So, what do we think about THIS ANNOUNCEMENT by Creating Keepsakes regarding the Hall of Fame?
Well, I just read through it for the first time but here are my immediate thoughts:
1. I’m glad Kristina Contes was disqualified. I can’t believe I’m saying I’m ‘glad’ about ANYONE losing ANYTHING because I’m the kind of person who is happy for and in admiration of people like her, who obviously work hard and are good at what they do. But ~ there’s always a BUT, isn’t there? ~ she did so many things that are objectionable to me that I can say that I’m ‘glad’ she was disqualified. By her own admission, she took only 40 minutes to complete her entry and didn’t really read the rules because she was busy with her book. Then perhaps it wasn’t a good year to enter, if she couldn’t devote the time that should’ve been required of an entry that important. She said she didn’t expect to win, as if that’s an excuse for not reading/complying with the rules. She seemed to blame CK for not catching the error, instead of blaming herself for committing it. Then to top it all off, Kristina makes a blog entry that, I mean, gosh, I can’t even comment on it here without saying things I shouldn’t say. I refuse to ‘get personal’ on people and I only base my comments on what came from their own mouth (blog, website,…). I’ll just say that I thought it was inappropriate. There, wasn’t that nice? Although, in her defense, I will say that I think people were TOO hard on her for that blog entry. She must be under inordinate amounts of stress over this, her traveling, a busy restaurant, teaching projects, etc. Also, and I mean this with all love for New Yorkers, but ‘I have friends from New York’ (LOL) and Boston and they kinda’ just tell it like it is. I’m from California where it’s the opposite, all ‘no, you first’, and ‘oh, I’m so sorry’, and ‘don’t you look GREAT today!’. Sometimes I wish people would be more like Kristina and just say, ‘Damn, you look like crap.’ I digress…what I mean is that she may be more plain-talking than most and it shocked people. But I think we need to cut her some slack, especially now. I can’t imagine, even with all the positive comments she gets, how hard it must be to be Kristina Contes right now.
2. I’m curious to see what will happen with the other winners who also used photos that couldn’t be their own work. Since they have to sign this big, serious document this time, no one will let them get by with fibbing again. I suppose you could set your camera on a tripod to take photos of yourself climbing onto a horse. C’mon, it could happen! But how do you take photos of yourself running in a race? Anyway, interesting stuff to come. This is NOT over by any means.
3. I’m happy to see they addressed the HOF contest rules because there are many scrappers currently working on or getting ready for HOF 2008, and they have been requesting clarification. I just send Happy Thoughts to all those ladies (wait, I can’t say Ladies anymore!)…to all those people who will enter. I admire you mucho.
4. I admire CK for listening, for reading those endless message board posts and e-mails, for the sleepless nights they must have endured these last couple of weeks, all resulting in a good decision. As I suspected, and talked about in an EARLIER POST, things like this happen in large companies sometimes. They don’t always have evil intent and, when mistakes are discovered, it may be perceived that it’s too late to fix them. I think CK learned that it wasn’t too late, and that they should’ve come clean way back when it was first discovered. It would’ve been a pebble in the pond instead of a huge meteor. The re-issue of the HOF mag will cost them a lotta snap but I think they realize how much NOT doing it was going to cost them.
5. For all the drama, I think the discussions that resulted from this issue have been good ones. It got everyone talking about Right vs. Wrong, for standing up when you believe in something, and for how to be effective consumers who should have a say-so since we spend all our money with these companies. I was heartened to see so many who believed, like I do, that we have to own up to our mistakes, even if it means forfeiting notoriety, cash, and prizes. I was disheartened to see all the back-biting on CKMB, 2peas, etc and so many who thought this was ‘no big deal, get over it, move on.’ It stunned me that one scrapper did not have another scrappers back. It made me feel like we are a family, a sisterhood…but only to a point for some people. I know, I know, I take all this scrapbooker-girl stuff too seriously, right?
So, dig in! What did you think of the letter and CK’s apology? Will you boycott now or undo the boycott you were doing? Will you submit an HOF entry? Will you stay onboard with the magazine? With the Message Board? Lay it on me…
We would like to thank you for your loyal dedication and continued commitment to scrapbooking and our Creating Keepsakes (CK) magazine. Without the support of our loyal readers and scrapbooking partners we would not be where we are today. In the spirit of continuing our editorial mission and fulfilling our commitment to you, we want to address the recent incident related to our Hall of Fame (HOF) contest.
We have been reading your comments and dialogue on the Creating Keepsakes message board and we internally investigated the error that has caused us all great concern: awarding Hall of Fame recognition to someone who submitted work that was not solely their own.
Our review has found the primary cause of our error. Staff changes on the CK and Hall of Fame editorial team occurred at a critical juncture in the production of the HOF book and the new team was not fully briefed on this assignment. The specific breakdown came just as the HOF book was going to press. One of our staff was called by a winner who requested a photo credit be given to another photographer for one of the winner’s photo entries. Given that the rules of the contest dictate contestants submit their own work, we should have disqualified this person’s entry accordingly. Unfortunately, our staff person did not understand the ramifications of the winner’s request and simply added the other photographer’s credit to the HOF book after the publication had already been proofed for printing.
We acknowledge and take full responsibility of our mistake and we assure you that it was not done with any bad intent. We deeply value the trust of our readers. We have read your messages and want to explain our action plan outlined below to help rectify the situation and assure you it will not happen again:
1. We appreciate the winner’s forthrightness in notifying us that the photo credit should be given to another photographer. Unfortunately, as a matter of fairness to our other contestants, this winner has been disqualified.
2. As part of the contest rules, all potential winning entrants must sign an affidavit confirming that their entries are solely their own work. Although we received signed affidavits from all such entrants, we now have evidence that such a measure failed to protect us against all errors. In order to satisfy both our and our readers’ concerns that no other errors occurred during the HOF contest, we are now resubmitting this affidavit to the other 24 winners for final verification thereby underscoring its importance to the integrity of the HOF contest.
3. One week after receiving the newly signed affidavits, we will announce the 26th place ‘winner’ (Honorable Mention) and add him/her to the 2007 Hall of Fame. The winner will receive the prizes and cash award granted to the other 24 winners.
4. Upon receiving their second affidavit should other 2007 winners come forward and acknowledge that their work is not solely their own or fail to return the second affidavit, we will disqualify them and add the next-in-line Honorable Mention(s) to the 2007 Hall of Fame, providing the prizes and cash award accordingly.
5. We will print a special The Scrapbook Hall of Fame, Volume 9 supplement to honor the new winner(s) and re-acknowledge those winners. This special printing will be poly-bagged with Creating Keepsakes’ February 2008 issue, which will deliver into subscribers’ homes and onto newsstands late December 2007
6. We will move forward with our 2008 Hall of Fame contest, but revised rules that will be published on our web site by November 1, 2007 and in the January 2008 issue of Creating Keepsakes. To avoid such errors in future contests, all relevant staff members have been appropriately informed and educated on contest rules.
Certainly this has been a challenging situation for us all. We are painfully aware that our error has deeply upset many of you, our cherished readers and scrapbooking partners. We value you and your trust that you have placed in us and we will continue to do everything we can to maintain your faith in Creating Keepsakes. We hope our response to our error is seen as a step towards maintaining your trust.
We deeply appreciate your support and hope you continue to enjoy our magazine, scrapbooking events and book products for many years to come. If you have any questions to comments, please contact Lin Sorenson at linsorenson@ckmedia.com.
Can FRED make your neck feel better? Will FRED enhance your layout experience? Is FRED too expensive or just right? No, FRED is not what you’re thinking…getcher mind out of the gutter! FRED is a portable crafting table that tilts like a drafting table. It comes with magnets to hold down your work as you go. You set it on top of your existing desk, and you can fold it up to take to crops. I first heard about it on THIS 2PEAS THREAD. The inventor/seller of FRED even chimes in, so you can hear about the product first hand. Here is the WEBSITE for FRED. Maybe I’m just having another blond moment, but I couldn’t figure out how to sign up for their e-mail list. I also couldn’t find the videos on YouTube (although the videos on the website worked fine for me). If anyone figures it out, please let me know. I think the price seems reasonable for the quality, and it sure sounds like they have some happy customers. Hmmm…it’s one to think about for my Christmas list. How about you…interested?
I have bunches of work to do tonight, so I’ll keep this short (Yeah, right, “Mrs. She Who Can Never Be Brief”…).
As you all know (if you don’t, read HERE and HERE and HERE) – there’s currently a big contro in scrapbook world about some of the CK Hall of Fame 2007 winners who broke the rules, won anyway, and no action has been taken against them (yet) by CK. At the center of the hurricane is KRISTINA CONTES, who has one layout in the the HOF issue that has a photo credit for NISA FIIN. Miss Kristina has been getting the bulk of the onslaught, and today SHE RESPONDED on HER BLOG. And here is the FEEDBACK on CKMB so far. Am I blind are or are they NOT discussing the Kristina Response on 2peas?!? C’mon, Peas, whaddup? (Maybe they’ve all left the building). So, “discuss amongst yourselves” (if you’re a fan of Mike Myers/SNL, you’ll get that)…and I’ll be back!
Okay, HOF thoughts have percolated in my brain long enough. Truly, it shouldn’t have taken this long. I know right from wrong, as do you. If it walks like a liar, talks like a liar, and makes see thru message board posts like a liar…well, you know the rest. I realize there is an awful lot at stake here. But anyone, HOF or Honorable Mention, who did not follow the photo rules should step down. CK should issue a FEE-YOU-JUS apology to all contestants, “winners”, and customers. And then let’s move on and get back to what we should all be doing: scrapbooking and enabling.
Here is how my opinion crystalized. And it’s pretty simple. You enter a scrapbooking contest run by a prestigious magazine. You read the rules to see what the parameters of this contest are, to make sure you aren’t confusing them with the rules from all the other contests and page calls you submit for. You painstakingly complete the required layouts to ensure you have done your very best work. You double, triple, quadruple check the rules of the contest because you certainly don’t want to be disqualified and have your entry rejected after all the work you just put into it. If you have any doubts or feel a rule is unclear, you go onto the free message board provided by the magazine and clarify the rules to make sure you understand every aspect. You fill out the required forms and sign your name that you have complied with the rules. You send it all in and keep your fingers crossed, feeling like you did the best you could and, if nothing else, you know your entry will at least be considered (and not returned to you) because you followed the rules to a “T”. The magazine receives your entry, along with hundreds of others. Each entry goes through several levels of a thorough screening process to ensure that all stated entry qualifications are met. This is a prestigious and life-altering contest, where the person(s) you choose will represent the magazine. Someone who can’t even follow the rules for a contest entry is someone a large magazine would not want to work with. They must be held to the highest standard. Revenues from this magazine are down, and staffing is more limited than in the past, but they work extra hours or hire temporary help or don’t sleep for 18 days, but they do whatever it takes to painstakingly weed out non-compliant entries. For one thing, fair is fair. For another, the magazine does not want to cause controversy, alienate readership, or encourage legal action. They take this very seriously, especially given that there have been accusations in past years’ contests of impropriety. If those accusations are unjustified, then the magazine has nothing to worry about – just keep doin’ what they’re doin’. Magazine staffers come across several entries that don’t comply with the rules; most of the violations are to the “100% of the photos must be taken by the entrant” rule. Crap! Many of these non-compliant entries are by well-known or well-regarded or cute or interesting or male or intriguing or excellent blogger scrapbookers! Crap! The magazine does not want to disqualify these entries. There are so many reasons why this or that person should be a winner, not rejected. Boy, they think, if we disqualify them we’re going to piss some people off. They check with their legal department and find out that they can legally disqualify the entries without fear of legal repercussions because the entrants clearly broke the stated rules. Crap! After clarifying any and all photos that include the entrant were either taken by someone else vs. a self-portrait with a timer, etc., the decision is made to disqualify the entries, as much as it sucks. Now that all the entries have been sorted and met the qualifications, they are made anonymous (as anonymous as you can be, when some of the layouts include Long Arm Self Portraits of the entrant). Judging begins, with a slow weeding down to the very ‘best of the best’ entries. One last check is made to ensure that all rules have been followed. Remember, this is a Pretty Big Deal Contest?? Can’t have any mistakes or questions of integrity. The winners are announced, the special HOF issue comes out, and the year progresses as always. Some disgruntled rejectees gripe on message boards, blogs or e-mails about this or that impropriety, but the magazine doesn’t pay any mind because they are confident that they are squeeky clean. They enforced all of the rules and the best entries were chosen from those which complied. The end.
But as we all know, that is not exactly what happened. And as much as we want to speculate, we will probably never know what really DID happen. But here are some of the possibilities, i.e. things that COULD HAVE happened, not saying they DID happen. Entrants misread or misunderstood or ignored the rules. CK ignored obvious violations of the rules. CK’s judging policy sucks, as it does not have any safeguards to ensure that all stated rules were followed. CK wanted certain scrapbookers to win so badly that they overlooked the rules or pretended they didn’t matter. CK decided on the winners, then realized the error, but decided to go forward because it was too late/too expensive/too embarrassing to admit their wrong. CK figured it was too late to right the wrong because the HOF issue had already gone to press and, hey, what were they going to do, print a whole other HOF issue? And forever embarrass those entrants they’d have to ‘out’ as Dirty Rule Breakers? Not gonna’ happen. CK lower level knew what happened early on but upper level did not take it seriously enough. Entrants who violated the rules wanted fame and publication so bad, they did what they had to. Entrants disagreed with the rules that were too difficult to meet, they complained, and CK decided to ease up. I mean, we could go on and on. It’s like my saying that “Nobody knows what goes on inside a marriage except the two people in it.” No one in Scrap World really knows what happened except, I would guess, about 5 to 10 people. And I doubt they’re gonna’ fess up. But I can not think of any scenario that allows, with any integrity and honesty, for this situation to have happened organically. Someone somewhere pulled a fast one. Obviously not anticipating the doggedness of the blog and message board community of scrappers, a community already fed up with Scrap Celebs and publishing favoritism and Life Artists and So There. This community was standing at the precipice and the HOF incident pushed them over the cliff.
I do want to say that I sympathize, yes sympathize, with CK. For 12 years, I worked for a high profile organization that had 10,000 employees. We were an excellent group and I was proud to work there. But like any other large organization, there were tons of problems and bad shizzle: miscommunications, lazy workers, red tape, staff shortages, disgruntled workers, disgruntled bosses, people who didn’t care as long as they got their paycheck, and complete and total lies told about us by the press. There were rumors and favoritism and gossip and Golden Children. There were times when I jumped to conclusions based on the limited information I was privy to, only to be proven completely wrong. After the first few times of eating crow, I learned to give people the benefit of the doubt, to let the dust settle before I drew a conclusion, and to remember that all of us are human and we all make mistakes. There are 10 sides to every story, and I’m sure CK and KC and everyone else has their defense. I can’t wait to hear it. If I’m proven wrong in my conclusions or opinions here, I’ll happily apologize. I’m not saying all this to hurt anyone. I’m just trying to make sense of it.
That said, I am disappointed in CK, but not surprised. I am appalled at ANY entrant who broke the rules, and who accepts prizes and recognition and stays silent when they know what they’ve done. Even if it was an honest mistake (how could it be?), apologize and step down if you have no decent explanation. I don’t think CK should oust them; it should be an action by the contestant. I am proud of everyone who stood up, called a spade a spade, and refused to be bullied or banned or silenced. I am heartbroken for any HOF entrant who followed the stated rules and did not win, now having to watch others enjoy the spot that could have been theirs. I am saddened that it has all come to this. I am hopeful that the industry has learned a huge lesson, and will do the right thing by us in the future. I have faith in you, my fellow scrappers, that we will cut everyone a little break, not be mean or snarky, and not kill the messenger. And I am certain that we will all remember that, ultimately, it’s not about contests and magazines and recognition anyway. It’s about your photos, your memories, your people, your life. Peace out…
I can’t believe, and I don’t know why, THIS ISSUE is consuming so many of my thoughts these last 2 days. I didn’t enter HOF, I will never enter HOF, I don’t know anybody who entered HOF…And yet I can’t get this whole fiasco off my mind. Honestly, I’ve never paid much attention to these magazine contests except to enjoy the special issues they generate where I get to see the Cream of the Crop, which just gets more and more amazing every year. Like, “graphic artist” amazing, like “how’d they do that?” amazing. This year, I got caught up in the SOY (Creating Keepsakes Scrapbooker of the Year) madness because I frequent (about every 5 seconds) the CK Message Board. One of the more well-known ladies over there (NoelJoy aka Noel Culbertson) made the Top 10, as did some other of my fave Gallery Goddesses. So, between the anticipation for Memory Trends and Las Vegas and The Announcement, I got caught up in the SOY frenzy. I was really impressed with the caliber of not only scrapbookers, but PEOPLE, that were chosen for the top 10. They all were just so classy and fun and appreciative and humble; it was a pleasure to watch it all from the sidelines. It’s easy to put yourself in the place of someone who has poured their heart and soul into their entry, and the waitiing, and the dreaming “what if??”…and the inevitable disappointing crash when it’s not you. So, yeah, I totally get it. I get the depth of the emotion and commitment and disappointment this HOF mess has unsurfaced. I think maybe it’s hitting uninvolved ME so hard because I’ve always had such a sense of right and wrong, of fair and unfair, of good and bad, of black and white. There is not as much “grey” for me as for most people. You either did or you didn’t. It’s either Diet Pepsi or Diet Coke. You’re either pregnant or your not. No grey.
And that’s why I”m struggling. Every time I’m fired up, decision made, ready to unleash on this keyboard my “feelings” on this event, I stop. I think, “But what about this?” and “Was it on purpose?” and “Everyone makes mistakes” and “How do you fix something gone so horribly wrong?” and “How would I feel if my magazine and my JOB were on the line?” and “How would I feel if I had entered HOF?”.
And the frustrating thing is I’m not finding the black and white, just a bunch of muddy, drippy, annoying grey.
I tell ya’, you go away for a little scrapbook retreat weekend, and this is what happens! Here is the gist of the story as I can gather it, only having time to scan a huge amount of posts at Creating Keepsakes and 2 Peas message boards from the last few days:
When the CK 2007 Hall of Fame book which showcases the winners came out recently, it was noted that one of the winners (Kristina Contes) had used at least one photo in her entry that was not taken by her – as required by contest rules. Apparently, there was no doubt about who took the photo, as photo credit was given to Nisa Flin, who happens to be a professional photographer. There were lots of questions being asked about how she could have won, given that the rules weren’t entirely followed. Today, this message was posted on CKMB by way of explanation:
“It has been brought to our attention that in CK’s The Scrapbook Hall of Fame, Volume 9, we inadvertently listed an incorrect photo credit with the “Family of 3” layout. This was an editorial oversight on our part. CK apologizes to Kristina Contes for accrediting her photos to Nisa Fiin and for any inconvenience this may have caused anyone. If you have any further questions or suggestions, please e-mail us your thoughts at letters@creatingkeepsakes.com and be sure to include “HOF Comments” in the subject line.
Brian Tippetts
Editor-in-Chief
Creating Keepsakes”
Well, no one was buyin’ it, to say the least. The responses to that message from Brian have now reached 10 pages, and still going strong. The statement that “CK apologizes to Kristina Contes for accrediting her photos to Nisa Fiin” was not accepted by the masses because there is apparently evidence abounding on the internet that the photo was indeed taken by Nisa Flin. Well, that led to the point that, on further examination of the HOF entries, there are possibly several entries with photos not taken by the entrant. As you can imagine, those HOF entrants who DID follow all of the rules, and took pains to only include photos taken by themselves, are pretty ticked. Others asked, essentially, “What’s the big deal? It’s only a contest. Everyone makes mistakes, even CK. At least they admitted it and apologized.” Which was responded to with, essentially, “It’s not ‘just a contest’ if you put countless hours and inspiration and money into your HOF entry, and took pains to follow every single rule, only to lose to someone (or several someone’s) who didn’t follow the rules.” Another point being made is that, for those who would like scrapbooking to be a career or professional accomplishment, winning or losing HOF is an entirely big deal. I would equate it to Halle Berry winning the Oscar ~ you betcha’ she got a lot more and better roles after that and deservedly so. Winning big contests or awards is a way for excellence to be recognized, put on a pedestal, and shown to a much wider audience. In response to complaints of posts being deleted by CK because they questioned the contest, CK posted this Reminder:
“Thank you for being a part of the CK message board! We would just like to remind everyone of the guidelines you agreed to follow when you created a message board account. Messages that do not uphold these guidelines will be pulled.
You agree to be respectful of others’ ideas and opinions. You will not use any expression of racism, bigotry, obscenity or profanity (including asterisks [*] to represent profanity). We will not permit such comments.
You agree to not make personal attacks, or “flames.” (Flames are comments about a person rather than about his or her opinions.) In addition, you agree to refrain from posting libelous remarks about companies or individuals. Libel is defined in Webster’s II New College Dictionary as “A written, printed or pictorial statement that defames one’s character or reputation or exposes one to public ridicule.” We reserve the right to remove messages that we consider libelous. This is a serious matter. If you post libelous remarks, legal action can be taken against you. To learn more about libel, see www.firstgov.gov or the Libel Defense Resource Center.
You agree to be respectful of Creating Keepsakes and our staff. We are happy to provide this message board as a free service, but we reserve the right to delete messages that are disrespectful to us. We work hard for you, and we appreciate your polite consideration as you make comments about our staff and our publications.
Please see our guidelines for further details: https://www.creatingkeepsakes.com/mb/guidelines.ihtml
_________________
CK Online”
And after bunches of negative (and some positive) feedback to his original statement, Brian added this to his original post:
“UPDATE:
Thank you for your patience as we work to resolve this issue. According to the information we have received, the photo credit attributed to Nisa Fiin that appeared with the “Family of 3” layout on page 20 of The Scrapbook Hall of Fame, Volume 9 should have appeared with the “This Is Real” layout on page 49, the “Laughter” layout on page 107, and the “Precious” layout on page 159. We admit this is inconsistent with the statement in the Official Rules that “Entries, including photographs, must be the sole work of the entrant.” During the judging process, we had no information that the stated photos were taken by someone other than the contestant. We apologize for any confusion this has created regarding the Hall of Fame Contest. Because of the lengthy speculation regarding this issue, we would like to explain our judging process in depth to provide insight into why photographs have appeared in The Scrapbook Hall of Fame special issue that are not the sole work of the entrants.
Before judging the entries, we verify that each one follows the specified format, which is:
“1. Complete the scrapbooking assignments listed on the reverse side. For the purposes of this contest, a “layout” is a one- or two-page scrapbook layout that conveys a single theme. Assignments are also listed at www.creatingkeepsakes.com/hof.
“2. You can send us your assignment layouts in three different ways. (1) Take photographs, (2) print computer scans or (3) make reduced color copies (so that four layouts fit on one side of a sheet of 8½” x 11” or 12” x 12” paper). Do not send original layouts; we are unable to return materials. On the back of each color copy, photograph or printed scan, print your name, address, phone number, e-mail address, and a complete list of supplies used to create the layout (including both the manufacturer and product name of each supply used).
“3. Affix the color copies, photographs or printed scans to the fronts of three sheets of 8 ½” x 11” or 12” x 12” paper (three or four layouts to a page) by applying photo tabs or glue stick to the backs (unselected, unpublished layouts will be separated after judging to be considered for use in the magazine and future special issues). Identify each layout with a label corresponding to the assignment letter that the layout fulfills.”
The Official Rules state that “Entries that do not follow the specified format, or that include more or less than 10 scrapbook layouts, will automatically be disqualified from the 2007 Scrapbook Hall of Fame contest.”
Once we have completed this disqualification round, we judge entries on a “blind” basis, which means that we do not have access to the entrant’s name when we view his/her layouts. We have no way of knowing whether the contestant is among the people pictured in the photos and as such cannot verify whether photos are the sole work of the entrant during the judging process. Even if we could verify that, the disqualification round has been completed, and while we expect entrants to follow the guidelines, our only policy for disqualification is stated in the previously mentioned formatting requirements.
Fairness in identifying the industry’s top talent has always been our top priority. Entrants who follow our specified format, sign the agreement that they have followed the Official Rules and exhibit talent based on our judging criteria are awarded the title of Hall of Fame.
Because we cannot verify that all photos are the sole work of the entrants and because of the feedback we have received, we are seeing legally what we can do to address this issue in the 2008 Hall of Fame Contest and will also address it in future contests. Please check www.creatingkeepsakes.com/hof2008 in the upcoming weeks for an updated message.
As a final note, we’d also like to address any concerns that the CK editorial team has been removing posts from the message board as some sort of cover up. This is not the case. Only those posts which violate the TOU of the message board will be removed. Please see the “Reminder” post from CK Online in the Scrapbooking forum for further clarification.
Brian Tippetts
Editor-in-Chief
Creating Keepsakes”
Again, the ladies aren’t buyin’ it. In a nutshell, those who are upset feel that, even given the way HOF entries are judged, this situation shouldn’t have happened. At some point in the process, CK should have caught the inconsistency even if the entrants mistakenly or purposely did not follow the contest rules. There are posters threatening legal action, to cancel CK subscriptions, never buy a CK product or attend a CK event, enter any scrapbook contest, etc etc. To say the people are upset would be the understatement of the year. Unfortunately, this situation has made the normally peaceful CKMB ~ my very own Happy Place ~ into something resembling the Ultimate Fighting Championships. “New” members or “newbies” – an assumption based solely on their post count being under 20 or so – at first appeared to be the ones leading the negative charge against CK, and it was noted by some “old timers.” Others stuck up for the so-called newbies, pointing out that they may in fact be established members who started a new identity for fear of backlash after stating their opinions. I understand this; if I were an established CKMB’er who followed the rules of HOF and then discovered this problem, I would start a new ID before posting my true feelings. I don’t care what anyone says, there is professional backlash in the scrapbooking industry, just like in every other. Anyhow, then discussions started about how newbies aren’t welcomed, nay run off, at CKMB…then the defenders spoke up saying that wasn’t true.
I think where it stands now is just a running discussion of disappointment in CK and how the contest and aftermath have been handled. I know there are blogs where this is also being hammered out, and I do mean hammered with a capital H, but I don’t have the heart to read them right now.
{My disclaimer: I’m not involved in this situation. I’m not making accusations or statements or pointing fingers. I’m merely summarizing what I’m reading on message boards and quoting directly from statements made by CK in a public forum.}
I didn’t enter HOF or any other scrapbooking layout contest, nor do I plan to, that’s just not my bag. But I did once enter a contest to win a scrapbook store (yes, a scrapbook store!) that was closing. You submitted a layout with extensive journaling about why you should win the store and I poured my heart, soul, and lots of money into that contest. I can’t tell you the disappointment when I was told the contest was cancelled for not enough entries. So I can completely understand the pain this HOF situation causes to people. But, personally, I’m the type that likes to ‘wait and see’ in situations like this. I’m not going to comment yet, but let things settle in my heart and brain for awhile. I also want to see if CK does or says anything else before I make any kind of judgment about them. I can tell you it’s not looking good. But I wanted to share this event with you and hear your thoughts if you’re NOT kinda’ shocked speechless like I am. Yes, I know ‘it’s only scrapbooking’, but to the Scrapbook Obsessed, it’s a big deal…
As I posted about HERE, I was lucky enough to spend last weekend at a scrapbook mini-retreat. It was nothing fancy, not an organized retreat house, just 5 friends who got together. One friend T. has a sister-in-law who owns a beach house, so we only had to pay $250 to have the house from Friday through Sunday. We agreed to do all our own cleaning and laundry to save on the cost, plus the Sister Discount came into play, I’m sure.
On Friday, I worked until 12:30, then had a bunch of shopping and errands to do. One thing I did was buy a little goodie for each of the girls…they each got 2 of these Autumn Leaves acrylic stamps from Target. They cost $1.99 each and are so cute!
I picked stamps that applied to each girl, like the baby carriage stamp for T. who’s about to start her famliy and the one with the stars for L. who has a cute little boy. I found some cute bags and tissue, too. I love shopping for friends, don’t you? Since it was K.’s birthday we were celebrating, I also got a card for her. Inside I wrote that her gift was a $40 credit towards her Memory Works order. I thought that way I know she’s getting things she loves! Then I got some food and drinks from the grocery store, as we were each responsible for one meal and our own snacks/drinks. I finally got to the house around 4:30 and was so happy to be there! I was the last to arrive, so I quickly got set up and started scrapping. We each had 1/2 of a large table (T. had her own table which shared the laptop).
The in-depth chatting started up right away and didn’t stop until we left Sunday afternoon. They were 4 of the nicest ladies ever and we had lots in common. I had already known T. and L. through K., and they had all come to my crops so I knew them as acquaintances. I met S. that day, and what a sweetie. When you talk to people non-stop for 2 days, they definitely become Friends. We now know probably more than we ever wanted to about each others husbands, kids, families, jobs, medical crises, and scrapbook preferences! That’s one of my favorite things about scrapbooking is that you can sit around and talk while you do it. And because you’re sharing photos and journaling that are so personal, you truly get to know the scrappers you share time with.
We had a late dinner of Italian takeout (eggplant parmigiana for me, yum!) with an expensive bottle of Rotta zin that my husband insisted I bring to share with my friends. Then back to scrapping! We lost T. to her beddie bye at 10:30, L. and S. at 1am, but K. and I were up until 3am. I surprised myself because I’d only had 3 hours of sleep the night before when I stayed up late packing for the retreat. Then Saturday morning K. and I woke at 7am with the other ladies, which also surprised me. I guess we were so excited to get some more scrapbooking done, and we didn’t want to miss a minute of the fun. I made lunch, spinach ravioli and french bread with homemade chocolate chip cookes, but I didn’t have any. My family came over to the beach and we met for lunch at a cool outdoor restaurant. I was so happy to see them all, you would think I’d been gone for 24 days instead of 24 hours. It was a gorgeous day, with a fun and delicious meal. Afterwards, they headed off to the pier to see if they could find the Great White Shark that had been sighted there recently, and I headed back to the beach house. We scrapbooked all night again, only stopping for dinner that L. had made in her crockpot. It was a delicious chicken tortilla soup from a recipe she got in Fix It or Forget It. For desert, T. and L. surprised K. with a cake T. had made ~ German Chocolate, her favorite ~ and we sang Happy Birthday. No one ate cake just then as we were so full from the soup. S. had to leave that night because she was going to a 49’ers game the next morning. She’s a Creative Memories rep and she was able to help out K. with a brown leather Compass album that K. had been looking for (they are no longer in production). That night, K. and I were the last ones up scrapbooking again…I think we made it til 1am.
On Sunday morning, everyone was up drinking coffee and slowly starting to scrap by 9am. K. made us a great breakfast of fruit salad and scrambled eggs with sides you could add like cheese, green chilis, etc. L. had to leave at noon; me, T. and K. kept scrapping and talking until 4pm then starting packing up. We loaded our cars with all our own stuff ~ and there was lots of that! ~ and we packed the tables and chairs in T.’s Suburban. Then we spent about an hour cleaning the house, finishing the laundry, remaking beds, and divvying up all the leftover food. I came home with the rest of my ravioli and bread, 2 bottle of Pellegrino, half of a German Chocolate cake, cookies, a bottle of OJ, some wine, and the remainder of my Diet Coke 12-pack. We were joking how my DH would be like, “Oh, yes honey, you can go on the next scrapbook retreat!” because I was bringing home some of his favorite foods.
At 5:30, it was time for me to head home. As much as I missed my family, it was hard to leave. I had such a good time and got a lot done. I seem to rarely scrapbook at home these days, because there are always so many other things to do. I hope to unpack all my gear soon and keep this momentum or mojo going. Retreats and crops always get me ‘in the mood’ again. I loved looking at everyone’s completed pages as we went along, and learning new techniques from them. The things I got done: 9 pages for my Europe album, 4 family pages, 10 cards, & organized my Bazzill by color and my Basic Grey by line (Blush, Phoebe, etc.). I have been blessed by K. with A LOT of BG and it’s what I’m solely using in my Europe album, so it was getting out of control. I feel so good now that it’s organized. I also sold some Memory Works things kind of by accident. I fully looked at this as a ‘getaway weekend’ and did not want to sell anything while there. But I still had the box full of stuff in my trunk from the crop a couple weekends ago. Plus on Saturday DH brought over a box that came Friday that was full of stuff K. had ordered and lots more. So of course, we all got excited about new things and the rest is history. But I was very glad I had things the girls needed to complete projects they were working on. For example, T. started her SNAPSHOT OF ME album (Becky Higgins, CKU album) and said she’d looked around but hadn’t found a paper line she like enough to do her entire album in. Then she saw I had Basic Grey’s Infuse pack and she loved it!
Her album was turning out very cute. I can’t wait to see it when she gets all her photos in and journaling done. All the girls are such talented scrapbookers and I was very lucky to be in their company this weekend. If you haven’t gotten together with YOUR scrap friends, gotten away for a little retreat, I highly recommend it.
Every year, a friend of mine celebrates her birthday by meeting up with a group of friends to scrapbook for the weekend. One of the friends has a family hook-up to a beach house for the mere cost of $250 for Friday to Sunday. This is a house that would normally rent for $1500 or so per weekend. Very sweet deal. I’ve never been invited but have been hearing about this trip for the last few years, as kind of an ‘outer circle’ friend. But this year I got invited to go! As it happens, this birthday friend and I have become a lot closer lately. Our friendship was really sealed when we went on a European scrapbook cruise together last year. If you can survive overseas travel with a buddy and not want to kill them at any point, you are good friends! Truly, it was a wonderful experience and we still talk about how glad we are that the other person was there. We came from the same perspective of complete and total amazement that….OH….MY….GOD! We are in Europe! I’m totally digressing from my main point, but here is a funny story. The cruise was over and we were spending 2 days in Rome before we went home. After a quick hotel check-in, we got a cab to the area of the Coliseum and decided to have lunch at a sidewalk cafe across the street while waiting for our tour to start. My mom was with us too. My friend and I are both trying to casually order this cool ‘Italian sidewalk cafe lunch’ with our fancy Pellegrino water and we keep catching each other’s eye. It’s calm, quiet, casual all around our table. You know, the Italians are SO cool and even the tourists were chillin’. Finally we couldn’t stand it anymore and I burst out with, “Are you thinkin what I’m thinkin?”, and she says, “Yeah….” So we both look over at this monumental structure across the street, that we have read about and seen photos of and dreamed of visiting for years, and I say (pardon my French), “We’re eating lunch next to the fuckin’ Coliseum!”. And then we just lose it! I can’t explain it, I guess, but if you’ve ever anticipated a trip your whole life and then you finally get there, it’s just SO exciting! Btw, my mother (who hates profanity of any kind) just rolled her eyes at us…but I knew she understood.
So back to my point ~ and I did have one ~ that this friend and I shared such an awesome experience and now we feel bonded for life. And I finally got invited to the beach retreat. Which is this weekend! So I’ll be up super late doing laundry, packing, making some meals for the fam, and writing a blog entry. I probably couldn’t sleep if I tried. I hope to get a lot of scrappin and relaxin done. And I hope you also occasionally allow yourself a scrapbook getaway, a retreat from real life, some Mommy Time…because you deserve it. See ya’ Monday!
As you know, I’m fairly “scrapbook obsessed.” (REALLY???? We hadn’t noticed!). Which means that, yes, I scrapbook but also that I think about it 24/7, read all the scrapping books and magazines and blogs, participate on message boards, watch scrapbooking on tv, attend and hold crops, work as a scrapbooking consultant and have my own little s/b business as a compliment to that, etc. etc. (Yes, I could go on!). As a person who is this involved, I have some opinions on what I think is happening in the scrapbook industry so I thought I would share them and see what you think. Note: When I refer to the scrapbooking industry here, I’m talking about paper scrapping not to include digital. First of all, it’s no secret that in late 2006/all of 2007, the industry has slowed down. By that I mean it’s not making as much money for the biggies, i.e. the magazines and the major scrapbooking product companies. Secondly, tons of local scrapbook stores (LSS’s) are closing with only a few new ones opening. Since LSS’s used to be the heart of the industry, I take this as a major hit. I think there are 4 major reasons for this downturn: the economy, the internet, digital scrapbooking, and the industry itself.
Okay, the first and easiest reason is the economy. Not that the economy is horrible, but it has taken a hit in the last few years with gas prices so high, mortgage rates going up while home values stagnate or recede, and jobs being outsourced to other countries where they can pay someone 50 cents an hour to do the same job an American would be paid $12/hour for (major pet peeve of mine, but we won’t go there). But the bottom line of our economic shift is that we all have less disposable income to spend on scrap supplies. Yeah, I know, horrors! Everyone I’ve talked to – ladies like me who have scrapped and shopped for years – has had to tone down their spending. I used to fill my Honda with gas for $25, and now it costs $45. There went the $20 I would’ve spent on supplies last week, and that adds up to $80 less from this one consumer over the course of a month. May seem small but not when you multiply $80 by the millions of scrapbookers who routinely shop. Before we used to think nothing of dropping $80-100 at the LSS every few months, but now it might happen once a year by using those gift cards from Christmas. Because our money is so tight, we’ve become smarter shoppers who rely on…big box craft stores and their lovely coupons. While this is convenient and cost-saving to we consumers, I feel it has really hurt the industry. I’m the most guilty of it than anyone I know, so I’m not saying we shouldn’t do it, just pointing out that it has had a definite effect. When I can get a Colorbok 12×12 album using a 40% off coupon for $12 instead of $20, or use a 50% off coupon to buy a Crop in Style Cube for half-price, I’m going to do it. But when I do, I’m taking the money I would have spent at the LSS and giving it to Michaels which is a huge nationwide chain. As much as I adore Mikes, they are not contributing to my community, donating items to my crop, or supporting my local scrapbook community like an LSS would. When we continually give our (few) scrappin’ dollars to Mikes, Costco, Hobby Lobby, et al., we are making it virtually impossible for the LSS to stay in business. When I asked one local owner why she was closing her store, she said, “Everyone thinks running a store is so profitable because scrapbook supplies are expensive. But it takes A LOT of pieces of 69 cent patterned paper to pay my light bill.” In other words, sure, there is a good mark-up on scrapbook supplies but it’s not like owning an appliance store or a car dealer where each sale can net you hundreds/thousands of dollars. A person has to walk out of the LSS with a bagful of supplies (or a full-priced Cricut or a full-priced QuicKutz) for them to see a significant profit per sale. I don’t know of one LSS owner who is making a killing, even the very savvy, business-smart ones. When I used to have 7 LSS’s within 100 miles, I enjoyed shopping at them so I could have the latest and greatest and enjoy the atmosphere there, even if it cost a bit more (see THIS POST for more on my love of LSS’s). But after I heard that comment from the owner, I made even more of a point to spend my scrap budget at LSS’s. Now I’m down to 1 LSS and I go there at least once per month even though it’s a 45-minute drive. The rest of the time, I do use my coupons and look for deals at big box stores. I suppose as a matter of principal, I could refuse to shop ‘big box’, but #1-I’m not that strong (LOL), and #2-Would it really make a difference if one lone scrap shopper in America made that effort? Nope. It would take a banding together of many of us, and I don’t see that happening. For most of us, the slowing economy has made it so that we put our budget ahead of the things we enjoy about our LSS’s.
The second trend that has negatively effected our industry is the internet. It’s tied in with the big box/economical reasons above but, basically, there are so many advantages to internet shopping that many of us have transitioned to it either partly or fully. There are so many positives to buying scrapbook supplies from the internet: easily view everything that’s available, compare prices to get the best deal, and take advantage of screamin’ deals on Ebay – all in the comfort of your warm, dry house while wearing your jammies! The only negatives: credit card/ID theft issues, waiting for the package to arrive, and sadly, taking our money away from the LSS’s. The major upside is that the internet has allowed any scrapper who would like to open up their own ‘store’, whether it be Ebay, Etsy, or a full-on store website. As a scrapper who recently quit full-time work and was interested in working from home, I can appreciate how that kind of opportunity could be irresistable and even considered it myself. However, this freedom in e-commerce has led to a saturation in the scrapbook market…and the eventual failure of many online stores. Don’t get me wrong, I think you can still make some pocket money in this type of venture but I don’t see many people making a full-time income from it. There are many huge sites that have done very well for a long time (ROCKY MOUNTAIN HOBBIES, EMBELLISH IT, etc.), but they are rare in my opinion. (If I’m wrong on this, please educate me :-). Bottom line is that if we’re all shopping online and forcing vendors to give us the rock bottom price or go out of business, and forcing the closure of LSS’s which offer all the products that keep the big magazines/companies going, then we as online shoppers have negatively impacted the very industry that we so love.
The third big effect I see involves digital scrapbooking. I don’t know any official statistics, but I’ve concluded that a large portion of paper scrappers (maybe 50%?) have transitioned partially or fully to digital scrapbooking. I base this on the number of people who talk about it on MB’s, post their digital pages, demand representation in the ‘paper scrapbooking’ magazines, and the number on digi-websites and blogs. I’ll bet Costco is making a killing on 12×12 page printing! Digital scrapbooking is very popular and it has to have had an effect on the paper scrapbooking industry. It goes something like this: A paper scrapper wants to try digital scrapbooking. She looks around online and downloads one free digi-kit from 50 different sites. She tries the digital thing and realizes she can complete a whole album while sitting in the car with her laptop at 5 of her son’s baseball practices. Not to mention no fuss, no mess, no sticky desktop to clean when she’s done. She thinks, “Why didn’t I try this sooner?” and tells all her friends to try it, which they do, and they all love it. Ms. Digi Scrapper looks at all of her paper scrap supplies and says, “I’d better stop buying supplies because I will never even use what I have, much less new stuff. And besides, why pay money when I can get all those digi-kits for free?” Now the only money she is spending is on printer cartridges and digital page printing (although I hear from lots of digi-scrappers that they don’t even print most of their pages; the pages live in their computers to view onscreen, post on their blog, or e-mail to relatives). Anyhow, even if some of this 50% of scrappers remain hybrid, I’d bet they still don’t spend anywhere near the amount of money on supplies as they used to. As for the creators/sellers of digi-elements, are they getting rich? Have we just transitioned the profit from the paper scrap companies to the digital designers? Personally, I don’t think so. Again, why pay for something when there are so many freebies? I love the ARTICLE Kim Guymon at Scrapbiz.com wrote about this subject and she explains it very well. But, again, the bottom line is this huge transition to digital scrapbooking has changed the face of the scrapbooking industry as we know it. I imagine if you’ve gone totally digital, you aren’t concerned but as a ‘completely paper’ scrapper, I kinda’ wish it wasn’t happening. I’m not blaming anyone – the digital scrapbookers or their industry – I just wish digital had come along after my lifetime or something, LOL. It’s like when I get mad sometimes and DH says, “Why are you mad at me?!?” and I say, “I’m not mad at you, I’m mad at the SITUATION.” (Pout, pout).
“Fourthly” and lastly, I place some blame on the scrapbook industry itself. I think they have bowed to the pressure we put on them for something new, “the latest and greatest”, all the time and they just release too many dang products! Coming from me, this statement probably shocks you, right? I can shop like nobody’s business and drool over all the new products. I discuss them here on my blog and post links to enable your shopping as well. But just because we want the new stuff all the time, doesn’t mean the industry has to provide it. I think the popularity of the scrapbook magazines with their ads for new products, their awesome pages and articles featuring the new stuff, and all the internet advertising of same has pressured the makers of scrapbook products to keep putting out new collections. Well, I’m no expert but I imagine that costs a lot of money – designing, advertising, attending trade shows, sending reps to the stores, and filling orders. When the industry was really thriving, that was all well and good. But now that it has slowed, we’re still expecting tons of the latest and greatest, and they are still delivering. How can that be profitable? Add to that the new companies that continue to appear and it boggles the mind. A few of the longtime, larger companies have recently gone out of business and I predict that more will follow. I’ve also noticed limits on production that frustrate stores and consumers. It has to eventually fall apart, as much as I absolutely hate to say that.
So there are my thoughts on today’s paper scrapbook industry. I think about it a lot as I read the message boards and hear so many complaints lately like this: “CK has gotten so thin”, “My LSS closed :(“, “The freebies at CKU/Expo have gotten so limited,” and “Why is there no Michael’s coupon every week like there used to be?”. I’ve noticed that CK, the premiere scrapbook magazine, has changed to a company with horrible customer service and thousands of loyal subscribers dropping their subscriptions. I see Creative Memories, the premiere (or at least original) scrapbook home party company, firing employees and making decisions that continue to alienate their consultants and, hence, customers. To me, the answer to these questions and the reason for the negative trends all lies in the fact that the scrapbook magazines and the companies who make the products are not thriving like they used to be. As scrappers, that’s just something we have to realize and live with. Hate to be Debbie Downer, but I think it’s only going to get worse… Please don’t shoot the messenger. I’m not happy about it either, fo’ sho’. Now tell me what YOU think – I would love to know if I’m ‘in the dark’ or ‘on target’.
I don’t know if you read the message boards like I do, but there has sure been a lot of talk about Stacy Julian lately.
To synopsize if I may, it sounds like there were a lot of dissatisfied customers who paid for her Big Picture Scrapbooking/A Year to Remember online class. Heidi Swapp’s name was mentioned a lot too, not necessarily in a positive way. Here is just ONE THREAD from 2peas; there were several. Apparently (and, remember, I’m just getting this from reading what people post; I can’t verify the truthfulness), after some of these unhappy customers sent e-mails of complaint which weren’t responded to to their satisfaction, Stacy sent an e-mail MEANT for people within her company (?) which also went to the disgruntled customers. She gave some defense for her class, stated that some people were bent on being unhappy at any cost, and ended the e-mail with “So There”.
Well, then it was ON!
It was like a snowball rolling downhill, gathering more and more momentum. You can go to 2peas, search on Stacy Julian or BPS and find lots of threads about this. Not being a BPS customer and a mere lurker at 2peas, I just stood back and watched (read) the drama unfold. It seems to have calmed down for the moment. I noticed recently that someone on CKMB asked an innocent question for thoughts on BPS and, at least when I last saw the thread, it seemed no one on CKMB had negative comments. May be a case of “if you have nothing nice to say, say nothing at all,” or maybe no one over there is aware of all the goings-on.
As for Heidi Swapp, I’ve been hearing on several boards lots of negative comments about her products failing – rub ons that don’t rub on, etc. – and not great customer service in dealing with the flaws. Related to BPS, she was criticized for how she conducted her voice instruction for her classes from her home phone – interruptions from kids, background noise, rambling, etc. Again, I can’t say because I didn’t hear them myself.
I think it’s interesting how the world of online everything has made classes like BPS possible, but it has also offered up the instructors for instant critiques that are highly public. I think most of the comments and critiques have seemed fair-minded and objective. Which is good, because I don’t think there is anything to be gained from ‘rude’ types of criticisms. That said, I can sure understand scrappers’ extreme frustration when they pay hundreds of dollars for something that isn’t delivered as promised.
I feel badly for Stacy, Heidi, et al., who I’m sure went into this project with good intentions but perhaps got overwhelmed with other commitments, maybe didn’t listen to/address early complaints, and now have to read hurtful things about themselves and try to fix it all. Again, because I wasn’t involved and don’t know the whole story, I’m not choosing sides, just sharing what I’ve gathered. My heart goes out to everyone involved and I will say a little prayer that peace is restored for all of them. Remember MY POST, Scrapbookers Are The Nicest People? They truly are, so I know this will all work out (yeah, call me Pollyanna…).
In other Stacy news, she gave a keynote speech last week at Memory Trends. Prior to writing the speech, in this BLOG ENTRY, she asked for scrappers to answer the question: If you could change one thing about the scrapbooking (and/or our industry in general) that would allow more people to embrace and enjoy this amazing hobby, what would it be? She received 257 comments which are truly worth a read when you get the chance. I’m going to do just that, and hopefully do an entry here with my thoughts. I’m also going to search for an audio of her Memory Trends speech, as I’m really interested and heard it was good. But I also heard she ended it….”So There.”
Now on 2peas, someone said that Stacy and Heidi are not allowing comments on their blogs. I just left a comment on Stacy’s. It was accepted but did not appear right away, which probably means she moderates her comments prior to posting them.
“Some folks say I have a short attention span, but they just….Ohhh look, sparklies!”
~taken from siggie line of CKMB’s Brightsy
I just love this quote. I smile every time I see it. It reminds me of my fascination for all those pretty, sparkly scrapbook products. I’ll be walking through the store, thinking my interior thoughts about “Oh, we need milk” and “Did I pay the electric bill?”, then…wham!…sparklies! Tunnel vision….so cute…must have….how much?…who cares….SPARKLIES! Can you relate?
Am I right when I say that pretty much every scrapbooker has gone to Disneyland or Disney World, taken loads of cool pictures, and needs to make a Disney album? Well, if you would like some awesome inspiration or just want to drool, go check out this DISNEY ALBUM that was posted on the Cricut message board. Her post says that she worked on it for 3 1/2 months and completed 182 layouts! Her layouts are pretty detailed and she includes lots of photos per page. I, for one, am truly impressed. I love all the bright colors and fun fonts which really go along with Disney.
From the 2peas MESSAGE BOARD: Thursday Blogger…
With the Holidays around the corner. Are you planning on making your Holiday Cards? If so when do you plan to start so you can get them all done?
Usually I buy pre-made cards because I write the oh-so-dreaded Christmas letter. But I decided to make cards this year too. I’m not much of a card maker but figured I’d give it a whirl because I so love to receive handmade cards from others. At Tuesday Morning a couple weeks ago, I found the perfect thing. It was one of the 400 bazillion piece kits that CK had on QVC. It’s the red one with all holiday goodies inside including gift bags and tags. And tons of stuff to make holiday cards.
Oh, and did I mention that the original cost was over $50 and I paid $20??? {Merry Christmas to me, Merry Christmas to me….}. If I’m really going to do this, I need to start making my cards soon. First I need to find some card sketches online. I’m going to a crop next Saturday but don’t know if I want to “waste” my crop time making cards….hmmmmm. How about you – making your cards this year? Do you usually make them? When do you start?
I’m such a bad, bad blogger….
I received 2, count ’em, 2! RAK’s awhile back and I never posted them or properly thanked the lovely scrappers who sent them. So…finally….
First, thank you to Tya aka CKMB JandBsmom (meet her at Ramblings of a Hockey Mom BLOG). When I put together the list of blogs by CKMB’ers and shared it over there, she offered to send me a RAK to say thank you. I told her I would accept only if she would let me brag about her publicly. So, look at these gorgeous cards she sent!! I just love them. They are so pretty/cute and I will love giving them out. So, thank you Tya, and my apologies for not thanking you sooner.
Then there is Janine, over at HER BLOG, “i am me”. She is also known as CKMB hulagirl. I enjoy her blog and, after reading THIS POST, I left a comment admiring the KI ribbon she got at Big Lots. Well, she promptly contacted me to say she was going to send me some! I mean, how nice is THAT? So here is the ribbon she sent me, which I have already begun using in my Snapshot of Me album. Thank you Janine!!! And, again, I’m so sorry for my tardiness.
And, finally, since I was over at Photobucket anyway…here is a picture of the RAK I am sending to Liz aka hickschick. This is my drawer…yes, drawer…of Mike’s stamps, with the set I’m sending to Liz lying on top. You can see that, indeed, I do have (prior to the RAK) 127 of them babies! So, enjoy Liz. They will be in the mail this week :)
The Memory Trends show going on in Las Vegas is one of the wonderful scrapbooking trade shows held every year. Most companies show off their new product releases. Memory Trends is similar to CHA, the big show by the Craft and Hobby Association. This week at Memory Trends they are also announcing the winner of the Creating Keepsakes Scrapbooker of the Year (aka SOY). There are a few of the Top 10 Finalists who frequent the CK Message Board, so if you want to chat with them or view their galleries, come on over to the CK WEBSITE! We’d love to have ya’.
I found this great site called REMEMBER THE MOMENTS where all the new product releases for Memory Trends are shown – wha hoo! And there is some gorgeous stuff as usual. Every time I think the designers couldn’t possibly top themselves, they do. I picked one favorite from each line shown:
3 Bugs in a Rug, from Playful
7 Gypsies, from Pretoria
Basic Grey, acrylic stamps!
Cosmo Cricket, love the whole Hey Sugar line…
Flair Designs, from Rejoice (the true meaning of Christmas…)
Hambly Screen Prints, a sampling
Karen Foster
Luxe Designs
Making Memories, 5th Avenue, Elizabeth
There was some talk lately that MM had kinda’ lost their edge, but I must now eat my words! They are definitely back with some rockin’ stuff. If you look at nothing else, check out the MM stuff. They have 3 new lines!
My Minds Eye, from Frost.
They also have 3 new lines; love them all, very Basic Grey-ish..
Paper Salon, clear stamps
Rouge de Garance, a cutting edge company, very cool stuff – check it!
Rusty Pickle, feeding the acrylic album craze…
Scribble Scrabble, Spencer’s Collection
I’ve never heard of this company. Could you have fun with this paper, or what?
Studio 8, Falling Leaves (NEW COMPANY)
Technique Tuesday, acrylic stamps
So head on over to RTM and check it all out, then come back and Comment with your thoughts, your likes, your dislikes.
WE HAVE A WINNER….Elizabeth aka Liz aka hickschick !!!!!!
Yay for you! Liz guessed 128 and the correct answer was 127. Wow, that was close ‘cuz Betsy guessed 129, and Jess guessed 130. Phew! Hey Liz, will you please post a comment here again so I can get your e-mail address. My e-mail was bouncing recently and I couldn’t leave a comment on your blog either. Congrats again & enjoy the stamps.
THANKS TO EVERYONE FOR PLAYING AND HELPING ME CELEBRATE MY MILESTONES WITH A RAK!!!
Okay, finally! As I talked about in THIS POST, I recently reached some milestones and had decided to RAK a set of Michael’s acrylic stamps (set #3). So, here is how you win them: Guess how many packets of the Mike’s acrylic stamps (by that I mean little packages, not individual stamps, from all available sets) I currently own. Now, keep in mind how many are in each set and that, as a consultant who holds crops and gives free gifts to her customers, I have more than just for personal use. Plus I’m counting the set I’m giving away. Post your guesses in the Comments section of this post. The first person to guess the correct number, OR whoever comes closest by the deadline of Sunday, 9/16/07 (midnight PST)…WINS!!!
DISCLAIMER: Open to US/Canada residents only. No more than 5 guesses per person.
In THIS POST about a ribbon storage idea, Miss Melissa just posted a comment that goes a little something like this:
“Hi ladies. I was just searching the net for high-volume ribbon users and saw your blog. I am looking for a few people to test a new ribbon storage product. I will send it out free to you and you test it and email me back with your feedback. Easy as pie. If you are interested, send me an email!” Her e-mail is: melissa@ribbonring.com. If you want to check out the product first, go to the RIBBON RING WEBSITE. Here’s a peek:
I have e-mailed her and hope to check out this product. If you are interested in trying it too, e-mail her quick! She did say “a few” people…
Remember when Martha Stewart papercrafting products came out at Michael’s craft store, and you could NOT use the newspaper insert coupons on her items? Well, it seems that rule has changed. As of the Labor Day Weekend ad, Michaels coupons no longer show the “Martha Stewart products” exclusion in the teeny tiny print at the bottom. However, savvy shoppers who had been patiently waiting to use their 40% and 50% off coupons for Martha’s shizzle had varying levels of success. Apparently, many Mike’s employees were not notified of the switchover and refused to honor the coupons on Martha items. (I can picture various throw-downs at Mike’s around the US: Soccer/scrap-mom shouting: “Yes, you WILL give me that Martha paper punch for 1/2 price or I WILL be speaking to your manager!”). One customer was told that the new policy was not in effect until 9/23/07. I don’t get it…I’m showing you the coupon, the exclusion is gone, give me the dang discount! To test the corporate-education levels myself, I headed to Michaels on the Sunday of Labor Day weekend with my 50% off coupon good for Sun./Mon. I planned to find a higher priced Martha item (wait, was that saying the same thing twice?) and get that baby at a big discount. However, after a full 10 minutes perusing all of Martha’s shizzle, I could not find one measley item I wanted. (I did, however, find another item worthy of my coupon in the ‘regular’ scrapbooking stuff). So I can’t report to you whether or not my Mike’s honored the coupon, sorry. And I just headed over to the MICHAELS WEBSITE and here is their COUPON POLICY that is still posted as of today (9/11/07). It states “Michaels coupons may not be used to purchase … all Martha Stewart products.” Many confused scrappers have e-mailed them for some coupon clarification and, to my knowledge, have not received a response. As much as I love Michaels {and I show my love by the amount of money I’ve spent there over the years}, they are not exactly known for their stellar customer service. I know, I know, it’s like being told your cute little puppy just piddled on your best friend’s bare foot….you don’t want to hear it, but you know it’s true.
