Bits&Pieces

Would you have gone to the Sadie Hawkins Tolo with this boy?

2009-12-16T05:00:00-06:00

Hi, I'm very tan and full of 9th grade testosterone, despite my lack of chest and facial hair.

I know. Adorable.

That Adam's Apple could take an eye out.

(In Everett, Wash., in 1984, the Sadie Hawkins Tolo was a dance where girls got to ask the boy of their choice to a go. I really have no idea why we called it a "Tolo." Of course, Dan and I were nowhere near one another in 1984, but still, I am fairly certain I would have at least put him on my candidate list.)

EDITED TO ADD: Well, who knew. Read this about the history of the word "tolo" as well as Sadie Hawkins.

Ne dis jamais jamais

2009-12-15T05:00:00-06:00

(Me, circa 1986, Grapevine, Texas)

The other morning, while unloading the dishwasher, I had a very strange and deliberate realization: I've never been a bridesmaid.

At this stage of my life, most of my friends are married, and the few that are not probably won't be asking me to browse the latest Gunne Sax catalog if they ever do choose to tie the knot. I'm not sure if my life will somehow be lacking without this particular semi-rite of passage experience. So far, I think I'm okay with it, but it got me thinking of other things I've never done.

Never might seem like a negative sort of word, and in a sense I suppose that it is. Nevertheless…ahem, I decided to come up with a list of nevers to serve as an exercise—not simply as a garden variety bucket list—but as an foray into both writing, memory and wishful thinking. Here is my by no means comprehensive list:

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I've never sung karaoke.

I've never been able to hold a grudge.

I've never jumped out of a plane.

I've never gone skiing, despite growing up in the shadow of the Cascade Mountains.

I've never swam with dolphins.

I've never knowingly broke someone's heart.

I've never met my birth mother.

I've never felt the need to.

(My brother, me and my mom, circa 1967)

I've never walked the streets of London.

I've never been so drunk that I didn't know who or where I was.

I never thought I'd have children.

I've never had much trouble sleeping…until now.

I've never had a catastrophic illness.

I've never doubted my abilities with lip liner.

I've never not known where my next meal is coming from.

I've never really learned how to play the guitar.

(Cole, me and my guitar, circa 2006.)

I've never mastered the art of stress-free flying.

I've never thought I looked good with long hair.

I've never done laundry with zeal.

I've never been very good at exercise.

I've never cheated on anyone.

I've never liked shopping for more than a few meals at a time.

I've never forgotten the first day I laid eyes on Dan Zielske in Joan Teel's living room down in Bedford, Texas, with his gorgeous green eyes, and prominent incisors.

(Dan and Christopher, circa 1989)

I've also never forgotten the smell of the woods behind my Washington childhood home, or the giddiness I felt moving into my first and only Seattle apartment, or the way I felt driving on the Kansas Turnpike toward my new life in Minnesota.

I never count my chickens before they're hatched but I sure think about them an awful lot.

I never like to arrive anywhere late.

I'm never going to be as thin as I'd like to be.

I never profess to have it all figured out, but I'm making noticeable dents.

I would never change any of the decisions I've made up until this point, and yes, that even includes dating that awful David Smith back in '88, smoking cigarettes or wearing my hair like this:

(Me in Long Beach, California, circa 1986)

I've never been good at delaying self-gratification.

I've never understood why bad things happen to the very best of people.

I've never not loved words.

I never imagined this life that I am so lucky to be living.

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Did someone say "scrapbook page content"?

What about you? What are some of your nevers? And what do your nevers say about you, for better or for worse? Leave a comment, or blog it yourself. It's a great journaling jump start.

Three good ideas

2009-12-14T05:00:00-06:00

Every now and then, I have a good idea, either to do something, make something, read something, repeat something—you get the picture, yes? Sometimes, they are very obvious things that most of you know, and are all, "Um, thanks, Cathy. Have you left the house in, oh, say the last 10 years?" Nevertheless, when I stumble across something this good, I share.

IDEA #1: Dueling Butter Dishes

I like butter in butter dishes. I don't like it cold and I don't like buying spreadable butter in a tub. I like butter in butter dishes, and I like it to sit out on my counter for easy access. I feel I've been very clear on this matter throughout my life.

One of the main problems with butter in a dish is that the butter dish gets sort of messy and before you can place a new stick into it, you pretty much have to wash it by hand, dry it, and proceed from there. All told, a full 5 minutes of your life is shot.

Enter the Back Up Butter Dish. Good LORD! How did I miss this one? Dan came home a few weeks back with a second butter dish. In his confusion over our butter dish situation, he thought I was in need of one, and in the process ignited a revolution in butter management in the Zielske household.

Now, when one butter dish is empty, it goes directly INTO THE DISHWASHER, and then I simply grab the clean, non-greasy back up, and place a new fresh stick of butter in, and volia: no more handwashing the single dish.

Can you stand it? Seriously. It has given me back 5 minutes every two days. You can't put a price tag on that one.

IDEA #2: Reading "The Middle Place" by Kelly Corrigan

Have you read this book? Have you? I'm guessing a lot of you have. And I'm guessing many of you have seen this amazing clip on YouTube, which will make you weepy all over again if you choose to watch it again. I cannot put her book down. It makes me want to be Irish and have a Dad nicknamed "Greenie." It is such a beautiful, tender, funny memoir. It reminds me—not the most voracious of readers you will meet—what I am missing between the pages of beautifully-written books.

IDEA #3: Making and printing home-made gift tags

Inspired byAli's cute gift tags, I created a simple set of my own which you can find here. I don't do bows on my gifts at Christmas time. It's all about the cuteness of the old taggers. Also, last year, I made another freebie set of taggers which you can download here. Free is never not a good idea.

Here ends my good ideas. I cling to them, as I can never predict with much accuracy when more will come.

A little of this, a little of that

2009-12-10T08:44:29-06:00

Last weekend, we decided to head over to Bob's Famously Fresh to pick out our Christmas tree. It wasn't too chilly out, and the time was right.

This trip was a full week earlier than the Zielskes normally perform the tree acquisition holiday function. I just figured I needed a little extra boost of holiday cheer, so off we went.

I don't generally go nuts with holiday decorating, limiting it to the living room of our house. Still, seeing the tree every morning when I come down to make coffee makes me happy.

Speaking of happy…

These feet make me happy, because they are attached to this boy:

Chester's only here for a few days, but he certainly knows how to make himself at home.

Shhhhh. I'm sleeping now.

I plan to work a bit today, then wrap up some more Christmas presents using Ali's adorable taggers.

And with a half of a foot of freshly fallen snow on the ground, I'm definitely starting to feel the charm of December.

Who knows, I may even take a shower and get dressed before noon. I guess what I'm saying is that today, anything is possible.

People try to put us down

2009-12-09T05:00:00-06:00

So thankful that every new musical phase in his life has much visual documentation. Nice fringe, Roger. Nice fringe.

You should see his Keith Moon sketch.

A simple and efficient design + a quick video tutorial on using templates for hybrid pages

2009-12-08T05:00:00-06:00

SUPPLIES: Layered Template No. 21 (Cathy Zielske) • Blaine Paper Pack (Michelle Martin) • Classic Foundation Cardstock (Katie Pertiet) • Avenir font

I designed this page a few weeks back, after first creating a template for simple one-photo design. It makes me happy for several reasons:

1.The title is pretty dang adorable.

2. It lets me scrapbook one photo that I love and one simple story.

3. It's really easy to choose just two coordinated patterned papers and one sheet of neutral cardstock.

4. It demonstrates a good example of how if you're going to have journaling that extends nearly the width of the page, you need to air it out with ample leading to improve the readability.

5. The final page turned out really cute, if I do say so. (I printed this on my aging but reliable HP Photosmart 8750 printer):

Because this page made me happy, I decided to create another using the same design but employing a more hybrid approach. So I made this one comprised of both digital and traditional components:

SUPPLIES: Layered Template No. 21 • Hello Ness Typesets (Cathy Zielske) • patterned paper (Creative Imaginations, Pebbles Inc.) • Avenir font

I printed the photo first, using a different word art set for the title, and then I printed the journaling simply by turning some of the template layers on and off. Here's a quick video tutorial showing how I did it.

A Digital Hybrid Scrapbooking Tutorial from Cathy Zielske on Vimeo.

I completed the page by adding a few sheets of patterned paper, and assembling it all on a cardstock base.

I've long been a fan of the digital/hybrid method, pretty much since Day 1 when I started scrapbooking back in 2001. I also like finding new ways to make templates more usable to scrapbookers who like to dabble in both. If you have any questions, be sure to post them in comments today.

Note: if you are using Photoshop, to create the clipping mask, on a PC it's Alt + Ctrl + G, and on a Mac, it's Option + Command + G.

The return of Design Do-Overs: The Twilight Edition

2009-12-07T05:00:00-06:00

Was it my mother that said the road to Hell is one paved with good intentions? Mom? Was that you?

The last time I did a Design Do-Over was in June. Sigh. Where does the time go? Good intentions indeed.

Enough with lamenting what could have been, it's time to present Design Do Overs: the December Edition. And this installment is oh-so very timely, as the subject of the page we are re-doing is a subject on a lot of adult womens' minds: hot vampires and hot werewolves. That's right. Twilight has come to Design Do-Overs.

The "keep in mind" catch-all disclaimer: I'm redoing pages in my style, and my style, while it may not be for everyone, will in fact illustrate some pretty basic principles of design.

(Note: I use Photoshop CS4 and InDesign CS4 for all of my digital processes. I will throw in PSE tips where applicable, however, this blog column is not meant to be a comprehensive digital instruction, but rather, an overall study of page design.)

DECEMBER'S LESSON: Working with text-heavy designs

This edition's page comes from scrapbooker Katie Pegher, an extreme Twihard fan who made a simple and well-written page documenting her Twi-love. She submitted her simple 8.5 x 11 design and said it was "…missing a certain je ne said pas quoi." (That, of course, is French for HELP ME, CATHY-WAN, YOU'RE THE ONLY ONE!) Let's look at her layout, shall we?

(click on layout to see larger in a new window)

When I read the journaling, I actually laughed out loud at her bullet point about Breaking Dawn being a potential freak show on film. I thought her journaling was funny and well written and I could absolutely relate on several Twihard levels. I wanted to take this design and let her words shine just a bit more. Here's how I did just that.

STEP ONE: Commit to a two-page design

With all the text and the lovely photos, I knew right away that when you have a lot to say, you're going to need a bit more room to say it, ergo, I would start with a two-page base for the layout.

Using Adobe InDesign, I created a two-page document, then created a very quick outline/overlay box with two rounded corners using a special script that works only in InDesign. (To learn how to make objects with one, two or three rounded corners in PS, see this tutorial.) Even though most of what I'm going to show you was created in Photoshop, the Adobe Creative Suite works so well together and some programs let me do things a bit more quickly. Once I drew the box in InDesign, I simply dragged it into my 11 x 17 photoshop document and rasterized the artwork.

I started with an 11 x 17 document because I needed to see the entire spread together. I simply dragged a guide to the midpoint to help me see the center of the spread. My plan was to give the text its own page and typeset it very close to the way Katie did on her original page. Then, the second page would be home for her photos.

STEP TWO: Begin building the spread

I pasted her journaling directly into the space on the left side of the page, and then created shapes to hold the photos on the right page.

I created one black box using the Rectangle Shape Tool, rasterized it (Layer > Rasterize > Shape) into an editable object (Layer > Simplify Layer in PSE), and duplicated the shape to create the different layers to hold my photos.

On her text, I replaced her asterisks with bullets, and then chose a simple, easy to read typeface, Archer.

Note: the font Katie had used was fine, but I didn't have that font on my system, so I made the switch.

The journaling was a bit long for the space I'd created, so I set out to do some finessing. One way to finesse a bullet listing of type is to create hanging indents, where your bullet hangs in the margin, and your text lines up neatly along it's own vertical plane. This is fairly easy to do in Photoshop using the Paragraph control (Window > Paragraph). You simply type a bullet, and then add one Tab between the bullet and the first word of your journaling. Do this for the entire journaling block, then highlight your text, open the Paragraph dialogue box and type in numbers that will tell your journaling where to tab to and where to hang to. Like this:

I used "8" in the first field, and "-8" in the second to achieve this effect. The other thing I did was add a bit of Paragraph spacing in the field just below of "3" points. What this does is put a bit of space between all of your elements. It's a bit more refined than simply adding a full return.

Note: PSE users, I'm sorry to say that these refined paragraph controls are not available to you. You'll have to use full returns between entries, and use forced returns (Shift + Return, then Tab over to create the hanging indent effect.) However, when you purchase templates that include this type of paragraph spacing, it will be retained in PSE, if that makes sense, as long as you simply highlight and type over each entry.)

I also cut a few words here and there to fit the space. Keep in mind: you can always find a few words to cut and in the end, your writing will be a little bit tighter and more succinct.

STEP THREE: Choose your title font

The one thing I thought was fun about Katie's page was the Twilight-esque font for the title. However, as fun as it was, I felt there was a just a hair too much of it. When it comes to funky fonts, also known as display fonts, you need to use them with restraint, or they can overwhelm your design. So, I picked a free font, Bleeding Cowboys, (download here) to use as part of her new headline. And I decided to use it very sparingly, and vertically:

To make a vertical headline in Photoshop, just use the text tool to create your words, then click away to the Move tool and go to Edit > Transform > Rotate 90 CCW (counter clock wise). In PSE, Image > Rotate > Layer Left.

Notice, just "Twihard" is in the Bleeding Cowboys font, and "Confessions" is in the same font as the journaling, only in the Bold weight. You don't need a lot of a funky font to make a statement.

STEP FOUR: Complete the design

The last part is the fun part: filling in pictures and, in this case, the digital papers. Katie had some photos pulled from the Internet, so I decided to pull some more. I mean, if you're going to pull shots from the web down, why not go for broke?

IMPORTANT NOTE: Now we all know that you cannot use web images for anything you plan to sell, publish etc. However, I feel for use in your personal scrapbooks it is acceptable, lest you think I'm advocating stealing images. I am most certainly not. However, I did find some cool ready-to-download wallpapers of Bella, Edward and Jacob that I decided to use to complete this design. So, my words of advice: Twilight cougars of the world, use your best judgment.

And here is a tip when you are searching for images on the web: when you do a Google search, you want to look for Large images to avoid super pixelated images.

STEP FIVE: The results

SUPPLIES Cathy Zielske's Layered Template No. 20 • Weathered Neutrals (Anna Aspnes) • Manchester Solids Paper Pack (Michelle Martin) • Bleeding Cowboys and Archer Medium and Bold fonts

(click on layout to see larger in a new window)

Ahhhh. Let your obsessions breathe with more space and total vampire and werewolf hotness. We started with a great idea and compelling journaling, and we simply expanded on that theme. We played it up with one gothicky font paired with very easy to read type for our expansive journaling. Black, red and white enhance the overall mood. I added the rest of Katie's former title as a smaller subhead, beneath the title. Twi-love, indeed!

STEP SIX: Why it works

1. The journaling has more room to breathe and feels more inviting. When you have a lot to say, you have to find a way to make it seem less intimidating. Katie's original layout felt a bit squished into a single page. Expanding the size of this layout was essential to making it feel more open and inviting.

2. Using funky type sparingly is the right choice, every time. Display type is fun because of all that nutty personality it brings to a design. Use it sparingly to make a stronger statement.

3. Photos grouped together are visually pleasing and make sense. Creating a gathering of six photos on the right side of the spread makes for a nice solid visual anchor to the design. And the hot vampire and werewolf don't hurt.

4. The entire design is framed with a common margin on three sides. Always pay attention to how you are using space. Equal space in and around elements is subtle, but makes for stronger designs.

5. Simple and restrained use of color allows your story to shine. Just a touch of red pops out on this otherwise neutral group of papers. Sometimes, that's all you need to create the perfect mood for your design.

I turned this lovely Do-Over into a template you can get over at Designer Digitals. So, if you need to document your Twilove, there's nothing stopping you now. The template comes as two 8.5 x 11 files for easy printing when you're done. The tabs and spacing are also all set up for you. PSE users, as long as you simply highlight your text and type over the placeholder copy, the spacing will all be preserved. Just remember to download the free Bleeding Cowboys font to use with the design.

WANT IN?: Submit your pages for Design Do-Overs

If you'd like to see one of your pages featured here, in this occasional blog column, send me a low res scan of your layout and why you're not digging it. Send it to czdesign@comcast.net and put "Design Do Over" in the subject field.

Katie will be receiving her choice of 4 digital products from my line at Designer Digitals. Thanks, Katie, for playing along!

See the entire Design Do Overs series here.

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And if learning about design is something you're interested in, there's plenty of time to sign up for Design Your Life, my 12 week workshop from Big Picture Scrapbooking. Class begins on December 31st. Kick off the new year by giving your design skills an upgrade. To read a recent Q&A about the workshop, click here.

Video Tutorial: working with layered templates

2009-12-04T05:00:00-06:00

I've been fielding a number of requests from blog readers that go something like this: "I like the idea of your templates, but I have absolutely no idea what to do with them, or how they work."

Let me say this: you and me? We're not so different. Until January of this year, I had basically never worked with layered Photoshop templates. In fact, I didn't really get why Photoshop was the digital scrapbookers tool of choice. Even though I'd used it for years in my magazine work, I never used it the way one might in the scrapbooking realm. Once I started incorporated more digital elements into my classes at BigPictureScrapbooking, lightbulbs began going off as I made the connection. OH, this is why they use it!

I put together a 9-minute video using Photoshop Elements 8 showing you the basics of working with one of my templates. (Note: if you click on the link below the video, it'll take you to the Vimeo site to see it larger, or simply click on the expander icon to go into Full Screen mode... but keep in mind, if you have a big monitor, the resolution will be a bit fuzzy.)

A Simple Digital Template Tutorial from Cathy Zielske on Vimeo.

SUPPLIES: Layered Template No. 18 (Cathy Zielske) • Amelie Paper Pack (Lynn Grieveson) • Ethan Solids Paper Pack (Michelle Martin) • Avenir font

My personal scrapbooks are all 8.5 x 11, and so that's why I sized down the 12 x 12 to create this hybrid version of the layout seen below.

Admittedly, the type is a bit small, but it's totally crisp and readable, and now it can go into my All About Us family album. I simply added a bit of cardstock, and a stamp from Cat's Life Press.

I am not the expert in digital scrapbooking by any stretch, so if you're interested in learning more, check out the following classes, which I wholeheartedly recommend:

Renee Pearson's Just the Basics M'aam

Jessica Sprague's Up and Running with Photoshop

If you have any questions today, post in the comments and I'll do my best to answer.

Now, speaking of things that I actually do know a thing or two about, there's a new installment of Design Do-Overs, freshly baked and presently cooling, and it makes its triumphant return on Monday.

Until then, have a great weekend.

I bet you say that to all the girls

2009-12-02T05:00:00-06:00

Oh Danny, you little cassanova you. You know what I always say: give me a boy who can write and I'll follow him anywhere.

I love that you put the year in quotations and the fact that it looks like you were dipped in self tanner just for the occasion. And I'd bet money your hair got that shiny from using "Gee, Your Hair Smells Terrific."

Love, Mrs. Zielsk

p.s when were you planning to tell me about Sue?

The winners: Design Your Life

2009-12-01T19:15:38-06:00

The winners of the spots in Design Your Life 2010 are:

Ladies, email me at czdesign@comcast.net and I'll get you set up for class. There's some PreWork assignments awaiting you when you get there.

Thanks everyone for sharing your struggles. It helps keep me on my toes when getting ready to head into this 12 week class, as well as gives me a sense of what might be keeping scrapbookers from telling their stories with a bit more design confidence.

Registration for Design Your Life is open now, and class begins on Dec. 31st. Hope to see many of you there!