Designer Digitals’ Katie Pertiet; Shares With Scrapbooking Directions

Do you know Katie Pertiet?  Do you know Designer Digitals?  Really they are one in the same.  Katie Pertiet is the owner of Designer Digitals.  She is the lead designer of MANY amazing digital scrapbook items and she’s the force behind the rest of the team of Digital Scrapbook designers she’s put together for that site as well.

As you can imagine…this makes Katie Pertiet a very busy entreprenuer.  But she’s also a mom.  You can learn more about that side of her here: http://www.katiepertiet.typepad.com/

Recently ScrapbookingDirections was able to snag a few momen’ts of Katie Pertiet’s incredibly valuable time.  We are incredibly grateful for this – especially considering the time of year it is.

So this is our Christmas gift to you….Katies answers to our questions are in teal color…

1) Katie, for those that don’t know you – can you please tell us what you do  in the scrapbooking industry today?

I have some collections with Bo Bunny right now. My Old Time Christmas was their St. Nick Collection.

2) Do you have a specialty?  Or something that you LOVE to do more than anything else?

I would say that vintage botanical and nature products are my specialty. Growing up I wanted to be a biological illustrator–I think that’s where it comes from.

3) Can you tell us how you got into it in the first place?

I have been scrapbooking since high school and I went to school for graphic design and had been working as a professional graphic designer for years, when I made the move from paper to digital, designing product was a natural!

4) What inspires you?

Everything around me. I see scrapbooking in absolutely everything– it’s an illness!

5) Where do you get your ideas from?

I’m inspired by everything around me! Magazines, the internet, tv,  vintage books, cereal boxes… yes, everything!

6) Do you design every element of all of your scrapbook pages  yourself or do you ever work with the designs of others’?

Occassionally I use CU items for worn edges on alphas and papers and a  few little tidbits of fasteners. But I have reworked all of them. I’m  pretty picky with pretty high standards and have picked up a number of  CU items that I just can’t use.
[Scrapbooking Directions adds: CU stands for commercial use]

7) I noticed that there are a lot of pages in your personal gallery  of work http://www.designerdigitals.com/digital-scrapbooking/ideas/showgallery.php?cat=2&
that profiles a single photo or a small cluster of photo’s in one  central location on page…do you choose this style more than any other – for a reason?

No real reason, just what I am drawn to. I just do what feels right  and that feels right for me!

I also noticed that you don’t seem to over clutter your pages  with vast amounts of paper or ribbons or other accents…is there a  reason behind this?
I want to keep the photo and the memory as the focus of the page. I  think sometimes if there is too much going on on the page it becomes  distracting. That’s just my personal preference.

9) You also have this brilliant way of making your images part of  your background (ie: not looking like photos). Is this an easy to  learn skill that can be found on your website?

There are tutorials in the store that explain blending in detail and I  have some tips listed in the forums.

10) It appears that you have a growing library of digital  scrapbooking tutorials on your website, is there a release schedule  of any kind for new lessons?  If not, how often would you say this  section is updated so that people can remind themselves to come back?
Unfortunately, there isn’t a schedule. Cassie Jones is our tutorial writer and it really depends on her personal availability.

11) For those who struggle to know where to start…are your  tutorials the best place, or would you suggest something else?
We also have a wonderful knowledgebase [http://www.designerdigitals.com/digital-scrapbooking/tips/ ] and getting started pages [http://www.designerdigitals.com/digital-scrapbookin/GettingStarted.html ]–I suggest you start there!

12) Do people need special software programs or resources in order  to take full advantage of your lessons?

Our lessons are focused on PSE and PS. Help with other applications
can be found in our knowledgebase [http://www.designerdigitals.com/digital-scrapbooking/tips/
]
[ScrapbookingDirections adds: PSE is Photoshop Elements and PS is Photoshop]

13) If someone wishes to design for designer digitals some day – how might you suggest they go about it?  (from reader: LydiaThompson)
I’m sorry but we do not accept applications for designers.

15) Do you know of any places that a digital paper designer can get their work published to PRINT? (from reader: Abigale Chan)
The best way to get picked up by a manufacturer is to attend CHA and  get to know the manufacturers. They all work differently, so I  recommend really getting to know the market before you jump in.

[Scrapbooking Directions adds: CHA is the Craft and Hobbies Association]

16) Are there any new projects on the go for you for 2010 that you  are able to share with us today?

We are working on a number of upgrades to DesignerDigitals. A new home
page and new shopping features will be coming in 2010!

We all look forward to that new home page and extra features Katie.  Thank you for taking the time to share with us today.

And there you have it ladies and gentlemen, a few words from Katie Pertiet.

Katie Pertiet Interview

This interview with Katie Pertiet of Designer Digitals is now online.  Click to get your digital scrapbooking secrets from the Queen of Digital herself – - right here.

Are you familiar with – http://katiepertiet.typepad.com/ or http://www.designerdigitals.com? If so then you know how fantastic Katie’s work is. She’s a brilliant digital scrapbooking designer.

If you don’t know Katie yet, you definitely should get to know her as well as her team at Designer Digitals.

And that’s what I would like to help you do. I will be interviewing Katie in the next few days here and what I like to do during these interviews is ask YOUR questions. Now I may not be able to ask them all…but I will pick a couple at least – those really good ones that I didn’t think of – and I will ask them for you.

Why should you do this?

Well, in my opinion…whether you are a digital scrapbooker or a paper scrapbooker or both, getting inspired and getting ideas will come very easily if you know other GREAT scrapbookers to be inspired by.

Katie is one of my inspirations.

So in short, if you have questions, I encourage you to post them here in our comments section,  on or on the ScrapbookingDirections Facebook FAN PAGE and I will go through them and incorporate what I can into the interview.

What I don’t get to bring to the interview, I will post to this site (if it hasn’t already been posted here). I will also respond as best as I can to those questions too – and invite Katie and others to do the same if they have the time.

Does that sound inspirational and helpful to you? I hope it does.

Warmest regards….Cijaye

More from Cathy Zielske

During a recent interview with Cathy Zielske – Scrapbooking Directions was able to ask many of the questions scrapbookers just like YOU want to know…and Cathy’s answers were plenty!

This particular article serves as a resource reference to that intereview.  Why?  Because Cathy is cearly one resourceful scrapbooker! In our 45 minute tell all chat about Scrapbooking, Cathy shared some of her best tips and tricks as well as some fantastic words of wisdom to new and aspiring to be professional scrapbookers.  We wanted to share them with you on the site as well.

So here it goes…

First: Cathy mentioned two Big Picture Scrapbooking Workshops that in our opinion are MUST ATTENDS for every scrapbooker.  We’d like to spread the word about them for Cathy as a little thank you for her time.

Workshop #1 is: “Me The Abridged Version” ; she will be running this again in the Spring of 2010.  It’s a classic of hers that encourages scrapbookers to tap into their inner selves and bring forward all that is great about who they really are.

I (Cijaye DePradine, owner of ScrapbookingDirections.com) believe that every scrapbooker should tell their story!  After all – creating keepsakes is WHY you got into scrapbooking in the first place and if you are doing it right, you are creating TIMELESS keepsakes that can be passed down from Generation to Generation.  Your story should be passed down as well.

WorkShop #2: (Coming in December) is the “Design Your Life Course”.  This course is going to share a lot of design knowledge with scrapbookers who really are searching for that structured and professional approach to Scrapbooking.  Since Cathy’s background is in DESIGN – this will no doubt be an eye opener for many!

Next, I’d like to share a few of the fantastic suggestions Cahty had for those who aspire to be more savvy scrapbookers.  Perhaps you want to land a career in the Publishing world within the Scrapbooking Industry, or maybe you would like to design digital pages and elements for sites like Designer Digitals.  Whatever your reason, Cathy offered some GEM’s up for the taking if you are REALLY SERIOUS!

Here they are:

1. Photoshop and Photoshop Elements software (primarily for digital design)
2. Lynda.com (this is a fantastic reference of Photoshop Tutorials; for all skill levels with the programs)
3. Typography (learn this and you will understand words, spacing and scrapbooking layouts like never before)
4. Before and After: How to Design Cool Stuff Magazine (one of her Design Favorites!)
5. She also suggested that once you get where you want to as far as skills go, then you can start looking for CALLS from MAGAZINES to submit your work.  *She did caution that it’s not always easy – but if you are dedicated, consistent and you can prove yourself to offer value and something new and fun to those who want it, you might get lucky!

Honorable mentions through the call for many different reasons, were the other amazing Talents in the Scrapbooking Industry that Cathy has either learned from or worked with herself.

These Scrapbooking Experts are:

1. Jessica Sprague
2. Renee Pearson
3. Stacey Julian

Just to name a few.

Hope these references inspire you as much as Cathy has inspired us!  Thank you again Cathy.

Cathy Zielske Scrapbooking Expert Tells All

Today marked a superb day for ScrapbookingDirections.

This morning I was able to chat for well beyond any imaginable time period with Scrapbooking Design Expert Cathy Zielske.

Cathy is the former Art Director for Simple Scrapbooks Magazine (one of my all time favorites while learning how to scrapbook).  She is now a contributing scrapbooking class instructor at Big Picture Scrapbooking and she is a contributing designer at Designer Digitals.

All again, fav’s of mine.

After reflecting on our interview this morning I do have to offer a very sincere and publicl apology to Cathy, that our interview went over the originally anticipated time to.

She was just so facinating and so amped up herself that I literrally became immersed in what she had to say as if we were college buddies getting caught up after years of not connecting.  Thank you Cathy for making it that enjoyable.

Fellow Scrapbookers, you really have to listen to it for yourself, you will understand what I mean right away.

Cathy revealed some very thorough answers to the tough questions I asked.  Here’s what we discusssed…

1. For all scrapbookers out there: How often do you scrapbook?
2. What do you love most about what you do? Why?
3. What do you struggle most with as a scrapbooker and how do you overcome it?
4. Where do you get the majority of your inspiration and ideas from?
5. How do you come up with your layouts?
6. Which do you prefer: single or double page Layouts? Why?
7. Clean and simple scrapbooks really are your forte and we don’t see a lot of excess embellishing in your pages, is there a reason behind this?
8. For aspiring designers: Can you elaborate on your design background?  Schooling, career choice etc? Primary softwares you use today?
9. What special training would you suggest that aspiring designers (of scrapbook papers and elements) should look into?
10. How did you land your position as art director for Simple Scrapbooks Magazine?
11. How different is your role with Big Picture Scrapbooking now?
12. How did you team up with them?
13. For your fans: Apart from your classes with Big Picture Scrapbooking, Your Designs @ Designer Digitals and Your Live Chats on Renee TV, Twitter and Facebook – where else can people find you, see more of your work or learn more from you this year?
14. Do you have any big projects planned for 2010 that you can let us in on today?
    

From Your Fans:

Marie Edouard  asked: I like my scrapbook pages out of an album because of the amenities i use on the pages.

What’s the best way to display your scrapbook pages other than putting them in an album?  – If they are not in an album or have a page protector i am afraid they might not last. What’s the best way to maintain them from dust and from getting damaged? I have seen people use shadow boxes or small looking easel stands.

What’s the best way to frame them?

Linda Maffeo; I am new to scrapbooking and am not sure where to start.There is so much information and ideas out there.

I have my pictures, have purchased tons of pretty paper, (I feel like a little girl again…it’s all so pretty or cute or…) embellishments and tools, but it seems a bit overwhelming when I know it should be simple. Once I get started I am sure the ideas will flow but until I can complete the first page I am stuck.

How do I start?

Her answers were nothing short of inspirational and so well addressed!  Especially to her fans.

Marie and Linda I sincerely encourage both of you to take a listen.  Her closing remarks were fantastic!

You can listen to the entire interview by clicking the link below.  (Please note it may take some time to load as it was 45 minutes long; it all depends on your internet connection and computer processing speeds).

Click below to listen:

www.scrapbookingdirections.com/podcasts/Cathy-Zielske-Interview-Nov-2009.mp3

Happy Scrapping!