From "Cherry" after confronted with evidence - excuse me leave me alone now!!!you do not know my life got it?to pry into it and bring back memories i don't need to think about is cruel go away and leave me the hell alone!!!!!!!!! i do not have to tell you it,but if it makes you fucking Happy i will,we were all adopted 3 different familys,when we turned 21 we found eachother,got it? leave me and my fucking family alone,and to bring up my fathers death to me adopted father bitch,but real father to me as he raised me,none of your fucking buisness he was murdered ,thanks for bringing all this back up!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
From "Cherry" after confronted with evidence - excuse me leave me alone now!!!you do not know my life got it?to pry into it and bring back memories i don't need to think about is cruel go away and leave me the hell alone!!!!!!!!! i do not have to tell you it,but if it makes you fucking Happy i will,we were all adopted 3 different familys,when we turned 21 we found eachother,got it? leave me and my fucking family alone,and to bring up my fathers death to me adopted father bitch,but real father to me as he raised me,none of your fucking buisness he was murdered ,thanks for bringing all this back up!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
--------
Really? So then why did her blog say she wanted to design apart from her sister and not be in each others faces like they are at home?
From "Cherry" after confronted with evidence - -----
Who confronted her and where?
Also, if they were all adopted by 3 different families as kids and didn't find each other until they were 21, how can they have photos of themselves as kids, as Charly claims? (refer page 5 of this blog, post #101)
Notice her layout about her 2011 changes now reads "Photo and Layout made by my sister used with permission." under the description. I don't recall that being there before?
As for her father, talking about the dead is never a good thing to do. Leave him out of it.
#18- Sorry to say that crosses the line between harassment and calling someone out on lies. It's wrong on so many levels. Even if she did alot of things wrong it's still not right. Whoever did that just crossed the line.
You know how funny it is that they said they were living together ? here is Charly's writting at STO
I can answer Shannon as i live in the Harpswell,No its a few Hours away,Cundy's Harbor is Part of Harpswell Maine Just anouther section of it We have 4 sections Harpswell Neck,Cundy's Harbor,Orrs Island and Bailey Island all are Harpswell We are next to Brunswick Maine,Bath Maine Freeport,Topsham Maine..
That was completely unnecessary and uncalled for. A smack blog is one ting, but going to her 'place of business' and calling her out is bordering on harassment.
She is going even further in her BS not only with the "Photo and Layout made by my sister used with permission" but that she used the exact same photo in this layout http://www.digishoptalk.com/gallery/showphoto.php?photo=1139963&title=fallin4u&cat=5369 stating it's her (charly)
I suspect that there are many people online who struggle with challenges of different sorts, including mental illness. It doesn't surprise me that there are designers who face this. There is lots of research that demonstrates strong correlations between creativity and mental illness.
I am kind of surprised that Cherry/Renay is still listed as a designer at Scrapbable. I don't own a store, but it is probably not helping that store to have a suspicious designer onboard.
Her actions show she knows what she is doing. The game is up. --- If Charly has some type of mental illness (and this is all hypothetical, since I have no idea what is going on in that space-bar-hating head of hers), then you're missing the point. Yes, she may "know" what she's doing, but that does not mean her actions come from a place of deceit. She may "know" in her head that she has a twin. But like I said, IDK what her motivations are. Maybe she just wanted a new design name and thought the DS community would be dumb enough to swallow this twin pill. Whatever her reasons, this just might be the most odd story in DS history.
I am sorry to say that mental illness or not, a person should still be held accountable of their actions. I know people with mental illness and I don't think it should be an excuse. It might explain things, but not excuse them.
Other designers have been using "double identities" in different places, haven't they? I seem to remember one being named recently (just too lazy to re-search) but did they ever try to make up such an elaborate story? I mean, couldn't one designer approach a store owner saying "I would like to design something a bit different under another design name, even if I am the same person as X". Would a store owner go for that? Is that an alternative that would have been more "acceptable" (for lack of a better word)?
If Charly has some type of mental illness (and this is all hypothetical, since I have no idea what is going on in that space-bar-hating head of hers), then you're missing the point. Yes, she may "know" what she's doing, but that does not mean her actions come from a place of deceit. ----------
Knowing people with mental illnesses, the ones who pull this kinda of stunt sure do know they are being deceitful.
#47 - I would think this to be an acceptable situation: clear, transparent, nothing hidden, nothing suspicious. I bet you would not have denied it if asked by a customer, right? That is the difference. Using a different name, in itself is not the issue, it is the pretending and the lieing and the makeup story. That is the issue.
you know authors frequently write for different genres under different names, and it's perfectly acceptable. If she had just come forward and said, "yes it's me, I'm using my middle name because the style of this design shop will be very different from my current stuff so I don't want to confuse people",there might have been much less outcry. At this point I think we just need to move on. This is giving me a headache!
As a store owner, I would have no problem with a designer coming to me and asking to try a new style/and or design name. It shows me that they might see where they could improve upon their designs, or that they simply want to break away from something they feel they have outgrown. Personally, I feel for Charly, I think if she does have a mental illness, then she needs the proper help, however, I think she was hurt from being put on this blog too many times and that she wanted to change her image, but she certainly went about it the wrong way. All she has done is give all of us more fuel for the fire and more to smack about than ever. I went and read all the posts, all the links, and I've seen all the contradictions she has made, i.e. she and her sisters grew up together, she doesn't design in her store because they didn't want to be up each others butts like they are at home, the photos, the layouts, the dates, the posts and cross posting, oy it doesn't seem to end. She won't be invited to any stores that I own, her design style will be scrutinized heavily for future reference, and I sincerely hope she gets some help. So whose life gets ruined next, we need a new smackee.
#51 I admit it, this blog is a guilty pleasure, as well as a source of information. Yes, I have posted here before, and I am guilty of calling to the mat those that have stuck their fingers into the wrong cookie jar, but what I haven't done is reveal personal information, and drag someone down as they have done to Charly. I agree she deserved most of what she got or gets from this, but to downright drag her family into this and ruin what reputation she had was a little low, even for this blog. I'm not above smacking where smacking is due, but this goes beyond smacking. I honestly feel sorry for her co owner, and her designers, they don't deserve the fallout, and not mentioning any names, but word has it the other owner of Berry Sweet is devastated, she had no idea any of this was going on. it's things like this that ruin not just one person, but a whole store, and some store owners won't take designers from tarnished shoppes.
If I were the other owner of BSS, I would pretty much demand that Charly resign from the shop - most certainly as a designer and I would push as owner.
This is huge. I'm hoping DST knows about this because I read that "Cherry" was just made moderator there.
This whole situation is very sad and I hope she gets the help she needs.
So everyone thinks they know my life,well none of you don't,I didn't think I had to give my whole life story to be a designer,but I guess you do in your eyes.So befor I start yup I can't spell as good as you all,make fun of me for that one,use to it by now... Sence it is everyone buisness what my life is I guess I will tell you.
Yes I am a triplet,we were born and were taken away from our birth parents on the spot and placed in foster care,we were adopted to 3 familys no one wanted 3 girls at once so they adopted us one by one.we were named by our adoptive parents,so they named me renay not knowing my sisters middle named was renay from her adoptive parents,we saw eachother on Christmas once a year for the first 8 years of our life,my sister stayed in Maine with her parents,I moved with mine to Alaska my dad was in the navy so we traveled eveywhere,Jades parents moved to Spain and that's the last I seen of her and charly too,that's all I remember is her first name ,we are searching for her now with no luck,charly found me when we were 21..
Charly has one birth son a husband and 4 dogs and 5 cats and one stepson,I have one son a hubby..
Charlys adoptive dad had a drinking problem when he split from his wife and lived On the streets, he was found floating in the ocean in Portland Maine one of 12-15 others who would be found floating in same area within months at first it was ruled not suspicious,but after bodies after bodies were found they are now investing it as suspicious.acording to charly he didn't know how to swim and would never go near the water. After he died her grandfather died of a heart attack after being told about his son,1 month later her uncle fathers brother died of complications of a drug overdose due to his dad and brother is what the hospital said,2 days later her other uncle and dads brother was found dead of a drug overdose by her grandmother her uncles mom on there front porch so ya bringing up her dad brought back a lot of memories,she lost her whole family within months for Christ sakes..this is all on the Internet for you all to look up to make sure I am not lying...
.no one brought it up to her it was all brought up to me in a PM at scrapable,she saw it on smack blog where everyone is laughing about it,the one who posted it to me on the other hand was very rude and disrespectful this is those PM's
Charly, give it up. ====================== Re: Stop harrasing me You're just pissed you got caught.
I do NOT give a flying frick about your dad. He was a drunk homeless criminal.
You need help. ============================
These are psoted by a Meghan but I assume that's a fake name,who would actually treat someones family like that under a real name in a forum if they design or CT..
Yes I admit I used charlys photo for my avator she is much thinner as I am fat yes make fun of me some more for being fat.I am ashamed and trying to loose weight and thought we were twins so I used her photo,yes wrong of me I admit it.
I really did not think I needed to tell my life story to the digiland.but for 3 weeks now being harassed and called crazy for no reason at all,this iall could of been done through email,jen yurko is the one who started it all and should of came to me or charly and asked for the truth and would of got it.Instead she ran and told everyone god knows what so everyone is harassing us on fb,blog now forums.I am not good for a designer anymore none will want me,charlys store is gonna go to shit,so will her design name thanks to all this shit that could of been avoided.
Oh I might not wanna forget to tell you charly crashed tonight totalled her car,becouse of this shit,she left speeding out and crash around the corner the road is winding and we assume she took the corner to fast.I will sure to post her hospital papers to proove to you all as I do not want to let anything of my life not be told to you all sence its a requirement now to tell your whole life story to NE a designer if you don't your crazy..sence charly is in my life I will have to let you know.but she is still in the hospital so I will have to wait till she gets home to do that for ya,she is ok but messed up and few broken bones and stitches not that you all care.
Anything else you all would like to know about me?not that any of this was anyones buisness,it was private,our life at home,something I should not have to tell anyone.
All of you know how to really make a person feel like shit,this is wrong what I had to do,I should not have to tell any of you a frigging thing about my past.
Charly owns BSS if you do a whois on the site, she also owns the domain and I'm guessing the hosting, so she can't be asked to leave, it's her co owner who either has to leave, or be dragged down with her. I'm betting she shares the cost of the store, so if she is forced out because of this stunt Charly has pulled, then she is losing a lot of time and money. What if Charly just pulls the site down like so many have done in the past, leaving all of them with no explanation? Cherry/Charly has been made mod at DST? Just shows you they don't give a shit who they put in charge. How does a so called new designer get made mod anyway?
Oh please, get a grip. That is Charly, not her twin. Look at the word "sence" should be since, and no twin is going to spell the same exact word wrong every time. Read Charly's posts at her forum, and read the above, read their blogs, she/they misspell the same exact words and do the same lol after every freaking sentence, and even forget to space after punctuation even. Same person, not convinced there are two. Sorry about your private life being brought into this Charly, but you simply should have admitted to this up front that you wanted a change instead of inventing a whole alternate ego. I am so over this. This isn't smacking anymore, it's purely pathetic.
This is just getting entirely out of hand. Posting a sob story while listed as anonymous really does nothing. Nothing effective anyways. I'm sorry for the hardships in your family. BUT, life is what you make it. You're not doing so hot right now. Just sayin.
Charly/Renay - you have changed up your story so many times now that you don't even remember what you've said before. Start making yourself a list so you quit misstepping all the time! First you were twins, now you are a triplet - your stories of how you were brought up have differed; now you've added in adoption and finding each other when you were twenty one. All you are doing is digging yourself a bigger hole. I'm sorry someone brought up your father - but in the end its YOU that has caused all this to happen. You no more have a twin or a part of a set of triplets than I am.
why should i post with my name are you? No one else is. i am not giving a sob story,seems you all wanted to know my life.
----- See, right there is that famous lack of a space after your comma. Everything you post everywhere is the same way, misspelled, no spacing, and you can't tell me twins, whether together or apart have the exact same typing/writing style! Get over yourself, come clean, admit your wrongdoing, take your smack and move on.
Like i said you don't need to know my life, what i just said is the truth,would you want to tell everyone what your real life was like if it was full of all this shit..look it up its all online in the papers not one lie have i said on this blog.my story has never changed.if i didnt want to say i was adoptive when i introduce myself i do not have to that is none of your buisness get it in your head its my personal life not yours to know is it?.No it is not!why don't you go smack someone else drag them in the mud and go fuck their life up,your all good at.
Wah Wah Wah - that's all I'm reading at this point cuz it's just one BS thing after another. Honey - no one believes you. Get that through your head. No one cares about your sob story - they care that you lied and KEEP lying. Wah Wah Wah - understand yet?
no i will not just becouse i type like someone else doesn't mean i am them.you do not know nothing about twins unless your one.
i do not have the time to run a whole site with designers,run store blog,store fb,store twitter store pinterest, and run the same for 2 design names 2 twitter accounts and 2 pinterest accounts and design under 2 names sell in 2 shops plus a shop for anouther name.so that would make 3 twitter 3 fb's 3 pinterests 3 Blogs and also have a friggin life with family and friends in real life. its hard enough designing for one name and all the stuff that goes with it. done argueing with you. unlike you i have a life off the internet.
LMFAO you don't run a pinterest for your shop. I've seen it, that isn't your pinterest Charly. You sure have enough time to invent a whole other person, and for what it's worth, sure there are records of twins liking the same things or owning similar things, even living apart, but no one, not one person who is a twin ever has the exact damned writing style and forgetful punctuation, that's just laziness.
is reveal personal information, and drag someone down as they have done to Charly. I agree she deserved most of what she got or gets from this, but to downright drag her family into this and ruin what reputation she had was a little low, even for this blog. ---
Not justifying anything, but to say it hasn't been done before is incorrect. The Amanda Dykan scandal was much worse. Amanda's family was really dragged into this, her husband, her kids, etc, as opposed to a mention of Charly's deceased dad.
Charly has one birth son a husband and 4 dogs and 5 cats and one stepson,I have one son a hubby.. -----
What happened to your other son?
You keep saying your story is on the internet, it isn't. The only stuff I'm finding is all about Charly and some of it isn't very nice. I would think twins, sorry, two of triplets, finding each other at the age of 21 would have made at least a local paper. Nothing have I found.
Cherry/Charly has been made mod at DST? Just shows you they don't give a shit who they put in charge. How does a so called new designer get made mod anyway? ----
No, it just shows that no one else volunteered. You honestly think people are lining up to do that job? Give me a break.
Oh my gosh, you are right #82. Didn't she say they had different fathers? Oh she did, they each had adoptive fathers, I had to go back and read to make sure.
-----
First it was Cherry's father that was murdered (post #8) and then Charly's. Color me confused.
-----
Me too!
Something else, what are the odds that adoptive parents named their kids Renay, spelled the exact same way? I'm a Renee' and I've never seen it spelled that way.
Something else, what are the odds that adoptive parents named their kids Renay, spelled the exact same way? I'm a Renee' and I've never seen it spelled that way. ----
I checked to see if it was a local thing in Maine, but it doesn't appear to be. Go figure. Not to mention the whole Cherry/Charly (sounds kinda the same) and then Jade.
Where did anyone see the mention that Cherry was a mod at DST? I looked in the forum and didn't see anything. Maybe in the DCR? And if it is the case, how long until she is let go?
It is simple everything about Renay/Charly are just a lie. Remember on her blog post where she stated that it's not their fault if their parents named them with the same name ? But now they were adopted.
Cherry says her father was murdered but we can see that he killed himself while he was drunk.
Charly have edited one of her layout with "Layout and photo by my sister" but she forgot to edit the other layouts where she used the photo as herself (Charly).
And the store of Cherry is still open. Seriously I feel for the other designers there.
Do Charly AND Cherry share the same surname after being adopted? They are both married and have husband and kid(s), yet they live together all day? Not impossible, but definitely odd. Also, do you know you can check at DST when is the last time one member logged on? It is easy, check their profile and it says right on top. And Charly was in the forum at 3am last night. Maybe she had her iphone in the hospital?
Ok, I'm just about tired of Royanna at Divine Digitals saying she's going to do 40 days of challenges and then coming up with one excuse after another as to why they aren't being posted. And then saying that she'll have something by "whateverday" and then not posting that. Why would you set up a challenge like that and not be prepared to have all 40 days of it ready to go? She's done this before. I know she's sick, and these are freebies, but come on. Don't set it up if you can't finish the deal.
Do Charly AND Cherry share the same surname after being adopted? They are both married and have husband and kid(s), yet they live together all day? Not impossible, but definitely odd.
--------- Please before posting shits just read correctly. They never said they had the same surname Charly said that her middle name was Renay and that her "sister" first name was Renay
"that my name is Charly Renay yes renay is my middle name,my sisters first name is renay i did not name us that way my mom and Dad did.." Post 101 page 5
As for the living together I mean when you mentionn you live in the same house why then does your cities are about 25 min from each other... unless it is a HUGE house.
Please before posting shits just read correctly. They never said they had the same surname Charly said that her middle name was Renay and that her "sister" first name was Renay ---------------------- That is why it was a question. Some info has been posted as Charly's surname due to paypal info or something. I was just wondering if Cherry also had the same surname. Maybe that is how the owner put two and two together?
After reading all of this I had a million things to say but then realized it's all been said. The name thing, yeah right, if you want us to believe it show some documentation. On the other hand don't bother because it would be falsified. Charly, Renay, Cherry, Jade, whatever the hell you are calling yourself this minute, own up to what you've done. You have made such a fool out of yourself. And the guilt trip about having a wreck, yawn, don't believe it. There are too many discrepancies or to simplify for you HOLES in your stories. If you had stopped at twins you might have gotten away with it. Thank you for providing the entertainment for the blog, where's the popcorn?
If Charly/Cherry do not want their info out there, then why post about it here? It's not going to get us to simmer down; it's going to cause a huge smack attack. "Cherry" can't say "Stop talking about my family!" and then also post about Charly's family make up and the horribly, emotionally draining things that have happened in her family. You can't tell us to get out of your life at the same time that you tell us about your life. I don't want a sob story. I just want to know why the hell this is going on. But having said that, I'm done. I don't care enough about Charly/Cherry/the stores to put any more energy into this. I mean, yes, we've all decided that Charly is also Renay, so why are we still talking about this? No one is going to buy from "them," so what does it matter at this point? I know this blog isn't about/for me so I know I'll be smacked just for saying this, but can we please start talking about something that's actually scrap related?
#99, if you want the topic changed, change it. But don't do the fluff stuff that belongs at DST other topic changers try. "Sooooo, what are you buying on DSD? I plan to spends tons and need to know what's not hawt." "Which designers avoid pink?", etc.
We can always go back to the over-sexed, he-she "European" that keeps insisting that we think is Charly.
Wow, I haven't been here in quite some time. Nothing has changed. You're all still talking about Charly? ----------------- Yes, I guess 4 days talking about one subject is "quite some time". I remember seeing some topics going on much longer than that!
About RA. Dont be shocked if she doesnt follow through on anything she says. I know she is sick, but she is perpetually like that. Its not okay. If you are sick, that's fine. But don't make promises you cant deliver on. I think in the year I was a designer there, I got paid on time maybe twice. Payroll is not that hard to process.
101: OK, I'll try changing the topic. Why doesn't SO give away a kit in their newsletter anymore? I liked being able to check out designers before I buy from them. (I know, I know: SO is such a great store, so how come I haven't purchased from each of their designers already?) Last week you had to attend some boring chat to get the freebie (and what if you can't make the chat because of time difference?) and this week it's a stacked paper or something from an old kit of Laura's. I can't tell quality as well if I don't have the individual elements. I don't need a full kit, but it would be nice to get some papers and ellies to check out. There's no reason to subscribe to the newsletter if there isn't anything in it for me. I can find out "What's New" by clicking on the New Releases category in the store.
Charly put her personal information out on the web for the world to see. Like it or not, she made it pretty easy to find out all about her.
Anyone who cared to do their homework could find me pretty easily- and post my dad's obituary here too. Trashing the dead- not cool. But proving someone's outlandish story to be bull shit is fair game, IMO. If you lie, be prepared for the consequences.
I recently saw a post by someone at SSD that said that the designers there agreed that offering discounts cheapens their product so they don't do it much. Maybe SO is taking a page out of their book and not cheapening their product by offering freebies.
I believe there is nothing wrong with offering frebebies. As an example: ScrapGirls, they have a Daily newsletter that offers a freebie every day, still have plenty of sales and they seem to be doing quite well for themselves. They even offer quite a bit of free products during contests or events as well, instead of %off coupons.
I don't think it cheapens your products in the least, but you have to have good product to begin to be effective. At least from a consumer's point of view.
#45 I agree. Amanda Dyken was a good designer back then. I just checked out some of her designs that I bought 4 years ago and their better than a lot of designer kits today.
#110 sorry I meant: #45 I agree. Amanda Dyken was a good designer back then. I just checked out some of her designs that I bought 4 years ago and they're better than a lot of designer kits today.
They offered a mini-kit from Laura earlier in Oct.
They'll have a Farmer's Market coming up too with $1 kits. That's a great way to try something new with minimal investment. If you like it, go back and buy more.
Also an Advent, collect the pieces kit. (but that's probably too hard for you?)
It takes time for designers to offer something for free and it usually doesn't lead to sales but to greedy freebie hunters demanding more and more.
The OP only brought up Charly's dad as proof, it would never have been mentioned if Charly hadn't made up this ridiculous story, so I think any information that shows up here is her own fault. I'm pretty shocked that Scrapable still has her listed as a designer was well.
As for SO, almost every designer I can think of has a freebie listed on their facebook page, there's not really any reason to include one for quality purposes in the newsletter. I will say their chat prizes are pretty disappointing, especially when most of their chats require me to stay up late at night and join some obnoxious voice program to participate.
Yes I love the bargain bites. I've bought many kits 40% off. I agree they have more sale now han they did in the past. I also bought a kit from the undead sales.
But SSD's prices are so darn high that "bargain bites" prices, at 40% off, are still expensive when compared to other stores' regular prices! (And if someone spouts off about SSD's great quality, I'll barf. It's not that they don't have good quality, but it's no better than some other stores'.) And yes, $1 for an item to buy to look at quality isn't a lot. But that's assuming a kit I want is in the Farmers Market. (And a designer can only put an item in the FM once.)
I know for a fact that Tracie Stroud put stuff in more than once. (because I bought it twice, duh.) They do it all the time.
$4ish for a kit is expensive? Not even Gotta Pixel goes that low at regular price, you have to find it on sale.
SSD and SO are name brands. They will always carry a higher price tag just like name brand clothes. Name brand clothes aren't always higher quality but people want the name.
A month or so ago there was a Hawaii-type kit given away in the weekly newsletter from SO. It seems like whoever their featured designer is they do some sort of give away. I shop there a lot (and no I'm not a CT or anything) and I'm pretty satisfied by the amount free stuff I'm getting between the FB freebies and what the designers share on their own pages and in their newsletters. Of course I'd be happy to take more freebies but overall I'm fine. They did a good job with their big Celebration FB train/Olympic thing for the big scrapping booking day in May.
I'd rather have fewer GOOD freebies than GB and GB of crap that I seem to have collected from other sites.
Those SOUL seminars are frustrating. Instead of blathering on FOREVER at the beginning, I wish they'd get to the point show/teach what they needed to, share the code, and then let everyone chat and ass kiss to the designer for the rest of the time. They did switch over to a different video-chat program that seems to be way better than the one they had before.
125: You bring up a good point about "name brands" and how they aren't always good quality. And no, $4 for a kit isn't expensive, but I don't think a kit that's $4 at 40% is a good price. I think an actual bargain is like $2 or less for a kit. But I like that SSD has their freebies so you can check out quality. I ended up making a purchase (during a sale, of course) based off of some of the freebies that I'd DLed.
126: I hate fb. I don't DL any freebies via fb, and if a designer says "Like me on facebook and get a freebie!" it seems like just a pathetic way to boost their own ego: "Oh, look, I've got 3000 fans!" No, you've got about 50 actual fans and 2550 people looking for a freebie. And if it's not hosted through the store, then who the hell knows if it's got a virus? I'd rather have a freebie through a store's newsletter (or a designer's newsletter) than stupid facebook.
Scrapable removed Cherry from the list of their designer. --------------------- I think it is a safe decision. I wonder if the current designers at Charly's store will stay or leave. If they leave, that would hurt the co-owner, but would any designer be willing to stay associated with Charly? I am not sure I would, but then, I am not selling in her store, never have, and never considered it either.
#129, you can still get a virus downloading from a store. And don't you scan stuff as it is downloaded?
And if you are the OP of this topic, your problem is that you want freebies on your own terms. A freebie should benefit the designer as well since they put time into designing it. You gotta get over your FB stupidity.
I'm a regular shopper at SO and I, too, am disappointed at the crap cluster/quick page type freebies offered in the newsletters lately. Any designer/store who makes business decisions based upon the behaviors of people who rarely buy (like many freebie hunters) is a moron. Freebies are great ways to thank customers for their business and hopefully make some new customers.
Some lame freebie made by a CTM can be nice sometimes (depends on what it is), but I'd prefer something made by the designer.
I prefer to be thanked with a coupon so I can get something I want. And I get that at SO with the points. But designers have also emailed coupons directly to me.
And it isn't stupid to decide if something is worth your time or not. Designing takes a long time.
132: "#129, you can still get a virus downloading from a store. And don't you scan stuff as it is downloaded?" ---Yes, of course I scan as I DL. And yes, of course you can get a virus from a store, but 4Shared or whatever site hosts a fb freebie is much more likely to pass on a virus. (And fb's security/privacy policy is so shady. I don't want a fb account because I don't want to give fb my information.) And I am the OP. And yes, of course I want freebies on my terms. I'm the customer: aren't I supposed to be kept happy so that I'll continue buying? And no, I don't think that wanting what they had before is asking too much. It's not like I'm asking for MORE freebies or BIGGER freebies. It would be very nice if the store brought back something they used to do. 135 has a good point: % off coupons are an awesome way to reward customers. But if you don't know if you want to be a customer, then a freebie is a nice way to entice people, especially when SO says "sign up for our newsletter to get freebees!" No, I don't have to sign up for the newsletter anymore to get a freebie: I have to go to a stupid chat.
I'm so frustrated with the Scrap matters daily download. I've lost half the parts by now. I always forget and stupid facebook doesn't show all the posts on my wall anymore. Amber did a smart move giving a second chance but I wish she would have unlocked all the links for one day than just sending us one day we missed.
No, I don't have to sign up for the newsletter anymore to get a freebie: I have to go to a stupid chat. --- Do them a favor and don't go to the stupid chat. Have you ever heard the expression about looking a gift horse in the mouth? You are a pip.
#139 Yes I am. Go check out how many people lost links. The second chance request post is 16 pages long. I know they're trying to give us a beautiful kit for free but why all the fuss about a 24 link that expires? I just don't get it. It seems stupid to me.
#142 oh please.. I don't need a handout. It's just one kit. I have hundreds. I just don't like the way they're handling it. Don't be so offended. I guess you're from Scrap Matters.
Customers who think that they know how to judge the quality of a designer's work, their pricing or how a store should be run, should try doing it themselves and see how much their time is worth. Put your money where your mouth is.
#145 WOW!!! I'm impressed. Nice approach. Nice way to solve a problem. Just kick the customer out. No I'll shop wherever I want. Why are you so offended? It's just a stupid freebie anyway.
Oh man, last time I was here or rather at the old blog, we were talking about Amanda Dykan/LilyAnn Taylor. I've been gone for a long time...came on today and found the new site. I've only read October. It's sort of the same but different. They names have changed from Amanda Dykan to Charly Renay and from LilyAnn Taylor to Wild Cherry Designs. What a blast from the past. Thanks for the laugh.
#147- I hope that SM doesn't feel as if customers are expendable. I like shopping at SM even though I will admit I find the daily download frustrating but I found SO's daily downloads a pain last year at Christmas for the same reason. I just forget somedays- my fault, not theirs. I do appreciate the effort the designers at the store make, and Amber's second chance was nice- although I did forget to sign up for one of the missing links.
I do have to say that I love the freebies at Trader Joes. And yes I have bought things just because after eating the sample I wanted to buy it. Personally I would have never bought pumpkin cream cheese and biscuit crackers. But one day it was a sample at the store and it was so good, I bought some. Now I am hoping that the pumpkin cream cheese will come back this fall. We had a cold day recently and TJ's was offering warm apple cider. And right now I have a bottle of apple cider in my fridge. Does TJ's have food whores come in the store just for the taste test. You bet. They may not all be food whores. Some are down on their luck, or homeless. But that doesn't stop TJ's from offering the samples. I bet they get a lot of business besides my own from the samples.
I see all the whiny freebie trolls have come out to play today. The attitude of entitlement is sickening, folks. NO ONE owes you a damn thing. You do know that, right?
#156- What I see are designers with crappy attitudes complaining about customers and how some like the occasional freebie. It's nice to know how designers really feel about the people that buy from them.
and the designers that do throw out freebies all the time are usually kind of crappy.
honestly, how much of all the freebies do you actually use. Are you spending all day trolling for freebies and filling up your hard drive or actually scrapping and getting pages done and printing.
I don't expect anything for free. But if a store (in my case, SO) says that their newsletter has a freebie in it, then the newsletter should...wait for it...have a freebie in it. Not info on a chat they're hosting in which they'll give the link for the freebie there. I love spending money on DS stuff. I used to design, so I know how much time it takes and I know what quality items are. And yet I still expect stores to do what they say they'll do.
And 137, how dare you say "Please quit moaning about having to spend a dollar and find another hobby, like weaving dryer lint into sweaters. That is free." I work very hard on my lint-woven pet sweaters, and making the space for those tails is very difficult. And getting a cat to wear it without getting scratched is even more difficult. I need to scrap to relieve the stress.
Dropping by to grab a freebie, which you could obviously make yourself, expert digital scrapbooker, does not make you a customer.
I am not associated with Scrap Matters in any way nor does my opinion have anything to do with them nor the store where I sell. You brought up Scrap Matters and that is the subject, to which I am replying.
I like the designers who don't put out freebies all the time. Usually when they do offer a freebie it's really good. Those are the ones I download. I don't expect them and appreciate it when they do offer them.
#156, I'm not a designer, but I have to agree with what you are sayin'.
#158, I don't think anyone is criticizing the fact that people like occasional freebies. I think it's the attitude that designers have to bend the fuck over backwards for snotty customers. There are tons of freebies, coupons, and sales out there. If you want them, go get them. Don't complain about how you have to get them. If you don't like how you have to sign up or get it, don't shop from the designer. $$ means more than being whiny. Whiners sound like little brats.
I work very hard on my lint-woven pet sweaters, and making the space for those tails is very difficult. And getting a cat to wear it without getting scratched is even more difficult. I need to scrap to relieve the stress. --- I just spit coffee all over my computer. This is the funniest thing I have heard today, except for the "where is my daily freebie link" rant. Way to lighten the mood #160.
#160, I agree with that newsletter you are referring to from SO. There should have been some sort of freebie to match what they were advertising. I have to say that I'm not surprised since it was Banasiak as the featured designer. The whole thing was mismanaged. They had the stupid chat the same times as a MIS. She's been whining about not having mojo to make things. Her freebie kit was okay. Nothing really cool. She said that there would be more parts to it but publicity about it has been crappy. Even it it had been a cluster or a quick page, it should have been there, along with the invitation for the SOUL and the coordinating freebie.
Not sure what's happening at SO the past month or so. Things were hopping at the end of the summer and September was dead. Kami's been pretty quiet and the Appletini's and such haven't been very good about advertising events and giving people heads up.
167 again ... my criticism above has nothing to do with wanting a freebie. I'm looking at it as a marketing/management/customer service. Frankly I don't really like Laura's designs. I only have her stuff from the Mega's and Grab Bag type purchases. If I ever win a coupon or gift certificate I search and search for something that I like. I think her collabs are much better than what she makes on her own.
I'm #145 #148 I'm frustrated because Scrap matters reminds us of the freebie only through facebook. Facebook doesn't show all the posts. At least Scrap Orcard sent a daily email at christmas countdown last year. I mentioned the second chance thing Amber offered because the pages were endless.16 total of custoemrs asking for links they missed. Yes for a freebie,a halloween kit. I just don't understand what's the point of having the links expire in 24 hours? Why stress out customers? There are so many that lost many links. Just open the stupid links and make everybody happen. But no... she gives a second chance and sends one link in a pm to every person that commented on that thread. That's ridiculous. I just don't get it.So much trouble for a free kit. They're doing it the wrong way. And I've spent lots of money at Scrap Matters and many other stores. I'm not a freebie chaser. I usually don't like them,most of them are bad quality but I do appreciate them as someone mentioned above especially if they're well made.
I think what people are missing from the whole freebie thing is it isn't the freebie people are complaining about, it's how it's handled. That makes it a complain about how a store or designer does business. If they can't execute a free item to the satisfaction of those receiving it, what are the odds they'll come back and give them money for their work?
Designers and stores need to realize that freebies are given out for exposure, thanks, and for new customers. If they piss people off giving said freebie, those people will NOT come back and spend money with you.
If you don't want to offer freebies, fine. No one is saying you must. If you're going to offer a freebie, then make sure it given in a way that makes the most people happy as possible.
That's business 101. I'd love to say I'm shocked at the "shop elsewhere" mentality by store owners and designers here, but I'm not. Customers would be shocked to know how they're talked about behind the scenes.
169: the links are only 24 hours to deter freebie chasers (so they can't just come and get the whole kit in one swoop) and so that real, paying customers have to come back to the store every. single. day. and, hopefully, actually buy something. I don't like daily downloads (from any store, not trying to pick on SM) because I'm just not good at remembering to check the forum for a freebie link. I'll visit the chatter forum or the store but totally forget about the DD. Yup, I'm an idiot. But I don't fault the store for doing it that way. If a store says they'll provide a freebie for 24 hours and that's what they do, then good on 'em (unlike Royanna, who was just smacked for NOT doing what she said she'd do, probably by the same people who've been saying "Get over it" about SM and SO. And Ra is sick but people still smacked her. Yikes, we are a finicky, bitchy bunch today).
#170 You sound so reasonable. That's exactly what I was trying to point out but you explained it better. No one has to give out freebies. It would be better not to give a freebie than to frustrate customers and make it hard to get. The only store that made a daily freebie successful was the daily countdown from Scrap Orchard. They would sent out an email with a sneak peek of tomorrows free part and guess the designer. Each day a designer would have a 50% off. That's good business! That's how a daily download should be made. Or if not leave the links open for 2-3 days like most designers do. It feels like scrap nazi over at Scrap Matters and yes I'm starting to feel uncomfortable. No I'm not going to download any more parts of the freebie. Too much trouble already. And if they can't get to me through facebook for a freebie I'll sure be missing out on their DSD sales and everything.
I liked when TLP did the Summer Bucket List daily collab. They also did it in a good organized way. NOT via FB. If you missed a part they DID offer it at 50% off even if it wasn't free anymore. Which was good.
ustomers who think that they know how to judge the quality of a designer's work, their pricing or how a store should be run, should try doing it themselves and see how much their time is worth. Put your money where your mouth is. -------
I think too that's part of the issue with RA's 40 day challenge. I know she's sick and I wish her all the health and happiness. She does some really nice work, if that's your style, but as a business woman, she's a frickin' disaster. The links for her freebies aren't up their permanently, so you have people stalking her site making sure they don't miss out because they love her stuff and are working on the challenges. If someone questions when something will be posted (so they don't have to keep checking), they get slammed by people calling them jerks for not caring about RA's health.
Maybe she could get CT whore to be her personal assistant in exchange for free stuff. Her management can't get much worse.
I think what people are missing from the whole freebie thing is it isn't the freebie people are complaining about, it's how it's handled. That makes it a complain about how a store or designer does business. If they can't execute a free item to the satisfaction of those receiving it, what are the odds they'll come back and give them money for their work?
Designers and stores need to realize that freebies are given out for exposure, thanks, and for new customers. If they piss people off giving said freebie, those people will NOT come back and spend money with you.
If you don't want to offer freebies, fine. No one is saying you must. If you're going to offer a freebie, then make sure it given in a way that makes the most people happy as possible.
That's business 101. I'd love to say I'm shocked at the "shop elsewhere" mentality by store owners and designers here, but I'm not. Customers would be shocked to know how they're talked about behind the scenes. ----------
This. It always amazes me that some people just see a few words in a post and then make up their own minds about what the post is all about, instead of reading it all and finding out what it's actually about.
I used to be a freebie chaser. But when it got to be more work than it was worth I quit. Then I decided I was going to make my own designs. But when I realized that for a small amount of $$ I could buy something that would take me hours to make, I became a customer.
I don't think a designer has to give out freebies to have a good customer base. I don't care if any of the designers I buy from give out freebies. But then, I am a seasoned scrapbooker. If designers want to attract new scrapbookers, freebies are probably a good idea. But it needs to be done with a plan.
Spreading yourself out too thin and having to crank out shoddy freebies is not going to do the trick. Being a good designer is one thing. Being a good business person is another. It is important to know the difference.
I agree that designers and stores should follow through with what they promise, because that is just good business. I also agree that sometimes the customers expect too much. Finding that balance is the answer to world peace.
#159 #161 #171 I just calculated it and I've spent $359.82 total at Scrap Matters so I guess I can complain about how they manage their freebies and their business. Anti freebies club how much money have you spent?
Someone posted "Hello! I’m assuming, given the extensive time commitment and responsibilities involved in this commitment, that there is compensation involved. Do you have those details available? Thank you!"
The answer: "The creative team will have free access to all Scrap Packs as compensation for their time. The commitment is not extensive and shouldn’t take more time than any other creative team."
I have a decent amount of CT experience, but I'm sure every designer runs things differently, so I'm interested to know, is 3 pages/month, 2 blog posts, praise team, and social media promotion pretty standard in exchange for 3 kits a month?
I dont think so. I think its more. My bloggers do 4 posts a month with no layout requirements. My CTs do one layout (not 3) per kit with social media promotion and enabling. I still wonder what the hell she expects paper scrappers to do with digital kits?
hybrid maybe? I'd laugh my ass off if any paper scrappers actually applied though. Actually, I'll probably LMAO at any digi scrappers that apply. But to each her own, I guess. And before someone else states the obvious, yes, I know there will be people lining up to jump on the ScrapStacks bandwagon. It's their choice to apply... it's my choice to laugh.
so I'm interested to know, is 3 pages/month, 2 blog posts, praise team, and social media promotion pretty standard in exchange for 3 kits a month? -----
Break it down
3 kits - one page per kit posting the layout online is social media promotion 2 blog posts - work out with the rest of the CT who posts about what, it doesn't have to be a lot if everyone is posting two posts a month praise team - if you praise two layouts a day, it's not that much
It's not something I would do, but there are CTMs out there who do a lot more than that each month
It's also 3 kits each month from all different designers. I guess some people thrive on variety, though. And as long as the only promotion expectations are to post the layout, and only 2 comments/day are expected, you're right, that's not bad. However, blogging takes WAY longer than you might think. At least decent posts do. Ah well, too much work for me for what, the equivalent of $5, $7 a month?
2453 comments:
«Oldest ‹Older 1201 – 1400 of 2453 Newer› Newest»I feel sorry for her co owner and designers too, they don't deserve the fallout from this shit.
#194- What started this whole thing was Jen firing Charly's "twin". I'm not saying Jen was at all in the wrong.
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And so that would make someone posting evidence about Charly's lack of twin, Jen being anon? Weird.
This blog is here for entertainment. Why else would so many people post and read it?
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I never said otherwise. I said it wasn't here solely for the entertainment of one person.
It feels like Amanda Dykan/Lili Ann Taylor all over again.
http://names.whitepages.com/Charlinda/Lyons
Number of people in the US with this name - one!
#183 I'm the "European" and I'm not this crazy twin designer what's her name.
This story is getting old.
From "Cherry" after confronted with evidence -
excuse me leave me alone now!!!you do not know my life got it?to pry into it and bring back memories i don't need to think about is cruel go away and leave me the hell alone!!!!!!!!! i do not have to tell you it,but if it makes you fucking Happy i will,we were all adopted 3 different familys,when we turned 21 we found eachother,got it? leave me and my fucking family alone,and to bring up my fathers death to me adopted father bitch,but real father to me as he raised me,none of your fucking buisness he was murdered ,thanks for bringing all this back up!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Is this the real Amanda Dykan?
http://pinterest.com/amandadykan/?d
oh lord jesus, it's a fire
That doesn't explain why she used the same picture as herself and "Cherry" 2 years later.
From "Cherry" after confronted with evidence -
excuse me leave me alone now!!!you do not know my life got it?to pry into it and bring back memories i don't need to think about is cruel go away and leave me the hell alone!!!!!!!!! i do not have to tell you it,but if it makes you fucking Happy i will,we were all adopted 3 different familys,when we turned 21 we found eachother,got it? leave me and my fucking family alone,and to bring up my fathers death to me adopted father bitch,but real father to me as he raised me,none of your fucking buisness he was murdered ,thanks for bringing all this back up!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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Really? So then why did her blog say she wanted to design apart from her sister and not be in each others faces like they are at home?
From "Cherry" after confronted with evidence -
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Who confronted her and where?
Also, if they were all adopted by 3 different families as kids and didn't find each other until they were 21, how can they have photos of themselves as kids, as Charly claims? (refer page 5 of this blog, post #101)
Apparently, Charly's dad really was murdered.
http://www.sunjournal.com/node/711480
#8- That story about being adopted sounds way to much like the Bella Gypsy story to me. About finding each other after so many years. Odd.
#14 Can't you read ? HE drowned and was an homeless guy
An autopsy was performed at the Maine Medical Examiner's Office, although no findings were released.
Police said Mason's death is not considered suspicious though it remains under investigation.
Ok so the same style of typing was also inherited between the twins too.
http://scrapable.co/forums/showthread.php?10493-Hello-From-Maine-)/page2
I get calling someone out on what they did but to bring up and discuss the way someones family member died is just really wrong.
Apparently, Charly's dad really was murdered.
http://www.sunjournal.com/node/711480
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It doesn't say that. It says the death doesn't look suspicious. Apparently he was an alcoholic and probably just fell in the river.
http://hpn.asu.edu/archives/2004-April.txt
Just search for Charles Mason
I get calling someone out on what they did but to bring up and discuss the way someones family member died is just really wrong.
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It's public record. It's not as if someone revealed something that was private.
Didn't read it all - didn't care enough. I think this is just awesomely hilarious.
Notice her layout about her 2011 changes now reads
"Photo and Layout made by my sister used with permission." under the description. I don't recall that being there before?
As for her father, talking about the dead is never a good thing to do. Leave him out of it.
#18- Sorry to say that crosses the line between harassment and calling someone out on lies. It's wrong on so many levels. Even if she did alot of things wrong it's still not right. Whoever did that just crossed the line.
I agree, the father has nothing to do with it. Let it rest.
You know how funny it is that they said they were living together ? here is Charly's writting at STO
I can answer Shannon as i live in the Harpswell,No its a few Hours away,Cundy's Harbor is Part of Harpswell Maine Just anouther section of it We have 4 sections Harpswell Neck,Cundy's Harbor,Orrs Island and Bailey Island all are Harpswell We are next to Brunswick Maine,Bath Maine Freeport,Topsham Maine..
http://scrapable.co/forums/showthread.php?10493-Hello-From-Maine-)/page2
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That was completely unnecessary and uncalled for. A smack blog is one ting, but going to her 'place of business' and calling her out is bordering on harassment.
darn it - *thing not ting.
It's not her place of business if it's not a real person. Sorry, I don't agree with you or #24.
#29 - it would have been better to approach Bev privately. JMHO.
God this is so hilarious. I love how quick she was to add "Photo and Layout made by my sister used with permission."
#30
I'm not the one who outed her, and JMHO is implied by you writing it so entirely unnecessary to state...by the way.
Sorry that's just a pet peeve, kinda like when people type "Just saying," uh obviously, or you wouldn't have said it! Haha.
She is going even further in her BS not only with the "Photo and Layout made by my sister used with permission" but that she used the exact same photo in this layout http://www.digishoptalk.com/gallery/showphoto.php?photo=1139963&title=fallin4u&cat=5369 stating it's her (charly)
#33 - yeah, that's already been pointed out.
#32 - I agree about the JMHO, I don't even know why I put it there as I usually don't.
I suspect that there are many people online who struggle with challenges of different sorts, including mental illness. It doesn't surprise me that there are designers who face this. There is lots of research that demonstrates strong correlations between creativity and mental illness.
Can we not give them a break?
Can we not give them a break?
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How about them stopping the deceit? The constant excuses trotted out by others to justify why people do things is ridiculous.
We have no way of knowing why people do what they do. Especially people we have never met. "Benefit of the doubt" can be better for all parties.
There is no doubt to be given the benefit to.
Her actions show she knows what she is doing. The game is up.
The thread at Scrapable has been deleted.
I am kind of surprised that Cherry/Renay is still listed as a designer at Scrapbable. I don't own a store, but it is probably not helping that store to have a suspicious designer onboard.
38: There is no doubt to be given the benefit to.
Her actions show she knows what she is doing. The game is up.
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If Charly has some type of mental illness (and this is all hypothetical, since I have no idea what is going on in that space-bar-hating head of hers), then you're missing the point. Yes, she may "know" what she's doing, but that does not mean her actions come from a place of deceit. She may "know" in her head that she has a twin.
But like I said, IDK what her motivations are. Maybe she just wanted a new design name and thought the DS community would be dumb enough to swallow this twin pill.
Whatever her reasons, this just might be the most odd story in DS history.
It feels like Amanda Dykan/Lili Ann Taylor all over again.
Except Amanda was a pretty good designer.
I am sorry to say that mental illness or not, a person should still be held accountable of their actions. I know people with mental illness and I don't think it should be an excuse. It might explain things, but not excuse them.
Other designers have been using "double identities" in different places, haven't they? I seem to remember one being named recently (just too lazy to re-search) but did they ever try to make up such an elaborate story? I mean, couldn't one designer approach a store owner saying "I would like to design something a bit different under another design name, even if I am the same person as X". Would a store owner go for that? Is that an alternative that would have been more "acceptable" (for lack of a better word)?
Kiki Halbert and Studio Recherche (SP?) are the same person.
ROTF #42 about the good designer comment.
Except Amanda was a pretty good designer.
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Meh. Mediocre at best.
If Charly has some type of mental illness (and this is all hypothetical, since I have no idea what is going on in that space-bar-hating head of hers), then you're missing the point. Yes, she may "know" what she's doing, but that does not mean her actions come from a place of deceit.
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Knowing people with mental illnesses, the ones who pull this kinda of stunt sure do know they are being deceitful.
I once designed under two different names at the same time at different stores. Each of the store owners were fully aware of the situation.
#47 - I would think this to be an acceptable situation: clear, transparent, nothing hidden, nothing suspicious. I bet you would not have denied it if asked by a customer, right?
That is the difference. Using a different name, in itself is not the issue, it is the pretending and the lieing and the makeup story. That is the issue.
you know authors frequently write for different genres under different names, and it's perfectly acceptable. If she had just come forward and said, "yes it's me, I'm using my middle name because the style of this design shop will be very different from my current stuff so I don't want to confuse people",there might have been much less outcry. At this point I think we just need to move on. This is giving me a headache!
As a store owner, I would have no problem with a designer coming to me and asking to try a new style/and or design name. It shows me that they might see where they could improve upon their designs, or that they simply want to break away from something they feel they have outgrown. Personally, I feel for Charly, I think if she does have a mental illness, then she needs the proper help, however, I think she was hurt from being put on this blog too many times and that she wanted to change her image, but she certainly went about it the wrong way. All she has done is give all of us more fuel for the fire and more to smack about than ever. I went and read all the posts, all the links, and I've seen all the contradictions she has made, i.e. she and her sisters grew up together, she doesn't design in her store because they didn't want to be up each others butts like they are at home, the photos, the layouts, the dates, the posts and cross posting, oy it doesn't seem to end. She won't be invited to any stores that I own, her design style will be scrutinized heavily for future reference, and I sincerely hope she gets some help. So whose life gets ruined next, we need a new smackee.
#50- Yes, because ruining someones life is always fun right? It's refreshing to see a store owner with your amazing attitude.
#43- Sugary Fancy, Paper Planes and The Tattered Pear are the ones that come to mind.
#47- What names? There aren't alot of dual designers out there.
#51 I admit it, this blog is a guilty pleasure, as well as a source of information. Yes, I have posted here before, and I am guilty of calling to the mat those that have stuck their fingers into the wrong cookie jar, but what I haven't done is reveal personal information, and drag someone down as they have done to Charly. I agree she deserved most of what she got or gets from this, but to downright drag her family into this and ruin what reputation she had was a little low, even for this blog. I'm not above smacking where smacking is due, but this goes beyond smacking. I honestly feel sorry for her co owner, and her designers, they don't deserve the fallout, and not mentioning any names, but word has it the other owner of Berry Sweet is devastated, she had no idea any of this was going on. it's things like this that ruin not just one person, but a whole store, and some store owners won't take designers from tarnished shoppes.
If I were the other owner of BSS, I would pretty much demand that Charly resign from the shop - most certainly as a designer and I would push as owner.
This is huge. I'm hoping DST knows about this because I read that "Cherry" was just made moderator there.
This whole situation is very sad and I hope she gets the help she needs.
So everyone thinks they know my life,well none of you don't,I didn't think I had to give my whole life story to be a designer,but I guess you do in your eyes.So befor I start yup I can't spell as good as you all,make fun of me for that one,use to it by now...
Sence it is everyone buisness what my life is I guess I will tell you.
Yes I am a triplet,we were born and were taken away from our birth parents on the spot and placed in foster care,we were adopted to 3 familys no one wanted 3 girls at once so they adopted us one by one.we were named by our adoptive parents,so they named me renay not knowing my sisters middle named was renay from her adoptive parents,we saw eachother on Christmas once a year for the first 8 years of our life,my sister stayed in Maine with her parents,I moved with mine to Alaska my dad was in the navy so we traveled eveywhere,Jades parents moved to Spain and that's the last I seen of her and charly too,that's all I remember is her first name ,we are searching for her now with no luck,charly found me when we were 21..
Charly has one birth son a husband and 4 dogs and 5 cats and one stepson,I have one son a hubby..
Charlys adoptive dad had a drinking problem when he split from his wife and lived On the streets, he was found floating in the ocean in Portland Maine one of 12-15 others who would be found floating in same area within months at first it was ruled not suspicious,but after bodies after bodies were found they are now investing it as suspicious.acording to charly he didn't know how to swim and would never go near the water.
After he died her grandfather died of a heart attack after being told about his son,1 month later her uncle fathers brother died of complications of a drug overdose due to his dad and brother is what the hospital said,2 days later her other uncle and dads brother was found dead of a drug overdose by her grandmother her uncles mom on there front porch so ya bringing up her dad brought back a lot of memories,she lost her whole family within months for Christ sakes..this is all on the Internet for you all to look up to make sure I am not lying...
.no one brought it up to her it was all brought up to me in a PM at scrapable,she saw it on smack blog where everyone is laughing about it,the one who posted it to me on the other hand was very rude and disrespectful this is those PM's
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Re: Stop harrasing me
Panhandler, NOT surprised.
Charly, give it up.
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Re: Stop harrasing me
You're just pissed you got caught.
I do NOT give a flying frick about your dad. He was a drunk homeless criminal.
You need help.
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These are psoted by a Meghan but I assume that's a fake name,who would actually treat someones family like that under a real name in a forum if they design or CT..
Yes I admit I used charlys photo for my avator she is much thinner as I am fat yes make fun of me some more for being fat.I am ashamed and trying to loose weight and thought we were twins so I used her photo,yes wrong of me I admit it.
I really did not think I needed to tell my life story to the digiland.but for 3 weeks now being harassed and called crazy for no reason at all,this iall could of been done through email,jen yurko is the one who started it all and should of came to me or charly and asked for the truth and would of got it.Instead she ran and told everyone god knows what so everyone is harassing us on fb,blog now forums.I am not good for a designer anymore none will want me,charlys store is gonna go to shit,so will her design name thanks to all this shit that could of been avoided.
Oh I might not wanna forget to tell you charly crashed tonight totalled her car,becouse of this shit,she left speeding out and crash around the corner the road is winding and we assume she took the corner to fast.I will sure to post her hospital papers to proove to you all as I do not want to let anything of my life not be told to you all sence its a requirement now to tell your whole life story to NE a designer if you don't your crazy..sence charly is in my life I will have to let you know.but she is still in the hospital so I will have to wait till she gets home to do that for ya,she is ok but messed up and few broken bones and stitches not that you all care.
Anything else you all would like to know about me?not that any of this was anyones buisness,it was private,our life at home,something I should not have to tell anyone.
All of you know how to really make a person feel like shit,this is wrong what I had to do,I should not have to tell any of you a frigging thing about my past.
Charly owns BSS if you do a whois on the site, she also owns the domain and I'm guessing the hosting, so she can't be asked to leave, it's her co owner who either has to leave, or be dragged down with her. I'm betting she shares the cost of the store, so if she is forced out because of this stunt Charly has pulled, then she is losing a lot of time and money. What if Charly just pulls the site down like so many have done in the past, leaving all of them with no explanation? Cherry/Charly has been made mod at DST? Just shows you they don't give a shit who they put in charge. How does a so called new designer get made mod anyway?
Her slamming your dad crossed the line big time no matter what you did.
So if you used Charly's photo as your avatar, please explain why SHE went and edited her layouts at DST to say it was your photo on the layout ?
Oh please, get a grip. That is Charly, not her twin. Look at the word "sence" should be since, and no twin is going to spell the same exact word wrong every time. Read Charly's posts at her forum, and read the above, read their blogs, she/they misspell the same exact words and do the same lol after every freaking sentence, and even forget to space after punctuation even. Same person, not convinced there are two. Sorry about your private life being brought into this Charly, but you simply should have admitted to this up front that you wanted a change instead of inventing a whole alternate ego. I am so over this. This isn't smacking anymore, it's purely pathetic.
can't answer that ,didn't know she did.
This is just getting entirely out of hand. Posting a sob story while listed as anonymous really does nothing. Nothing effective anyways. I'm sorry for the hardships in your family. BUT, life is what you make it. You're not doing so hot right now. Just sayin.
why should i post with my name are you? No one else is.
i am not giving a sob story,seems you all wanted to know my life.
Charly/Renay - you have changed up your story so many times now that you don't even remember what you've said before. Start making yourself a list so you quit misstepping all the time! First you were twins, now you are a triplet - your stories of how you were brought up have differed; now you've added in adoption and finding each other when you were twenty one. All you are doing is digging yourself a bigger hole. I'm sorry someone brought up your father - but in the end its YOU that has caused all this to happen. You no more have a twin or a part of a set of triplets than I am.
why should i post with my name are you? No one else is.
i am not giving a sob story,seems you all wanted to know my life.
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See, right there is that famous lack of a space after your comma. Everything you post everywhere is the same way, misspelled, no spacing, and you can't tell me twins, whether together or apart have the exact same typing/writing style! Get over yourself, come clean, admit your wrongdoing, take your smack and move on.
Like i said you don't need to know my life, what i just said is the truth,would you want to tell everyone what your real life was like if it was full of all this shit..look it up its all online in the papers not one lie have i said on this blog.my story has never changed.if i didnt want to say i was adoptive when i introduce myself i do not have to that is none of your buisness get it in your head its my personal life not yours to know is it?.No it is not!why don't you go smack someone else drag them in the mud and go fuck their life up,your all good at.
but they have that magic twin connection like twins on tv, of course they write the same!
Wah Wah Wah - that's all I'm reading at this point cuz it's just one BS thing after another. Honey - no one believes you. Get that through your head. No one cares about your sob story - they care that you lied and KEEP lying. Wah Wah Wah - understand yet?
no i will not just becouse i type like someone else doesn't mean i am them.you do not know nothing about twins unless your one.
i do not have the time to run a whole site with designers,run store blog,store fb,store twitter store pinterest, and run the same for 2 design names 2 twitter accounts and 2 pinterest accounts and design under 2 names sell in 2 shops plus a shop for anouther name.so that would make 3 twitter 3 fb's 3 pinterests 3 Blogs and also have a friggin life with family and friends in real life. its hard enough designing for one name and all the stuff that goes with it. done argueing with you. unlike you i have a life off the internet.
I am a twin. I don't write like my sister.
LMFAO you don't run a pinterest for your shop. I've seen it, that isn't your pinterest Charly. You sure have enough time to invent a whole other person, and for what it's worth, sure there are records of twins liking the same things or owning similar things, even living apart, but no one, not one person who is a twin ever has the exact damned writing style and forgetful punctuation, that's just laziness.
is reveal personal information, and drag someone down as they have done to Charly. I agree she deserved most of what she got or gets from this, but to downright drag her family into this and ruin what reputation she had was a little low, even for this blog.
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Not justifying anything, but to say it hasn't been done before is incorrect. The Amanda Dykan scandal was much worse. Amanda's family was really dragged into this, her husband, her kids, etc, as opposed to a mention of Charly's deceased dad.
Charly has one birth son a husband and 4 dogs and 5 cats and one stepson,I have one son a hubby..
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What happened to your other son?
You keep saying your story is on the internet, it isn't. The only stuff I'm finding is all about Charly and some of it isn't very nice. I would think twins, sorry, two of triplets, finding each other at the age of 21 would have made at least a local paper. Nothing have I found.
do not have the time to run a whole site with designers,run store blog,store fb,store twitter store pinterest,
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But you aren't doing those things. Your co owner is.
Cherry/Charly has been made mod at DST? Just shows you they don't give a shit who they put in charge. How does a so called new designer get made mod anyway?
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No, it just shows that no one else volunteered. You honestly think people are lining up to do that job? Give me a break.
Her co owner and designers are running the site. She doesn't have the time with being her twin and all.
I am so grateful for the fact that when you post as anonymous, you can't edit or delete what you've written.
LOL Me too. It leaves a good record of past posts to compare.
First it was Cherry's father that was murdered (post #8) and then Charly's. Color me confused.
And I still can't find any records of a Renay Cherry Wild or Cherry Renay Wild, except for things related to digi.
I remember the same thing happened with Lilyanne Taylor.
Oh my gosh, you are right #82. Didn't she say they had different fathers? Oh she did, they each had adoptive fathers, I had to go back and read to make sure.
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First it was Cherry's father that was murdered (post #8) and then Charly's. Color me confused.
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Me too!
Something else, what are the odds that adoptive parents named their kids Renay, spelled the exact same way? I'm a Renee' and I've never seen it spelled that way.
Something else, what are the odds that adoptive parents named their kids Renay, spelled the exact same way? I'm a Renee' and I've never seen it spelled that way.
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I checked to see if it was a local thing in Maine, but it doesn't appear to be. Go figure. Not to mention the whole Cherry/Charly (sounds kinda the same) and then Jade.
i do not have the time to run a whole site with designers,run store blog,store
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So you're out of the hospital now?
Where did anyone see the mention that Cherry was a mod at DST? I looked in the forum and didn't see anything. Maybe in the DCR? And if it is the case, how long until she is let go?
It is simple everything about Renay/Charly are just a lie. Remember on her blog post where she stated that it's not their fault if their parents named them with the same name ? But now they were adopted.
Cherry says her father was murdered but we can see that he killed himself while he was drunk.
Charly have edited one of her layout with "Layout and photo by my sister" but she forgot to edit the other layouts where she used the photo as herself (Charly).
And the store of Cherry is still open. Seriously I feel for the other designers there.
I think I saw all this on One Life to Live.
Do Charly AND Cherry share the same surname after being adopted? They are both married and have husband and kid(s), yet they live together all day? Not impossible, but definitely odd.
Also, do you know you can check at DST when is the last time one member logged on? It is easy, check their profile and it says right on top. And Charly was in the forum at 3am last night. Maybe she had her iphone in the hospital?
She just wanted to check and see if Cherry made moderator. Such a loving sister!
Charly was not in an accident. Come on guys. You should smell "guilt trip" miles away.
Ok, I'm just about tired of Royanna at Divine Digitals saying she's going to do 40 days of challenges and then coming up with one excuse after another as to why they aren't being posted. And then saying that she'll have something by "whateverday" and then not posting that. Why would you set up a challenge like that and not be prepared to have all 40 days of it ready to go? She's done this before. I know she's sick, and these are freebies, but come on. Don't set it up if you can't finish the deal.
This is simple to answer. Don't hang out at Divine Digitals. And if you do, don't have high expectations.
True that, #93. Besides, I don't need 100 pictures of her in the downloads anyway.
Do Charly AND Cherry share the same surname after being adopted? They are both married and have husband and kid(s), yet they live together all day? Not impossible, but definitely odd.
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Please before posting shits just read correctly. They never said they had the same surname Charly said that her middle name was Renay and that her "sister" first name was Renay
"that my name is Charly Renay yes renay is my middle name,my sisters first name is renay i did not name us that way my mom and Dad did.." Post 101 page 5
As for the living together I mean when you mentionn you live in the same house why then does your cities are about 25 min from each other... unless it is a HUGE house.
Please before posting shits just read correctly. They never said they had the same surname Charly said that her middle name was Renay and that her "sister" first name was Renay
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That is why it was a question. Some info has been posted as Charly's surname due to paypal info or something. I was just wondering if Cherry also had the same surname. Maybe that is how the owner put two and two together?
After reading all of this I had a million things to say but then realized it's all been said. The name thing, yeah right, if you want us to believe it show some documentation. On the other hand don't bother because it would be falsified. Charly, Renay, Cherry, Jade, whatever the hell you are calling yourself this minute, own up to what you've done. You have made such a fool out of yourself. And the guilt trip about having a wreck, yawn, don't believe it. There are too many discrepancies or to simplify for you HOLES in your stories. If you had stopped at twins you might have gotten away with it. Thank you for providing the entertainment for the blog, where's the popcorn?
92-yes she is sick. She probably shouldn't have posted a challenge to begin with. Give her some slack. She IS really sick.
If Charly/Cherry do not want their info out there, then why post about it here? It's not going to get us to simmer down; it's going to cause a huge smack attack. "Cherry" can't say "Stop talking about my family!" and then also post about Charly's family make up and the horribly, emotionally draining things that have happened in her family. You can't tell us to get out of your life at the same time that you tell us about your life. I don't want a sob story. I just want to know why the hell this is going on. But having said that, I'm done. I don't care enough about Charly/Cherry/the stores to put any more energy into this. I mean, yes, we've all decided that Charly is also Renay, so why are we still talking about this? No one is going to buy from "them," so what does it matter at this point? I know this blog isn't about/for me so I know I'll be smacked just for saying this, but can we please start talking about something that's actually scrap related?
Wow, I haven't been here in quite some time. Nothing has changed. You're all still talking about Charly?
#99, if you want the topic changed, change it. But don't do the fluff stuff that belongs at DST other topic changers try. "Sooooo, what are you buying on DSD? I plan to spends tons and need to know what's not hawt." "Which designers avoid pink?", etc.
We can always go back to the over-sexed, he-she "European" that keeps insisting that we think is Charly.
Wow, I haven't been here in quite some time. Nothing has changed. You're all still talking about Charly?
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Yes, I guess 4 days talking about one subject is "quite some time". I remember seeing some topics going on much longer than that!
Does Royanna have leukemia ? She talked about steroids, bone marrow transplant.
About RA. Dont be shocked if she doesnt follow through on anything she says. I know she is sick, but she is perpetually like that. Its not okay. If you are sick, that's fine. But don't make promises you cant deliver on. I think in the year I was a designer there, I got paid on time maybe twice. Payroll is not that hard to process.
101: OK, I'll try changing the topic. Why doesn't SO give away a kit in their newsletter anymore? I liked being able to check out designers before I buy from them. (I know, I know: SO is such a great store, so how come I haven't purchased from each of their designers already?) Last week you had to attend some boring chat to get the freebie (and what if you can't make the chat because of time difference?) and this week it's a stacked paper or something from an old kit of Laura's. I can't tell quality as well if I don't have the individual elements. I don't need a full kit, but it would be nice to get some papers and ellies to check out.
There's no reason to subscribe to the newsletter if there isn't anything in it for me. I can find out "What's New" by clicking on the New Releases category in the store.
Charly put her personal information out on the web for the world to see. Like it or not, she made it pretty easy to find out all about her.
Anyone who cared to do their homework could find me pretty easily- and post my dad's obituary here too. Trashing the dead- not cool. But proving someone's outlandish story to be bull shit is fair game, IMO. If you lie, be prepared for the consequences.
I recently saw a post by someone at SSD that said that the designers there agreed that offering discounts cheapens their product so they don't do it much. Maybe SO is taking a page out of their book and not cheapening their product by offering freebies.
I believe there is nothing wrong with offering frebebies. As an example: ScrapGirls, they have a Daily newsletter that offers a freebie every day, still have plenty of sales and they seem to be doing quite well for themselves. They even offer quite a bit of free products during contests or events as well, instead of %off coupons.
I don't think it cheapens your products in the least, but you have to have good product to begin to be effective. At least from a consumer's point of view.
*to begin with
#45 I agree. Amanda Dyken was a good designer back then. I just checked out some of her designs that I bought 4 years ago and their better than a lot of designer kits today.
#107 That's why I only wait for big sales to shop from SSD once or twice a year. They are expensive.
It's clear now that the "crazy european" is not Charly.
#110 sorry I meant:
#45 I agree. Amanda Dyken was a good designer back then. I just checked out some of her designs that I bought 4 years ago and they're better than a lot of designer kits today.
They offered a mini-kit from Laura earlier in Oct.
They'll have a Farmer's Market coming up too with $1 kits. That's a great way to try something new with minimal investment. If you like it, go back and buy more.
Also an Advent, collect the pieces kit. (but that's probably too hard for you?)
It takes time for designers to offer something for free and it usually doesn't lead to sales but to greedy freebie hunters demanding more and more.
102-No, I meant months ago.
102-No, I meant months ago.
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But this time it is a new story, completely: it is about her "twin" who caused havoc. *wink*
That must be why SSD has that one day new release sale. I hate that.
(ETA for post #114) oops realized that mini kit was for attending a chat. I don't download freebies because I never use them.
Some people are mentioned in here over and over again. They are so loved!
SSD has bargain bites offered everyday and they change them fairly often.
I think they offer more sales than they used to. I liked the undead sale from last weekend and picked up two kits from that.
I do wish they would make their new release sale a couple/few days. That's one thing that makes SO better. The new releases are on sale for a week.
The OP only brought up Charly's dad as proof, it would never have been mentioned if Charly hadn't made up this ridiculous story, so I think any information that shows up here is her own fault. I'm pretty shocked that Scrapable still has her listed as a designer was well.
As for SO, almost every designer I can think of has a freebie listed on their facebook page, there's not really any reason to include one for quality purposes in the newsletter. I will say their chat prizes are pretty disappointing, especially when most of their chats require me to stay up late at night and join some obnoxious voice program to participate.
Yes I love the bargain bites. I've bought many kits 40% off.
I agree they have more sale now han they did in the past.
I also bought a kit from the undead sales.
But SSD's prices are so darn high that "bargain bites" prices, at 40% off, are still expensive when compared to other stores' regular prices! (And if someone spouts off about SSD's great quality, I'll barf. It's not that they don't have good quality, but it's no better than some other stores'.)
And yes, $1 for an item to buy to look at quality isn't a lot. But that's assuming a kit I want is in the Farmers Market. (And a designer can only put an item in the FM once.)
116-Oh, so I see now that I look back a bit. Poor Charly. (again and again and again.)
I know for a fact that Tracie Stroud put stuff in more than once. (because I bought it twice, duh.) They do it all the time.
$4ish for a kit is expensive? Not even Gotta Pixel goes that low at regular price, you have to find it on sale.
SSD and SO are name brands. They will always carry a higher price tag just like name brand clothes. Name brand clothes aren't always higher quality but people want the name.
A month or so ago there was a Hawaii-type kit given away in the weekly newsletter from SO. It seems like whoever their featured designer is they do some sort of give away. I shop there a lot (and no I'm not a CT or anything) and I'm pretty satisfied by the amount free stuff I'm getting between the FB freebies and what the designers share on their own pages and in their newsletters. Of course I'd be happy to take more freebies but overall I'm fine. They did a good job with their big Celebration FB train/Olympic thing for the big scrapping booking day in May.
I'd rather have fewer GOOD freebies than GB and GB of crap that I seem to have collected from other sites.
Those SOUL seminars are frustrating. Instead of blathering on FOREVER at the beginning, I wish they'd get to the point show/teach what they needed to, share the code, and then let everyone chat and ass kiss to the designer for the rest of the time. They did switch over to a different video-chat program that seems to be way better than the one they had before.
Scrapable removed Cherry from the list of their designer.
125: You bring up a good point about "name brands" and how they aren't always good quality. And no, $4 for a kit isn't expensive, but I don't think a kit that's $4 at 40% is a good price. I think an actual bargain is like $2 or less for a kit. But I like that SSD has their freebies so you can check out quality. I ended up making a purchase (during a sale, of course) based off of some of the freebies that I'd DLed.
126: I hate fb. I don't DL any freebies via fb, and if a designer says "Like me on facebook and get a freebie!" it seems like just a pathetic way to boost their own ego: "Oh, look, I've got 3000 fans!" No, you've got about 50 actual fans and 2550 people looking for a freebie. And if it's not hosted through the store, then who the hell knows if it's got a virus? I'd rather have a freebie through a store's newsletter (or a designer's newsletter) than stupid facebook.
Scrapable removed Cherry from the list of their designer.
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I think it is a safe decision. I wonder if the current designers at Charly's store will stay or leave. If they leave, that would hurt the co-owner, but would any designer be willing to stay associated with Charly? I am not sure I would, but then, I am not selling in her store, never have, and never considered it either.
"Cherry" changed her profile pic at the forum as well.
I'm SO glad that Bev did the right thing.
#129, you can still get a virus downloading from a store. And don't you scan stuff as it is downloaded?
And if you are the OP of this topic, your problem is that you want freebies on your own terms. A freebie should benefit the designer as well since they put time into designing it. You gotta get over your FB stupidity.
"Cherry" changed her profile pic at the forum as well.
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Which forum?
I'm a regular shopper at SO and I, too, am disappointed at the crap cluster/quick page type freebies offered in the newsletters lately. Any designer/store who makes business decisions based upon the behaviors of people who rarely buy (like many freebie hunters) is a moron. Freebies are great ways to thank customers for their business and hopefully make some new customers.
Some lame freebie made by a CTM can be nice sometimes (depends on what it is), but I'd prefer something made by the designer.
I prefer to be thanked with a coupon so I can get something I want. And I get that at SO with the points. But designers have also emailed coupons directly to me.
And it isn't stupid to decide if something is worth your time or not. Designing takes a long time.
132: "#129, you can still get a virus downloading from a store. And don't you scan stuff as it is downloaded?"
---Yes, of course I scan as I DL. And yes, of course you can get a virus from a store, but 4Shared or whatever site hosts a fb freebie is much more likely to pass on a virus. (And fb's security/privacy policy is so shady. I don't want a fb account because I don't want to give fb my information.)
And I am the OP. And yes, of course I want freebies on my terms. I'm the customer: aren't I supposed to be kept happy so that I'll continue buying? And no, I don't think that wanting what they had before is asking too much. It's not like I'm asking for MORE freebies or BIGGER freebies. It would be very nice if the store brought back something they used to do. 135 has a good point: % off coupons are an awesome way to reward customers. But if you don't know if you want to be a customer, then a freebie is a nice way to entice people, especially when SO says "sign up for our newsletter to get freebees!" No, I don't have to sign up for the newsletter anymore to get a freebie: I have to go to a stupid chat.
Nothing in life, worth having, is free.
Please quit moaning about having to spend a dollar and find another hobby, like weaving dryer lint into sweaters. That is free.
Or better yet, use your program and make your own elements. Then, you Smackers can totally control the quality of what you scrap with. Problem solved.
I'm so frustrated with the Scrap matters daily download. I've lost half the parts by now. I always forget and stupid facebook doesn't show all the posts on my wall anymore.
Amber did a smart move giving a second chance but I wish she would have unlocked all the links for one day than just sending us one day we missed.
138. Are you serious?
No, I don't have to sign up for the newsletter anymore to get a freebie: I have to go to a stupid chat.
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Do them a favor and don't go to the stupid chat. Have you ever heard the expression about looking a gift horse in the mouth? You are a pip.
#139 Yes I am. Go check out how many people lost links. The second chance request post is 16 pages long. I know they're trying to give us a beautiful kit for free but why all the fuss about a 24 link that expires? I just don't get it. It seems stupid to me.
Then maybe you should go and look for another handout elsewhere.
did anyone see that FPD is now down to 4 designers? How long before they go under?
#143 They are closing soon.29/10
#142 oh please.. I don't need a handout. It's just one kit. I have hundreds. I just don't like the way they're handling it. Don't be so offended.
I guess you're from Scrap Matters.
Customers who think that they know how to judge the quality of a designer's work, their pricing or how a store should be run, should try doing it themselves and see how much their time is worth. Put your money where your mouth is.
#145 - Scrap Matters has hundreds of customers. Shop elsewhere if you don't like the way they handle themselves. Problem solved.
#145 WOW!!! I'm impressed. Nice approach. Nice way to solve a problem. Just kick the customer out. No I'll shop wherever I want. Why are you so offended?
It's just a stupid freebie anyway.
#146 Customers are the ones that keep your shops running so a little respect of their opinions wouldn't hurt!
If you can shop wherever you like, shop and don't wait for a freebie. Who needs "just a stupid freebie" anyway.
Oh man, last time I was here or rather at the old blog, we were talking about Amanda Dykan/LilyAnn Taylor. I've been gone for a long time...came on today and found the new site. I've only read October. It's sort of the same but different. They names have changed from Amanda Dykan to Charly Renay and from LilyAnn Taylor to Wild Cherry Designs. What a blast from the past. Thanks for the laugh.
Here's a fun fact.
Designers don't have to give away freebies at all. Whether their customer base demands it or otherwise. Then where would the freebie whores be?
#147- I hope that SM doesn't feel as if customers are expendable. I like shopping at SM even though I will admit I find the daily download frustrating but I found SO's daily downloads a pain last year at Christmas for the same reason. I just forget somedays- my fault, not theirs. I do appreciate the effort the designers at the store make, and Amber's second chance was nice- although I did forget to sign up for one of the missing links.
I do have to say that I love the freebies at Trader Joes. And yes I have bought things just because after eating the sample I wanted to buy it. Personally I would have never bought pumpkin cream cheese and biscuit crackers. But one day it was a sample at the store and it was so good, I bought some. Now I am hoping that the pumpkin cream cheese will come back this fall. We had a cold day recently and TJ's was offering warm apple cider. And right now I have a bottle of apple cider in my fridge. Does TJ's have food whores come in the store just for the taste test. You bet. They may not all be food whores. Some are down on their luck, or homeless. But that doesn't stop TJ's from offering the samples. I bet they get a lot of business besides my own from the samples.
#152- If there were no customers then where would the designers be? Customers make you money so quit complaining about it.
I see all the whiny freebie trolls have come out to play today. The attitude of entitlement is sickening, folks. NO ONE owes you a damn thing. You do know that, right?
Here's a fun fact.
Customers don't have to buy from your store.
#156- What I see are designers with crappy attitudes complaining about customers and how some like the occasional freebie. It's nice to know how designers really feel about the people that buy from them.
and the designers that do throw out freebies all the time are usually kind of crappy.
honestly, how much of all the freebies do you actually use. Are you spending all day trolling for freebies and filling up your hard drive or actually scrapping and getting pages done and printing.
I don't expect anything for free. But if a store (in my case, SO) says that their newsletter has a freebie in it, then the newsletter should...wait for it...have a freebie in it. Not info on a chat they're hosting in which they'll give the link for the freebie there.
I love spending money on DS stuff. I used to design, so I know how much time it takes and I know what quality items are. And yet I still expect stores to do what they say they'll do.
And 137, how dare you say "Please quit moaning about having to spend a dollar and find another hobby, like weaving dryer lint into sweaters. That is free." I work very hard on my lint-woven pet sweaters, and making the space for those tails is very difficult. And getting a cat to wear it without getting scratched is even more difficult. I need to scrap to relieve the stress.
How much money have you spent at Scrap Matters?
Dropping by to grab a freebie, which you could obviously make yourself, expert digital scrapbooker, does not make you a customer.
I am not associated with Scrap Matters in any way nor does my opinion have anything to do with them nor the store where I sell. You brought up Scrap Matters and that is the subject, to which I am replying.
I like the designers who don't put out freebies all the time. Usually when they do offer a freebie it's really good. Those are the ones I download. I don't expect them and appreciate it when they do offer them.
#156, I'm not a designer, but I have to agree with what you are sayin'.
#158, I don't think anyone is criticizing the fact that people like occasional freebies. I think it's the attitude that designers have to bend the fuck over backwards for snotty customers. There are tons of freebies, coupons, and sales out there. If you want them, go get them. Don't complain about how you have to get them. If you don't like how you have to sign up or get it, don't shop from the designer. $$ means more than being whiny. Whiners sound like little brats.
#160- LOL
I work very hard on my lint-woven pet sweaters, and making the space for those tails is very difficult. And getting a cat to wear it without getting scratched is even more difficult. I need to scrap to relieve the stress.
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I just spit coffee all over my computer. This is the funniest thing I have heard today, except for the "where is my daily freebie link" rant. Way to lighten the mood #160.
I'm not into the whole daily freebie thing so I pass on it. I'd rather have one good freebie every few months from a designer instead.
#160, I agree with that newsletter you are referring to from SO. There should have been some sort of freebie to match what they were advertising. I have to say that I'm not surprised since it was Banasiak as the featured designer. The whole thing was mismanaged. They had the stupid chat the same times as a MIS. She's been whining about not having mojo to make things. Her freebie kit was okay. Nothing really cool. She said that there would be more parts to it but publicity about it has been crappy. Even it it had been a cluster or a quick page, it should have been there, along with the invitation for the SOUL and the coordinating freebie.
Not sure what's happening at SO the past month or so. Things were hopping at the end of the summer and September was dead. Kami's been pretty quiet and the Appletini's and such haven't been very good about advertising events and giving people heads up.
167 again ... my criticism above has nothing to do with wanting a freebie. I'm looking at it as a marketing/management/customer service. Frankly I don't really like Laura's designs. I only have her stuff from the Mega's and Grab Bag type purchases. If I ever win a coupon or gift certificate I search and search for something that I like. I think her collabs are much better than what she makes on her own.
I'm #145 #148
I'm frustrated because Scrap matters reminds us of the freebie only through facebook. Facebook doesn't show all the posts.
At least Scrap Orcard sent a daily email at christmas countdown last year.
I mentioned the second chance thing Amber offered because the pages were endless.16 total of custoemrs asking for links they missed. Yes for a freebie,a halloween kit.
I just don't understand what's the point of having the links expire in 24 hours? Why stress out customers?
There are so many that lost many links.
Just open the stupid links and make everybody happen. But no... she gives a second chance and sends one link in a pm to every person that commented on that thread. That's ridiculous. I just don't get it.So much trouble for a free kit. They're doing it the wrong way.
And I've spent lots of money at Scrap Matters and many other stores. I'm not a freebie chaser. I usually don't like them,most of them are bad quality but I do appreciate them as someone mentioned above especially if they're well made.
I think what people are missing from the whole freebie thing is it isn't the freebie people are complaining about, it's how it's handled. That makes it a complain about how a store or designer does business. If they can't execute a free item to the satisfaction of those receiving it, what are the odds they'll come back and give them money for their work?
Designers and stores need to realize that freebies are given out for exposure, thanks, and for new customers. If they piss people off giving said freebie, those people will NOT come back and spend money with you.
If you don't want to offer freebies, fine. No one is saying you must. If you're going to offer a freebie, then make sure it given in a way that makes the most people happy as possible.
That's business 101. I'd love to say I'm shocked at the "shop elsewhere" mentality by store owners and designers here, but I'm not. Customers would be shocked to know how they're talked about behind the scenes.
I'm not a freebie chaser.
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Sounds like you are running in circles to me. Move on and let it go.
#170 AMEN!! I agree with you 100%
#171 Go f@#K yourself!Annoying bitch!
169: the links are only 24 hours to deter freebie chasers (so they can't just come and get the whole kit in one swoop) and so that real, paying customers have to come back to the store every. single. day. and, hopefully, actually buy something.
I don't like daily downloads (from any store, not trying to pick on SM) because I'm just not good at remembering to check the forum for a freebie link. I'll visit the chatter forum or the store but totally forget about the DD. Yup, I'm an idiot. But I don't fault the store for doing it that way. If a store says they'll provide a freebie for 24 hours and that's what they do, then good on 'em (unlike Royanna, who was just smacked for NOT doing what she said she'd do, probably by the same people who've been saying "Get over it" about SM and SO. And Ra is sick but people still smacked her. Yikes, we are a finicky, bitchy bunch today).
#170 You sound so reasonable. That's exactly what I was trying to point out but you explained it better.
No one has to give out freebies. It would be better not to give a freebie than to frustrate customers and make it hard to get.
The only store that made a daily freebie successful was the daily countdown from Scrap Orchard.
They would sent out an email with a sneak peek of tomorrows free part and guess the designer. Each day a designer would have a 50% off. That's good business! That's how a daily download should be made. Or if not leave the links open for 2-3 days like most designers do.
It feels like scrap nazi over at Scrap Matters and yes I'm starting to feel uncomfortable.
No I'm not going to download any more parts of the freebie. Too much trouble already. And if they can't get to me through facebook for a freebie I'll sure be missing out on their DSD sales and everything.
#172- LOL! My thoughts exactly.
I liked when TLP did the Summer Bucket List daily collab. They also did it in a good organized way. NOT via FB. If you missed a part they DID offer it at 50% off even if it wasn't free anymore. Which was good.
ustomers who think that they know how to judge the quality of a designer's work, their pricing or how a store should be run, should try doing it themselves and see how much their time is worth. Put your money where your mouth is.
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BTDT. Next.
#171- Out of all that person said you picked that statement out of it? Someone is in a really shitty mood today.
#178 She's PMSing for sure!
#176 Yes I agree. Another good idea.
#170! Yes!
I think too that's part of the issue with RA's 40 day challenge. I know she's sick and I wish her all the health and happiness. She does some really nice work, if that's your style, but as a business woman, she's a frickin' disaster. The links for her freebies aren't up their permanently, so you have people stalking her site making sure they don't miss out because they love her stuff and are working on the challenges. If someone questions when something will be posted (so they don't have to keep checking), they get slammed by people calling them jerks for not caring about RA's health.
Maybe she could get CT whore to be her personal assistant in exchange for free stuff. Her management can't get much worse.
I'm not into the whole daily freebie thing so I pass on it. I'd rather have one good freebie every few months from a designer instead.
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Me too
I think what people are missing from the whole freebie thing is it isn't the freebie people are complaining about, it's how it's handled. That makes it a complain about how a store or designer does business. If they can't execute a free item to the satisfaction of those receiving it, what are the odds they'll come back and give them money for their work?
Designers and stores need to realize that freebies are given out for exposure, thanks, and for new customers. If they piss people off giving said freebie, those people will NOT come back and spend money with you.
If you don't want to offer freebies, fine. No one is saying you must. If you're going to offer a freebie, then make sure it given in a way that makes the most people happy as possible.
That's business 101. I'd love to say I'm shocked at the "shop elsewhere" mentality by store owners and designers here, but I'm not. Customers would be shocked to know how they're talked about behind the scenes.
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This. It always amazes me that some people just see a few words in a post and then make up their own minds about what the post is all about, instead of reading it all and finding out what it's actually about.
I used to be a freebie chaser. But when it got to be more work than it was worth I quit. Then I decided I was going to make my own designs. But when I realized that for a small amount of $$ I could buy something that would take me hours to make, I became a customer.
I don't think a designer has to give out freebies to have a good customer base. I don't care if any of the designers I buy from give out freebies. But then, I am a seasoned scrapbooker. If designers want to attract new scrapbookers, freebies are probably a good idea. But it needs to be done with a plan.
Spreading yourself out too thin and having to crank out shoddy freebies is not going to do the trick. Being a good designer is one thing. Being a good business person is another. It is important to know the difference.
182, i don't get your point
I agree that designers and stores should follow through with what they promise, because that is just good business. I also agree that sometimes the customers expect too much. Finding that balance is the answer to world peace.
#159 #161 #171 I just calculated it and I've spent $359.82 total at Scrap Matters so I guess I can complain about how they manage their freebies and their business.
Anti freebies club how much money have you spent?
#158 I'm shocked!
#182 I couldn't have said it better.
#183 Yes I agree.
182, i don't get your point
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Doesn't surprise me.
#188 LOL!!!!
ur an idiot 188
Just saw re: the Scrapstacks CT:
Someone posted "Hello! I’m assuming, given the extensive time commitment and responsibilities involved in this commitment, that there is compensation involved. Do you have those details available? Thank you!"
The answer: "The creative team will have free access to all Scrap Packs as compensation for their time. The commitment is not extensive and shouldn’t take more time than any other creative team."
I have a decent amount of CT experience, but I'm sure every designer runs things differently, so I'm interested to know, is 3 pages/month, 2 blog posts, praise team, and social media promotion pretty standard in exchange for 3 kits a month?
I've spent $359.82 total at Scrap Matters
wow, i didn't realize people spent that much on digi scrapping. that store is lucky to have you as a customer :)
ur an idiot 188
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*you're
Why? Because you don't understand? I'm thinking that makes you the one that's an idiot.
I dont think so. I think its more. My bloggers do 4 posts a month with no layout requirements. My CTs do one layout (not 3) per kit with social media promotion and enabling. I still wonder what the hell she expects paper scrappers to do with digital kits?
hybrid maybe? I'd laugh my ass off if any paper scrappers actually applied though. Actually, I'll probably LMAO at any digi scrappers that apply. But to each her own, I guess. And before someone else states the obvious, yes, I know there will be people lining up to jump on the ScrapStacks bandwagon. It's their choice to apply... it's my choice to laugh.
so I'm interested to know, is 3 pages/month, 2 blog posts, praise team, and social media promotion pretty standard in exchange for 3 kits a month?
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Break it down
3 kits - one page per kit
posting the layout online is social media promotion
2 blog posts - work out with the rest of the CT who posts about what, it doesn't have to be a lot if everyone is posting two posts a month
praise team - if you praise two layouts a day, it's not that much
It's not something I would do, but there are CTMs out there who do a lot more than that each month
It's not something I would do, but there are CTMs out there who do a lot more than that each month
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Maybe but they have access to more than just 3 kits a month too.
Maybe but they have access to more than just 3 kits a month too.
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Not necessarily.
Ahhh I misread their call thinking it was 3 layouts per kit- 9 LOs a month. 3 is more reasonable.
3 layouts per kit? No way. I'm glad I only have to do one layout a kit. Sometimes I'm inspired and I do more, but that's my choice.
It's also 3 kits each month from all different designers. I guess some people thrive on variety, though. And as long as the only promotion expectations are to post the layout, and only 2 comments/day are expected, you're right, that's not bad.
However, blogging takes WAY longer than you might think. At least decent posts do.
Ah well, too much work for me for what, the equivalent of $5, $7 a month?
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