Cathy Zielske's Blog

The Scrapbook Ghosts of Christmas Past

I recently designed a new "Holiday Memories" layered template in order to help me do something I haven't done in years: document Christmas.

I have a red Kolo binder where I keep my Christmas pages, and honestly? It's a little on the thin side. I just haven't done much Christmas scrapbooking. It's not that I'm a Scrooge or anything. I guess I just took the whole "you don't HAVE to document holidays" message a bit too seriously over the years.

But with my template in hand, an overflowing library of digital photos categorized conveniently in iPhoto by Month and Year, and one set of digital papers and embellishments, I set out to knock off a few years of Christmas past, just to see if I could. Here's layout number one:

SUPPLIES Layered Template No. 16 (Cathy Zielske) • I Believe Kit, I Believe Solids Pack (Mindy Terasawa) • Archer Medium font

And that literally took minutes. So I thought, what about 2007?

 

And 2006:

 

Boom. Just like that. Three years in less than 20 minutes. For realz.

Did I capture a complete picture of each holiday season? No. Did I capture a decent enough slice that will remind me of a time since passed? You bet.

When I was done with the designing part, I could have printed these at home, but to save ink I uploaded them to ScrapbookPictures.com and paid $2.49 per page. The quality is stellar and I think they look fantastic in the album.

The other cool and liberating part of all of this is how you can take one design, and one set of papers and embellishments—digital ones in this case—and use them more than once to tell your stories.To me, that's not a boring approach. It's an efficient one—both from a time and financial investment standpoint—and one that let me add a group of new pages to an album that was feeling a bit neglected.

It also reminded me that there's no real time limit to when you can tell a story. That in and of itself is a pretty liberating thought. Tell it when you're ready.

I think I've got a new holiday tradition for covering a few highs from each Christmas season from this day forward. 

P.S. And this one? Took 8.5 minutes. I'm sorry, but there's some liberation in them there digital hills…

 
This template is also available in a 12 x 12 format.

 

P.S. If you like this template, but think, "Well I wish there were other title options to pair with the word 'memories'" then you're in luck. Here's a set of PNG and Brushes with different script words you can simply copy and paste into this template to cover a variety of different "memories."

 

$8,571 raised for clean water. Thank you. And here are the winners of the prizes…

My charity:water campaign has come to an end, and within 12 to 18 months, everyone who contributed will receive information showing exactly where and how their money was put to use.

Thank you so much to everyone who contributed. I appreciate the economy being what it is and am grateful to those of you who were able to donate. And if you weren't able to, please, no worries. There was a time not too many years ago where I was so broke a good friend sent me a gift certificate to Two Peas so I could afford to get a couple of refills of adhesive. We give when we are able to. Amen.

So without further adieu, I have consulted the random integer generator and it has given me 3 numbers.

The winner of the very gently used Cricut Expression is: Bonnie Whitley.

The winner of the entire set of Hero Arts Clings is: Carolyn Ryan.

The winner of a box of scrapbooking goodies lovingly packaged up by yours truly is: Jill Wiley.

Ladies, email me at czdesign@comcast.net with your mailing adresses so I can get stuff out to you next week.

Thanks again to all of you who participated. Have a lovely holiday weekend and I'll see you back here on Monday.

Happy Thanksgiving (plus the winner of my thankful giveaway!)

Drum roll please… the winner of a copy of Photoshop Elements 8 and my entire digital collection is:

And that translates to:

 
Congrats, Bea! Email me at czdesign@comcast.net to claim your goods!

To all of you, have a peaceful and blessed Thanksgiving. I truly am thankful to have the opportunity to have you all as readers.

Tomorrow I will post the winners from my charity:water campaign, so check back if you are one of the contributors.

Still in the thankful mood

SUPPLIES Layered Template No. 14, altered (Cathy Zielske) • I Believe Solid Pack (Mindy Terasawa) • Date Strips No. 1, altered (Katie Pertiet) • Archer Medium font

Just playing with some new photos and a bit of gratitude for my great girl. Looking forward to Thanksgiving. Don't forget there is still time to enter my Thankful Giveaway for a chance to snag a copy of Adobe Photoshop Elements plus a complete set of every single one of my digital products from Designer Digitals, including the template I used for this page. I'll post the winner tomorrow after 9 a.m.

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Today is the very last day of my campaign for clean water at charity:water. As of the writing of this post, you—friends of this blog—have raised  $8,456! I am so thankful and inspired by your generosity. Amazing. Just amazing. Thank you so very much.

On friday, I will choose three winners from the pool of contributors to win a very gently used (as in used for 1 day) Cricut Expression, a complete set of Hero Art Clings, and a box of general scrapbooking goodness (one prize for each name drawn!)

May each and everyone of you know how much your donation will help to change lives through the gift of clean water. Thanks a million.

A copy of Photoshop Elements 8 + my entire digital collection up for grabs (a Thankful giveaway!)

Dearest Blog Readers:

Today, I'm thankful for you.

I'm thankful I have people who read what I write and share their thoughts and opinions. Whether I'm whining about muffin tops or bragging about insanely awesome Lego creations, pimping out a charity I'm passionate about or even talking about—gasp—scrapbooking, you come here, you read and you get involved. For that, I am extremely thankful.

I want to give you something fun to show my appreciation, and so I have a copy of the brand spankin' new Adobe Photoshop Elements 8.0 to give away to one of you. (Winner chooses between Mac or PC versions.)

But what fun is a new copy of Elements without some digital templates to play with? So not only will you get the software, but you'll also win one of every single one of my digital products—templates, brushes, album sets—from Designer Digitals. (See all of them here.)

Fun, huh?

All you have to do today is leave a comment and tell me one thing you are thankful for. 

Here, I'll share one of mine:

"I'm thankful for a family who loves me; for our health; for being able to put food on the table; for being allowed to do so many things that I love in this life; and for being able to share a small slice of it with you."

Love,

p.s. Comments will be closed on Thanksgiving morning at 9 a.m. CST, and the winner will be drawn shortly thereafter. Good luck!

[comments are now closed. check back soon for the winner!]

Winners of the Thankful Album Digi Kits

The winners of the Thankful Album Project set are, courtesy of the Random Integer Generator:

 

 

Ladies, email me at czdesign@comcast.net to claim your goods.

See you tomorrow with a new sweet little giveaway, in the spirit of thankfulness.

In the mood for a Thankful project? (and a giveaway?)

Thanksgiving is one of my favorite holidays. There's no rush to buy gifts, no fireworks to illegally amass, no Easter baskets to fill. You just get to spend a day being thankful. And full.

This year, I wanted to celebrate the season by taking that gratitude and showcasing it inside of a simple album that everyone in my family and extended family can contribute to.

The idea is simple. I first read about it back in a special issue of Simple Scrapbooks magazine called Mini Albums in an Evening from a thanksgiving photo album designed by the talented Celeste Smith. You invite family and friends to write what they are thankful for on a card, and pair it with a photo of that person, and save them in a simple 4 x 6 photo album.

So off to Target I went to pick up a little 4 x 6 album for $3.99.

Next, I designed my journaling cards, printed several copies onto my favorite white cardstock, and trimmed them out.

I chose one sheet of patterned paper to best match the album and the orange color I'd picked for both my type and my circle tag.

 

I added a small strip of patterned paper to the cards, to dress them up a little. Of course, you could add a date stamp, a small photo, embellishments—whatever you like.

 

I popped the title page into the album…

 

…and I designed one optional title page, too.

 

And now the album is ready to be filled up with gratitudes saved and photos of people that I love.

All I have to do now is place the blank journaling cards on our Thanksgiving table and ask everyone who's there to grab a card and jot down a few things they are thankful for.

 

This would make a wonderful gift to give to whoever is hosting your Thanksgiving celebration.

Of course, you don't have to limit this idea to Thanksgiving Day. You could make the whole week of Thanksgiving—or even the entire month of November—as a time to encourage your family to use the cards to write down daily gratitudes. 

 

 

Take this idea and run with it! It's a simple concept that can be adapted many different ways.

Or, if you want to run with it and don't want to do the leg work, you can buy these templates at Designer Digitals as part of my Thankful Album Project set.

(Files come in layered PSD docs for Photoshop Elements and Photoshop users (including 3 size options to create circle tags for your album), and PDFs (in black ink only) for non-PS users. For you PSE newbies, there are instructions included showing how to change the colors of the elements to customize the project.)

Now for the giveaway part: I have three of these digital sets to give away. If you'd like to be entered to win one, simply leave your name in the comments, and I'll draw a winner tonight at 7 p.m. CST. Thanks, and good luck!

And be sure to check back tomorrow morning for a REALLY thankful giveaway I've got planned that you won't want to miss.

[comments are now closed. check back for the winners.]

{WINNERS!} Sponsor Giveaways: KI Memories, Jo Totes and Tiny Belles

The five winners of the scrap goodness from KI Memories are:

Amber D, who said: “Totally Team Edward. I always go for the classic love story... sigh. Gorgeous bag, too!”    

Andy, who said: "I love those bags!! You have amazing sponsors Cathy! I'm on team "Bella whined so much that I couldn't bear reading the last book". Seriously, she drove me so crazy that I couldn't even watch the movie."

tchrtiff, who said: ."Oh my goodness! What great giveaways today! I've been looking for a stylish camera bag and love that red one! Thanks for the opportunity. I have to admit that I'm "Team I Don't Know What You're Talking About". Actually I know you're talking about something to do with Twilight but that's all I know."    

Peggy, who said: "I'd have to say "Team Other." I've not seen the movies, only read the books & they were enjoyable reads. Now, I'm on to more vamp stories & working my way thru the Sookie Stackhouse series."   

Marianne, who said: “I was Team Switzerland for a long time. After seeing New Moon, how could you NOT be a Team Jacob?! Great giveways! “  

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The winner of the camera bag from Jo Totes is:

MissKim, who said: "I'm Team Jacob. I always root for the underdog. I teach special ed, and I think that has something to do with it. "

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And the winner of her choice of a necklace from Tiny Belles Boutique is:

Pam k, who said: “Ok. I read Twilight but that is where it stopped for me. I do have some 40-ish friends who were going to the opening last night and said they were going to howl everytime one of the male characters appeared on screen without a shirt on. Oh my!"

To claim your prizes, email me at czdesign@comcast.net. Thanks to all of the sponsors for the great giveaways!

 

One of my all-time favorite scrapbooking companies, KI Memories, is sponsoring a doozy of a good giveaway for my blog readers. Read on to learn more!

KI Memories is excited to present this amazing collection of products. Five lucky winners will receive a gift package filled with our popular Bloom Collection papers, accents and embellishments.

The gift package includes: 2 sheets of our Lace Cardstock, 4 Shimmer Papers, 12 Double-Sided Patterned Papers, 26 Epoxy Stickers, 40 Chipboard Alphabet Pieces, 37 Chipboard Accent Pieces and 45 Glitter Rub-Ons.

If you are one of five lucky winners to receive this amazing product, we want to wish you Congratulations! We are also offering this product for a limited time, while supplies last, at a substantial savings. This is over a $30 value and it is available on our website for the special price of $8.99.
 
KI Memories is a long-time industry favorite known for having trend-setting design and series after series of coordinating collections that are perfect for scrapbooking, cardmaking and paper crafting projects. Did you know that you can now buy KI Memories products directly at Shop KI? Here you can find special values, wonderful collections and even digital scrapbooking products.
 
The entire team at KI Memories wants to thank you for your loyalty and support over the years. We wish you and yours a safe, healthy and happy holiday season!

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JoTotes is giving away one of their cool black and hound's tooth camera bags to one of my blog readers. I don't know about you, but I would love to carry my camera and lenses in one of these. Read on to learn more about the bags!

Carry your camera in style with a bag from JoTote. The padded interior of Jo Totes can be custom fitted not only to protect a digital SLR body and lenses, but also to accommodate and organize items like a wallet, music, phone, keys, cosmetics and more. Not only will these cute bags lighten your load and protect your camera, but they will also open your eyes to new photographic opportunities. When you have the option of carrying your camera with you almost anywhere without the burden of also carrying a separate handbag, you will be more likely to take your camera with you everyday. You will be motivated to snap more photos, and you will find yourself enjoying photographs in the future that otherwise would not have been captured.Jo Totes are currently available in four fun colors: Red with a black and white damask interior, black with hound's tooth, olive green with black and white damask, and baby blue with a retro petal pattern interior

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Tiny Belles Boutique is giving away the choice of the Simple Initial sterling sliver hand stamped necklace (left) or the Simple Name sterling sliver hand stamped necklace (right) the to one of my blog readers. The Simple Initial is a pair of beautiful ½ inch round sterling silver hand stamped pendants featuring up to 3 initials on a 16" or 18" sterling silver ball chain. The Simple Name is a classic 1-inch long rectangular sterling silver hand stamped pendant featuring any name, hung on a 16" or 18" sterling silver ball chain. The initials are available in a lowercase script font, or an uppercase print font.

Tiny Belles Boutique taking orders thru December 13th for Christmas Delivery, and would like to extend a discount of 25% to all of my readers. Simply enter "CZ" in the coupon code and you will be refunded the 25% via PayPal following the purchase.

I'm looking forward to wearing one myself:

 

(oh for cute!)
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To enter, leave a comment and in a completely unrelated question (and in the spirit of the much anticipated theatrical release of New Moon), are you Team Edward, Team Jacob, Team Other or Team "What the Heck Are You Even Talking About?"  I will draw all of the winners on Saturday, sometime after 7 p.m. C.S.T.

Me? I'm Team Carlisle all the way.

[comments are now closed. check back for a list of the winners.]

Teen fashion. Documented.

 

Photo taking people of the universe, you really can never document too much. Because the number of shots I have featuring my 8th grade fashions could be counted on two hands. But oh, what fashionable hands they were.

Sgt. Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band…in Lego, as interpreted by Cole

Another day, another Lego creation.

As I was looking a bit closer, I wondered, is the dude in the back row center supposed to be the Walrus? Or that creepy Davy Jones dude in Pirates of the Caribbean?

 

Because I don't think he made the final cover of the album. I'm just sayin'...

Never mind that. We'll always have Woodstock.

 

Gotta love Jimi Hendrix in Lego. Lefty guitar and all. My boy? He's nothing if not big on historical accuracy.

Just ask the Beatles at Shea Stadium.

We won't bring up the fact that Paul's Hofner bass is supposed to be a lefty, and George is supposed to be a righty.

I think the fact that he printed and trimmed out a Hofner is the Just Pass Go and Collect $200 here. Am I right?

Details. Like I said.

Love this kid.

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Speaking of this kid, this past September, arsonists burned down parts of his school's playground. Cole attends an inner city public montessori school and the school had spent years raising funds to build the playground. This unconscionable crime was committed by 8 to 12 year olds.

 

The playground is now completely closed, and will remain so until a new one is built. Needless to say, the parents and students are very sad about this loss.

However, from 8 a.m. today through 8 a.m. tomorrow, Cole's school is hosting a Give to the Max day, where every donation goes 100 percent to rebuilding the playground, courtesy of GiveMN.org and its sister site Razoo.com. Every donation made during the next 24 hours will receive a portion of a $500,000 match and GiveMN partners are paying for the online transaction costs as well.

I have already hit you guys with donation requests for charity:water, and I thank you for hearing me out. No pressure from me. I simply couldn't as a concerned parent who truly loves my child's school not share this fundraiser with you.

If you are interested in learning more, every small bit helps, and 100 percent of your donation goes to rebuild the playground. Click here for details. Tell 'em Cole sent you and thanks for reading.

Or, you can always watch the segment Cole and Aidan made over the weekend. Together they wrote it, filmed it and produced it. Very proud of these kids. Very proud. Our local newstation KSTP Channel 5 even ran a bit of their video on last night's news. The news anchor said, "This kid's got a future in broadcasting." Amen, brother. Amen.