Last week, I was going through scans of old pages on my hard drive and making back up copies of them, and I came across a page from 2005 that I absolutely loved. I can't remember where it might have shown up—possibly for an article in Simple Scrapbooks magazine or maybe for a class I was teaching—but it featured a rockin' picture of me taken by the one and only Tara Whitney, and I looked like a complete and total badass.
I didn't even need glasses back then. Dang!
The thing I loved most about the page is that it was a chance to give some much needed advice to my then much more uptight self. You guys know I'm all about the self pages. I think we as story tellers belong in our albums right along side every one else we're scrapbooking about. You know the drill: if you don't tell your story, who will?
I decided to revisit this page and turned the design into a layered template to put into my Designer Digitials collection.
Here are the two new journaling-driven hybrid pages I made:
Today I have a short tutorial for working with a digital template to create a hybrid scrapbook page. I love the idea of writing notes to yourself, or notes to someone in your life. This template is designed to do just that, with the design work all taken care of for you.
Hybrid Scrapbooking Tutorial from Cathy Zielske on Vimeo.
STEP-BY-STEP: Here are the basic steps for working with the template using Photoshop Elements 8. Note: this template was designed using a free font called District Thin, available at fontsquirrel.com. You will need to download this font, and activate it on your computer before beginning this process. Or, you can change the fonts to any you currently have on your system.
WORKING WITH THE PHOTO:
1. Open the template and then open the photo you want to use. Copy the photo (Select > All, or Command or Control + A, then Edit > Copy, or Command or Control + C). Close the photo.
2. On the template, click on the PHOTO layer, then Paste your photo into the document (Edit > Paste, or Command or Control + V.) The photo should pop right into the green template rectangle shape.
3. To size your photo down, click on the Move Tool, and then click and drag on any of the 4 corner handles. (Be sure Show Bounding Box is checked in the upper tool bar.)
4. Once you're happy with the photo placement, you can then modify your title to whatever you would like it to say by using the Type Tool and highlighting the title words.
5. Turn off ALL layers except the photo, the PHOTO mask, and the title. Then send photo to print onto 8.5 x 11 cardstock with a full bleed setting. Trim photo and set aside.
WORKING WITH THE JOURNALING:
1. There are 6 separate type layers containing the journaling placeholders. Start with the first one.
2. Using the Text Tool, highlight the journaling subhead area and type your new words. Do the same for the body of the journaling entries. Highlight, and type over. Try to keep the same number of lines on each block of journaling.
3. To change the color of the journaling subheads, click once on the Set Foreground Color icon at the bottom of the Tool Palette to bring up the Color Picker. Move your mouse around to find different colors to try. Once you find a color, click OK.
4. Highlight the subhead again, go back to the Set Foreground Color icon, click once to bring up the Picker (which will already show the last color you picked) and click OK. The color will apply to your subhead.
5. Once all of your journaling is done, turn off the PHOTO layer, and send the file to print onto 8.5 x 11 cardstock. Adhere photo onto cardstock.
Note: 12 x 12 scrapbookers can create this page, and mount it on coordinating 12 x 12 cardstock. It creates a really nice area of framing white space around the core content of the hybrid 8.5 x 11 design.
LAYOUT SUPPLIES: Layered Template No. 79 (Cathy Zielske) • white cardstock (Bazzill Orange Peel Texture) • District Thin font (template is designed using this free downloadable font)
Questions? Leave me any you have in the comments today. Good luck making a journaling rich hybrid page!
dawn says
I love love this idea Cathy and both your old layouts and the new ones. Have to come back later to read the jouranling on them, overslept today. Just had to check in though. Love the pictures for both you and Cole’s.
Lee Currie says
As always, your timing is PERFECT! I have similar start-of-the-year layouts I want to put together for each of my four and this format is exactly what I wanted and couldn’t figure out. Who knows, I may even do one for me 🙂 You’re the best. Happy Monday!
Melanie says
Oh how timely! My baby turns SIX this week. This will make a fab layout with a message to him.
Jennifer L says
Just commenting, probably unnecessarily, that I’m bookmarking this page to use as a guide when I have time to dig into the digi templates I’ve purchased. Thanks for making it easier!
Barb says
Love this! I might just buy this and make an ENTIRE album out of it. Ermmm, right after I finish all my other unfinished projects, like… *hanging head in shame* Me:TAV.
Oh well, I wouldn’t be me if I didn’t have a slew of unfinished things on the go. 😉
madeline St onge says
I love this idea and I love your pages Cathy. Cool
Marjorie says
Hi Cathy
I always love your templates. I would just like to know if it could be possible to include some messages in French with them? Or maybe sell French messages as a separate downloadable file the way you do with story savers/brushes and stamps? Maybe even do the latter in French? My family doesn’t speak English at all, so while some titles/messages are easy to understand, sometimes I have to change the font to write in French and that’s a shame. lol
Thank you anyway.
cathy says
Now now, Barb. No shame mama! I lost steam on projects ALL the time. : )
cathy says
Marjorie, that’s a good idea! I know I have done some different language stuff for my classes at Big Picture Classes. It is something to consider!
cathy says
Oh, and I could ask too, if you have ideas for 7 or 8 phrases in French, you could always email them to me and I can put them into a folder for a future project!
cathy says
youre welcome!
cathy says
Perfect? Really? Well, THAT makes a Monday morning!
Lee Currie says
Seriously. Love it when my brain spins with possibility. You are often the catalyst. It’s a happy day! Thanks for making MY Monday 🙂
Christine says
LOVE it! Thanks, Cathy! And for including the font info and whereabouts! Makes it all just too easy…which I like!
cathy says
Its a pretty cool font for a freebie! : )
Joyce says
I love how you have a lot of journaling, but in bite size pieces so it’s not overwhelming to read. And it’s a cool design too! I will definitely be doing this!
katetitcombe@hotmail.com says
Hi Cathy, Love your work as usual. I’d love to use that for my latest Blurb book which is 8 x 10 portrait size. Can I resize that template or not? Do you or does anyone out there know? Thanks.
cathy says
8.5 x 11 doesnt size down proportionately speaking. But, you can always tweak it to make it work. But its not a super simple step!
sarah lamont says
love it.
bought it.
finished it.
popped it into the scapbook!
oh, how i adore mondays.
so fresh and just anything is possible!
thanks for a great start to my most favourite of days.
cheers!
cathy says
woo hoo! : )
Angie Hall says
I got nothin’ but love for you, Cathy! Thank you for this. This is the inspiration I’ve needed to get some stuff down that’s been on my heart and needed to be scrapped. You rock, you know that? Heading over to Designer Digitals right now and will gladly spend my last few pennies for your template. Love you! Mean it!
aliza says
Love the design. Also, I have clean house issues too. It is the one thing that makes me crazy, and makes me a mean to my family. I am otherwise a nice, kind, patient, reasonably reasonable person.
cathy says
Why thank you!
celeste says
Thank you for the tutorial! When you said you were going to set your settings to “full bleed” what does that mean? (I’m not real proficient at PSE yet, still learning)
cathy says
Celeste, that is a printer setting. So when you go File Print, there are usually options in the Settings for your printer software, if in fact your printer will print full bleed (edge to edge of the paper.)
: )
c
celeste says
Obviously I’m still learning printer settings too! Thank you!
Karen Lee says
Wow. I have been debating whether to buy Elements 8 or 9, as I want to do a bit of hybrid scrapping and HATE Photoshop. However, I am a paper JUNKIE and have been reluctant to spend the money on it. After seeing your layouts and a few things of Ali Edwards, now I really want it!
cathy says
Karen, either or would be good, but its a good value. You can find it most places for around $79.
Debbie in AZ says
Just wanted you to know that I was so inspired by your layout that I scraplifted it and made one using MS Word last night. I don’t have Photoshop so I just made 6 text boxes, inserted a photo, resized it, printed out the layout on photo paper then double mounted it on patterned paper, added the title with letter stickers and added a few die cut butterflies for a little flourish. Thank you once again, for your inspiration and design know-how. Eventually, I’ll probably get Photoshop or PSE so I’m saving your directions for it too. Any possibility that you’ll be teaching a class this year sometime? I’d love to take another one from you. You rock!
Marjorie says
Thank you for taking the time to answer my comment, Cathy! I wanted to send you the e-mail but the link on the right (“e-mail me”) doesn’t work (for me). Could you tell me if it okay to send it at czdesign@comcast.net please? Thank you!
cathy says
Way to go Deb! I love it when people take the inspiration and run with it! I hope to get some classes going later this year!
cathy says
Yep! And that is the email link on the side too. Weird. Must be buggy!
: )
lightwriter says
Love this page! I made it and adapted it to a trip to Disneyland with our family favorites on it. Thank you so much! I love when you post pages on Mondays! Takes my scrappin’ in a whole new direction.