CZ Design

Layout Share: Always

Layout Share: Always

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I'll admit it: I haven't been doing much traditional scrapbooking of late. Blame it on my Project Life obsession.

Not that I have any problems with being obsessed, but as I was working on my Week 8 stuff, I came across a picture that sparked an idea for a simple page about my girl.

With the stress of last week behind us, I wanted to make a simple, straightfoward page for her album. And I suppose not a lot needs to be said other than here's the layout I made.

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Closeup

I can't remember the last time I used paper flowers and mini brads. I feel so old school right now.

Flowers!

Clean and simple. Reminds me of everything I love about this hobby.

Amen.

TECHNICAL NOTES: I also went "old school" and designed this page using InDesign CS 5.5. I designed the concept on screen, then broke apart the components (photos, titles etc) and printed them out separately. The thing I love about using a page layout program like InDesign is the freedom to quickly come up with exactly what I want to create. It's funny, but I'm so much slower in Photoshop, even though I design all of my Designer Digital templates in that program. InDesign will always be my go-to program for straight up hybrid scrapbooking from scratch.

DESIGN NOTES: I always look for ways to create unity on my page; elements to tie it all together. Here, I repeated the striped patterned paper, as well as repeating a single rounded corner on opposing corners. I also repeated the same font for the title, the journaling and the small word strip, as well as the color of the type, which I sampled from Aidan's shirt using the Eyedropper Tool. Further, I repeated some of the same flowers that you see in the headband she is wearing (something she made last week.)

Also notice the common margin widths on the top and sides. White space is always a critical component of any design I make. It is quiet and it allows everything else to breathe and live within the space. Ahhhh.

SUPPLIES: (Note: the mini brads are so old I don't have links; same with the flowers.)

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Jo says

    it’s cool to see you embrace the ”old skool” again cathy. hope aiden is feeling better, having suffered with gall stones i can empathise fully with the pain,
    jo xxx

    Reply

  2. dawn says

    What a great way to start my Monday morning!! I love this Cathy, hooray for a layout!! How cute she looks in her flower headband, making it perfect for you to add a flower/brad to the layout.

    I’m so glad you did a l/o for her and what happened. I like the way you journaled and added the title at the end, it sums it up wonderfully!!

    Thank you Cathy for sharing!!

    Reply

  5. carolyn says

    love your layouts. clean and simple and beautiful. i’ve never been into the traditional scrapbooking ephemera, although I understand the appeal of the tactile element of putting something together. The beauty of documenting life is the enormous amount of ways to do it… there can be something that appeals to everyone.

    Reply

  6. JulieE says

    Love the “design notes” at the end of the post. They give a little insight into your design process. Could you make this a regular feature? Glad to hear your daughter is better.

    Reply

  8. Kristie says

    Most importantly, glad your daughter is on the mend ….. also glad to see a traditional page. As someone who has not embraced digital scrapbooking, and quite frankly, has no plan to (not that I’m not techie …. I adore my computer and all it does for me, its just not how I prefer to scrapbook) sometimes I feel like us old-timers are forgotten ….. 🙂

    Reply

  9. cathy says

    You know, Kristie, one of the things I loved so much back when I started in 2002 was that I could use elements from my computer skills, but not create solely on the computer. Ive always been such a fan of the whole hybrid process. : ) I still love adhesive and chipboard alphabets and all that stuff, just in a very simple approach.

    Reply

  11. Conni says

    wow, I hope your daughter is on the mend!! Thanks for sharing your layout with us, I love it, love the hybrid of it, love the simplicity of it, the clean lines and all, may have to scrap lift this idea. I was searching your books yesterday, seems my local bookstore does not have them, but amazon does, if this is the style in them, I will deffinately be getting them

    Reply

  15. thepellerins@msn.com says

    I would totally crap myself if I could make layouts like yours. Well, let’s just say I’d be real excited.

    Reply

  17. Linda J says

    Cathy your layouts always make me smile – always refreshing, simply perfect!:) Glad to hear Aidan is feeling better now. That had to be a tough week!

    Reply

  18. Susan Ringler says

    I adore you, your work and so much about you but I really resent being called “old school” because we like touchy-feely and dimension. I thought they were just peronal choices. Come on Cahty! 🙂

    Reply

  19. cathy says

    Oh Susan, theres no judgement in using the term old school. When I pull out stuff that I havent used in a while, I just think Old School. I mean, come on, I AM old school. ; ) Saving memories in any way shape or form is all good.

    Reply

  21. Jenny says

    I looked at one of your books this last week and remembered using all the flowers and brads and I was sad because I lost a lot of those things in a fire in our house. They don’t make things like that anymore: the old Making Memories foam stamps, the metal brads in the big shapes of hearts and stars. Embellishing isn’t the same as it was 5 years ago. Thanks for your “old school page.” I just might make one now (of my husband and his new 2003 Mercury Sable wagon which he bought a one way plane ticket to go and get, yet still doesn’t like me calling it his dream car and adding an e-mail to his friends about calling him clark w. grizwald) sorry for the run on.

    Reply

  22. Aliza says

    I adore seeing an old time CZ layout. Seeing this with that flower and brad brings me back to the day that I found your book in Barnes and Nobles.I found Simple Scrapbooks that day too. It changed my scrapping life that day (I know that’s a bit dramatic, but it’s true.

    Reply

  23. Amy says

    I love seeing your Project Life coming together, but the things that draw me back to you year after year are your regular pages, old school or not!

    Reply

  24. AngMomof3 says

    5.5. Truly old school. 🙂 I took a job 6 mo. ago and can say this is the first time I’ve had access to the entire Adobe software suite. And it’s SWEET. But I don’t really know how to use it!!!! I’ve been an PSE gal for years (all I could afford at home) and now I’m spoiled w/ CS 5.5 and don’t even know what to do w/ it. WAAAHHHHH!!!

    Reply

  26. Jen w. says

    I used to love indesign when i was a contract designer, I’ll have to try that. I am expecting my PL to come in the mail tomorrow!!!
    I had to say I checked your book out of the library “clean and simple the sequel” and I AM IN LOVE so much that I told my husband I have to “buy this book” to have at all times! You totally get me and my design style and I love that. thank you for this book. do you have any others I can look into?
    Hugs!
    Jen

    Reply

  27. Judith says

    Cathy, I love your approach to scrapbooking, can I ask a question?….how did you get your text to follow the shape of Aidan?…desperately pulling my hair out trying to do something similar – I have Photoshop Elemnts 10.

    Reply

  30. cathy says

    I created a custom shape around aidan, with no fill or stroke, and the used InDesigns Text Wrap command. But you can do a similar thing in PSE just create a text box that is the size of your image (you know, the text box has to overlap your image in order to be able to see where you want to wrap it), and then just hit manual returns to get your lines to fall where you want them to! : )

    Reply

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