Templates for storytelling

Are you joining the journey of “Remember when…?” Great. If you are familiar with scrapbooking (digital or traditional), you know that it is fun to start with templates or sketches, simply to get the inspiration going. But you might wonder where to go in order to find templates that might be suitable for story telling, instead of photo displaying. Let’s look at a few possible options.

Photoless templates

A few designers are creating templates especially made for journaling, or storytelling, without including any photo areas. Those are great as you get exactly what you expect: a wide area for telling your story.

The area you will need depends on how much details you have in your story, or basically how long your story is. Some photoless templates will have one single journaling area, while others have several smaller sections. Which one you want to use depends on your story. (this template is from SheCreates)

Single large photo templates

Templates are versatile tools. You can use them as is, but you can change them, tweak them, change things around, remove unwanted elements, and more. There is more information available in the Stretch-a-Sketch Master Classes. This also means that if you have a template meant for using one large photo, you can simply replace a photo by a story. Nobody would know! (this template is from SheCreates)

Minimal photo templates

Some templates are made to use tiny photos, using only a small area of the layout, leaving a wide empty space. Do you have some of those templates? Are you wondering what to do with such tiny photos and tend to dismiss those templates as not too useful? Think again. You can use the rest of the space for journaling, and the tiny photo space can be used for bad quality photo, if you have one, or just replace it by some decorative element, or just remove it altogether. (this template is from Sara Gleason)

Stacked papers templates

These templates are mainly done to help the scrappers create an interesting background, while expecting them to add whatever elements, photos or journaling they want without too many limitations. Generally, they will have a few layered paper templates, some small decorative elements on the outer edges and a wide empty space in the middle, which is perfect for your story even if the designer might expect you to be using the largest space for a photo. (this template was from Kristmess Designs)

Cluster templates

Some designers will have simple cluster templates that you can use anywhere on a layout. If they include a photo space, you can use it, remove it or replace it. You can put the whole cluster wherever you want on your layout, whether it is on top, on the bottom, on the side or in a corner. With the options to rotate, flip, resize and adjust each cluster template, you can reuse the same one many times! (this template is from SheCreates)

Border templates

Again, you can find a few templates made especially to create borders on the edge of a page, whether you have stacked papers or not. You can use those templates on any edge of your project by rotating them and use the rest of the space for your journaling. And why not combine more than one? After all, you decide how much space you need to write your story. (this template is from SheCreates)

How many templates do you have that can be used for storytelling? Check out your stash; you might have many more than you think. If not, you can surely tweak some you have to accommodate your most interesting stories.

Who is your favorite template designer? What templates can you think you will be using? Now is the time to point us toward those templates and designers.

For more information on our Remember when...? activity, check out this article.