I love EPP! I’m working on the Millefiore shapes. I don’t use the acrylic templates. I just trace around the cardboardy piece. The acrylic pieces are helpful, I think, if you’re doing fussy cutting. My fussy cutting mostly involves getting an animal or certain motif included in my tracing. Are you using the EPP glue stick? That, to me, is invaluable in attaching the edges onto the back of the paper piece. The Tula Nova paper pieces have been in my Amazon cart for a while - someday I’ll probably buy it!