Following the Rules

I received feedback about the recent disqualifications at the Kaya blog. While there were those who accepted that they inadvertently missed some of the requirements there were a few who felt that some layouts should have been part of the draw still. After all, isn't Kaya about creativity and fun?

I agree that Kaya is all about being creative and having fun. However, Kaya is a challenge blog. That is, fellow scrappers challenge you to stretch your limits by issuing parameters by which those who respond to the challenge create their LOs. It is still about having fun and being creative - within the criteria set by the challenger. That might be as difficult if not more difficult than creating a layout that has no rules and no boundaries.

Someone raised the question, shouldn't we consider the scrapper's creativity in the equation? But we do consider the scrapper's creativity, only in this case, the scrapper must be creative within the limits of the challenge. I think that is more difficult to do. And we have to be fair to those who went into the extra effort of working creatively within the parameters of the challenge. That is why we call it a challenge.

I will have to confess that I found it difficult to weed out layouts that didn't comply with the requirements. As a scrapper myself, I know how much time and heart we put into our creations. I know the feeling of satisfaction that we get when we finish an LO, and then to have someone come in and say, your LO is not qualified? Man...that sucks! I also feel guilty - if we had caught the mistake sooner, maybe we could have informed them and they could have made the necessary adjustments and revisions before the deadline. But we also have to live our lives and we do not always catch these details immediately. And then I got to thinking, shouldn't it also be the scrapper's responsibility to read and understand all the rules?

The Filipino scrapbooker is very talented and creative. Many of us join international challenges and competitions and win. We have our own MM Master right here. Do you think they got their laurels because they didn't follow the rules of the game? Think Kristina Contes, a very talented scrapper who was removed from the CK Hall of Fame because she didn't comply with one rule. She supposedly claims that she didn't read all the requirements.

I'd like to believe that through challenges like Kaya, we are helping train scrapbookers to be mindful of the rules. I am reminded of the Scrappin' Moms Idol challenge, wherein we were always reminded to follow the rules lest we be disqualified from the competition. We all took that to heart so much that to be sure we were doing the right things, we bombarded the message boards with questions. The Idol competition trained me to read, understand, and ask questions.

So let's do it well. And do it right. If you are not sure, ask.