Cathy Zielske's Blog

Honoring the sadness

For those of us documenting daily life, the question can arise on how to cover tragedy on our pages and in our albums. I know this was something I looked at with a heavy heart during the Newtown tragedy. Again, for the Boston Marathon bombings. And now for Oklahoma.

If there's one thing I am connecting to lately, it's that life is completely unpredictable. There is joy. And there is sadness. It's all part of what we signed on for, whether we like it or not.

We can withdraw from it. We can outraged by it. We can quickly brush by it on our way back to normal. Or we can observe it—head on—and let it in, and let it change us. Let it change how we live and breathe.

I was driving by my neighborhood elementary school yesterday, saw the kids out on the playground and was overcome with grief. I've never been much good at blocking stuff out—stuff like bombings, and shootings, and destructive acts of nature—but only recently have I begun to really embrace sadness and let it in, and let it begin to change me.

Let it become a part of me.

Yes, that's therapy talking. I've paid a lot of money to learn about all the ways I've tried to block and control any pain of any kind in my life. 

I've paid some immense prices for trying to acquire a type of control that doesn't even exist.

 

Life will always remind us who is in charge. Some of us pray and some of us hope—but we are often reminded that the unexpected is part of, well, life.

As I continued past the school yesterday, I was thinking of the lyric from a song that I always recall during any time of sadness, The Night I Heard Caruso Sing by Everything But The Girl. 

…it's time to hold your loved ones, while the chains are loose, and the world runs wild.

I created a card for my Project Life album. I guess I wanted some way to remember this feeling of how miraculous this whole thing is—this life I live—while also honoring the sadness.

Download CZ_QuoteCard

File is in PDF, PNG and layered PSD. 

Thanks for reading today.

 

 

Digital Layout: Aidan at Prom

My baby girl went to the prom just over a week ago. Sigh. Talk about making you feel like life is flying by. (And for the record, it actually is flying by.) Why, just last week, she looked like this:

While it was very well documented in my Project Life album, I decided it was time to add another page to the All About Aidan album. Initially, I'd planned to build an entire page around one of the cards in my Hello Girlie J-Card Set. I was going to print out the card onto white cardstock and build from there.

Then I started playing around with the whole idea digitally. Then I figured, "Oh, what the heck! Let's make a digital page."

Here is the final result:

Here's my thing with digital pages: I want them to look like they would if I were printing it all out, cutting and pasting everything together. Digital, hybrid or traditional, I have a very simple style. I try to layer stuff in. I try to think of more products I could use. But I always end up opting for the simplest approach and it usually makes me pretty happy.

This layout features a J-Card, some digital paper, a template and a font called Thirsty Script, which I discovered via Jessica Sprague on Instagram. The J-Card set was created using the font, but I added the monogram and the little label text to the template. It's the first font I've shelled out the coin for in a while. I just think it's charming and versatile. (Note, this template is designed with a free font, Lobster, which has a similar vintage script feel, and will be the store next weekend.)

Digital, or hybrid, or traditional… in the end, it's just about saving the stories that matter to us so we can remember. 

Because life really is flying by.

Note: I've long been a fan of Totally Rad Actions and Rad Lab, but I've recently started using Pro Retouch on photos (like the main one of Aidan above) that I want to smooth out a bit. Click on this image below to learn more about Pro Retouch.

SUPPLIES:

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I know so many of us are sending our thoughts and prayers out to Moore, Oklahoma today. To donate via the Red Cross, click here. Or, you can text a donation to 90999. Text REDCROSS to receive a confirmation message and donate $10.

New Music Monday

Have you listened to Ed Sheeran?

I know. He's not all that new. But considering he's 22 years old, he still qualifies as fresh in my book.

I was familiar with his song "The a Team"—it's been heavy in radio play for the past year—and I finally decided to check out the rest of his album.

I kind of love it. Like, love it.

Then I saw this clip of him performing live. It's this kind of thing that just makes me marvel. When someone has such a pure and effortless voice. This kid can sing and play. Like, for reals. In fact, I would go as far as saying if there has been a better song written in the past year, I haven't heard it. Haunting. Gorgeous. Insanely good.

 

Plus, he looks a bit like a muppet. What's not to love about that?

And I love his video featuring Rupert Grint as an Ed Sheeran wanna be. It makes me wonder if Ed is not a fan of lip syncing to his own videos. 

 

If you haven't checked him out, it's worth it. Plus, he sings with a slight accent at times. You know how we Americans love that. At least this one does.

And if you like that song, check out his acoustic version. Simple and stripped down. So good.

 

This will be in heavy rotation on my summer play list.

I love talented people. This guy? He's the real deal.

New product releases

I have a few new product releases in the Designer Digitals store this weekend. First up:

Hello Boylie J-Cards. Last weekend, I released the Hello Girlie set.

Then I started working on a layout I'll be posting next week, using the Hello Girlie set, and I realized I needed some papers to match, so I created two new simple pattern sets.

Hello Girlie Paper Pack.

And Hello Boylie Paper Pack.

Next up, the requested 8.5 x 11 layered template set.

Many of you asked about 8.5 x 11 designs. This is what I came up with. I know I will mix in some of these into my Project Life album this year. Who knows. I may even switch up my size for 2014.

Another thing to note: 3 x 4 and 4 x 6 card elements will work in these templates, but they will have to be sized down a bit to do so. In sizing them down, you will lose a bit of the original proportion, but they'll work just fine.

Next up, a few more Life Basics sets:

Life Basics No. 04 is a 6 x 12 set. I used these in my Project Life album this past week. I combined two onto a 12 x 12 canvas and will have it printed, then trim down the middle.

I had to add a title bar to some of the templates in this set to fill the space. I like the idea of a simple place to drop a title paired with a collage.

And finally, one more Life Basics set with more square photo slots.

Life Basics No. 05.

All of these products are on sale this weekend.

If you prefer the more traditional sized Project Life layered templates (ones without the larger margin and the less rounded corners, check out the sets from AC Digitals.)

Have a great weekend!

 

 

Project Life, Week Nineteen—still riding the digital train

OBSERVATIONS: Another week of digital Project Life is completed, and I'm still really loving this process. A lot of you have said to me, "I don't understand why you haven't always done it this way, considering how much you love to use your computer to scrapbook." 

I guess part of the answer is that because of my work as a designer, I really wanted to take the creative process off of my computer, and finish in with paper and glue. Ergo, hybrid scrapbooking. 

I don't plan to throw away all my phyisical scrapbook supplies. At least not yet. 

One really cool thing about doing it digitally is being able to mix up the page designs with ease. I like the idea of switching up the page protectors, but sometimes don't like having to follow through with the following week. When you're designing digitally, well, that problem is eliminated. So this week, I changed up the design.

Here are my pages from Week 19:

I felt like I had too much stuff this week to fit in. I kept deleting things, rearranging things and making edits. Part of why I had so many images was that Aidan went to prom last week, and you know how parents are when there's a prom involved.

In fact, I decided to design a 6 x 12 template set (coming this weekend to Designer Digitals) to house more photos. Here are the two inserts. I put them both on a 12 x 12 canvas to be printed.This is what the file I will be printing looks like:

I'll just slice it down the middle, and voila—they'll be ready to pop into the 6 x 12 page protectors. 

Yes, prom was rich mine of material.

The shot above is dropped into a new 6x4 layered template set that comes with a see through journaling block that you can adjust the opacity, depending on the photo. 

My favorite story of the week is this one:

Believe me you. I'm grateful for the relationship we have with our 17-year-old daughter. Every single lucky day.

Note: 8.5 x 11 digital Life Basics templates are coming to the store this weekend. They'll be on sale for 20% off through the weekend.

SUPPLIES:

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New Favorite Apps

Please tell me you've seen this video:

 

Aidan asked me if I'd ever played this game called Say the Same Thing, developed by the band OK Go.

She and her friends have started doing this game in person, not using the app itself, and they love it.

I adored the video, so I had to download the app. After a few bugs were worked out, I played my first game with Aidan and it went like this:

We were playing in different rooms, and when we both said "Jodie Foster", we screamed in joy. And then we wanted to hug. Just like in the video.

It feels good to say the same thing.

 

Next up: A Beautiful Mess, designed by Elsie and Emma from A Beautiful Mess. 

When I first heard Elsie was designing an app, I'll be honest: I couldn't imagine how learning to turn an old breadbox into a charming crib for a baby, or how to make muffins that looked like hot air balloons would help me. (Of course, I jest, because she is on another planet of hipness compared to me…)

But her app is seriously addicting and fun. I've had it one day and I fear it will overtake my Instagram shares:

The app also comes with in-app purchases to expand the goodies you can add to your photos. 

It amazes me how apps can be so affordable sometimes, you know? I mean, this app is really solid, no bugs at all, and yet it costs .99 cents. 

Technology. I tell you. 

Note: A Beautiful Mess is presently only available on iPhone. They say they hope to make it available for Android in the future.

Today is the final day of the Designer Digitals 2nd Quarter Sale. Take advantage of 30% savings on every product in the store.

Why I wish I had done this sooner (a short essay on my personal view of the value of Project Life)

I am 47 years old and I don't remember things the way I used to.

Or at least that's what I keep telling myself.

I probably didn't remember things all that well in my 30s either. Or maybe even in my 20s.

In fact, if it weren't for the diaries I kept from ages 11–14, I probably wouldn't remember anything from those awkward tween and early teen years. And if it weren't for the journals I kept in my late teens through my early college years, same deal.

Sure, I can remember sweeping events. But it's the little things. The details. That is the stuff that is pretty much gone from the old noggin'.

A few weeks ago, Aidan and I were talking about doing a college campus tour to one of my two alma maters, the University of Washington. I was trying to recall stories of dorm life but the only one I could really remember was the night I downed an entire six pack of Olde English 800, passed out at 7 p.m. and woke up in the middle of the night on the bathroom floor. After throwing up a few times, I noticed that someone had drawn giant black bats (thank you, Billy Kincaid) all over my body with Sharpie.

Sure, that's some detail. (It's also the last time in my life I ever got quite that schnockered.) But that's what I call a sweeping event. What I don't remember was daily life as a freshman at UW. I don't remember how I made my way through campus and found my classes for the first time. I don't remember if I was ever stressed out at the work load. I simply don't remember the little things. My daily routine. What I ate for lunch. What I thought of the weather. Hell, I even had coffee with one of the guys from a band that would later become Pearl Jam, but I can't even remember what he looked like, or what we talked about, though I know that his name was Stone Gossard and I sort of remember thinking: not my type.

I don't even have many photos from that era. But such were the times in olden days, pre iPhone and Instagram. 

It's the same with my life as a newlywed.

It's the same with my life as a young mother.

I don't remember the every day aspects of those times in my life. It's all going to sweeping now. The specifics are so much harder to hold onto.

Just last week I was telling a friend, who used to scrapbook but no longer does, "I wish I had done Project Life since Aidan was born at the very least." I went on to tell her that this past year-and-a-half contains more detail of the stuff I want to remember than anything I've ever done before.

And it is so not about being some crazy Scrapbook Mom. You know, the Moms who are so busy documenting that they miss out on the actual living part of the memories they're making. I've been there and done that a few times over the years.

Project Life is really about the little stuff… the minutiae… the specifics… the glorious mundane trappings of every day that I wouldn't trade for all the L-Series lenses in the Canon arsenal.

I think many of us agree that this is the stuff we want to remember. Not the fence posts of life, but the slats that make up what contains our everyday existence.

My therapist and I have talked a lot about the facts of a human life. We are born, we have a life span, we have emotions and we eventually die. It's not overstating to point out that this span of time is utterly and completely precious.

Some of us get more of it than others.

Some of us have an easier time in the process.

But all of us can connect to the gratitude for the opportunity.

Project Life is helping me to savor this time span. It's letting me report on my life in a simple way. It doesn't stress me out. It doesn't take up all of my time.

It simply lets me acknowledge this life I'm so grateful to have.

It's just something I felt compelled to share with you today.

To learn more about Project Life, click here. 

 

Introducing the Phone Photography Workshop

You have a phone. You take a boat load of photos. Wanna have some fun in a summer workshop designed to inspire you and give you tips and reviews and all sorts of good phone photo related stuff?

Announcing the Phone Photography Project, coming this summer to Big Picture Classes.

Me, and a whole gaggle of avid memory keepers got together and the result is a class of nothing but ideas, tips and inspiration for that little camera you keep handier than all the rest: your phone.

In this month-long workshop, you'll learn to take better photos with the camera you always have with you as you document your summer adventures—with help from 32 incredible instructors. On top of daily smartphone photography challenges, you'll also enjoy:

• dozens of tips and tricks from the pros for taking better photos with your mobile-phone camera
• a handbook of 60+ photography app reviews for iPhone and Android, so you know which are worth your time and money*
• dozens of project ideas for getting photos off your device and into your world
• interaction with 32 experienced iPhoneographers and Androidographers, and hundreds of fellow students in a private classroom and on Instagram
• giveaways, contests, discounts, bonus downloads, and fun fun fun!

Note: Many of the reviewed apps are available free in the App Store and Google Play, while the rest average about $1.99 each. App purchases are not required for participation in the class.

I contributed photos, app reviews and a layered template + tutorial. Here's a peek at my project that is just one of numerous ideas you'll find in this class.

For more information, or to register, click here.

New product releases + a Designer Digitals Quarterly Sale

This weekend, the 2nd Quarter Sale is on at Designer Digitals. Everything is marked down 30% storewide. I've taken a hiatus from product design, but am back into the groove this week. Here's a look at what's new:

Life Basics No. 01 and Life Basics No. 02. Both can be used for digital Project Life. They feature soft drop shadows, subtle rounded corners and a nice framing margin of space on the edges.

To say I'm digging the digital Project Life would be an understatement.

Next up, Daily Cards No. 01, a simple set of 6x4 layered photo templates with a see through journaling block that you can customize to your liking simply by playing with the layer's opacity.

Geo Tag Alphabets No. 01 (including numbers & symbols). I really love those little upside down tear drops on Google maps and the like, so I made a set of alphas, numbers and symbols.

I can see myself using these a ton in the coming weeks, just as little extras to drop into any photo.

Finally, a new set in my J-Card series, Hello Girlie (the boy set is coming next weekend!) This set includes printable PDFs. No Photoshop needed to print these cards and use in your Project Life albums or on other scrapbook page projects.

Also in development: a Life Basics set for 8.5 x 11 pages and 6 x 12 pages. Those will be available next weekend.

Have a great weekend, everyone.

Join me Saturday at Designer Digitals (and snag some free downloads throughout the day!)

On Saturday, at Noon Eastern, I'm hosting a chat at Designer Digitals on the message boards as part of our 2nd Quarter Sale hoopla. Members of our team will be hosting chats and giving away freebies all day long.

My free download will be this two-stamp set. I'll be giving it away on the thread of my chat. Just log in, and you can look for the freebie on the chat thread!

It's the inverse version of two stamps from my new Life Stamps No. 01 set.

Join me at Noon Eastern here. We'll be talking about design, type, story ideas… whatever floats your scrap boat, plus I'll be posting a challenge, and the winner will get a $10 gift certificate for the store.

See you there!