...even your favorite Write.Click.Scrapbook. ladies do it! Scraplift, that is!
Hard as it may be to believe, even the "professionals" run out of ideas at times. The jiggy juice runs low, the mojo takes a vacay, and we're left with a deadline and a blank piece of 12x12 cardstock in front of us!
Now, I would NEVER suggest that any designer submit a project for publication that relies heavily on someone else's design. After all, our readers and audiences are expecting fresh content. But inspiration can come from the smallest page element -- the combination of two patterned papers, for instance, or the angle of a photo. The spark of creativity is ignited, and we're off!
If you are scrapping for your own purposes exclusively -- for your personal scrapbooks, for instance -- scraplift away with abandon! But as I mentioned the other day, if you are posting your creations in a public forum (like a gallery or on a public blog), please do the courtesy of mentioning the source of your creation. Likely, your "liftee" will be honored to have inspired you!
Speaking of inspiration, I asked some more of the WCS team to share pages they'd lifted from each other (we're just one big happy family around here!). Here's what we came up with.
First, from the talented Cheryl Overton, who found inspiration in this layout of darling Candice Palmer:
(I told you she was adorable!).
Now, here's Cheryl's take on it:
If you saw these two layouts several pages apart in a magazine, I bet you'd never notice they were the same design! The different subject matter, the varying color schemes, and the color photo vs. the B/W photo on the original are all ways Cheryl made Candice's original design "her own."
Next, Melanie Louette found inspiration from Elizabeth Dillow. This layout is from Elizabeth's wonderfully inspiring book, "The Scrapbooker's Almanac:"
Melanie created this:
Once more, these pages are so different that the uninformed would never pick up on their shared origins! But you, Gentle WCS Reader, now know the truth.
The moral of this story? Scraplifting can be pure imitation, and that's fine! But it also can be the first step in creating art of your own. Don't knock it or write it off as "cheating." After all, all those magazines, galleries, and blogs (including this one!) are out there to HELP you. Use them. Enjoy them. And Scrap Happy!
