We all have them. Idea books, magazines and online access to thousands of beautiful and creative layouts. So why is it that every Friday and Saturday night at the local scrapbook store you will find a scrapbooker at a crop bemoaning herself because she doesn't have any good ideas? So instead of scrapping she will just sit there and slowly rearrange her pictures waiting for the right inspiration. When instead she could be using the hundreds of resources around her and "gasp!" actually copy someone else's page.

Why is it that scrapbookers feel they have to create a completely original work of art with every page they scrapbook? This has been a struggle of mine for quite some time, dealing with the pressure to create. I have so many idea books and magazines; yet I'm so afraid to "scraplift" any layouts.

We as scrapbookers need to let go of this pressure. Scraplifting is the greatest form of flattery for a scrapbooker. There are so many scrapbookers that are paid to design pages. And the reason? So that they can help and inspire others to create beautiful pages. So what's the catch? There is no catch, except one rule of courtesy. And that is to give credit to the person you scraplifted from. You would want the same thing done to you.

Ok, so now that you've accepted the fact that you can copy other people's pages, how do you start? I had a big "scrappers block" to break, so writing this article came at a perfect time for me. I grabbed a few copies of some magazines and a cup of coffee and went looking for some cute layouts. The first one I found that I really liked was Cathryn Zielske's layout on page 85 of the January/February 2003 Simple Scrapbooks magazine. I loved her simple and clean yet striking layout. So I chose to copy her layout exactly, only changing the colors I used and of course the pictures and journaling. That is what is so great about "scraplifting." You may be using someone else's ideas, but the layout will be uniquely yours because of the pictures and journaling.

Now that I had for the first time ever, copied someone else's layout exactly I was ready to move to another step. Take someone else's layout design and rearrange it to fit my picture. Jennifer Bester's layout on page 52 of the December 2002/January 2003 Paperkuts magazine caught my eye. I pretty much copied all of her layout, but changed the title and embellishments used based on the supplies that I had available.

For the last and final step in my journey to break my "scrappers block" I wanted to take one idea and use it on my page. I scraplifted Rebecca Sower's ideas for "bullet journaling" and "journaling paper strips" to use in my TV layout below. These ideas and many more can be found in "Scrapbooking Life's Little Treasures" by Rebecca Sower.

Not only did I save time and get four pages done by "scraplifting" I was able to lift my own "scrappers block." I give you permission to go and grab the latest idea book or use our magazine and "scraplift" a favorite layout that you find. It's a freeing feeling knowing that you finished one more layout and you didn't have to spend an entire crop night working on just one page.