Cathy Zielske's Blog, page 240

Communication in the Modern Age

I wonder if Mark Zuckerberg ever envisioned the Christmas list functionality of Facebook?

Make a Page Mondays No. 8

Welcome to the the eighth installment of Make a Page Monday. With Thanksgiving now a sweet, calorie-laden memory (one that I will be working off for days) I decided to make a simple page to note the holiday, but my story this year is one that even surprised me.

(Click on the image to see larger in a new window)

SIZE/MODE: 12 x 12 digital scrapbook page.

THE STORY: Here's a little story about a scrapbooking Mom who decided to just hang up the camera within minutes of arriving at her Thanksgiving celebration. I took a total of 17 shots for the entire day and guess what? It felt wonderful. The main reason? I realized once we got down to my in-laws (an hour south of our home) that I'd left my Thankful album supplies sitting squarely on top of my dining room table. WHAT? No Thankful album 2010? After a split second of embracing my incomprehensible forgetfulness, I took a deep breath and remembered what I most love about this holiday: everything. And so, I let it go and let the day and the gratitude in. So maybe I don't have a Thankful album to share this year. I have still have my family and the memories inside my head and on any day that is surely enough to fill me up. And besides, what's to stop me and the ones I love from filling it out at another ordinary family get-together? To remind us of our gratitude every time we gather?

THE JOURNALING: Thanksgiving at the farm, gathered in gratitude. After the "Doh!" moment when I realized I left My Thankful album project back in St. Paul, I set the camera aside for most of the day and just relaxed with my family. There are no group pictures of the Zielskes to be Christmas-card ready this year, and you know what? I think that's perfectly fine. The best part of this day is how dependably agenda-free it remains. It's my favorite holiday of the year for this very reason. A simple day to give thanks; to want nothing other than to share the day with the people you love. A brilliant concept for a holiday indeed.

I use this four-square design approach a lot in my scrapbooking. I call it, "Why reinvent the wheel?" Let's look at the design principles at work here.

1. Symmetrical Balance: The four-square base to this design creates an instantly solid, symmetrical design. The four photo/paper/journaling spaces provide a framework in which to build. You can mix up what you use in the space, and you can layer titles and embellishments over the spaces and still preserve the symmetrical foundation.

2. Repetition—Remember how repetition promotes the overall unity of a design? Here, you repeat shape (squares), and color (brown in the papers and type; white in the title and the stitching).

3. Unity—The placement of the four squares via their proximity to one another create a unified chunk of visual content. Add to that the overlap of the title and the placement of both the smaller title and the date, and you have a connected, purposeful grouping of visual content which creates a strong sense of unity and purpose. Placement is everything in a unified design.

Here is a basic sketch you can download to keep in your scrapbooking files. The sketches are on 8.5 x 11 paper for easy printing.

Download CZMAPMSketchNo8

digital template—Layered Template No. 76 (Cathy Zielske

digital papers—Krafty Ledger Paper Pack (Katie Pertiet) • Weathered Neutrals Paperie (Anna Aspnes)

digital stitching—Stitched No. 1 by Anna (Anna Aspnes)

digital brushes—Outline Years, Months & Days (Ali Edwards)

QUESTIONS? COMMENTS? Leave them for me and I'll do my best to answer. Also, if you make your own version of the page, don't hesitate to share a link in your comment. I love to see how people are intepreting the sketches to make their own pages!

TO SEE MORE OF THIS SERIES click here.

Winners! Sponsor Giveaway: ReneePearson.com and JessicaSprague.com

The winner of a spot in Tiffany Tillman's newest workshop 25 Days of Templates: the 2010 Holiday Edition is:

 

The winners of the copies of Jessica Sprague's brand spankin' new book, Stories in Hand, are:

Ladies, email me at czdesign@comcast.net to claim your winnings! Hope everyone is having a restful, restorative Sunday. See you on the blog tomorrow.

 

Sponsor Giveaway: ReneePearson.com and JessicaSprague.com

One blog reader will win a spot in Tiffany Tillman's newest workshop 25 Days of Templates: the 2010 Holiday Edition.

THE holiday templates class for digital scrapbookers is back! Join Tiffany Tillman in a brand new 25 Days of Templates workshop for the 2010 holidays. This highly inspirational class provides daily tips and techniques that will help you craft a holiday album using layered templates as the foundation.

Class begins December 1st and runs through the 25th.

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

I have 3 copies of Jessica Sprague's brand spankin' new book, Stories in Hand, to give away.

Stories in Hand is a book that was inspired by a wildly successful free workshop Jessica created a few years back, and now the content of that class has been compiled into a book. Aside from being an amazing digital scrapbook designer, Jessica is passionate about getting stories told. This book contains prompt after prompt after prompt to help you do just that!

I was honored that Jessica included a few of my stories in this book. Proud to be a part of something that puts such an emphasis on the words of our hobby. Read more about the book by clicking here.

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

Speaking of Jessica Sprague and free workshops, Jessica's newest free class, "Inspiration Everywhere" begins on Monday. Be sure to check it out if you haven't already.

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

TO ENTER: Leave me a comment today and tell me if you've worked off that holiday meal yet? I'd have to run for 6 hours to work off mine!

[comments are now closed. check back to see if you've won!}

And the winner of the $250 gift card is…

The winner of the $250 gift card from Todays Mama and Game Stop is:

Mary, email me at czdesign@comcast.net and I'll get you hooked up. Thanks again to Todays Mama and Game Stop for the extremely generous giveaway!

Happy Thanksgiving to all of my readers. I hope you are with the ones you love, gathered today to simply be thankful and share a meal together.

Cheers!