Alex here with the next installment of my Lost Mojo (or Finding Inspiration) series! If you missed the first installments, you can find them here:
Part 1
Part 2
So what are we going to discuss today? I honestly didn't expect this to become quite the epic it has, but I'm hoping you're enjoying it (or at least the lovely flair on my layouts 😉)
This is the bit when I think it's worth talking a bit about finding inspiration from OTHER PEOPLE. I guess you'd say it's like pulling out the big guns if you're really stuck, or perhaps you always do this and there's nothing wrong with that. There is one golden rule as far as I'm concerned, though and that it to always acknowledge your source or inspiration. There are various ways you can be inspired by other crafters - using a sketch created by someone else, "scraplifting" a finished layout or perhaps taking a class offered by another crafter. I regularly use all three methods.
Sometimes, my chronic illness doesn't allow me to do the entire process so through trial and error I found that when I need to buy some time or energy, taking this first step out of the equation for me is key to having a finished layout and story told.
Today we'll have a look at scraplifting. What's "scraplifting" I hear you ask? While I dislike the term (it implies stealing), it's effectively copying someone else's project. We're taught that's a big NoNo at school, but that's why people share their work online. When you find a layout by another scrapbooker that you'd like to reproduce, or get inspiration from, there are endless degrees to which you can do this.
The layout I'm scraplifting is by Shimelle Laine. Her "style" is pretty close to mine so I often am inspired by her work. The layout I'm "scraplifting" is a few years old and can be found HERE. I really recommend you have a look at it first.
Now I could reproduce this layout exactly if I wanted to since I have all the exact same supplies in my stash (I know! 🤦). I've never done this though! Not that her layout isn't perfect as it is, but I personally don't want mine to be a cookie cutter replica. Where's the creativity? Talking about creativity may seem like a luxury when your mojo is MIA, but I promise, once you get going you will see that your page starts to develop a mind of its own even if it's a pretty close scraplift.
I'd call mine pretty close. I guess for me it is since I know how far (or not) I end up when I do this. There are loads of examples on my blog. If you click on the word "scraplifting" at the bottom of a post on my blog when I use it (like this one), it will bring up more entries.
You might deviate a lot more (and I have a layout in progress where my scraplift took on a mind of it's own which I will post when I revisit this topic later) or a lot less. Both are absolutely OK!
So where to start? The easiest way to stay true to the original is to choose a photo which is roughly the same size and orientation. In this case it appears to be 4x6 in landscape. Mine is a touch smaller. The next thing is to pick supplies, but I do find that when scraplifting, the layout does tend to evolve so it's never quite that simple.
My process for this exercise was to first decide on my background paper. I did toy with navy, but if I was going to use the black and white "Cats" flair badges I'd have to include at least some black which can be a challenge with navy, though not impossible. I ended up choosing a dark grey which bridged the gap between black and the colour of the grey cat. I also wanted the focus to be more on the colours of the box.
If you read Shimelle's blog post and journaling, you'll see that rainbow and colour overall play a key aspect in her story, whereas in mine, the story is about the box in the photo, so emphasizing those specific colours made sense, but I did want to include somewhat of an array of bright colour (especially red of the box (and to a lesser extent blue)).
Since my photo had far fewer colours than Shimelle's, and that initial pop of rainbow is what makes the dark background so striking, I did want to include some multicoloured paper with black (OK so it could be a very very dark navy in the triangle pattern but reads as black) as well as incorporating all the other colours I planned to use.
I also ended up having to use more layers because it just didn't look "right" with fewer. This is what I mean when I say the layout starts taking on a life of its own! I had to go back and search for various colours and add them in a few times!
As you can tell, I deliberately curled up loose corners for texture!
I was also thinking embellishment at the same time. I did want to use that same "delighted" die cut since it's a word frequently used in Regency society and had all the colours I was going to use!
I wanted to use stitching like Shimelle, although mine was more for decorative purposes (except in a couple of places) rather than holding down notorious chipboard! I like leaving loose threads if it suits the layout and anything to do with cats suits since they like string and yarn.
I wanted to use some gold also as a nod to the Regency era, so gold mist and gold detail on some of the embellishments worked with the Thickers. Also...if you're going to stitch, make sure said mist is totally dry or else you'll have to cover up the smudges with the chipboard and enamel stars!! 🤦🤦🤦
I positioned the badges around the photo and picked mostly white ones to stand out. I did have to use the one with a touch of red to again go back to the original chicken box element of the story! Also, my son calls him "little man" so that sticker on the top left was perfect in all aspects. I'm sure you can figure out the connection between cats and birds/feathers. It's one of the few times I use bird paper since I have a phobia and aversion to the things and quite frankly the connection freaks me out further, but 🤷. Shimelle jokes that I'm the only one allowed to disike the birds she has included in her last few collections! 😳😳😳
Most people wont have any idea that all these little decisions relate to the story and my memory of the event, but I love all these little connections and they really make the memory complete in my mind.
Speaking of story...that cat is named Fitzwilliam (after the heartthrob hero), and there is also a character in the novel called Colonel Fitzwilliam! Not who he was named after, but a good pun in light of the story being about the box!
So can you see how while I have scraplifted a layout, I've also used elements from the Part 1 and Part 2 of this series as well to help make the layout my own and just let the initial inspiration take me where it was going to lead.
Colonel Fitzwilliam
Well thanks for sticking with me and hope to bring you another way to find that lost mojo very soon!
Embellish With Flair products used: Cats set
Love, and Embellish With Flair!
--Alex xx
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