Cathy Zielske's Blog

Dinnerables

Yep. That's what we call 'em 'round these parts. Mmmmm. Beef taco, served cold, complete with MMM (mystery meat mixture.) ENJOY, Coleman. I serve them with love.

(Note to self: this is extreme payback for all of your picky eating habits as a child. Hi Mom! Yes, you can laugh your tushka off now. Thank you.)

In other news, I am obsessed (thanks to Paula)  with this:

The Sookie Stackhouse books, by Charlaine Harris, which are also the reason behind HBO's True Blood  (which I have FINALLY managed to catch a few episodes, and Donna, I know you think they are weird but I love them!)

I'm on the 4th or 5th book now, and it's very hard for me to NOT pick it up and just blow off everything to read. I have long been a fan of vampires in fiction, going back to The Vampire Chronicles by Anne Rice right up until today, and the insane popularity of the Twilight series.

I like Harris' storytelling a lot. But unlike Twilight, these books are decidedly NOT PG-13. So don't be grabbing one for your tween's stocking after reading this or that tween will get FAR more than just implied or cryptic undead lovin'.

And I think the HBO show is really well cast. And at the end of the day, I hate to say this, but Edward Cullen may  have to step aside.

Hello, Vampire Bill.

I'm telling Dan to stay out of the sun a bit more next summer. That's all I'm sayin'.

Happy Birthday, Dad... from your adorable little elf

I was inspired to find this shot after seeing Emily's adorable elf shots. I thought, "Hey! I have shots of those ilk!" Albeit, taken easily 15 years before hers were.

And, it's my Dad's birthday. Happy Birthday, Dad! I know I really suck at card sending, but I still have all that personality working in my favor, right?

This photo was taken in my first grade classroom, in Monrovia, Liberia, in either 1971 or 1972. Yes, I lived in Africa for two years when I was a kid. My parents were missionaries for a Pagan Sun Cult, which explains a lot about me.

(Actually, that's a lie. I just like to say that because it sounds so fun! Especially the Sun Cult part!) My dad worked for a telecommunications company that sent a team from the US to help set up networks in Liberia. And yes, we brought Christmas with us, by God.

I was chosen to be the narrator because I read above my age level. As if you couldn't have guessed that.

The weird thing I just realized, looking at this photo, if you cover up my hair and hat, you'll see a dead ringer for Coleman. I never really make that connection too often. Sometimes, my kids actually look like me.

And that makes me feel 99 percent confident there weren't any hospital baby mix-up shenanigans afterall.

Love you, Dad!

lovely weekend in the northland

Ah… the Northern Woods of Minnesota. So peaceful. So nature-y.

Okay, maybe we were only as far North as St. Joseph, but Aidan and I had a lovely overnight excursion to the most charmingly awesome rustic "cabin" to celebrate her best friend's 13th birthday.

If you've seen any of my scrapbook pages over the years, Nicolette has figured into many of them along the way, considering she and Aidan have been BFFs since they were 3. Nicolette's mom gathered aunts, cousins, a grandmother, and me and aidan, to attend an overnight celebration, where we surrounded Nicolette with a circle of love to share our stories about her, and our wishes. Each person had to bring a small object to represent our wish.

Aidan brought some letters that she and Nicolette had written and placed in a time capsule they buried a few years back. She shared the story of how they painstakingly created the time capsule, buried it, promising not to dig it up until they were 15, and ended up waiting roughly 9 months instead.

We also brought photos, and my story to share was simply that I didn't realize, all those years ago, the little girl from day care was going to figure so heavily into our family picture, and I thanked her for her loyalty to Aidan, because if there is one thing we women (and men) know, strong and loyal friendships are one of the important keys to a happy life.

We gathered to have a lovely meal, and then all retired to our cozy beds. It was a perfect night.

It made me want to do two things: a) start saving money so one day I too, can have a rustic cabin that sleeps 30 when I'm older, and b) re-think that party-to-end-all parties I've got planned for Aidan's 13th at Chuck-E-Cheese.

Happy Monday.

The Winner of the Spot in Get Organized, Be Inspired is…

Gina, who wrote:

My biggest challenge is figuring out how to store specific product bought for a specific project. I tend to put stuff away and then forget what I have. Thanks for the chance to win!!

Gina, email me at czdesign@comcast.net to claim your prize!

Totally Awesome Giveaway: Win a spot in Big Picture Scrapbooking's first expert workshop of 2009: "Get Organized and Be Inspired" with Wendy Smedley

The new year is just around the corner, and what do we all do in the new year? We make big plans to do stuff, right? Lose weight, quit smoking, exercise more, stop swearing so much (sorry, that's me, not you) and get organized.

Have you met my cute friend (who definitely does NOT have a swearing problem!), and creative editor of Simple Scrapbooks magazine, Wendy Smedley? Because she (along with organizing guru Aby Garvey)  wrote this amazing book about getting not only organized, but inspired as well. And from that book, comes this amazing workshop presented by Miss Wendy.

Here's she is:

I know. ADORABLE. And smart. And above all, really ORGANIZED and INSPIRED. She's teaching a three-month workshop called Get Organized and Be Inspired. If you are a scrapbooker who really wants to get down to business, and understand not just how to be organized, but why and why who you are and how you operate creatively come into play, this workshop is for you. Seriously. And I would trust Wendy with my organizing life, because look how cute her space is:

And people, I've been to her house. It really does look like this.

I have one free spot to give away to one of my organization-lovin' blog readers. Simply tell me one of your biggest organizing challenges. I'll draw a winner sometime on Sunday afternoon.

In the mean time, feel free to check out the class description. It will give you a very clear picture of what to expect from this intensive workshop.

Good luck! Enter away.

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This NEVER not makes me feel holidayish. Never.

When Bono sings, I get goosebumps from head to toe, and I want to go out and save the planet. Which I would start on today, but I'm currently not wearing any pants.

(Because I'm still in PJs people. Come on.)

Here's to the holiday spirit. And no pants.

Win a free hour of personalized, one-on-one software training with an expert, y'all

And the winner is: kreativekate, who wrote:

Oh, joy! An hour of PSE6 help! I just can't seem to get this stuff. It's not as intuitive as other programs.

Kate, email me at czdesign@comcast.net and i'll get you hooked up for your hour of training with Chris Ford!

My friend and fellow graphic designer fabuloso, Chris Ford, is launching a super cool one-on-one tutoring offshoot of her business, Creativity Included, and she would like to offer a free, one-hour session of personalized training to one of my lovely blog readers.

Read more about how it works here.

It's pretty darned slick. Want to learn more about Photoshop? Elements? InDesign? Wordpress? Chris has been working her way around these programs for years, and wants to help you become the master of your software domain.

To enter, leave a comment here telling me one thing you'd most like to learn how to do on your computer, and I will draw the winner at 8 p.m. CST.

Good luck!

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A Year of Tags for You

Sometime awhile back, I had a fun idea to make a book of tags for one month. (Read all about it here.)

From time to time, I've received requests for more tags, and I finally got off my duff this weekend and made a complete set. The tags are little, fun, and easy. You can do with them whatever your little crafty heart desires. I did a few like this:

I have that little album sitting on a small easel and I look at it regularly. It's little. And cute. Two things I most strive to be. So there you go.

So here you go, one full year of print ready taggers in PDF format. You could even make a tag book for December. It's only the 2nd day in... enjoy!

(Mac users can just click and the files should download, or do a "Save Link As"; PC users, I'm not 100 percent sure, but you may also have to "Save Link As" or "Save Target As." If some super smart PC users knows, post in the comments!)

Download a-jan.pdf
Download b-feb.pdf
Download c-march.pdf
Download d-april.pdf
Download e-may.pdf
 Download f-june.pdf
Download g-july.pdf
Download h-aug.pdf
Download i-sept.pdf
Download j-oct.pdf
Download k-nov.pdf
Download l-december.pdf

That was a nice little holiday

I heart Thanksgiving. Everything about it.

The food. The family (with the exception that I'm not NEARLY close enough to my family, who live all the way down in Las Vegas). And the time. Just the simple fact of having five days off in a row to just spend in any way imaginable.

This year, my brother-in-law Jonathan had everyone pick a letter and list some of the things they were thankful for. My letter was "P". I wrote that I was thankful for: passionate people, popsicles, puppies that I do not own, and Prince.

This year, pretty much all the Zielske family members (and wives or husbands, or significant others) were able to be together for the meal. I love our kitchen gatherings to say grace, which is usually sung, and in a round. (Those Lutherans are just plain FUN, I tell ya!)

We even managed to get a shot of the four of us together. Now THAT is something to be thankful for. Sure, I'm a wee bit puffy and wearing the same vest I wear almost every single day, Cole is so pale he borders on transparent, Dan looks like he's holding his breath and puffing his chest out in some threatening primate-like display, and Aidan looks like she's trying to point out: Um, HELLO, like, don't forget about me back here, like, all by myself now, dudes! But I will say this: these are the people I'm most thankful for.

Most thankful indeed.

Here's to the start of the holiday season