I heart templates!!! Part 1

I love anything that jumpstarts creativity and for me templates do just that. They also help save time and as a busy mom that is always a bonus so I thought I share my favorite resources for scrapping templates(sketches) for both paper and digital scrapping.

Let's start with paper. (I will cover the wealth of digital templates out there in Part 2)

There are LOTS of great places to find sketches. The three major scrapping magazines, Memory Makers, Creating Keepsakes,and  Scrapbooks etc., all have a monthly column in which they have new sketches and offer a few originals where they show how a scrapper made it there own. My favorite is Scrapbooks Etc and their website is incredible!
http://scrapbooksetc.com/

I want to tell you a little about all the fantastic things I found on their website. First there are the page sketches(click here to take a look) 
You can scroll through the sketches and then when you find one you like click on it and download it. I love to print out these download because the format is awesome! It gives you a large photo of the sketch, an original and a box for notes. I printed out dozens and put them all in a 3-ring binder and anytime I feel blocked I grab it and can find a great sketch to get me started. I rarely literally interpret it but instead I usually switch it up a bit.
Another thing I found on the Scrapbooks Etc. site was photo collages, they are GREAT! These are blank  collages which hold multiple  photos, they look like this

and here is the link to where you can find them. http://www.scrapbooksetc.com/layouts/collage/downloads/

I adore these! Seriously, I love the look of mutiple photos but get  bogged down in trying to place them all and keep my creative flow, these are the answer. Once you download them you can use them with your photo editing software and fill them in.( I use Photoshop 8) Easy easy easy, simply drag your photo in, Ctrl G and marquee the excess out. I sometimes use a slot for journaling, which I put in either using my software or by hand after it is printed out. I also like to reserve a spot to put patterned paper or cardstock. Here is a sample of a page I made using one of their collages.

I resized it to 8X8 and used the largest spot for patterned paper to unify the look of the page.(all products in this layout are My Mind's Eye) They have square, rectangle and shaped templates.

I also have  several books that I rely on for inspiration when I need help getting started. Below are the titles, if you click on them it will take you to the site to take a closer look and purchase.

Scrapbook Page Maps by Becky Fleck
Best of Becky Higgins Sketches for Scrapbooking
Designing With Recipe Book- Autumn Leaves Books

Of those my favorite is Page maps. It is very cool, the first half of the book shows all the sketches and shows several originals for each sketch, the second half is punch out laminated cards and pouch to hold them. Each card has a sketch on one side and an original on the back like this.....

So there you have it, some of my favorite resources for paper scrapping templates. Part 2 will cover a few of my favorite digital scrapbooking template resources and will be here soon. Have a great day!