Hello there. How’s it going? Scapping away? I’ve been keeping busy with all sorts of crafty projects (art journaling, painting, Project Life). This week I’m doing Ali’s Week in the Life … which is quite an undertaking. I’m also super thrilled to announce that I will be joining Jessica Sprague’s creative team! So, so excited about this development. I love Jessica’s site, love her products and can’t say enough about how wonderful her classes are. If you want to learn how to digi scrap, I highly recommend her site and the zillions of class offerings.

Anyway … here’s this week’s free template:

Download a copy of this fully layered, PSD template here.

And here’s the layout the template was based on:

This layout isn’t in what I’d call my “normal” style. I was trying something different and I’m still no sure if I like it. I created the background paper from an image/map I found of the area in California I grew up in and blended it with a patterned paper.

Journaling reads:

Leona Valley, California: Located in Los Angeles County, but nothing like L.A. It has no street lights; there is a single, four-way stop in the center of town. You can see the stars at night. There are cherry orchards all over town; cows and horses; and rolling hills. It’s the best place to grow up, and it’s my hometown. We moved there when I was ten and even though I haven’t lived there in almost a decade, it still is a place I’d call home. Just seeing a picture of its picturesque vistas makes my heart hurt and my eyes fill with tears. That place is home.

Even if I’m not in love with the background paper I create, I really love the idea of scrapping about the place you grew up. Where did you grow up? Have you scrapped about it?