Time for a treat box!

I thought it was time for something a little different on my Tuesday video.  Don't get me wrong, I love showing you guys different fun folds.  BUT!  There is more to this craft than just cards.  I don't branch out much from cards because I love them, but occasionally I'll show something different like the boxes and such.
Did I ever tell you how I got started in stamping?  I got invited to a workshop at my friend Chris' house.  I just went to see what it was all about and was instantly hooked!!  Instantly Jill??  Yep!  I did dabble in some over the counter products until I understood that buying coordinating products was easier than trying to match ink with paper.  Plus, you get a whole stamp set of images and not just one here and there that you need to try and make something out of..
So back to me being hooked!  It was making that sample card Melony had prepped for Chris' guests.  My whole life I had been a letter writer to my Grandma, and my Dad when he lived away. Then I walked into a Hallmark store!  I could feel the store light up and I think I heard the music proclaiming that I had found my happy place!  I'd spend hours in the card stores, any store as their popularity grew.  Funny cards (and some naughty ones too) found their way to my card stash.  I just knew that I was going to own a Hallmark store!!  Everyone needed to love cards like I do!
Well, years passed and I ended up in Kalamazoo where "Don" had the monopoly on the Hallmark stores.  I also realized I wasn't quite the business owner I would need to be.  Who knew there was such thing as taking inventory!!!  Oh ya, and I needed money, DUH!  
So fast forward to about 16 years ago when I went to that workshop at Chris'.  That's when I was hooked.  I just knew that this would be the closest thing to owning my Hallmark store!!!  I didn't have to take inventory, (that's a problem still, and another post!) and I could make whatever kind of card I needed.  Fast forward again to 2019 when I decided to retire and give Stampin' UP! as a business a try!  It's hard for me, I'm not going to lie!!  I just know I have to keep on pushing forward and  hope that I stay consistent enough to get my name out there and get some customers/followers.  I am still trying to balance the cardmaking and business because I don't want to lose the love of what got me started.   So friends, I added a treat box this week to show you there's more to this than just cards!

Creativity is like a seed,
when nurtured,
it will bloom


Let's Be Creative!
Jill

Is it ok to copy from someone?

In the craft world we call it CASE(ing), it's an acronym for Copy And Share Everything.  For people like me that don't have time or the nautral creative mind to create great designs, case(ing) becomes your best friend!  I mean c'mon, someone makes a beautiful card and posts it for the world to see, they ought to just know that someone will want to recreate it!!  That's why I call myself, re-creative!  I scour the world wide web for great layouts, or the whole card even, and then it gets me headed down the path of my own creativity.
There is no shame in copying someone else's work!  The only thing you will want to keep in mind is whenever possible you should give credit to the person that you cased it from.  Whether that is online in a post that you are showing off your beautiful card, or if you do a swap and add the ingredients list of what you used to make it, add the persons name or where you saw it.  It will flatter the person that you got the idea from if they happen to see it!
Why would you want to case someone else's work?  Well, for me it's a time savings and also the fact that my self confidence in creating my own designs is not there!  I am the best of the re-creators ever!  I love to find designs that I know I would never have come up with and create them into my own.  You don't have to copy exact.  Make it your own by changing the colors or stamp set.  Turn a birthday card into a Christmas card or something.  
I like to find a set that I want to use and then go to Pinterest and search on that set.  From there the ideas just start to happen.  I can take a piece from one card and a piece from another and turn them into something of my own.  Many times I do love a card so much that I just do the same layout.  You may have noticed that some Saturdays I post a layout for "inkspiration" on my Facebook page.  I try to make a sample for you to go along with the layout.  There are 1000's of layouts on the internet and I'm trying to get better at creating from a layout and not from an actual card.  It's hard for me without seeing a finished product, so I make one to show you, along with the layout.  It helps me get better at it and gives you both the layout and a sample!
So now that you know a little bit more about my creativity habits, I hope that you will know it is ok to copy, or case.  The samples are posted for us to ooh and ahh over, AND to recreate!!!  How else are we going to learn and grow?  We need to practice right!  Stretch our skill level so we are learning and getting better.  

 

PS.  What's not ok though is to try and pass things off as your own.  This usually happens with tutorials that someone has put a ton of work into creating.  Many people charge for them now and allow for you to use them for YOU but not to give to others.  Please be mindful of giving credit where credit is due, and don't share or hold classes with handouts intended for YOU.  Some people do this for a living and lose money when you give away their hard work.

GreenThumbStampers shutter card

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This is a shutter fold card that uses Stampin' UP! Gilded Autumn paper and the Beautiful Autumn bundle as well as a sentiment from Peaceful Moments. I have a lot of pictures so this is a long tutorial but not complicated. I hope you enjoy it and will give this style a try. For more of my tutorials you can visit my blog at GreenThumbStampers.com and sign up for my newsletter where I have exclusive access to all of them. You can also find Green Thumb Stampers on Facebook, Pinterest and YouTube! Check them out for videos and more creations.

Gather Together - Corner Tuck

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Stampin' UP! set Gather Together was used for this card. I also used the Stitched Leaves dies, Plaid Tidings paper, argyle embossing folder and Mango Melody cardstock. For exclusive access to my tutorials, sign up for my newsletter. greenthumbstampers.com / Jill Blanchett