New Techniques Using Templates

Any scrapper who's been at this hobby for very long has accumulated supplies that sit unused because something newer has come along. In my case, I have a collection of templates, which fall into one of three categories: shape, journaling and alphabet. I challenged myself to discover a new way to use each of the three kinds.

Of the three, I have the most of the letter templates. I used to think a layout was not complete without a hand-cut title. Even though those days are over, I still find the precise cutting technique very relaxing. "Boho" is a title I made for a layout I've wanted to do for a while. I wanted to include in my lettering the designs that make this new trend so popular. I traced the title using a template by Pagerz and then outlined with a medium-point Pitt pen. I used the shape of the letters as an outline to contain doodling. I drew some of the patterns that makes boho what it is today: paisley, a variety of florals and a harlequin design. The drawings are outlined with the same Pitt pen and hand-colored with Berol Prismacolors.

When "Journaling Genie" templates came out several years ago I quickly accumulated them all along with the organizing binder store them. I'm sad to say that they have been tucked away in an armoire with quite a bit more of my older supplies. I decided to work with them in a completely different way. Using the shapes on the journaling templates, I created a resist technique similar to batik and then painted the images in with watercolors. It was so much fun and gave the designs a fresh new look. I used a white crayon to color heavily inside the main contour outlines of a single image. Once the template is removed, it's easy to see the shiny outline that the crayon makes. I used Close To My Heart watercolors along with a Niji water brush to apply the paint. For the final touch, I outlined with a black pen and added hand lettering, which can be seen on the samples here.

Finally, I worked with shape templates. I have very few of these in my collection so I didn't have a lot to choose from. Both of the layouts below use shape templates in different ways. For the "First Grade" layout, I used templates of both a number and a schoolhouse as "masks," a technique that has been popular recently. The interior of the shapes is filled with crayon. The template for the "2^nd Grade" layout is a simple geometric shape template. I connected two long rectangles to make really big photo corners and attached the sticker letters and numbers for the title.

Hopefully I've inspired you to use some of your older supplies. If so, please be sure to share the result here with us.

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