The best kind of flattery...

Inspiration is found in funny places, we can find it in magazines, bloghopping, browsing websites, sometimes it might even be a particular fabric that catches our eye or a shopfront decoration... wherever it comes from, we take it home and create our own unique piece of work that we can be proud of.

I'm always scribbling ideas on the back of a serviette if I'm out, or in my daughters homework book if I'm in the car and she's running and errand for me, but my biggest place of inspiration and doodling is none other than my shower as I wait for the glass to fog up and then I set to task drawing up weird and wonderful designs for my next layout.

The showerdoor is where the idea for my 440 punched flower layout came from and I couldn't wait to towel dry and begin the arduous task of prepping the flowers... some days later I was the proud owner of my newest creation. My scrapping friends called me crazy and yes I had to agree as I nursed a rather sore thumb from all the punching.

I know most of you have seen this layout before as I've posted it a couple of times on my blog and various scrapping galleries. And yes, there are 440 punched flowers... I counted each and everyone! LOL!
Since doing this layout I've had quite a few emails from fellow scrappers asking if I would mind them using the design for their own personal inspiration, to which I have always felt honoured and never hesitated to say yes.
When I first started scrapping this was something rather foreign to me and I never thought about people wanting to re-create something I had done. Over the time I have spoken with friends about the 'scrapjacking' of a layout in quite lengthy discussions and we all agreed that it was 'the best kind of flattery' to have someone want to copy your work. And to be honest, we've probably all done it in some way or another, whether it be to copy a particular way someone has added a heading, or the way they've placed some embellishments or simply the colour scheme... it's how we gain inspiration!

A few weeks ago I was faced with a situation that I wasn't quite prepared for... I was accused of "copying a layout and how dare I lay claim to the ownership when it clearly wasn't mine". Sadly, that was the first of a subsequent three more accusations from people in regard to this one layout, that I had 'stolen' someone's design and used it for my own personal benefit.

So, after driving a little too fast to the nearest Australian chain-store in question, I stood in front on this rather large billboad advertisement and my jaw hit the floor.

So, I stood looking at this layout and then pride swelled up inside me... there I was standing in front of a big advertisement with 'my' design on it. Okay, it wasn't my layout, but it was my design. Now, I would just like to clarify that yes, the advertisment is advertising American Crafts and I'm on the Pebbles design team who are owned by American Crafts. But, the ad was an in-house commission from the chain-store in question and American Crafts weren't aware of it!

So, why am I talking about this on my blog... well I just wanted to express to you that we are all involved in a wonderful industry of crafting. We get to make things with our hands and from our hearts, and whether we come up with original designs or not, we are all creating and being creative which is better than doing something that is less positive with our lives. To those of you who thought I had 'scrapjacked' the design, I feel priviledged that you pay such close attention to my work as you recognised it straight away, thankyou!  

And to the artist of this sweet layout... copying is the best kind of flattery!