Bits&Pieces

Design Your Life Registration is Open (and a quick Q & A)

Beginning today, you can register for Design Your Life. There is no class size limit, so there is no need to race to register. There's room for everyone to learn design.

I've been fielding a series of questions since announcing this workshop a while back, and here is a brief Q&A for those of you who are interested in taking this workshop with me.

Is this the same class you taught in 2008?  Yes, it's the very same class. All of the assignments are the same. All of my layouts are the same. I purposefully  have not publicly shared any of these pages (or sketches) for this class to keep the content exclusively for my students. The weekly slide show lessons are also the same. However, I decided to re-record all 12 weeks of those lectures to create videos for the new format at BigPictureScrapbooking. Additionally, in 2008 I recorded video messages every few weeks for my students, based on whatever was going on topic wise on the boards, or just depending on what sorts of things were going on in my scrapbook life. These unscripted videos will be all new in DYL 2010, of course.

I've taken one of your workshops this year, and was able to save the slideshow to my computer. Will I be able to do the same in this class?  Not for Design Your Life. As with the first go round, we will have the slideshows available online, streaming, in high resolution. You will also have "forever" access to the class materials. Even though the class will end, you will always be able to go in and download materials, and view anything you may have missed. We'll also have transcripts and PDFs of every slide of each presentation for you to print and save if you wish.

I'm a digital scrapbooker. How will a class like this help me?  For Design Your Life 2010, I've added layered PSD files for digital scrapbookers, but the core content of this class—teaching design principles—is going to help all scrapbookers, whether you're digital, hybrid or tradtional.

Do digital scrapbookers need what's on the supply list?  No, except for possibly an album and page protectors to save your finished, printed pages. Honestly? The supply list is purely a guide to give you ways to store your work. You can store your final pages any way you like! And this goes for all students.

I would prefer to do all of my pages in 12 x 12. Will I still learn the concepts if I do this?  You are welcome to convert sketch concepts to 12 x 12, and yes, you will still learn the concepts. We have a good number of 8.5 x 11 sketches, both single page designs and two-page spreads. In 2008, some students simply took those core designs for the 8.5 x 11, and placed them onto a 12 x 12 space. The concepts we're studying do not get lost when you change space size. That's part of the reason I have multiple sizes for our assignments, to really communicate the idea that space is space, and design applies universally.

Will you be assigning us what to scrapbook about?  No. I may make a suggestion from time to time, but what you choose to cover is up to you. Aside from learning design, this is a great class to get a lot of pages done, and almost all of the assignments feature multi-photo designs.

I'm hoping to learn a bit about digital scrapbooking. Will you be covering this, since you're adding digi files to the classroom?  The short answer? No. This class is about design theory, not about software or digital scrapbooking technique. However, I may cover some digital tips in the unscripted video messages, but those videos evolve out of what types of things students are talking about on the message boards.

I took this class in 2008. Can I take it again if I want to?  Yep. And as an alumni, you can take it for $49. However, keep in mind that as an alumni, you have access now to the 2008 classroom any time you like so you may not need to take the 2010 workshop. That said, if you DO sign up for 2010, you will get the new digital files, and of course you'll get the interaction with me for another 12 weeks.

Will you be doing any giveaways for spots in your class?  Yes. I will do one giveaway in the next few weeks, and that will be the only one. Then, you can confidently place the workshop on your Christmas list and give it to someone who loves you and looks at your scrapbook pages often.

This isn't really related to your class but I have two questions. First, is that your natural hair color and second, would you consider watching my dog while I go on vacation?  The answer to question one is no. It's Clairol Grey Solution No. 4. The answer to question two…is your dog housetrained? Maybe we can talk.

If you have any more questions for me, feel free to email (design.life@comcast.net) me or leave a comment here. Hope to see many new faces in the workshop for 2010!

I believe you need a smidgen of goofiness with your design to really make what you learn stick.

Design Your Life Promo from Cathy Zielske on Vimeo.

For more information on Design Your Life, click here.

(And I'd like to thank the writers of this classic SNL skit for the inspiration.)

I'm bringing design back…(yeah)

I'm extremely thrilled to report that Big Picture Scrapbooking is letting me run my design workshop as the first leg of their 4 Experts series for 2010. More details will be coming soon, but here's what I can tell you:

• It runs from December 31 until March 24 (12 weeks)

• It will cost $99

• It is the same class I taught in late 2008, with modifications to include digital scrapbookers

• It will change the way you make layouts…for the better

• DYL 2008 Alumni will be able to register and take the class at a greatly reduced rate.

There will be more details coming soon on Stacy Julian's blog. The official announcement on the Four Experts will come on Oct. 1st. I'm in some pretty great company. My full class description and registration information will be coming soon.

Did you win one of the 2 spots? Find out!

The lovely Random Integer Generator gave me the following (all while I sipped my hot fresh cup of Joe!):

 

And that means the winners are:

31. sherry, who said... I scrap about me only as it relates to my son. Sad, huh?

And…

1039. Rumyana, who said... No, I don't. That's why I decided to take this challenge /I have already signed up for the class/. I scrap about everything else but me, so this is the perfect way to take down the barriers and start writing more about myself. I cannot wait for it to begin.

Ladies, Email me me to claim your rightful spot!

Thanks to all who entered. Remember, there's plenty of time to sign up if you're still wanting to try and start telling a bunch of little stories about you. Registration closes Sept. 9. Hope to see you all in class!

Two spots up for grabs in my next workshop!

In just over a month, my brand-spankin' new workshop, Me: The Abridged Version, starts. Rather than wait until just before class starts to give away a few spots, I decided it was best to do it now, to give the winners time to do the pre-class work and brainstorming so they will feel ready to go on Day 1. Sound good?

 

I so super psyched about this workshop. Why? Because it's all about YOU! And in case you weren't aware, you rock. (Well, I can't say that from exact experience, but I can say that people telling their own stories rocks, and that's exactly what you'll do for four weeks…ergo, you WILL rock.)

So today, I have two free spots in the class to give away. If you've already signed up, and you win, then we'll simply refund your class fee. Deal?

TO ENTER: Leave me a comment and answer this question: Do you scrapbook about you?

I will leave comments open until Thursday morning, and when I wake up, I'll draw a winner while making my coffee. Good luck!

{ Comments are now closed. Check back for a winner soon! }

Registration for my new workshop opens tomorrow

Registration for my new workshop, Me: the Abridged Version, opens tomorrow, July 1st, at 10 a.m. P.D.T. Cost of the four-week workshop is $35 and the first 50 people to register will receive a fun Happy Mail package from Big Picture Scrapbooking. There is no class size limit to this workshop, so if you're not ready to sign up just yet, no worries, you have the rest of the summer to decide.

The workshop runs from Sept. 3 to Sept. 30. The class details and supply lists are up now. Feel free to take a peek!

We'll be making a 28-page album that's all about my new favorite subject: you. Okay, so I may not know you per se, but the idea of women (and men) taking time to tell their own stories is one of my very favorite scrapbooking subjects.

 

This class was inspired by a class I taught at Creating Keepsakes University in 2006 called, "Encyclopedia of an Ordinary Life" based on the amazing memoir of the same name by the delightful and talented and wickedly wry Amy Krouse Rosenthal. That year, 150 women took my class, and each time our two days in class were finished, I seriously thought to myself: every person should have this experience.

Why? Because we don't tell our stories. Okay… maybe some of you do, but the majority of time we spend scrapbooking is to make certain we get everyone else's story down. It's somehow seen as moderately selfish or narcissistic to just focus on ourselves. (And sadly, it's like that in our culture as well… woman take care of everything else before they take care of themselves.)

This workshop is designed to let you focus on you, and all of the random things from a to z that make up who you are and what matters. From the really profound to the seemingly insignificant, and everything in between, it's a chance to tell stories from your unique life.

You'll do a lot of brainstorming and writing, and then we'll do a lot of digital step-by-step instruction to build this truly hybrid album project. You can read more about the computer/software requirements by reading the class description and supply list.

I spent all of May creating my album for this workshop, and I can honestly tell you that if this were the only type of scrapbook I ever did again, you'd hear no complaints for me. None. Just simple stories and photos that capture a slice from my life right here in 2009.

My sweet One-Three is also presently working on her own Abridged Version. This would be such a cool class for mothers and older daughters to do together. I can't wait to see what Aidan comes up with and can't help but think what an amazing record of time it will be for her to look back on. All I have from when I was 13 are angst-ridden boy crazy diaries. But there I go, reminiscing on the good old days again…

If you have any specific class questions that aren't answered by the registration info, feel free to post here.

I will point out that I'm also providing fully layered digital templates of the album project for you fully digital scrapbookers, and for those of you who do not have Photoshop Elements or Photoshop, you can use Microsoft Word templates to format  your writing, and I'll provide PDFs for all other class content. Further, for my European students, I'll be providing all templates to work with A4 sheet sizes.

Here's to telling your story!

P.S. One more thing: tomorrow, i'm going to be futzing with my blog. It's time for a change so if you see things shifting and moving, it's not you. Really. It's me.

Check out Jessica's Free Class Coming Next Week

Always wanted to take a class with Jessica Sprague but haven't for some crazy reason? Next week, you can register for free for her newest class, Photo Editing: Frame-ups and Special Effects.

I took her last free class, Stories in Hand, and it was super, super cool. Jessica is the bomb! So if you're looking to brush up those digital skills, be sure to put this on your calendar!

Answering a collective question about my class

[Above, a shot from my lunch table last week, as I was previewing the 55 minute narrated Powerpoint presentation that students will download and watch during the first week of my soon-to-launch online class over at Big Picture Scrapbooking. Interesting, isn't it, that Ms. Winfrey's lovely face has worked its way into my class, considering she just jumped on the Twitter bandwagon last week. I feel SO on trend right now.]

On May 14th, my new online class, Everyone Can Write a Little, starts over at Big Picture Scrapbooking. You can read the class description here for more nitty gritty deets (yes, I did just use the word 'deets' because it makes me feel much younger and hipper), but I've gotten one question more than any other and thought, I'll just answer it in a blog post.

The question, in various forms? Why would I use Twitter or Facebook to become a better scrapbooker?

Ah, grasshoppers. I'm no Ashton-I'm-the-King-of-Twitter-Kutcher, but let me tell you the wisdom that I have amassed over the months in which I have been microblogging.

Twitter has become my virtual notebook. Simply put, it's now a place where I Stop, Drop and Write about things going on in my every day world. Whereas I once put them on a piece of paper, to possibly revisit or record later from a scrapbooking standpoint, now… I just log in and type it up, in 140 characters or less.

What i've realized in doing this is that scrapbookers really do get hung up on the storytelling aspect of our hobby, and I truly believe that if you focus on telling little tiny stories from your head and your life, you will get more and more comfortable with writing in general. The more at ease you are with using your written voice, the easier all manner of journaling becomes. With Twitter (and Facebook's) limited character counts, I feel the intimidation factor of writing goes down exponentially.

Remember my little Month of Tags mini book project from a while back? It's a similar thing, this new class, except that you're going to be practicing writing online, and then transferring the stuff you've written that you want to save into a digital template, which will eventually find it's way into a cool album that you'lll create.

For those of you who are leary of the whole idea of doing yet another thing online, I get that. Well, sort of. Actually, I don't. And here's why: both Twitter and Facebook remind me of how much I love to share stories. They can be great ways to share stories and practice using your voices. For good. For memory's sake.

If you are interested to see the types of things I post on Twitter, you can check it out here.

If you have any other burning questions, post them here, and I'll answer in comments.

Have a lovely Monday (or Tuesday) or whatever day it might be in your world. ; )

PC Users—A Great Deal on Photoshop Elements

My friend and photog extraordinaire, Tina Cockburn, just informed me that for those of you thinking of getting Photoshop Elements, Costco is rockin' a deal. FYI.

See it here. It'll end up costing you $49.99. Not bad!

Answers about Everyone Can Write a Little

I don't know if few questions are a good sign, or a bad sign, but they are a sign, nevertheless, and I have answers to your questions about my upcoming workshop, Everyone Can Write a Little at  Big Picture Scrapbooking.

 

Connie asked: Hey Cathy! Naturally I want to take this class because, well, it's your class! My concern is that I work full-time in a corporate environment. That makes for some pretty dull days. Not to mention that I am away from my family most of the day. I am wondering if I will have much to say worth capturing. I mean, how many times can I say "Connie is going to another meeting"???? Any suggestions?

Connie, one of my goals in this class is to help you look at your everyday life a bit differently. I've got some ideas for finding stuff in that everyday environment and seeing it in a new light. I do pretty much the same thing day in and day out, leaving my house only to grocery shop and shuffle kids to and from various commitments. In other words, my life can be pretty monotonous. I'm going to hopefully offer inspiration to help you see stuff a bit differently, and challenge you to try and write about it.

Karen asked: Sounds very cool. I am wondering which version of Elements is best. I have 3.0 but have considered upgrading. I have been reading reviews and I am flummoxed.

Karen, I currently use Elements 6.0, for Macintosh, and the templates for this class are all .psd docs. If you can download the test file I will attach here, then you will be able to open the templates. If you can't, you can always download a 30-day trial version of Adobe Photoshop Elements by clicking here. Considering the workshop is 4 weeks long, you would at least be able to create and print out the pages you've worked on, as well as getting a taste of the most recent version of Photoshop Elements.

Still, try downloading and opening this file below. If you can open it, you'll be okay with the version you have.

Download Testing

Quinna asked: Question: Will you be teaching us how to drop photos into our pages? I have Photoshop 3 old old old version....Should I be updating it before class or will this work.

Yes, you will learn to drop photos into your pages, and see the above question!

Katie Paterson asked: Okay I have signed up and I am so excited, I just signed up for Twitter yesterday. I also have a photoshop question... I don't have any version but wondering if I can get my hands on an older version if that will still work?

Katie, i would say in some cases, yes. But you can download the test file and try it out.

Holly O'Keefe asked: Crazy question...do I have to do Twitter AND Facebook? I can't just do Facebook, right?

You do NOT have to do both. Pick the one you're most comfortable with. I only do both because i'm an internet junkie. Both provide you with the space to write a little.

Madeline St Onge asked: Cathy I have a question. I am reading the supply list and all I see is 4 sheets of 12x12 patterned paper to cover the binder, we are not going to need any for the pages themselves, just the cardstock for the pages? I need to order online so would like to get all that I need at once.

You will only need little 1/4 inch strips, leftovers really, to put into the page protectors in a fun way (if you are using American Crafts page protectors). 

If you have a scanner, you can use it to scan your paper to make a digital tie in to the paper you use on the cover, but that is an optional digital extra step. You an do it with your leftover pieces of patterned paper.

Darlene asked: Cathy, I can't get your intro message about the class to work properly??? It goes about 45 sec. and then just stops. Waaaaa!! I wanna hear you!! Help!

Hmmm. Could just be your internet connection acting buggy. I would say try again and if you're still having the trouble, you can always email admin@bigpicturescrapbooking.com to see if they can help.

Melinda asked: Is there a limit to the number of students that will be allowed to enroll?

No limits. Whoever wants to take it, can.

AnnieB asked: Class question: What sort of photos will we be needing?

Good question! I wish I could give you more of a specific answer, but the cool thing about this class is that the photos you pick are really simply an afterthought. Meaning, you will be working on writing and then collecting your favorite writing bits, THEN finding a single shot to go with each writing snippet. I talk more about the photos in class. I'm encouraging people to just grab whatever snapshot will best support what you write about.

Shawna asked—I don't have facebook or twitter but I have a blog. I would really like to do this class but don't want to take on another commitment. I like the idea of creating an album of my blog posts. Will the class still work for me?

Honestly? It won't. What we're doing and what we're making doesn't have a lot to do with taking full on blog posts and photos. Sorry!

EDITED TO ADD THIS:
Michelle had a good idea that she just emailed me, for those who just don't want to use Twitter or Facebook, she said:

Hey, read your post and had a comment about one of the question/answers. The one about if a blog would work. I was just wondering if she limited her posts to short bursts, just like twitter, if it would work? I do that sometimes, when I need to post but can't come up with one really strong topic. I'll "twitter blog". And if you write the post in Word then you can get a character count so it's legit? Wouldn't that work?

In other words, if you have a Word Processor that will show you the word/space count, you could easily keep a running list of entries in a document, and keep them short, forcing you to edit and tighten up your writing as you go. Thanks for the idea, Michelle.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------

GENERAL QUESTIONS (from email)

I don't have Photoshop Elements, or Photoshop. Will you be giving instruction to create pages in other programs, like Paint Shop Pro etc, ?

The short answer is no. Doing a class with digital instruction, I chose to focus on Photoshop Elements because it is the most universal. Keep in mind, you can download a free 30-day trial of the program to use during class. I'm not 100% sure it will let you save your files, but, it should let you print them out. I will find out about the saving part!

--------------------------------------------------------------------------

I've also had questions asking if this will be offered more than once, and my answer is that if it goes well, I would hope to be able to offer it again later in the year. I realize that people's schedules don't always align. So, it's definitely a possibility!

I will continue to answer any questions you might have. You can always email me at czdesign@comcast.net, and i'll do my best to get back to you quickly.

ALSO, any questions posted here today, I'll answer in the comments! Have a great weekend.