Because you HAVE 1000 buttons, you think you HAVE to find "the perfect one" to use on any given layout. You know it's there, in the stash, if you could just find it. Or maybe a brad would be better. You have a few hundred of those... or perhaps you should try a silk flower? Or an epoxy sticker? Or some staples... or some ribbon... and that's just for the embellishments! You go through the same thing for the letter stickers (red looks good -- but maybe orangey-red would be better... or maybe you should stamp it... or cut it out on your Cricut... but what font should you use? And what size???). And for the photos. And for the patterned paper. On and on it goes, and the next thing you know, it's 1 AM and you haven't even selected your cardstock yet!
I will tell you right now: NO ONE CARES IF YOUR SCRAPBOOK PAGES ARE PERFECT. In fact, there's no such thing as "perfect." There's "done" and "not done." And I know which one I want!
So how can scraplifting help you with this particular onus? By helping you narrow your field of vision. Once you pick a design to follow, you know how many different patterned papers you need, how many buttons, how many photos, etc. (NOTE: In general, I encourage people to adjust scraplifts to their tastes, but if you are suffering from perfectionitis, you may want to stick with the design as-is. As soon as you start messing with it, you'll fall into the same trap all over again!)
Still need convincing? To show you how easy and versatile scraplifting is, I asked two of my fave Write.Click.Scrapbook. sistahs to help me out.
First, the incomparable Emily Pitts lifted a page by Kendra McCracken. Here's Kendra's:
And here's what Emily did with it:
I love how she converted the 12x12 to an 8 1/2x11. And the different background paper gives the page a totally different look, even though she used many of the same basic design elements and title. Emily says, "It was SO fast and easy. Scraplifting takes all the thought out of designing. I needed that this week!"
Next, the oh-so-talented Jody Wenke lifted another one of my fave scrappers -- herself!
The original:
And the lift, with the exact same title:
What a great way to track time and show the changes! In this case, Jody was showcasing the difference between the time when her daughter was diagnosed with cancer, and now that it's a year that she's been cancer free.
Yesterday's assignment was to pick a design to lift. Today, get cracking! Don't let yourself be bogged down in choices. Pick the first photo, paper, etc., that matches the design and goes with your other page elements. Don't forget your new mantra: "There is only done and not done -- perfection doesn't exist." Upload your results to our WCS flickr gallery, and tag it as "scraplift." Can't wait to see what you've done!
