Confessions of a Serial Scraplifter

[Genuine Beauty 2007]

When I first started scrapbooking, I would look through the magazines and internet galleries for inspiration and concepts. I saw lots of outstanding and complex work that was clearly out of my league as a beginner. It did introduce me to various techniques and offer different ways to apply them. I was discouraged sometimes by the enormous number of single page, single photo, and oversized photo layouts. They just didn't seem quite reasonable considering the "scrapbook every moment with a million digital photos" kind of style I had adopted.

I'm not sure when it started, but I must have run across a layout in a magazine that did more than inspire me, it screamed, "You could do this, too!" I created a great page "Easter Basket" using the magazine as map. It was really one of my favorites from my daughter's first year album.


[Easter 2004]


[Chocolate Smiles 2006]

I've never looked back. Like Ishmael, my white whale is really an endless series of sketches and shared layouts that make my head spin. Becky Higgins Sketch Book was awesome and gave me permission to take as many ideas as I wanted to use and reuse. While many magazines had a regular sketch features, I didn't really fall into scrapbook love love until I discovered the amazing talent found at online sketch blogs. Wow! These folks have so many awesome ideas, that I can't look away. These artists have truly legitamized my scraplifting tendancies. I never claim to come up with original or unique ideas for my page layouts. I never enter my pages in to contests or submit to magazines, because I know that the design is probably lifted someone else much more talented than I. I have included links to some of my favorite sketch sources; so visit them be inspired!


[Happy as Clams 2007]




[Pizza Time 2006]

Shamelessly, I use the ideas and designs that others post. This I freely admit. And I do take pride in how I am able to make the sketch or design my own. I add my own style and favorite embellishments like ribbon, flowers and brads & eyelets. When I'm done it's mine, but I always know from whence it came.