Sunday, August 2, 2009

I am a ScrapNapper, and I'm not ashamed of it (well, maybe a little).

Now, before anyone gets all over me, let me explain. I am relatively new to scrapbooking. I have purchased tons of materials here and at other sites. I have bought lots of items from a lot of you here, from punches to paper piecings, to tear bears and a whole lot more. When I started, my pages were pretty mundane. They were "nice", but they lacked any sort of personality. I didn't realize how to tell a story with my page...something that I think we can all agree is what makes the BEST pages. It is not just the photos that are inserted, but the entire layout that helps to define what the pictures are saying. Many of you learned this from your local stores or friends and relatives. Sadly, all of those avenues are not available to me. YOU are my "local store". I wasn't aware of journaling, stamping, die-cut machines, embossing, texturing, snow effects, and all those other tantilizing and fun things that make (and forgive me for using this cliche) your pages pop! Heck, I didn't even understand the use of pop-dots! As I said, my pages were pretty much pretty papers, some frames, stickers, and photos. Nice, but hardly the statement that I wanted to make. ALL of my education has been gleamed from this board and the internet. I've discovered the wonderful world of scrapbooking and now my pages are so teriffic, my husband no longer complains when I spend hours deciding on what paper to buy at Michaels. BUT, I will admit, that I have scrap-napped from nearly everyone who has listed an interesting page on eBay. Oh, I don't copy the entire layout because I want my pages to be "mine" and not someone elses, but I have "lifted" portions of pages to use. Double-matting? Yep. Found it here and lifted it. Charms, ribbon and prima flowers used together on mats? Yep, those too. Papers that work together, fun borders, titles, themes, photo placement, snow, textures, journaling tags, et al.? Yep, lifted them all at one time or another. You see, what I do is I find a page or a dozen that really speaks to me. It could be the colors used, the theme, the way an effect was done, or sometimes I find it just adorable. I then take what I like about that particular page and tweak it. Many of the techniques I've seen on pages listed here are things I never would have thought of in a million years, much less tried. It's not exactly scrapnapping, but more of using your work on eBay as a source of inspriation and aspiration. But, what I haven't done and what I'll never do is re-create a page that someone else has done without express permission. If I ever find a page that I just had to have exactly as is, I'd just bid on it and be done with it. I'll likely never actually do it, because the fun for me is in the creation....but I never could have created without first learning how to do it. So, to all those people who've enabled my addiction, I want to thank you. Rest assured that at least on this scrappers part, anything that I've "lifted" is credited on my pages for posterity. I know that the whole copying debate is a sore subject. I just wanted you guys to know that for every person who takes delight in your pages and uses your creative ideas for their own personal inspiration (as I do), there are going to a few who have no inner dialogue and self-scruples to do what is right. Take heart in the knowledge that no matter how much those people try to copy things...their pages will always lack that "something special" that comes through when a truly beautiful original page is done. They can't help it, creativity sparks beauty and a copy will always be just a mirror image, without the passion or perfection of an original work of art. Thanks for your time...now I'm off to buy.



Orignal From: I am a ScrapNapper, and I'm not ashamed of it (well, maybe a little).

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