Like most things CK these days, this newly-released product guide/special issue is already causing a stir among the scrapping masses. Discussions on 2Peas: HERE and HERE. One Pea was so unhappy, she gave her issue away FOR FREE. Debate on CKMB: HERE, HERE and HERE (this one is harshing on not just the product review issue, but CK of late, in general). I just bought mine at the grocery store lastnight (as I no longer subscribe)(but not for the reason you think).
Let me see if I can sum up the “issues” with this issue:
~ Paying good money for a scrapbook magazine that features only 3 or 4 layouts (15 if you count those in advertisements)
~ Just one big advertisement for their sponsors
~ Doesn’t give a complete list of things like electronic cutters
~ Apparently replaced the Top 10 Issue, which everyone seems to have liked (at least in comparison to this)
~ No “How To’s” to USE the products featured
~ Nothing new is featured, stuff we’ve seen before, “so last week”
~ Geared toward newbie scrappers
~ Couldn’t access online links that were listed, and why not just include that content in the magazine in the first place?
~ Not consistent in use of comparison charts, or in featuring ALL of a certain type of product
And with CK magazine in general lately:
~ Too much digital now
~ Bland, uninspiring, dog-earing a lot fewer pages
~ Less layouts
~ Less pages, more ads
~ Layouts are shown so small you can’t read the journaling, even when the article is about journaling
~ Would like to see more scraprooms, more of the latest products being used in layouts
~ What’s with the “lifestyle” articles like How You Met Your Spouse?
~ Going more toward altered projects and paper crafts vs. scrapbooking, which is okay just keep it to a moderate level not put it on the cover
~ Would like more from HOF and SOY scrappers
On a positive note:
~ Like the new cover style
~ Like the Dream Team, Candice Stringham, computer and photography tips, Jennifer McGuire, Fresh Faces
~ CK was responsive to complaints by getting rid of Organize It, Easy Patterns, and the full page photos of Ali Edwards, et al.
Disclaimer: Please note that the comments or points above are NOT my opinion, just a summary of what I read in the CKMB and 2peas threads.
What did you think of the issue, and of CK magazine in general lately? Are you liking the Product Guide and all the changes CK is making?
9 Comments
I let my sub run out last year. I was finding alot of stuff and not much substance. The thing I hear over and over again is that people need layout ideas…(and not just 1-photo,1-page layouts covered in product)…even themed layout ideas. And the big name monthly mags aren’t meeting that need. Even the “how to” articles are more like product showcases.
My customers and I get alot more satisfaction from mags that aren’t well known in the US – Canadian Scrapbooker and Scrapbook & Cards Today.
I didn’t even pick this issue up to flip through — just the title and cover told me it was something that I’d have zero interest in.
I haven’t subscribed to CK in a couple of years and don’t think I ever will again — unless they become something worth spending $$ on again. They’ve really gone downhill and I, too, found that I was marking fewer and fewer pages. The last issue I bothered to buy I think I marked a whopping 3 pages. I’m just tired of seeing the same thing over and over and over again.
I have been looking forward to this issue. I am really into products and I read ads as much as I read articles. I love the recent changes to the Mag and I have read both my Jan. and Feb. issues several times through and already used several ideas/inspirations that came from them. I’m a little concerned that this is being thought to be for those just starting out, but I will withold judgement until I see it. I’m sure I will like it more than others have, simply because I’m a product junkie! LOL! I don’t have it yet due to my mail being forwarded (I hope! My renewal happened to land right now, too, so I’m not sure when my “new sub” starts!)
You pretty much summed it all up! I was not impressed either. Whats up with them redoing everything? I don’t mind it BUT come on. I want to be stunned with excitement!!! Not happening at all. I give it a thumbs down.
I was in need of a new printer and a new scanner, so I was glad for the information.
You hit the nail on the head!
I liked the top ten issue they used to have better than this product guide… its like one giant ad. I normally like CK alot but lately I havent been all that impressed, many of the layouts they showcase are not my style at all. I think digital needs its own mag. I am not a digi scrapper, I am not interested in becoming a digi scrapper (and this not because I hate computers or anything… I just like to craft with paper not a mouse). I like altered stuff but it seems to me that could also have its own mag? Like paper crafts? I really like my CK to be full of lovely PAPER layouts.
So I sign up for a year’s subscription. Not only did they send me that crappy products magazine but they sent me December and January’s issues which I already purchased at my LSS! I wasted $12 at the store and received old issues when I had sent my subscription in in January! Those two freakin’ magazines count toward me 12 and now my subscription ends in October! What a rip off!
When I first started scra booking I loved this Mag. Now I finde it a waste of time and money. It is kinda sad how bad it has gotten.