Template Heaven 001

Do you use templates? I did when I first started out scrapping but it didn't take me long to feel like they were in reality limiting my own creativity instead of helping it along. I didn't feel like the finished layout was my layout, but the product of someone else creativity.

This was only until I understood, that a template doesn't only have one look. You can flip it, add to it, only use parts of it and so on and so on. For most scrappers this might seem obvious but to me this was quite the revelation and it has helped me to make some of my best and quickest done layouts. And lets face it, we all want to do well – and do it fast, right?

Here's two different uses of the same template and neither of them are an exact version of the original template. For the first layout I added an extra layer to the template so instead of it being a multiple photo template I only used one photo and filled the original layers with background papers.

For the second layout I duplicated all my layers and resized this group a bit. I then took both groups and moved them to opposite sides of the layout to fit in even more photos.

Now it is your turn. Download the template and find your own style while using it. Feel free to come back here and link it once you've finished your layout, I'd love to see what you've come up with.

Download it here