Scraplifting

Over the last 2 years I have been on a mission to #1 get my memories recorded so that I don't forget them and to #2 use the things that I buy and/or have bought already aka my stash.   At first, I was getting nowhere.  The ideas were not coming fast enough.  The designs were not gelling and it was taking me days to create just one project.  Not acceptable for this woman who was on a mission.  

I knew what had to be done.  I had to use the inspiration that had been, up to this point, collecting dust in the hundreds of magazines and books that I own, waiting on me in the thousands of pins on my pinterest boards and calling to me from the blogs and galleries that I perused every single day.  

It was hard to change the mindset that every page had to be my original idea and that I was not allowed to share or claim a page that was inspired by someone other than myself. Thankfully I realized that in order for me to tackle the task that is my stash (photos and product) I needed help.  Thankfully there are thousands of talented scrapbookers who were willing to come to my rescue, although they had no idea that that is what they were doing:), by posting their beautiful pages.  

The fun techniques, lovely color combos and creative use of products were just what I needed to get creating and to date I have created an average of 50 pages a month.  Going from struggling to create a layout a month to creating 50 or more has been amazing!!! What's even better is that my own ideas are still there.  They didn't go anywhere.  I didn't lose my creativity.  My creativity shows itself most often in small ideas that I add to the pages that I'm scraplifting.  And sometimes, a lot more lately, it is showing itself in the design of complete pages.  

I don't mind scraplifting.  I do mind photos and papers and pretty things that I spent time and money collecting going unused and unappreciated.  This girl is very happy to share pages that have been inspired by my very generous fellow scrapbookers. 

This page was inspired by Lisa Dickinson.  Her design was perfection!  I didn't change much besides the papers and embellishments.  The photo of my son just kind of fell together with everything that was used on the page..... 

What can I say about this layout except holy color Batman!  There are more 6X6 paper pads, bits and large scraps in my room than what makes me happy.  They are all used on this page lol.  Along with my long neglected 1" circle punch and my crop-a-dile big bite.  It's hard to see in the photos but I actually punched holes in the layout in some places.  It's different and I'm interested to see what it looks like once it's in my album.  I haven't decided if I like the page yet:)......

On the other hand, this page definitely owns some heart.  I just love it and would make it in 50 different color schemes.  All of the supplies are from Hip Kit Clubs February 2017 kit and I used Big Picture Classes Aly Dosdale Document 2015 May for inspiration.  My page is nothing at all like the one we did in class but it sparked the idea for using the pink polka dot paper......

This last page is all about the photos and the story.  My youngest is very conservative and low key so imagine my surprise when I saw these photos on my daughters Facebook page. I am laughing as I type this because the story is hilarious to me and my kids (except the guilty party in the photo:)  He would like to erase all evidence of a wild side).  2 of my older kids had a Facebook conversation that I printed out and added as my journaling.....

Thanks for stopping by and happy Tuesday!