Here’s what I saw when I opened up my lovely box from MEMORY WORKS:
And here is everything spread out on my desk:
I know the photo is so big it’s probably hanging over into the right sidebar. But I don’t care, LOL! I wanted to share a big photo of all this Snap goodness.
If you’d like to see a closer look at anything, please let me know :)
I’m going to use all of this for my Project Life in 2013. Seeing the colors in person has convinced me that it’s perfect and I made the right choice. It’s vibrant but not overly bright, a great mix of everyday colors that I know will look great with all my random photos, receipts, memorabilia, and journaling.
I’ve got a busy day working and full weekend. I can’t wait until I have some “me” time to just sit down and go through every stinkin’ sheet of this. Yummmmmmm!
Yesterday I inquired with Memory Works home office about when we could expect to get the Sn@p 6×8 albums in stock. Since Friday, I’ve had everything from the Sn@p! line EXCEPT the albums available on MY SITE. Here is the response I got, which they passed on from Simple Stories:
{SN@P! BINDER UPDATE}
From Simple Stories –
We wanted to inform our valued customers and retailers that unfortunately, upon our initial shipments we have found some quality issues in a batch of our albums and we are currently working on resolving the issue as soon as possible.
Please know that quality products are our highest priority, as we want only the best product represented for our stores, customers and Simple Stories. We are conducting quality checks on all our albums and once this is done we will resume shipping albums to our retailers.
We know you’re anticipating these new beautiful, colorful binders and we apologize for any inconvenience that this may cause. We appreciate your support for our Simple Stories and SN@P! products – it gives us great pride to help play a role in documenting your important memories. A role we take very seriously – we thank you for your understanding and patience in this matter.
Thank you,
The Simple Stories Team
So it’s disappointing to have to wait longer but I’d rather wait and have a good quality product. It seems like these quality issues are happening in our industry lately – I wonder why?
Well, bummer!
Last Friday when all the other Sn@p! items appeared on my MW site, I went ahead and ordered most of it . . . except the albums and protectors. I have a big box of Sn@p goodness due to arrive today or tomorrow. I’ll post photos when it gets here!!
As for the Sn@p! albums, I don’t mind waiting a bit but I really hope I have at least 1 red one in time to start my first attempt at a DECEMBER DAILY. {{{Fingers crossed!}}} I’m using the Simple Stories “Sn@p!” line (with a WRMK 12×12 album and protectors) for my first recent attempt at Project Life/Project 365. At least I’ll have that stuff well in advance so I can get organized.
To my customers, I’m very sorry for the delay. I hope you’ll come back and order the albums through me when they become available :) Make sure you’re subscribed to my blog for updates. As soon as I have any news on the arrival of the Sn@p albums, I’ll post about it and you’ll get the news right away in your e-mail!
On Friday, the Simple Stories “Sn@p!” line finally showed up on my MEMORY WORKS SITE ~ Yahoo! Been waiting for this gorgeousness since I saw the sneeks for CHA months ago. It’s been torture to wait, I tell ya’!
But I placed my order right way. I’m always afraid with new product releases that they’re going to sell out of stuff, lol. Would be just my luck. So I got almost the entire line and cantwaitcantwaitcantwait for it to get here.
Memory Works always ships pretty quickly – within 1 to 2 business days – so I’m expecting to receive it by Wednesday or so. Gonna’ get a box that looks a lot like that one above … squeeeeee!
{Okay, I know some of you really really hate that whole “squee!” expression but I truly try to reserve it for times I’m about to pee my pants . . . and this is one of those times, mmm kay???}
What Sn@p have you bought so far or what other recent scrappy purchases have you stalking the UPS dude?
To say I’m excited is an understatement. I’ve been waiting for this line to be available for MONTHS!
If you’re wondering what I’m talking about, I’ve posted a few images in this post. But ya’ GOTTA’ go see it all HERE. You’re going to fall in love. It’s pure happiness, my friend.
So get on over to MY SITE and order some Sn@p! for yourself!
If you placed a pre-order, please go to my website (https://erika.memory-works.com) and place your order. I will get an automatic e-mail and will immediately approve your order since you’ve already paid. All your Sn@p-py goodness will ship straight to you from our home office in Utah within 1-2 business days. Thanks!
I just ordered almost the entire line. I’ll post pics when it gets here next week.
Gah, it’s like waiting for Christmas. Tick tock tick tock … HURRY YAP ALREADY!!
Whether you get it from me or somewhere else, will you get any of the amazing Sn@p! line?
This video made by Simple Stories to show off their new “Sn@p!” line is super cute. The fun music will have your toes tappin’. If you aren’t already planning to buy this entire line, watch out! This may just convert you over to the dark side … and make sure to watch ’til the end. There is a very special and funny person* having a good time ;)
If you’d like to get your hands on summa’ this cute “Sn@p!” line, I’m taking PRE-ORDERS! It will be on my MEMORY WORKS SITE soon . . . so easy to get, just like any other online store :)
As I mentioned HERE, I just needed to confirm with MEMORY WORKS home office that we’re still expected to receive all the new Simple Stories “Sn@p!” lines the first week of October. As of yesterday, that was confirmed so I’m going to start taking pre-orders, yippee!
HERE is a cool blog entry I did that shows big pictures of ALL the “Sn@p!” items from all 3 lines – Core, Life, and Color Vibe. One big advantage to ordering Simple Stories products from me @ Memory Works – the company who started SIMPLE STORIES – is that we always have textured American Crafts cardstock and ribbon packs to match each line!
HERE is where you can see all of the Sn@p! items on my site with prices. {Other than the page protectors which are already available, Sn@p! items will show Out of Stock until around 10/05/12}.
If you place a pre-order now, please understand that I can’t promise when these items will be available; I can only go by the estimate the Memory Works gives me :) But when they ARE available, I’ll be posting here on my blog to let you know (so please Subscribe to my blog, and you’ll get an automatic e-mail). If you pay for a pre-order, that’s when you came back HERE to place your actual order. Sound good?
Here is how the pre-orders will work:
I’ll collect and process payments until the release date. When the kits and additional items become available, I’ll e-mail you with instructions on what to do then.
{Which will be to log into my Memory Works WEBSITE, place the pre-paid for items in your shopping cart, enter your shipping address, and submit your order. I will automatically be notified that your order has been placed and, instead of having to wait for your payment to be received, I’ll be able to approve your order for processing immediately … assuming your payment has been received and processed already}.
{But don’t worry about that part right now, LOL}.
To place your pre-order now, e-mail me at scrapbookobsession(at)gmail(dot)com. Please include:
1. Item(s) requested and cost
2. Shipping name/address including zip code
3. Total due including items, tax*, and shipping/handling**
4. Payment method – check, money order, or Paypal
~ I prefer Paypal, and will e-mail a Paypal invoice to you ASAP
~ If paying by check or money order, I’ll e-mail you back with my address. Please be aware that I can’t approve your order until the check/MO have been received and cleared.
* Sales tax amount is based on the tax rate for the address you’re shipping to. There is a really cool sales tax rate lookup and calculator HERE.
** Please see THIS post for information on Memory Works shipping costs.
Let me know if you have any questions or concerns :) If you know of anyone who plans to order Simple Stories “Sn@p!” please send them my way!
HERE is the new Simple Stories “Sn@p!” line in all it’s gorgeous colorful Project 365-ish December Daily fun glory ;)
And HERE it is on my Memory Works website. It’s not quite available yet so it’s showing Out of Stock. But they usually don’t put items on the website until we’re almost there! Good sign, good sign.
In the meantime, you can take a look at my site and start putting your wish list together. You can see the prices, what’s included, and get a close-up picture. Like window shopping, scrappy style!
I’m waiting for a response from Home Office about the exact date I will have the “Sn@p!” items available on my website, and then I’ll decide when to start taking pre-orders. I originally heard “the first week of October” but I know they had some of the binders at Scrapfest this weekend, so I’m thinking (hoping!) we’re going to get it sooner.
Simple Stories has a HUGE new collection coming out in October 2012. It’s amazingly fun and ~ I’m totally serial, it’s FEE-YOU-JUS! So grab your beverage of choice, make yourself comfy, and get ready to scroll!!
I’m putting ALLLLL of the sure-to-be-popular “Sn@p!” collections by SIMPLE STORIES in one place so you can see it all together … and decide which pieces you “need”. Of if you’re like me, this is going to put into perspective how much money we need to put aside to buy, well, most if not all of the “Sn@p!” collections. Yeah, it’s kinda’ scary :P
As always, I’ll be selling the entire “Sn@p!” line as a MEMORY WORKS CONSULTANT. And here . . . drumroll please . . . is the “Sn@p!” line in its entirety:
“Core Collection”
This part of the Sn@p! line contains:
– Sn@p! Binders: 6×8 albums like those in the “Mix and Match” line but in 6 fun colors {red, teal, orange, green, pink, and brown} $17.00
– Sn@p! Pocket Pages, again like the Mix & Match pages; they come in 6 configurations {10} per pack $4.00
– Sn@p! 3×4 cards “Snappy Sayings” {24} with quotes and page titles $4.00
– Sn@p! 3×4 cards “Snappy Thoughts” {24} with more room for journaling $4.00
– Sn@p! 3×4 cards “Snappy Days” {24} to track your days of the week $4.00
– Sn@p! 4×6 cards “Snappy Sayings” {24} with quotes and page titles $5.00
– Sn@p! 4×6 cards “Snappy Thoughts” {24} with more room for journaling $5.00
– Sn@p! 4×6 cards “Snappy Days” {24} to track your months $5.00
– Sn@p! Pages “Color Fusion” which are {8} 6×8 chipboard pages with colorful basic patterns $5.00
– Sn@p! Pages “Just the Basics”, {8} 6×8 chipboard pages but these have graph and ledger designs $5.00
– Sn@p! Pages “So Random”, {8} 6×8 chipboard pages with more intricate designs than Color Fusion $5.00
– Sn@p! Stickers “Icons” which contain {8} 4×6 sticker sheets fun shapes, sayings, and journal spots $5.00
– Sn@p! Stickers “Labels” with {8} 4×6 sheets of labels $5.00
– Sn@p! Stickers “Letters” with {8} 4×6 sheets of alpha stickers $5.00
– Sn@p! Stickers “Typeset” with {8} 4×6 sheets of mini alphas $5.00
– Sn@p! Pockets “3×4 Pockets” containing {6} bright basics pockets $5.00
– Sn@p! Pockets “Just the Basics Assortment” with {6} graph/ledger pockets in 3 sizes $6.00
– Sn@p! Pockets “Color Fusion Assortment” with {6} colorful pockets in 3 sizes $6.00
*ETA 10/01/12: When I originally posted the prices here, they were taken from the wholesale catalog and reflected retail prices ending in “.99”. Now that the items are listed on my Memory Works website, I see that MW rounded the prices up a penny to end in “.00” and I’ve updated them here accordingly – a minor change but I wanted to explain the edits I made to this blog entry. Thanks!
Without further adieu, here are pictures of the … SN@P! CORE COLLECTION … that I just listed above.
See what I mean? There’s A LOT! And that’s only the first of THREE “Sn@p!” collections arriving in October 2012.
“Wait. There’s more!”
Next we have the Sn@p! “Life” Collection, which consists of:
– Sn@p! Life Collection Kit, a 12×12 pack similar to all existing Simple Stories lines $21.00
– Sn@p! Life 6×6 Paper Pad $6.00
– Sn@p! Life Fundamental Cardstock Stickers, cute design icons $3.00
– Sn@p! Life Calendar Cardstock Stickers with months, days, and numbers $3.00
– Sn@p! Life Simple Basics Pack with {6} sheets of 12×12 double-sided cardstock in basic designs w/bingo cards $5.50
– Sn@p! Life Basics 6×6 Paper Pad $6.00
– Sn@p! Life Cardstock with {6} sheets of 12×12 double-sided designer cardstock $5.50
– Sn@p! Life Signature Elements, {6} sheets of cut-apart elements $6.00
– Sn@p! Life Flash Cards, {1} sheet of cut-apart 3×4 cards $1.00
Now it’s time for pictures of all the Sn@p! “Life” Collection just listed:
Last but not least, we have the Sn@p! “Color Vibe” Collection. It contains:
– Sn@p! “Color Vibe” Collection Kit including {18} sheets of 12×12 double-sided cardstock and journaling elements $16.00
– Sn@p! “Color Vibe” 6×6 Paper Pad, {36} sheets of 6×6 papers $6.00
Here is what the Sn@p! “Color Vibe” Collection looks like …
* I noticed that 2838 above is mislabeled. It says “Brown Dot/Stripe” but should be “Grey Dot/Stripe”.
Soooo … those are all 3 of the new Sn@p! collections that are coming your way in October 2012. See what I mean? It’s a HUGE line!
I was trying to think how to differentiate the 3 collections in my mind and here is what I came up with:
Sn@p! “Core” Collection: 6×8 album album and all the accessories
Sn@p! “Life” Collection: 12×12/divided protector scrapping; what Simple Stories lines traditionally contain
Sn@p! “Color Vibe” Collection: 6×6 and 12×12 papers in basic colors and patterns to support the other 2 lines
I’m so in love with this line and hope that you are too! I’ll be taking pre-orders; details on how to place your pre-order will be in another post.
What do you think of “Sn@p!”?
ETA 10/01/12: Okay, I updated a few other things above so that now this blog entry matches the descriptions and prices of what’s actually on my Memory Works shopping site. And here are 2 things that are exclusive to Memory Works consultants like me:
American Crafts Coordinating Cardstock Pack, {7} sheets of textured 12×12 cardstock pack in colors to match the “Sn@p!” line $3.75
I’m now taking PRE-ORDERS until the line is in stock. Once you see it in stock HERE, no pre-order necessary. Just put it in your cart and order away :)
As new products arrive @ the MEMORY WORKS warehouse from the most recent CHA, we consultants are e-mailed .pdf files of the catalog pages to go with them. That way, we can show our customers what we have right away, even in advance of the next catalog {which in this case is due later this month ~ September 14, 2012}.
HERE I showed you the catalog pages for the 3 new Simple Stories lines, and HERE I shared what we have of the new Echo Park.
Now it’s time to show you a bunch more ~ yay! Clicking on the brand names below gives you the .pdf file of the catalog pages. They’re loaded with graphics and may take a sec … but so worth it! I’m also sharing my favorite items from each line :)
AMY TANGERINE‘s newest line, “Ready, Set, Go” and her popular “Day Book” album.
Love these papers in the Theme Set – they make me happy!
– AUTHENTIQUE “Curiosity”, “Enchanted”, “Festive” and “Peaceful”
– BELLA BLVD “Thankful”, “Birthday Girl”, “Birthday Boy” and lots of designer tapes aka washi tapes
– BO BUNNY “Apple Cider”, “Detour”, “Serenade”, “Mistletoe”, and “Rejoice”
– CARTA BELLA “Alphabet Junction”
– FANCY PANTS “Little Sport”, “The Good Life”, “Hopscotch”, and “Home for Christmas”
– MY MINDS EYE “Tangerine”, “Honey”, “Bluebell”, “Lavender”, “Lost and Found Halloween”, and “All is Bright”
– TERESA COLLINS “Tell Your Story”, “Vintage Finds”, and “Christmas Cottage”
See anything you likee? Even if you aren’t planning a purchase, what are your favorite things from above. Hey, we can window shop, right?
The new products from CHA keep rolling in! Now available on my WEBSITE are items from:
Echo Park “Documented”
Echo Park “Tailored”
Echo Park “Chillingsworth Manor”
and Echo Park “This & That Christmas”
And that’s just a tease of these 4 lines … plenty more where that came from!
You can see our Memory Works catalog pages for Echo Park HERE – it’s a .pdf with color photos so it may take a while to load.
Orders can be placed HERE and will ship directly to you from our Utah home office within 1-2 business days. I accept Paypal or we can arrange for payment by personal check. Questions? E-me,baby! scrapbookobsession(at)gmail(dot)com
Our monthly kit, MEMORY WORKS EXPRESS, is now available for sale “a la carte” for a flat price, no joining required. I thought I would mention it because it contains 2 things that are very popular right now: Simple Stories TAKE A HIKE and wood veneer shapes. Aren’t those little wooden camera shapes by STUDIO CALICO flippin’ cute?
Here is a list of what you get in the kit:
Patterned Paper
{1} 12×12 Happy Trails – Take a Hike (Simple Stories)
{1} 12×12 Back to Nature – Take a Hike (Simple Stories)
{1} 12×12 Happy Camper– Take a Hike (Simple Stories)
{1} 12×12 Adventure – Take a Hike (Simple Stories)
{1} 12×12 4×6 Journal Cards – Take a Hike (Simple Stories)
{1} 12×12 6×4 Vertical Journaling Cards – Take a Hike (Simple Stories)
{1} 12×12 Brown Wood/Map – Take a Hike (Simple Stories)
{1} 12×12 Orange Stripe/Ledger – Take a Hike (Simple Stories)
{1} 12×12 Green Dot/Prints– Take a Hike (Simple Stories)
{1} 12×12 Yellow Chevron/Grid – Take a Hike (Simple Stories)
{1} 12×12 Navy/Icons – Take a Hike (Simple Stories)
{1} 12×12 Bingo Cards/Chevron – Take a Hike (Simple Stories)
Embellishments
{1} 12×12 Take a Hike Fundamental Stickers (Simple Stories)
{1} 12×12 Take a Hike Expressions Stickers (Simple Stories)
{1} Chipboard Acorn Coaster Book (Maya Road)
{3} Wood Twigs – Assorted Styles (Maya Road)
{4} Green Leaf Trinket Pins (Maya Road)
{5} Wood Veneer Cameras (Studio Calico)
{1} River Felt Layered Details (American Crafts)
{10} Campy Buttons – Assorted Sizes & Styles (MemoryWorks)
{1} ½ Yard Orange Dot Ribbon (Creative Impressions)
{1} ½ Yard Brown Dot Ribbon (Creative Impressions)
{1} ½ Yard Green Dot Ribbon (Creative Impressions)
The price is $36.00 plus tax and shipping. It’s shipped straight from our Utah home office to you within 1-2 business days. When you buy a la carte, it’s a little more expensive than the monthly Memory Works Express price ($29.95) but there is no joining, no commitment. Well, there’s no commitment for MWE either but you do have to proactively cancel if you no longer want to receive them.
Do you have some camping, park, or outdoor photos from this summer that would work well with it? We didn’t go camping this summer but I have stacks of photos from past trips that I need to do! And I love the look of the Simple Stories “Take a Hike” line.
YAYYY!! The long-awaited and much-anticipated new lines from Simple Stories are here!!! I’ve been so anxious for these to come in, because they were certainly the talk of the town after the last CHA show. I’ve seen Handmade Holiday and Take a Hike in person and they are gorgeous! {I’m sure Harvest Lane is as well}.
You can see all the new lines HERE and order them right now HERE.
Please let me know if you have any questions: scrapbookobsession(at)gmail(dot)com.
You can easily place your order from my Memory Works WEBSITE. I’ll send you a Paypal invoice (or you can arrange to pay by check). Once payment has cleared, your items will ship directly to you from our Utah home office within 1-2 business days. Easy peasy lemon squeezy!!
Also, now is a great time to check out my website because Memory Works is having a sale!
Out with the old…in with the new!
It’s that time again… to say good-bye to some of our old favorites as we say hello to our brand new product line up for Fall and Winter of 2012!
**Starting Wednesday, August 15, 2012 all items that will not be carried over into the next catalog will be discounted up to an additional 25% off**
This is good news for you! This is a great time for fantastic savings on some of your favorites from Bo Bunny, BasicGrey and My Minds Eye to Bella Blvd, Echo Park and even older Simple Stories collections.
And if you’re a MEMORY WORKS CONSULTANT like me, you get your usual 20% off PLUS the additional 25% from the warehouse sale. I’m no math major, but that sounds like a lot to me!!
So now would be a great time to sign up to be a consultant. Please check out my WEBSITE and see all the great products we carry, including SIMPLE STORIES, Basic Grey, My Minds Eye, Echo Park, and many more.
Just e-mail me and I can send you a worksheet that explains the 2 types of Memory Works Consultants. Both have very low sign-up fees, low or no minimums, and great flexibility with how you choose to run your business – from a hobbyist just buying for themselves to big business mogul :)
I checked with the home office at MEMORY WORKS to see when we consultants will have access to these lines and can start taking orders. Here is what I found out:
First week of August – Simple Stories Harvest Lane, Handmade Holiday, and Take a Hike
{any day now … eee!!!}
First week of October – Simple Stories Sn@p line
********* I am taking pre-orders on the “Sn@p” line *********** Please see the bottom of this post
In case you haven’t already been drooling over these 4 new lines, here they are :)
{ETA: Sorry, this post got too long so I only showed ya’ “3” new lines below. I’m going to do a separate post about Sn@p!}
SIMPLE STORIES “HANDMADE HOLIDAY”
The last 2 items are new to Simple Stories! We’ve added the Sn@p cards to *just* the Handmade Holiday line. The 3×4 tablet will retail for $3.99 and the 4×6 tablet for $4.99. This will make “Handmade Holiday” especially perfect to use for your DECEMBER DAILY projects, yeah? Keep the tablets handy in your purse, on your nightstand, or your scrap table and easily record your memories as you go. No pre-cutting required!
SIMPLE STORIES “HARVEST LANE”
SIMPLE STORIES “TAKE A HIKE”
Regarding prices for these 3 new Simple Stories lines ~ Handmade Holiday, Harvest Lane, and Take a Hike: If you are reading this blog post BEFORE the 3 new lines are released, please check out the SUMMER FRESH line to see what they’ll be. Prices will remain the same.
All images and layouts (not mine; I wish!) are courtesy of the SIMPLE STORIES BLOG.
If you would like to order any Simple Stories products, I would be happy to help! Just find them HERE on my website and place your order online. I will send you a Paypal invoice and your order will be processed upon receipt. It will be shipped directly to your US address from our home office in Utah within 1-2 business days.
As of this blog post, the 3 new lines are not yet available on my website. As soon as they become available (open, open, open!!), I will do a blog post. If you’re as anxious as I am, please sign up to receive my e-mails and you’ll be the first to know {okay, technically, the second …} when I have the lines available for order.
Don’t forget, we always carry the We R Memory Keepers (WRMK) 12×12 albums and divided page protectors that Simple Stories is designed to work with, including the hard-to-find Multi Pack of page protectors. Find ’em all HERE.
Sherry is a fellow Pea and she posted on our daily blogger thread that she created a mini album using the MIX & MATCH 6×9 ALBUM by SIMPLE STORIES. I had to go check it out and, boy, did I fall in love with it.
With Sherry’s permission, HERE is a link to her amazing beach album and here is the title page to tease you … and make sure you go check the whole thing out!
Isn’t it gorgeous?!?! I love the subtle colors and how, with her use of embellishments and stamps, she made the neutral backgrounds so beach-y. Like she says, the pages start out gorgeous so they don’t really need a lot. There is something about that color scheme ~ beige, brown, and turquoise ~ that just makes my heart sing.
If you would like a Mix & Match Album of your own, please click HERE. The album and page protectors are in the Mix & Match Album section; additional 6×9 pages like Sherry used are listed under each of the Collections.
You can order from my website and it will be shipped directly to you from the Memory Works home office in Utah within 1-2 business days. Or e-mail me and I can place the order for you: scrapbookobsession(at)gmail(dot)com. I take Paypal or check and can ship to US residents only.
Thanks Sherry for letting me share your gorgeous project!
As you may have heard me complain about before {ahem}, I live near very little scrapbook shopping. Within 1 hour of me, there is a MICHAELS and then whatever I can find once in a while at TUESDAY MORNING, TARGET, WALMART, and ROSS. The best scrapbook shopping I have is a BEVERLY’s CRAFTS 40 minutes away so I get there about once a month if I’m lucky. I did recently find a new little LSS about an hour away so that’s cool at least but, again, only a once-in-a-while thing.
What I’m tryin’ to tell ya’ is that I’m scrappy shopping deprived, people!! {Which is one of the reasons I become a MEMORY WORKS consultant several years ago, when we went from 7 LSS’s within an hour down to one and then NONE}.
So when I was recently out of town ~ a town with a Joann’s ~ pardon me for being a bit twitterpated about it ;) On the scrapbook message boards and from friends in other states, I hear about Joann’s this and Joann’s that. I’ve been to a Joann’s on various other trips and always found that a decent amount of scrapbook papers and embellishments had jumped into my cart and forced me to buy them.
I’m also familiar with JOANN.COM and occasionally shop online in that huge-amous store. They have coupons!!! Yeah, I like me some Joann.com + coupons. I have snapped up some OCTOBER AFTERNOON collection packs for 40% off and plenty o’ WRMK12×12 D-ring albums for 1/2 off and free shipping. I mean, it just don’t get much better than that.
But I have to say my recent trip to the brick-and-mortar Joann’s was quite, quite disappointing :(
There were 4 kinda’ short aisles of scrapbooking stuff. Most of it I’ve already seen at Michaels. Or it’s already been in my stash. For years. Okay, maybe not YEARS but, like, for a WHILE. Jeez.
All the open stock 12×12 papers were boring and/or old. The paper pads were meh, nothing from any of the popular brands I like, nothing stark-raving new. It was all so boring, I can’t even really remember what there was.
The only thing I was even tempted to buy was an issue of ARTFUL BLOGGING because it had a feature on scrapbooker REBECCA COOPER, who I’ve always liked.
But I didn’t because at that point I was in “man, I’m so disappointed in this store so you can bite me” mode. {Sorry, I get that way sometimes … when you get me all built up and then dash my hopes}. Joann, can we talk?!?! If your scrapbooking section is going to be THAT lame, why even have one? Just let it go and get some more BEADS or something, mmm kay??? I might as well have been at Walmart 15 minutes and one less tank of gas from my house.
So I left Joann’s empty-frickin’-handed. Totally harshed my mellow, dude.
About a month ago, I placed an order for some scrapbook supplies from an online shop. I had bought from them before and had a great experience. The prices are good, they get the new releases quite quickly, and sometimes carry things that I can’t get with my consultant discount from MEMORY WORKS. Super cool, right?
So I ordered a bunch of things from the October Afternoon “9 TO 5” LINE including 12×12 papers, Mini Market stickers, 2 rolls of washi tape, etc. I also purchased a set of SUMMER FRESH 6×8 insert pages {MW was out of stock at the time}.
My shipment arrived in a timely manner and I was scrap happy, although I was so busy with work and family stuff at the time, I barely had time to glance at it all much less sniff all the paper …. erm, verify that I got everything I ordered.
AHEM.
So fast forward to last weekend. I was straightening up my desk, putting away a bunch of scrap crap … errr … scrappy goodness, and I came across the package with my order. Finally! Time to sniff my papers! I mean, LOOK at all my goodies. For shits and giggles, I looked at the packing sheet and compared it to what I received.
Lo and behold, something didn’t match up. Instead of the LABEL STICKERS that I ordered …
Don’t get me wrong: Those Word Stickers are sure cute. But, you know, um … that’s not what I paid for. Not what I chose. For one thing, I won’t even use those book tab thingee stickers. And I wanted the journaling space provided by the, uh, ya know, label stickers that I ordered.
Then again, why am I complaining? Not only did they replace the Label stickers with the comparably-priced Word Stickers, but I got a “free” pack of Journal Cards too. So doesn’t that more than make up for everything?
I’m not going to make an issue of it. One could say if I cared so much, why would I take over a month to figure out the discrepancy? And is it really worth the time/energy it takes to call or write the company, return or exchange or wait for the Label Stickers (which I assume they were out of) to come in, etc.? Nope, not worth it to me.
But this is the second time this has happened to me in about the last year (and I’d say I order something online about twice a month, if you include my monthly SUPER SKETCH CLUB kit). The other time it was from one of the huge online vendors. In that case, they really screwed me. An item I ordered was “out of stock” (funny how it was IN stock when I placed my order) so not only did they just ship it to me without the item (you know, the one I was REALLY looking forward to and the main reason I placed the order in the first place?).
But by deleting that item, it took me below the “$50 and free shipping” threshhold. So I received only my secondary item AND got charged for full shipping which was not an amount I would’ve agreed to pay for shipping. Grrr! I e-mailed them to express my pissed-off-edness but didn’t pursue it beyond that. I did learn not to order from them again unless I’m willing to risk this little cancellation and replacement dance they do.
And now I don’t trust this second vendor and will question ordering from them again. Wouldn’t it have been better for their sake if they had taken the time to write or call me and say, “Hey, we’re out of this, can we give you that, or would you rather have a Paypal refund?” And then I would continue my loyalty to them as a very happy customer. Now, not so much.
So this has me wondering how common a practice this is in the scrapbook industry. What’s been your experience with online shopping? Have you had items you ordered and paid for – substituted, canceled, or otherwise arrive not as you expected? Did you make an issue of it or just let it ride?
Would love to hear your experiences … Please leave the company name out of it if you can/thanks!
I wanted to let you know about some changes that will be going on around here in Scrapbook Obsession Land. To put in plainly:
– I am now allowing advertising and affiliate links on the Scrapbook Obsession Blog
If you’re just a Bullet Point Girl, you’re good. You can go read all your other blogs now. You’ve got the gist of it … bwahahaha! If you’re like me and have to know all the deets of new things and changes, then please get comfy and stick around for a little bit. Well, okay, a lotta’ bit … it’s LONG.
Let’s begin with some history. I started this blog (back before it was self-hosted, the address was www.scrapbookobsession.wordpress.com) in January 2007. I can’t believe it but that’s almost 5 1/2 years ago! On the ABOUT ME page, here is the explanation ~ written years ago and it still holds true ~ about why I love having this blog:
I am obsessed with scrapbooking and I know you are too! I think about it, talk about it, and do it any chance I get. I love to shop as much as I love to crop. My blog has: product reviews, show reviews, scrapbook organization, my shopping finds, and just general scrapbook topics. There are so many scrap blogs out there where the author journals about their life and shares their pages. I wanted my blog to be a little different. Hope you enjoy!
I started and have continued this blog all these years because I’m – you guessed it – scrapbook obsessed! I still love everything scrapbooking, talking about it, thinking about it, and writing about it. What has changed in recent years is, as you know, the economy. I’ve gone through some work changes over that time as well, from part-time to full-time to freelancing, from working from home to working in an office with a commute, etc.
Unfortunately, I’m not one of those lucky mommy bloggers who doesn’t have to work and can devote all the time I want to writing (even though I’d love to be, and am SO envious of those in that position). Disclaimer: Please don’t think I’m saying that being a full-time SAHM is easy ‘cuz I’m most certainly not. I run a home, cherish a marriage, raise kids, volunteer, AND work full-time. I know how hard it is, believe me! So basically it comes down to writing the blog or housework. I decided to let the housework go.
I’m also not one of those lucky ones with enough expendable income to pay others to design my blog and make it all purdy and interactive and slammin’ awesome. Sometimes when I make a little dough from my MEMORY WORKS consultant gig, I’ll put a little bit towards the maintenance or updating of this blog (e.g., paying for my own domain, buying premium themes, purchasing spam protection, etc.).
If you’re a longtime reader, you know that I’ve been posting a lot less than I used to. It’s not that I don’t want to write … I do! I still keep up with the industry, I know what new products are coming out, I hear the scrapbook gossip, and I have opinions, gurlll! I *want* to be able to write and share and laugh with you about it all.
But let’s get real: In this economy, the “fluff” parts of life have to take a back seat to the “real” parts a lot of the time. If I have a choice between booking a transcribing job or writing a blog post, guess which one I have to pick? I don’t like doing quickie posts for the most part, so I need at least an hour or two to sit down and do research, write a post, edit/download photos, include links, etc. Although in the interest of posting more often, I’m going to have to get over my long-post-itis and write shorter posts sometimes … hope ya’ don’t mind.
Anyway, writing a scrapbook blog takes longer than you’d think :) It’s a time commitment, for sure. {Okay, here’s a depressing thought: If I added up all the time I’ve spent over the last 5 years writing these 879 posts, I could’ve been running a Fortune 500 company by now – ha!}
As I’ve looked for ways to make money working from home (which I feel I’ve been called to do), I’ve been learning a lot about this idea of “monetizing your blog,”, which in my case would be making small amounts of money if you click on a scrapbook-related ad on my site or even more if you then make a purchase.
Anyway, it just seems like a logical next step for me. I’ve spent over 5 years writing for free – gratis – nada. I’ve linked up hundreds of companies and exposed customers to their products. I’ve enabled and help sell their items anyway (with not one word of thanks from any of them, btw). So if I can continue to write about the hobby-love of my life {{SCRAPBOOKING}} and make a little bit of money doing it, why shouldn’t I? And if it’s a successful thing, then scrapbook blogging just bumped up in my list of priorities right? I mean, if I can spend an hour blogging and it ends up having a better financial return than, say, an hour of cutting coupons than it’s a win-win, right?
And that’s all I’m hoping for – a few dollars here and there. I don’t have any delusions that I’ll get rich from this (even though I see so many bloggers of ALL kinds doing just that and it makes me SOOOO jealous! Srsly, there are people making 6 and 7 figures from this shizzle. LOL). But if putting some (what I hope are) not-annoying ads on this well-established blog can generate a little bit of income, I’m going to give it a try. I may fall flat on my face but I’m always one who likes to TRY so at least I can say I did, ya’ know?
Here’s what I need from you: Let me know what you think about the changes as they come along and be BRUTALLY honest, okay? {Okay, here is where I get mushy…}. In the 5+ years I’ve been writing this blog, I’ve been amazed, touched, and humbled that people like you actually take time out of your busy day to read it. I’m so very grateful for the support you’ve always given me by way of a Comment, a hit, a laugh, a link, a subscription – I love it all!
I’ve “met” so many wonderful scrapbookers because of this blog and I don’t want that to EVER stop. So one of my main goals with these changes is to *not* alienate you, piss you off, drive you away, make you hate me, or make you laugh at me (well, okay, feel free to laugh at me as you always have).
Here’s my fear: As this “monetizing your blog” trend has slowly made it’s way through Scrapbook World*, I’ve heard the comments on scrapbook message boards that go like this: “I used to love that blog and read it every day but now it just seems like one big ad” and “That used to be a wonderful blog but I’m tired of them always trying to sell me something.”
*Here are some examples of monetized scrapbook blogs that I personally read (not to bag on them, just to illustrate what I’m talking about): BECKY HIGGINS, ALI EDWARDS, HEIDI SWAPP, and LAIN EHMANN.
So bottom line: If these changes end up with me losing readers and friends, than they are so outta’ here. I’m not willing to trade a little dough for the friendship, loyalty, and fellowship you’ve given me for almost 5 years and I hope will continue to. So. Not. Worth it.
But if you do end up liking the changes {or at least not minding them awfully much}, then I will be in scrapblog heaven. My hope is that I pick products, classes, etc. that you actually want to hear about. I hope you find them helpful or at least provide some scrappy eye candy.
So stay in touch with me. Give me your feedback. Laugh at me, not with me, I don’t care :) If at any point, you’re throwing up your hands and walking away from me for good, leave me a nasty parting comment so I know what’s up in the hizzy. You can also e-mail me any ol’ time: scrapbookobsession(at)gmail(dot)com. If you don’t tell me, how will I know, ya’ know? I’m not a frickin’ mind reader.
Oh yeah, in case you’re wondering, the dripping sarcasm will continue ;)
I’m not gonna’ turn all corporate and proper on you. I’m going to continue being my brutally honest self and tell you what I really think about things. For instance, I could’ve just starting sneaking in affiliate links without explanation … but I gotta’ be real witchoo. My comments will be honest – good or bad. Always have, always will. That’s probably the totally wrong thing to do from a business perspective but whatever. Screw ’em.
And I won’t sell you down the river. I’ll be posting a Disclaimer and/or Affiliate page that explains all this, but basically I won’t lie just to sell something. If I think something’s crap, I’ll still tell you. And if I think it’s the best thing since sliced … erm, patterned paper … I’ll tell you that, too.
So that’s what’s going on as of now. There may be other changes – mostly to format, I hope, because honestly I don’t like the way this blog looks right now. But me learning how to fix things the way I want them is painfully slow … like watching Stickles dry. If you come to visit my blog and it looks all wonky, please forgive :) I’m about as talented a blog designer as Lady Gaga is shy. There WILL be hiccups and goofy shizzle. {For instance, I’ve been playing with the clickable 2peas links in my right sidebar recently to make sure they work}. But I’ll do my best to fix things and welcome (like you wouldn’t BELIEVE!) input and criticism.
Sooooo … clear as mud? GREAT! Thanks for reading and please tell me what you think!
We had such a huge run on these when they were first released earlier this month, that they disappeared from our website too quickly … waaaahh!!
But the Simple Stories “Mix and Match” 6×8 albums are back in stock ~ yippee!
We are so excited to let everyone know that the Simple Stories Mix and Match albums are now back in stock! This 6×8 Kraft chipboard D-ring album is absolutely beautiful…and super strong and sturdy so you can load your memories inside! It features a wonderful linen spine with decorative book plate label on the spine, and ultra thick chipboard with a Kraft cardstock covering (no naked grey chipboard here), so you can leave as is for quick and easy crafting or decorate to your heart’s desire! It also includes tons of goodies inside so you can create a one-of-a-kind keepsake, including album pages, chipboard dividers and a variety of 6×8 divided page protectors! Be sure to place your order today!
But I’m seriously serious … if you would like to order one {or more …. why not?} of these albums, they’re still very hot so I would do it soon. Many have been waiting for them to come back in stock and I imagine they won’t last long.
You can order from my website HERE. Just place your order like any other online shopping. I’ll send you a Paypal invoice and your order will ship straight to you from our home office in Utah within 1-2 business days. Couldn’t be easier :)
Please let me know if you have any questions ~ about Mix and Match or any of our other amazing items ~ at scrapbookobsession(at)gmail(dot)com.
Just in time for National Scrapbook Day … ;) My latest order from MEMORY WORKS arrived!!!
I didn’t get to scrap today; too busy doing other stuff … but I did open each and every package and look through it all. My own personal NSD celebration.
It was duh-VOOOOOOOON!
There may or may not have been paper sniffing involved. I can’t really say ;)
Hope you had a wonderful National Scrapbook Day and were able to get your scrap on!
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