Die-Cuts and Templates

Scrapbooking

• Take photos of your family planting the garden this spring. Cut out vegetable shapes out of different card stock, ie orange for carrots and green for the tops, etc., and use them as mats for your photos. A round cropped photo could go in a tomato mat. A long cropped photo could be highlighted in a carrot shape. As I always say, let your imagination go!



• For a pet page, do your journaling in a dog bone shape for a dog or in a mouse shape for a cat. Or make a diecut in those shapes big enough to hold a photo or two.
  
  "Cats are intended to teach us that not everything in nature has a function."
  "A dog teaches a boy fidelity, perseverance, and to turn around three times before lying down."



• Use your computer to make mats and die-cuts. You can make them whatever size or color you want. Just print on acid-free paper. You can make your own fancy die-cuts and mats using patterned paper.



• Need a musical theme? Cut out large musical notes 2-3" across, either in black or colored paper. Cut your photos into circles to fit inside the round part of the note.



• When using die-cuts, double their mileage by placing them on edge of the page, (with only ½ of the die-cut on, and ½ off). Then when you cut off the excess, you place it on another edge of the layout, and it looks like you used 2 die-cuts when you only had one.



• Layering die-cuts is a way to give dimension to them, and it adds interest to a flat looking die-cut.



• When using a template to crop your photos, place the template on the back of the picture and hold it up to a light to make sure that it is positioned where you want it. Then trace template design on back of photo and cut out. This prevents you from making marks on the front of pictures and also eliminates the step of wiping off stabilo pencil marks from the picture.



• Use the frames from die-cuts for punches that coordinate with your page.



• Use the template and trace the shape using a pigma pen onto an album page.



• Mount colored paper behind the template before putting on album page.



• Decorate die-cut shape with pens - trace a thin line or stitches just inside the shape, draw scales on the fish, stems on the leaves, write your school's name on the bus or school.



• Decorate die-cut shape with stickers - stars on cowboy hat, ornaments or lights on a Christmas tree, an award ribbon on a trophy.



• Trace template onto other colors of paper and make another die-cut.



• Trace template onto photos - ie use ABC letters to cut out the word "zoo" from pictures of a trip to the zoo.



• Make stained glass windows with pigma pens or colored paper for a church window die-cut.



• Use the template part of a die-cut as mounting paper behind a rectangular photo.



• Cut templates from overhead transparencies. Store in a large binder notebook with a sheet of paper separating each template.



• Use cookie cutters for shapes. Trace them onto paper and photocopy, reducing and enlarging them several times. To use as template just hold them up to a bright window and trace them.



• Use sunglasses die-cut in place of two o's for the word "pool" or "cool".



• Overlap shapes and die-cuts - yellow circle (sun) behind sailboat die-cut, an oval behind cross, etc.



• Fill a dump truck die-cut with hearts, stars or whatever else you like.



• Add yellow mounting paper behind a jack-o-lantern to light its candle.



• For a fall page, use a basket die-cut spilled over with apple die-cuts tumbling out.



• Cut die-cut in half and place at the edges of a page, for example 2 sailboats gliding across the page, both partially in view.



• Trim a baby picture and place the baby in the bundle of a stork die-cut.



• Use a hole punch to add a worm's hole to an apple.



• Use scalloped scissors to take a bite out of your ice cream or any other food item.

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