Read about it HERE on Ali’s blog….

This is a sad, sad day in Scrappy Land. After the December issue of CK (currently on newsstands), Ali Edwards and her “Studio A” column will be no more :( As of now, there are no plans for Ali to write any other features for CK, either.

The Peas are talking about it HERE, and the Scrap Sisters HERE

So can you read that great big writing on the wall, folks? Cuz I’m seeing it in big, black, ugly, capital letters: Creating Keepsakes magazine is on the way out.

Here are some of the signs I’m basing my opinion on:

BECKY HIGGINS leaves CK
– Crazy cheap CK subscription deals
LISA BEARNSON no longer does her monthly CK column after January 2010

Sorry, folks. I think CK is “done and done.” And I fear Scrapbooks Etc. is right behind them.

How many scrapbooking magazines will that leave us then? Oh, that’s right! NONE.

I gotta’ be honest here and say we have no one to blame but ourselves. I’ve heard time and time again on the message boards about scrappers dropping their scrap magazine subscriptions because they didn’t like this or that about the magazine. Now with Ali leaving CK, here comes another round of “Well, now for SURE I won’t renew!”

Do you see the parallel with the demise of the LSS? I sure do. “My LSS has the latest and greatest, but they (charge too much), (don’t kiss my butt when I walk in the door), (kiss my butt too hard when I walk in the door), (don’t order the exact brand and model number of product I want), (don’t have sales or coupons like the Big Box Stores),” etc. etc.

And guess what? The LSSs all closed while we scooped up coupons and Killer Deals at the big box stores. Hey, there are fewer choices, only major brands to choose from, and paper stacks galore, but at least it’s cheaper so we’re happy shoppers! Oh, wait, you mean if we don’t support the LSS and the variety of scrapbooking companies whose products they carry, the LSSs AND the scrapbooking manufacturers will go out of business?? Wha???

Well, yeah, that’s how it happens. And the same goes for scrapbooking magazines. We complained. We said, “Screw you. I don’t like exactly how you do your magazine, so I’ll just go get my content online for free from blogs and such!” We quit subscribing and buying from the newsstand. The newsstands stopped carrying scrap magazines, even for those of us who still want to buy them (but can no longer find them without searching). Scrapbooking magazines started folding. Did we stand strongly behind the remaining ones? No, we didn’t.

So now we have no Ali, Lisa, or Becky ~ three of the biggest scrapbooking names in the industry ~ and I think we can see where we’re going from here.

I’m not pointing fingers, believe me. First, because I know the horrible economy played a big hand in a lot of our decisions as scrappers. Second, because I did/do a lot of these same things, all in the name of saving money on scrap supplies. I did do everything I could to patronize my LSSs when they were here, but I live in a rural area and lost mine well before most others did. I did the best I could to support this industry, but I failed it in many ways, too.

I gotta’ say, I never gave up on the magazines, though. I criticized the changes at SB Etc. (because I thought they were making the wrong choice to save a struggling magazine), but I still bought it at full retail every month, as I did with every paper scrapbooking magazine out there. I really, really wanted to save them! I’m a Scrap Mag Ho, remember?

I just want us, as scrappers, to accept some of this responsibility. Ali is a symptom, not the problem or the cure. I will miss dearly the unique perspective she added to CK for years and years. I wish her great success in all she does in the future. I will miss her :(

When CK and SB Etc. disappear soon, I will miss them terribly, too. And I will have no one to blame but myself.

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14 Comments

  1. avatar

    I used to frequent all the LSS in my area (I used to make ATC’s and altered books) with my mom every chance I had back in 2002/2003 but I didn’t start really get into scrapbooking until early last year. Now I would love to have a LSS to shop at instead of the big box stores and there aren’t any left.

    There are a couple of local chain craft stores that I try to visit first when I’m looking for something but otherwise it is Michaels, JoAnns because that’s all there is.

    I also missed out on the plethora of scrapbook magazines when they existed. I will keep my CK subscription as long as possible, but Simple Scrapbooks (I’m guessing) would have been more my style.

    Seems like once again I missed to bandwagon…

  2. avatar
    Tina Sawyers says:

    Thanks for your passion and dedication to this craft. You are an example to me. I never thought of the consequences of not supporting the published magazines and I know if they are all gone I will be truely sad at the loss!

  3. avatar
    Gloria says:

    All I can say is that never, ever have I wanted so much for you to be wrong about something! But I’m so afraid that you are right!

  4. avatar

    I buy them every month at full retail too because as much as I love the stuff online, there’s just nothing like holding a mag in your hand. The Aussie market is exactly the same. We’ve lost 2 mags in the last few months. Without Ali, Becky etc, it makes me wonder what will be left in CK to read? I was so sad when Simple Scrapbooks and Memory Makers bit the dust…hoping CK and SB etc aren’t headed down the same path! Thanks for your post…definitely something to think about.

  5. avatar

    Only Tim Holtz can save CK now.

    1. avatar
      Regina Rogers says:

      I think Tim Holtz could carry his own mag by himself. He’s awesome!

  6. avatar
    Anna Blyth says:

    This is a shame and I still have about 15months left on my subscription. However I have found that the content isn’t what I’m after. I also subscribe to Paper Trends Scrapbooking magazine and that’s gotten thinner and thinner and not so very exciting anymore either. I do believe in Australia that Scrapbooking Memories is still pretty good and we’ve just had a new LSS open up close to home which is a great sign…although there are two closing a bit further away.
    I hope that CK gets ‘new ‘ people with great drive and wow factor to replace Ali and Beckie. I don’t think we can expect people like them to continue for ever they too need to go on to new things.

  7. avatar

    I have to disagree with you on this one, hon. u89i7yu6 (Frasier just walked across the keyboard!)

    Publishers make the majority of their big buck money from the advertising space they sell…not from subscriptions. The economy is down, supplies aren’t selling like they did when there was a ton of discretionary money flowing, so the vendors don’t buy as much ad space. The rest is just a ricochet effect just like the automobile industry and a thousand other industries that have been hit by the recession. People just don’t have the discretionary income to buy scrap supplies and magazines, they gotta feed the kids.

    Aside from that, I’ve seen a lot of problems at CK in the last few years that stem from changes within their organization. I think they screwed themselves, made some major faux pas along the way and now they’re paying for it. But then again, the economy would have ended them in the same place anyway.

    Yeah, it’s sad, but it’s not your fault or mine. Blame it on Wall St, or Main St., or Bush, or capitalism, or Obama, or the bosa nova, but don’t blame yourself.

    xxo

  8. avatar
    LBOregon says:

    Hope you’re wrong about SBEtc. It’s my fav of the ones left. I’ve was a subscriber to Memory Makers and Simple SB almost since their very beginnings. I was sad to see them go.
    I still have my sub to CK, we’ll see what happens there. I hope they can pull it out of the slump and move forward. Fingers crossed! I personally, wouldn’t mind seeing some fresh talent getting published.

  9. avatar

    I think those three big names are going to start another SB magazine. Or if not, then they should.

  10. avatar
    Sassy Smith says:

    I subscribe to both CK and SB magazines and have 2 years left on each subcription……so I hope that you’re wrong. Yes, there have been changes and some are good and some aren’t so good but I would miss not have any scrapbook magazines around. I get so excited when my magazines arrive in the mail!!!

  11. avatar

    I too, would suffer if I didn’t get my CK every month… I love that magazine and I am so sad to see so many great talents leave it. Something is definitely up, whether there is a new mag coming out with Ali, Becky & Lisa, or there is no more CK down the road. I can’t see not having my mags to look back for reference on or having it by my bedside waiting for me when I get all the boys settled and I have a moment to breathe before going to bed. I think that scrapbooking is HUGE, and I don’t see that going away, like a dying art… but I do see a lot of changes. I hate that I have to go to Michael’s or shop on-line to get my goods because even though it is just a 30 minute drive for me to get to the nearest Michael’s or Jo-Ann’s I don’t have the time to leave town to go get things, and our Walmart sucks to put it bluntly for everything and especially scrapbooking products. I have to sift through mounds of stickers and adhesive’s that aren’t even hanging on the posts just to find a package I need if it isn’t punctured or bent. Our LSS closed a while back, and then there was another smaller one and that closed as well. Now, there is nothing here, and I absolutely hate it! I know the economy plays a huge part in this too, I know I have had to be way more frugal with my supplies and I already am! So let’s just cross our fingers things start to look up very soon!

  12. avatar
    Sharon Marmon Kaczorowski Kaczorowski says:

    I think the demise, if it is so, of these magazines is also about the world wide Depression. When things become financially hard and/or frightening, people stop buying what they do not absolutely need…I still subscribe to CK, Scrapbooks Etc, and Scrapbooking and Beyond. I also subscribe to several European and Australian magazines. However, where my husband to lose his job or I my disability all those subscriptions would be cancelled.

  13. avatar
    Sharon Marmon Kaczorowski Kaczorowski says:

    One more comment…our local LSS succumbed to the Depression. The owner heard, time and again, people saying they just could no longer afford to purchase from her. Unfortunately, LSS often charge more than online or the chain stores, so any economic downturn is likely to put them out of business.

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