Hi I'm Rebecca. And I copy.

I think I've said it before that I don't really think of myself as a scrapbooker.  Oh yes, I go to the scrapbook store frequently.  I have a scrapbook table and plenty of scrapbook supplies and books but why don't I consider myself a scrapbooker?  Why don't I just tell my kids "just put that on my cardmaking table."  Or, "I'm going to the cardmaking store to buy cardmaking supplies."  Maybe the word "scrapbook" has melded into the "bandaid" or "kleenex" world and it's just a generic term for crafting?  I don't know.  Just some random thoughts.

I have wondered why I don't scrapbook very often.  Do I feel like my pages don't look publish-worthy?  Am I overwhelmed with the amount of supplies I have to choose from?  Do I feel like if I don't have the exact product I think I need, my layout will somehow be subpar?  Do I feel overwhelmed with the amount of layout ideas I'm surrounded with?  Do I feel like if I copy a layout I see in a magazine or on the web it won't be my own?  I think all of the above.  But mostly I think it's the last one.  If I copy someone else, it won't mean as much.  Again, more random thoughts.

Last Friday night, I was looking through a scrapbooking magazine (oh how I love to look through them) and came across this really great layout that I loved.  This one right here:

This isn't the first time that this has happened to me.  I can see a layout and imagine the photos and papers I might use (of course, I'd have to change it so it would be "mine").  But then I close the magazine and forget.  And so the layout doesn't get made.  The pictures stay in the box and I feel sad.

This time I decided to not procrastinate.  So early Saturday morning, while the kids were still asleep and the hubs took the dogs to get groomed, I pulled out that magazine, printed photos, and started to copy that layout.

Of course, the photos were different.  The papers were different.  The title was different.  The journaling was different.  But I completely copied the design.  It took me about 30 minutes to do.  And it's done. And my boys know a little how they make a difference in my life.   How I love that feeling!  And how I love looking at that completed page.  And do you know what?  It doesn't even matter in the least that I copied the idea straight from the magazine.  Not one bit.  Know what else?  I completely feel like a scrapbooker now.   Yes, I copy.  I'll do it again, too.  Soon!