With so many pictures and so little time, it can be tricky coming up with new scrapbook page designs off the top of your head. So I'm going to reveal to you the Holy Grail of scrap booking, whether you're doing it traditionally on paper or digitally in Photoshop. It's called scraplifting. Accepted and even encouraged throughout scrap booking communities, scrap lifting is the act of borrowing, or lifting, ideas and designs from somebody else's already created layout to use on your personal pages. As long as you're not submitting the layout for publication, claiming it as your own and accepting payment for it, it's okay to scrap lift for personal use. Common courtesy dictates that if you submit the page into an online member's gallery, that you give credit to the original artist and explicitly state that your page is a scrap lift of hers. Many artists feel flattered when another scrapper duplicates their pages. Imitation is, after all, the highest form of flattery. Individual scrapbookers are part of a larger community that is always happy to provide inspiration and encouragement. Plus, I've found that once I've begun duplicating a page I admire I often end up going off in my own direction anyway.

Here is a digital scrap lift I did recently of Holly Koenigsfeld's "2 Little Mamas" layout. As you can see, the basic set-up is the same, but I did move some things around and tweak a few of the elements to meet my needs (and make room for the new digital word art I had just downloaded.)

Believe it or not, it is also possible to scrap lift yourself. As you grow and learn more about the art of scrap booking you will inevitably begin to develop your personal style as well as discover new tips and tricks along the way. Look back at layouts you made a year ago and consider what you would do differently now to improve them. Using those new ideas, create a brand new page with more up to date photos. If your original page was done digitally, then scrap lifting yourself is easy. Just open your previous file and remove and add photos and elements as needed.

Almost all scrap booking sites feature an idea gallery or member's section. My personal favorite is 2Peas. They have two different sections: the Designer Garden which showcases layouts and tutorials from the site's on-staff scrappers, and the Member's Gallery where thousands of members upload their completed layouts for you to peruse. Thanks to tags, which are labels that members use to describe their projects, you can select search criteria such as "computer generated layouts", "baby" or "Christmas" to find pages that are similar to the type you're looking for. Katie the Scrapbook Lady created this page about her daughter from a design she scraplifted off of the talented Jenn Olson.

Some online sites host scraplift challenges for you to participate in. Either once a week or once a month, at regular intervals, a moderator will post a message in the website's forum opening up a new scraplift challenge. She will link to a picture of the original layout and explain that members have x amount of time to replicate the page and post their creation in the forum. Scraplift challenges are a great motivator; being given a set time frame jump starts your brain into action. Plus, some sites will even offer a special download bonus as a reward for participating!