{"id":93813,"date":"2026-05-27T06:30:00","date_gmt":"2026-05-27T10:30:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.sweetshoppedesigns.com\/?p=93813"},"modified":"2026-05-26T14:22:40","modified_gmt":"2026-05-26T18:22:40","slug":"one-template-fifteen-ways-with-sweet-doll","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.sweetshoppedesigns.com\/index.php\/2026\/05\/one-template-fifteen-ways-with-sweet-doll\/","title":{"rendered":"One Template, Fifteen Ways with Sweet Doll"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

It’s been said that May is “the month of fresh beginnings and endless possibilities.” And speaking of endless possibilities, it’s time for another edition of “One Template, Many Ways” – where we explore the endless possibilities<\/em><\/strong> of layered digital scrapbooking templates!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This month, we’re pleased to feature a template by Raquel of Sweet Doll Designs<\/strong>. It’s part of her newly-released 4-pack Tell Your Story: Chapter 2<\/a><\/strong>, and is available in her Shoppe now:<\/p>\n\n\n

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We challenged our creative team of Sugar Babes to work with the template in the upper right corner. This 12″x12″ 300dpi template features vertical paper strips hanging from the top of the page that are stitched in place. They sit behind a pair of 3-image photo strips which are framed by embellishment clusters, and there’s space for a title and journaling at the bottom of the layout.<\/p>\n\n\n

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Our goal with the One Template, Many Ways<\/em><\/strong> series is to demonstrate the versatility of a single template and give you lots of ideas for how it can be used to create a wide range of scrapbook layouts. The Babes absolutely killed it this month! They’ve given us fifteen different takes on this template, and I can’t wait to walk you through them all and talk about their strategies for getting multiple uses from a single template.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Technique #1: Use it as-is<\/h1>\n\n\n
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Our first example comes from SugarBabe Krista L and it’s a layout that uses the template exactly as-is. After popping photos in the masks on each photo strip, she clipped solid, textured papers to the paper pieces in the template. She replaced each layer of the clusters with elements from her selected kit and then shadowed it all beautifully.<\/p>\n\n\n

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Technique #2: Change up the photos<\/h1>\n\n\n\n

The first way to stretch a template beyond its initial design is to change up how you work with the photographs and their associated masks.<\/p>\n\n\n

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SugarBabe Cassie used the template to create a photoless <\/strong>layout. She did this by replacing the two photo strips with two pre-designed pocket cards.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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“Often when I do photoless layouts they’re emotion filled pages,” says Cassie. “They’re more about feelings than photos. I’m currently working on focusing on gratitude and choosing positivity in my own life so I decided to document that. And what better choice than this bright and cheerful collection from Kristin paired up with the fun paper strips in Raquel’s template?!”<\/p>\n\n\n

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SugarBabe Evelyn also changed up the template’s photos masks by replacing the 3-up strip with an individual photograph.<\/p>\n\n\n

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“This is such a beautiful template and was so much fun to work with!” writes Evelyn. “I love the strips that you can clip papers to and how they add a sense of movement and direction to your page. Another wonderful feature of this template is that you can use the photo strips as they are or change them out for a single frame for your photo!”<\/p>\n\n\n

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We love big photographs here at the Sweet Shoppe, and though at first look you’d think you can’t use this template with a full-page pic, you’d be wrong. Just look at what SugarBabe Sherly created!
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To create this layout, Sherly shrunk the template and rotated it 90-degrees so it fit in the lower corner of her photograph. The she removed a few paper strips as well as the second photo strip, using the main block to hold part of a journaling card. She created a big, eye-catching title and then built up the rest with all sorts of lovely papers and elements from her chosen kit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After deciding to use the template with a full-page shot, Sherly says, “The perfect photo of Michelle came to mind. Once I visualised it in my head, I started working on tweaking the template. I love how I can always be creative in using the template, while, at the same time, getting a guide on composition. Raquel’s template was so fun and easy to work with and helped me to get the idea in my head to become an actual page that I really love.”<\/p>\n\n\n

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Technique #3: Reorient it<\/h1>\n\n\n\n

Another fun approach you can take to get additional use out of a template is to change its orientation.<\/p>\n\n\n

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SugarBabe Suzanne gives us our first example of re-orienting the template – she flipped it vertically. Now the paper strips look like they’re growing from the bottom of the page rather than hanging from the top.<\/p>\n\n\n

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“My true love is patterned papers,” writes Suzanne, “so I’m always drawn to templates which give space to feature them. The paper strips also have such a fun feel and energy to them. Flipping the template vertically so the strips run upwards from the bottom initially made me think of towering buildings. Looking through my photos though I found these of two of my kids playing on a climbing frame and the central pole echoed the vertical paper strips so well. I really like that the title and journaling spot moved to the top as well as it really draws the eye to the story from the get go.”<\/p>\n\n\n

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We talk about putting a “different spin” on a template, and SugarBabe Eve did that literally. She rotated the template 90-degrees counter-clockwise. Now the paper strips look like they’re anchored on the left ad growing toward the right side of the layout.<\/p>\n\n\n

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Eve says,”I love using word strips as sentiments in my page. I feel the paper strips are the perfect spot to anchor some word strips or if I want to add some journaling I can put blank strips there and add my journaling.”<\/p>\n\n\n

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Who says you have to rotate a template 90-degrees at a time? Check out what happens when you split the difference and only rotate it 45 degrees like SugarBabe Jacinda!<\/p>\n\n\n

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“I thought this was a great template to show a rainbow of colour,” writes Jacinda, “and rotating it 45 degrees brings a whole new look and feel.”<\/p>\n\n\n

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Technique #4: Change its size<\/h1>\n\n\n\n

Another way to get even more use from a template is to start playing with its size in relation to your overall canvas.<\/p>\n\n\n

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SugarBabe Mary M created big, beautiful borders for her layout by shrinking the original template and placing it in the center of her page. I love the look she achieved by adding the paint splatter behind the template!<\/p>\n\n\n

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SugarBabe Charlene took the opposite approach from Mary and, instead, went BIG with the template.<\/p>\n\n\n

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“I wanted to include photos a little bit larger than the photo strips of the template would display them as,” says Charlene, “so I enlarged the whole template and pulled it over towards the left side of the layout. This way, I have the fun clusters and paper strips but also have larger pictures.”<\/p>\n\n\n

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When your creative juices are really flowing, it can be a great exercise to see how much room can alter and shuffle up the elements of a template. SugarBabe Heather demonstrates the gorgeous results you can get when you start duplicating and moving things around.<\/p>\n\n\n

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Here’s what Heather did with the template: first, she duplicated some of the paper strips and placed them at the bottom of the page; next, she replaced the filmstrips with a double-photo frame from her selected kit; finally, she added two additional element clusters to balance everything out.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“This template was a lot of fun to play with!” says Heather. “It was a great way to work in lots of patterned papers from this kit without it looking messy or cluttered. It was so easy to customize to give it just a little bit different look. I also love how it looks like a real paper page.”<\/p>\n\n\n

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Technique #5: Change its style<\/h1>\n\n\n\n

Another option for using the same template to create multiple layouts, each with a unique look? Change up the layout’s style.<\/p>\n\n\n

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SugarBabe Mary A took a minimalist approach to using the template. The result is a clean and beautiful layout that allows her black-and-white photos to really stand out.<\/p>\n\n\n

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“I’m not usually a minimalist scrapper,” says Mary, “but when I saw this template and the strips in the background, I knew I could get away with not having to use a lot of elements. I could let the patterned papers in the kit be the main element. This template did a great job of showing off the pretty papers in Starry-Eyed Kit by Becca Bonneville, Designed by Soco, & Sara Gleason.”<\/p>\n\n\n

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SugarBabe Amie went the opposite direction on the style spectrum; whereas Mary went clean-and-simple, Amie filled her layout with decorative goodness by going cluster-heavy.<\/p>\n\n\n

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When I asked Amie what inspired her about this template, she said, “the vertical strips that draw the eye down the layout. I knew with the vertical orientation photo strips that I wanted to use my daughter’s prom photos! I found so many great supplies that matched her dress & photos so well. I loved highlighting the patterned papers on the stitched strips!”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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A third style you can try with any template is mixed-media emotionally-driven art journaling, just like this piece by SugarBabe Karli. <\/p>\n\n\n

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“As an art journalist,” says Karli, “the first thing I thought on seeing this template was: rain. So I swapped out the paper strips for dripping paint and various ephemera. Studio Basic’s kit Silent Battles: Grief had the perfect mixed media pieces for this. I am a sucker for stitches, so even though it doesn’t make a lot of logical sense to sew down paint, I thought it looked cool and kept a lot of the original footprint of the template intact.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She goes on to say, “I had a vision of someone holding an umbrella under the rainfall but I wasn’t sure how to go about it until I saw the sketches in Erica Zane’s kit For Crying Out Loud. It just made sense to add them into the photo spots, constrained by the photo strip but also bursting out of the frame. I didn’t have any journaling in mind for this piece, so instead I mixed and matched some word art from both of the kits I used. I love how versatile this template is, I can see myself using it again in another totally unique way and no one will ever be the wiser!”<\/p>\n\n\n

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Technique #6: Mix it up<\/h1>\n\n\n\n

When you want to get a lot of mileage out of your template collection, you can start mixing them together to create something completely new.<\/p>\n\n\n

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SugarBabe Rebecca turned this template into a pocket style layout by mixing the it with one from Raquel’s A Bright Start template set<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n

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“I love the photo strip with the paper stripes but I needed more room for journaling about our EAA RV rental,” writes Rebecca. “I shrunk down the strips so that I could see more of the pocket page I used.”<\/p>\n\n\n

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Today’s final layout comes from … me. I wanted to include larger photographs than the original template, so I mixed it with another template from this same pack:<\/p>\n\n\n

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By rotating the second template 90-degrees and then dragging the photo masks and element clusters over to my canvas, and combining them with the element clusters that were already there, I got an entirely new look (and ample space for my journaling, too!).<\/p>\n\n\n

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I don’t know about you, but I am absolutely blown away by the wildly different looks the Babes achieved using this single template! It’s one template, fifteen different layouts.<\/p>\n\n\n

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It\u2019s our hope that today\u2019s post gives you some inspiration for how you can get the most out of your layered scrapbook templates. Work with it exactly as-is, change up the photos, reorient it, change its size, change its style, or mix it with another template or two. After all, just like the month of May, layered templates are filled with endless possibilities!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

It’s been said that May is “the month of fresh beginnings and endless possibilities.” And speaking of endless possibilities, it’s time for another edition of “One Template, Many Ways” – where we explore the endless possibilities of layered digital scrapbooking templates! This month, we’re pleased to feature a template by Raquel of Sweet Doll Designs. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":189,"featured_media":93856,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[132,872],"tags":[209,196,287,269,88,902,903,98],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sweetshoppedesigns.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/93813"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sweetshoppedesigns.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sweetshoppedesigns.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sweetshoppedesigns.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/189"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sweetshoppedesigns.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=93813"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/www.sweetshoppedesigns.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/93813\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":93855,"href":"https:\/\/www.sweetshoppedesigns.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/93813\/revisions\/93855"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sweetshoppedesigns.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/93856"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sweetshoppedesigns.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=93813"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sweetshoppedesigns.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=93813"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sweetshoppedesigns.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=93813"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}