I first discovered Photo Explosion Boxes online awhile back, because there was some controversy about a scrapbooker/papercrafter supposedly coming on to message boards and blogs saying she had the copywright or patent or whatever on explosion boxes. Like, therefore no one else could post them or do them or some such nonsense. After reading the posts on the topic, I came away with the fact that explosion boxes were created way back when and there is no way someone from this generation could copyright or patent them. Anyway, always one for a good scrapbook-related controversy, that’s me! But I did fall in love with how KEWL they are and what a great idea. Here is an example of one:
These photos are from a wonderful blog full of projects – check out Stamp, Paper, Scissors HERE.
It’s been in the back of my mind to create one someday, so I always have my eye out for instructions. Today, I was cruising over at 2peas and found this, the CUTEST EXPLOSION BOX ever. I like how it has so many more places to put stuff than the other explosion boxes I’ve seen. So, I’m off to try and translate centimeters into inches, and French into English. Have you done an explosion box yourself, do ya wanna’, or seen one you really like? Please link to it or tell us where to find it on your blog down there in Comments. Thanks!
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…
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.
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!!!
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…
Lovely blog readers, I would like to introduce you to the new online scrapbook store of a fellow CKMB member. Ladies, meet ALL MOMENTS REMEMBERED. AMR, meet the ladies. I’m asking that you please go check out this store, keep an eye on it as it grows, and support it as much as you can. Tell your scrapper friends. Put it in your Favorites. In other words, buy something! She has stinkin’ cute stuff…
Okay, here’s the story. I ‘met’ the owner of AMR on the CK MESSAGE BOARD. She was on the first or second day of opening her online store and was posting messages to get the opinions of the dedicated shoppers…er, I mean…scrappers over there. Her name is Stacey aka ‘Scraphappy1yahoo’ (the link to her BLOG is down there on the bottom right). I could just sense the excitement and enthusiasm from this girl. She was super-receptive to our ideas and thoughts on products. We started ‘talking’ via IM, CKMB posts, and our blogs. I’ve been very impressed with her drive to make her store successful, especially how she has gone from computer newbie to developing her own shopping website in a matter of days or weeks. Like me, she is a stay at home mom who is just trying to cherish the time with her kids…and get a little scrapping in too. Just the other day, her Daddy had a heart attack and she has been very open in sharing her feelings with the message board and her blog readers. Stacey has been flooded with well wishes for her dad, I think because she is so genuine that you can’t help but love her. So my goal here is just to share her online store with you, hoping that you will support this hard-working lady with her store as it grows. She has virtually no advertising budget, so it’s got to be word of mouth. And check out her blog, it’s a good read.
The best part is that Stacey has a SPECIAL OFFER for CKMB’ers. I asked her to write something to introduce herself and explain the special. So, heeeeeerrrrrreeesss Stacey!
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I am a sahm and my hubby is a teacher. I have four kids, two teens and two little ones. I live in a very small town with NO LSS and only a dollar store for supplies. I have always loved scrapbooking and love heritage stuff. I have done up our guest room with all antiques and old black and white photos. So, after being tired of not having scrapbook items, I decided to open my own online store. I visited Lasting Memories in WA this summer and saw scrapbook items I only dreamed of. I was in shock how much wonderful stuff is out there. I think everyone, even small-towners, should have wonderful scrapbook products. So here I am…. It is starting out slow. I do not have a large amount of money sitting around waiting to be spent on supplies. So I have had to use little funds to get the store up and going. I do classes and with those and selling product from home I have been able to keep adding lines to my store front. I read the story about Kay from K & Company, how she started in her house and 7 years later is HUGE as we know her now. I want to be there. I want to make sure everyone has a chance to scrapbook with quality, fun supplies. I hope every week I am able to order products from a new line and fill my store up. As for advertising, I rely on friends and family to spread the word. I have been found in the search engines finally too! They told me it could take 6 months to a year before search engines found me and I did it in 3 weeks. Yahoooo. This is all from a girl who has only known how to e-mail on the computer until now. I have spent many late nights building my site all on my own and pulling my hair out figuring it out. I have to say I do feel proud of myself. I have been a full-time MOM for 18 years now and not done things for myself and this is a first. I am very excited about my new adventure.
CKMBers discount………. 35% off entire order…… When you check out, put in the message box CKMB and I will take the 35% off. I appreciate any business and really would appreciate others passing my site name off to others they know.
Stacey www.allmomentsremembered.com
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Scrap Happy :)
A young lady from the CKMB is on the design team (DT) for a new challenge blog set to start up 9-1-07. On the challenge blog – CATEGORY STORIES – they are giving teasers…SO intriguing! And on Deanna/CKMB Deannamt’s personal BLOG, she is having a RAK if you leave a comment. Go check ’em out!
…by Leslie at ORANGINADREAMS…check her out, a very talented scrapper.
What were you doing 10 years ago? I was a “young married”, just got a big promotion, learning a whole new line of work.
What were you doing 1 year ago? Dreaming of quitting a full time job so I could be with my kids more (it became a reality 8 months ago…)
Five snacks you enjoy: French Onion Sun Chips, Pirate’s Booty, string cheese, celery and PB, Ritz Bits
Five songs you know all the lyrics to: Dave Matthews Band “Crash” (I’m stealing Leslie’s), Rascal Flatts “My Wish For You”, Journey “(every single song)”, Aretha Franklin “Respect”, Olivia Newton-John “Have You Never Been Mellow”
5 Things you would do if you were a milionaire: Build a scrapbook studio and all the goodies I want without guilt, pay off our house, spend a summer in Italy, buy my kids something cool they have always wanted, fly to Chicago and watch a taping of the Oprah show
5 Bad Habits: Lying, cheating, swearing, stealing, procrastination (only the last one is real)
5 Things You Like To Do: Scrapbook (duh), read novels, watch reality shows, play Uno with my kids, e-mail friends
5 Things You Will Never Wear Again: Mary Janes, hoop earrings, Dittos, leggings (wait, let me think about that one, they WERE comfy), green eyeliner
5 Favorite Toys: MacBook Pro laptop, Cricut, digital camera, my dog’s frisbee, Starbucks coffee press
Where will you be in 10 years: Right here, same place…why leave? I got it good.
As you will see from this PREVIOUS POST, I love and adore KI Memories products. Their lines are so cheerful, colorful, and fun. If I could pick one word to describe KI, it would be “happy”. Don’t you agree? I do a lot of kid pages and I often find myself reaching for KI products. I think they have also been innovative in coming out with new things, especially their use of acrylic – before everyone else was doing it – with things like Icicles and the alphabet soup letters. I also love their albums: adorable and well made. Well, I’ve found a kindred spirit named Janine (CKMB shout out!) who calls herself a “serious KI Memories junkie” and when you read her BLOG POST, you will see how devoted she is to the cause. And if you have a Big Lots near you, please know that I am severely jealous…but if you go there and find any KI, feel free to brag about it in Comments or post a link to your blog!
I think we’ve all been loving ribbon and collecting it for long enough now, that we’re all in search of innovative ways to store it. So anytime I see a cool idea, I will try to pass it along.
She said it’s a strainer she got on sale & she has each ribbon kind of rolled up close to the hole it’s coming out of. I don’t have quite that much ribbon yet, but I will keep this in mind for the future. I do love to buy ribbon so you never know. There seems to be two kinds of ribbon storage – the super neat, untangled but time-consuming to put away kind and the messy, sometimes tangled but never crimped, easy to put away kind. I’m always in a rush so I vote for the first kind, but I can see how something “messy” like this would drive some of you crazy. And if you have a cat………forget it.
Word on the street is that it will retail for about $80 (just for The Slice, “extras” are extra :). Also that it will be released late 2007/early 2008. I’m diggin this thing. Looks like it will do diecutting like my Cricut, but much easier to take to crops. And being able to utilize the computer with it, including my beloved Mac! Bring it on, baby… What are your thoughts?
Edited 8-21-07 to add:
I e-mailed from The Slice website asking for more information, and here is the response I received…
“Thank you for your recent inquiry concerning the revolutionary new handheld personal digital shape cutter, the Slice™. Pricing for the Slice™ has yet to be determined but it is the Tinnus goal to keep the cutter and accessories within the budget of the average scrapbooker. We are presently addressing the manufacturing details with the Slice™ being available for retail in the near future. Please continue to check our website www.tinnus.com for the product release date.
