Cathy Zielske's Blog

Best of 2009 from My Blog as Voted by a Panel of Me

It's that time again… the old End of the Year recap of what I, Cathy Zielske, deem to be the best and brightest of my blog posts from our soon to be departing 2009. If you recall last year's list, then surely you know what might be in store for you.

Oh sure, there weren't any Tom Cruise Scrapbooking parodies, but I believe 2009 will go down as yet another year in which I blogged.

Enjoy!

1. Fans of Photosynthesis

 

I kill plants. And I like to talk about it.

2. You…You Are Awesome

My favorite YouTube clip of the year.

3. Aidan Turns 13

 

A little sweet. A lot sentimental. I wish I wrote like this about everything.

4. How Can You Not See That?

 

Pictionary is fun for the whole family, and makes for funny blog posts.

5. Dusting in Hell

 

Hell hath no fury like a dusty CD tower (except I wouldn't know because as we come to find out, I actually haven't been to hell…yet.)

6. Chubby Holla!

 

Sometimes, I talk about my puffier regions.

7. This is The Boy

 

Kids are so great for giving you stuff to write about.

8. Summer Vacation Recap (and here and here)

 

Best. Road. Trip. Ever.

9. Hyperbole 2009

Design Your Life Promo from Cathy Zielske on Vimeo.

Lose a pant size. Seriously.

10. Never Say Never

Every now and then, you'll find a pretty good non-hair related idea on this here blog.

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And that, blog readers, is my non-scientific list of favorite posts from 2009.

I want to say thank you for reading.

When I first started blogging, which was back in 2005 (even though my archives only go back to 2007, on account of me deciding I didn't want to blog anymore because what was the point really, and then I pulled my blog down) I never imagined that I would have readers, I just wanted to have my own website-looking thingie because Ali had one and man, that was pretty cool, and she didn't even know HTML so that meant I could do one too!

It also meant I could write run-on sentences with regularity.

Thanks for being here with me this year, and Happy Everything to you in 2010.

Peace and Love,

Year in Review Time…already?

While I'm working on a special Best of My Blog As Voted by a Panel of Me post coming tomorrow, I thought I'd share with you my year end "Best of" layout, as created by a Panel of Me.

I know, I know…it's challenging to pick the best photos of the year, when you take so many and have lots of emotional connections to so many of them. The way I do it is to think of a couple of memorable events, then pick a photo from each, and then to just find a handful of photos of the people I love. And that's it. The end result looks like this (click on the image to see it larger):

SUPPLIES: Layered Template No. 30 • Classic Cardstock Natural Beauty (Katie Pertiet) • Avenir font

Two events that were my favorite? the Green Day concert and our summer vacation to northern Minnesota. The rest of the snapshots are just a few of my faves of all of us from throughout the year.

The journaling reads: 2009 was a memorable year, both for the good reasons and the not so good. The good? Our family outing to see Green Day in July, our amazing Northern Minnesota road trip we took in late summer and Dan selling the coffee shops back to ERC. Also good, and the definite best part? Another year of health and togetherness. Aidan made it to 13 without too much teen angst. Cole made it to 10 with his usual joie de vivre. Cathy to 43, and Dan to 44, but looking much younger in real life, of course.

The few not so good things—namely Cathy losing her job—really turned out to be a pretty good thing, with new creative opportunities to explore. As the year comes to an end, we’ll remember things like: kids playing in the corn, obsessions with the Who, first boyfriends, bouts of insomnia, a little knee, wrist and elbow pain, and new ways of thinking about work and life.  But always being grateful for all the we have in this life. The Zielskes are lucky and blessed and thankful.

I simply flipped the template design to create the second page (instructions on how to do it are included in the template package.) A very do-able approach to documenting a few favorite shots of the year with a clean and simple design.

There's also a 12 x 12 version of this template available.

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And speaking of design…

Design Your Life 2010 begins tomorrow. Registration will close on January 6, so there's still time to join me for this 12-week workshop. I'm looking forward to meeting my new students and welcoming back the returning alumni. Remember, although this is a fast-paced workshop, it's still a work at your own pace format. Once you register, you will have permanent access to the class and all of the materials so that if life gets in the way and you fall behind, you don't have to worry about not completing the course. If you have any questions, don't hesitate to email me at design dot life at comcast dot net. (design.life@comcast.net).

Christmas at the Farm (and the story of the Pig Fish Jello Mold)

Because of the Christmas Snonami of 2009, our celebration with Dan's side of the family was pushed to December 26th—Boxing Day to my Canadian friends and relatives—so we all gathered last Saturday to celebrate together.

You know you're in the right place to celebrate Christmas as you take off your boots and gaze upon the cork art image of Jesus and children.

 

The boys and men were quick to get outside for some fun in the snow. (Well, the boys were a bit quicker on the "Let's go outside and play football" than the men folk. But the men folk always rise to the occasion.)

 

And yes, if you think it looks like a harsh and unforgiving football climate, you would be correct. It's also the primary reason I took only two photos. I'm no fool. I will stay in with the meat and cheese platter, thank you very much, and the wood-burning fireplace.

 

Yes…the ladies stay inside and stay cozy, like cousin Maria and her mama, sister Stacey.

After the outdoor frolic and numerous egg nogs, it's time for our meal, prepared lovingly by Grandma Joanie, with carving assistance from Papa.

 

Which led to perhaps the strangest of Christmas delicacies, which has since been dubbed: the Christmas Pig Fish. I present my sister in law, Deb, and her delightful if not confounding creation:

 

Aside from the fact that she looks like a Farm Kitchen Food Network host, let's take a closer picture of the jello creation, shall we?

 

Now I believe it's supposed to be some sort of pineapple, but all I could see was a snout and two eyes, and scales. In other words: a Christmas Jello Pig Fish.

 

Seriously. This is like something you might have seen in the background in one of the hospital scenes from Jacob's Ladder or something. In other words: disturbing.

Despite our inability to accurately peg the creation's genus and species of origin, it was quite tasty and I truly hope the Pig Fish returns as a tradition in the Zielske family celebration.

Next up, gift opening.

 

Gift opening at the farm has evolved over the years. What was once a mad, free-for-all of small children ripping paper and screaming while adults pegged each other with wadded up balls of the discarded wrappings has given way to a much more ordered, one-person-opens-a-gift-at-a-time affair, while adults peg each other with wadded up balls of discarded wrappings.

Cute teens open matching gifts…

 

…and dweeb Dads make the shots so much  more magical.

 

One of my favorite gift moments was when Grandma Joanie opened a gift from Cole.

 

Cole made her a manger scene out of Sculpey at the urging of his sister, so Joan could add a new set to her already amazing collection.

 

 

And after that, I put my camera down and ate every thing sweet I could get into my mouth.

Another lovely Christmas at the farm—one day late—has come and gone.

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SAVE ON DIGI SCRAPBOOKING CLASS!: ReneePearson.com is still offering my blog readers a discount on her Just the Basics digital scrapbooking class. The regular price for the Basics class is $50, and Renee offers a $40 early sign-up price through the first week in January. However, Renee is offering my readers an additional $5 off so they can register for $35. The offer expires on Dec. 31. Use the code CATHYZ1209 when checking out to save.

A simple way to save a week

Long has the idea of doing the whole Photo A Day over the course of an entire year appealed to me. The problem I face in trying to do that is this: too big a commitment. I like to tackle photo documentation in much more manageable chunks. Enter Seven Days:

SUPPLIES Layered Template No 25 (Cathy Zielske) • Classic Cardstock Foundation (Katie Pertiet) • Worn Page Edges 2 (Lynne Grieveson) • Archer font

I took last week—a week where let's be honest: most of us take a gazillion photos anyway—to document my seven days. Now as much as I love my camera and taking photos, I don't take pictures every day. But with the challenge of knowing I was actively trying to do just that, I found myself being a bit more creative and purposeful with my camera.

I also found myself looking for the story of the day and as we all know, that doesn't automatically translate to the best photo.

For example, on Monday, I took a shot of a card and some McDonald's gift certificates given to Cole by his bus driver. Of all the years my kid has ridden the bus, he's never received a card from a driver. I was genuinely touched that this kind man generously gave a card and gift certificates to every kid on his route. It really echoed what the holiday season is about.

Now I realize on a design like this, you don't have the room to tell the full story, and so you have to boil it down to the barest of details. This in and of itself is a great exercise in trying to be more concise with your journaling. And, for those of you who detest journaling, it's not a huge commitment to write a single sentence caption style.

While I don't plan to do this every week in 2010, I do plan to try and do one week a month, very likely the first week, to try and get 12 pages documenting a handful of shots and everyday stories from my year.

Again, it's not necessarily going to be about the best and brightest of shots, just a slice of ordinary life with possibly a touch of the extraordinary showing up from time to time.

The template is also available in 12 x 12.

 

Hope you had a good one

A picture of one of my favorite gifts received this year. Hope you all had a very Merry Christmas. See you next week.

Merry Christmas to all…

…and to all a good night.

Yes, Virginia, those are my scissors

You see those scissors with my name on 'em? Yeah, I'm talking to you. Well here's the deal: just WALK away. Don't even THINK about it. I think it's quite clear who they belong to in that THEY HAVE MY NAME ON THEM.

(Just kidding, you can borrow them... provided I watch what you're using them for. Deal?)

So me and my beloved Fiskars scissors are going to be spending some time together today, doing some final wrapping of presents as Christmas draws near.

One of the potential highlights this year? An over-sized dose of white for Christmas. Forecasters are calling for up to a foot and a half of snow in parts of central and southern Minnesota for Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. I realize this puts a huge dent in a lot of travel plans, even potentially ours as we usually travel an hour south to spend Christmas Day with Dan's family, but you have to admit: there's something magical about snow falling on Christmas.

Having a hearty bowl of chili on Christmas Day, instead of the usual turkey dinner, isn't the worst thing that could happen.

Good luck with your final preparations before this holiday arrives. And to my fellow Minnesotans, may your snow shovels be oiled and at the ready.

More holiday blasts from the past

SUPPLIES Layered Template No. 22 • I Believe Solids (Mindy Terasawa) • Winter Reverie Paper Pack (Jessie Edwards) • Archer font

In a maddening search for all of our Santa Claus-related photos last week, all I could dig up the one you see above. Our Santa shots have apparently gone missing because I searched high and low in this house, and came up nearly empty handed. I was planning to do a whole series of digital pages to add to my Christmas album, using this new template, but alas, no other Santa photos were found.

Then I dug a bit harder and found this:

 

SUPPLIES Layered Template No. 22 • I Believe Solids (Mindy Terasawa) • Winter Reverie Paper Pack (Jessie Edwards) • Archer font

Yep. The year was 1968. That's me, so busy making sure Santa got my entire list I didn't even bother to look at the camera, which clearly had my older brother Mike mesmerized.

Although the number of photos from my own childhood pale in comparison to the sheer numbers of shots from that of my kids, I'm thinking sometimes it's not about quantity or even quality: it's just that there is one here or there or really, anywhere.

Thanks, Mom, for the scan, and more importantly, the memory.

Documenting "never"

Last week, I posted a list of nevers—from things I've never done, to things I've never not done, and many things in between. It inspired a cool discussion and a number of you took the idea and blogged it too.

Not wanting to leave a good idea in cyberspace, I designed a simple template to save my list. Here are the results (click on layout to see it larger):

 

SUPPLIES Layered Template No. 24 (Cathy Zielske) • Baby Pink Patterns + Solids Paper (Ali Edwards) • Ethan Solids Paper Pack (Katie Pertiet) • Archer font.

I added a few of the shots from the original post at the bottom, but this is not a layout idea dependent on photos. One of my goals in 2010 is to try to do more writing on my pages. I'm realizing with each successive year, much detail is lost to memory and time.

Here's to writing that's not so challenging after all. Never say never, right?

The template is also available in 12 x 12.

Giveaway winners

And the results are, courtesy of the Random Integer Generator:

The winner of the gallery wrapped canvas from Color Inc. Pro Lab is:

The winner of the spot in Renee Pearson's Just the Basics 4-week workshop at ReneePearson.com:

The winner of a Life Documented Kit, the first in the Simple Stories system from MemoryWorks:

The winner of a spot in Lisa Day's upcoming workshop at Big Picture Scrapbooking called, The Challenge of Me.

Ladies, congrats! Email me at czdesign@comcast.net to claim your winnings.

Thanks to everyone who left a comment. Have a great rest of your weekend, and I'll see you back here on Monday.