CZ Design

Quizzes, and Printables and Pages (oh my!)

Quizzes, and Printables and Pages (oh my!)

Everday

(click on layout for bigness!) DIGITAL SUPPLIES: Aryanna Paper Pack, Weathered Neutrals Paperie, Ella Publishing Printable, Avenir font.

One of the ways I've been keeping busy since entering the realm of "I don't have a full-time job with a regular check " is by freelancing. I'm incredibly lucky to have built some good relationships over the years which let me continue to follow my passion and design from the safety of my cozy little office.

One of my newest clients is Ella Publishing Co. Ella, as many of you know, was launched by two of my former Simple Scrapbooks colleagues, Angie Lucas and Lain Ehmann, and is an eBook publishing company focusing on our favorite subject: memory keeping. Ah yes… memories.

While most of my work is the behind-the-scenes sort that most graphic designers do (I design the books and make them readable and pretty and then get the heck out of the way), Angie asked me to create a special collection of printables—pre-designed PDF journaling & title files—that corresponded to one of Ella's first eBooks, Quick&Creative Quizzes.

Quizzes.cover_.1325_0

This inspiring collection of quizzes, written by Angie and Wendy Smedley, is designed to get you thinking and writing with the goal of creating some truly authentic slices of your life in the here and now.

I have designed a companion to the book. It's called Quick & Creative Quizzes Printables. This 37-page downloadable PDF book contains 10 sketches for 12 x 12 layouts that all correspond directly to the eBook, and included are printables that help you complete each layout. The cost is $3.99.

Printables.cover2__0

I've taken Angie and Wendy's quiz questions and created my own sketch interpretations. You simply print them onto cardstock, trim and use as part of your finished page.

The cool thing about printables is that you don't have to be a full-on digital expert to use them. You just need to have Adobe Acrobat and presto—you get to play with stuff that's designed and ready to go and create a truly hybrid final page. (You can also use the files to create a digital design, like I did.)

I just wanted to share the page above as an example of one of the sketches (and printables) that are part of the collection. Enjoy!

Reader Interactions

Comments

  3. JennieB says

    I purchased all the ELLA e-books a few days ago and they’re fabulous, especially CZ’s. Everyone should check out the ELLA website, it’s wonderful!

  4. scrappysue says

    Cathy, these are fabulous. Sorry if this is a daft question, but can you open a .pdf file in PSE to make a digi page? Never tried this before! I totally want to make these pages digi like yours; so totally my style. Many thanks. Sue

  5. cathy says

    Sue, yep. You can. You just do a File > Open.

    Now, it’s not quite like a Layered PSD file, but… you can make it work. I did in the above example!

  6. Heids in South Africa says

    B’n lookin’ for a LO to do “month in review” for the calendars I fill in … this is FAB … can include the calendar on the opp page, AND still fit in 10 or more pics of the month!!!
    Uber cool!
    Tx chix!

  9. Marcie L says

    Boy I need to find a block of time to figure this digital stuff out. I couldn’t even get a picture in PSE to the right size I wanted on Sunday! 4×6, not 4.5 x 6. I’m truly digitally challenged but will get this ebook anyway and find a way to do it all!

  13. Linda says

    Love it Cathy!!! But could you just stop making all of these cool things until my daughter’s wedding? I just don’t have time….but I might have to make some time!

  14. Mary Mitchell says

    Cathy,

    Do you have single and double page layouts in your e-book designs? This would be helpful for me to know since I generally scrapbook double page layouts.

  15. Rachel says

    Hey Cathy,

    Can you tell me your Photoshop drop shadow settings for your layout? Your pictures jump off the page and your layouts don’t look as digi as some that I’ve seen and I really like the effect.

  16. cathy says

    Rachel, I did those in InDesign, but the setting is very, very similar…

    The percent of the shadow is 30%. The x and y offsets are 2 pt. The Size of the shadow is 4 pt.

    The Distance is 2.828 pt and the angle is 135.

    I think you can translate those into PS’s settings as well.

    The blending mode is set to Multiply. Shadow color=black.

  17. cathy says

    Mary, they are all single page designs, but there is a tip included to address creating double page spreads (which is essentially to mirror the design, and/or flip the design for a symmetrical two page spread.)

  18. cathy says

    Rachel, i did the shadows in InDesign, but the settings should translate to PS:

    Blending Mode: multiply
    Opacity: 30% (of black)
    Distance: 2.828 pt
    Angle: 135
    X and Y offset: 2 pt
    Side: 4 pt.
    No spread. No noise.

  20. Shannon says

    adapt as in resize? Thanks Cathy. Seriously, I’d buy way more digital stuff but it’s mostly geared toward 12 x 12. I love Ali’s digital templates but again, 12 x 12.

  21. cathy says

    Shannon…. yes, more or less. You can print out the printables as is, then build a page around them. But, then you’d have to figure out the math to make the sketch work.

    I am with you on the need for 8-1/2 x 11 templates. Trust me. ; ) I have plans…

  22. Shannon says

    ah, math I can do! I’m a teacher. 🙂

    And what a way to get me hooked, I’m looking forward to your “plans….”

  24. Christina says

    Cathy these are great. Can we change any of the questions on the pdf. Example, some of the by the number quiz, I would like to change a couple of the questions as they are not related to me. I’m looking forward to more examples pages hopefully. Keep up the great work.

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