Tips and Tricks – Making the most of Templates!!

Wednesday, January 19, 2011

Hello Shabby Shoppe-rs!!  It’s Beckie here with my first post of the year!!  Well I don’t know about you, but I am soooo excited about project scrap!  I’ve tried to commit myself to several other projects through the years, but unfortunately none have seemed to work out for me :)  I got through December 4th of my December daily album last year, LOL!  I tried P52s before (one layout per week for the entire year) and couldn’t stick with that, either.  I guess I’m just a “free spirit” when it comes to scrapbooking!  The pressure of feeling like I have to scrap something specific seems to stifle my creativity.

But one two-page layout per month?? I can TOTALLY DO THAT!  And so can you!  The templates provided by Shabby Princess will ensure this is the quickest, easiest “project” I’ve attempted yet! And you want to know a little secret?  I’m not usually a template scrapper.  There, I said it.  I truly enjoy the entire creative process of pulling a page together from scratch.  But I gotta tell you – it takes time to work out the kinks on a page design and create a finished product that I totally love.  But Scrapping with the Shoppe templates each month for the template challenges has allowed me to develop my own techniques for personalizing templates and I’m learning that I CAN still enjoy complete creative freedom using a template as the basis for my page design.  And with SP’s exciting project scrap announcement, I thought I’d share a few ideas!

1. Use the template as-is. Using a template EXACTLY as it is created is a great option!  It’s a sure-fire way to create a visually appealing layout in the least amount of time.  One basic tip: I often select a template that contains the same number of photos I would like to scrap.  If necessary, use a template that has more photo spaces than what you require and fill one or more photo spots with patterned paper or journaling!

2. The basic rotate. This is a close cousin to the “use the template as-is” option :), but with a twist.  Literally!  Just take the original design and rotate it!

{The template above is from Easy as Pie Templates:: Heartland.}  I only had to re-position the journaling and the orientation of the design elements on the tag in the upper left corner, and voila!  It looks like an entirely different layout. :)  This is a GREAT way to create a two page spread!  rotate the template so the second page is a mirror-copy of the first and you’ll have a visually pleasing design that will come together in no time.

3.  Re-size it. This is the easiest “down sizing” you’ll ever do!  Simply select all the layers in the layers palette (de-select the background papers) and use CTRL + T  to transform them (in photoshop be sure to also hold down the SHIFT key while you drag the bounding box to keep all shapes in their original proportions).  Shrink them down as much as you want!  don’t like it?  CTRL + Z will un-do!  If you’re a fan of white space, this trick is sure to be your favorite :)

Template above is the free template from Template Challenge 5!

4.  Repeat it and re-size it! Have a lot of photos you want to include?  Duplicate the template design!  You’ll most likely need to shrink the original design just a bit before you do.  The quickest way to do this is to:

• Select all items (excluding background papers) in the layers palette, and either right-click and “duplicate”, or drag the selected items down to the little “create new layer”  icon, which looks like a little post-it pad with the corner turned up.
• Once the layers are duplicated, BEFORE you click anything else, click on the little “link layers” icon at the bottom of the layers palette.  It looks like a link of chain.  This will make it easy to just click on one item and drag the entire set of new layers as a whole.
• Now simply click on any of the new copied layers and drag the group around as a whole until you have it positioned where you want it!

The template above is one of my favorites, created by Nicole for Template Challenge Three!  I had to reduce the size of the design slightly, then I even decided to rotate the whole design to have a horizontal stripe instead of a vertical.  I hope you’re starting to get the idea here!

One thing I’ve found is that I prefer to “tinker” with my templates before I’ve started creating my page. This keeps things split into two distinct processes:  establish the design and then fill it in.  It could get a bit overwhelming trying to re-design the template at the same time you’re working to customize it with your own papers, photos and embellishments!  So play with the template itself and determine the layout you’d like to create and then start adding in your custom elements.

And finally, let’s not forget the most basic type of template customization:  adding or removing elements.  If you’re a minimalist scrapper, delete extraneous embellishments!  Like clusters?  Add FIVE flowers where the template has ONE!  Just remember that a little planning and work up front on the layout of the template will make the page building process much easier!

Well that’s all I had for you today! I can’t wait until the end of the month to see the first project scrap layouts hitting the gallery!  And I’ll be looking for even more inspiration from all of you to learn even more ways to “trick out my templates!”  :)  Be sure to check back on FRIDAY as Denise inspires us with a fun hybrid project!

BeckieInspiration, project Scrap 2011, Tips and Tricks, Uncategorized 18 Comments