Who made those spatulas? That is horrible! Looks like they're ripped off from a kitchenware website (lo-res) and then blown up (size) and horribly extracted. If so, I sure hope the site finds out and goes after her.
I don't understand why someone would take the time to search for an image and then (attempt) to extract them. Do you have any idea how easy it is to make a silicone or rubber spatula in photoshop! It takes all of 10 minutes tops.
ok - so COLS is at it again. Here is a post from the Designers Area at DST from yesterday. and the store in question is Faith Sisters:
and aren't you just the hypocrite. You signed an agreement not to take what was in the Designer's Forum out of the Forum and here you go putting it on a smak blog for everyone to read. Sort of shows what kind of person you also are. You shouldn't be so quick to fault others for their failings.
Who made those spatulas? That is horrible! Looks like they're ripped off from a kitchenware website (lo-res) and then blown up (size) and horribly extracted. If so, I sure hope the site finds out and goes after her. ------------------------------
google search silicone spatulas and search large images. they're in the second row. it's a china based company so i don't think she has to worry about anyone coming after her. if they did, i'm sure we'd hear her whine about it in the designer forum.
and aren't you just the hypocrite. You signed an agreement not to take what was in the Designer's Forum out of the Forum and here you go putting it on a smak blog for everyone to read. Sort of shows what kind of person you also are. You shouldn't be so quick to fault others for their failings.
November 23, 2010 6:46 PM
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Hi Amanda. I find it funny that you tell the OP to not be so quick to fault others, and yet you fault her. Tsk tsk.
well well well. The wonderful super designer Circle of Life actually spoke on the smack blog. Aren't we all just SO blessed to have her wonderfulness here???
Amanda - get a life. You CAN'T design. Your stuff is low quality, blurry, pixelated and very poorly extracted. Always have been. Do yourself a favor and take those classes - but try to pay attention. You have NEVER listened to anyones advice, claiming your "work" is simply artistic and not crap. Funny, you are the only one that feels that way. Even your damn previews are blurry. Your blog header is blurry. Maybe you just need glasses. That won't help your personality tho. Your shit attitude that its everyones fault but your own is getting VERY old. Why don't you just do the scrap world a favor and quit? There are alot of other subjects we can talk about here, altho I must admit, you and your problems do make for interesting reading.
^^^^^^^ not really. while i wouldn't have worded it quite that way - - if you have never had the unpleasant experience of dealing with Amanda, then you just don't know. everything these people are saying is basically true. Amanda needs to get a grip and learn how to design or just stop. I have dealt with her in a shop atmosphere. She cries 'foul' everytime her kits come back from QC, claiming people are just too picky. They aren't. bad quality is just that - its NOT artistic! its just plain bad. when even her previews are blurry, you have to realize something is wrong. I agree with what Tirza said in the forum. After all the antics she has pulled, why on earth any store owner would take her on is beyond me. She's created her own problems.
I hate double standards. Along with the 'stolen' spatulas on COL's blog, she also copied the Stuffin' Muffin recipe directly from the Food Network site, which she is not allowed to do. I know it's a direct copy because when I clicked on the links in the recipe on her blog, they were also then highlighted as visited on the Food Network site.
From the TOU at the Food Network site:
you may not use, reproduce, distribute, create derivative works based upon, publicly display, publicly perform, publish, transmit, or otherwise exploit Website Content for any purpose whatsoever without obtaining prior written consent from us
I doubt very much she obtained any kind of written consent.
She gets angry because someone posted a link to her part of a collab to this blog, but it's quite okay for her to steal stuff from all over the web.
Jeez, I wish Trish from ESS would read this blog and re-think her designer acquiring policy ... she has brought on some very questionable designers lately. I used to think it was a decent site.
once COLS finds out she can't be queen bee at ESS, she will find a reason to leave, go to DST and rant about how unfair Trish is and it will start all over again. I'm with the poster who said she should just quit.
another thing that drives me nuts about COLS is that she conveniently plays a persecuted Jew when it serves her purpose. This is from the comments section on a post on her blog:
Amanda said... Elsina, that is so cool and yes, I have let go- but I do think that I had to speak out especially about the "DST smack blog"- sometimes people don't even consider there are REAL people on the receiving end of things, especially the younger people. I am a fighter, and Jewish, so I am accustomed to the fray. Thanks for the kind words!! I too moderate my comments- had to do a captcha just for this comment! haha!!
Amanda is a hypocrite. She rips someone for posting her complaint on DST over here, but apparently forgot the part of the designer agreement that says you shouldn't vent to about business affairs that should be handled in private.
The woman is nuts. Anyone who's crazy enough to bring her on deserves what they get.
Did anyone neglect to notice that those spatulas were not only taken from another web site, which is against the copyright in and of itself, but she didn't even change it that much. She literally just took it and posted it. Nothing done on her part! What a cheap way to get people to her blog. Anyone who has been designing for any period of time should know better than to put out the stuff she is putting out. Just my 2 cents worth.
If that is true, I agree, I think Connie's work ethic is fantastic and she will do a great job with Elemental Scraps. She is definitely a work horse and very organized.
I would imagine if Connie is buying ES then she would be leaving her other stores. I always think it's weird when a store owner also sells at another shop.
Exactly! Does the owner of Wal-mart also work at Target?? In Connie's case, if she decides to keep ES exclusive but not close her own other stores, that would be completely hypocritical. If I was a designer there and that happened I would be putting in my resignation ASAP!
^Wow! Way to create drama that doesn't even exist yet! Nobody said that was going to happen.
We can't compare digi to Target and Wal-Mart. It's not even a close comparision. They are retailers. Digi stores are more like a mall than a retail shop. Designers either rent the space to sell OR they pay a commission. We see this at Wal-Mart and Target in their greeting card departments and that's about it.
I know a company here in town that sells their products in their shop and at other small retailers that they don't own. It does happen and it's not weird.
Connie told her CT she would be running ES with Trixie Scraps. That's what I heard anyway.
As far as the selling and owning conversation, it's one thing for a company to sell products through a distribution channel at another store they don't own. In that example, the producer of the products isn't at company meetings or making business decisions at the other stores - they're just a supplier. They send stuff, the store sells the stuff, they get paid for the stuff. No issues and nothing more than a business transaction.
In digi, every designer is privy to information behind the scenes in stores where they sell. Most stores involve their designers in business decisions and store strategy. This is where owning one store and selling in another store (or stores) becomes a problem.
I would never want another store owner seeing what is happening and being discussed behind the scenes at my store. I think it is completely ridiculous to think that would be OK. It is far too easy to take private information from one store and implement it at your store. It's already difficult enough to do new and interesting things in this industry. Why in the world would you hand everything over to a competitor?
Any store owner who keeps on such designers/store owners is just asking for trouble. Designers at the stores could become uncomfortable talking openly in designer forums not wanting what they share to be used at competing stores.
Selling a product at multiple places as a designer is one thing. You're not the decision maker at the store level. You control your personal business and that is all. As a store owner selling at multiple places, you have the power to implement what you see elsewhere and use that to promote the store you own.
I have nothing against these designers, but I think it's foolish to think anyone has the time to run a store and sell in 5 others. Let alone think it's ethical in any way.
And I just have to add, so glad ES' fabulous new "exclusive with a twist" did them so well. LMAO How many of us called that...
On that note ... I'd rather Connie (and Trixi Scraps, if that is indeed true) just let the store die. We have more than enough stores as it is.
Both of those two sell at Scrap Matters. I would be stunned if they let them stay there as owners of a competitor store. It might be different if it was After 5 or Shabby Pickle, with totally different styles, but ES is a very direct competitor.
Such as DKNY, Ralph Lauren, Levi's, United Colors of Benetton, Hilfiger, Calvin Klein, etc. November 24, 2010 10:01 PM
This is an example of a designer having a personal store (like Calvin Klein) and selling at another store (like SAKS, which also sells DKNY, Ralph, etc). Not really the same thing being discussed here.
I have nothing against these designers, but I think it's foolish to think anyone has the time to run a store and sell in 5 others. Let alone think it's ethical in any way.
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I'm not sure why you think this is unethical. Foolish I'll agree with to a degree, but unethical? Not seeing it.
It's interesting how you (that's plural like ya'll) are over analyzing something that you don't even know is true. Think about it.
1. You don't know it's true that ES is being sold and who it is being sold to. (CT members lie and people on this blog lie.)
2. You think it is Connie Prince and you think she isn't leaving her other stores. (But you don't even know for sure that this is happening and if it is what she will do with her other stores. An official statement hasn't been released yet.)
3. You think ES failed if it is for sale. (People get tired of doing things. Maybe Angie isn't so enchanted with the scrap world any longer?)
Isn't a waste of time to talk about something that is merely a rumor turned into a theory? Go ahead and speculate away at least I'll get a laugh out of it while you get worked up over something that hasn't even happened.
I'm not sure why you think this is unethical. Foolish I'll agree with to a degree, but unethical? Not seeing it. November 24, 2010 11:23 PM
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I'm in agreement with this. Surely the other store owner would know that she is taking on another store owner as a designer? If it is unethical, the other store owner can say "no". Or even ask the designer to leave upon acquisition of the store. It's not like the storeowner-designer is going to be a mole or something.
But really? It's not all that top secret. You have a sale on DSD and Black Friday. Challenges for points. Blah blah blah. It's the same stuff at every site. There's not a whole lotta "WOW that's original" going on.
Isn't a waste of time to talk about something that is merely a rumor turned into a theory?
^^^
Isn't this whole blog a waste of time? Isn't that the point? I know it is for me ... I come here for a diversion between getting work done. I don't really care if what is said is true or not, and I like to speculate on things that aren't officially announced just for the fun of it.
Yet, many do. Royanna (from DD) does, Monja (from DigiScrapResort), LissaE (AMS, which is closing) among others.
Wow, funny what shows up on Google Alerts, I have some reading to do LOL but as to this post, no I've never sold in another store while I own my own, I'd rather focus on one store at a time than try and juggle too many.
I'm not the OP but I get what she is say about people getting worked up over something that hasn't even happened yet.
Not worked up? This seems worked up to me:
Exactly! Does the owner of Wal-mart also work at Target?? In Connie's case, if she decides to keep ES exclusive but not close her own other stores, that would be completely hypocritical. If I was a designer there and that happened I would be putting in my resignation ASAP! November 24, 2010 9:13 PM
But 12:58 you aren't getting worked up.
I don't think the comment was directed at the discussion of a store owner selling in a store that isn't their own. Certainly worth discussing!
In my first hand experience, a store owner who sells at another store is not taking care of business at the store she owns. She is not effectively communicating with her designers or other staff, she is not coming up with innovative marketing/sales strategies, nor is she paying attention to her gallery and forums. It is a bad combination.
In my first hand experience, a store owner who sells at another store is not taking care of business at the store she owns. She is not effectively communicating with her designers or other staff, she is not coming up with innovative marketing/sales strategies, nor is she paying attention to her gallery and forums. It is a bad combination.
November 25, 2010 1:44 AM
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Not the experience that I have had with an owner who was selling at another store.
I'm not the OP but I get what she is say about people getting worked up over something that hasn't even happened yet.
Not worked up? This seems worked up to me:
Exactly! Does the owner of Wal-mart also work at Target?? In Connie's case, if she decides to keep ES exclusive but not close her own other stores, that would be completely hypocritical. If I was a designer there and that happened I would be putting in my resignation ASAP! November 24, 2010 9:13 PM
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Yeah, that's hardly people, that's a person. I loathe generalizations, they are lazy.
In my first hand experience, a store owner who sells at another store is not taking care of business at the store she owns. She is not effectively communicating with her designers or other staff, she is not coming up with innovative marketing/sales strategies, nor is she paying attention to her gallery and forums. It is a bad combination.
November 25, 2010 1:44 AM
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Not the experience that I have had with an owner who was selling at another store.
November 25, 2010 3:07 AM
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me either. Store owners are able to multitask with the best of them.
Forgetting all the crap on this blog hope those who celebrate have a great Thanksgiving. It's a great time to be thankful for the good things in life. All the rest of it is just a moment in time.
While not the first thanksgiving of any sort on the continent, the traditional origin of modern Thanksgiving in the United States is generally regarded to be the celebration that occurred at the site of Plymouth Plantation, in Massachusetts, in 1621. The Wampanoag Native Americans helped the pilgrims who arrived in Massachusetts cultivate the land and fish, saving them from starvation.
(Aw, how sweet, and then the settlers proceeded to decimate most of the Native Americans, as they were just too heathen for words!)
question, what about her: http://cajoline-scrap.blogspot.com/ is this legit stuff? stockphotos? what? ------------------- They aren't stock photos. She takes them right from the internet, mostly from online stores. I have mentioned her a few times before and no one seemed to care. I'm glad someone else has finely noticed.
We should care, and I care that so many oh so known designers support her stupidity when they should know better, how many have used her commercial use freebies or cu4cu ones in the designs you purchased?
Any designer that uses FREE commercial use is just asking for trouble. I'm not talking about the occasional freebie a known CU designer may give either.
(Aw, how sweet, and then the settlers proceeded to decimate most of the Native Americans, as they were just too heathen for words!) ________________________________ Enough of this shit. Really. I'm so tired of hearing how the big, bad Europeans took someone else's land by force and then killed the inhabitants.
HELLO ---- they were doing that since the beginning of time - to each other too. Does anyone remember how WWI and WWII started? Or how well the Anglos and Saxons got along during the holidays? Or how about the Irish and the Brits - that was a love fest.
And it wasn't just the Euros who were coveting other lands, everyone did it. My ancestors had their land taken and were driven out of the country. Yet, I don't sit and whine about it or make excuses as to why I can't function now because of what happened 150 years ago.
MOVE ON - people get sick of this shit. Honestly - sick and tired of it.
I don't feel in the least bit sorry for the indians of North America - it happened - it was the way things were done back then - it wasn't just about you - let it GO!
I don't feel in the least bit sorry for the indians of North America - it happened - it was the way things were done back then - it wasn't just about you - let it GO!
November 27, 2010 9:52 AM ^^^^ It's simple-minded people that you that give this country a bad rep. I bet you don't feel bad for the Africans who were kidnapped and brought to America and forced into slavery either. Well, you SHOULD feel bad.
I bet you don't feel bad for the Africans who were kidnapped and brought to America and forced into slavery either. Well, you SHOULD feel bad.
November 27, 2010 1:45 PM
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Not the OP, but gotta say. Slavery is horrible. It has happened to all people in history at some point. However, do I, as a white woman that lives in America feel guilty or repsonsible for it? No.
Why not? None of my ancestors were inhabitants of the US until the early to mid 20th century, or inhabitants or descendants of those in countries that aided and abetted slavery.
So no, I reject collective guilt at this point in time.
Yes, somebody has already mentioned it earlier. She has great stuff but most people seem to agree that it's too expensive. I hope she has a good sale though. I've always liked her.
I hope Elemental Scraps doesn't close, it was one of the first digi shops around. It was basically started by a friend of Amanda Rockwell's so Amanda had a store to sell at. A lot of digi designers got their start there, Amanda Rockwell, Melissa Bennett, Jennifer Barrett. It would be a shame to see it close its doors.
It might have been where a lot of designers got their start but look what it has come to. If it had been run right it wouldn't be in this shape now so with the over saturated market of digi stores I think it is a good thing. If you want something to work you have to actually pour your heart and soul in it and that hasn't happened so I say goodbye to one less place that has to sell trash.
It might have been where a lot of designers got their start but look what it has come to. If it had been run right it wouldn't be in this shape now so with the over saturated market of digi stores I think it is a good thing. If you want something to work you have to actually pour your heart and soul in it and that hasn't happened so I say goodbye to one less place that has to sell trash. And honestly trixie craps would be just adding more trash to the heap of rubbish.
What were the best sales for digi this past weekend? Did you shop and what did you buy?
I only shopped for a couple things from SSD and a couple CU things from Redju. I earned the free SSD and TLP collab which is butt ugly. Deleted it as soon as I looked at it.
I didn't shop this weekend. I didn't know SSD and Lilypad made a collab so I just went to see it. Dawn! What a weird mix. Not my style. Where is everyone? It's so quiet on this blog.
Anyone can explain what was the twist in question? Exclusive stores are not new, and some are doing fine. Was it the twist that hurt them? I still have no clue what it was.
The twist was basically a two-tiered system - if you sold enough, you didn't have to follow the same rules as everyone else. Many of us predicted that it would create animosity within the design team.
No one has come out and said anything, but there is just no way that a profitable store just closes down. The logical conclusion is that they did more damage to themselves with that move than good.
I also thought their points for Amazon gift card move looked really desperate. It actually make me less inclined to shop there.
No one has come out and said anything, but there is just no way that a profitable store just closes down. -----------
That's not necessarily true. That's like saying "no one quits a job". People move on, change paths, and so on. I think you're confusing "closing" with "out of business".
It's possible, but I don't have enough information either way to say.
I doubt Connie will stay full time at SBG since it's an exclusive store. The reason that she and Tracy had to back out of the ES deal is that their other store owners told them they didn't want them owning a competing store and selling in their store. They couldn't take the loss of potential income so the ES deal is now over.
I want to know where you are getting that information from? As far as I can tell, it was never posted publicly that Connie & Trixie Scraps were ever going to buy ES. Where is the proof?
Obviously if it's not posted in public, they're getting the information in "private." Probably one of Connie and Tracy's rabid CT members posting here. I heard the same reason from what I consider a reliable source as well.
The obsession for "proof" is comical. This isn't a government probe for crying out loud. It's a trash blog.
I'd lay money that it was Scrap Matters who said 'no way' to CP and TS owning a competing store. Scrap Matters actually appears to be run by intelligent, business minded individuals.
I'm not on their CT, I just happen to think that if something was shared in the private designer or CT forum, then it shouldn't have been posted anywhere or shared with anyone until it was made public on that site.
Funny how someone who could be so disloyal to a store where they work as either a designer or CT member could be considered "reliable." But yes, this IS a smack blog. So who cares about being trustworthy when there is gossip and rumors to spread! You're right, karma is a bitch and I will sit back and enjoy it when your reliable source gets hers.
I don't understand why ES deserves bad karma. Because of the "twist" or something else?
I don't really think the "twist" was really that big of a deal. Seems like she was trying to figure out how to make the store stay afloat without losing her higher earning designers. It obviously didn't work. But I don't think that trying it made her a bad person who deserves bad karma.
Am I missing a piece of the bad karma puzzle here?
Ok - help me out here. Who is Karma...all I know is that Angie was the owner of ES. the only Karma I know of runs Faith Sisters. Help a dumbie out, would ya?
what's the most you ever had a customer spend in your store in one order? I was just curious about it, there must be some rich chicks just dropping cash on whatever they feel like buying? One time I spend over $200 in my fav designer's store after I got my bonus from work. But I'm sure some designers out there must have opened their emails to see some huge order that knocked their socks off. Anyone?
Ok - help me out here. Who is Karma...all I know is that Angie was the owner of ES. the only Karma I know of runs Faith Sisters. Help a dumbie out, would ya?
for a bunch of crazies that believe in karma, you're putting all kinds of crap out into the world. It's gonna come right back at you. If not now, in your next life, that you get to spend as a roach.
(and don't try the "what are you doing here" blah blah. I don't believe in karma. shit happens and there's no explanation whether you've been good or bad. )
Stupid is as stupid does. The first reference to karma was at the beginning of a sentence, subsequent references were not and they were capitalized as well.
I'm not sure how you came to the conclusion of 'all' of us being this stupid when it was only one person who was confused.
didn't mean to cause an uproar over being confused. There is a store owner named Karma. Karma in the post was capitalized. I thought it was a person you were refering to. at least I had guts enough to say I was dumb and didn't get it - and ask what you were talking about. if you have never had a dumb moment, brain fart, whatever, good for you (but that also makes you a liar).
It seems to be retirement season. Jessica Edwards (one of the only decent designers at ES), Litabells, Melissa Daniels, Candice Wong, Sara Ellis, Lena from Bella Gypsy and a bunch of others.
they mean quitting for one month, then showing up at a new store because they just "missed it sooooooo much" and then revamping all their old kits rather than making anything new
Designers retiring and opening shop the next month reminds me of those seedy stores that have Going Out of Business signs up forever. It may be an unfair comparison but that is what it seems like to me.
I did not buy any kits on black Friday but I bought a class at Jessica Sprague (20% off) and I upgraded to CS5 ($50 off). Not huge bargains but I'm happy.
Guest spots are a good way to get exposure, find new customers. The stores that invite designers to guest often ask for the product to be exclusive during the guest month. Likely the designer still has to meet requirements for a certain number of products for her permanent store that month as well. It's actually quite a lot of extra work to produce one or two full products in addition to what the designer would normally put in her regular store.
I've done guest spots, and while I'm in the store, I produce as normal. If i come up with a new kit, I put it where I'm guesting to not only bring my customers there, but to help increase the guest shops traffic. I'm not all that well known, but it works. What bugs me are these designers that put a kit or two up...and you never see them in the forums, gallery, nothing. they are nonexistant other than a couple kits in the shop. They aren't required to participate (at most that I know of anyway), but it sure wouldn't hurt them any to just say howdy once in a while.
Agreed! I was once on a store CT, a good store too, and the thing that annoyed me the most was that guest designers, rarely, if ever, said hello. Not even in the CT forum.
Never mind the CT forum - I've found it odd that they say hi once in the designer forum and that's it.
I've done a bunch of guest spots - and seen a lot. Some bring all their stuff. Some bring their best stuff. They always have to do at least one exclusive guest product and then their other store stuff. But I don't like seeing just one kit in a guest spot store unless of course that's all they're "allowed" to bring over. But if that's the case, why bring in a guest?
Never mind the CT forum - I've found it odd that they say hi once in the designer forum and that's it. ------
Humph. The CT use the kit to promote the product, especially store CTs. It's not a good idea to piss them off. I never made anything with any of the guest designer stuff unless they said hello, or I really liked it.
Once, towards the end of a guest's stint, no one had made anything with the designer's goodies. I didn't like it (and obviously, none of the other site CT liked it either!), I knew the quality would be questionable, and the guest designer had never bothered to say hello. Anyhow, I did make a page or two as one of the site co-ordinators had asked us too (sad really). So I let the designer know that I had made the pages and the co-ordinator did too. I never heard back and she never commented on my pages. I had made an effort, why the hell couldn't the designer? It's a shame she's still designing. Never understood how as her stuff is so boring and of questionable quality.
I hate 4shared. I saw something I wanted to download today. It was stored on 4shared. Clicked on the "download now" button. 378 second wait time. And I only download one or two things a week from 4shared.
How come nobody every comments on Raspberry Road or DDE (Gina C.)? Maybe those aren't terriffic examples, but it's always the same 10 stores.
December 1, 2010 9:25 PM
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They do. I've seen it. I don't know Raspberry Road's stuff but I do know Gina's. I used to like Gina's stuff. Never had quality issues. However, I don't know what it's like now as I haven't purchased from her in a long time.
Pebbles Jones just went exclusive @ Scrap Girls. I don't get that site. Stuff is way more expensive and the store appearance looks dated and clunky so I stay away from it big time.
ah, Pebbles. She has been in just about every shop imaginable. and by the way - she didn't JUST go exclusive there. That was at the end of September. I was in a shop with her once. She owned DigiTop3 for about 4 months...then opened Denim and Daisies a year ago this past October. Sold it in January. She uses her health as her excuse for closing up things. She has been in 14 shops since selling Denim and Daisies. FOURTEEN in almost one year. She gives them a month - and if sales aren't good, she leaves. She always blames the site - LOL. How do I know all this? She keeps sending me updates!
what's the most you ever had a customer spend in your store in one order? I was just curious about it, there must be some rich chicks just dropping cash on whatever they feel like buying? One time I spend over $200 in my fav designer's store after I got my bonus from work. But I'm sure some designers out there must have opened their emails to see some huge order that knocked their socks off. Anyone?
^^^^^^^^^^
I always figure if it's a huge order from someone I've never seen in my shop before, then it's probably a pirate. How's that for cynicism?
Scrap Girls' personal use products are a great bargain. During their sales, you can get kits for about $3 and they are always the highest quality and original. Their CU is very expensive - BUT top quality. I have been known to drop a LOT of money there on CU overlays, styles and elements - they have a great catalog.
Oh I wondered if she was THAT Pebbles ... didn't she used to go by Pebbles Designs or something ... I never knew her last name. But I knew her ... she was a drive-by designer in the store I sell at, and then I watched her do the same thing with 3 other stores ... all since the summer.
And yes, when she left the store I sell at, she was rude and blamed the store owner.
yeah, in a way it does sound like good old COLS. Pebbles just bitches to people she knows about it....doesn't run to DST and whine. and yeah, it was Pebbles Designs.
Re: Guesting. I was a guest. I never got a feature on the blog or in the newsletter, the store owners weren't even organized enough to do the Black Friday/DSD sales, and the store CT downloaded tons of my stuff but I didn't sell a thing. I had 2 products released a week as a guest. I had 2 more ready to go and decided to just put them in my regular store rather than gifting them to the CT where I was guesting.
I have guested at a couple places, and did Ok - - but then I advertised it myself alot, too. Had the required 'exclusive' product, which brought my customers to the new place. I stayed at one place I guested at, and am still doing very well there. The others - - sold some stuff, but the atmosphere just plain sucked. I would rather be in a shop with a friendly atmosphere and stay there, than in a bigger place with a bunch of snobs anyday, no matter what sales are like. Might not be the smartest business decision, but I'm happier.
Hang on to your hats as you run on over to Enchanted Scraps....COLS is having a Buy My Store sale! OH boy oh boy oh boy! I've been waiting for so long to go buy up all that goodness? I mean, really - who couldn't pass up spending 15 hard earned dollars on the blurriest, fuzziest, jaggiest pixelated crap you've ever seen??? Hurry up - I'm sure the entire store will be bogged down with downloads....you don't want to miss out on this opportunity!!!
Instead of running over to buy COLS wonderful goodies, I downloaded this months Gold member kit. another clunker. 148 MB of crapola in weird colors...and each and every damn element is plain AND shadowed, and get this....ROTATED for my convenience, I'm sure. I've seen it all now. Rotated. What on earth are these people thinking???
I have guested at a couple places, and did Ok - - but then I advertised it myself alot, too. Had the required 'exclusive' product, which brought my customers to the new place. I stayed at one place I guested at, and am still doing very well there. The others - - sold some stuff, but the atmosphere just plain sucked. I would rather be in a shop with a friendly atmosphere and stay there, than in a bigger place with a bunch of snobs anyday, no matter what sales are like. Might not be the smartest business decision, but I'm happier.
December 2, 2010 8:50 AM
________________
Same experience here. The owners told me they would feature me on their blog and newsletter and they never mentioned me. Why should I, the guest, be the only one to advertise? That was it, no more guest spot for me.
I am just an average scrapper, not a designer. I am not active on any CT's, although I have been in the past. I am not active in any "scrapbook community", I don't post on the message boards, and I don't post my layouts online anymore. I read the Digi boards for entertainment, and am constantly amazed at what people share on the internet. I freely admit to reading the scrapbook smack blogs, it is a guilty pleasure.
You can email me at: DSTHallofFame@gmail.com
1,198 comments:
«Oldest ‹Older 401 – 600 of 1198 Newer› Newest»Oh those spatulas are wonderful! I just have to have them. Maybe someone could add batter to them to make them even more user friendly!
^^^^^^
I really hope that was sarcasm.
Her extraction really sucks! Do people really buy her shit?
How did she ever pass QC at ESS?
OMG! Basic Gray is at Enchanted Studio Scraps, too! Wow, they are hitting all the stores.
(Maya must love how uber original their line is. It's so unique that all the stores are carrying it, lol!)
Speaking of Enchanted Studio, have you seen http://www.enchantedstudioscraps.com/xcart/manufacturers.php?manufacturerid=109
I'm not sure if she just can't make a preview or if her stuff really looks like that!
IMO, ESS has really gone down hill. They used to be a decent store, not top-tier, but decent.
How is it that Basic Grey can sell the same things in all these stores when the stores have an exclusivity clause?
Who made those spatulas? That is horrible! Looks like they're ripped off from a kitchenware website (lo-res) and then blown up (size) and horribly extracted. If so, I sure hope the site finds out and goes after her.
^^^^
Nice idea but will never happen.
Oh those spatulas are wonderful! I just have to have them. Maybe someone could add batter to them to make them even more user friendly!
November 23, 2010 5:43 PM
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Great idea! But I want a KitchenAid to go with it.
I don't understand why someone would take the time to search for an image and then (attempt) to extract them. Do you have any idea how easy it is to make a silicone or rubber spatula in photoshop! It takes all of 10 minutes tops.
ok - so COLS is at it again. Here is a post from the Designers Area at DST from yesterday. and the store in question is Faith Sisters:
and aren't you just the hypocrite. You signed an agreement not to take what was in the Designer's Forum out of the Forum and here you go putting it on a smak blog for everyone to read. Sort of shows what kind of person you also are. You shouldn't be so quick to fault others for their failings.
Who made those spatulas? That is horrible! Looks like they're ripped off from a kitchenware website (lo-res) and then blown up (size) and horribly extracted. If so, I sure hope the site finds out and goes after her.
------------------------------
google search silicone spatulas and search large images. they're in the second row. it's a china based company so i don't think she has to worry about anyone coming after her. if they did, i'm sure we'd hear her whine about it in the designer forum.
and aren't you just the hypocrite. You signed an agreement not to take what was in the Designer's Forum out of the Forum and here you go putting it on a smak blog for everyone to read. Sort of shows what kind of person you also are. You shouldn't be so quick to fault others for their failings.
November 23, 2010 6:46 PM
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Hi Amanda. I find it funny that you tell the OP to not be so quick to fault others, and yet you fault her. Tsk tsk.
Wow, that's an outstanding extraction job.
And to think, we could have had these instead:
http://image.made-in-china.com/2f0j00mvjtoSdcGkbP/Silicone-Spatula-Bakeware.jpg
These are the original spatulas:
http://www.dsilicone.com/e_productmemo.asp?id=260
^^^
Wow - they're as crap on the manufacturer's website as on her blog!
Out of curiosity - what are the quotas at SBG? Do other stores have similar quotas?
^^^
Wow - they're as crap on the manufacturer's website as on her blog!
November 23, 2010 7:29 PM
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Actually, the ones on her blog are worse as they are all fuzzy and blurry.
well well well. The wonderful super designer Circle of Life actually spoke on the smack blog. Aren't we all just SO blessed to have her wonderfulness here???
Amanda - get a life. You CAN'T design. Your stuff is low quality, blurry, pixelated and very poorly extracted. Always have been. Do yourself a favor and take those classes - but try to pay attention. You have NEVER listened to anyones advice, claiming your "work" is simply artistic and not crap. Funny, you are the only one that feels that way. Even your damn previews are blurry. Your blog header is blurry. Maybe you just need glasses. That won't help your personality tho. Your shit attitude that its everyones fault but your own is getting VERY old. Why don't you just do the scrap world a favor and quit? There are alot of other subjects we can talk about here, altho I must admit, you and your problems do make for interesting reading.
Wow. That was unnecessary.
^^^^^^^
not really. while i wouldn't have worded it quite that way - - if you have never had the unpleasant experience of dealing with Amanda, then you just don't know. everything these people are saying is basically true. Amanda needs to get a grip and learn how to design or just stop. I have dealt with her in a shop atmosphere. She cries 'foul' everytime her kits come back from QC, claiming people are just too picky. They aren't. bad quality is just that - its NOT artistic! its just plain bad. when even her previews are blurry, you have to realize something is wrong. I agree with what Tirza said in the forum. After all the antics she has pulled, why on earth any store owner would take her on is beyond me. She's created her own problems.
I hate double standards. Along with the 'stolen' spatulas on COL's blog, she also copied the Stuffin' Muffin recipe directly from the Food Network site, which she is not allowed to do. I know it's a direct copy because when I clicked on the links in the recipe on her blog, they were also then highlighted as visited on the Food Network site.
From the TOU at the Food Network site:
you may not use, reproduce, distribute, create derivative works based upon, publicly display, publicly perform, publish, transmit, or otherwise exploit Website Content for any purpose whatsoever without obtaining prior written consent from us
I doubt very much she obtained any kind of written consent.
She gets angry because someone posted a link to her part of a collab to this blog, but it's quite okay for her to steal stuff from all over the web.
Jeez, I wish Trish from ESS would read this blog and re-think her designer acquiring policy ... she has brought on some very questionable designers lately. I used to think it was a decent site.
^^^^
If Trish hangs around in the DCR and still takes on COL, that speaks volumes about Trish.
Just noticed that my wv is conned!
So COLS can steal from Rachael Ray and post on her blog...but she comes in here and calls the posters who c & p'd the posts from DST hypocrites?????
once COLS finds out she can't be queen bee at ESS, she will find a reason to leave, go to DST and rant about how unfair Trish is and it will start all over again. I'm with the poster who said she should just quit.
I found out what's wrong with COLS and FS:
"I have had no real problems with the store except that I don't feel it is what it tells everyone it is, doesn't live up to it's name"
COLS is Jewish, while FS "have been brought together through our love of Jesus Christ". As simple as that, Amanda!
COLS, Barbara and EMS arts should create a new store. But first they need a name for it... How about "Blurry scraps"? Sounds good!
another thing that drives me nuts about COLS is that she conveniently plays a persecuted Jew when it serves her purpose. This is from the comments section on a post on her blog:
Amanda said...
Elsina, that is so cool and yes, I have let go- but I do think that I had to speak out especially about the "DST smack blog"- sometimes people don't even consider there are REAL people on the receiving end of things, especially the younger people. I am a fighter, and Jewish, so I am accustomed to the fray. Thanks for the kind words!!
I too moderate my comments- had to do a captcha just for this comment! haha!!
November 17, 2010 6:16 PM
Connie Prince won't be staying at SBG, she is buying Elemental Scraps.
Amanda is a hypocrite. She rips someone for posting her complaint on DST over here, but apparently forgot the part of the designer agreement that says you shouldn't vent to about business affairs that should be handled in private.
The woman is nuts. Anyone who's crazy enough to bring her on deserves what they get.
Did anyone neglect to notice that those spatulas were not only taken from another web site, which is against the copyright in and of itself, but she didn't even change it that much. She literally just took it and posted it. Nothing done on her part! What a cheap way to get people to her blog. Anyone who has been designing for any period of time should know better than to put out the stuff she is putting out. Just my 2 cents worth.
Connie Prince won't be staying at SBG, she is buying Elemental Scraps.
^^^
Wow - cool - I realize she isn't everyone's cup of tea but I admire her work ethic and she seems to be popular enoguh to survive the madness!
Geez I keep getting Elemental Scraps and Scrapbook Elements mixed up.
My mind is just a big figinga!
If that is true, I agree, I think Connie's work ethic is fantastic and she will do a great job with Elemental Scraps. She is definitely a work horse and very organized.
I agree - Connie is solid, even if I don't love all of her kits. I wonder if she will be able to run a store and still sell in so many though?
Connie Prince won't be staying at SBG, she is buying Elemental Scraps.
-----------
Link please?
That's funny - I get Elemental Scraps and Enchanted Studio Scraps confused!
I would imagine if Connie is buying ES then she would be leaving her other stores. I always think it's weird when a store owner also sells at another shop.
^^^^^^
Yet, many do. Royanna (from DD) does, Monja (from DigiScrapResort), LissaE (AMS, which is closing) among others.
I don't think it's weird.
I don't get why they would want to spend all that time helping to promote another store. Do store owners get special perks from other store owners?
Erin, the former owner of Scrap It Sassy is back.
http://reflectedmemories.com/store/index.php?main_page=index&manufacturers_id=1&zenid=c14723b6b3d6b597d3052cc257a61e83
That woman is loco.
Exactly! Does the owner of Wal-mart also work at Target?? In Connie's case, if she decides to keep ES exclusive but not close her own other stores, that would be completely hypocritical. If I was a designer there and that happened I would be putting in my resignation ASAP!
^Wow! Way to create drama that doesn't even exist yet! Nobody said that was going to happen.
We can't compare digi to Target and Wal-Mart. It's not even a close comparision. They are retailers. Digi stores are more like a mall than a retail shop. Designers either rent the space to sell OR they pay a commission. We see this at Wal-Mart and Target in their greeting card departments and that's about it.
I know a company here in town that sells their products in their shop and at other small retailers that they don't own. It does happen and it's not weird.
^^^^
This!
It's like any kind of designer selling in his/her own store and also selling elsewhere. It's a way to get your name out there. It's called marketing.
I don't get why they would want to spend all that time helping to promote another store.
-----
How are they promoting another store and who exaxtly are they?
Exactly! Does the owner of Wal-mart also work at Target??
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Yes, because that's exactly the same scenario, exactly! *rolls eyes*
This is a smack blog. It is possible that Connie isn't taking over ES. Nobody has posted proof!
I always think it's weird when a store owner also sells at another shop.
November 24, 2010 6:03 PM
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Such as DKNY, Ralph Lauren, Levi's, United Colors of Benetton, Hilfiger, Calvin Klein, etc.
Connie told her CT she would be running ES with Trixie Scraps. That's what I heard anyway.
As far as the selling and owning conversation, it's one thing for a company to sell products through a distribution channel at another store they don't own. In that example, the producer of the products isn't at company meetings or making business decisions at the other stores - they're just a supplier. They send stuff, the store sells the stuff, they get paid for the stuff. No issues and nothing more than a business transaction.
In digi, every designer is privy to information behind the scenes in stores where they sell. Most stores involve their designers in business decisions and store strategy. This is where owning one store and selling in another store (or stores) becomes a problem.
I would never want another store owner seeing what is happening and being discussed behind the scenes at my store. I think it is completely ridiculous to think that would be OK. It is far too easy to take private information from one store and implement it at your store. It's already difficult enough to do new and interesting things in this industry. Why in the world would you hand everything over to a competitor?
Any store owner who keeps on such designers/store owners is just asking for trouble. Designers at the stores could become uncomfortable talking openly in designer forums not wanting what they share to be used at competing stores.
Selling a product at multiple places as a designer is one thing. You're not the decision maker at the store level. You control your personal business and that is all. As a store owner selling at multiple places, you have the power to implement what you see elsewhere and use that to promote the store you own.
I have nothing against these designers, but I think it's foolish to think anyone has the time to run a store and sell in 5 others. Let alone think it's ethical in any way.
And I just have to add, so glad ES' fabulous new "exclusive with a twist" did them so well. LMAO How many of us called that...
On that note ... I'd rather Connie (and Trixi Scraps, if that is indeed true) just let the store die. We have more than enough stores as it is.
Both of those two sell at Scrap Matters. I would be stunned if they let them stay there as owners of a competitor store. It might be different if it was After 5 or Shabby Pickle, with totally different styles, but ES is a very direct competitor.
Such as DKNY, Ralph Lauren, Levi's, United Colors of Benetton, Hilfiger, Calvin Klein, etc.
November 24, 2010 10:01 PM
This is an example of a designer having a personal store (like Calvin Klein) and selling at another store (like SAKS, which also sells DKNY, Ralph, etc). Not really the same thing being discussed here.
In digi, every designer is privy to information behind the scenes in stores where they sell.
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No, they are not!
I have nothing against these designers, but I think it's foolish to think anyone has the time to run a store and sell in 5 others. Let alone think it's ethical in any way.
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I'm not sure why you think this is unethical. Foolish I'll agree with to a degree, but unethical? Not seeing it.
It's interesting how you (that's plural like ya'll) are over analyzing something that you don't even know is true. Think about it.
1. You don't know it's true that ES is being sold and who it is being sold to. (CT members lie and people on this blog lie.)
2. You think it is Connie Prince and you think she isn't leaving her other stores. (But you don't even know for sure that this is happening and if it is what she will do with her other stores. An official statement hasn't been released yet.)
3. You think ES failed if it is for sale. (People get tired of doing things. Maybe Angie isn't so enchanted with the scrap world any longer?)
Isn't a waste of time to talk about something that is merely a rumor turned into a theory? Go ahead and speculate away at least I'll get a laugh out of it while you get worked up over something that hasn't even happened.
I'm not sure why you think this is unethical. Foolish I'll agree with to a degree, but unethical? Not seeing it.
November 24, 2010 11:23 PM
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I'm in agreement with this. Surely the other store owner would know that she is taking on another store owner as a designer? If it is unethical, the other store owner can say "no". Or even ask the designer to leave upon acquisition of the store. It's not like the storeowner-designer is going to be a mole or something.
But really? It's not all that top secret. You have a sale on DSD and Black Friday. Challenges for points. Blah blah blah. It's the same stuff at every site. There's not a whole lotta "WOW that's original" going on.
Isn't a waste of time to talk about something that is merely a rumor turned into a theory?
^^^
Isn't this whole blog a waste of time? Isn't that the point? I know it is for me ... I come here for a diversion between getting work done. I don't really care if what is said is true or not, and I like to speculate on things that aren't officially announced just for the fun of it.
I don't think most of us are actually speculating on the whole Connie Prince thing, but instead on the store owner selling in another shop thing.
I'll get a laugh out of it while you get worked up over something that hasn't even happened.
November 24, 2010 11:32 PM
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Nobody is worked up but I'm glad you are getting your jollies somehow.
Yet, many do. Royanna (from DD) does, Monja (from DigiScrapResort), LissaE (AMS, which is closing) among others.
Wow, funny what shows up on Google Alerts, I have some reading to do LOL but as to this post, no I've never sold in another store while I own my own, I'd rather focus on one store at a time than try and juggle too many.
I'm not the OP but I get what she is say about people getting worked up over something that hasn't even happened yet.
Not worked up? This seems worked up to me:
Exactly! Does the owner of Wal-mart also work at Target?? In Connie's case, if she decides to keep ES exclusive but not close her own other stores, that would be completely hypocritical. If I was a designer there and that happened I would be putting in my resignation ASAP!
November 24, 2010 9:13 PM
But 12:58 you aren't getting worked up.
I don't think the comment was directed at the discussion of a store owner selling in a store that isn't their own. Certainly worth discussing!
In my first hand experience, a store owner who sells at another store is not taking care of business at the store she owns. She is not effectively communicating with her designers or other staff, she is not coming up with innovative marketing/sales strategies, nor is she paying attention to her gallery and forums. It is a bad combination.
I meant to say she is not paying enough attention to her customers and forums, not gallery and forums.
But 12:58 you aren't getting worked up.
---
Nope, I'm not. Glad you noticed. I don't even know who Connie Prince is!
In my first hand experience, a store owner who sells at another store is not taking care of business at the store she owns. She is not effectively communicating with her designers or other staff, she is not coming up with innovative marketing/sales strategies, nor is she paying attention to her gallery and forums. It is a bad combination.
November 25, 2010 1:44 AM
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Not the experience that I have had with an owner who was selling at another store.
I'm not the OP but I get what she is say about people getting worked up over something that hasn't even happened yet.
Not worked up? This seems worked up to me:
Exactly! Does the owner of Wal-mart also work at Target?? In Connie's case, if she decides to keep ES exclusive but not close her own other stores, that would be completely hypocritical. If I was a designer there and that happened I would be putting in my resignation ASAP!
November 24, 2010 9:13 PM
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Yeah, that's hardly people, that's a person. I loathe generalizations, they are lazy.
In my first hand experience, a store owner who sells at another store is not taking care of business at the store she owns. She is not effectively communicating with her designers or other staff, she is not coming up with innovative marketing/sales strategies, nor is she paying attention to her gallery and forums. It is a bad combination.
November 25, 2010 1:44 AM
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Not the experience that I have had with an owner who was selling at another store.
November 25, 2010 3:07 AM
__________
me either. Store owners are able to multitask with the best of them.
Forgetting all the crap on this blog hope those who celebrate have a great Thanksgiving. It's a great time to be thankful for the good things in life. All the rest of it is just a moment in time.
^^^^^^^^^
Like giving thanks, right? Just a moment in time.
While not the first thanksgiving of any sort on the continent, the traditional origin of modern Thanksgiving in the United States is generally regarded to be the celebration that occurred at the site of Plymouth Plantation, in Massachusetts, in 1621. The Wampanoag Native Americans helped the pilgrims who arrived in Massachusetts cultivate the land and fish, saving them from starvation.
(Aw, how sweet, and then the settlers proceeded to decimate most of the Native Americans, as they were just too heathen for words!)
um...Thanks for Giving us the history lesson.
^^^^
You're welcome.
Can I just say one thing today? It's not digi related, but I feel the need to ask:
David, where is Shelly?
Of course, this is probably pure natter, but ....
David, where is Shelly?
David's an ass, so Shelly left him for a younger, more attentive stud.
She went Black Friday shopping at 3 am!
Well, then maybe David left Shelley because she's obviously the idiot. Who does that?
I hope I get trampled to death if my brains ever fall out and I end up going shopping for crap at 3:00 a.m.
question, what about her:
http://cajoline-scrap.blogspot.com/
is this legit stuff? stockphotos? what?
More images taken and used without permission probably. When will people learn?
No probably about it:
http://cajoline-scrap.blogspot.com/2010/11/freebie-christmas-precious-moments-cu.html
shes giving this suff as cu and cu4cu
Kimberly Dascani, Nicole Kaltenecker and 151 others like this! wow
question, what about her:
http://cajoline-scrap.blogspot.com/
is this legit stuff? stockphotos? what?
-------------------
They aren't stock photos. She takes them right from the internet, mostly from online stores.
I have mentioned her a few times before and no one seemed to care. I'm glad someone else has finely noticed.
We should care, and I care that so many oh so known designers support her stupidity when they should know better, how many have used her commercial use freebies or cu4cu ones in the designs you purchased?
Any designer that uses FREE commercial use is just asking for trouble. I'm not talking about the occasional freebie a known CU designer may give either.
(Aw, how sweet, and then the settlers proceeded to decimate most of the Native Americans, as they were just too heathen for words!)
________________________________
Enough of this shit. Really. I'm so tired of hearing how the big, bad Europeans took someone else's land by force and then killed the inhabitants.
HELLO ---- they were doing that since the beginning of time - to each other too. Does anyone remember how WWI and WWII started? Or how well the Anglos and Saxons got along during the holidays? Or how about the Irish and the Brits - that was a love fest.
And it wasn't just the Euros who were coveting other lands, everyone did it. My ancestors had their land taken and were driven out of the country. Yet, I don't sit and whine about it or make excuses as to why I can't function now because of what happened 150 years ago.
MOVE ON - people get sick of this shit. Honestly - sick and tired of it.
I don't feel in the least bit sorry for the indians of North America - it happened - it was the way things were done back then - it wasn't just about you - let it GO!
um.....i think she did. she posted a comment. you posted a lecture. who needs to get over it?
9:52 Did you put on your little white pointy hat to write up that super long and wierd-assed diatribe, or do you save that hat for special occasions?
I don't feel in the least bit sorry for the indians of North America - it happened - it was the way things were done back then - it wasn't just about you - let it GO!
November 27, 2010 9:52 AM
^^^^
It's simple-minded people that you that give this country a bad rep. I bet you don't feel bad for the Africans who were kidnapped and brought to America and forced into slavery either. Well, you SHOULD feel bad.
I bet you don't feel bad for the Africans who were kidnapped and brought to America and forced into slavery either. Well, you SHOULD feel bad.
November 27, 2010 1:45 PM
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Not the OP, but gotta say. Slavery is horrible. It has happened to all people in history at some point.
However, do I, as a white woman that lives in America feel guilty or repsonsible for it? No.
Why not?
None of my ancestors were inhabitants of the US until the early to mid 20th century, or inhabitants or descendants of those in countries that aided and abetted slavery.
So no, I reject collective guilt at this point in time.
Since everyone is throwing in a few cents here.
I don't feel guilty either. I was not alive for any of that, and guess what-- none of you were either, so let it go.
(Must be a slow day in digi-world)
I bet you don't feel bad for the Africans who were kidnapped and brought to America and forced into slavery either. Well, you SHOULD feel bad.
___________________________________
I'm not in to collective guilt either. I've never owned slaves and never took anyone's land. Sorry it happened, but it's in the past. Move on.
I had a whole comment about some of the ignorance displayed here today, but decided to forget it.
Yet, I don't sit and whine about it or make excuses as to why I can't function now because of what happened 150 years ago.
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You're are whining right here, right now. The OP made one comment, without a lecture. You obviously haven't 'moved on' or 'let it go', have you?
Candice Wong Designs is retiring.
^^
Yes, somebody has already mentioned it earlier. She has great stuff but most people seem to agree that it's too expensive. I hope she has a good sale though. I've always liked her.
^^^^^
75% off, mentioned earlier.
Elemental Scraps is closing:
http://www.elementalscraps.com/forums/showthread.php?p=275089#post275089
Does that mean that Connie is not buying it?
Elemental Scraps won't load. Too many people seeking confirmation the store is closing at last maybe?? LOL
I hope Elemental Scraps doesn't close, it was one of the first digi shops around. It was basically started by a friend of Amanda Rockwell's so Amanda had a store to sell at. A lot of digi designers got their start there, Amanda Rockwell, Melissa Bennett, Jennifer Barrett. It would be a shame to see it close its doors.
to 3:58
It might have been where a lot of designers got their start but look what it has come to. If it had been run right it wouldn't be in this shape now so with the over saturated market of digi stores I think it is a good thing. If you want something to work you have to actually pour your heart and soul in it and that hasn't happened so I say goodbye to one less place that has to sell trash.
to 3:58
It might have been where a lot of designers got their start but look what it has come to. If it had been run right it wouldn't be in this shape now so with the over saturated market of digi stores I think it is a good thing. If you want something to work you have to actually pour your heart and soul in it and that hasn't happened so I say goodbye to one less place that has to sell trash. And honestly trixie craps would be just adding more trash to the heap of rubbish.
What were the best sales for digi this past weekend? Did you shop and what did you buy?
I only shopped for a couple things from SSD and a couple CU things from Redju. I earned the free SSD and TLP collab which is butt ugly. Deleted it as soon as I looked at it.
I didn't shop this weekend.
I didn't know SSD and Lilypad made a collab so I just went to see it. Dawn! What a weird mix. Not my style.
Where is everyone? It's so quiet on this blog.
so out of curiosity, what stores do you consider the best for a establish designer?
Sure looks like 'exclusive with a twist' was a sound business decision.
^^^^
Meaning what?
^^^^^^^^
Seems she was being sarcastic. ITA.
Anyone can explain what was the twist in question? Exclusive stores are not new, and some are doing fine. Was it the twist that hurt them? I still have no clue what it was.
so out of curiosity, what stores do you consider the best for a establish designer?
November 28, 2010 6:54 PM
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The ones that suit the designer's style.
The twist was that you could be in other stores if you were reaching a particular sales threshold.
The twist was that you could be in other stores if you were reaching a particular sales threshold.boid
The twist was basically a two-tiered system - if you sold enough, you didn't have to follow the same rules as everyone else. Many of us predicted that it would create animosity within the design team.
No one has come out and said anything, but there is just no way that a profitable store just closes down. The logical conclusion is that they did more damage to themselves with that move than good.
I also thought their points for Amazon gift card move looked really desperate. It actually make me less inclined to shop there.
^^^^^
Agreed. Who would want to spend $100 on digi items to get $5 to spend at Amazon? Not me.
Drama alert!
http://paperplanesdesigns.blogspot.com/2010/11/very-upsetting-day-for-me.html
and
http://greiscraps.blogspot.com/2010/11/une-triste-lecon.html#comments
thats old news
Oh, fucking boo hoo.
No one has come out and said anything, but there is just no way that a profitable store just closes down.
-----------
That's not necessarily true. That's like saying "no one quits a job". People move on, change paths, and so on. I think you're confusing "closing" with "out of business".
It's possible, but I don't have enough information either way to say.
I just wonder if connie prince will end up staying at SBG then?
I doubt Connie will stay full time at SBG since it's an exclusive store. The reason that she and Tracy had to back out of the ES deal is that their other store owners told them they didn't want them owning a competing store and selling in their store. They couldn't take the loss of potential income so the ES deal is now over.
^^^^^
I want to know where you are getting that information from? As far as I can tell, it was never posted publicly that Connie & Trixie Scraps were ever going to buy ES. Where is the proof?
@9:34
Obviously if it's not posted in public, they're getting the information in "private." Probably one of Connie and Tracy's rabid CT members posting here. I heard the same reason from what I consider a reliable source as well.
The obsession for "proof" is comical. This isn't a government probe for crying out loud. It's a trash blog.
It's great to see ES die. Karma is such a bitch.
I'd lay money that it was Scrap Matters who said 'no way' to CP and TS owning a competing store. Scrap Matters actually appears to be run by intelligent, business minded individuals.
I'm not on their CT, I just happen to think that if something was shared in the private designer or CT forum, then it shouldn't have been posted anywhere or shared with anyone until it was made public on that site.
Funny how someone who could be so disloyal to a store where they work as either a designer or CT member could be considered "reliable." But yes, this IS a smack blog. So who cares about being trustworthy when there is gossip and rumors to spread! You're right, karma is a bitch and I will sit back and enjoy it when your reliable source gets hers.
I don't understand why ES deserves bad karma. Because of the "twist" or something else?
I don't really think the "twist" was really that big of a deal. Seems like she was trying to figure out how to make the store stay afloat without losing her higher earning designers. It obviously didn't work. But I don't think that trying it made her a bad person who deserves bad karma.
Am I missing a piece of the bad karma puzzle here?
It's great to see ES die. Karma is such a bitch.
November 29, 2010 12:13 PM
~~~~~~~~~~~~
But what exactly was Karma out to get the ES under Angie's ownership for?
And what do you think Karma thinks about you being on this smack blog and talkin' smack about everyone?
Ok - help me out here. Who is Karma...all I know is that Angie was the owner of ES. the only Karma I know of runs Faith Sisters. Help a dumbie out, would ya?
anyone care to share - inquiring minds lol
what's the most you ever had a customer spend in your store in one order? I was just curious about it, there must be some rich chicks just dropping cash on whatever they feel like buying? One time I spend over $200 in my fav designer's store after I got my bonus from work. But I'm sure some designers out there must have opened their emails to see some huge order that knocked their socks off. Anyone?
Ok - help me out here. Who is Karma...all I know is that Angie was the owner of ES. the only Karma I know of runs Faith Sisters. Help a dumbie out, would ya?
November 29, 2010 3:41 PM
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
oh please let this be sarcasm?
I'm wondering if Karma likes to be called a bitch? I would thing that would make Karma come after you...
*thing=think*
no - its not sarcasm. who is Karma really?
I'm wondering if Karma likes to be called a bitch? I would thing that would make Karma come after you...
November 29, 2010 4:09 PM
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Could be, but Kismet, her sister, helps Karma keep her temper.
Shakes head. Please tell me you're not English speaking.
Karma isn't a person. Karma = what goes around comes around
well slap me silly - it was capitalized, so i figured it was a PERSON named Karma. 'scuse me. crawling back in my hole.
well slap me silly - it was capitalized, so i figured it was a PERSON named Karma. 'scuse me. crawling back in my hole.
^^
No hole required - you're right about the capitalization. It's all good!
for a bunch of crazies that believe in karma, you're putting all kinds of crap out into the world. It's gonna come right back at you. If not now, in your next life, that you get to spend as a roach.
(and don't try the "what are you doing here" blah blah. I don't believe in karma. shit happens and there's no explanation whether you've been good or bad. )
^^^^
Not really. Only one person was confused, the rest of us knew what the OP was talking about. It's called context.
well slap me silly - it was capitalized, so i figured it was a PERSON named Karma. 'scuse me. crawling back in my hole.
^^
No hole required - you're right about the capitalization. It's all good!
-----------------
Please tell me you're all not this stupid, even though it seems you are. It was capitalized because it was the beginning of a sentence.
^^^^^
Stupid is as stupid does. The first reference to karma was at the beginning of a sentence, subsequent references were not and they were capitalized as well.
I'm not sure how you came to the conclusion of 'all' of us being this stupid when it was only one person who was confused.
didn't mean to cause an uproar over being confused. There is a store owner named Karma. Karma in the post was capitalized. I thought it was a person you were refering to. at least I had guts enough to say I was dumb and didn't get it - and ask what you were talking about. if you have never had a dumb moment, brain fart, whatever, good for you (but that also makes you a liar).
^^^^^
i have brain farts all the time!
didn't know Roben Marie was retiring, too.
It seems to be retirement season. Jessica Edwards (one of the only decent designers at ES), Litabells, Melissa Daniels, Candice Wong, Sara Ellis, Lena from Bella Gypsy and a bunch of others.
I hope it weeds out some of those designers that shouldn't be designing in the first place!
Like who?
doubtful. theres far worse stores than ES out there more than willing to take on anyone.
When they say they are retiring, do they mean stop designing or just changing stores?
they mean quitting for one month, then showing up at a new store because they just "missed it sooooooo much" and then revamping all their old kits rather than making anything new
^^^^^
Yep, I see a couple of names that have retired before. What does it matter, as long as the customer gets the bargain?
Designers retiring and opening shop the next month reminds me of those seedy stores that have Going Out of Business signs up forever. It may be an unfair comparison but that is what it seems like to me.
I did not buy any kits on black Friday but I bought a class at Jessica Sprague (20% off) and I upgraded to CS5 ($50 off). Not huge bargains but I'm happy.
This place is dead.
New month, new guest spots - any crappy guests for Dec?
why do designers do guest spots and only upload 1-2 products the entire month?
Exposure
Guest spots are a good way to get exposure, find new customers. The stores that invite designers to guest often ask for the product to be exclusive during the guest month. Likely the designer still has to meet requirements for a certain number of products for her permanent store that month as well. It's actually quite a lot of extra work to produce one or two full products in addition to what the designer would normally put in her regular store.
I've done guest spots, and while I'm in the store, I produce as normal. If i come up with a new kit, I put it where I'm guesting to not only bring my customers there, but to help increase the guest shops traffic. I'm not all that well known, but it works. What bugs me are these designers that put a kit or two up...and you never see them in the forums, gallery, nothing. they are nonexistant other than a couple kits in the shop. They aren't required to participate (at most that I know of anyway), but it sure wouldn't hurt them any to just say howdy once in a while.
^^^^^^
Agreed! I was once on a store CT, a good store too, and the thing that annoyed me the most was that guest designers, rarely, if ever, said hello. Not even in the CT forum.
why do designers do guest spots and only upload 1-2 products the entire month?
**********************************
When I did it, my requirement was 3 things. I uploaded the first two and sales sucked, so I didn't finish.
Never mind the CT forum - I've found it odd that they say hi once in the designer forum and that's it.
I've done a bunch of guest spots - and seen a lot. Some bring all their stuff. Some bring their best stuff. They always have to do at least one exclusive guest product and then their other store stuff. But I don't like seeing just one kit in a guest spot store unless of course that's all they're "allowed" to bring over. But if that's the case, why bring in a guest?
Does bringing in guest help the store more or the designer more?
Never mind the CT forum - I've found it odd that they say hi once in the designer forum and that's it.
------
Humph. The CT use the kit to promote the product, especially store CTs. It's not a good idea to piss them off. I never made anything with any of the guest designer stuff unless they said hello, or I really liked it.
Once, towards the end of a guest's stint, no one had made anything with the designer's goodies. I didn't like it (and obviously, none of the other site CT liked it either!), I knew the quality would be questionable, and the guest designer had never bothered to say hello. Anyhow, I did make a page or two as one of the site co-ordinators had asked us too (sad really). So I let the designer know that I had made the pages and the co-ordinator did too. I never heard back and she never commented on my pages. I had made an effort, why the hell couldn't the designer? It's a shame she's still designing. Never understood how as her stuff is so boring and of questionable quality.
Does bringing in guest help the store more or the designer more?
December 1, 2010 4:10 PM
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I guess it would depend on the store and designer.
Come on 4:39 PM, name names! This is a smack blog after all.
^^^^
Here are some clues
* the site she guested at recently shut shop
* she's been designing at the same store since the store opened, which is when she became a designer
* a few of the designers from the shut shop are also now designing at the same store
^^
Scrapartist?
Colonel Mustard in the Library with the Candlestick?
Yes, it was at ScrapArtist. But who was the guest designer?
Someone at The Lilypad?
I hate 4shared. I saw something I wanted to download today. It was stored on 4shared. Clicked on the "download now" button. 378 second wait time. And I only download one or two things a week from 4shared.
Designers--please stop using them. They suck!
Yes, someone at the Lily Pad.
How come nobody every comments on Raspberry Road or DDE (Gina C.)? Maybe those aren't terriffic examples, but it's always the same 10 stores.
I have never heard of Raspberry Road. Is that a designer?
I bought some Raspberry Road stuff once and the quality was terrible - blurry, poorly extracted, pixelated. Never again.
How come nobody every comments on Raspberry Road or DDE (Gina C.)? Maybe those aren't terriffic examples, but it's always the same 10 stores.
December 1, 2010 9:25 PM
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They do. I've seen it. I don't know Raspberry Road's stuff but I do know Gina's. I used to like Gina's stuff. Never had quality issues. However, I don't know what it's like now as I haven't purchased from her in a long time.
How come nobody every comments on Raspberry Road or DDE (Gina C.)? Maybe those aren't terriffic examples, but it's always the same 10 stores.
December 1, 2010 9:25 PM
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How come you don't?
Pebbles Jones just went exclusive @ Scrap Girls. I don't get that site. Stuff is way more expensive and the store appearance looks dated and clunky so I stay away from it big time.
http://store.scrapgirls.com/manufacturer/114/Pebbles-Jones
Who is Pebbles Jones? Doesn't look like anyone I want to buy from anyways.
^^^^
It's not way more expensive. If I were still designing, I'd seriously think of joining up with Scrap Girls.
And, who the heck is Pebble Jones?
ah, Pebbles. She has been in just about every shop imaginable. and by the way - she didn't JUST go exclusive there. That was at the end of September. I was in a shop with her once. She owned DigiTop3 for about 4 months...then opened Denim and Daisies a year ago this past October. Sold it in January. She uses her health as her excuse for closing up things. She has been in 14 shops since selling Denim and Daisies. FOURTEEN in almost one year. She gives them a month - and if sales aren't good, she leaves. She always blames the site - LOL. How do I know all this? She keeps sending me updates!
She's like another Edeline Marta!
Or Lauren Reid.
anyone care to share - inquiring minds lol
what's the most you ever had a customer spend in your store in one order? I was just curious about it, there must be some rich chicks just dropping cash on whatever they feel like buying? One time I spend over $200 in my fav designer's store after I got my bonus from work. But I'm sure some designers out there must have opened their emails to see some huge order that knocked their socks off. Anyone?
^^^^^^^^^^
I always figure if it's a huge order from someone I've never seen in my shop before, then it's probably a pirate. How's that for cynicism?
Scrap Girls' personal use products are a great bargain. During their sales, you can get kits for about $3 and they are always the highest quality and original. Their CU is very expensive - BUT top quality. I have been known to drop a LOT of money there on CU overlays, styles and elements - they have a great catalog.
Oh I wondered if she was THAT Pebbles ... didn't she used to go by Pebbles Designs or something ... I never knew her last name. But I knew her ... she was a drive-by designer in the store I sell at, and then I watched her do the same thing with 3 other stores ... all since the summer.
And yes, when she left the store I sell at, she was rude and blamed the store owner.
^^^^
sounds like COLs. It's not me, it's you.
yeah, in a way it does sound like good old COLS. Pebbles just bitches to people she knows about it....doesn't run to DST and whine. and yeah, it was Pebbles Designs.
Re: Guesting. I was a guest. I never got a feature on the blog or in the newsletter, the store owners weren't even organized enough to do the Black Friday/DSD sales, and the store CT downloaded tons of my stuff but I didn't sell a thing. I had 2 products released a week as a guest. I had 2 more ready to go and decided to just put them in my regular store rather than gifting them to the CT where I was guesting.
Twitter suggested I follow Shabby Pickle. Isn't that the store that wasn't paying designers a while back, or is my memory fuzzy?
I have guested at a couple places, and did Ok - - but then I advertised it myself alot, too. Had the required 'exclusive' product, which brought my customers to the new place. I stayed at one place I guested at, and am still doing very well there. The others - - sold some stuff, but the atmosphere just plain sucked. I would rather be in a shop with a friendly atmosphere and stay there, than in a bigger place with a bunch of snobs anyday, no matter what sales are like. Might not be the smartest business decision, but I'm happier.
Hang on to your hats as you run on over to Enchanted Scraps....COLS is having a Buy My Store sale! OH boy oh boy oh boy! I've been waiting for so long to go buy up all that goodness? I mean, really - who couldn't pass up spending 15 hard earned dollars on the blurriest, fuzziest, jaggiest pixelated crap you've ever seen??? Hurry up - I'm sure the entire store will be bogged down with downloads....you don't want to miss out on this opportunity!!!
"the blurriest, fuzziest, jaggiest pixelated crap you've ever seen"
So what?!? It's ART! Sheesh, people. ;)
Hi Pebbles. I knew you were lurking. LOL!
Art? BAHAHAHAH! No. Try again.
Art is original creativity coming from someone's imagination and own hands--not from badly extracted photos either poorly taken or stolen.
Oh, wait..I didn't see the little semi-colon blinkie indicating sarcasm. I retract my condescending post.
Instead of running over to buy COLS wonderful goodies, I downloaded this months Gold member kit. another clunker. 148 MB of crapola in weird colors...and each and every damn element is plain AND shadowed, and get this....ROTATED for my convenience, I'm sure. I've seen it all now. Rotated. What on earth are these people thinking???
I have guested at a couple places, and did Ok - - but then I advertised it myself alot, too. Had the required 'exclusive' product, which brought my customers to the new place. I stayed at one place I guested at, and am still doing very well there. The others - - sold some stuff, but the atmosphere just plain sucked. I would rather be in a shop with a friendly atmosphere and stay there, than in a bigger place with a bunch of snobs anyday, no matter what sales are like. Might not be the smartest business decision, but I'm happier.
December 2, 2010 8:50 AM
________________
Same experience here. The owners told me they would feature me on their blog and newsletter and they never mentioned me. Why should I, the guest, be the only one to advertise? That was it, no more guest spot for me.
Anonymous Anonymous said...
Hi Pebbles. I knew you were lurking. LOL!
December 2, 2010 11:51 AM
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That doesn't make a lick of sense.
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