journaling directly from the blog post into the template and formatted the text using Avenir and a tiny bit of Amelie. Then I printed the two pages out onto white cardstock. To finish, I grabbed some of the shots from the blog post (in 300 DPI, mind you), plus a few other shots, measured the open space, and trimmed the photos to size.

These templates also work great if you simply need lots of space for multiple photos and longer stories.

Don't let your good stories live only in cyberspace. Take them from blog to page today. Try one this weekend!

Every one of my templates is on sale—as is everything in the store—until next Tuesday at 6 a.m. E.S.T. as part of the Designer Digitals 4th Quarter Sale.

Have a lovely weekend.

Design Your Life Registration is Open (and a quick Q & A)

2009-11-05T05:00:00-06:00

Beginning today, you can register for Design Your Life. There is no class size limit, so there is no need to race to register. There's room for everyone to learn design.

I've been fielding a series of questions since announcing this workshop a while back, and here is a brief Q&A for those of you who are interested in taking this workshop with me.

Is this the same class you taught in 2008? Yes, it's the very same class. All of the assignments are the same. All of my layouts are the same. I purposefully have not publicly shared any of these pages (or sketches) for this class to keep the content exclusively for my students. The weekly slide show lessons are also the same. However, I decided to re-record all 12 weeks of those lectures to create videos for the new format at BigPictureScrapbooking. Additionally, in 2008 I recorded video messages every few weeks for my students, based on whatever was going on topic wise on the boards, or just depending on what sorts of things were going on in my scrapbook life. These unscripted videos will be all new in DYL 2010, of course.

I've taken one of your workshops this year, and was able to save the slideshow to my computer. Will I be able to do the same in this class? Not for Design Your Life. As with the first go round, we will have the slideshows available online, streaming, in high resolution. You will also have "forever" access to the class materials. Even though the class will end, you will always be able to go in and download materials, and view anything you may have missed. We'll also have transcripts and PDFs of every slide of each presentation for you to print and save if you wish.

I'm a digital scrapbooker. How will a class like this help me? For Design Your Life 2010, I've added layered PSD files for digital scrapbookers, but the core content of this class—teaching design principles—is going to help all scrapbookers, whether you're digital, hybrid or tradtional.

Do digital scrapbookers need what's on the supply list? No, except for possibly an album and page protectors to save your finished, printed pages. Honestly? The supply list is purely a guide to give you ways to store your work. You can store your final pages any way you like! And this goes for all students.

I would prefer to do all of my pages in 12 x 12. Will I still learn the concepts if I do this? You are welcome to convert sketch concepts to 12 x 12, and yes, you will still learn the concepts. We have a good number of 8.5 x 11 sketches, both single page designs and two-page spreads. In 2008, some students simply took those core designs for the 8.5 x 11, and placed them onto a 12 x 12 space. The concepts we're studying do not get lost when you change space size. That's part of the reason I have multiple sizes for our assignments, to really communicate the idea that space is space, and design applies universally.

Will you be assigning us what to scrapbook about? No. I may make a suggestion from time to time, but what you choose to cover is up to you. Aside from learning design, this is a great class to get a lot of pages done, and almost all of the assignments feature multi-photo designs.

I'm hoping to learn a bit about digital scrapbooking. Will you be covering this, since you're adding digi files to the classroom? The short answer? No. This class is about design theory, not about software or digital scrapbooking technique. However, I may cover some digital tips in the unscripted video messages, but those videos evolve out of what types of things students are talking about on the message boards.

I took this class in 2008. Can I take it again if I want to? Yep. And as an alumni, you can take it for $49. However, keep in mind that as an alumni, you have access now to the 2008 classroom any time you like so you may not need to take the 2010 workshop. That said, if you DO sign up for 2010, you will get the new digital files, and of course you'll get the interaction with me for another 12 weeks.

Will you be doing any giveaways for spots in your class? Yes. I will do one giveaway in the next few weeks, and that will be the only one. Then, you can confidently place the workshop on your Christmas list and give it to someone who loves you and looks at your scrapbook pages often.

This isn't really related to your class but I have two questions. First, is that your natural hair color and second, would you consider watching my dog while I go on vacation? The answer to question one is no. It's Clairol Grey Solution No. 4. The answer to question two…is your dog housetrained? Maybe we can talk.

If you have any more questions for me, feel free to email (design.life@comcast.net) me or leave a comment here. Hope to see many new faces in the workshop for 2010!

Work that photo

2009-11-04T05:00:00-06:00

SUPPLIES: Layered Template No. 6 (Cathy Zielske) • Manchester Paper Pack, Manchester Solids (Michelle Martin) • Digital Date Stamps Vol. 12 (Katie Pertiet) • PW's Black&White Photo Action (pioneerwoman.com)

I recently posted a handful of shots from an impromptu, back yard, teen-requested photo shoot with Aidan, a.k.a. One Three.

It reminded me of something I used to do with great frequency—and still do—and that is: use shots from one time frame or event on multiple layouts.

Is it just me? Do you do this as well? You know, when you get a series of shots you love, you just invent more ways to use them? And if you do, do you feel like you're just making stuff up to use the shots again?

Inquring minds want to know.

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I'll be hosting an online Coffee Chat this weekend on Saturday morning over at Designer Digitals in celebration of their big sale. I'm going to be chatting bright and early—8 a.m. to 9 a.m. Eastern Standard Time. You'll need coffee or some other early morning pick me up, and if you join me, I'll be giving away a brand new layered template to all who drop by. We can talk about whatever you want. You know, design, daughters, dogs—no big whoop. See you there.

You know they're growing up when they opt for a party with their peers instead of trick or treating

2009-11-02T05:00:00-06:00

This year marked a milestone—not necessarily a good or bad one—wherein one of my children decided to hit the Halloween party circuit rather than stay-at-home, carve pumpkins and trick-or-treat with her ever-loving family.

Oh, it's all right. I'm fine. I mean, I did get this shot, proving she at least placed one of her hands inside of a pumpkin:

But what I'm not fine with is that I have not a single shot of her dressed in a costume. She went to two different parties and now I'm relying on her Facebook friends to hook me up with a shot, you know, for the album.

Cole on the other hand had problems of his own, namely, the I Have Way Too Many Ideas for a Costume and Will Be Changing My Mind Every 30 Minutes for the Final Week Leading Up to Halloween problem.

He settled on two. First, the Classic Ghost:

And second, the Classic iPod:

Both Cole and Dan found it interesting if not mildly shocking as they tooled around our 'hood, how many people didn't know what an iPod was. One of our sweet older neighbors asked, "What station are you playing?"

A few days before Halloween I took Cole out to Target—with the goal of just picking up some candy—and we ended up leaving roughly $70 poorer than when we'd first stepped foot inside the store. I just kept saying "Yes" to his requests for various Halloween decor items. Part of me is very aware that these years and these holidays are soon to be mere blips on the time line of memory. Why not let a 4th grader go nuts for once?

It felt good to be the Mom that said yes, instead of the Mom that usually points out how overpriced and unnecessary things are.

So while I wait for Aidan's friends to deliver great shots of whatever it was she was dressed up as this year, I simply worked with what I have for now, and whipped up this bit of memory documentation:

SUPPLIES: Spooky Sentiments Brushes & Stamps (Cathy Zielske) • Frightful Solids Paper Pack, Spot Dots No. 10 (Katie Pertiet) • Cathy Zielske's Layered Template No. 10 (coming soon!) • Archer font • Adobe Photoshop CS4

Hope you had a memorable Halloween. I'm off to have my bee costume dry cleaned and then to sign Dan up for a How to Shoot Be-costumed People in Focus class. (Get it, bee-costumed?)

Thank you.

Note: the moody and spooky edge burn effects on a few of my photos above are courtesy of The Pioneer Woman's Action Set No. 1. F-Ree and fabulous. And speaking of Ree, my book order should be arriving any day. Might not help my diet, but oh, will Dan love me all the more.

I believe you need a smidgen of goofiness with your design to really make what you learn stick.

2009-11-02T05:00:00-06:00

Design Your Life Promo from Cathy Zielske on Vimeo.

For more information on Design Your Life, click here.

(And I'd like to thank the writers of this classic SNL skit for the inspiration.)

Sponsor Giveaways: Simplify 101 and ReneePearson.com {winners}

2009-10-30T04:00:00-05:00

With Halloween in full scale, it's time to announce the winners! Just a note of interest: the Random Integer Generator gave me two numbers: 11 and 376. I love that one is way in the front, and one is way in the back. You never know what numbers are going to pop up.!

Without further adieu...

The winner of the spot in Simplify 101's upcoming online workshop Get Organized for the Holidays is:

#11 Carolyn, who said... Great giveaways as always.

And the winner of the spot in the new Anna Aspnes class at ReneePearson.com, Album Magic is:

#376 Carol who said... Happy Halloween! Thanks for the 2 great classes!

Ladies, email me to claim your spots in these awesome workshop!

Thanks again to the sponsors and remember there is still time to register for both.

Do you want to get organized and truly enjoy this coming holiday season? One of my blog readers will win a spot in Simplify 101's upcoming online workshop Get Organized for the Holidays. This workshop is taught by professional organizer Aby Garvey, co-author of The Organized & Inspired Scrapbooker. In this workshop, you’ll create a holiday planning binder loaded with holiday planning forms, checklists, and best of all, a customized holiday plan that focuses on what’s most important to you and your family. Learn how to weed-out and simplify your less meaningful holiday tasks, freeing-up time to truly enjoy and savor those activities that make the holidays most special to you. Plus, get simple tips and ideas to implement your plan so you stay energized and joyful all season long!

The workshop begins next Tuesday and runs through January 12—giving you ongoing ideas, inspiration and motivation to make your holidays the organized, joyful and stress free. There’s plenty of down-time built in, too, so you can enjoy the season with your family. Then, when the season ends you’ll learn simple and effective ways to quickly reclaim your home, easily returning it to pre-holiday order.

This year’s workshop includes bonus handouts from two fabulous bloggers. Benita Larson of the beautiful and inspiring blog Chez Larsson, will be sharing "Simple + Stylish Holiday Decorating Ideas” and Laura of the popular Org Junkie blog will help us take the stress out of preparing holiday meals in her bonus handout "Holiday Meal Planning Made Easy.

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It’s time to kick your scrapbooking up a notch! One of my blog readers will also win a spot in the new Anna Aspnes class at ReneePearson.com, Album Magic. If you’re comfortable creating complete 12 X 12 digital pages but the idea of creating a cohesive album based on a single theme sends you running in the opposite direction, then this class is for you! Join Anna Aspnes as she demystifies album creation and leads you, one step at a time, through her own tried and tested process that will have you planning and executing albums over and over in record time. This class isn't about producing a specific album with a set theme. Instead it provides a framework to which you can apply your own photos, stories and themes...

•Whether you have children or not
•Whether you scrapbook everyday or special occasions
•Whether you combine photos with stories or keep things simple
•Whether you use one photo or many
•Whether you consider yourself artsy or traditional
•Regardless of your age and where you are in your life

At every step, you will learn to make your own choices based on your own preferences and style to create your own personalized album. This class is suitable for users of Adobe Photoshop Elements 6, 7 or 8 and Photoshop CS3 and CS4, and is designed for the intermediate digital crafter using either a Mac or PC. While you do not need to be proficient in any of these programs, you do need to be familiar with using them and understand the concept of layers.

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To be entered for a chance to win, simply leave me a comment. I will draw a winner sometime on Saturday after 7 p.m. Good luck!

There's creativity in them there genes

2009-10-29T13:38:08-05:00

Every year, my father-in-law grows pumpkins, and as they're just starting to form, he carves the names of each of his grandchildren into the individual pumpkins. Some years they work brilliantly, and some years they don't. This year, Aidan and Cole's most definitely did.

When the kids were smaller, he would hide their pumpkins down on the farm where he and my mother-in-law live in Southern Minnesota. We'd bundle them up and send them out into the fields to choose a pumpkin to pick. It was pretty magical the first time, when they got out there only to find pumpkins with their names on it.

{Aidan in the meadow at the farm, finding her first pumpkin, at age 2}

Speaking of things that have gone, and things that are here, I'm so happy that Papa still makes the pumpkins for my now 10- and 13-year-old kids.

I can guarantee you when they walk through the door after school the magic of seeing their names will still remind them not only of what an awesome and creative grandpa they have, but of how much they are loved.

And the shrunken head apple faces he made aren't too shabby either:

I'm posting a giveaway tomorrow, so check back! I wanted to wish all of you a safe and happy Halloween a bit early.

And thank YOU Papa, for such an enduring and endearing tradition.

Go Scrapbooking.

2009-10-28T14:58:08-05:00

Last night I was looking through Clean&Simple Scrapbooking (I know, maybe a little weird to sit and look through your own book, but hey, the book is like one big scrapbook, just one that's been professionally printed, right?), and I was struck at how much life has changed since the year it came out.

When I read over this Bedtime Rituals layout, it really hit home: my kids are growing up.

Gone are the days of cartoons from 7 to 8 p.m.; here are the days of watching Glee or The Wizards of Waverly Place.

Gone are the days of two-story bedtimes and Go Fish; here are the days of reading Simpson's books and chatting with friends on Facebook.

Gone are the days of parents bribing each other to trade off bedtime duties; here are the days of kids who get themselves ready for bed without any parental assistance whatsoever.

Gone are the days we had to stay upstairs until the kids fell asleep; here are the days when even though we can come downstairs and spend quality grown up time together, we're often too tired to do so.

Gone are the days of a family with little kids; here are the days that feel—sometimes—like a lifetime away from those that have already gone before.

Don't get me wrong. It seems that here is a time that just gets better and better as our family continues to do what families do: grow, change, adapt and live.

I guess today I'm glad that I'm the sort of person who writes stuff like this down. You know…to remember.

Go scrapbooking.

Holiday Survival Tip Series Installment No. 1: Make Cards Early (Video Tutorial Blog)

2009-10-27T04:00:00-05:00

I know what you're thinking.

"Cathy? What the? Halloween isn't even here yet and you're thinking Christmas cards already? That's just messed up!"

Au contraire, mes petit chiens… (I think I just called all of you little doggies in French, but keep in mind: my bad French aside, I love dogs.)

Yes, I realize Halloween is just around the corner, but there's another big holiday some of you may be familiar with. It's called Christmas. Maybe you've heard of it? Baby Jesus? Trees? Presents?. Endless lines? Tangled lights?

Oh yes, and one more component that is commonly referred to as the CHRISTMAS CARD.

As creative women (and men) who have the reputation of knowing their way around a paper trimmer, the pressure to create Christmas cards is constant. Why? Because we are crafty. We have all of the stuff we need to create right here! Some of us even have ENTIRE ROOMS in which we can use our knowledge and tools to prepare messages of holiday merriment to share with our family and friends.

Now I'm going to admit something that I haven't told anyone except my closest of friends and family (and everyone I know on the Internet): the reason you didn't get a card from me last year is because I didn't make any.

(And a collective GASP falls across the crafting blogosphere.)

Last year I said, rather petulantly, "Not gonna do it," and I didn't. And to be honest with you, I really wasn't guilt-ridden over the decision. To me, it was one less thing to do in a season that already has an exorbitant number of things that need doing.

But inevitably, it happened: I found myself missing it. I missed the process of making cards to share with my closest family and friends, and I vowed that this year, I would not only make cards, but I'd do them in a timely, non-stressed fashion, leaving plenty of time to simply enjoy the season when it comes, and not feel the burden of 80 some odd names on a Christmas card list staring me in the face. Waiting.

In short, this year, I've got a plan.

It all started with a new set of word art which I designed for Designer Digitals (on sale next weekend). I dig type and words and I plan to create many more sets using fonts and phrases that I love. These sets come as PNG files, and can be used in any program. (They also come as .abr files for you Photoshop users.)

You can use them on scrapbook pages, of course, but you can also use them to make holiday cards.

Here's a quick tutorial on how to take some word art and make multiple, colored copies on a single sheet of cardstock to use for making some easy, crafty Christmas cards.

CZ Design Word Art Card Tutorial from Cathy Zielske on Vimeo.

Supplies Ho-Ho-Holiday 1 Brushes&Stamps (coming Nov. 1 to Designer Digitals) • Dasher and Garland papers from BasicGrey • Fiskars Squeeze Punch • pop dots • kraft cardstock

Once you have your word art file ready, you simply load in a sheet of cardstock, print, and cut into strips. Then, grab your punch tool and punch away.

This is definitely a card you can do production-line style. Just punch a bunch of holiday paper swatches, and then punch a bunch of word art print outs, glue down and presto: cute holiday cards.

(Note: the patterned papers I'm using are from an older BasicGrey collection that might be hard to find online, but any holiday themed papers will work!)

And for those of you who just can't stand the idea of holiday card making in October, I've got just the word art set to fit with the current season:

But at this point, there's no pressure on anyone to make cards. I'm not THAT crazy.

Look for these new word art sets this weekend at Designer Digitals.

p.s. And to everyone on my Christmas card list, please act surprised when this design shows up in your mailbox. Thank you.