Write. Click. Scrapbook.

A Challenge and some Journaling Prompts

 

I love the end of August. I love how, three or four evenings a week, clouds start piling up and enormous, ferocious thunderstorms break the edges off the hot days. I love that these seasonal storms—Utah's monsoon, since I do live in a desert after all—create a preponderance of twilight rainbows. I love the abundance of zinnias, the fresh face of my just-blooming sunflowers, and the friendly, over-the-fence chats with neighbors that nearly always result in tomatoes, zucchini, summer squash, and peaches being passed my way.

I love that it brings back-to-school time for my kids.

Yep, in my part of the country, we start school during the last week of August. So my most recent weeks have been filled with back-to-school shopping, fine-tuning schedules, going to meet-the-teacher nights, and talking kids down from their day-before jitters. And even if you're in the sane part of the country (you know...the part that starts school after Labor Day), I'm guessing your days are currently filled with similar tasks.

So! Here's the challenge:

Whenever your kids go back to school, write your journaling about it on the day they go back. If they've already gone back, then I challenge you to write the journaling about it today. Yep, even before you print the photos or plan the layout. Maybe even before you download the photos! Because here's the thing: once the journaling is written down, and all the pertinent details saved somewhere, you'll rest easy knowing you won't forget anything, even if you don't scrap those photos until today's third grader is graduating from high school.

And here are some journaling prompts to get you started. Try writing:

about the preparations. Where did you buy the school supplies?  The new clothes?  What was back-to-school night like? What were your first impressions of your child's teacher?

a test. This could be a multiple choice, a true/false, or even an essay question. Make the questions relate to different experiences your student had during the day, and make sure to provide an answer key!

the bag contents. What is in your child's backpack? How about in his P.E. bag or her lunch box? Those little details tell some otherwise-forgotten stories.

about the outfit. Why did this particular outfit get chosen over the rest? Why are those the most-perfect-ever shoes? What color of socks are being worn? Is there one small accessory (a belt, a watch, a pair of flip-flops) that made everything just right?

the morning details. What did you do before the kids left to make the morning special? Or, did it all go poorly, full of stress and missing locker combinations and forgotten gym clothes? What kind of breakfast did the kids eat? Who was hard to wake up, and who woke up even before your alarm went off?

a comparison. Write about your first day of whatever grade your child is starting and how it compares to your child's first day. What's different? What hasn't changed?

a chronicle of the before-school jitters. What makes your child anxious or nervous about the first day? How do you try to sooth the anxiety away?

a list of differences from last year. What big (and small!) changes can you see in your child from last year to this? These can be physical differences, but emotional or intellectual ones are good, too.

about your reaction. How do you feel about the upcoming year? How will the kids being at school influence you? Does it make you weepy to see those little back-pack clad bodies getting on the bus, or does it make you excited for them?

your hopes for your student. What do you hope your student will learn? These hopes can be more than just about the scholarly things. What emotional learning do you hope happens? How do these hopes connect to the year at large? What will you do to help the hopes become reality?

your advice. What wise words do you have for your children as they start the year?

a summary of the first week.Who said the journaling only gets to be about the first day? Take a few notes every day after school for the first week, then work them into a cohesive story about the first five days.

with your kids. When they get home from their first day, ask them to write an answer to the question "What did I learn today?" Or, have them take one of the following post-first-day-of-school surveys:

Download First day of school elementary survey (a list of questions for your elementary-school-aged child to answer after the first day)

Download First day of school jr high and high school survey (a list of questions for your junior-high or high-school aged child to answer after the first day)

Happy writing!

  

 

Coffee Talk with Cathy Zielske

Cathy Zielske is a graphic designer, author and blogger with strong ties to the scrapbooking industry. She is the former art director for Simple Scrapbooks magazine, where she oversaw the visual direction of all Simple publications and books. Cathy is currently developing and teaching online workshops to help scrapbookers write better and take what they've written and make it look fabulous. She's currently teaming with Big Picture Scrapbooking to offer her workshops, Designer Digitals to offer her original design templates, and Typepad to offer hilarious blog content. Cathy lives quite happily in St. Paul, Minn., with her husband, daughter and son, where she is a big fan of potato chips, Crowded House and stretch denim.

WCS: 2009 was kind of a rough year for scrapbooking in many ways. Or was it? Now that the dust has settled, how are you feeling about 2009?

CZ: 2009 WAS a bit freaky in many respects as far as scrapbooking goes, and it got very personal for me when I was laid off of my job at Simple Scrapbooks magazine. Not that it was a shocker that the magazine went under. You can only run so few ads for so long and survive in publishing. Still…it was a reminder that no job is safe in this day and age.

On the flip side, for me…initially I had no idea what I would do. With all that's happened since then—teaching more classes at Big Picture Scrapbooking, creating products for Designer Digitals, designing eBooks for Ella Publishing—I've begun to see the lay off as a kick to my overall creative life in scrapbooking. This has been a really good thing for me.

However, it is because of the great connections made during my years at Simple Scrapbooks that I've been able to continue pursuing a life inside of the scrapbooking industry. For that, I'm extremely grateful.

WCS: Why did you decide to take the plunge into designing your own products for Designer Digitals? How has that experience changed your perspective about scrapbooking?

CZ: Having seen the type of things Ali Edwards was doing—digital templates featuring great design and great concepts—I finally decided to take the plunge and learn more about digital design for scrapbooking. The result has been a complete recharge as far as my passion for story telling, design and photo taking goes.

After working at the magazine for five years, admittedly, I was a bit burned out on the hobby. This foray into digital has reinvigorated me and reminded me what I love most: good design paired with great stories. Designing templates for Designer Digitals challenges me to create smart looks that encourage, not only good design, but good storytelling as well.

I've been a hybrid scrapbooker, combining digital elements with real life scrapbooking elements, since I started in 2001. It's been fun to see what I can make solely in the digi realm, as well as find ways to create hybrid concepts out of purely digital products.

WCS: How have you changed as a scrapbooker since your early days?

CZ: I'm less obsessed with it. I don't scrapbook every single day of my life, and believe me, in 2001, there were very few days when I didn't scrapbook. I think I have a very healthy outlook on saving stories. I know that I can't save it all, nor do I want to try. I want to enjoy the process when it inspires me from an organic place; that whole, "I have to write this down NOW" feeling.

WCS: Last May, Stacy [Julian] ran a series on her personal blog called "When You Teach a Friend to Scrapbook." It was a great collection of tips and common sense advice. How about you? When you teach a friend to scrapbook, what do you tell her?

CZ: I try to tell her it doesn't have to be an all or nothing venture, that you can save your stories in many different ways. Maybe it's just a Favorite Photos of the Year type of album, and that's it. Maybe it's a story book created at Shutterfly, or another online service. Maybe it's just a school days album. Maybe it's a hopes and dreams type of journal with no photos of any kind. Scrapbooking can be so many things. To pigeonhole it is to remove all the different possibilities.

Even if it's just putting photos into an album with a few lines of description, I try to tell her that it can be that simple and still have incredible value.

WCS: You're currently keeping yourself quite busy with Design Your Life at BPS, designing original product for Designer Digitals, designing at Ella Publishing Co., and blogging. Do you have any other plans up your sleeve for 2010?

CZ: I plan to run for public office, become a certified yoga instructor, and train for the Boston Marathon this year... (of course, I'm joking.)

You know, 2010 is the year of flexing my creative muscles again, reminding myself of what I love—stories, photos and design—and finding ways to inspire others to feel that love, too.

I'm hoping to teach more workshops, and very likely will be running my Me: the Abridged Version workshop again at Big Picture Scrapbooking. If I do nothing else than get a few more women to focus exclusively on telling their own unique stories, I'll feel like I accomplished something important in this industry. As you know, our stories really DO matter.

That, and I'd love to lose some of my muffin top.

WCS: Our theme this month at WCS is "Favorites." How about you tell us a few of yours? They can be current or all-time favorites. We're not picky. Feel free to elaborate or include visuals when applicable. Or add other favorites I didn't list.

WCS: Favorite pen.
CZ: Zig writer.

WCS: Favorite patterned paper.
CZ: BasicGrey.

WCS: Favorite first stop on the internet each morning.
CZ: Facebook.

[ed note: if you haven't already imagined this like a lightning speed round, go back and start from the beginning of the favorites section. See?]

WCS: Favorite thing to eat for dinner.
CZ: Anything that has to be served in a bowl.

WCS: Favorite album listened to in 2009.
CZ: Owl City, Ocean Eyes.

WCS: Favorite book read in 2009.
CZ: The Middle Place by Kelly Corrigan.

WCS: Favorite movie screened in 2009.
CZ: Up.

Thanks, Cathy : )

What's in a Story?

Have you ever stopped to consider the impact your family's stories have on yourself or your children? What about your brothers and sisters? Which family stories do you tell over and over at the dinner table? Now, consider what would happen to your sense of the world if those stories were lost or if you didn't know them. Really! Take a minute, I'll wait. Got it? Okay, read on.

Historically, stories define who we are, what we stand for and ultimately how we see the world. Cultures without a formal written language hand stories down through the generations orally, telling them over and over through a designated orator or someone whose job it is to see that he/she remembers the stories for the village and then retells them. These orators are highly respected Elders for good reason: They are responsible for the entire history of their village. As a scrapbooker, I'm sure you're keenly aware that if you don't tell your story, no one will.

It was this kind of thought pattern that led me on a small journey last week down the path of family history. Being the youngest of six (my oldest brother is 20 years older than I am) and having come from a divorced family, there are many stories that I'm not familiar with. There are also people whom I've never met whose stories I haven't heard.

So I paid a visit to my mom, scanned a few photos and then picked her brain about the people in the photos. I can remember Mom talking about Great Grandma Jenson, her mother's mother, very fondly. But I simply couldn't remember the stories. I remembered that she was deaf, but that was about it. After our interview, I completed this page:

She was an amazing person! It must have been very difficult for her to raise her children without hearing in the late 1800's to early 1900's. (Then again, when my little one spouts off one of her high-pitched screams I wonder...)

materials 8.5x11 | patterned paper (Kaiser Craft) + charm (K&Company) + fonts (Segoe Print, Monotype Corsiva fonts)

It was a treat to hear about my great grandmother. But there was one story that I'd only heard in snippets - the story of my mom and dad's marriage. It just always seemed like a taboo subject so I never asked, fearing that I might hurt someone's feelings. That's the "blue" in me coming out ;) I finally broached the subject and I'm so glad I did.

This is the only photo I have of my parents together and now I have the story saved for my children.

These two pages will always be treasures to me, not just for the photos, but for the stories.

If you're not sure where to start, try using a quiz created just for the occasion and interview your prospect or fill in the quiz according to what you read about a person. Ella Publishing has a brand new eBook called Quick & Creative Quizzes that may be helpful to you. Also, be sure to check out our WCS gallery for more inspiration and ideas about telling your family's stories.

materials 8.5x11 | patterned paper (Kaiser Craft) + ribbon + fonts (Bradley Hand, Monotype Corsiva)

So, what's in a story? It's the essence of who you are and what you will become. It's your history and your future all at the same time. Pretty important stuff, huh?

Here's your challenge: Research one ancestor or family member that you don't know much about and then create a page or two about that person. Be sure to upload it to our Flickr group by clicking on the link above. I can't wait to see what you create. Happy hunting!

WCS Interview Series, Premier Edition :: Renee Pearson (and a giveaway!)

Welcome to the first in a series of Write. Click. Scrapbook. interviews with industry experts! We're so excited to kick off our new feature with digital scrapbooking genius Renee Pearson. Renee is the author of two books on digital scrapbooking, teaches classes throughout the United States and internationally, and offers classes through her own digital training site. In other words, Renee Pearson knows her stuff. You can find her online at reneepearson.com or at her personal blog, reneepearson.typepad.com.

WCS: What is it about scrapbooking that appeals to you most?

RP: Like most of us, what appeals to me about scrapbooking is the opportunity it gives me to tell my story through visuals. I’m a visual person. In fact, when I need to explain an idea to my husband, I usually resort to grabbing a piece of paper to sketch it out.

Journaling is my Achilles heel when it comes to scrapbooking, but I’m very comfortable putting together images. I love that scrapbooking allows me to place an emphasis on images that, perhaps with just a few words added, can tell a compelling story.

I also love what happens when I grab an older album. While browsing through the pages, I’m transported back in time. Not only to the events or people represented in the pages, but also to the sights, sounds and smells that those memories evoke.

What’s appealing about scrapbooking? I can’t think of anything that’s UNappealing!  :)

WCS: Who would you name as your greatest influences in the development of your own style?

RP: Wow! That’s a tough one. There are so many things that have influenced me over the years. I feel there are two sides to “Renee the designer.” One side is definitely the graphic design person. The other is the artistic and creative soul who always manages to express herself in almost everything I do.

Of course I’d have to say that my background in graphic design definitely influences how I put together layouts. Without thinking about it, I naturally consider design fundamentals like contrast, balance and harmony.

But... (And this is a big but.) I owe just as much to the influences of artists like Robert Rauschenberg whose work expressed a freedom that I find mesmerizing. You can see that influence in my “Life...Art” layout. I get a real kick out of applying fine art influences to my scrapbook pages. Where else can I be as free?

WCS: Can you briefly describe your personal computer history? (i.e. did you fall in love with an Apple IIe? Have your own Commodore 64? What caused you to fall in love with computers?)

RP: That’s a great question! I’m definitely a Mac person, but I didn’t start out that way.

Back in the early days of personal computing, I was working for IBM in marketing. Naturally, buying an Apple computer was out of the question. Not only would it have been disloyal, it would have also been ridiculous for me to pay full price for an Apple when I could get an IBM PC at a considerable discount. I’m probably dating myself now, but I have had almost every incarnation of the original IBM PC and Thinkpad. I must admit, though, that I’ve always thought of myself as an Apple person. Since I worked in marketing, I was always around “creatives” (designers and copywriters) at design firms and advertising agencies. They, of course, used Macs! I lusted after a Mac.  :D

When I left IBM and decided to start my own freelance design and illustration business, my first purchase was a brand new Mac. It’s been a devoted love affair ever since. I’d found my soulmate and I wasn’t letting go.

I use my computer for much more than design, though. I’m an avid gamer and The Sims is my personal computing game of choice. I’ve spent many hours with my fingers glued to the keyboard, managing the virtual lives of my little Sims.

WCS: How do you approach scrapbooking? Do you generally begin with a photo, a story, a Photoshop technique, a particular color combination… or does that process change each time?

RP: You know, there really isn’t a single way I approach scrapbooking. Sometimes it’s an event, a story I want to tell, or even as a gift I want to create for someone else. Other times it’s sparked by a photo I want to use, or a design approach I want to try out. I don’t think I ever start with a Photoshop technique or even a color palette. I let the design emerge and fit the tool to the design.

I also have to admit that much of the time I have been driven by assignments from the magazine [ed. note: Renee was an associate editor for Digital Scrapbooking magazine until the magazine's last issue, January/February 2009]. It’s funny, because you’d think those would be less personal and more like “work.” But the opposite is true. I’m usually inspired to take an assignment and turn it into something that reflects me. I love that because it’s like a game!

WCS: On average, how long does it take you to create a page from beginning to end?

RP: Oh, my! That’s a tough question. I can usually whip out a digital page in a couple of hours if I’ve already thought it through and know what I want to do. If not, it can take much longer. And I suppose most of the time it’s the second process.

I like “meandering” through my thoughts and ideas, trying out things and experimenting. It’s funny because if you saw the early incarnation of a layout next to its final rendition, you wouldn’t recognize it! But the first cut was the genesis that evolved to become the final page.

How long does that take? I have no idea. As long as it takes!  :D

WCS: To the uninitiated, digital scrapbooking can be both scary and overwhelming. What advice would you give to someone who doesnʼt have a clue where to begin digital scrapbooking to help quell their fears?

Absolutely! And now we’re talking about my passion. I love introducing others to this wonderful hobby and playing a part in their discovery that they can, indeed, create beautiful and polished digital scrapbook projects.

My first piece of advice would be to not bite off more than you can chew. Photoshop and even Photoshop Elements can feel overwhelming when you first open it. Its paradigm doesn’t fit anything you’re used to. And there’s no way you can learn everything about these tools in a day, week, month or even a year. In fact, I’m still learning more and more about Photoshop almost every time I use it.

If you’re just getting started, Photshop Elements is the place to start. You can think of it as “Photoshop Lite.” I haven’t found a single thing a beginning or occasional digital scrapbooker would need that can’t be done in Photoshop Elements.

Start with a single project in mind and learn how to do just that. Something simple, like maybe adding photos and journaling to a digital quickpage. (A quickpage is a predesigned digital page. All you need to do is add your photos, journaling and a title.)

That’s actually how I start when I teach beginning digital classes. We have a class going on right now at my site, reneepearson.com, and the first week students learned how to work with quickpages. By starting with a small project, you get the satisfaction of completing something. There’s nothing like that feeling to keep you motivated to learn more.

So, I guess I’d say come on over to reneepearson.com and join one of my beginners classes. I’ll hold your hand all the way through. I haven’t lost a student yet!  :D

WCS: Is digital scrapbooking a more cost-effective alternative to traditional scrapbooking?

RP: You know, that has been a myth in digital scrapbooking for a long time. The answer is that I really don’t know. I suppose it depends on what you do and how often you do it. Digital scrappers still like to print their pages. If they’re doing it at home, they have the paper and ink costs. (That’s assuming, of course, that they already have the hardware and software they need.)

If they’re not printing at home, they’re sending the pages out to have them printed professionally. Either way, there are out-of-pocket costs to digital scrapbooking. But I suppose I’d say that you can manage the cost of digital scrapbooking more easily than traditional paper scrapbooking. For example, you can use a digital element more than once, as many times as you like for a variety of pages.

Like traditional scrappers, though, digital scrappers love to shop for the latest and greatest digital kits. It’s all up to the scrapper in the long run.

WCS: What is your number one organization tip for digital scrapbookers?

RP: Invest in a good organizational software tool and stick with it! It’s a lot of work getting started because you have to tag all of your existing photos and kits. Then you have to be consistent and tag new images as you bring them in. But it will pay off in the long run when you’re looking for that one pink “chipboard” shape and can’t remember which kit it  was in.

I use Adobe Bridge to organize my images. Here are a few others that are favorites of digital scrapbookers:

ACDSee Photo Manager for PC
Adobe Photoshop Elements Organizer (comes with Adobe Photoshop Elements for PC)
Adobe Bridge CS4 for Mac and PC
Shoebox for Mac

A great free solution is Google Picasa which is available for PC with a beta version for Mac users.

WCS: What digital scrapbooking know-how can a student expect to gain after completing one of your online classes?

RP: Wow! Where do I begin?

Well, beginners can learn how to use Photoshop Elements to create pages using a variety of Photoshop Elements tools. My beginners class is a 4-week hands-on workshop. Each week I upload all the class materials, video lessons and digital kits to complete that week's exercises. Students are free to view the lessons at their leisure. They also have lifetime access to the class lessons. Additionally, we have a weekly chat and a discussion forum with gallery to show off your pages.

My intermediate and advanced classes explore the areas of design and digital artistry including collage, montage, and more of the “bending” of Photoshop to achieve stunning results.

All of the classes are designed to introduce new skills and build upon those skills as students work through the lessons. While you’ll learn a lot in my classes, I think the greatest benefit (and the one I’m most proud of) is the confidence you’ll have in your new skills and an eagerness to expand them even more.

Curious about what you'd find in Renee's digital studio? Read on!

Mac PowerPC G5 Dual-Processor with Apple Cinema Display and Western Digital external hard drive

I use this monster for heavy design work, like kit designs. It’s a generation behind the times and it’s probably past time for me to replace it drawing, but it still gets the job done.

MacBook Pro and Western Digital Passport portable external drive

This is my daily workhorse. I do all of my email and writing from here. I also do some design work and all of my scrapbooking from this little jewel. I love the portability and wonder, sometimes, how I was ever glued to a desk!

Sony VAIO laptop

Before switching to an Intel Mac, I used this laptop for testing all projects for my books, classes and magazine articles. I also used it to take PC screenshots.

Wacom Pen Tablets

I have three Wacom tablets. My 6” x 11” Intuos 3 was my main tablet for a very long time. It’s a comfortable size for me. Recently, though, I acquired a Cintiq 12WX that’s my new favorite toy. I can work directly on the Cintiq’s screen. Love it! I also keep a small Wacom Bamboo in my backpack that I use when I’m working away from home.

Epson Printers

I use an Epson Stylus Photo R1900 wide-format printer for my pages. I also have an Epson PictureMate that I use for printing 4” x 6” photos.

Epson Scanner

When I need to scan in papers or anything tangible, I use an Epson Perfection V500 Scanner.

Cameras

Canon 20D Digital SLR and Canon Powershot point-and-shoot

Software

What I use for my own designs:

Adobe Photoshop CS4

Adobe Bridge CS4

Adobe Illustrator CS4

Adobe InDesign CS4

I also use Adobe Photoshop Elements 7 for PC and Adobe Photoshop Elements 6 for Mac to create and test projects for my classes.

We would like to thank Renee for sharing her time, talent, and knowledge with us. For one of you, it is just the beginning. The beginning? Yes, just the beginning of your learning with Renee. Because today is not only our premier edition in our interview series, but it is also our

 

Renee has generously offered to provide an one hour online one-on-one tutoring session with one lucky commenter. If you would like it to be you, just leave a comment about the new Love of Color layouts. Good luck! 

Comments open at 9:00 am EST and close at 8:00 pm PST. Gift recipient will be selected randomly from the comments, and will have until Saturday at midnight to email us at writeclickscrapbook at gmail dot com to claim their gift.