Drawing Inspiration from others...

I often draw inspiration and ideas from other soapers and their blogs and websites.  Let's be honest here:  I am crafty but not creative.  Yes, there is a difference between the 2! 

Crafty people are very good at copying patterns and recipes - they may have a bit of creativity as I feel I do and they may be able to change things up just so as to make it look a tidly bit different.  But ultimately, they draw inspiration from others and not from within.

Now, creative people are also crafty, but they have the added touch of being able to pull random, clever and original ideas out of their own minds.  I do NOT have that ability!  I do, like I said, draw my inspiration from them...take for example this one:

Oil and Butter is one of my faves to see what is going on!  I LOVE the leopard spots and want to try it in the next batch of soap...or maybe the one after it...with Love Spell as the scent.  I do want to change up the color scheme some though...just haven't decided on one yet.  But the whole blog is just so well done, with gorgeous soaps and photos!  It gives me something to try out, new and different stuff, I LOVE it!

Then there is Soaping 101 on youtube - another one I love to watch over and over lol....for someone who doesn't watch much t.v. I sure do like to watch a lot of soap making on youtube!  I saw her video on altered mica lines, happened to have a bunch of shimmery micas given to me by another soaper that weren't great IN cold process soaps, but work PERFECTLY for this technique (I discovered now that I have played with them) and I never would have thought of it if I hadn't seen her do it first!

The Soap Queen  herself is another one who pops up with great ideas that I often find myself needing to try out at least once - one of her latest is a soap with little "apples" on top...I want to do the same thing, but change it to cherries for my cherry almond soap I intend to make...and I never in a million years would have thought of that on my own...I'm just not creative, but I am crafty enough to follow directions :P

Please remember, like "Teach" says in her mica line video - give credit where credit is due!  That kinda hit me last night - I like to post pics of clever things I make, but I had been forgetting to let ya'll know where my bright ideas come from!  So...if you ever get an idea from another soaper, share the source of that idea with others. And...there's been rumors of all sorts of crazy thievery going around the internet lately.  From fodder to soap to lotions...people will stop at nothing to make a buck I tell ya!  Just keep in mind, to be blunt, karma is a BITCH!  Don't steal - it will come back to bite you in the ass when you least expect it! Trust me...I've seen it happen to dishonest people time and again...honesty is ALWAYS the best policy ya'll!

Now, go check out those links and tell me you don't get like a million zillion ideas for things you want to try yourself!  It's so hard to resist experimenting with designs after you see those lovely pictures!