Cathy Zielske's Blog, page 227

And the winner of the giveaways are…

The winner of their choice of word or name, letters and color or BW. (Word plates are US only, Name Frames can ship anywhere) from Fritts Creative is:

The winner of a spot in Illustrator 2 with Laura Coyle, an intermediate Adobe Illustrator class is:

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

 

She really is amazing

SUPPLIES: StoryGuide No. 2 (Cathy Zielske) • Transitions Paper Pack (Ali Edwards)

The Designer Digitals 2nd Quarter Sale is in full swing, and to celebrate we are hosting an all day chat on Saturday, complete with lots of awesome free downloads. I'll be chatting at 10 a.m. Eastern time tomorrow morning. The topic: type. Join me and the entire team for a fun day of digital goodness and online chatting. Plus, my freebie is a pretty cute one! See you tomorrow morning (provided the world is still here, of course.)

Sponsor Giveaway: photographic letter art from Fritts Creative

Fritts Creative is offering one blog reader their choice of (1) 10- x 20-inch Custom Name Frame Print OR and (1) Word Plate, 8 letters or less. Your choice of word or name, letters and color or BW. (Word plates are US only, Name Frames can ship anywhere)

ABOUT FRITTS CREATIVE: LeAnne at Fritts Creative has combined her passion for photography with her need to be creative!  By taking pictures of nature, architecture and everyday objects that resemble letters of the alphabet, she creates unique and colorful photographic letter art.  Using these pictures as letters, customers choose their own combinations to make personalized names and words.  Available in either color or B&W and with over 250 letter choices, there is a word for everyone.  From Name Frames to Word Plates, she want you to have fun and be creative!

THE PRODUCTS: Name Frames are 10- x 20-inch collage prints which allows the addition of personalized text—perfect for wedding, anniversaries and family names.  This is a print only, no framing.

Word Plates are individual 4x6 photographic prints, framed under glass and connected into one long framed piece.  A little funkier than name frames, word plates are very popular with kids of all ages.

For sample layouts, letter choices  and ordering please visit her website , Etsy shop  or Facebook page.

TO ENTER: Tell me what word you'd have created if you won. I'll choose a winner on Sunday night.

Sponsor Giveaway: an Illustrator workshop from ReneePearson.com

One blog reader will win a spot in Illustrator 2 with Laura Coyle, an intermediate Adobe Illustrator class.
This workshop runs from June 3 – 23. I have taken one of Laura's classes and she is an excellent instruction. Illustrator is my weak link and I learned a ton from this talented teacher!

ABOUT THE CLASS: Want to take your creations to the next level in Adobe Illustrator? Join Laura Coyle in this follow-up to her popular "Step by Step" beginning Illustrator class. In Illustrator 2 you'll learn techniques to take your work to new dimensions and have fun exploring all you can do with this amazing vector program.

TO ENTER: Leave me a comment and tell me what version of Adobe CS you're currently working with! I'll choose a winner on Sunday night.

Save on everything at Designer Digitals beginning today

 

The Designer Digitals 2nd Quarter Sale is on now through the weekend. Everything in the store has been makred down 30 percent. It's a great time to save on any digital or hybrib projects you've had your eye on.

You can find my entire digital collection by clicking here. Happy saving and scrapping.

My 10 Things Mini Album set is on sale this weekend!

Now if you'll excuse me, I have three weeks worth of Project Life to catch up on this weekend. The good news? I'm just going to use one spread and possible one digital page to cover all that I missed. Love the flexibility of this project.

Wide Angle Offspring

Sometimes they're cute.

And sometimes they're kooky.

Either way, the wide angle loves 'em.

It's been one week

Last Saturday I climbed back onto the Eat Less Wagon, which really should just be called the No Cupcakes or Goldfish Express. I wrote about falling off the wagon last week, and I fessed up not just to blogland, but to myself for not being honest about what was going on.

And what was going on? A rolicking sugar and carb fest, people, in all its intoxicating glory.

Falling off a wagon and getting right back on is a whole new thing for me. In the past, I'd go like diet gang busters for months and then, buh-bye wagon.

But in the past six months, I keep managing to climb back on. I keep managing to not throw out that baby with the bathwater.

Here's what I've learned: it kind of sucks.

To have to go back to Square One with ditching food crap is no easy feat. The headaches I had on Saturday, Sunday and even on Monday weren't pleasant. My body was screaming for sugar. My kingdom for a Pop Tart and a glass of grape juice!

I wish I could tell you that when you fall off, you just have to back on, simple as that. But my experience is that you truly have to white knuckle a few days until the sugar headaches go away. Carb and sugar cravings are a beyotch.

I don't believe that healthy living should be about deprivation, but I do believe you have to kick a few things to the curb to get a handle on it. You can be a little black and white for a few days to let those healthy habits kick back in, or simply start up from scratch.

I still love this blog post about having a craving to go overboard on something and asking yourself what you would do if your child came to you and he or she was tired, or crabby, or scared, or lonely, or bored. Would you make them feel better by shoveling food into their mouths? Or would you try to understand what was really going on and give them emotional support and love?

That visualization helped me a few times last week, when the cravings were kicking my ass. I tried to be with myself and understand what I was really feeling and to not let food be the BandAid to make it all better.

The other thing I'm doing is continuing to research nutrition and try to discover different ideas and approaches that might work well for me and my body. I mentioned I'm reading "Why We Get Fat" by Gary Taubes, and I'm now also reading, "The Secrets to a Healthy Metabolism" by Maria Emmerich.

Again, I'm not even halfway through either book (I'm a pokey reader, plus I'm spending too much free time playing Plants vs. Zombies on my iPad) but I'm starting to explore the idea of better balanced nutrition, including more protein and healthy fats as part of every meal.

I look at this phase of the journey as a scientific study. What will happen when I start consciously adapting a different approach to nutrition, not just one based on how many 100-calorie snack packs can I squeeze in on my 29 Weight Watchers Points every day.

I'm searching for a lifestyle that fits.

So far, the Moving More is going strong and steady, albeit a little slow on the paces. But as long as I'm drenched in sweat or chlorine at the end of a workout, I'm golden.

Here's to another week on the wagon.

And the winner of the giveaway is…

The winner of a spot in Laura Vanderbeek's workshop, Photo First Aid, Photographic enhancements & retouching solutions, is:

Congrats, Sharon! Email me at czdesign@comcast.net and I'll get you hooked up with the class. There is still time to sign up for Laura's class for those who want to learn some pretty cool photo enhancing tips!

Sponsor Giveaway: a photography workshop from ReneePearson.com

One blog reader will win a spot in Laura Vanderbeek's workshop, Photo First Aid, Photographic enhancements & retouching solutions The class runs June 2 through June 29.

ABOUT THE WORKSHOP: Learn the same step-by-step process she uses to create artistic photographs for display in her clients' homes and albums. You'll learn how to manipulate light and color, retouch photos and add artistic finishing touches.

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TO ENTER: Leave me a comment and answer this question: do you tweak your photos all of the time, some of the time, or never? I'll choose a winner on Sunday night!

 

The View

Roughly 4 days a week, for anywhere from 35 to 60 minutes, all winter long, this was my view.

Last November, I begrudgingly left the paved paths of outdoor running, returning to where it all began nearly a year-and-a-half ago.

Let me begin by saying this: I have no problem with using a treadmill. I know there are so many runners out there who absolutely cringe at the notion of using the dreadmill, and I totally honor your cringey-ness. But me and the treadmill maketh enemies not. In my book, sweat is sweat.

However, last year when I finally made the connection to outdoor running, I absolutely dreaded the idea of ever returning to my basement.

Oh sure, I had Neil there to cheer me on.

And I had my ever present reminder of where I'm from, which also served to help me to imagine what it might be like to head out for three miles in an Emerald City downpour.

And I had easy access to water.

And to Kleenex.

But I knew I would be missing that seemingly spiritual connection to being outside and becoming one and sweaty with nature.

But then a funny thing happened over the Winter. I got used to the treadmill again.

I also started missing something that had plagued me all summer and fall long: heel pain in the form of plantar fasciitis.

I didn't really make this connection until I took my first handful of outdoor runs last month, only to find me limping the next day like someone had beat my heel with a large club.

I realized that the pavement is a lot less kind to my body than the predictable tread of the 'mill.

Last year, as a new runner, I would have never made this connection. True, I may be due for some new kicks, but there is a reality staring me right between the eyes: running inside is easier on my body than running outside.

I'll be honest with you: I'm not sure how I feel about that.

I really like the idea of being an outside runner. I really like the sensation of the sun and the wind and the sweat combining in the great outdoors. I really like the fact that although I'm slow, I'm still out there running.

I guess it's experiement time again. I guess it's time to make smart adjustments. I guess that to predict anything from season to season, especially your athletic abilities is an ever-shifting landscape.

I just wanted to share a story from the Move More side of my life today. It's much less whine-laden.