Hiya friends! I hope life finds you doing well this beautiful Friday!!!! I know here in Northern California we are experiencing a bit of a wet start to spring, but its much needed after a dry winter. Before we get started, just a side note .. .have you checked out the store today!? SOME SERIOUSLY YUMMY new goodies at the PAD today!!

So since the last time we chatted I have discovered a whole new layer of hybrid. Can you believe that? Yeah, me either .. honestly!

TEMPLATES!!!!!! I know who would have thought a paper scrapbooker could use digital templates in an effective way? Here is what I really love about it girls… when you are using digital paper for paper scrapbooking you are needing to print off more paper than you might use. With templates you are ONLY printing what you will use! Awesome right? They way you do this is with the Cameo’s print and cut feature, which I am just over the moon about! I want to start off my saying, I am sure this isn’t the easiest way, its just the way I have been going about it so far!

First step of course, is to pick your favorite template! For this one I used one of Amy Martin’s amazing templates!

SKetches: Whip it Up Fast v4

I choose to use the one in the upper right hand corner, I love those little bunting shapes… and HELLO white space… I adore you!

And now for my paper…. I LOVE these bright and cheery papers!

Happy Day Paper’s by Sabrina Dupre

Then I open both of these into Photoshop (or your editing program of choice), and I put the papers into the template as I would for a digital page (for my paper scrapbooking friends out there, if you need a tutorial on how to use a template in general, one of our AMAZING designers, Sahlin Studio’s  here at the pad has a great tutorual on her blog , so make sure to check that out if templates are new to you!) I like to do this to make sure I like the paper placement. I also change any paint splatter etc to match the template, and do my journaling and title work at this point. I love that you can do your journaling at this point, I already know where the papers will go, and sometimes I struggle with journaling if I wait until the last min. becuase I don’t want to “mess” it up! So I take away all the layers except what I am wanting to print (journaling and paint splatters) and change it to 8×8 (or whatever size you want) and print right there in photoshop. Once that prints out I simple cut the paper down to 8×8 and I already have a base and a great start to my layout.

So here is what mine looked like when I printed it.

So here is what mine looked like when I printed it.

Then I take the pieces of the template that I am wanting to print and cut (make sure to delete shadows), and I make two copies, one with the actual papers and one with a solid black template. I know this is an extra step, but I think it makes it easier once we get it over into the Cameo. At this point it looked something like this:

and the template with paper

I save both of these as a jpeg and take them into the Silhouette Cameo software. Here is a warning, its going to open up HUGE!!! Just resize it down to the size you are working with (in my case 8×8).  Then I just follow the steps for using a print and cut feature (if this is new to you, please check out THIS AMAZING tutorial from listgirl!) use the black template to trace the shapes, I find that its easier since I often choose papers with lighter prints. Once the shapes are traced, I then slip in the digital paper. Send to printer, and then cut in the Cameo and you have all the pieces for your layout!!!

You can add other elements, your own style, just have fun with it! Here is how this one came out!

You can also check it out on my gallery.

If you made it this far, you deserve a prize!!! Don’t you think? One of my favorite template designers is Valorie Wibbens and she is giving YOU this SWEET template to play around with!!! Isn’t she a sweetie?!

Thank you so much for sticking around and if you make a paper page using a digital template, will you make sure to link us? I would love to see your work of art!

Talk to you soon!

xox – Shanna