Cathy Zielske's Blog

Introducing the Phone Photography Workshop

You have a phone. You take a boat load of photos. Wanna have some fun in a summer workshop designed to inspire you and give you tips and reviews and all sorts of good phone photo related stuff?

Announcing the Phone Photography Project, coming this summer to Big Picture Classes.

Me, and a whole gaggle of avid memory keepers got together and the result is a class of nothing but ideas, tips and inspiration for that little camera you keep handier than all the rest: your phone.

In this month-long workshop, you'll learn to take better photos with the camera you always have with you as you document your summer adventures—with help from 32 incredible instructors. On top of daily smartphone photography challenges, you'll also enjoy:

• dozens of tips and tricks from the pros for taking better photos with your mobile-phone camera
• a handbook of 60+ photography app reviews for iPhone and Android, so you know which are worth your time and money*
• dozens of project ideas for getting photos off your device and into your world
• interaction with 32 experienced iPhoneographers and Androidographers, and hundreds of fellow students in a private classroom and on Instagram
• giveaways, contests, discounts, bonus downloads, and fun fun fun!

Note: Many of the reviewed apps are available free in the App Store and Google Play, while the rest average about $1.99 each. App purchases are not required for participation in the class.

I contributed photos, app reviews and a layered template + tutorial. Here's a peek at my project that is just one of numerous ideas you'll find in this class.

For more information, or to register, click here.

The last day to register for Clean&Simple: The Workshop

Today is the last day you can sign up for Clean&Simple: The Workshop. Registration closes at 10 p.m. Pacific time. We're just ending the second week of class, and it's definitely not too late to join in the design and production fun.

This is the only time I'm offering the class this year. Keep in mind, once you sign up for any class at Big Picture Classes, you have permanent access to the materials.

I'm loving the student interaction thus far and am looking forward to the rest of this workshop. It's been a great learning experience for me as well, helping me to clarify my love and passion for this amazing hobby. We start out working the hybrid process and will round out the workshop designing our own templates from scratch. Along the way, I'll share ideas, inspiration and my best tips on type and design.

Click here to register or for more information.

Sponsor Giveaway: Organize Your Kitchen from simplify 101

ABOUT THE GIVEAWAY: Simplify 101 is offering a spot in their Organize Your Kitchen: A Quick + Simple VIDEO Workshop. What does kitchen organizing have to do with scrapbooking? I think a lot! For starters, your kitchen is a space you use every single day, several times a day. So if it’s well organized, you can save a whole lot of time in there, which of course means more time for scrapbooking! Also, how many of you are scrapbooking on the kitchen table? That’s OK! The kitchen is a multipurpose space, and professional organizer Aby Garvey will show you how to organize it so that it works for you!

You won’t just learn how to organize your kitchen—you’ll see the process in action as Aby invites you into her own kitchen organizing project. If you’ve ever wished you could tag along with a professional organizer to see her processes and techniques in action, this is your chance! The videos are segmented into short viewing sessions so you can stop and apply the concepts in your own kitchen! Whether your kitchen needs a simple organizing tweak, or a complete overhaul, this workshop is sure to satisfy your cravings. 

Here are the ways to enter this giveaway (up to four chances to win!):

1. Leave a comment on this post telling me why you need to organize your kitchen.
2. Subscribe to simplify 101’s blog. Come back and leave a comment letting me know you did.
3. Follow simplify 101 on Facebook, then come back leave a comment letting me know you did.
4. Follow @abygarvey on Twitter, and leave a comment letting me know you did.
5. Follow Aby Garvey on Pinterest, and let me know you did.

I'll randomly select a winner on _______________. Good luck!

BONUS: Though only one of you will win a free spot, all my readers get a 15% discount from simplify 101. To take advantage of this offer, CZDAPR13 during checkout. This coupon may be applied to any of simplify 101’s current online workshop (instant downloads are excluded) through April 20, 2012 and may not be combined with any other offers. (If you purchase the workshop and then win, simplify 101 will be happy to refund your money.)

ABOUT SIMPLIFY 101:  Founded by professional organizer Aby Garvey, simplify 101’s mission is to make getting organized fun! Get a taste of simplify 101—and the organized life—with their FREE, simple-to-follow guide How to Create a Command Central Binder. You’ll put together a home reference binder that will help you get organized, save time, and minimize paper clutter and the stress that comes along with it! 

Watch Aby's overview video here! 

I'll choose a winner on Sunday night. Good luck! 

Comments are now closed. Check back to see if you're a winner.

 

 

Looking for some good reads

I recently finished a biography about Kurt Cobain, Heavier Than Heaven.

I started it last Friday, and couldn't seem to put it down in spite of how utterly tragic it was to read.

I come from Kurt Cobain Land, you see. I grew up in a small town in Washington, which at the time was probably not all that different from his coastal town of Aberdeen. He and I were born a year apart, and yet for some reason, I always saw Nirvana as a band of much younger, punk ass kids.

I never felt like he was the voice of my generation at all. But that's probably because I was too busy listening to Frankie Goes to Hollywood and George Michael and R.E.M. Pearl Jam was the closest I ever got to loving grunge. For some reason, Nirvana slipped under my musical radar.

The reason I picked the book up is because Cole is in a big Nirvana phase right now and it has inspired me to actually go back and listen to some of their music.

While I have always been a ginormous fan of Dave Grohl, I am finding a lot of love right now for the music of Mr. Cobain as well.

But his story breaks my heart.

All of this is leading up to the fact that while I'm not a voracious reader by any stretch, I find that biographies are some of my favorite readings.

Which is where you come in: read any riveting biographies lately? And if so, would you care to share your recommendations? 

In other news…

Clean & Simple: The Workshop begins tomorrow. Registration will close on April 10 at 10 p.m. P.S.T.

I'm nervous and excited to get it underway, as I've been working on it for the past three months. I look forward to seeing many of you in class as we dive into the content together. My goal with this workshop is to show people not only how I use software to craft well-designed, timeless pages, but to leave you with the confidence to have an idea for a page and know how to use your computer to help you create what you envision.

This is the only time I will be teaching this class during 2013. Once you sign up, you have permanent access to the course materials, so if time is an issue, don't let that deter you.

Hope to see you there!

 

Clean&Simple Q&A

Clean&Simple: The Workshop kicks off two weeks from today. This class has been a long time in the making, and I'm getting excited to get the ball rolling.

I've been fielding a lot of questions and wanted to put together a quick Q&A for anyone who'd like more information on the class.

Do I need Photoshop to take this workshop? Yes. But technically you only need Photoshop Elements. Photoshop users are welcome, but all of the instruction is offered using PSE 10.

I have Photoshop Elements 11. Will this class work for me? Yes! Just know that PSE 11 has been redesigned so the interface looks different but the functions and key processes remain more or less the same. It might take a little extra finagling, but my goal with this workshop is to really build your understanding of using digital processes to create hybrid pages, so a little extra finagling will only help you to really understand the software.

I am a digital scrapbooker. Is this class designed for me as well? Technically, no, but let me explain: we are creating hybrid pages—pages that start in a digital area but move into the printed world. However, those scrapbookers who only do digital will defintely be able to work through each weekly assignment and gain skill as they go, especially in the latter half of the workshop, where it's less template based and you are challenged to do more ground up design work. That said, this is not a purely digital scrapbooker's class.

Can you tell me more about the assignments for this class? You will have 12 assignments, some are 8.5 x 11 pages, some are 12 x 12 pages, and there's a mini album project, too. Every week we'll have a theme focus and the assignment will include the following components: overall guiding principles, design principles, journaling focuses, photography tips and production techniques. In the latter half of class, there will be a strong emphasis on typography as well, working with a host of free fonts to create beautiful type for your layouts. There is room for interpretation on some of the assignments, but some of the challenges are designed to get you thinking and creating around a predetermined theme.

I'm a complete beginner in Photoshop Elements. Will this class be too much for a newbie? If you've never cracked open the software, I would have to say possibly. That said, there are really only a handful of key processes we use in this class and once you master them, you're going to be really solid in your understanding of this program and process. One thing I plan on telling my students is to remember: Command or Control + Z is your new best friend. As with any new process, it will take time to master. Each week, there is a detailed, step-by-step handout with all of the processes typed out, in addition to our weekly video tutorials. I welcome beginners, but if you're the type of person who gets really stressed out because you don't get something the first time out, it might not be the best time for you to take the class.

I can't take your class right now but am wondering if you are teaching again later in the year? This is the only time I'm teaching the workshop in 2013. 

If you want to know more about my instruction style, I have a channel on Vimeo and you can get a sampling of what my teaching style is like.

If you have any further questions, I'm happy to answer. Leave me a comment or email me at czdesign@comcast.net. 

For more detailed information on the class, click the banner below:

Registration is now open for Clean & Simple: The Workshop

Registration is now open for my new 4Experts Class, Clean & Simple: The Workshop.

This 12-week class is all about taking the plunge into the world of hybrid scrapbook page design with me, Cathy Zielske, as your guide and fearless leader.

With Photoshop Elements as your key tool, each week we'll be creating layouts that combine the best of what the digital world can offer to the paper and glue scrapbook realm. 

I've been using my computer from the very start, combining design expertise with meaningful stories and content to develop and refine my style. 

Design + technology + heart. These three things are at the very core of my memory keeping philosophy and approach, and throughout this workshop, I'm going to hopefully inspire you to really immerse yourself in the process I call Clean & Simple.

This class is very different from any I've offered before. Yes, there will be a ton of design education. Yes, there will be a ton of detailed, step-by-step video instruction. But I've always wanted to simply show people how I do what I do. This class gives me the opportunity to do just that.

I've fielded a number of emails asking: I'm a paper scrapper. Is this a class for me? To which I answer: I'm a paper scrapper, too! But what has geeked me out the most about scrapbooking since Day 1 was that I could use my computer to design and create the way I wanted to; that I could use digital tools and yet still be able to cut and paste and play. 

This is not a class with sketches and measurements. This is a class that will challenge you to try new approaches. And hopefully, this is a class that will build your digital skills so that when you have an idea swirling around your brain, you'll be able to put it into action and onto your scrapbook pages.

This is also a class where content and story matter. I believe the opportunity to explore all facets of our lives is one of the coolest aspects of this amazing hobby. In Clean & Simple, we will do just that each week.

I also believe that mastering digital processes opens up a whole world of creative possibilities for the traditional, paper-loving scrapbooker. It's my goal with this workshop to share my knowledge of this process with you.

We're doing 8.5 x 11 pages; we're doing 12 x 12 pages. Each week, regardless of the size, the focus is on processes that will stay with you long after the workshop is over.

Photoshop beginners are welcome to this class—both Mac and PC users. There is a PreClass Video and practice templates awaiting you upon registration. It will give you an overview of the key processes you'll be using. I promise that Photoshop is not scary. You just need to take a deep breath and remember: there's always the Undo Command.

How is this class different from Design Your Life? DYL was broken down into design principles for each week, with corresponding assignments, based in paper scrapbooking with some printable elements. In this class, we break down each assignment from a design standpoint, but the focus will be on using digital tools (computers and Photoshop) to create real-world pages. This class is not about using the photos you have sitting on your scrapbook table. It's about building the page digitally, and breaking it all apart to create truly custom end results. 

There's aren't many supplies needed for this class. A stack of white cardstock, a circle punch, a corner rounder…some basic scrapbooking supplies. That said, you do need to be able to print assignment elements at home, and it's going to be a lot easier if you have the ability to print photos at home as well. Note: if you can't print your photos at home, you will simply order from your usual photo printing service but keep in mind you may not have as much control over the process.

Another bonus in this class: you'll get the opportunity for a private, online screening of a new full-length, yet-to-be-released scrapbooking documentary by film maker Tory Jeffay. The film features me and Stacy Julian, as well as the founder of Creative Memories and other women connected to the industry. 

If you have any questions, I'm happy to answer them in the comments today. 

To register, or for more information, click on the banner below!

Sponsor Giveaways: Organize Your Creative Space from simplify 101 and Grammar-Free Journaling, a new workshop from Big Picture Classes

One blog reader will win a spot in Organize Your Creative Space from simplify 101.

ABOUT THE WORKSHOP: 

• Do you feel like you spend all of your creative time sifting through creative clutter?

• Does it feel like as soon as you haul out your supplies, it’s time to put them away again?

• Are you regularly surprised to find supplies or tools you forgot you had? Or worse, are you regularly frustrated when you can’t put your hands on the things you are sure you have?

• Do you feel like your creative space (or the lack of it) zaps your creativity?

If you answered “yes” to any of these, there is a better way. Aby Garvey at simplify 101 has created an online workshop -- Organize Your Creative Space – to help you find the perfect balance between creativity and organization. In this workshop, Aby will help you pull together a space that looks like you, thinks like you and allows you to enjoy your creative work even more. Best of all, you’ll discover how to create an organized space that inspires you and fuels your creativity.

As with all their expert-guided online workshops, Organize Your Creative Space is designed to let you tackle your organizing projects on your time schedule, with the support of a creative organizing expert and a friendly online community. Best yet, with their generous refund policy, you can try this workshop for one week completely risk-free. 

This workshop is broken down into four lessons, one released each week beginning February 14, 2013. Click here to see the full syllabus. One of my readers will win a spot for free! To enter this giveaway, leave a comment on this post telling me where you do your creative work. I'll randomly select a winner on February 11, 2013. Good luck! 

About simplify 101:  simplify 101’s mission is to make getting organized fun! Get a taste of simplify 101—and the organized life—with their FREE, simple-to-follow guide How to Create a Command Central Binder. You’ll put together a home reference binder that will help you get organized, save time, and minimize paper clutter and the stress that comes along with it! Visit simplify101.com for more, and follow them on the blog, Pinterest, Facebook and Twitter! BONUS: Though only one of you will win a free spot, all my readers get a 15% discount from simplify 101. To take advantage of this offer, enter CZFEB13 during checkout. This coupon may be applied to any and all of simplify 101’s current online workshop and self-paced workshops through Thursday, February 14, 2013, and may not be combined with any other offers.

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One blog reader will win a spot in Grammar-Free Journaling, a new workshop from Big Picture Classes and Angie Lucas. Angie is a word-smith extraordinaire, so I'll let her tell you about this class herself. Take it away, Lucas!

A WORD FROM ANGIE: I can't thank my pal, Cathy, enough for letting me share a quick guest post about a little something I like to call "grammar-free journaling."

What does that mean?

Well, it means I've gathered 12 fun strategies for writing journaling for scrapbook pages in new and exciting ways—with absolutely no paragraphs required! You can forget about sentence structure, paragraph flow, punctuation, and the dreaded dangling participle—and still tell great stories. (Excuse me, sir, but your participle appears to be dangling.) Instead, you'll be journaling in checklists, spreadsheets, pie charts, lists, quizzes, and even a bit of painless poetry.

Here's one of my favorite layout examples from the workshop, which uses washi tape in a graph that tells the story of my cute daughter's slow and steady growth pattern.

Join me in class and I promise you'll be inspired to tell stories you've been meaning to tell in unique ways—and you'll find new stories to tell that you wouldn't have discovered or told otherwise.

This workshop may make you laugh. It will make you write (but rarely more than a paragraph at a time). And it could even make you cry! But for once, these won’t be tears of frustration. They’ll be tears of joy that you tried something new with your journaling and managed to write something beautiful and true. Or, they may be tears of ocular irritation because you got eraser crumbs in your eye. (Yes, you’ll be inspired to do THAT much writing.)

All right, enough with the tears. 

Who is This Angie Person? Angie Lucas is the former managing editor of Simple Scrapbooks magazine, where she worked alongside Cathy (from 993 miles away!) from 2004 to 2009. She’s now the Editorial Director at BigPictureClasses.com. She's a lifelong word nerd, an Arrested Development fan, and a two-time half-marathon runner who didn't lose a single pound in either attempt. Cathy Zielske is her fitness hero.

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TO ENTER: Leave me a comment and tell me which class you hope to win. I'll do a random drawing on Sunday, but I'll be sure you get the one you want!

Comments are now closed. Check back to see if you're a winner!

The winners of the spots in Two Views are…

The two winners of seats in my Two Views workshop which begins on Nov. 8, are:

Ladies, email me at czdesign@comcast.net and I'll get you set up in class!

I'd love to see many more of you in the workshop next week. Thanks for entering the giveaway today.

A peek inside the Two Views Workshop + class giveaway

In just over a week, my new Two Views workshop kicks off at Big Picture Classes. This class is all about pairing up with an album buddy—a parent, a child, a best friend, a sister, a partner or spouse—and answering a series of thought-provoking questions. The goal is to present a she said/she said (or he said) type of a scrapbook that shows where you both are in life, what you think and how you see the world.

I chose to make this album with my lovely 16-year-old daughter Aidan, and now that it's done, I keep thinking this is something she and I will seriously love to look back on as the years progress. What she thought at 16 and what I thought at 46… how different will we view our lives and ourselves in 10 years, or 20, or more?

Today I wanted to share one set of pages from the album. Of the 15 prompts you can choose from, one of my favorites is "How We Are Different." Every time Aidan finished one of her pages and gave it to me, I really did savor reading what she wrote. To read her voice and see her choice of a photograph, well, it warmed this scrapbooking mama's heart to say the least. Here's a peek at the two pages we did for this album project.

Note: click on each image to see the page larger in a new window.

Aidan found an old photo of me and her from when she was just about three to use on her page. Sigh. Gotta tell you: that one melts me every time.

This album project is really more about the words than having the perfect photos to illustrate every point, although it was fun to dig through my photo collection and select photos I thought would best work with my entries.

Each spread in this album project looks exactly like what you see above. You alternate your patterned papers, add printable monograms, photos and journaling.

The other part of the class is solid instruction for both Word and Photoshop Elements users. Beginners are definitely welcome and will find the step-by-steps clear and easy to follow. It's a true hybrid scrapbooking project that lets you combine the best of computer technology and traditional scrapbooking. (Note: fully layered PSD files are included for digital scrapbookers.)

Your album partner doesn't have to be a scrapbooker. Heck, you can get them to do the writing and offer up the photos, and you can assemble all of the pages yourself. For example, I'd love to do this project with my hubby, but I wouldn't really expect him to bust out the Hermafix and go to town on the assembly.

To learn more about the class or to sign up, click here.

NOW FOR THE GIVEAWAY Today I'm giving away two spots in this class and tonight I will choose the winners after 7 p.m. CST. All you have to do is tell me who you would consider doing this album project with, were you to win the spot in class. Good luck, and I'll choose two winners tonight.

This giveaway is now closed. Please check back to see if you're a winner. 

Announcing Two Views, my newest online workshop coming to Big Picture Classes in November

Today I'm announcing my newest workshop coming in mid-November to Big Picture Classes.

The class is called Two Views. The project is an album of prompts designed to be answered and recorded by two people. This class got started in my head about a year ago when I had the idea of making an album wherein me and my then 15-year-old daughter, Aidan, would create a sort of she said/she said type of album designed around a series of pre-determined prompts.

I wanted to find a way to save two voices—hers and mine—and celebrate where and if they merged, or where for sure they differed. 

The nice thing about Aidan is that a) she's crafty, and b) she likes to write. But as much as we both loved the idea and were excited about it, we just sort of sat on it until mid-Summer, when I said, "Okay, let's do this thing."

The result is an album that I may love above all others I've completed to date. A document of two completely different perspectives—mine and hers—in one, sweet little 8 x 8 album. I created a class around this project realizing that there are many ways two voices can come together in a project, beyond simply a mother and a daughter. It could be sisters, best friends, spouses or partners—any two people who like the challenge of tackling some questions that are designed to reveal little slices of authenticity for each person who undertakes the project.

And this is something that you don't have to be a full-blown scrapbooker to complete. Sure, I've tossed in a bit of the printing/production aspects of crafting that we all enjoy, and yes, you'll learn some digital tips and tricks along the way, but you can recruit anyone to participate with you. You sign up, and help them get set up, and off you go.

Although the class doesn't begin until November, when you sign up you'll be able to download a PDF of the prompts to give you a chance to get the creative wheels turning. In this way, when class begins, you'll be ready to jump in and start applying your words to the class templates.

If you have any questions about this workshop, please post in the comments and I'm happy to answer. Two Views runs November 8–21. You can read the full class description by clicking here. Registration is open now.

I hope to see you there!

You can listen to an audio promo on the class by clicking here.