My Friendly Neighborhood Map

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First of all...can't quite believe it, but I'm the Spotlight Artist for the awesome The Documented Life Project! I feel very honoured to be featured! Thank you, thank you, thank you Roben-Marie, Rae, Lorraine, and Sandi! 

See it HERE! 

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Edit: I have to post my favorite picture of this post. Why I like it so much? It's testament to what I've been learning from all the amazing artists in the DLP group! NEVER EVER thought that I'd be able to create something like this! So, if you feel like a total newbie, unable to create anything fantastic, think like that no more. If you want to learn, you CAN! 

Week 47 Challenge - Add a map of your town, state or country.  Document about this map.

Week 47 weekly spread with tip-in closed. I chose to create a map of my own backyard. :) I wasn't going for accuracy, but to highlight my favourite spots. I used various watercolor paints.

Spent HOURS pouring over map designs, both in books in our home library, on Pinterest, etc before I started my own. I have often wanted to make a map of where I live, and this challenge gave me a good reason to do it! The main feature is our acreage, with notable areas where we have created memories in the two years since we moved here. :)

Most of the acreages in the subdivision are covered in trees, so the trees represent forest. 

Love the compass rose. I remember learning about it while studying geography and mapping with my kids. I chose to go with a doodle-style instead of the many intricate traditional designs out there. I made up names of our roads. Fun to create a "story". 

Open fields, ponds, picket fences, lots of trees, great neighbors...I love our home and neighbors! 

Good friends, chicken coops, dandelion fields.

See the letters A to O? I have labeled special spots where I've taken photos of the kids playing or areas of interest and beauty. On the other side of the tip in I have included the photos with the corresponding letter and the journaling. Will get to that part after I've shown you what the tip-in looks like on the other side  (opened).

♥ Photo "M" is of my youngest amongst the dandelions. He just loved the dandelions this year, and pointed them out to me often on our walks. 

♥ Photo "O" is of the neighborhood "lake" during spring run-off, which was a result of a clogged culvert. Mine and the neighbour kids all collected their "boats" (the winter sleds) and had a day of "boating". :)

♥ Photo "P" is our mailbox. My boys leaped up onto the mailboxes to look at my youngest's happy mail he received one day. :)

See the letter A on the map? It's my sweater tree! Actually I have two that I've yarnbombed.  

I love close-ups! I crocheted these happy circle motifs last summer. Or was it winter? I can't remember!

Back to the opened tip-in.

Four tags displayed that flip UP to see photos and the journaling. The tags are index cards I have arted up that were among my art journaling stash.

The header design for Week 47 in my planner was inspired by a Target body pillow cover I own. :) Inspiration is everywhere, right? :)

I love type written with a water brush filled with ink. The tags are all tied with old waxy flax from my scrapbooking days. I made a border and colored in with a water brush as well.

The black and white alphabet is just a sampler of letters I created using a font on my computer. I used my scrapbooking software program called Lumapix FotoFusion to make it. I attached each of the four tags with thin washi tape. Need to go back and glue the tape in, as it is coming apart...

This tag was created with layering multiple of colors and mediums. I learned about layering methods in the Create It Mail It Alter It class. I am absolutely thrilled with all the techniques I have learned! Do check out this great class! It's by the Art to the 5th Ladies, creators of the Documented Life Project. The class is geared towards learning all about altering your mail art, but you can apply the techniques elsewhere. I think you have to join the Academy first before you are able to sign up/purchase the class.

The tags overlap each other when they are open. 

Each photo I included are from my Instagram. I printed them off for free at Prinkl, cut them out, and adhered them to the tags. The journaling is done on the facing area of each tag. These are older photos. I basically just copied the words I had written on IG to this project.

A different view of the first two tags open. I colored reinforcements you find in the stationery aisle of any store, and attached them to the tag. Each photo has the lowercase letter matching the uppercase letter on the map. I punched a small opening in each photo to accomodate the little letters.

View of the last two tags open. Can't have them open all at once, as they're attached facing each other on the page. For the journaling area, and the back of the tags, I smudged some Dylusions ink to the white cardstock to add some color. 

There are actually THREE flips. You lift the page of tags to reveal the last page. See below.

Completely open, It's kinda plain at this point, but it'll be filled in as I journal our days. See what I wrote on Tuesday?!? Yes, Artist Spotlight for DLP. Pinch me, as I still can't believe they would choose me. Thanks so much for taking the time to read my blog, everyone! (My feature got bumped up to Wednesday.)

An old Gelli-print, using a doily for texture and stencil. White Signo Uniball pen for the words and doodles.

And, there you have it! Thanks for coming by! Always appreciate comments to let me know you were here. 

Happy Creating! Loving DLP 2014! Looking forward to next year! See you all on the Academy and the FB page. :) 

Free FotoFusion Template No. 25

I'm back with another free FotoFusion template for all you Lumapix FotoFusion users. (After at least a year break!) I have no idea if these work in the new version. I still have the old one, and I'm not willing to upgrade. It only has a few improvements, and I am really familiar with the old one. :) Let me know if my templates work in V5, any of you, okay? Thanks!

This template is fully customizable. It has room for five vertical photos, room for journaling on the middle left, and you can add a patterned background or change to a solid color.

If you don't like the flowers, you could always trade in gears or doilies or something like that, and the leaves for buttons. :) The flowers and leaves are fully customizable, so you can change the colors or even drop in patterned paper, including the middles. When you load the template in FotoFusion, you may not be able to see the flower middles, but they are there if you hover your mouse over the middle. :)

The title and journaling spots are also editable. You can move each letter close together, make them larger, change the colors, change the fonts, change the outline, etc.

I created a quick layout with the template. It only took about 15 minutes to make. The only thing I changed was the fonts for the subtitles. :) Kits used is by Creashens. It's a really old kit, so not sure if it is still available/

Download here

Would love to see the layouts you make with my templates! :)

♥♥♥  Anna   ♥♥♥

Preview of Next Template

I've received requests for two-page layout templates, so that's what my next freebie will be. This is a two-page take on the previous layout, based on Amanda Probst's sketches. I'm really loving creating this!

What do you think?

I am big into journaling, so this template will be perfect for those of you that like that as well, and, perhaps, it might inspire others to try journaling? You know, the text here is in paragraph form, but one could really just make lists of things, or phrases. Paragraphs can be daunting and scary, but making lists is easier. So, I dare you! You won't regret it!

The template will be coming soon!

♥Have a blessed, memorable and♥

♥bonding time with your family this holiday Monday.♥

FotoFusion Template No.23

Back in 2008, Amanda Probst wrote a monthly column in the Creating Keepsakes Magazine called Album in a Year. Every month she suggested a topic for you to scrapbook, capturing and documenting specific things every month. So, for January, she had you come up with predictions for January of the following year, and snapping photos or find some in your stash that would suit that topic. I was instantly hooked on the idea of creating one layout a month. For a (almost) complete list of her monthly topics, go here.

My daughter and I are working on this project for 2012. I figured this would be a great way for her to practice writing. I am a little late with this of course, like I often am, so my predictions weren't made until May. LOL

I chose to predict four things, and found a picture that would suit each one:

Prediction #1. determined: I will have more determination to achieve things.  Okay, now writing this for my blog, it sounds a little vague and wordy. Sorry. :) Maybe more specifically, focus on my goals more? The photo is of me cleaning, cleaning, cleaning. I get bogged down easily when the task is unpleasant or hard or when I'm not sure how to do it... Maybe just a nice way of saying I'm lazy? :) I am not picky when it comes to cleanliness, so it's hard to be motivated.

Prediction #2. captivate: I will have a more servant heart toward my husband. Like I mentioned earlier, cleaning, doing something for my husband that he really appreciates. I can be selfish, thinking of only my wants and needs, I want to love and respect my husband. Jesus my Saviour was King of Kings, but instead of wearing his royal robes, he chose a towel to show his love! I want inward beauty. See John 13:4 and 1 Peter 3:4 The photo is of a layout I made after being inspired by a lovely lady to be more captivating. I sewed and painted like crazy on this layout. I really like it.

Prediction #3 read: Levi will start reading independently on a more regular basis. He knows how to read, but it's still difficult for him. I aim to be more consistent in coaching him in this. Find books that are more up his ally, perhaps Captain Underpants stories, Sigmund Brouwer books, etc. You know, boy books. The picture I chose is a close-up of a sight-word game I play with him. I actually made those cards myself. Teehee

Prediction #4 play: We will live on an acreage. We are working toward that goal right now. There are many reasons we want to live in the country, one being I want my kids to be able to climb trees with abandon, not being yelled at for breaking off branches! The photo is taken at a local park, in the city. Thought that was fitting. :)

So, here is the preview of the template I created for this project, based on the sketches by Amanda. I made versions of the layout in 11x8.5 and 8.5x11 as well.

This is the 8.5x11 version:

I like the 11x8.5 version better than the 8.5x11, I think. :)

Notice the small leaves? They are one of the mattes that FotoFusion has. I really like it! Love that you can color them whatever you want to. :) So, when you download the template, they will be included in the package automatically, but you won't need to keep the matte, since you will already have it.

Note: These templates only work in FotoFusion, as they are .SCRAP files.

I had a great time making these templates, even though I did spend countless hours on them. LOL I am a crazy perfectionist when it comes to certain things. If you find a problem with these templates, please let me know, so I can fix it. Enjoy!

Here are the download links.

Products Used:

Papers: Michelle Underwood Feb Two Peas Soup

Candy Flowers by Sahlin Studio

Houndstooth button and leaf by Sahlin Studio: Precocious

Stitches: Stitched by Anna No.07 by Anna Aspens

White splatter paint and white doily by AWCAL Designs 

Journaling fonts: John HancockCP, Century Gothic, Cheri Liney, Mel's Type A Personality

The title font is AWCAL Designs 

♥Enjoy your day! ♥

8.5x11 FF Template No.22

For those of you who work with 8.5x11 layouts, here is Template No.22 in that size.

Click below for a safe instant download.

 

Happy Day to you!

Template No.22

Some of you like 11x8.5 sized layouts, so for layout No.22, I've created both. The 12x12, shown below has more elements and more papers, with the center the same as the 11x8.5.

Next, is the 11x8.5. As you can see, this is exactly like the one above, minus the outer area.

Below is the layout I made templates from.

I home educate, so my kids don't get the yearly school photo, so I have fun taking my own. I am happy with how Liam's photos turned out this year. Often I get the eyes in shadow so you can't see their color, but this time it was much better. :)

I love the paint splats.

But most specially, I LOVE the subject: dear Liam. Happy-Go-Lucky, content Liam. Liam who is just proud to be himself. No hurry to be someone he's not. No hurry to talk, no hurry to read, heck, no hurry to even memorize his ABCs. He's so very different from his older siblings. I love him to pieces. Oh, did I mention he loves cuddling? His favorite things are Cars, Nathaniel, Daddy, sleeping in late and chocolate. :) Oh, and he loves to cuddle. :)

Products Used:
Papers, and brads, washer, bracket, number, paint "mess": Michelle Martin Mischief Maker
White paint below picture: Michelle Martin Little Boy Blue
Fonts: Cheri, Bodini Poster and Century
Templates: my own: AWCAL Template No.22

 I actually started the layout by creating an 11x8.5 layout, saving it as a JPEG, and then dragging it onto a 12x12 canvas, and adding a few elements. Here is the layout using the11x8.5 template:

One neat trick/tool in FotoFusion I like to use is the Frame Splitter. See THIS TUTORIALhttps://artfulstories.blogspot.ca/p/splitting-tool.html to see how I do that. Works great to quickly add more spots for more photos, perfectly alligned. So, instead of using just one photo, I can use several, lickety "split". Here's that version:

For the 12x12 Template, click on the link below:

For the 11x8.5 Template, click on this one:

For both sizes, click on this last one:

Hope you enjoy these templates. Please let me know if you encounter any problems. I love to see your layouts! Leave a comment with a link to your page. Happy Spring! (Though, in my area, we got inches of snow today!)