Cathy Zielske's Blog

Remembering a very good dog

 

 

 

My sweet friend Chip went to the great dog park in the sky over the weekend. Right now, I would imagine she's running like around like a puppy, hearing every little noise now that nature can offer up and being fed toast crusts on demand. (Shhhh. That's what we used to give her as little treats during her many visits to our home.)

I'm thankful for all the time Chip spent with my family. She was a sweet and gentle part of our lives. Thanks to the Smith family for letting me come down to say goodbye.

She was a very good dog.

Cross Training

In the past few weeks I've been experiencing something that I'm guessing many a 40-something-year-old woman who gets a bit overzealous on the old exercise bandwagon has felt from time to time in her quest for greater fitness: pain.

Pain in one of my feet, more specifically. My feet pretty much serve as the base for most of the fitness choices I've been making. Nothing critical yet. No X-rays have been taken. But still, a pain in the side of my right foot when I do certain things.

Like the crazy fun dance moves of Zumba. Or the jumping jacks in the decidedly not crazy fun 30-Day Shred video. Even though I began incorporating those activities as part of an overall cross training program, they are presently on hold.

Enter my bike. 

I don't have a super fancy bike, but it works. Dan bought it for me for Christmas three or four years ago. It has a very nice cushy seat, and a brand-new cyclometer that tends to exaggerate the mileage a bit. Add in one dorky helmet, some sun screen, an iPod that I play on much quieter than running levels, and I've got a whole new thing I can do.

And it just so happens I live near a lovely little lake with a riding path. It took me 17 years to realize how nice it might be to actually take a bike ride around that lake but that's a late bloomer for you.

When I head out to take three laps around the lake, my foot feels as fresh as a daisy and I swear to you, I feel like Lance Armstrong. And in my new Nike shirt, I could even be mistaken for a real bike rider.

 

I am still working in three runs a week, mostly on the treadmill because I can focus on better foot placement and as long as I'm not going from side to side, there's no pain when I'm doing it. I'm reading Chi Running right now, on recommendation from several of you, and I'm really enjoying what author Danny Dreyer has to say. If it means I can keep running, and minimize pain and injuries from bad form, I'm in.

The cool thing to all of this, pain issues aside, do you know how good it feels to say, "Well, then… I'll just switch to riding my bike!"? It means so much because I am really craving this whole move more aspect of my plan. 

Exercise makes me feel good.

Go figure.

The older, chubbier me is impressed, to say the least.

Smores. Step-by-step.

First, you need to get yourself a Christmas tree. Preferably, one that has been drying out in your back yard since January. Don't worry if the neighbors think it's an eyesore. It's a Zielske family tradition!

 

Next, you need fire. Hey Scarecrow, how's about a little fire?

 

Then, once the kindling is lit, you need to cut up the tree.

 

Sometimes, you need a bit more man power.

 

Now you're talking. Hey hot stuff, wanna light my fire?

Next, prepare your ingredients.

 

Then, take a self portrait on wide angle from a slightly elevated vantage point because it will make you look really chinless.

 

Next, begin the marshmallow toasting, preferably using tallish teens.

 

Once maximum toastage is achieved, assemble the delicacy.

 

Drool appropriately for about 15 seconds.

And never, ever record the Weight Watcher's points on a summer tradition.

The Modified Sgt. Pepper's Punk Rock Vampire Look

First, I'd like to go on record and say this: I do NOT encourage or push this child in any fashion direction. For awhile, I had dreams of cute jeans and white flouncy blouses from the Gap, but I realized that she really doesn't want to dress like her mother. At least not her mother in 2010.

 

She just likes to get a whole heck of a lot of poorly blended sculpting gel…

 

And a nice little dollop of blood red lipstick...

 

And essentially look WAY cooler than I could have ever HOPED to look at 14.

 

(Or maybe 15.)

 

But I wasn't into vampires quite yet, or goth, or anything remotely more experimental than Journey (unless you count owning Pink Floyd's "The Wall.")

Sure, I got there eventually…at roughly 19.

 

You can't summon that much angst and still be listening to Steve Perry. 

I think on this, most of us can agree.

Note: all of the actions used on the pictures of Aidan are from The Pioneer Woman. I especially liked using the Bring on the Eyes action from Set 2 to give her that special, "I'm with the Cullens" vibe.

The Monthly: the difference between the digital and hybrid kits

I've had a key question about The Monthly kits and wanted to answer it before the sale at Designer Digitals is over.

The question is what is the difference between the all digital kit and the hybrid kit?

The main difference between the two is that in the fully digital kit you get layered PSD templates for the title page, the monthly opener pages and the photo collage pages; in the hybrid kit, you do not. But, you DO get the title page pieces, the monthly titles, and a sketch guide to show how your photo collage pages could go together. There are no measurements included.

Also, in the hybrid kit you get special templates for printing 2.5 x 3.5 photos/journaling cards used to print out manually, and trim, for use in divided page protectors. If you are a digital scrapbooker who wants to use divided page protectors, you will need the hybrid kit for this approach. My goal was to make a kit for digital scrapbookers to fit their needs, as well as those hybrid people (like me.)

I am combining the two kits for use in my album.

 

If you have any questions, don't hesitate to email me at czdesign@comcast.net.

Under the weather, and a special offer for my blog readers

Some nutty bug has got a hold of me, so I'm laying low for a few days. Hope to be out of bed and more productive today than over the weekend.

In the mean time…I have a special offer from Simplify 101.

 

Is your paper clutter preventing you from scrapbooking? Do you have ideas for creative projects, memorabilia to scrapbook, recipes to try, to-do lists, bills, school papers, magazines, and catalogs piling up around you? If so, then you know this is true–paper clutter makes it hard to relax, let alone be creative. With professional organizer Aby Garvey’s online workshop Organize Your Paper Clutter that begins June 8th you’ll learn how to organize your paper so you can free yourself from paper clutter and the stress that comes with it. Best of all—you won’t go it alone. You'll enjoy support, ideas and motivation from Aby and the simplify 101 online community throughout the six-lesson / seven-week workshop. (Download the workshop syllabus here.)

Aby's approach will help you see the light at the end of the clutter tunnel. Be sure to check it out if you're in need of some paper clutter help!

This is one monthly you may end up looking forward to

Since the beginning of the year, I've wanted to create a new system for saving my memories.

I'm a huge fan of Project Life and the whole 365-photo movement, but I wanted to do something that was a little bit digital and little bit hybrid, and worked the way I work, in 8.5 x 11 and not relying on me remembering to take photos every day. I know my propensity to start out with a bang, and then slowly but surely lose steam.

I'm also a huge fan of Week in the Life, and wanted to find a way to do a slightly less intense but yet still comprehensive monthly recap.

I've been working on this idea for a while now, the idea being a way to combine the best of a photo album, with a little bit of scrapbooking and story saving thrown in for good measure. I was getting tired of watching my iPhoto library get progressively fuller, and all of those photos were either not getting printed, or if they were, they weren't even making their way into a simple photo album.

That, and the little stories here and there were getting left in the dust of time and memory.

Enter The Monthly.

The Monthly (available both in 8.5 x 11 and 12 x 12) is my new system for saving one month at a time in as many (or as few) pages as I need to adequately document 28, 30 or 31 days in my life. (There is also an 8.5 x 11 hybrid set to let you combine the best of digital and traditional scrapbooking.)

It includes an album title page, monthly photo/collage title pages, multiple photo collage templates, one large journal page template, journal card and photo combo templates, and all are designed to mix and match to suit your needs as a story-telling scrapbooker. Here's a look at some of the components:

ALBUM TITLE PAGE

 

This is the first page of the album. The title page is where you make some of your decisions (colors, papers, embellishments, if any). Then, you simply repeat them in the successive months.

My goal with this album is to strip it down to the basics: the photos I want to save, and a handful of words to go along with it. I'm keeping it clean and simple people.

MONTHLY OPENER PAGES

 

Each month has a very simple opener page, the page to kick off the photos (and stories) for the month. Notice, I've just repeated a strip of digital patterned paper to go with my yellow and gray color scheme, and that's it.

COLLAGE PAGES

Here are a few of my photo collage pages, using the mix and match templates. All hold some of my favorite shots from April.

 

 

 

I love the simple, flexible designs, with a nice framing margin of white space on each page. Of course, this space doesn't have to be white, it can be any color you like. I just like the simplicity and cleanliness of white to frame a grouping of photos with a wide range of colors.

DIVIDED PAGES

Here is where I am mixing in part of The Monthly Hybrid Set for 8.5 x 11. Why? Because I'm using 8.5 x 11 divided page protectors for this album. There are digital pages included in each template set to achieve the same effect.. But I chose to go the hybrid route, using the photo and journaling card templates, which all were printed on my printer at home, and trimmed out.

 

There are a handful of journaling card designs that you can either type on (in the fully digital set) or you can type or hand journal as well (in the hybrid 8.5 x 11 set.) I printed everything out on my HP Photosmart, using some of the same digital papers from the Title Page and Opener Page.

 

I used a single divided page protector from We R Memory Keepers (my new favorite page protectors) to hold all of the 2.5 x 3.5 cards and photos. The hybrid set comes with templates to print your 2.5 x 3.5 photos either on a 5 x 7, or on an 8.5 x 11 sheet of photo paper.

JOURNALING PAGE

 

Last but not least is a page designed to let you journal your month in greater detail. You can make this type smaller to fit more words, or, if needed, simply add another journaling page to the album.

I printed all of my digital pages on my office photo printer, however, for the month of May, I'm planning to upload my digital pages and my photos for my divided pages directly to scrapbookpictures.com, to save a bit of ink and hopefully some money as well.

All in all, I'm feeling really good about having one month documented in 7 pages. It feels more designed than a straight photo album, and it pulls in facts and details that I want our family to remember.

If you have any questions today about this set or process, please leave a comment for me and I'll do my best to answer.

EDITED TO ANSWER A FEW QUESTIONS ABOUT DIGITAL VS HYBRID SETS

Thanks so much for all the comments today! There have been a few questions about the difference between the digital and hybrid sets:

1. Are the photo printing templates are part of the digital kit? They are not. If you use Photoshop, you can use the journaling card pages and photo pages to drop in photos/words, and you can print them out and trim to size accordingly to use in a divided page protectors.

2. Do the hybrid kits contain Microsoft Word-friendly journaling files? They do not.

3. Do the kits have the same contents? Essentially, yes, but the hybrid kit has more digital pieces. because the hybrid kit contains all of the individual alpha blocks/journaling files etc in PDF format as well, but only in the color grey. However, you CAN change the color of the layered PSD file elements, if you have Photoshop.

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These sets are all 30% off beginning today as part of the Designer Digitals quarterly sale. Everything in the store is 30% throughout the weekend. It's a great time to stock up and save for some digital and hybrid play time.

SUPPLIES

Digital Templates: The Monthly and The Monthly Hybrid for 8.5 x 11

Digital Papers: Annino Solids Paper Pack (yellow cardstock), Annino Paper Pack, Siri Solids Paper Pack all by Michelle Martin, Classic Cardstock: Hoops (Katie Pertiet) (white cardstock background)

Album: American Crafts 8.5 x 11 in brown courdory

Page Protectors: We R Memory Keepers divided and regular 8.5 x 11

{Winners!} A Kodak printer and four passes to see Babies

The winners are in! And the Kodak 5250 All in One goes to:

And the following people each will receive two tickets to see "Babies""

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

Thanks again to Kodak for the cool giveaway and don't forget, you can still enter the Kodak Baby Scrapbook Contest.

Today, I get to give away one of these lovely Kodak 5250 All in One printers to one of my blog readers and I also get to give away 2 pairs of tickets to see the new documentary from Focus Features, "Babies."

 

It's all to kick of a celebration of babies from Kodak, who is hosting the Kodak Baby Scrapbook Contest and yours truly gets to be the, ahem, celebrity scrapbook judge.

How does the contest work? Kodak want's to hear about your baby. What makes your little bundle of joy special? And the cool thing is, your baby can be in college by now. All Kodak wants to see is how you scrapbook about that baby. Read more of the details by clicking here.

This the Kodak Baby Scrapbook Contest ends on June 6, so get your best baby page together and submit today.

I have a soft spot for Kodak because of that one time I lost my Nikon digital SLR on the train when I was heading out to DisneyWorld, and a Kodak Easy Share I picked up in Downtown Disney let me save some very special memories that I would otherwise have not been able to save.

Kodak is going to send me the Kodak 7250 All in One printer to check out. Looking very forward to printing on it and passing along my thoughts.

In the mean time, as mentioned above, I get to give away this printer, and 2 pairs of movie passes. I will draw winners at random on Wednesday at Noon.

Leave me a comment, telling me, just for fun, what was your first camera.

Mine was a Kodak Instamatic, and I was 9 years old.

Go photography, and good luck!

Comments are now closed. Check back soon for the winners.

A whole new appreciation of running. And Dan.

Dan Zielske, crossing the finish line of the Med-City Marathon, May 2003.

I remember when Dan announced one wintry day back in 2002 that he was going to run a marathon. I remember thinking, "Oh, okay. That's nice honey." It didn't exactly shock me. Dan had been a runner since we met and well before that. Two or three times a week for years, he'd lace up and head out for a few laps around the lake by our house, returning shirtless (in the spring and summer months) and drenched in sweat.

He ran for a number of reasons, but primarily it was therapy. You know, clear out the head and just sweat for sanity's sake. Weird. I know.

He never outfitted himself in trendy running gear, emblazoned with logos and inspirational sayings. Sure, he'd lay out some cash for a good pair of running shoes, but that was it as far as high tech running acoutrements went.

Enter the Med City Marathon. On a gorgeous day in May down in Rochester, Minn., he ran his perfect race. He never really changed his pace from the outset. He never hit a wall. Like Forrest Gump, he just ran.

Of course, I didn't know this at the time, because I never really asked for details. Yes, I was very proud of my husband for his accomplishment, but I just took it in stride. Of course he can run a marathon. He can do anything.

Fast forward to now, and here I am, the 44-year-old version of me who, for the first time in her life, is running.

Yep. Lacing up shoes. Heading out the front door. Huffing, puffing, and plodding along at my 11:30 per mile pace, and all of sudden it hits me: Dan ran a freaking marathon. Oh. My. God. By the time I hit mile 2 on any given run, I'm wondering who will identify my body when I collapse.

A marathon. 26.2 miles. By himself. Outside. In the sun. Using his legs.

And not only that, he ran it in 3:33, just 18 minutes over the time needed to qualify to enter the Boston Marathon. He averaged just over 8-minute miles the whole lovin' way.

Amazing.

I just finished reading an excellent book, Run Like a Mother, (because when I'm into something new, I have to dive in headlong) that I would strongly recommend to any runners or any wanna-be runners out there. The two authors and friends write candidly about running, all aspects of it, from aches and pains to peeing in the bushes on long runs. These women are serious runners who love the sport. Both have numerous marathons under their belts. I'm not dreaming of 26.2 miles just yet. My present goal is simply to hit the 5-mile mark. But this book really sparked an interest to learn more about Dan's experience in the marathon, and as a runner in general.

I remember when he'd head out for some of his longer training runs that spring. He trained with his brother, Jonathan (who also ran a very respectable 3:42) and they'd log 12-milers, 15-milers, leading up to a final 20-miler a few weeks before the actual race.

I never remember him complaining once. Not about aches, or pains, or doubts in his ability to do this.

Now me? When I return from a run, I rattle off a laundry list of what doesn't feel right.

When I mentioned this to him, that I never remember him complaining or being injured, he replied, "Talking about pain is boring."

Revisiting this part of our lives, and uncovering some of the details has been a pretty cool thing. It's highly unlikely that I will run an 8-minute mile in my lifetime and really, a 5K seems like the biggest challenge I'll be able to tackle (okay, maybe a 10K someday), but it really does make me retroactively appreciate Dan and see his efforts in a whole new light.

 

Not hard to appreciate in hindsight. At all.

For those of you who are interested in learning more about the book mentioned above, check out the Run Like a Mother blog.

This Day in Zielske History

May 13, 2005. A particularly poorly lit, high noise shot taken—where else?—in my bathroom mirror with my first digital SLR, my old Nikon D70. A few things come to mind when I look at this shot:

1. I was still employed with Simple Scrapbooks magazine (RIP).

2. I didn't need to wear glasses all the time to function.

3. I still was knocking back a pack of smokes daily, in secret.

4. We still had our beloved foil bamboo patterned wall paper, and the reason I was taking this shot was because this was the day the wall paper was coming down.

5. I got really sick of the wallpaper removal project and it stalled for about three years until we finally broke down and hired a dude for real cheap-like to remove it for us.

This has been another riveting installment of "This Day in Zielske History."