I just LOVE all the different kinds of shaped paper there are these days, but sadly not all the manufacturers make them and they are often the first ones to be sold out. So… I decided to create my own shaped papers.
Let me show you how I do this!
1. I use these templates from Technique Tuesday (= Technique Tiles) which come in various shapes and sizes.

I just put one of them on my paper of choice....
trace it...
and hand cut it... and voila!

And 2. I draw them!
If I want a flowery shape like the layout I did with the August Monthly Kit from Crop Addict I start with drawing a circle. You can use a template from Technique Tuesday again, but a plate will do perfectly as well!
Make sure you leave enough space around the circle to draw the scallops!
Then I start with drawing the scallops. Sometimes I draw them about the same size and sometimes I draw both small and big scallops. I draw them on the reverse side of the paper so you won’t see the pencil traces later.
When I’m satisfied with the scallops I hand cut the paper and …. ready!
Of course you can use this technique not only for circle shapes but also for your photo mat or for squares or whatever you like!!
Here are a few examples of pages where I used this technique:
First a layout with the shape shown first:
And then the layout from the August 2010 Monthly Scrapbook Kit with the "flowery shape":
and an example where I used this last technique as a photo mat:
This is it! If you give it a try too, I would love to see it!!
Have fun scrapping!
{Monique}