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New listing and morality check.

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GrandDesign:
I added something different to my shop. I have to admit that I didn't come up with the idea but it was so cool I had to try making one. Does that make me evil? Seriously, I've seen these on esty by several different artists. I've made a few and I've had a lot of fun with it.
Is it wrong to copy an idea when other people already have and you don't know where the original idea came from? Could use some honest opinions here.

Anyway here it is. A book bag. What do you think?

Chainmaille By MBOI:
I saw that yesterday and thought it was a great idea. Honestly with the copying thing, I find it really annoying when people start whining about others copying them. As you know I do chainmaille, I'm waiting for a whole buch of knights from a few centuries ago to start haunting me and saying I stole their idea! LOL I personally think people need to get over themselves sometimes.

Now on the other hand, their was a chainmaille Red Panda, haven't seen her around much lately, but she made stitch markers with chainmaille. Her design was simple and unique and she was selling a lot of them, all of a sudden others started to do the exact same thing. We saw the stitch markers and considered doing some twists on the idea, never did to my knowledge, but not the exact same thing.
If your gut is telling you that you copied exactly then I'd worry, but I'm pretty sure this isn't the case. Plus your work is always very unique. So I would say do a quick gut check and move on. I think the piece is lovely and of course I promoted it heavily  ;D

GrandDesign:
Thanks Andrew, If I had really felt guilty about it I would never have made it. Just wanted to see what others thought.
Thanks so much for promoting it. I can't believe the number of views I have already, and I didn't do any promotion at all. If I had posted it on etsy, and promoted it, I'd be lucky to have more than 10 views.

Now I'm off on a weekend shopping trip with the girls. Planning on looking for more fabric for these.

CrochetHooked:
Well said Andrew… ;o)  I agree!

My thoughts about this topic: Based on my personal experience:

When you put your work on the internet, others will copy it.  No matter how much you try and protect your product… someone will copy it.

Example: I make wire crochet braided beaded bracelets (say that ten times fast) lol  Crocheting is nothing new… crocheting with wire or beads or crystals or gemstones… nothing new. I took a combination of different crochet and jewelry techniques and applied my own personal spin on it and poof… a Braidlet was born. ;o)

I remember the first time I saw a bracelet made like the ones I make.  :evil: In all honesty for the first few seconds, I was miffed… to say the least. GRRRR!  :evil: But,I started looking at the piece she made, and it was a little different from mine. She used 28 gauge wire (I use 26), so right there… it became her unique bracelet.

After thinking about it for a few minutes, I was flattered  ;D and humbled  ;) that someone would take time to make something I created, (not exactly like mine) but… they loved what I made so much… they too wanted to spread the joy to others. And for this I am grateful… ;o) I even did a Treasury on Etsy with her bracelet included. ;o)

What I did do for my protection was Brand the name "Braidlets'… which is Trademarked.  8)

Maybe this will help with the guilt feeling… Andrew is right, if copied 'Exactly'… then I too would worry!

 :)  ;)  :D  ;D I personally think it's an Awesome bag! Well Done CJ

MakinTheBestOfIt:
I love your work and you always put your twist on it.  I really hate the copy thing and always avoided the discussions on other boards.  Most everyone takes inspiration from others and thousands will use well known techniques...and sometimes one person will claim ownership of it.  I agree with Andrew (scary I know!) in that you have to go with your gut.  As he said, I considered doing a twist on an idea once, but my gut was telling me that if I couldn't put my own spin on it I wouldn't do it.
As I have done shows locally for a while, I've seen some of "my" patterns pop up every so often.  After getting over the immediate shock I just figure it is time to put a new spin on it.  Basically I let it push me to keep moving forward and grow!

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