Did anyone else just get The Enabler? For some reason the whole thing looks really washed out to me and the contrast is whacky. I'm wondering if its my PDF viewer or is it the same for everyone?
look at page 12 for example - I can barely see the edges of the cards and the white texture is non-existent to me and the reds and blues pop in a really glaring way.
The whole thing just looks awful to me. Anyone else? Mar 16, 2013, 1:05:00 PM __________________________ I just looked at it on two different monitors. One is calibrated and one is not. On my calibrated desktop it looked fine. Laptop, it looked crappy. Check your color settings? The PDF itself looks fine.
199 - That's probably the dumbest thing I've ever heard. So what if the ct lo's don't include journalling? I can't see any kind of kit from any kind of style not being "journal friendly" unless you're looking for specific things like mats and cards to journal on. Otherwise, your statement is ridiculous and short sighted.
I make lo's for my designers but don't always include the journalling I add later because it's personal and maybe not something I want to share with the whole world. Doesn't mean I won't add it later.
I just looked at it on two different monitors. One is calibrated and one is not. On my calibrated desktop it looked fine. Laptop, it looked crappy. Check your color settings? The PDF itself looks fine. ---------------- Not the OP, but I just looked too, and it's weird on my monitor as well (it's calibrated). And it's not that the colors are off - it's that it's washed out horribly. Like someone turned up the contrast waaaay too much.
#172 - I'm a site CT and I don't understand why a designer would expect more from me than they do their own CT (unless they require "enabling the crap out of" each and every kit). I enable, but how am I helping the designer less than her own CT? I put my pages in galleries just like a personal CTM and I make my pages available to the designer just like a personal CTM.
I download a lot from my store because I thought that was my job - to promote the store's products.
I know people have said the STS Designer Darling contest submissions are all crap, but I disagree. I think this last round has some cute stuff and I downloaded several of them.
145 I was a designer for PDP and let me tell you, she is unprofessional, does not answer designers or customers emails, she leaves products in store months after a designer has left, and is very unprofessional. It isn't worth attempting to sell there as you won't get your products promoted either.
I was the OP on the Enabler thing - to me it looks like maybe someone ran some weird photo action on it thinking it looks 'edgy' or something. Maybe that works when things aren't all soft yellow and white, but it did NOT work with this month's colors.
To the person with the file naming problems - might I suggest you download a bulk renaming tool? Only takes a second to run it on the whole folder, and then you can name them however you want.
185 Way to go admitting you're talking shit about a new designers FIRST kits and painting a picture that she has horrible quality NOW when she has greatly improved since she began. Her new mini freebies have practicly no QC issues. I have downloaded the new and old stuff and I must say there is a BIG difference. It says a lot that you didn't even know she no longer did hand-painted elements. You should really get up to date on the work if you are going to smack someone on their quality.
And don't say you're just being "honest". You may not be hating like the other person said but you are far from being honest.
It's kind of sad that you (generally speaking) are sitting here telling people to avoid PDP. I think that's really unfair to the new co-owner who hasn't done anything wrong..that you tell people to not give her and the store a chance.
Yes, Pamedelah may suck but that doesn't mean the new co-owner does too which is probably why she asked for help. Just because Pamedelah treated designers and the site like shit, doesn't mean who she hired will too. It's a shame.
12 Its so easy to say that and not give a reason. Are you just talking to see your comments on this blog? Your opinion/suggestion is useless without a reason.
186 - There is a difference for goodness sakes. This has shades of the Harper Finch overreaction. Take a second, get over the sting of having something you do criticized and then USE that information to be better, or ignore it. --------------------------------------------- I'm overreacting? LOL :) I'm not Katie, nor do I care if she overreacts or not. No one criticized anything I did, so in no way, shape or form is this an overreaction. And being honest and "hating" on someone are NOT the same thing. You're starting to sound like Katie or a disgruntled CT member or something. And how in the world is this related to Harper Finch's reaction? LOL.
10 - Way to go admitting you're talking shit about a new designers FIRST kits and painting a picture that she has horrible quality NOW when she has greatly improved since she began. Her new mini freebies have practicly no QC issues. ----------------------------------------- We were talking about QC issues. Those were the ones that I knew of that had issues. And yeah I didn't know she stopped doing hand drawn elements, who cares. Oh and "practically no issues"...LOL. So it's okay if there are some?
I was a designer for PDP and let me tell you, she is unprofessional, does not answer designers or customers emails, she leaves products in store months after a designer has left, and is very unprofessional. It isn't worth attempting to sell there as you won't get your products promoted either. ----------------- This answered my question about their call. Thank you!
14 you're a bit of a retard aren't you? The comment you quoted was clearly not directed to you.
I'm the one that first defended Katie and I'm not her nor am I a CT member of any team. Its cute how it equates to that when somone comes to another's defense. I'm Just an ex-designer who just scraps her memories. I quite enjoy Katie's work and I've found little to no QC issues with her newer work, like I said. Whoever it was that said she has "major QC issues" really has no idea what they're talking about since they're only basing it on her early kits.
15 I said practically no issues because the issues I found were more of a matter of preference. For example, she doesn't save her papers high enough quality for my liking. I prefer quality 10 or higher. She saves hers at quality 8 or 9.
And the people you are trying to convince that she has "major quality issues" cares if you know that she no longer does hand-painted elements. Since you clearly stated you haven't sampled her newer work, your opinion on her quality NOW is invalid and irrelevant. Stop trying to convince everyone of her "horrible quality" by attempting to state what you think is fact.
#15 Lord forbid someone ask you to know what you're talking about before you try to smack someone. "Take my word that she has MAJOR quality issues....but I haven't seen a sample of her work since she first started designing." You sound so smart! And I'm not katie, a ct member or #18. I'm only another person pointing out how silly you sound.
#9: "To the person with the file naming problems - might I suggest you download a bulk renaming tool? Only takes a second to run it on the whole folder, and then you can name them however you want."
I did this for nearly two years, then, with a few exceptions, I stopped. It's tedious, it's time-consuming, and it's not my job.
My pages get GSOs. They get blogged, they get pinned. And I'm exceptionally good about making sure everything is credited properly, with links.
If designers want me to use their work, and credit it, then they need to make that easy.
I don't think it sounds silly, I think it sounds "axe to grind with Katie" like maybe it's personal. In the end though, can't you just download freebies and look at it yourself?
Its so easy to say that and not give a reason. Are you just talking to see your comments on this blog? Your opinion/suggestion is useless without a reason.
-----
Yah. Nothing turns me on more than seeing my name, Anonymous, on the internet.
20: I did this for nearly two years, then, with a few exceptions, I stopped. It's tedious, it's time-consuming, and it's not my job. ---- So don't buy from those designers. I do agree with you that it's annoying when designers don't name their files with at least their designer name's acronym (if not their full designing name). And their TOU should state "Designer XYZ TOU," not just TOU. And what the heck is up with people designing under one name and using a different name on their files? Litabells comes to mind. And Sara Gleason labels her files as SGleason, which makes sense, but then I keep seeing Z & S on her previews...took me forever to realize she's Zinnias and Swallowtails. And her facebook page name is Plant Your Story. How the hell am I supposed to know she's Plant Your Story if I'm new to her designs?
I am the person behind post #149 on the first page, who initially said the new co-owner (Katie) had QC issues. I did not say major QC issues - the version of the files I got a hold of didn't have things named correctly, had some jagged edges on a few files, a couple of shadows in transparent areas (from inner shadows), very scratchy/digital looking papers, which just aren't my style. Doesn't change my opinion about steering clear of PDP, though. I don't know Katie, have never spoken to her, and have no idea what type of person she is or how well of an owner she would be. However, I have had some horrible past experiences with 'The Queen', and understand that you're judged by who you associate with. If Katie wants to be accepted as an honest, professional store owner, I think her best move would be to separate from Pamedalah and partner with someone whose reputation hasn't taken quite so many hits in such a short time.
Katie's handpainted elements were washed out looking and didn't help her any. I'm assuming that's why she stopped (besides taking up time). She's bound to have fewer QC problems as most of her stuff now is CU. as in ALL of it. She might have potential somewhere down the road - but for now she is very beginnerish and needs to tweak and define her style. I feel sorry for her getting involved at PDP. It's a sure loss of money. New people jump at chances thinking it will be easy to start a new shop, or make over an older one. They have no idea what they are getting into. I hope she stays at STS for now - she will find herself homeless soon otherwise.
Katie is no longer going to be working with Pam but according to the time the email was sent out (I applied to PDP) I think that decision was made before she was bought up here.
Am I the only person who doesn't buy kits because of CT layouts? __
This has nothing to do with that. My initial comment was a question about why consistently substandard layouts were allowed by the store and/or designer ct members. I wanted to know if there were other reasons to keep a person besides scrapping skills. I would venture a guess that most of us don't need ct layouts to decide if we want a kit. However, since they're there, they should at least be of decent quality one would think.
"To the person with the file naming problems - might I suggest you download a bulk renaming tool? Only takes a second to run it on the whole folder, and then you can name them however you want."
This is a good suggestion for people who might not know about this type of program. I've been using a program named "Bulk Rename" & it's been wonderful for renaming tons of files. (I had previously been manually renaming files but that was super tedious.) Bulk Rename isn't the prettiest looking program but it's efficient & fast at renaming lots of files.
"I did this for nearly two years, then, with a few exceptions, I stopped. It's tedious, it's time-consuming, and it's not my job.
If designers want me to use their work, and credit it, then they need to make that easy."
I totally agree. If you as a designer want users to credit your designs, you need to label your files clearly with your name before giving/selling them.
Anyone know what "icon" files are that sometimes are included in the download folders? Is this just a weird file for Mac users, or does it have a purpose? WinZip always gives an error message for the icon files so I just delete them.
#172 - I'm a site CT and I don't understand why a designer would expect more from me than they do their own CT (unless they require "enabling the crap out of" each and every kit). I enable, but how am I helping the designer less than her own CT? I put my pages in galleries just like a personal CTM and I make my pages available to the designer just like a personal CTM.
I download a lot from my store because I thought that was my job - to promote the store's products.
I guess I'm confused.
---------------------------------
you're confused, because i didn't say a site CT should do more than the designer's personal CT. they should do at least as much though. they should be required to do more than just upload the layout to that store gallery. they should be blogging, facebooking, and linking up the kits as well.
35 - It sounds like your problem is with the store owner, not the site CT. If they're doing what is expected of them, they're not at fault. If they're not doing as much as YOU think they SHOULD be doing, well, that's a different story.
I'm on a store CT and all that you described is required of us and then some. I've never even heard of a store CT who only has to post in the store's gallery and I've been around for a long time.
I totally agree. If you as a designer want users to credit your designs, you need to label your files clearly with your name before giving/selling them.
----
When did this become about whether or not the designer expects to be credited? She said she has a problem organizing her files because they aren't named how she'd like them, and a reasonable and helpful solution was given. Take it or leave it, but stomping your feet and pouting about something that no one even brought up just makes you sound like a toddler.
One of my pet peeves is when designers separate their patterned and solid papers into separate files but then each set is labeled paper 1, paper 2 etc, so when you put them into the same folder you have to rename them. I don't mind the separate files, just dislike them having the same name. They usually name all their elements element 1, 2, etc.
Every store I have ever been in requires designer initials/name _ kit name _ element etc. It's habit now. I agree it should be the norm. I have DL'd well known designers goodies/or purchased them and am surprised by the files only saying element1, paper 1 etc. No kit name or designer initials etc. It's very frustrating. If I purchased the kit I will used my renamed and name them....
Hi there i am kavin, its my first time to commenting anyplace, when i read this post i thought i could also make comment due to this brilliant paragraph.
#3 - the question was raised, I answered the question. Sorry you found it ridiculous and short sighted. Looking back, there is not one kit I sorely wished I had bought and didn't.
you're confused, because i didn't say a site CT should do more than the designer's personal CT. they should do at least as much though. they should be required to do more than just upload the layout to that store gallery. they should be blogging, facebooking, and linking up the kits as well.
^^^ This. There's a whole bunch of site ct people who don't do this. It's as if they get an inflated head like their scrapping skills are indispensible or something. No one is that good and a lot of them are really bad.
I like the layout I saw from a store ct person a while ago that had about 40 circles all clumped together with as many elements thrown on top. Included was two tiny, tiny photos. Laughable.
Does it take forever to get coupon codes from all designers or just a few. Seems like I occasionally get rewards and prizes almost instantly, and others I wait and wait and have endless troubles getting stuff. I know it's free, but if that's an indication of customer service then no thank you on giving you money.
I name my files as initials_kitname_paper or whatever but I also make some mistakes ... recently I uploaded and alpha without adding my initials for a blog freebie - my store QC caught it after I took it down and put it in the store, but hundreds of people had already downloaded it and I was pretty embarrassed.
I still want to see some of these horrible CT layouts... ---
I've already said they're at SSD, SO and TLP. Primarily, though the bad, bad element puke is at SSD. If you don't know to which I refer than my guess is you are an offender! You are the only person who appears to be at a loss about this. Rule of thumb: don't stack a bunch of elements on top of each other, shadow them to make them look like they're suspended in the air and call it clustering. This kind of bad scrapping comes under no heading for "styles" except C.R.A.P.
What I can't understand is why on earth the designers would like to see their kits used this way.
31 is just a mediocre (at best) designer who blames CTs for the fact her stuff is shit and no one buys it.
In fact, any designer who complains about that stuff isn't doing well sales wise and is looking for a scapegoat. ---
I've never designed so much as a button, Dumbass. How you, in your infinite wisdom, deducted that I was a designer is beyond me. Using the excuse that I must be a disgruntled designer to sway the conversation away from ct members with over-inflated egos and below average scrapping skills is transparent and will not work. I'd say good try though, but, it wasn't.
What I can't understand is why on earth the designers would like to see their kits used this way. ---
Maybe, just maybe, that's what the designer likes. It seems to be working for them at SSD, SO and TLP. I don't even frequent those places but I'm guessing that's their market (which is why I don't shop there). If it's not your style and you don't shop those places either, WTF is your problem?
#1 I never said I didn't shop there; you did. #2 I never said I had a problem; I asked a question and have gotten some really good answers as opposed to yours which is awfully defensive for someone who has nothing to do with these stores. It obviously works the way it is, Dumbass. The question was why. If the subject is a sore spot for you, and it certainly seems to be, why not just pass by the posts and save your childish spew to use elsewhere
I still want to see some of these horrible CT layouts...
------
Maybe yours will be among them?
------------------
That's the rub, right there. She's very, very concerned we're talking about her and she's not very good at hiding it. I believe she's the same one previously who went on for a few sentences how her designer loves her work, blah..blah..blah..if none of this applies to her, why so concerned and argumentative about it? She needs to distress herself by maybe doing some digi element piling (sounds better than puking), that all new cyber hobby done by many and appreciated by few...very few.
Well I actually do base a good part of my decision on whether to buy a kit or not on a CT layout. ----- I think lots do especially when a designer is new to them. Hence, the need for a competent creative team.
I don't base my decision on whether or not to buy a kit based on whether or not the ct has the talent to use it, but I do like to see what they used in each layout. Sometimes I can see the elements with more detail than in the preview.
I like the layout I saw from a store ct person a while ago that had about 40 circles all clumped together with as many elements thrown on top. Included was two tiny, tiny photos. Laughable. -------------------------------------------------- I. know this one, I think! If it's the same one she has a bunch of comments on there from people saying they like the circles! Well, duh. Good thing because that's definitely the focal point of the page whether you want it to be or not. Of course, the comments are coming from fellow ct members which leads me to a question. Do some stores or designers require their ct's to comment in the galleries on others' work?
I don't base my decision on whether or not to buy a kit based on whether or not the ct has the talent to use it, but I do like to see what they used in each layout. Sometimes I can see the elements with more detail than in the preview. ---
Right but it helps if the layout is done well so one can see the potential and quality of kits clearly, correct?
"less is better" is my motto when it comes to a layout as some layouts are so garbaged up with everything but the kitchen sink that one loses sight of the fact this is suppose to be scrapbooking ones memories. I sure don't see these kind of layouts from paper scrappers or in magazines. I sometimes think the digital thing has gone way past the mark.
"supposed to be?" why can't it also be a fun way to play with your photos and pages? I didn't realize there was a set of rules that you had to have memories or it wasn't right. I love to look at CT work. I see if the papers will work with the kit. When a designer releases and every ct page is with the same cream paper, it makes me wonder, what's wrong with the other papers? I like to see the elements in use, and papers cut to stack twenty deep! I don't have to worry that I can't close my scrapbook, cause it is digital! If I want to put everything, and come to think of it I have used a kitchen sink before! I can, that is the beauty of this hobby, I can do it the way I want! I am on a rant, but there are sometimes, I just want to play, see how certain things cluster, and just enjoy an evening of creating for the sake of creating, not a memory kept, but I am happy! And as to in magazines, perhaps you aren't reading the right ones, Somerset digital has some insanely crazy layered, some fantasy and others memories published in it every quarter! Yeah to digi going way past YOUR self imposed mark...press on, pedal to the metal.
I sure don't see these kind of layouts from paper scrappers or in magazines. I sometimes think the digital thing has gone way past the mark. ------------------- Oh no, lol - I assure you there are plenty of paper scrappers that have issues with element vomit. And it's so much worse since it's a paper page - it couldn't lay flat anyways, but with the added layering and weight, I'm not really sure what they hope to accomplish with their pages, but memory making doesn't really fit imo. I believe they think they are being artsy, but it's definitely not my thing. I do agree though - most of the paper layouts I see are a much more simple style and focused on the photos and the memories - which is what I prefer in my digi pages :)
I still want to see some of these horrible CT layouts...
------
Maybe yours will be among them?
------------------
That's the rub, right there. She's very, very concerned we're talking about her and she's not very good at hiding it. I believe she's the same one previously who went on for a few sentences how her designer loves her work, blah..blah..blah..if none of this applies to her, why so concerned and argumentative about it? She needs to distress herself by maybe doing some digi element piling (sounds better than puking), that all new cyber hobby done by many and appreciated by few...very few.
-----
Nope. I'm not on a CT. But I've gone through several pages of the SSD gallery and I don't see any terrible layouts. There are some that aren't my taste, but nothing I would call horrible. Which leads me to think that the original poster confuses her own taste with quality.
#6: I agree. Some of the worst must have been cut. I looked at the six remaining contestants. Piccolina's kit is good as is La Belle Vie's kit. I like the colors and theme of Busy Crafting Mommy Designs kit but the preview is atrocious. I think she's definitely got potential.
I like La Belle Vie's the best, and Piccolina's and Hat of Bunny's. I can see Busy Crafting Mommy's appealing to a certain group, but it's not my style . Mostly I can't work with palettes like that.
I read a few of the posts on site CTs and personal CTs. I may not have seen them all, but wanted to comment a bit. First off, there are different requirements for a site CT than then for a personal CT. Site CT's are encouraged to make layouts, post layouts, keep the forum going, make comments in the gallery, and host challenges, and if they enable, it's usually to enable the challenges they are hosting, or the store in general, like sales or promotions at the store, not necessarily specific designers. When the site CTs enable the store, there is probably more traffic at that store. If the designers have good kits, then they benefit from larger sales. If the kits are crappy, there is no amount of enabling that will help. Personal CTMs are to make layouts, enable the kits of that specific designer, and do what they can to promote that designer. If the sales are down, then I'd blame the personal ct more than the site cts. (or I'd blame a crappy product.) I ct for a site and also for a few personal designers. I like both jobs, but they certainly aren't the same thing. Also, for journaling--as a CT member, I don't always add journaling to my ct layouts, but add it later. Most designers aren't interested in journaling on the layouts, and sometimes it distracts from the product.
#68 Kudos! "the original poster confuses her own taste with quality."
If a product I like and want to buy has good layouts then I'm buying it. When there are no layouts included I usually pass. I want to see the products on a page so I can imagine how I can personally use them.
Not a magical way, but you can try Lightroom. I have painstakingly organized and tagged all my stuff (yes, close to 2 TB as well) last year, and it totally changed my way of scrapping. I still scrap with kits, but now I also mix stuff because it's so much easier to find, for example, all my pink ribbons.
Here's a link you can check out: http://digiscrap101.com/lightroom-class-2011-index-of-posts.html
Well, I'll throw some names out there. I base my favorite site CTMs not so much on their personal style, but on how they show a kit, which is the entire point of any CT, IMO. Like a PP said, CT layouts serve as a more visible view of elements and/or papers in a kit.
Here are some of my site CT favorites (from stores where I shop) - SSD: Kjersti, Tronesia, marnel, eranslow, SeattleSheri, YepBrook, jacinda SO: roxanamdm, Karen32, scrapper@heart SM: Iowan, Patti, catgoddess, omlialie, Mother Bear
I don't know how active any of them are as I don't follow forums or do challenges, but all of the above have sold me on at least one kit over the years.
I think SSD has a good assortment of scrapping styles as does SM. I'm not sure what's happening at SO, but their CT is one of the worst "big name store" site CTs out there. Based upon recent layouts, there are apparently 4-5 active CTMs...
77-I like many of the CTM that you listed--especially scrapper@heart, Mother Bear, and Tronisa. I like a well balanced CT. If they all scrap alike, the store can make due with one member. I always thought 2 peas ctms were pretty much the same, although I liked their style, they didn't show much diversity.
I have to agree with your list of great CT scrappers. My personal favorite is Mother Bear...she's on my team and she has never created a layout that I didn't love. But, as a designer, I like all sorts of styles on my team, as well as CTM's that help promote my designs beyond posting their layouts. I don't want all of my CT layouts to look the same. I want to show customers that my designs can be used in a wide variety of styles. So, I'm sure some of you would say that a portion of my CTM's aren't great scrappers. But to me, they represent a great variety. Those that aren't the more trendy scrappers tend to be my greatest promoters.
I never said I didn't shop there; you did. #2 I never said I had a problem; I asked a question and have gotten some really good answers as opposed to yours which is awfully defensive for someone who has nothing to do with these stores. It obviously works the way it is, Dumbass. The question was why. If the subject is a sore spot for you, and it certainly seems to be, why not just pass by the posts and save your childish spew to use elsewhere
-------
what's with the dumbass again?
I never said you shopped there, I said "IF", do you know what the word means?
And it's not a sore spot, I was tired of the same old thing being spewed out by you about the sub standard CT layouts.
Why does it work? Because that's their market. It's not rocket science.
Undeniably believe that which you said. Your favourite justification seemed to be on the internet the easiest thing to have in mind of. I say to you, I definitely get annoyed even as people consider issues that they just do not realize about. You controlled to hit the nail upon the top and also defined out the entire thing with no need side effect , other people could take a signal.
"less is better" is my motto when it comes to a layout as some layouts are so garbaged up with everything but the kitchen sink that one loses sight of the fact this is suppose to be scrapbooking ones memories. I sure don't see these kind of layouts from paper scrappers or in magazines. ------------
I have seen these kind of layouts from paper scrappers and in magazines.
"supposed to be?" why can't it also be a fun way to play with your photos and pages? I didn't realize there was a set of rules that you had to have memories or it wasn't right. I love to look at CT work. I see if the papers will work with the kit. When a designer releases and every ct page is with the same cream paper, it makes me wonder, what's wrong with the other papers? I like to see the elements in use, and papers cut to stack twenty deep! I don't have to worry that I can't close my scrapbook, cause it is digital! If I want to put everything, and come to think of it I have used a kitchen sink before! I can, that is the beauty of this hobby, I can do it the way I want! I am on a rant, but there are sometimes, I just want to play, see how certain things cluster, and just enjoy an evening of creating for the sake of creating, not a memory kept, but I am happy! And as to in magazines, perhaps you aren't reading the right ones, Somerset digital has some insanely crazy layered, some fantasy and others memories published in it every quarter! Yeah to digi going way past YOUR self imposed mark...press on, pedal to the metal. -----------------
Tronesia and YepBrook at SSD Catgoddess, Li14, and MotherBear at SM Scrapper@heart, Nietis and britaneejean at SO Heathergw and mommy2boyz at TLP Patti at SM for clusters Scrapping with Liz, Tiff, and jk703 for doubles
87, it is true. I just saw the call on Facebook and I am not 86.
I wish Sara luck, its a lot of work to run a shop. I havent been to DSA in a while- the site was running too slow so I quit going. Hopefully that's been resolved before the shop opens!
That's interesting. I wonder what will happen for those who have paid advertising there? I can't imagine wanting to be in a shop that advertises for outside designers both with the banners and The Fix, but I can't see her handing out refunds either so this ought to be interesting.
87, it is true. I just saw the call on Facebook and I am not 86.
I wish Sara luck, its a lot of work to run a shop. I havent been to DSA in a while- the site was running too slow so I quit going. Hopefully that's been resolved before the shop opens! Mar 19, 2013, 6:08:00 PM
________________ It's been running a lot faster for me since the server switch.
"supposed to be?" why can't it also be a fun way to play with your photos and pages?
___
Well, it is fun. Who said it wasn't? Your "rant" is a bit misguided but, hey, go for it. You love looking at ct pages? So do I-especially when they're really well done and creative.
Nope. I'm not on a CT. But I've gone through several pages of the SSD gallery and I don't see any terrible layouts. There are some that aren't my taste, but nothing I would call horrible. Which leads me to think that the original poster confuses her own taste with quality.
know it's their market, Einstein. The question is WHY. Don't you get that?
--------
Why is it their market? Who the heck knows. I haven't researched their demographics etc to find out. I get your question, it's just not one that has an instant or easy answer. I guess that's why I'm Einstein and you're not.
I hope you bet better IRL. And it doesn't change the fact that the OP looks as though they have an axe to grind, or they have confused their preference with value.
Love all the CTMs named, too. I've been following a few of them for years. I think TLP has the most boring CT. All the pages look the same and they feature nothing in the kits. It would be nice to see some more diversity there.
I don't know what's up at SO, either. The new gallery doesn't make finding anything easier. SM and SSD blow their CT away. At least their CT leave comments, too. I don't even get comments on my challenge pages at SO. Not that I scrap for the comments, but it's nice to receive a comment especially for challenge pages.
SO has always been horrible with comments and general community feel. It's usually the CT talking to each other and nothing genuine is ever said in that gallery. SM and GS are the best store galleries, IMO, for genuine comments which is nice to see these days. SM has one girl, though, that needs to stop leaving comments on pages that are a year or older...
Some CTMS like to go back and leave comments on LOS that are lacking love. What's wrong with that? I like getting comments on my LOs old or new- as long as they are genuine-ish.
Has anyone been spending more money on kits since Spring started? It's crazy how much I spend because I am loving the bright colors. How many spring kits does one need?! I've got to stop buying them.
Also, just want to comment on the kits I got at the Digiscrapperbrasil $2.00 sale. I got a bunch of bundles from Maria Designs. She packs a lot in them and even though a lot of them are recolors, I'm really happy with my purchase. Now to decide whether to get another Easter kit...
I haven't bought anything since the Christmas sales. I never get comments in SO's gallery. I like a few of their designers, but the site is so unfriendly, it's hard to hang out there.
Has anyone ever applied to SM while they weren't having a designer call? I'm curious. I want to, but I don't want to waste my time if no one is going to look at my application, you know?
I applied to Gotta Pixel and have not received a reply at all. I think it's really rude not to send out acknowledgement letters or reject letters. I'd like to know that my application didn't end up in the spam box, you know.
125 - When you want to get a read receipt, can you do that in your email itself (like a setting that will ask for a read receipt) instead of waiting for a reply to tell you?
A question for all the copyright police... our little country church is being sued for $20,000. The minister used a poem in one of his sermons. The sermon is archived on the church website for others to read. The poem was credited to the poet both verbally and in the written archive. The poet is now claiming copyright infringement. My question is, if this is truly against the law, when we use quotes or parts of songs, poems, etc on our scrapbook pages and then post them online, are we breaking copyright law?
Well I"m no lawyer, but I think your church would be covered under the 'fair use' clause since your pastor seemed to use it in an 'educational' manner in a sermon.
I saw this site called readnotify.com It says you get notifications when someone opens an email that you sent them. It costs but you get a free trial. Has anyone used it? Thought this might be helpful for those who say they email stores and don't get an answer. At least you know if your emails are getting opened.
WTF with Pixels and Company continuously posting photos of their staff's manicured hands today on facebook? I really want to like that site but this is making me want to unlike their page ASAP. It's a digi site, peeps, nobody cares about your hands. Gennifer, please make it stop.
#135 Just off the top of my head - Holly and Tiffany are two of the worst. Their shadows, or lack thereof, look like pages I made 7 years ago before I knew a thing.
Sorry, 136! I was playing around with the new IG account for P&Co, and was still logged in to it when I thought I was posting to my personal IG account. I'll be more careful in the future. :)
Well I"m no lawyer, but I think your church would be covered under the 'fair use' clause since your pastor seemed to use it in an 'educational' manner in a sermon.
132 I'm not 125 and I didn't get a reply either. Lol. I've applied before with no reply. Just thought I would try again. I would never apply again though. So rude.
"We don't have any openings" translates to "we don't like your work". It's just a nice way to say it. There's no fixed number of designers a store can have, they can add as many as they want.
What do you want store owners to tell you? I mean, I'm not one, but it seems much nicer to say "we're not having a call right now" or "I don't have available spaces", than to say "I don't think you're good enough" or "your work/personality isn't a good fit".
No one wants to hear their work is crappy. I wouldn't want to tell someone I wasn't a fan of their work. I can't see most people taking that gracefully.
Also, I think a store can be too full. Yes, they can take on as many spaces as they want, but once you get past 20 or so designers, the store starts to get too big to navigate nicely.
I did have a store owner tell me what she didn't care for in the sample I provided and also rejected me. She did not point out any quality issues and I think it was just her preference. But I guess she can add whoever to her store she wants, well then again she doesn't own it anymore...
What do you want store owners to tell you? I mean, I'm not one, but it seems much nicer to say "we're not having a call right now" or "I don't have available spaces", than to say "I don't think you're good enough" or "your work/personality isn't a good fit".
No one wants to hear their work is crappy. I wouldn't want to tell someone I wasn't a fan of their work. I can't see most people taking that gracefully.
---------------- Ridiculous. Of course no one wants to tell a designer they're not a fan, and no one wants to hear that about their work, but guess what? It's called being professional, something far too many in this industry don't understand. If I were a designer I'd much rather hear "your style doesn't fit in here" or "your designs are not what we're looking for" than be told they aren't taking designers only to see someone new added a week later (which I've heard has happened). There are tactful ways of being honest about it. Lying to spare someone's feelings will only come back to bite you in the ass.
Ridiculous. Of course no one wants to tell a designer they're not a fan, and no one wants to hear that about their work, but guess what? It's called being professional, something far too many in this industry don't understand. If I were a designer I'd much rather hear "your style doesn't fit in here" or "your designs are not what we're looking for" than be told they aren't taking designers only to see someone new added a week later (which I've heard has happened). There are tactful ways of being honest about it. Lying to spare someone's feelings will only come back to bite you in the ass. ------------- ^^^^^That!
Hey 138 you self-righteous bore, don't shake your head on my account. The photos were there, obviously having been acknowledged by Gennifer just a post later. No need to get snotty with me just because she removed them before you saw them. Asshole.
It takes quite a bag of guts to write to a store and ask for a spot. It feels like standing naked on the 50 yard line. A nice note from the owner with a big fat lie, is better than no note at all. A note with "I don't like your style, or you don't fit in here, serves no purpose but to hurt feelings and is unnecessary." I will take the lie any day of the week. Lack of response after shedding your clothes is more hurtful than anything.
How long after sending in an application do you sit around wondering and complaining about the owner not writing back to you? The comment about worrying that it might of ended up in spam is actually valid and could actually be what happened. Why not just politely write again to make sure that the first email was received, expressing concern because you had not seen a reply? Who knows, she may have replied and it ended up blocked or in your own spam. Why be so quick to assume that you are being ignored and if you are ignored, why want to work there anyway?
I'd rather have the truth than a lie. A store owner saying they have no space, only to take on two or more designers a week later is far more hurtful than "I don't like your work" or "your style doesn't suit the store".
If you are interested in going to a site, by all means contact the owner.
When I am approached, I may or may not be looking for designers at the time. The right designer might tip me over into looking, and someone I'm just lukewarm toward might keep me in not looking.
There's more to choosing a designer than just whether you like them. Assuming quality is good, a design style that is too different from your current designers is bad. Too similar is also bad. It's not usually cut-and-dried with a number.
If a designer debuts only a week later, chances are they've been in the works for a while. Most designers have reached an agreement a month or so before the store opens, and may have been in negotiations for a few weeks before that.
I have told people that I'm not adding anyone at the moment, and it was absolutely true, at the moment. A week later I might be adding someone, because I found out that one of my designers is leaving, or having medical issues, or just wanting to take a few months off.
#158: KimB and Jaimee and SugarHill have good stuff. Chelle's stuff at SO is usually good, though photographed & extracted items can be iffy. Rachael's stuff at her own store is usually good although the quality of photographed & extracted items can be iffy. (Look at her recent button strings release for an example--blurry and without texture.)
151- I waited for a week or so. Didn't want to write another email before that because I don't want to pester/sound desperate. The call ended then and I got no reply. I checked my inbox everyday in that week, as well as my spam box.
If owners were sending out emails of "your designers were not up to our quality standards and here's why...", then we'd have 3 pages of complaints about how the owner was rude and hurtful and on her high horse etc etc. Rejection is hard no matter what form it takes.
If owners were sending out emails of "your designers were not up to our quality standards and here's why...", then we'd have 3 pages of complaints about how the owner was rude and hurtful and on her high horse etc etc. -----
I would disagree. If the owner had just said it's not up to standard with no qualifier, then we'd get three pages. The biggest complaint I see here is when someone says it's crappy, fugly etc and then don't qualify it with why it's crappy, fugly etc.
But even quality issues can be debatable. Textures can be soft and be seen as blurred. Jaggies can be found but let's remember that pixels are square. Details might be found if the owner checks at 250% which is not standard way to check. I was turned down once because an owner said she didn't think I could make their quota, yet, I sell for more than their quota already, somewhere else.
Basically, if a store owner is honest, the designer can complain because they can disagree, or find that she is rude (if the designer cannot take the truth), but if the store owner wants to be polite and sugar coats her decision, then, she is a liar. Store owners just can't win, whatever they reply to the designer to turn them down.
#155 I am #138 and I did not call you names in that post. It's sad you feel the need to call me an asshole. -------
I've noticed over the last few months that one person (could be more, but I doubt it) who feels the need to call everyone an asshole, or dumb ass or something similar just because they can.
I've noticed over the last few months that one person (could be more, but I doubt it) who feels the need to call everyone an asshole, or dumb ass or something similar just because they can.
----
Sometimes no other word but dumbass fits, Dumbass. You thinking it's only one person who uses these names shows your lack of intelligence and perception. What a self-righteous idiot ou are.
Hello my family member! I wish to say that this article is amazing, nice written and include approximately all important infos. I'd like to peer extra posts like this .
Sometimes no other word but dumbass fits, Dumbass. You thinking it's only one person who uses these names shows your lack of intelligence and perception. What a self-righteous idiot ou are. ----------
Whatever you say. I never said only person uses that word but it sure seems like it's one person on this blog who does. That would be you. The only one who is self righteous is you but you are far too unintelligent to notice that.
#161: How long after sending in an application do you sit around wondering and complaining about the owner not writing back to you? --- Once I got a shop's rejecting reply after three weeks although I received a confirmation that they opened my mail in five minutes after I sent it and there was two downloads on my sampler package. I just waited their reply but happened nothing so I gave it up. Getting their rejecting mail after 21 days was unexpected and unwelcome. I think it was more unprofessional than they never reply.
WTF is up with designers putting math in their newsletters? I don't care if you're a math tutor in your "other life," just show me your latest designs, some CT layouts, and sign off. No need to show how "smart" you are.
how do you feel about a designer "revamping" older kits or taking their small FB freebies (like a few papers and 5-7 elements) and after they take the freebie down, turning them into a full kit? Shouldn't they say which pieces are repeats?!
179 - Would you mind sharing what you saw? If the designer putting this in her newsletter is not reading here, your post serves no purpose. If you could point out to the actual newsletter (or designer), maybe others can either bitch about it like you did, or give it another angle.
My $0.02 to #380/180: When designers turn around and make it a sample into a full kit, they're doing it backward. Make a larger than usual kit and offer a small freebie to entice someone to buy the larger work. And yes, they should tell you which pieces are repeats. It's the right thing to do. (It's entirely possible though that the designer wanted to see what the response would be to a freebie before they spent any time making it a larger kit.)
Unless driven by customer demand, revamping kits is a poor marketing decision and a waste of precious design time. After all, they bought the kit the first time around, why on earth would they buy a "new" version of it?
#181: This is the explanation given by the designer.
As you can see, to solve this proportion, I multiply the numbers that were diagonal from each other, so 600 times the x and 300 times the 3600. Then to solve for x, I divided both sides by 600. This tells me I can start with a 3600 x 1800 document. Then, when you finish making it, resize the image to 600x300 and it will stay proportional! These dimensions might be easily done mentally but you'll often get different dimensions out there but you can use this to find out what it should be! And if you get a little confused with the numbers, shoot me an email or post on FB and I can help you with the math! ;) I am a math tutor as well as a designer!
The last designer I rejected for quality issues got so nasty with me that I was very glad we made the decision to turn her down. She had elements that were anywhere from 72-200 px per inch and many of her papers were odd sizes too. When I explained the issue, she was defensive and rude and blamed it on CU. And because she had sold the kit in other shops, it should be "good enough" for mine. Now, I will never ever consider her for my shop because of her nasty attitude.
I applied to GP and received two emails. One stating that they had received my application and then a second letting me know that they wouldn't be offering me a position. I'm guessing that your email ended up in their spam bin.
185 are you kidding. She will not do that, posting on a smack blog is one thing being unethical is another. You know if the person were to read her name and know which store she applied to the owner could catch all kind of crap. That is rude to even ask someone to out somebody like that!
#183 Why do you care? At least one a month people post questions about resizing a siggy for display in the forum at my store so obviously it's something that people need help with. Maybe she's received lots of emails asking for help?
how do you feel about a designer "revamping" older kits --------
I don't mind designers revamping older kits as long as it says that in the description. I also find it helpful when they say what they've changed, deleted, added, etc. Not specifics, for example - removed some flower elements, added some new painted papers, added some word art - that kind of thing.
I was curious if you ever thought of changing the layout of your blog? Its very well written; I love what youve got to say. But maybe you could a little more in the way of content so people could connect with it better. Youve got an awful lot of text for only having 1 or two images. Maybe you could space it out better?
Finally an explanation from Thaty Borges on her facebook page:
IMPORTANT NOTE: Hello my dear customers and friends of the scrap world! Well, I want you to forgive me for the absence during this time, I know that some people must have come to me in my shop and not found me, and that is precisely what I have come to explain to you. Some of you who follow me know that I moved to another city in late 2012 and because of my upgrading, and in respect to Scrap Orchard lest I harm the store with my absence, I decided to stop making kits for a time (do not know for sure how long). This was a very difficult decision for me because I love scrapbook, creating and doing it, but I could not dedicate myself as necessary and create new projects with the quality that I always offered my products. I'm thinking of back to creating only products for commercial use, but for now I still not sure about it. It is not easy for me to announce this, for I am with you as a designer since 2007, but it was really accurate. I hope that very soon everything will be resolved and I can be in this fascinating world with you again, creating projects and enjoying myself for doing what I really love. Keep you informed of any news. Thanks for the time you were with me and for always believing and trusting in my work. *SORRY my bad english, ok :) Kisses ♥ Thaty Borges
I have revamped kits because I have grown as a designer but I still like the colors and concept of the older kits ... but can't put them in my store as is because they no longer represent my skill level.
I remember years ago, Baers Garten Designs revamped a bunch of kits, and sent all customers that purchased the original a free coupon for the revamped version! I thought that was amazing and never forgot it!
I have revamped kits because I have grown as a designer but I still like the colors and concept of the older kits ... but can't put them in my store as is because they no longer represent my skill level. -----------
Why not just make new kits with the same colors then?
722 comments:
«Oldest ‹Older 201 – 400 of 722 Newer› Newest»Did anyone else just get The Enabler? For some reason the whole thing looks really washed out to me and the contrast is whacky. I'm wondering if its my PDF viewer or is it the same for everyone?
http://digiscrapaddicts.com/TheEnabler/201303-TheEnabler.pdf
look at page 12 for example - I can barely see the edges of the cards and the white texture is non-existent to me and the reds and blues pop in a really glaring way.
The whole thing just looks awful to me. Anyone else?
Mar 16, 2013, 1:05:00 PM
__________________________
I just looked at it on two different monitors. One is calibrated and one is not. On my calibrated desktop it looked fine. Laptop, it looked crappy. Check your color settings? The PDF itself looks fine.
Does anyone really use ScrapStacks? It's like a rip-off of Pinterest, but more annoying.
199 - That's probably the dumbest thing I've ever heard. So what if the ct lo's don't include journalling? I can't see any kind of kit from any kind of style not being "journal friendly" unless you're looking for specific things like mats and cards to journal on. Otherwise, your statement is ridiculous and short sighted.
I make lo's for my designers but don't always include the journalling I add later because it's personal and maybe not something I want to share with the whole world. Doesn't mean I won't add it later.
I just looked at it on two different monitors. One is calibrated and one is not. On my calibrated desktop it looked fine. Laptop, it looked crappy. Check your color settings? The PDF itself looks fine.
----------------
Not the OP, but I just looked too, and it's weird on my monitor as well (it's calibrated). And it's not that the colors are off - it's that it's washed out horribly. Like someone turned up the contrast waaaay too much.
#172 - I'm a site CT and I don't understand why a designer would expect more from me than they do their own CT (unless they require "enabling the crap out of" each and every kit). I enable, but how am I helping the designer less than her own CT? I put my pages in galleries just like a personal CTM and I make my pages available to the designer just like a personal CTM.
I download a lot from my store because I thought that was my job - to promote the store's products.
I guess I'm confused.
I know people have said the STS Designer Darling contest submissions are all crap, but I disagree. I think this last round has some cute stuff and I downloaded several of them.
145 I was a designer for PDP and let me tell you, she is unprofessional, does not answer designers or customers emails, she leaves products in store months after a designer has left, and is very unprofessional. It isn't worth attempting to sell there as you won't get your products promoted either.
I was the OP on the Enabler thing - to me it looks like maybe someone ran some weird photo action on it thinking it looks 'edgy' or something. Maybe that works when things aren't all soft yellow and white, but it did NOT work with this month's colors.
To the person with the file naming problems - might I suggest you download a bulk renaming tool? Only takes a second to run it on the whole folder, and then you can name them however you want.
185 Way to go admitting you're talking shit about a new designers FIRST kits and painting a picture that she has horrible quality NOW when she has greatly improved since she began. Her new mini freebies have practicly no QC issues. I have downloaded the new and old stuff and I must say there is a BIG difference. It says a lot that you didn't even know she no longer did hand-painted elements. You should really get up to date on the work if you are going to smack someone on their quality.
And don't say you're just being "honest". You may not be hating like the other person said but you are far from being honest.
It's kind of sad that you (generally speaking) are sitting here telling people to avoid PDP. I think that's really unfair to the new co-owner who hasn't done anything wrong..that you tell people to not give her and the store a chance.
Yes, Pamedelah may suck but that doesn't mean the new co-owner does too which is probably why she asked for help. Just because Pamedelah treated designers and the site like shit, doesn't mean who she hired will too. It's a shame.
If she's still even partial owner, I'd still say steer clear.
12 Its so easy to say that and not give a reason. Are you just talking to see your comments on this blog? Your opinion/suggestion is useless without a reason.
186 - There is a difference for goodness sakes. This has shades of the Harper Finch overreaction. Take a second, get over the sting of having something you do criticized and then USE that information to be better, or ignore it.
---------------------------------------------
I'm overreacting? LOL :)
I'm not Katie, nor do I care if she overreacts or not. No one criticized anything I did, so in no way, shape or form is this an overreaction.
And being honest and "hating" on someone are NOT the same thing. You're starting to sound like Katie or a disgruntled CT member or something. And how in the world is this related to Harper Finch's reaction? LOL.
10 - Way to go admitting you're talking shit about a new designers FIRST kits and painting a picture that she has horrible quality NOW when she has greatly improved since she began. Her new mini freebies have practicly no QC issues.
-----------------------------------------
We were talking about QC issues. Those were the ones that I knew of that had issues. And yeah I didn't know she stopped doing hand drawn elements, who cares.
Oh and "practically no issues"...LOL. So it's okay if there are some?
I was a designer for PDP and let me tell you, she is unprofessional, does not answer designers or customers emails, she leaves products in store months after a designer has left, and is very unprofessional. It isn't worth attempting to sell there as you won't get your products promoted either.
-----------------
This answered my question about their call. Thank you!
14 you're a bit of a retard aren't you? The comment you quoted was clearly not directed to you.
I'm the one that first defended Katie and I'm not her nor am I a CT member of any team. Its cute how it equates to that when somone comes to another's defense. I'm Just an ex-designer who just scraps her memories. I quite enjoy Katie's work and I've found little to no QC issues with her newer work, like I said. Whoever it was that said she has "major QC issues" really has no idea what they're talking about since they're only basing it on her early kits.
15
I said practically no issues because the issues I found were more of a matter of preference. For example, she doesn't save her papers high enough quality for my liking. I prefer quality 10 or higher. She saves hers at quality 8 or 9.
And the people you are trying to convince that she has "major quality issues" cares if you know that she no longer does hand-painted elements. Since you clearly stated you haven't sampled her newer work, your opinion on her quality NOW is invalid and irrelevant. Stop trying to convince everyone of her "horrible quality" by attempting to state what you think is fact.
#15 Lord forbid someone ask you to know what you're talking about before you try to smack someone. "Take my word that she has MAJOR quality issues....but I haven't seen a sample of her work since she first started designing." You sound so smart! And I'm not katie, a ct member or #18. I'm only another person pointing out how silly you sound.
#9: "To the person with the file naming problems - might I suggest you download a bulk renaming tool? Only takes a second to run it on the whole folder, and then you can name them however you want."
I did this for nearly two years, then, with a few exceptions, I stopped. It's tedious, it's time-consuming, and it's not my job.
My pages get GSOs. They get blogged, they get pinned. And I'm exceptionally good about making sure everything is credited properly, with links.
If designers want me to use their work, and credit it, then they need to make that easy.
I don't think it sounds silly, I think it sounds "axe to grind with Katie" like maybe it's personal. In the end though, can't you just download freebies and look at it yourself?
Its so easy to say that and not give a reason. Are you just talking to see your comments on this blog? Your opinion/suggestion is useless without a reason.
-----
Yah. Nothing turns me on more than seeing my name, Anonymous, on the internet.
20: I did this for nearly two years, then, with a few exceptions, I stopped. It's tedious, it's time-consuming, and it's not my job.
----
So don't buy from those designers. I do agree with you that it's annoying when designers don't name their files with at least their designer name's acronym (if not their full designing name). And their TOU should state "Designer XYZ TOU," not just TOU. And what the heck is up with people designing under one name and using a different name on their files? Litabells comes to mind. And Sara Gleason labels her files as SGleason, which makes sense, but then I keep seeing Z & S on her previews...took me forever to realize she's Zinnias and Swallowtails. And her facebook page name is Plant Your Story. How the hell am I supposed to know she's Plant Your Story if I'm new to her designs?
I am the person behind post #149 on the first page, who initially said the new co-owner (Katie) had QC issues. I did not say major QC issues - the version of the files I got a hold of didn't have things named correctly, had some jagged edges on a few files, a couple of shadows in transparent areas (from inner shadows), very scratchy/digital looking papers, which just aren't my style. Doesn't change my opinion about steering clear of PDP, though. I don't know Katie, have never spoken to her, and have no idea what type of person she is or how well of an owner she would be. However, I have had some horrible past experiences with 'The Queen', and understand that you're judged by who you associate with. If Katie wants to be accepted as an honest, professional store owner, I think her best move would be to separate from Pamedalah and partner with someone whose reputation hasn't taken quite so many hits in such a short time.
Katie's handpainted elements were washed out looking and didn't help her any. I'm assuming that's why she stopped (besides taking up time). She's bound to have fewer QC problems as most of her stuff now is CU. as in ALL of it. She might have potential somewhere down the road - but for now she is very beginnerish and needs to tweak and define her style. I feel sorry for her getting involved at PDP. It's a sure loss of money. New people jump at chances thinking it will be easy to start a new shop, or make over an older one. They have no idea what they are getting into. I hope she stays at STS for now - she will find herself homeless soon otherwise.
here she goes again:
http://www.digishoptalk.com/boards/showthread.php?t=316555
Katie is no longer going to be working with Pam but according to the time the email was sent out (I applied to PDP) I think that decision was made before she was bought up here.
25 Katie never bought into PDP. She was just offering Pameledah a hand in running the store.
Am I the only person who doesn't buy kits because of CT layouts?
__
This has nothing to do with that. My initial comment was a question about why consistently substandard layouts were allowed by the store and/or designer ct members. I wanted to know if there were other reasons to keep a person besides scrapping skills. I would venture a guess that most of us don't need ct layouts to decide if we want a kit. However, since they're there, they should at least be of decent quality one would think.
#29 - I wasn't even thinking about your comment about substandard layouts. I was just asking the question.
I guess I'm confused.
__
Hopefully, this confusion isn't reflected in your layouts.
"To the person with the file naming problems - might I suggest you download a bulk renaming tool? Only takes a second to run it on the whole folder, and then you can name them however you want."
This is a good suggestion for people who might not know about this type of program. I've been using a program named "Bulk Rename" & it's been wonderful for renaming tons of files. (I had previously been manually renaming files but that was super tedious.) Bulk Rename isn't the prettiest looking program but it's efficient & fast at renaming lots of files.
"I did this for nearly two years, then, with a few exceptions, I stopped. It's tedious, it's time-consuming, and it's not my job.
If designers want me to use their work, and credit it, then they need to make that easy."
I totally agree. If you as a designer want users to credit your designs, you need to label your files clearly with your name before giving/selling them.
31 is just a mediocre (at best) designer who blames CTs for the fact her stuff is shit and no one buys it.
In fact, any designer who complains about that stuff isn't doing well sales wise and is looking for a scapegoat.
Anyone know what "icon" files are that sometimes are included in the download folders? Is this just a weird file for Mac users, or does it have a purpose? WinZip always gives an error message for the icon files so I just delete them.
#172 - I'm a site CT and I don't understand why a designer would expect more from me than they do their own CT (unless they require "enabling the crap out of" each and every kit). I enable, but how am I helping the designer less than her own CT? I put my pages in galleries just like a personal CTM and I make my pages available to the designer just like a personal CTM.
I download a lot from my store because I thought that was my job - to promote the store's products.
I guess I'm confused.
---------------------------------
you're confused, because i didn't say a site CT should do more than the designer's personal CT. they should do at least as much though. they should be required to do more than just upload the layout to that store gallery. they should be blogging, facebooking, and linking up the kits as well.
35 - It sounds like your problem is with the store owner, not the site CT. If they're doing what is expected of them, they're not at fault. If they're not doing as much as YOU think they SHOULD be doing, well, that's a different story.
I'm on a store CT and all that you described is required of us and then some. I've never even heard of a store CT who only has to post in the store's gallery and I've been around for a long time.
I totally agree. If you as a designer want users to credit your designs, you need to label your files clearly with your name before giving/selling them.
----
When did this become about whether or not the designer expects to be credited? She said she has a problem organizing her files because they aren't named how she'd like them, and a reasonable and helpful solution was given. Take it or leave it, but stomping your feet and pouting about something that no one even brought up just makes you sound like a toddler.
#37
To me, credits don't enter into it. The standard should be designer-kit name-paper#(or element name)
Anything less looks unprofessional.
One of my pet peeves is when designers separate their patterned and solid papers into separate files but then each set is labeled paper 1, paper 2 etc, so when you put them into the same folder you have to rename them. I don't mind the separate files, just dislike them having the same name. They usually name all their elements element 1, 2, etc.
Every store I have ever been in requires designer initials/name _ kit name _ element etc. It's habit now. I agree it should be the norm. I have DL'd well known designers goodies/or purchased them and am surprised by the files only saying element1, paper 1 etc. No kit name or designer initials etc. It's very frustrating. If I purchased the kit I will used my renamed and name them....
Take it or leave it, but stomping your feet and pouting about something that no one even brought up just makes you sound like a toddler.
__
And this just makes you sound like a blog nanny..f.o.
Hi there i am kavin, its my first time to commenting anyplace, when i read this post i thought
i could also make comment due to this brilliant paragraph.
Feel free to visit my page - bad credit home loan lenders
#3 - the question was raised, I answered the question. Sorry you found it ridiculous and short sighted. Looking back, there is not one kit I sorely wished I had bought and didn't.
Well now PDP is re-opening at all.
Thank you #9, I'm not the OP but I found your anwser useful.
you're confused, because i didn't say a site CT should do more than the designer's personal CT. they should do at least as much though. they should be required to do more than just upload the layout to that store gallery. they should be blogging, facebooking, and linking up the kits as well.
^^^
This. There's a whole bunch of site ct people who don't do this. It's as if they get an inflated head like their scrapping skills are indispensible or something. No one is that good and a lot of them are really bad.
#29 - I wasn't even thinking about your comment about substandard layouts. I was just asking the question.
__
I'd hope people don't base their decisions to purchase kits upon ct layouts. In a lot of cases, the designer would lose sales.
I like the layout I saw from a store ct person a while ago that had about 40 circles all clumped together with as many elements thrown on top. Included was two tiny, tiny photos. Laughable.
Does it take forever to get coupon codes from all designers or just a few. Seems like I occasionally get rewards and prizes almost instantly, and others I wait and wait and have endless troubles getting stuff. I know it's free, but if that's an indication of customer service then no thank you on giving you money.
I'd hope people don't base their decisions to purchase kits upon ct layouts. In a lot of cases, the designer would lose sales.
------
A lot? I don't base my purchasing on CT layouts, but most of the ones I have seen are very good.
I still want to see some of these horrible CT layouts...
I name my files as initials_kitname_paper or whatever but I also make some mistakes ... recently I uploaded and alpha without adding my initials for a blog freebie - my store QC caught it after I took it down and put it in the store, but hundreds of people had already downloaded it and I was pretty embarrassed.
I still want to see some of these horrible CT layouts...
------
Maybe yours will be among them?
I still want to see some of these horrible CT layouts...
---
I've already said they're at SSD, SO and TLP. Primarily, though the bad, bad element puke is at SSD. If you don't know to which I refer than my guess is you are an offender! You are the only person who appears to be at a loss about this. Rule of thumb: don't stack a bunch of elements on top of each other, shadow them to make them look like they're suspended in the air and call it clustering. This kind of bad scrapping comes under no heading for "styles" except C.R.A.P.
What I can't understand is why on earth the designers would like to see their kits used this way.
31 is just a mediocre (at best) designer who blames CTs for the fact her stuff is shit and no one buys it.
In fact, any designer who complains about that stuff isn't doing well sales wise and is looking for a scapegoat.
---
I've never designed so much as a button, Dumbass. How you, in your infinite wisdom, deducted that I was a designer is beyond me. Using the excuse that I must be a disgruntled designer to sway the conversation away from ct members with over-inflated egos and below average scrapping skills is transparent and will not work. I'd say good try though, but, it wasn't.
I'd hope people don't base their decisions to purchase kits upon ct layouts. In a lot of cases, the designer would lose sales.
------
A lot? I don't base my purchasing on CT layouts, but most of the ones I have seen are very good.
------
There are lots and lots of very good ones. There are also lots of mediocre ones and several really, really bad ones.
What I can't understand is why on earth the designers would like to see their kits used this way.
---
Maybe, just maybe, that's what the designer likes. It seems to be working for them at SSD, SO and TLP. I don't even frequent those places but I'm guessing that's their market (which is why I don't shop there). If it's not your style and you don't shop those places either, WTF is your problem?
#1 I never said I didn't shop there; you did.
#2 I never said I had a problem; I asked a question and have gotten some really good answers as opposed to yours which is awfully defensive for someone who has nothing to do with these stores. It obviously works the way it is, Dumbass. The question was why. If the subject is a sore spot for you, and it certainly seems to be, why not just pass by the posts and save your childish spew to use elsewhere
I still want to see some of these horrible CT layouts...
------
Maybe yours will be among them?
------------------
That's the rub, right there. She's very, very concerned we're talking about her and she's not very good at hiding it. I believe she's the same one previously who went on for a few sentences how her designer loves her work, blah..blah..blah..if none of this applies to her, why so concerned and argumentative about it? She needs to distress herself by maybe doing some digi element piling (sounds better than puking), that all new cyber hobby done by many and appreciated by few...very few.
Well I actually do base a good part of my decision on whether to buy a kit or not on a CT layout.
Well I actually do base a good part of my decision on whether to buy a kit or not on a CT layout.
-----
I think lots do especially when a designer is new to them. Hence, the need for a competent creative team.
I don't base my decision on whether or not to buy a kit based on whether or not the ct has the talent to use it, but I do like to see what they used in each layout. Sometimes I can see the elements with more detail than in the preview.
I like the layout I saw from a store ct person a while ago that had about 40 circles all clumped together with as many elements thrown on top. Included was two tiny, tiny photos. Laughable.
--------------------------------------------------
I. know this one, I think! If it's the same one she has a bunch of comments on there from people saying they like the circles! Well, duh. Good thing because that's definitely the focal point of the page whether you want it to be or not. Of course, the comments are coming from fellow ct members which leads me to a question. Do some stores or designers require their ct's to comment in the galleries on others' work?
I don't base my decision on whether or not to buy a kit based on whether or not the ct has the talent to use it, but I do like to see what they used in each layout. Sometimes I can see the elements with more detail than in the preview.
---
Right but it helps if the layout is done well so one can see the potential and quality of kits clearly, correct?
"less is better" is my motto when it comes to a layout as some layouts are so garbaged up with everything but the kitchen sink that one loses sight of the fact this is suppose to be scrapbooking ones memories. I sure don't see these kind of layouts from paper scrappers or in magazines. I sometimes think the digital thing has gone way past the mark.
"supposed to be?" why can't it also be a fun way to play with your photos and pages? I didn't realize there was a set of rules that you had to have memories or it wasn't right. I love to look at CT work. I see if the papers will work with the kit. When a designer releases and every ct page is with the same cream paper, it makes me wonder, what's wrong with the other papers? I like to see the elements in use, and papers cut to stack twenty deep! I don't have to worry that I can't close my scrapbook, cause it is digital! If I want to put everything, and come to think of it I have used a kitchen sink before! I can, that is the beauty of this hobby, I can do it the way I want!
I am on a rant, but there are sometimes, I just want to play, see how certain things cluster, and just enjoy an evening of creating for the sake of creating, not a memory kept, but I am happy!
And as to in magazines, perhaps you aren't reading the right ones, Somerset digital has some insanely crazy layered, some fantasy and others memories published in it every quarter!
Yeah to digi going way past YOUR self imposed mark...press on, pedal to the metal.
Do some stores or designers require their ct's to comment in the galleries on others' work?
_____________________________
Yes. Some stores have praise teams. That is their whole job. A few designers have praise teams and some require all team members to write comments.
I sure don't see these kind of layouts from paper scrappers or in magazines. I sometimes think the digital thing has gone way past the mark.
-------------------
Oh no, lol - I assure you there are plenty of paper scrappers that have issues with element vomit. And it's so much worse since it's a paper page - it couldn't lay flat anyways, but with the added layering and weight, I'm not really sure what they hope to accomplish with their pages, but memory making doesn't really fit imo. I believe they think they are being artsy, but it's definitely not my thing. I do agree though - most of the paper layouts I see are a much more simple style and focused on the photos and the memories - which is what I prefer in my digi pages :)
I still want to see some of these horrible CT layouts...
------
Maybe yours will be among them?
------------------
That's the rub, right there. She's very, very concerned we're talking about her and she's not very good at hiding it. I believe she's the same one previously who went on for a few sentences how her designer loves her work, blah..blah..blah..if none of this applies to her, why so concerned and argumentative about it? She needs to distress herself by maybe doing some digi element piling (sounds better than puking), that all new cyber hobby done by many and appreciated by few...very few.
-----
Nope. I'm not on a CT. But I've gone through several pages of the SSD gallery and I don't see any terrible layouts. There are some that aren't my taste, but nothing I would call horrible. Which leads me to think that the original poster confuses her own taste with quality.
#6: I agree. Some of the worst must have been cut. I looked at the six remaining contestants. Piccolina's kit is good as is La Belle Vie's kit. I like the colors and theme of Busy Crafting Mommy Designs kit but the preview is atrocious. I think she's definitely got potential.
Charly's crap is still there.
I like La Belle Vie's the best, and Piccolina's and Hat of Bunny's. I can see Busy Crafting Mommy's appealing to a certain group, but it's not my style . Mostly I can't work with palettes like that.
I read a few of the posts on site CTs and personal CTs. I may not have seen them all, but wanted to comment a bit. First off, there are different requirements for a site CT than then for a personal CT. Site CT's are encouraged to make layouts, post layouts, keep the forum going, make comments in the gallery, and host challenges, and if they enable, it's usually to enable the challenges they are hosting, or the store in general, like sales or promotions at the store, not necessarily specific designers. When the site CTs enable the store, there is probably more traffic at that store. If the designers have good kits, then they benefit from larger sales. If the kits are crappy, there is no amount of enabling that will help. Personal CTMs are to make layouts, enable the kits of that specific designer, and do what they can to promote that designer. If the sales are down, then I'd blame the personal ct more than the site cts. (or I'd blame a crappy product.)
I ct for a site and also for a few personal designers. I like both jobs, but they certainly aren't the same thing.
Also, for journaling--as a CT member, I don't always add journaling to my ct layouts, but add it later. Most designers aren't interested in journaling on the layouts, and sometimes it distracts from the product.
#68 Kudos! "the original poster confuses her own taste with quality."
If a product I like and want to buy has good layouts then I'm buying it.
When there are no layouts included I usually pass. I want to see the products on a page so I can imagine how I can personally use them.
Thank you for the bulk renaming tool. I didn't know it existed. I'll try it out.
Anybody have any magic organization tips to give? How am I supposed to organize 2 Tb of digi files?
Not a magical way, but you can try Lightroom. I have painstakingly organized and tagged all my stuff (yes, close to 2 TB as well) last year, and it totally changed my way of scrapping. I still scrap with kits, but now I also mix stuff because it's so much easier to find, for example, all my pink ribbons.
Here's a link you can check out:
http://digiscrap101.com/lightroom-class-2011-index-of-posts.html
Well, I'll throw some names out there. I base my favorite site CTMs not so much on their personal style, but on how they show a kit, which is the entire point of any CT, IMO. Like a PP said, CT layouts serve as a more visible view of elements and/or papers in a kit.
Here are some of my site CT favorites (from stores where I shop) -
SSD: Kjersti, Tronesia, marnel, eranslow, SeattleSheri, YepBrook, jacinda
SO: roxanamdm, Karen32, scrapper@heart
SM: Iowan, Patti, catgoddess, omlialie, Mother Bear
I don't know how active any of them are as I don't follow forums or do challenges, but all of the above have sold me on at least one kit over the years.
I think SSD has a good assortment of scrapping styles as does SM. I'm not sure what's happening at SO, but their CT is one of the worst "big name store" site CTs out there. Based upon recent layouts, there are apparently 4-5 active CTMs...
#77- maybe the didn't # their LOs right so they've just been lost in the inner ring of scrap pin hell at SO?
In all honesty though, Roxanas work is awesome,
And I'm not all that impressed with the rest of the honey bees or whatever they call their CT
77-I like many of the CTM that you listed--especially scrapper@heart, Mother Bear, and Tronisa. I like a well balanced CT. If they all scrap alike, the store can make due with one member. I always thought 2 peas ctms were pretty much the same, although I liked their style, they didn't show much diversity.
I have to agree with your list of great CT scrappers. My personal favorite is Mother Bear...she's on my team and she has never created a layout that I didn't love. But, as a designer, I like all sorts of styles on my team, as well as CTM's that help promote my designs beyond posting their layouts. I don't want all of my CT layouts to look the same. I want to show customers that my designs can be used in a wide variety of styles. So, I'm sure some of you would say that a portion of my CTM's aren't great scrappers. But to me, they represent a great variety. Those that aren't the more trendy scrappers tend to be my greatest promoters.
I never said I didn't shop there; you did.
#2 I never said I had a problem; I asked a question and have gotten some really good answers as opposed to yours which is awfully defensive for someone who has nothing to do with these stores. It obviously works the way it is, Dumbass. The question was why. If the subject is a sore spot for you, and it certainly seems to be, why not just pass by the posts and save your childish spew to use elsewhere
-------
what's with the dumbass again?
I never said you shopped there, I said "IF", do you know what the word means?
And it's not a sore spot, I was tired of the same old thing being spewed out by you about the sub standard CT layouts.
Why does it work? Because that's their market. It's not rocket science.
yours which is awfully defensive for someone who has nothing to do with these stores.
----------
Defensive? I don't think that word means what you think it means.
Undeniably believe that which you said. Your favourite justification seemed to be on the internet the easiest thing to have in
mind of. I say to you, I definitely get annoyed even as people consider issues that they just do not realize about.
You controlled to hit the nail upon the top and also defined out the entire
thing with no need side effect , other people could take a signal.
Will probably be again to get more. Thanks
Feel free to visit my web blog: online mode kaufen
"less is better" is my motto when it comes to a layout as some layouts are so garbaged up with everything but the kitchen sink that one loses sight of the fact this is suppose to be scrapbooking ones memories. I sure don't see these kind of layouts from paper scrappers or in magazines.
------------
I have seen these kind of layouts from paper scrappers and in magazines.
"supposed to be?" why can't it also be a fun way to play with your photos and pages? I didn't realize there was a set of rules that you had to have memories or it wasn't right. I love to look at CT work. I see if the papers will work with the kit. When a designer releases and every ct page is with the same cream paper, it makes me wonder, what's wrong with the other papers? I like to see the elements in use, and papers cut to stack twenty deep! I don't have to worry that I can't close my scrapbook, cause it is digital! If I want to put everything, and come to think of it I have used a kitchen sink before! I can, that is the beauty of this hobby, I can do it the way I want!
I am on a rant, but there are sometimes, I just want to play, see how certain things cluster, and just enjoy an evening of creating for the sake of creating, not a memory kept, but I am happy!
And as to in magazines, perhaps you aren't reading the right ones, Somerset digital has some insanely crazy layered, some fantasy and others memories published in it every quarter!
Yeah to digi going way past YOUR self imposed mark...press on, pedal to the metal.
-----------------
Bingo!
Yes! DSA is having a designer call they are opening a shop!
86 - that isn't even funny.
Loved the lists of CT members you like! So nice to have some good news around here.
So nice to have some good news around here.
------
It's a smack blog.
I like many of the same...
Tronesia and YepBrook at SSD
Catgoddess, Li14, and MotherBear at SM
Scrapper@heart, Nietis and britaneejean at SO
Heathergw and mommy2boyz at TLP
Patti at SM for clusters
Scrapping with Liz, Tiff, and jk703 for doubles
87, it is true. I just saw the call on Facebook and I am not 86.
I wish Sara luck, its a lot of work to run a shop. I havent been to DSA in a while- the site was running too slow so I quit going. Hopefully that's been resolved before the shop opens!
That's interesting. I wonder what will happen for those who have paid advertising there? I can't imagine wanting to be in a shop that advertises for outside designers both with the banners and The Fix, but I can't see her handing out refunds either so this ought to be interesting.
It's a smack blog.
-----
Doesn't mean it all has to be trash. It's a place to speak your mind anonymously. Good or bad, it is what you make it.
I probably would have done a revamp of DSA before opening a store. It needs an updated look pretty badly.
Good or bad, it is what you make it.
__
That's right and discussing opinions about bad and good ct work is hardly trash. Just because YOU don't like the topic doesn't mean it isn't "good."
Scrap Stacks is having a ct call.
Scrapping with Liz
___
One of the BEST ever template designers!
87, it is true. I just saw the call on Facebook and I am not 86.
I wish Sara luck, its a lot of work to run a shop. I havent been to DSA in a while- the site was running too slow so I quit going. Hopefully that's been resolved before the shop opens!
Mar 19, 2013, 6:08:00 PM
________________
It's been running a lot faster for me since the server switch.
It's been running a lot faster for me since the server switch.
____________________________
That's good to know.
"supposed to be?" why can't it also be a fun way to play with your photos and pages?
___
Well, it is fun. Who said it wasn't? Your "rant" is a bit misguided but, hey, go for it. You love looking at ct pages? So do I-especially when they're really well done and creative.
Why does it work? Because that's their market. It's not rocket science.
__
I know it's their market, Einstein. The question is WHY. Don't you get that?
Any guesses who is being added to P&Co?
Most designers aren't interested in journaling on the layouts, and sometimes it distracts from the product.
___
Very interesting and makes sense; hadn't thought of it before!
Nope. I'm not on a CT. But I've gone through several pages of the SSD gallery and I don't see any terrible layouts. There are some that aren't my taste, but nothing I would call horrible. Which leads me to think that the original poster confuses her own taste with quality.
_____
I'd bet a bunch this person is on SSD's CT!
know it's their market, Einstein. The question is WHY. Don't you get that?
--------
Why is it their market? Who the heck knows. I haven't researched their demographics etc to find out. I get your question, it's just not one that has an instant or easy answer. I guess that's why I'm Einstein and you're not.
I'd bet a bunch this person is on SSD's CT!
------
Not the OP but I'd bet a bunch that you're an idiot.
I'd bet a bunch this person is on SSD's CT!
----
I hope you bet better IRL. And it doesn't change the fact that the OP looks as though they have an axe to grind, or they have confused their preference with value.
Love all the CTMs named, too. I've been following a few of them for years. I think TLP has the most boring CT. All the pages look the same and they feature nothing in the kits. It would be nice to see some more diversity there.
I don't know what's up at SO, either. The new gallery doesn't make finding anything easier. SM and SSD blow their CT away. At least their CT leave comments, too. I don't even get comments on my challenge pages at SO. Not that I scrap for the comments, but it's nice to receive a comment especially for challenge pages.
SO has always been horrible with comments and general community feel. It's usually the CT talking to each other and nothing genuine is ever said in that gallery. SM and GS are the best store galleries, IMO, for genuine comments which is nice to see these days. SM has one girl, though, that needs to stop leaving comments on pages that are a year or older...
SM has one girl, though, that needs to stop leaving comments on pages that are a year or older...
-
Why? Is she not allowed to like something that is over a year old?
SM's gallery bumps recently commented pages to the front of your gallery. I'd assume they would like the most recent products in the store featured.
If it's only one CTM, I doubt the few comments she leaves on older LOs is going to make that much difference
Some CTMS like to go back and leave comments on LOS that are lacking love. What's wrong with that? I like getting comments on my LOs old or new- as long as they are genuine-ish.
108, I'm not CT at SO but I get comments on all my challenge pages. It's dropped off for sure on the new gallery, but I still get them
Anything is better than the DST comments.
I can see store CT being asked to comment on the store gallery, but I wonder if they also have the duties of commenting in the DST gallery too.
Has anyone been spending more money on kits since Spring started? It's crazy how much I spend because I am loving the bright colors. How many spring kits does one need?! I've got to stop buying them.
Also, just want to comment on the kits I got at the Digiscrapperbrasil $2.00 sale. I got a bunch of bundles from Maria Designs. She packs a lot in them and even though a lot of them are recolors, I'm really happy with my purchase. Now to decide whether to get another Easter kit...
Nope, I have spent nothing on kits, not since the middle of last year or so.
I haven't bought anything since the Christmas sales. I never get comments in SO's gallery. I like a few of their designers, but the site is so unfriendly, it's hard to hang out there.
Do any non-CT even post anything at DST? It seems like everything there is a CT layout.
Probably not, but what difference does it make?
I gave up posting at DST years ago. I don't even post my CT layouts there anymore and I've told my designers why. They are happy with that.
I post CT pages there, but also personal pages. Not that it matters ...
Has anyone ever applied to SM while they weren't having a designer call? I'm curious. I want to, but I don't want to waste my time if no one is going to look at my application, you know?
I applied to Gotta Pixel and have not received a reply at all. I think it's really rude not to send out acknowledgement letters or reject letters. I'd like to know that my application didn't end up in the spam box, you know.
125 - When you want to get a read receipt, can you do that in your email itself (like a setting that will ask for a read receipt) instead of waiting for a reply to tell you?
124 - Go for it. She will look at it.
SM will respond, if you were asking about TLP, well that's another matter entirely.....
Over half of the sneak peak thread at SO is from non-site CT members. I wonder what is going on there. Maybe they'll have a CT call soon.
A question for all the copyright police... our little country church is being sued for $20,000. The minister used a poem in one of his sermons. The sermon is archived on the church website for others to read. The poem was credited to the poet both verbally and in the written archive. The poet is now claiming copyright infringement. My question is, if this is truly against the law, when we use quotes or parts of songs, poems, etc on our scrapbook pages and then post them online, are we breaking copyright law?
Well I"m no lawyer, but I think your church would be covered under the 'fair use' clause since your pastor seemed to use it in an 'educational' manner in a sermon.
http://www.copyright.gov/fls/fl102.html
GP said it closed the call and sent out emails to everyone #125. Didn't you get yours?
I saw this site called readnotify.com It says you get notifications when someone opens an email that you sent them. It costs but you get a free trial. Has anyone used it? Thought this might be helpful for those who say they email stores and don't get an answer. At least you know if your emails are getting opened.
129 - Maybe they will have a call. They sure could use some better scrappers. Some of those CTMs are horrible looking beginners who aren't beginners.
134 - like who? I think their CT is pretty good for the most part.
WTF with Pixels and Company continuously posting photos of their staff's manicured hands today on facebook? I really want to like that site but this is making me want to unlike their page ASAP. It's a digi site, peeps, nobody cares about your hands. Gennifer, please make it stop.
#135
Just off the top of my head - Holly and Tiffany are two of the worst. Their shadows, or lack thereof, look like pages I made 7 years ago before I knew a thing.
#136 WTF are you talking about? I looked at their FB and I don't see any hand pics. smh
Sorry, 136! I was playing around with the new IG account for P&Co, and was still logged in to it when I thought I was posting to my personal IG account. I'll be more careful in the future. :)
138, I deleted them, but they were there for a while today.
Well I"m no lawyer, but I think your church would be covered under the 'fair use' clause since your pastor seemed to use it in an 'educational' manner in a sermon.
http://www.copyright.gov/fls/fl102.html
-------
This!
They can afford a manicure? Wow, good for them.
Anyone seen this? Is it new?
http://scraporchard.com/scrappin/pin/30293457191c29e0d0d7a715d26041bd
Did you see that the designers at Hummie's World were abducted by aliens?
Yeah, I didn't care either.
She got designers?
^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Yeah, four whopping designers plus Hummie. Never heard of a one of them.
124
Don't waste your time. The owner seems to be a liar. She says she has no space but keeps bringing on new designers.
It would be nice if she would just be honest and say she doesn't like the work or something.
132
I'm not 125 and I didn't get a reply either. Lol. I've applied before with no reply. Just thought I would try again. I would never apply again though. So rude.
"We don't have any openings" translates to "we don't like your work". It's just a nice way to say it. There's no fixed number of designers a store can have, they can add as many as they want.
What do you want store owners to tell you? I mean, I'm not one, but it seems much nicer to say "we're not having a call right now" or "I don't have available spaces", than to say "I don't think you're good enough" or "your work/personality isn't a good fit".
No one wants to hear their work is crappy. I wouldn't want to tell someone I wasn't a fan of their work. I can't see most people taking that gracefully.
Also, I think a store can be too full. Yes, they can take on as many spaces as they want, but once you get past 20 or so designers, the store starts to get too big to navigate nicely.
I did have a store owner tell me what she didn't care for in the sample I provided and also rejected me. She did not point out any quality issues and I think it was just her preference. But I guess she can add whoever to her store she wants, well then again she doesn't own it anymore...
143 that link doesn't work for me
Leave Hummie alone. Jerks.
What do you want store owners to tell you? I mean, I'm not one, but it seems much nicer to say "we're not having a call right now" or "I don't have available spaces", than to say "I don't think you're good enough" or "your work/personality isn't a good fit".
No one wants to hear their work is crappy. I wouldn't want to tell someone I wasn't a fan of their work. I can't see most people taking that gracefully.
----------------
Ridiculous. Of course no one wants to tell a designer they're not a fan, and no one wants to hear that about their work, but guess what? It's called being professional, something far too many in this industry don't understand. If I were a designer I'd much rather hear "your style doesn't fit in here" or "your designs are not what we're looking for" than be told they aren't taking designers only to see someone new added a week later (which I've heard has happened). There are tactful ways of being honest about it. Lying to spare someone's feelings will only come back to bite you in the ass.
Ridiculous. Of course no one wants to tell a designer they're not a fan, and no one wants to hear that about their work, but guess what? It's called being professional, something far too many in this industry don't understand. If I were a designer I'd much rather hear "your style doesn't fit in here" or "your designs are not what we're looking for" than be told they aren't taking designers only to see someone new added a week later (which I've heard has happened). There are tactful ways of being honest about it. Lying to spare someone's feelings will only come back to bite you in the ass.
-------------
^^^^^That!
Hey 138 you self-righteous bore, don't shake your head on my account. The photos were there, obviously having been acknowledged by Gennifer just a post later. No need to get snotty with me just because she removed them before you saw them. Asshole.
125 here. The call ended post of GP was posted after my post (almost right after). I didn't get an email still.
Best place to buy from for my commercial use stash?
Please do not suggest I ask at DST...........
It takes quite a bag of guts to write to a store and ask for a spot. It feels like standing naked on the 50 yard line. A nice note from the owner with a big fat lie, is better than no note at all. A note with "I don't like your style, or you don't fit in here, serves no purpose but to hurt feelings and is unnecessary." I will take the lie any day of the week. Lack of response after shedding your clothes is more hurtful than anything.
I am not a designer or a store owner. But it seems to me that some specific feedback would be useful.
"Your quality is not up to our standards. We found the following problems: ..."
"We generally market to traditional scrappers, and your work is too modern / artsy / whatever to fit in here. You might try ..."
& so on ...
How long after sending in an application do you sit around wondering and complaining about the owner not writing back to you? The comment about worrying that it might of ended up in spam is actually valid and could actually be what happened. Why not just politely write again to make sure that the first email was received, expressing concern because you had not seen a reply? Who knows, she may have replied and it ended up blocked or in your own spam. Why be so quick to assume that you are being ignored and if you are ignored, why want to work there anyway?
I'd rather have the truth than a lie. A store owner saying they have no space, only to take on two or more designers a week later is far more hurtful than "I don't like your work" or "your style doesn't suit the store".
If you are interested in going to a site, by all means contact the owner.
When I am approached, I may or may not be looking for designers at the time. The right designer might tip me over into looking, and someone I'm just lukewarm toward might keep me in not looking.
There's more to choosing a designer than just whether you like them. Assuming quality is good, a design style that is too different from your current designers is bad. Too similar is also bad. It's not usually cut-and-dried with a number.
If a designer debuts only a week later, chances are they've been in the works for a while. Most designers have reached an agreement a month or so before the store opens, and may have been in negotiations for a few weeks before that.
I have told people that I'm not adding anyone at the moment, and it was absolutely true, at the moment. A week later I might be adding someone, because I found out that one of my designers is leaving, or having medical issues, or just wanting to take a few months off.
#158: KimB and Jaimee and SugarHill have good stuff. Chelle's stuff at SO is usually good, though photographed & extracted items can be iffy. Rachael's stuff at her own store is usually good although the quality of photographed & extracted items can be iffy. (Look at her recent button strings release for an example--blurry and without texture.)
151- I waited for a week or so. Didn't want to write another email before that because I don't want to pester/sound desperate. The call ended then and I got no reply. I checked my inbox everyday in that week, as well as my spam box.
If owners were sending out emails of "your designers were not up to our quality standards and here's why...", then we'd have 3 pages of complaints about how the owner was rude and hurtful and on her high horse etc etc. Rejection is hard no matter what form it takes.
Some people can NOT handle criticism, even if it's constructive. As we saw earlier with Harper Finch.
If owners were sending out emails of "your designers were not up to our quality standards and here's why...", then we'd have 3 pages of complaints about how the owner was rude and hurtful and on her high horse etc etc.
-----
I would disagree. If the owner had just said it's not up to standard with no qualifier, then we'd get three pages. The biggest complaint I see here is when someone says it's crappy, fugly etc and then don't qualify it with why it's crappy, fugly etc.
But even quality issues can be debatable. Textures can be soft and be seen as blurred. Jaggies can be found but let's remember that pixels are square. Details might be found if the owner checks at 250% which is not standard way to check.
I was turned down once because an owner said she didn't think I could make their quota, yet, I sell for more than their quota already, somewhere else.
Basically, if a store owner is honest, the designer can complain because they can disagree, or find that she is rude (if the designer cannot take the truth), but if the store owner wants to be polite and sugar coats her decision, then, she is a liar. Store owners just can't win, whatever they reply to the designer to turn them down.
Store owners just can't win, whatever they reply to the designer to turn them down.
-----
Oh please. I've had store owners turn me down honestly and ones that have lied. I've never had an issue with the honest ones, so they did 'win'.
#155 I am #138 and I did not call you names in that post. It's sad you feel the need to call me an asshole.
#155 I am #138 and I did not call you names in that post. It's sad you feel the need to call me an asshole.
-------
I've noticed over the last few months that one person (could be more, but I doubt it) who feels the need to call everyone an asshole, or dumb ass or something similar just because they can.
I've noticed over the last few months that one person (could be more, but I doubt it) who feels the need to call everyone an asshole, or dumb ass or something similar just because they can.
----
Sometimes no other word but dumbass fits, Dumbass. You thinking it's only one person who uses these names shows your lack of intelligence and perception. What a self-righteous idiot ou are.
^^^ Disagree. Name calling (particularly anonymously) is childish.
Hello my family member! I wish to say that this article is amazing,
nice written and include approximately all important infos.
I'd like to peer extra posts like this .
My homepage ... krankenversicherung beitrag
Sometimes no other word but dumbass fits, Dumbass. You thinking it's only one person who uses these names shows your lack of intelligence and perception. What a self-righteous idiot ou are.
----------
Whatever you say. I never said only person uses that word but it sure seems like it's one person on this blog who does. That would be you. The only one who is self righteous is you but you are far too unintelligent to notice that.
Sometimes no other word but dumbass fits, Dumbass
-------------
You are using it wrong but that comes as no surprise whatsoever.
#161: How long after sending in an application do you sit around wondering and complaining about the owner not writing back to you?
---
Once I got a shop's rejecting reply after three weeks although I received a confirmation that they opened my mail in five minutes after I sent it and there was two downloads on my sampler package. I just waited their reply but happened nothing so I gave it up. Getting their rejecting mail after 21 days was unexpected and unwelcome. I think it was more unprofessional than they never reply.
WTF is up with designers putting math in their newsletters? I don't care if you're a math tutor in your "other life," just show me your latest designs, some CT layouts, and sign off. No need to show how "smart" you are.
how do you feel about a designer "revamping" older kits or taking their small FB freebies (like a few papers and 5-7 elements) and after they take the freebie down, turning them into a full kit? Shouldn't they say which pieces are repeats?!
179 - Would you mind sharing what you saw? If the designer putting this in her newsletter is not reading here, your post serves no purpose. If you could point out to the actual newsletter (or designer), maybe others can either bitch about it like you did, or give it another angle.
My $0.02 to #380/180: When designers turn around and make it a sample into a full kit, they're doing it backward. Make a larger than usual kit and offer a small freebie to entice someone to buy the larger work. And yes, they should tell you which pieces are repeats. It's the right thing to do. (It's entirely possible though that the designer wanted to see what the response would be to a freebie before they spent any time making it a larger kit.)
Unless driven by customer demand, revamping kits is a poor marketing decision and a waste of precious design time. After all, they bought the kit the first time around, why on earth would they buy a "new" version of it?
(Cue me getting blasted in 3...2...1...)
#181: This is the explanation given by the designer.
As you can see, to solve this proportion, I multiply the numbers that were diagonal from each other, so 600 times the x and 300 times the 3600. Then to solve for x, I divided both sides by 600. This tells me I can start with a 3600 x 1800 document. Then, when you finish making it, resize the image to 600x300 and it will stay proportional! These dimensions might be easily done mentally but you'll often get different dimensions out there but you can use this to find out what it should be! And if you get a little confused with the numbers, shoot me an email or post on FB and I can help you with the math! ;) I am a math tutor as well as a designer!
The last designer I rejected for quality issues got so nasty with me that I was very glad we made the decision to turn her down. She had elements that were anywhere from 72-200 px per inch and many of her papers were odd sizes too. When I explained the issue, she was defensive and rude and blamed it on CU. And because she had sold the kit in other shops, it should be "good enough" for mine. Now, I will never ever consider her for my shop because of her nasty attitude.
#184. So give her up so we don't purchase her stuff!!
I applied to GP and received two emails. One stating that they had received my application and then a second letting me know that they wouldn't be offering me a position. I'm guessing that your email ended up in their spam bin.
185 are you kidding. She will not do that, posting on a smack blog is one thing being unethical is another. You know if the person were to read her name and know which store she applied to the owner could catch all kind of crap. That is rude to even ask someone to out somebody like that!
#183 Why do you care? At least one a month people post questions about resizing a siggy for display in the forum at my store so obviously it's something that people need help with. Maybe she's received lots of emails asking for help?
how do you feel about a designer "revamping" older kits
--------
I don't mind designers revamping older kits as long as it says that in the description. I also find it helpful when they say what they've changed, deleted, added, etc. Not specifics, for example - removed some flower elements, added some new painted papers, added some word art - that kind of thing.
To me, as a customer, 'revamped' means it was shit the first time they made it and now they think they can make it better.
I never buy anything 'revamped.'
I was curious if you ever thought of changing the layout of your blog?
Its very well written; I love what youve got to say.
But maybe you could a little more in the way of content so people
could connect with it better. Youve got an awful lot of text for only
having 1 or two images. Maybe you could space it out better?
my web site; mortgage refinancing bad credit
Finally an explanation from Thaty Borges on her facebook page:
IMPORTANT NOTE:
Hello my dear customers and friends of the scrap world!
Well, I want you to forgive me for the absence during this time, I know that some people must have come to me in my shop and not found me, and that is precisely what I have come to explain to you.
Some of you who follow me know that I moved to another city in late 2012 and because of my upgrading, and in respect to Scrap Orchard lest I harm the store with my absence, I decided to stop making kits for a time (do not know for sure how long).
This was a very difficult decision for me because I love scrapbook, creating and doing it, but I could not dedicate myself as necessary and create new projects with the quality that I always offered my products.
I'm thinking of back to creating only products for commercial use, but for now I still not sure about it.
It is not easy for me to announce this, for I am with you as a designer since 2007, but it was really accurate.
I hope that very soon everything will be resolved and I can be in this fascinating world with you again, creating projects and enjoying myself for doing what I really love.
Keep you informed of any news.
Thanks for the time you were with me and for always believing and trusting in my work.
*SORRY my bad english, ok :)
Kisses ♥
Thaty Borges
I have revamped kits because I have grown as a designer but I still like the colors and concept of the older kits ... but can't put them in my store as is because they no longer represent my skill level.
I remember years ago, Baers Garten Designs revamped a bunch of kits, and sent all customers that purchased the original a free coupon for the revamped version! I thought that was amazing and never forgot it!
#193 exactly. That is why I have revamped kits too.
I have revamped kits because I have grown as a designer but I still like the colors and concept of the older kits ... but can't put them in my store as is because they no longer represent my skill level.
-----------
Why not just make new kits with the same colors then?
What an undignified way to hold a CT call
http://www.sweetshoppecommunity.com/forum/showthread.php?t=71829
Good luck, but no thanks.
197 - How is it undignified? And with an attitude like yours, I'm sure they don't need or want someone like you. Thanks.
2 designers leaving SBG
New comments are not allowed.