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

CZ Design

Make a Page Monday, Digital Layout plus a peek at a new e-course coming soon

September 14, 2015

Make a Page Monday, Digital Layout plus a peek at a new e-course coming soon

cathyzielske.com

STORY OF THE PAGE: Just over a week ago, we dropped our girl off for her sophomore year of college. (Read more about that here.) I was inspired to design a 12 x 12 template, then convert it to 8.5 x 11 for inclusion in Aidan’s album. I feel like this is definitely a scrapworthy occasion, the whole moving into your dorm and starting your new college experience. I try to think back to my first dorm move-in and I remember practically nothing. Now this is not an indictment of my mother for not documenting me within an inch of my life, but I have so few photos from that time and I wish that I did  have more to look at. I wish I had a few stories from my mom about how she felt. It’s thoughts like these that keep me scrapbooking, even though there are days when I look at my dining room scrapbook table and wonder, “Why am I still doing this?” It doesn’t matter how prolific I am with my stories. It just matters that I save some of them.

cathyzielske.com
DESIGN STUFF: This is a fully digital page. Sometimes, when I make digital layouts, I don’t like to add any digital elements whatsoever beyond the images and words. For some reason, I decided to drop one very neutral white digital paper into the background. I may leave it. I may take it out. I’ll send this to print and see how it looks. I love the symmetry of this page. Six same-sized images add up to a solid balance. I’ve got a bit of repetition with those two flags and the color orange. For my journaling, I included lots of leading (the space between the lines) to help with the readability of those long line lengths. Typically, I keep my line lengths to about four inches or less because the longer those lines get the harder they are for the eye to follow. Ergo, we introduce more leading which in turn adds more white space thereby making the longer lines a bit easier to read. Plus, if you’re going to do long lines of journaling, don’t do too many. I may have gone two lines too deep here, but I can live with it. But can you guess what my favorite part of the page is? It’s the ‘g’ dipping into the layer mask on the lower right. The mask itself is shaped to match the ‘g’. Here’s the deal: it’s the little details that add something special to any page. This lets the beautiful type of the title really shine. And yes, I rock the type. It’s kind of my jam.

TECHNCIAL SHIT: It’s a digital page and I did nothing other than take a 12 x 12 design and size all of the content down at one time to fit an 8.5 x 11 space. All of our family albums are 8.5 x 11. The logic, you see, follows.

SENTIMENTAL SHIT: While I realize her college experience isn’t about me, on some level, it is because I too am experiencing this transition. And so far? It’s going so well. Aidan, I am so FREAKING proud of you. Always.

AND SPEAKING OF TYPE… Yes, I’m going to cross promote here, but I’m kind of geeked to share that my newest class (which is a refreshed, retooled version of an older class) is almost ready to launch! Ten Tips for Better Type is coming soon. My goal is to open registration to this self-paced e-course by week’s end. Here’s a peek at my short promo clip. A full class description is coming soon and all students who took this workshop before will have free access to the new, updated version!

Share this:

  • Facebook
  • Pinterest
  • Twitter

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. lori says

    September 14, 2015 at 7:34 am

    Yippie! I took your earlier version and loved it. Can’t wait to see the updated version.

    Reply
  2. CarlajinAR says

    September 14, 2015 at 8:00 am

    yea can’t wait to see the new version of this class.

    Reply
  3. Donna says

    September 14, 2015 at 9:42 am

    Can’t wait to see how you make the ‘Best Class Ever’ better 😉

    Reply
  4. Robin says

    September 14, 2015 at 10:47 am

    Would love a tutorial on how to size a 12×12 to a 8.5×11 (and the other way around – 8.5×11 to 12×12)!

    Reply
    • Cathy Zielske says

      September 14, 2015 at 11:24 am

      Hey Robin, I can add that to my list!

      I do have that type of instruction (8.5 x 11 to 12 x 12) in my Digi Basics class, but not the other way around. It would be a great all purpose video for me to do!

      Reply
  5. Linda says

    September 14, 2015 at 4:22 pm

    I would love to see photos of my move-in days back in the late 60s and early 70s. It would be fun to see some of the things I packed (as in the things I felt I couldn’t live without). My memories are vague, too, but I love the photos I do have! Aidan will be so happy to have all of your documentation. (Cole will too, it will just take him longer to appreciate all of it!) Looking forward to taking your new type class. I thoroughly enjoyed the old one.

    Reply
  6. Gemma says

    September 14, 2015 at 4:33 pm

    St Olaf rocks! Go Aiden!! I have a freshman in high school this year and I’ve been reading your family college experience with high interest. Thanks for sharing, although I know it can probably be a bit of a bummer sometimes for Aiden. Tell her Thank You for me, too. You are awesome in so many glorious ways, Cathy Z. *Big Smooch*

    Reply
  7. Michelle t says

    September 14, 2015 at 4:58 pm

    I love your page. And your photos are awesome. But I can really see how much you love your work, especially when you’re dealing with typography. Your enthusiasm is contagious. Love that. Michelle t

    Reply
    • Cathy Zielske says

      September 14, 2015 at 8:26 pm

      Thank you. Good typesetting is my passion.

      Reply
  8. Jenny B. says

    September 14, 2015 at 7:31 pm

    Yay that she’s having a great start! I loved my college experience so much. I hope she finds everything she’s looking for. And yay that boy Aidan is there too! 🙂

    Love the page. The g dipping into the mask is very cool. Would it be cool if the little arrow tabs dipped in too, or would that be overkill?

    Reply
    • Cathy Zielske says

      September 14, 2015 at 8:26 pm

      Well they do kind of dip in, as they both overlap the photos. 🙂 But no, I would not dip them into the title.

      Simplicity!

      Reply
  9. Maria says

    September 14, 2015 at 10:52 pm

    Hi Cathy! I’ve been a fan of yours since your first book came out. Bought book number one and then bought book number two. I Read your blog and follow you on Instagram. Sounds creepy, but I’m really not 🙂 As I was shopping on Designer Digitals, I realized that on my cart were $121 worth of your products. Gasp! So worth it though! Thanks so much for all the inspiration!

    Reply
    • Cathy Zielske says

      September 15, 2015 at 6:35 am

      wow. Thank YOU!

      Reply
  10. RitaQ says

    September 15, 2015 at 6:26 am

    Bought the template to add the collection of CZ wonderfulness. Pretty sure I could make it from your many classes, although I don’t remember how to do the ‘g’ mask dip. Also converted it to the 8.5 x 11 size because that seems to be my go-to layout dimension. Wondering if you’ve ever considered offering both sizes when you design your templates? I realize that not all will convert easily. I would be willing to pay more for two options. Thanks. 🙂

    Reply
    • Cathy Zielske says

      September 15, 2015 at 6:36 am

      Hey Rita,

      You know, I have done this with some of my templates. Maybe I should do two in every package and offer the choice that way? They don’t all translate, but it’s do-able.

      Reply
    • Cathy Zielske says

      September 15, 2015 at 8:54 am

      I think I will release this as an 8.5 x 11 for the coming weekend, fyi!

      Reply
      • RitaQ says

        September 17, 2015 at 6:17 am

        Too late for me…. Already bought the 12×12 version & sort of converted it but I’m sure not as precise as your conversion. 🙂
        BTW… I also fiddled around with it & tried a ‘goodbye college’ title. Unfortunately I don’t know how to do the cut away mask for the ‘g & y’ so it’s not as wonderful as the original.

        Reply
  11. Tink says

    September 15, 2015 at 7:37 am

    Awesome! Looks so clean and interesting, just enough to wet the appetite. Wish I knew nothing about typography so I could take your class and experience that feeling again that a whole new world is opening up to you. But with a major in typography I don’t think I can pull that off.
    When is the 30 day gratitude class starts Cathy?

    Reply
    • Cathy Zielske says

      September 15, 2015 at 9:03 am

      I’m hoping to launch it on Sept. 30! I have much to do in the next two weeks. I want to launch it early for my readers in Canada, who celebrate their Thanksgiving in October. But… I also want to share it because it’s not just Thanksgiving specific. I made my album in July and it was a really great exercise for me personally, to do a gratitude project mid summer. Details are coming! I plan to do a Periscope of the album soon!

      Reply
  12. Holly Corbett says

    September 15, 2015 at 9:37 am

    I’ve taken the first version, but will be taking this one too! Looking forward to it! Thank you!

    Reply
  13. Christina says

    September 16, 2015 at 8:11 pm

    Hi Cathy, I did the last one which I loved but was wondering if there is any new stuff and if I should also sign up for this one. I also loved your Clean & Simple class.

    Reply
    • Cathy Zielske says

      September 17, 2015 at 7:05 am

      Hey Christina! The next class coming is called Ten Tips for Better Type. It may be a bit elementary for you if you took Clean & Simple. 🙂 After that, my brand new 30 Days of Thankful album class is coming! Hopefully will launch on Sept. 30. It’s a class about making a gratitude album and it will include tons of printable cards and the layered PSD card packages for people who want to customize their colors, etc. Working on that class now!

      Reply
  14. Leora says

    September 19, 2015 at 4:00 pm

    Just got the 8.5×11 version! Thanks you Cathy!!!!!

    Reply
  15. Judy Bishop says

    September 22, 2015 at 9:59 am

    So excited about your new class!!!! I haven’t scrapbooked in about a year and I can’t wait to jump back in when my granddaughter is born in a few weeks. Preserving our stories is a passion of mine and going digital works for me. I can even scrapbook late at night at the hotel on business trips if I need a little creative time. Thanks for inspiring me.

    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