Do you have colorblocking templates somewhere in your scrapping supplies? Do you have lots of photos of one theme or event but you don't want to make a whole album about it or even 6 pages? If you answered yes to those questions then this tutorial is for you. This is the easiest way I have learned how to use the template and I am here to share it with you.

Pick out photos and cardstock/paper to be used

1) Pick out photos and cardstock/paper to be used. I had 19 Photos for this layout and I picked out colors from the photos to use as my mats and background sheets. I am going to be double matting my photos for this layout.

Pick out templates

2) Pick out templates. I pick out the templates I want to use and stack the papers in order they will be going down. I will mat photo onto the blue and the blue will be matted on the yellow. IF using printed papers, flip them over so you will be writing on the back side so pencil marks won't show.

Arrange photos

3) Arrange photos. I photos placed where I want them on both pages of my layout at the same time. I know this looks like a mess and hard to figure out but it's really not as bad as it looks. Just go thru your stack of photos and fit them in where you want them and where they fit nicely, showing the most important part of each photo. Once you have all photos placed, set the right page aside and just work on the left page. You will come back and do the right page later.

Number photos & mats

4) Number photos & mats. I start at the bottom right and work in a zigzag pattern up the template. (but feel free to come up with your own way to do this step. Just make sure you are consistent and do it the same way all the time to avoid confusion). I number ALL template squares and the photo if there is one for that square. Note: #1 does not have a photo, but square #2 does so the squares and the photos gets marked with #2. I stack the photos as I go to keep them in order. This prevents me from having to search for numbers, When the time comes, I just work down the stack.

Tracing template squares

5) Tracing template squares. Set the stacked photos to the side. Align the template with the cardstock, make sure it is even all the way around the cardstock. Trace around each square of the template. Hold the template securely while tracing, feel free to use a temporary adhesive. The edges of the template will move or bow out if not held tightly.

double matting

6) Set the blue sheet aside and do the same thing to the yellow sheet as ya did in step #5. If you are not double matting your photos, then you will NOT need to do this step.

Trimming mats

7) Trimming mats. Since blue is the first mat, I will trim about 1/16 inch INSIDE my trim lines. And when I trim down the yellow, I will cut DIRECTLY ON the lines. As you cut each square from each sheet, stack them in order like you did your photos.

Stacking mats and photos

8) Stacking mats and photos. Stack mats and photos by numbers 1-9 (number may vary depending on the template you used and how many spaces there are on the templates).

Assembly

9) Assembly. Pick up top photo, notice that the first photo is #2. There is no photo in square #1 so just sit the #1 mats aside. Don't toss them out because you might want to use them when you start embellishing the pages.

Position and mark photo for cutting

10) Position and mark photo for cutting. This is where having a set pattern to number your templates is beneficial. Position the photo in the appropriate square and mark all the corners.

Trim photos

11) Trim photos. Since I know I already cut my blue mats 1/16th inch inside the line, I will cut the photos 1/8th inch inside the marks. Remember I am double matting these photos, So if you are only doing one mat then you might not want to cut that far inside the lines. The amount of mat you want showing is totally up to you. You can always trim off a little more if you need to but you can't put it back on.

Matting

12) Matting. I mat the blue to the yellow and then I placed the photo to the mat to make sure there is an even border all the way around the photo. When I am happy with it, I will adhere the photo to the mat.

attach matted photo

13) Attach matted photo. Make sure you have the template squared on the background sheet. This is important because this is where you adhere the photo to its permanent home. The matted photo should fit right inside the spot (#2 spot in this case).

Repeat steps

14) Repeat step #13 until all photos have been matted and placed in their spots according to the template.

Semi finished layout

15) This is how the page looks with the template still in place. The red areas is where I will do my embellishing. I want to point out a couple things I changed on the layout that was different that the template. Both are on the right page. First, do you notice the photo that looks like the template is covering up the center part of the photo? (it’s the right page, second photo from the left). I wanted to use that photo but the square was too small so when I was marking & numbering the mats & photos, I just counted the 2 squares as one and did NOT cut away that strip. That way I got to use the important part of the photo and it layout looks great.

making adjustments

16) Second, this is the bottom photo that has the wide blue mat still showing. The photo I had for this spot didn't trim up as well and look as good once I got it trimmed and positioned. So I just trimmed off some of the bad photo and positioned the photo to the left. This allows me to add an embellishment to the blue part.

Completed layout

17) Completed layout with embellishments. As you can see I only ended up using 13 of the 19 original photos. But that's ok. We don't have to use ALL the photos and it sure beats doing 6 pages of the event. Now get out those templates and use them. The more you use them the easier they get.