Scrapropos

Scraplifting…the term alone makes it sound like you’re stealing something. But don’t think of it as taking someones layout and passing it off as your own. Scraplifting, in fact, is an art form. It is finding inspiration in a layout that someone else has created. And it’s not a crime. With so many pages to scrapbook, do you really have to recreate the wheel every time?

There are a number of ways you can scraplift. Let’s use a magazine as an example. You’re reading the latest issue of your favorite scrapbook magazine and it is filled with layout ideas. You can find inspiration from those layouts in so many different ways…

Copy the subject/theme of the layout. Perhaps it gives you a great idea for scrapbooking about your child’s favorite books, or your teenager’s top 10 list, or maybe a way to journal about your day.

Copy the “bones” of the layout. Maybe it has 7 pictures and that is how many pictures you want to include on your next project. You can copy the way the layout was put together but use your own papers and embellishments. A baby page can be turned into a page for a prom, wedding, etc. This is a popular way to scraplift as you can see by the variety of “sketches” idea books out there.

Re-create an embellishment you like from the layout. Maybe the layout has an interesting border, has used chip board in a creative way, or features a new technique you’d like to try.

Borrow the title idea from the layout. Maybe you like the words used or the way they were created.

And then there is complete scraplifting, where you just go ahead and copy the layout, maybe only changing the paper or embellishments you use but not their placement. And that is OK too!

In the following layout I scraplifted the way the focal photo was accented. I loved how different patterned papers were used behind the photo to make it pop. So I re-created that in this layout using my own patterned papers that went with my pictures. (All papers are from one line which makes it so much easier to mix patterns). The flowers were cut from the patterned paper and accented with glaze, the matte around the focal photo was cut with scallop scissors, I cut thin lines of white paper for journaling, and the title was die-cut at the scrapbook store.

The layout below is a “Total Scraplift”! I had gone to Archiver’s Scrapbook Store and did a free make-and-take (the center flower border). They had a sample layout that I just went ahead and copied. What a fast and easy way to get a page done, and to actually use the free make-and-take!

So take another look at those scrapbook magazines or idea books you have piled up and find new inspiration. It just may help you to get more pages done in less time!