CZ Design

Make a page monday: the triumphant return

Make a page monday: the triumphant return

cathyzielske.com
Once upon a time in the Blog Days of Yore, I started a short-lived but riveting series entitled, Make a Page Monday (see the archives here.)

The idea was simple: make a page, share it on Monday, talk about design, make a sketch, congratulate yourself on the clever alliteration.

The problem was I couldn’t quite keep it up.

The solution? Simplify. So that’s what I’m going to do.

Sharing pages on Monday’s makes sense for the following reasons:

  • I usually make pages that include some form of CZ Design product.
  • New products are still on sale at Designer Digitals on Mondays.
  • Mondays generally suck.
  • Scrapbooking typically does not.

So you can see how it’s a win-win on nearly all fronts.

Each Make a Page Monday post will include a brief story about the page, a few tips about the design or the journaling concept and the supplies I used to create the page. While I cannot guarantee this will happen every Monday until the End of Days, I can tell you I have an awful lot of stories I’d like to still commit to the pages of a scrapbook. So let’s dig in.

STORY OF THE PAGE: Last week, my friend and photographer Lisa Russo created a wonderful post about herself and her daughter, Ava. She employed a fantastic little journaling convention, one that I use time and again: repetition. By starting each sentence with “She” or “I”, she was able to write sentences, one following the other, to create a really lovely snapshot of a woman at 47 and a daughter at 8. After I wiped a few tears away, I emailed her and said, “Can I make a template out of that?” She said, “But of course!” Thanks, Lisa!

cathyzielske.com
DESIGN + JOURNALING TIPS: Because I wanted this page to be a tit for tat kind of approach, I set up a purely symmetrical design. What you have on the left, you repeat on the right. Photos sizes are the same. Title boxes are mirror images of one another, save for the color and title words. Each column aligns along an imaginary center line. Symmetry equals stability and purpose. The journaling is simply following a repetitive structure. She is… I am… I tried to create pairs that made sense as I went. It was very important to my eye that I filled the journaling space completely. Good design is always looking at space. Is it equal? Is there too much? How can I place my elements so the space is balanced?

PURELY HYBRID: The page is about as hybrid as you can get. The template base (which includes the journal blocks, lines and title elements) was printed onto white card stock. The photo layers were turned off for that step and then I simply dragged each photo and layer mask onto a 6 x 4 document and print them out on my Epson PictureMate Charm. (For a post about all of my technical tools used in my process, click here.)

Note: the template includes two files, one for she and i, one for he and i.

PAGE SUPPLIES:


Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Pam says

    I absolutely love this. So simple, so meaningful – so Cathy! You’ve inspired me yet again. Many thanks.

    Reply

  2. Leslie Price says

    Love your new layout and your whole Monday motivation! I’ll be checking in with you every Mon (makes Mon so much better), and will be buying your template! Thanks for the motivation Cathy (loving the new format of your site, too).

    Leslie

    Reply

  8. Betcei says

    Perfect! As the mother of 5 boys, I challenge you to do the same with your son! It will be difficult for me, but I shall attempt it and hopefully be able to do it for all 5.

    Reply

  12. Pheeebzzz says

    I was about to say the same as Betcei : I can totally imagine lifting this page and do the same with my daughter but it’ll be a real challenge to do so with my 3 boys…. yet I want to do this also.
    Looking forward to more Monday goodness in the future, yay !

    Reply

  13. Dar says

    Mom of 3 boys here …. wondering if I can manage this along with Betcei and Pheeebzzz. Let’s give it a try. Especially since my youngest is not leaving for college but is ENGAGED and will be leaving our home for one of his own. I would love to make a page about him since I am feeling that Passing of Time pinch. Thank you, Cathy, for the inspiration.

    Reply

  16. Helen says

    LOVE this layout. . .considering doing this for me and my Mom. I also love the Make a page Monday. I don’t remember you doing this before (must have not been following you then), but please keep doing this.

    I truly enjoy your blog, but love your scrapbook pages more.

    Reply

  18. Jocelyn Thompson says

    Really love this! ……….and since it is on sale right now I think I am just going to have to pick this little gem up!

    Reply

  20. Barbara says

    I like this layout. I have two daughters and I think I will create one for each. I’m not sure where I’ve been but I looked through all of your files on Designer Digital and I didn’t realize you had so many out there. I was looking for templates earlier this year and I thought I looked through all my favorite artists templates on DD. Now I know where I can get more to add to my collection. I wish DD would tell you if you already own it – I did accidentally buy a couple of them twice. 🙁

    Reply

    • Cathy Zielske says

      Hey Barbara, if you accidentally purchased something twice, please email Designer Digitals. They will make it right. 🙂

      Reply

  21. Kim L says

    I love this!!
    I have boys, but am so going to do this – they will think I’m sappy, but I’m ok with that!

    Reply

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