Celebrating Our Readers and Favorite Layouts

Editor's Note: All this week we celebrate our favorite layouts with reader-inspired scraplifts and digital scrapbooking tips! Enjoy.

ETA: Corrections to this article appear in Blue.

Scraplifting Is Not a Crime!
Questions and Answers written
by Becky Adams, Featured Reader

Have you ever found yourself in a scrappy slump? I know I have...more than once. There have been times when all of my pages started to look alike, or I had no inspiration or I just couldn't come up with a creative idea at all. Wanna know my secret to pulling myself out of a scrappy slump? Scraplifting. Seriously, that's it.

I'll often go to the designers that I know and love and peruse their galleries. When I find a page that really speaks to me or catches my eye, I scraplift it. Immediately, my mind begins reeling with endless ideas. Color combinations and element clusters dance in my head. I find myself transported into scrap-mode once again.

When I first started scraplifting, I really struggled with the moral issues surrounding it. Was it right to copy someone else's design? Was it unfair to them? Would they be upset with me? What if I changed their design a bit and made it more "my own?" Let's look a little deeper into these issues.

Scraplift by Becky Adams

Original layout by featured reader: Jackie Garrison

Q. Is it right to copy someone else's design? Is it unfair to them?
A. Yes, it is absolutely okay to copy someone else's design. It's not unfair to them at all. In fact, they may be thrilled about it!

• Be sure to give credit where credit is due. If you scraplift someone else's design and then upload your page to an online gallery, post in your description that it is a scraplift. Then give the name of the person you lifted from. You can even post a link back to their original page, if you like.
  
• It is absolutely unfair to copy someone else's design and not give them credit for it.

Q. Will the original designer be upset that they've been scraplifted?
A. It's highly unlikely that anyone would be upset if they've been given proper credit. As a matter of fact, most scrapbookers are honored to be lifted from. I'll never forget the first time someone scraplifted one of my pages. I was so excited that I talked about it for weeks! If you are still concerned though, send an email to the original designer and request permission to scraplift their work. You might be surprised by how friendly and receptive they are. Either way, it's a nice gesture to email them a link to your lift to let them know.

Q. Can I change their design a bit and make it more "my own?"
A. Certainly! In the end, you want a page that makes you happy. Your scraplifted page doesn't have to be an exact match to the original.

• You can pull ideas from the original design such as color combinations, placement of elements, etc.
  
• It is still courteous to give credit to the original designer, though.
  
• In the two layouts in this article, you can see that my page "Just Like This" is very different from my friend Jackie's page. Yet looking at the two pages together, it is obvious that mine is a scraplift. Therefore, she is credited everywhere I posted this page.

Remember, scraplifting is not a crime. Let's say that together. "Scraplifting is not a crime." Repeat if necessary. And the next time you find yourself in a scrappy slump, visit a few pages from your favorite designers, scraplift away & enjoy the process!

"Just Like This" Credits:
Patterned Paper - "Purple Inspired" by Ramona Williams
Font - PeaAlisha
Stitches (recolored)- Debra Anderson
Glitter Doodle - Debra Anderson

"I Wish You..." Credits:
Washed, Worn, Faded#2 Kit by Kathy Moore
Font - PeaMystie