Welcome to SSD!! I went several years without scrapping a thing and I am so behind now but needed the break after being a designer and a scrapper for 5 years. I was burnt out.
I prefer templates and one kit scrapping but will branch out and use templates I created myself or scraplift a paper layout I saved on Pinterest.
My new way to use templates (which may not be new to others) is to hide all the layers and start building from the bottom up so I am not swayed by the design and can just freely build the page.
I will search other kits for an element or leaf or flower if needed. I mix kits that come from the same group a lot more like KCB's The Great Outdoors.
I will say my scrapping style has changed a lot over the years and evolved to more clusters and busy. It is now more a creative outlet and way to tell our story esp since we travel a lot...
