• Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
  • HOME
  • SHOP
  • BLOG
  • ABOUT CATHY
  • CONTACT

CZ Design

The Scrapbook Ghosts of Christmas Past

November 30, 2009

The Scrapbook Ghosts of Christmas Past

IMG_6739

I recently designed a new "Holiday Memories" layered template in order to help me do something I haven't done in years: document Christmas.

I have a red Kolo binder where I keep my Christmas pages, and honestly? It's a little on the thin side. I just haven't done much Christmas scrapbooking. It's not that I'm a Scrooge or anything. I guess I just took the whole "you don't HAVE to document holidays" message a bit too seriously over the years.

Xmasalbum

But with my template in hand, an overflowing library of digital photos categorized conveniently in iPhoto by Month and Year, and one set of digital papers and embellishments, I set out to knock off a few years of Christmas past, just to see if I could. Here's layout number one:

CZ_LayeredTNo16sample

SUPPLIES Layered Template No. 16 (Cathy Zielske) • I Believe Kit, I Believe Solids Pack (Mindy Terasawa) • Archer Medium font

And that literally took minutes. So I thought, what about 2007?

CZ_LayeredTNo16_2007 

And 2006:

CZ_HolidayMemories2006 

Boom. Just like that. Three years in less than 20 minutes. For realz.

Did I capture a complete picture of each holiday season? No. Did I capture a decent enough slice that will remind me of a time since passed? You bet.

When I was done with the designing part, I could have printed these at home, but to save ink I uploaded them to ScrapbookPictures.com and paid $2.49 per page. The quality is stellar and I think they look fantastic in the album.

IMG_6773

The other cool and liberating part of all of this is how you can take one design, and one set of papers and embellishments—digital ones in this case—and use them more than once to tell your stories.To me, that's not a boring approach. It's an efficient one—both from a time and financial investment standpoint—and one that let me add a group of new pages to an album that was feeling a bit neglected.

It also reminded me that there's no real time limit to when you can tell a story. That in and of itself is a pretty liberating thought. Tell it when you're ready.

I think I've got a new holiday tradition for covering a few highs from each Christmas season from this day forward. 

P.S. And this one? Took 8.5 minutes. I'm sorry, but there's some liberation in them there digital hills…

CZHoliday05LR
 
This template is also available in a 12 x 12 format.

 CZ_LayeredTNo15PREV

P.S. If you like this template, but think, "Well I wish there were other title options to pair with the word 'memories'" then you're in luck. Here's a set of PNG and Brushes with different script words you can simply copy and paste into this template to cover a variety of different "memories."

CZ_WordArt1PREV
 

Share this:

  • Facebook
  • Pinterest
  • Twitter

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. kate says

    November 30, 2009 at 5:19 am

    I really love this! A blog friend and I have recently decided we are the “lazy-scrappers” now that we’ve found digital templates! But really “efficient” is a much better word! Sometimes I’m so overwhelmed with the sheer volume of photos I have that I decide I can’t possibly scrap them all, but since I found digital, it’s fine to be “efficient” sometimes! 🙂

    Reply
  2. Barb says

    November 30, 2009 at 5:30 am

    Oh Cathy, these are PERFECT! The template and the word art are a perfect match! I’m so happy I feel the need to use way more punctuation than is normally required!! (Sorry…)

    Reply
  3. Sarah B says

    November 30, 2009 at 5:37 am

    I’m a total sucker for templates. Love it.

    Reply
  4. Emma says

    November 30, 2009 at 5:42 am

    Where were you when I decided to scrap Christmas in waaaay too much detail many years back, each and every year? Oh yes, NOT documenting Christmas! I love this idea and now my kids are teens I think this is the way to go. Thank you, yet again for showing the way 🙂

    Reply
  5. scrappysue says

    November 30, 2009 at 6:02 am

    These totally Rock, and now I am going to make an entire digi album about Christmas past and pretty much call it done, oh my how liberating will that be! Thanks Cathy.

    Reply
  6. Tammy Eberhard says

    November 30, 2009 at 6:09 am

    Beautiful Cathy! You make me feel like I could catch up on old memories in no time at all! Great design as usual.

    Reply
  7. Pooh.Fanatic@gmail.com says

    November 30, 2009 at 6:22 am

    Love, Love, Love it! I was just thinking about an album for “Cousins, Nieces & Nephews” to put years and years of school photos in. I was trying to get a template that I could use throughout and entire album!! This is perfect!

    NeseScott

    Reply
  8. Leora says

    November 30, 2009 at 6:23 am

    I love it Cathy! Happy Cyber Monday and thanks for the holiday inspiration…

    Reply
  9. scrappysue says

    November 30, 2009 at 6:40 am

    OK, purchase made, and now I am jumping up and down with excitement because I plan to make my 10 y/o twins their own versions (made into photobooks) to give as gifts for Christmas next year. I’m thinking of adding pages of how Mum and Dad celebrated before they were born, our childhood Christmases etc. Woo hoo! It really is a great template!

    Reply
  10. Jo says

    November 30, 2009 at 6:52 am

    Cathy those layouts are lovely. I can definitely see myself taking inspiration from that design. Why invent the wheel indeed!

    Reply
  11. Therese says

    November 30, 2009 at 7:03 am

    Cathy, I used your HERE & NOW template to do a recent album of my grandson. Instead of over thinking how each page would look,to show his daily activities, it was so simple to use your template just add a few embellishments. I feel relief looking at this Memories template because I’ll soon have Christmas done for a second updated album. TKS for much for these classic desgins.

    Reply
  12. Deb Rymer says

    November 30, 2009 at 7:21 am

    Sold!

    PS – Cathy, your wonderful little “thankful” album brought sweet tears to our Thanksgiving table. Thank you for your continued inspiration.

    Reply
  13. Jackie says

    November 30, 2009 at 7:47 am

    Go figure…those beautiful red albums are totally sold out. 😉 Those are awesome templates!!!!

    Reply
  14. Lowly says

    November 30, 2009 at 7:56 am

    Oh, the days when our teenagers loved American Girl dolls, not that long ago. Now they are sitting in the top of the closet waiting for the grandchildren…sigh.

    Reply
  15. Melissa G says

    November 30, 2009 at 7:58 am

    CZ, you must try scrappingsimply.com. I used to use Scrapbook Pictures, but for 12×12 (and 8.5 x 11) pages, they are just cheaper! $1.89 for 8.5 x 11. $5 flat rate shipping. And their customer service rocks.

    Reply
  16. heather (h2) says

    November 30, 2009 at 8:04 am

    Nice…..THIS POST COULD HAVE SAVED ME OOOOOODLES OF TIME if you would have posted this BEFORE the weekend:) This rocks. LOVE. IT.
    P.S.You are forgiven

    Reply
  17. Christine says

    November 30, 2009 at 8:12 am

    Cool Christmas Pages!

    I started a blog two years ago because of your suggestion in CS2, I’m nearly up to 500 entries this week.

    http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/curiousities/748366/

    Thanks, you rock!
    Christine

    Reply
  18. April P says

    November 30, 2009 at 8:24 am

    Cathy, I’m right there with ya on the “I don’t need to scrapbook every holiday” bandwagon, and while I’ve enjoyed the hiatus, these are layouts I want to do – but with a “get ‘er done” approach and not take hours on a layout! I’m so glad you’re coming out with templates that are just perfect! Off to go spend money at DD

    Reply
  19. Wendy Holifield says

    November 30, 2009 at 8:26 am

    I LOVE this! Thank you! I think I can make this template and make it into a calender for my in-laws!! I think you just saved me lots of stress!

    Reply
  20. ShellyJ says

    November 30, 2009 at 8:31 am

    oh wow! love it … what a fabulous idea 🙂

    Reply
  21. TammyL says

    November 30, 2009 at 8:47 am

    Do I need to have photoshop to purchase these? I’m so untechnical with my scrapping. Everytime I try to print a photo, they come out crappy. Where does one even begin?

    Reply
  22. Rachel says

    November 30, 2009 at 8:51 am

    Fabulousness, again! You never disappoint, Cathy. I’m loving your digital designs.

    Reply
  23. Cynthia Friese-Hassanein says

    November 30, 2009 at 8:59 am

    Digi liberation, Yes for sure. I have left my paper behind:) And I am so OK with it!!!!
    And thank you for the link to scrapbookpictures.com!!!!! made my day:)

    Reply
  24. cathy says

    November 30, 2009 at 9:03 am

    Awww. I love hearing that. It was a bit weepy reading what was written on some of ours too.

    Reply
  25. cathy says

    November 30, 2009 at 9:04 am

    Hey Melissa, thanks for the tip! I will check them out!

    Reply
  26. cathy says

    November 30, 2009 at 9:04 am

    Go you!

    Reply
  27. cathy says

    November 30, 2009 at 9:06 am

    Tammy, the templates are for use with Photoshop and Photoshop Elements only. So, yes. You do need one of those programs. I recently saw PSE on sale at Costco for $49 which is a steal, actually! Good luck!

    Also, check out JessicaSprague.com for beginner classes on PS and PSE! Totally will help you start out!

    Reply
  28. Jean says

    November 30, 2009 at 9:18 am

    I’m in the process of doing something similar – scrapping past Christmases – so it’s great to see a take on the process that streamlines it, because honestly I don’t want to dwell in that past but just want to get it down on paper. Great design!

    Reply
  29. Ann says

    November 30, 2009 at 9:25 am

    Wow Cathy! You did it again! BTW what a change in looks in your dear sweet Aiden from just a year ago. She is definately a young lady now-girlie girl last year, beautiful young woman today.

    Reply
  30. Jody says

    November 30, 2009 at 9:47 am

    Oh Cathy,
    You digi temptress, you!
    I just adore these templates.
    If anyone can sell me away from paper,
    it is you.
    My white flag is raised.
    😉

    Reply
  31. Julie in Edmonds says

    November 30, 2009 at 11:05 am

    As always…looks fantastic!!

    Reply
  32. slammie says

    November 30, 2009 at 12:07 pm

    Love the layouts!

    Reply
  33. Mandy says

    November 30, 2009 at 1:01 pm

    OK… just back from the shop where I got templates 15 and 3. The scrappy mojo is zinging!
    Thanks!
    Mandy McK (UK)

    Reply
  34. cathy says

    November 30, 2009 at 1:03 pm

    Enjoy, Mandy!

    Reply
  35. cathy says

    November 30, 2009 at 1:03 pm

    Jody, you don’t have to go full digi. Just dabble a bit! ; )

    Reply
  36. Kathryn Fenderson Scott says

    November 30, 2009 at 1:15 pm

    wow – very clever & cute. love the baby jesus peanut.

    Reply
  37. Patricia says

    November 30, 2009 at 1:44 pm

    Really love your templates, Cathy. All of them. You’ve done such a great job. And don’t you just LOVE those KOLO albums! I love them all–and the boxes–great quality, design, colors.

    Reply
  38. Barb says

    November 30, 2009 at 2:12 pm

    That’s what I keep saying to her… it’s not an all or nothing proposition. I am happy to scrap paper, digital OR hybrid these days.

    C’mon, Jody… you know you want to! 😛

    Reply
  39. Diane Herman says

    November 30, 2009 at 2:14 pm

    ah…the pasta Angels…so loved them…too cute.

    Brilliant template. I love it for other events too!!!

    Reply
  40. DebbieR says

    November 30, 2009 at 2:17 pm

    This is a great idea.
    I just wanted to say that as I look back through your memories that you can just see the thoughtfulness emanating from Aidan. What a great mom you must be.

    Reply
  41. Carol Wehner says

    November 30, 2009 at 2:28 pm

    So fun to see your family’s pics and stories. But, where are you and your hubby in these??? Hand over that camera to the kiddies for once. 🙂

    Reply
  42. cathy says

    November 30, 2009 at 3:17 pm

    I sort of realized that after the fact… trust me, I have three All About Cathy albums. I may not show up in Christmas, but there’s more than enough documenting mama! LOL!

    Reply
  43. cathy says

    November 30, 2009 at 3:18 pm

    Oh Debbie, thanks, but… i think my kids just are who they are. I just try to let them be, and reign them in from time to time.

    Reply
  44. Marg NZ says

    November 30, 2009 at 3:18 pm

    Hi Cathy, I’m really keen to give your templates a go. BUT…. I’ve only used PSE for the MeTAV class so have no clue what to do 🙁
    Is there a chance you could give some instructions on how to use your templates and digital papers (yes, no clue on them either) in order to create a layout?
    Your MeTAV instructions were brill by the way, I just pointed and clicked where you said and it worked a treat 🙂

    Reply
  45. Donna says

    November 30, 2009 at 4:00 pm

    Brilliant! I was just looking through my photos and realized that I had soooo many unscrapped Christmas photos and voila! you have shown me how I can address this problem. Thanks. I think I will have to go make some pages pronto before the next Christmas season hits.

    Reply
  46. ErikaB says

    November 30, 2009 at 4:03 pm

    Love this! The same, but different every time and I hate scrapbooking Xmas pages!!!!

    Reply
  47. Ann in WI says

    November 30, 2009 at 4:21 pm

    Wait…I need help…so you put this together …in some magical way …I so don’t understand this whole digital thing, but then you print the page on a) what kind of printer? b) what kind of paper? And it’s all clearly printed like real photos?

    Reply
  48. Linda says

    November 30, 2009 at 4:21 pm

    These are great Cathy! I loved seeing them printed out and tucked into the album too.

    Reply
  49. debbie says

    November 30, 2009 at 4:48 pm

    YAY! I bought that holiday digital kit a few weeks ago and you have given me way more ideas on how to use it than I could have come up with! Thanks so much for sharing your digipages. I’m off to designer digitals to deplete the old checking account!

    Reply
  50. Jennifer says

    November 30, 2009 at 5:11 pm

    nice work. i may just need to follow your lead! for realz… 🙂

    Reply
  51. Tracey says

    November 30, 2009 at 5:30 pm

    These are fantastic. They are really tempting me to give this digital thing a try!I feel like I am too computer illiterate but you make it sound so easy.
    I love your blog and all the great tips that you provide.

    Reply
  52. Stacy says

    November 30, 2009 at 5:34 pm

    So, I want to say thank you for making me poor. No really, all your digi goodness is making me poor. I’ve got ALL of your 8.5×11 templates on my DD wishlist just waiting for the next quarterly sale. But, I just splurged and bought this one so I could get working on Christmases past. Thanks for the inspiration. Oh, and by the way…since your already making me poor…could you please make an 8.5×11 template for recipes (perhaps with a cover sheet and a square for the kolo or AC album)? Obviously, I have a problem. :o)

    Reply
  53. Jennifer Larson says

    November 30, 2009 at 5:51 pm

    OK, I’m not anti-digi, but for me, considering digital is like turning to the dark side, I love playing with paper so much. However, you, Cathy Z., are Darth Sidius to me right now. It’s mighty tempting…

    Reply
  54. cathy says

    November 30, 2009 at 6:13 pm

    Marg, yes! I will be working to post some basic tutorials in the next few weeks!

    Keep in mind, Designer Digitals has excellent get started info. Check this out:

    http://www.designerdigitals.com/digital-scrapbooking/GettingStarted.html

    and

    http://www.designerdigitals.com/digital-scrapbooking.html

    Reply
  55. cathy says

    November 30, 2009 at 6:14 pm

    Ann, i sent it out to a online photo printer, who prints it out onto photo paper. Looks just as crispy as a regular photo. : )

    Reply
  56. cathy says

    November 30, 2009 at 6:15 pm

    Stacy, save for those sales. That is SUCH a great time to buy!

    I am noodling some ideas around (no pun intended) for a recipe album for an 8.5 x 11 binder!

    Stay tuned!

    Reply
  57. cathy says

    November 30, 2009 at 6:16 pm

    I will not harm you in any way! LOL!

    You know, here’s the thing: right now i’m just dabbling and feeling my way around. And the weird thing is, i am loving creating fully digital pages. Right now, for some reason, digital is enabling stories to flow out of me, and then quickly be documented in a way that meets my simple aesthetic requirement.

    I still like to use paper too. So, stay tuned.

    And may the force be with you.

    Reply
  58. Ann says

    November 30, 2009 at 6:20 pm

    You really are pulling the traditional people over to the digital way of life. Thanks for sharing your passion with us!!!

    Reply
  59. Stacy says

    November 30, 2009 at 6:41 pm

    Ha ha ha. Noodle around if you must. :o) I will wait patiently for the recipe album. Oh, and the 8.5 x 11 school one as well. It must be somewhat gratifying knowing that people stalk the DD site every weekend just to see what CZ magic appears. Or, perhaps that’s just me.

    Reply
  60. Shannon says

    November 30, 2009 at 7:07 pm

    Cathy,

    It’s so funny that you made those pages. I was looking at that template and thinking to myself, “should I go back and do all my Christmas pages like this?” Then I wondered if I would get a little bored with the same layout template. But….. you’ve answered my question! You rock. Keep those templates going, especially in 8.5 x 11! It’s easier to switch that way than the other!

    Reply
  61. Sarah MacKenzie says

    November 30, 2009 at 7:18 pm

    I think you may have just solved my nearly 3 year long dilemma of what to do with photos from the trips we take to visit my family. I get bored of doing layouts each time since we do much of the same stuff, but this would fit perfectly and I could have an album of just photos from these trips now. I could even do two pages per visit if i wanted to show more photos. Thanks for being so awesome!

    Reply
  62. mel says

    November 30, 2009 at 8:55 pm

    I was hoping you could tell me the font details for your journalling. I had some 100% digital layouts printed from the same place and used the same white textured background as you but the text was faded when I got them back and it looked horrible. I did everything at 300dpi, I think I used Avenir Light, size 10.
    thanks

    Reply
  63. MaryRuth says

    November 30, 2009 at 9:42 pm

    I’m seriously in love with you. Don’t let that scare you. I live far far away from you and I’m anti stalking. BUT I LOVE YOUR TEMPLATES. LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE THEM!

    I’ve been totally digital for a year and half now. And I have to say its changed my scrapbooking and my life. Dramatic, but true.

    Thank you for your creative genius-ness!!

    Reply
  64. Crystal says

    November 30, 2009 at 10:07 pm

    Thank you for sharing those templates! I’m just venturing into digi scrapping (I did one LO last week) and I can see myself using these alot. They are so perfect. I love your LOS – and seeing how your kids have changed! Happy December to you!

    Reply
  65. Deb says

    November 30, 2009 at 10:50 pm

    Awesome template, Cathy!! I’m grabbing it in just a minute, and thankfully I waited to buy the other stuff I put in my cart tonight at DD!
    I have a question for you though because I’m trying to make a big decision right now about photo organization. I’m currently using iPhoto ’09 and definitely LOVE IT! But, I don’t like how it uses up my hard drive space behind the scenes. Since you mentioned that you use iPhoto, I’m wondering if you allow iPhoto to duplicate your photos, or did you uncheck that box in Preferences>Advanced before you started uploading your photos? I’d sure love to see a post here on your blog on how you organize your photos in iPhoto! That would be so awesome!! TIA!!

    Reply
  66. Margy Eastman says

    December 1, 2009 at 12:33 am

    I love this template! I’m with all the ladies who are feeling a twinge, turning away from the paper. I just finished a calendar of Jack for the grandparents – all digital and now in the able hands of Shutterfly. How fun to bang out a big project and not make huge flippin’ mess! Between the drop shadows and scalloped border mask, I may never go back;)

    Reply
  67. MargNZ says

    December 1, 2009 at 6:43 am

    Thanks Cathy. I look forward (most anxiously) to getting these so I can embark on creating the layouts like yours. From one trainer to another, I must say I really liked your MeTav instructions. I was anxious that being new to PSE I wouldn’t be able to follow it but it was just enough to get me through without being too many instructions with screen shots of every mouse move. Thanks so much.

    Reply
  68. Jana D says

    December 1, 2009 at 6:43 am

    Love this template. Is this YOUR handwriting?

    Reply
  69. Tammy says

    December 1, 2009 at 6:43 am

    I love the idea of a quick template to get things done yet be able to make each page look a little different. I have three different families worth of photos to scrapbook for 11 children and I’m overwhelmed! I turned to digital scrapbooking to help me accomplish this huge task and to duplicate books easily. This same template idea might just be my next great literator. Thanks for sharing these great layouts and ideas.

    Reply
  70. Jana D says

    December 1, 2009 at 6:48 am

    Forgot to add that this template is going to get me “caught” up with Christmas’ past.

    Reply
  71. Veronica says

    December 1, 2009 at 8:56 am

    LOVE IT gonna have to do it….because 8.5 minutes is all the time i can dedicate to scrapbooking right now. But I can dream!!

    Reply
  72. Lori says

    December 1, 2009 at 11:42 am

    I love your templates and I loved seeing your samples of Christmas pages. So glad that you are selling at DD now and thanks for including 12 x 12, too.

    Reply
  73. arimacias says

    December 1, 2009 at 12:15 pm

    this will be my first template purchase other than all the freebies out there.
    seriously.
    you are my hero.

    Reply
  74. Wendy A says

    December 1, 2009 at 1:39 pm

    Hi Cathy – thanks for yet another great template. I just bought a few of your other templates last week & have had a blast playing with them. My question for you is this. I am a very new digi scrapper but want to only use your photo templates for now & still paper scrap the rest of the layout. Is there a way to just print out the photo collage part of the templates I bought? Then & now is one I bought if you want to use that as reference? Thanks for all your help & your wonderful templates – I cannot get enough!!!

    Reply
  75. MaryRuth says

    December 1, 2009 at 3:24 pm

    I had template dreams last night… seriously. With that one template I plan to make pages for Hawaii, Yellowstone, Vancouver, Cannon Beach, six years of Christmas, six years of Thanksgiving, a couple of birthday’s… the possibilities are endless! Thank you!!

    Reply
  76. Lisa R says

    December 1, 2009 at 5:57 pm

    Oh Cathy, you are a genius! I love this idea. Why keep reinventing the wheel, right?! Maybe I’d get more scrapping done if I didn’t wrack my brain thinking of different layouts all the time.
    I’m off to get your templates.
    Merry Christmas to me 🙂

    Reply
  77. Stacy says

    December 14, 2009 at 6:17 pm

    I bought this template and I LOVE it. Just a quick question. I’d like to follow your lead and send to scrapbookpictures.com. But, I’d like to know whether you save your photos and then your layouts in sRGB or RGB? Any words of advice would be greatly appreciated. Thanks, Cathy.

    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Primary Sidebar

  • YouTube
  • Instagram
  • Facebook
  • Pinterest

Categories

  • Cards
  • Crafts
  • CZ Life
  • Free Downloads
  • Products & Classes
  • Project Life
  • Scrapbooking
  • Tutorials

Archives

Footer

About

I'm Cathy Zielske and this is one of my homes on the World Wide Web. Want to learn more about me? By all means, click the link below:

  • YouTube
  • Instagram
  • Facebook
  • Pinterest

Let’s Connect

If you have specific questions that can’t be answered by stalking me on social media, please click below:

Categories

  • Cards
  • Crafts
  • CZ Life
  • Free Downloads
  • Products & Classes
  • Project Life
  • Scrapbooking
  • Tutorials

Copyright © 2023 Cathy Zielske · site by bello via design