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Post by scrappieannie on Sept 7, 2023 20:09:53 GMT
Krystal Idunate announced on Instagram this morning that she is closing her Patreon account, moving her old process and flip-through videos to YouTube, and taking a scrapbooking hiatus through the end of the year. I am grateful for all the fresh content, as I was not a "patron," and I give her props for making what I can only assume was a difficult decision and ultimately choosing what's best for HER. But I do find it heartbreaking when big voices in our community step back, or even burn out...
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Post by mom on Sept 7, 2023 20:29:16 GMT
I feel like this has been a long time in coming. I was a Patreon member for awhile and she seemed burned out to me. It's seems, IMHO, that when designers work with Ali they get used so, so much and it just takes its toll. We saw it with Tazhiana Gordon.
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Post by honeypea on Sept 7, 2023 20:43:49 GMT
I don’t think Ali is burning them out!
I think the trouble lies when a very motivated person thinks they can make scrapbooking their career. It’s one thing to take it as a little side hustle and be content with mediocre monetary return, and a whole other to think you’re going to make as much income as Ali, or r even just as much money as their regular job would provide.
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Post by mom on Sept 7, 2023 20:50:25 GMT
I don’t think Ali is burning them out! I think the trouble lies when a very motivated person thinks they can make scrapbooking their career. It’s one thing to take it as a little side hustle and be content with mediocre monetary return, and a whole other to think you’re going to make as much income as Ali, or r even just as much money as their regular job would provide. You are probably right. |
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scrappymeg
Full Member
Posts: 287
Sept 18, 2020 22:59:35 GMT
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Post by scrappymeg on Sept 7, 2023 20:58:58 GMT
I think she is so talented, so this is sad to hear, but not surprised. She started a new 9-5 job this year, moving away from being a content creator full-time. I remember kind of laughing when she put out a video at the end of last year when she talked about scaling back, and she was still planning on doing 7-8 ongoing or seasonal projects. No shade - I would just feel super accomplished if I could do a quarter of that. I hope she enjoys her time off and returns to the community when/if she wants to.
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jediannie
Pearl Clutcher
Posts: 2,856
Jun 30, 2014 3:19:06 GMT
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Post by jediannie on Sept 7, 2023 21:11:22 GMT
This is a hard business to keep making things "fresh". There are very few that have made it so long (looking at Inkie Quill & others like her) that can keep putting out content and keep up the enthusiasm. I saw all her content available on Youtube last night and was wondering if she was going to stop her Patreon. Thanks for the info scrappieannie! |
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Post by Margie on Sept 7, 2023 21:20:18 GMT
I'm so glad she's putting her past Patreon videos on YouTube now! I'm looking forward to see her December Daily and October Daily process videos. She's very talented!
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mich5481
Pearl Clutcher
Posts: 2,576 
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Post by mich5481 on Sept 7, 2023 21:37:12 GMT
Side question: I've never used Patreon, but I think I would be a little annoyed if I had paid for "exclusive" content from a creator to only have them release to YouTube for free later on. Am I alone in feeling this way?
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jediannie
Pearl Clutcher
Posts: 2,856
Jun 30, 2014 3:19:06 GMT
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Post by jediannie on Sept 7, 2023 22:55:10 GMT
but I think I would be a little annoyed if I had paid for "exclusive" content from a creator to only have them release to YouTube for free later on. Am I alone in feeling this way? Some content creators never release their Patreon videos to the public on YouTube. I just started the Dearly Dee patreon mainly for her December content and the fact that I really like her style (and it was only $5 month) and I know she doesn't make her patreon videos public. If for sure would bother me to pay for "exclusive content" and then it eventually ends up public on Youtube. |
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scrappymeg
Full Member
Posts: 287
Sept 18, 2020 22:59:35 GMT
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Post by scrappymeg on Sept 7, 2023 23:32:04 GMT
I don't have a problem with this, because it looks like she closed her Patreon altogether, rather than pausing it - indicating she has no intention to restart it. Putting the videos on YouTube is a way for her former subscribers to still have access to the videos. Yes, they aren't technically "exclusive" to them anymore, but they were exclusive for 1-2 years and she's not collecting money from them anymore. If I were a patron, I would rather still have access to the videos, even if it is now on a public platform. Just my two cents.
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FurryP
Drama Llama
To pea or not to pea...
Posts: 6,975
Site Supporter
Jun 26, 2014 19:58:26 GMT
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Post by FurryP on Sept 8, 2023 0:04:37 GMT
Side question: I've never used Patreon, but I think I would be a little annoyed if I had paid for "exclusive" content from a creator to only have them release to YouTube for free later on. Am I alone in feeling this way? The only way I would be able to justify this in my brain is that I got to see the videos earlier than the non-patrons. I only do one membership (vs patreon) on YT and if these people put their membership videos out for everyone to see at a later date I would not care too much because they go out of their way to help shelter dogs, so I really see it as a donation with perks. Paper crafting is not the same thing, but I guess what scrappymeg said makes total sense. |
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lynn0117
Full Member
Posts: 239
Jul 2, 2018 15:47:03 GMT
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Post by lynn0117 on Sept 8, 2023 1:07:37 GMT
I was one of her patrons for the entire time she was on there. She told us about this last month and went into tons more detail about what was going on and that she would be releasing some videos on YouTube. In no way is ALL of her Patreon content on there. What she did say made tons of sense and I’m really hope she gets that spark again. I love her style and her kindness and I will continue to support her in any way that I can.
Edited to add: I’ll go to the mat for Krystal. She’s a wonderful person and I really appreciate how much thought was put into her ending her Patreon. That was not an easy decision
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Post by Citygirl on Sept 8, 2023 1:17:04 GMT
I was sad to see her post. She’s very talented and I really liked seeing how she used AE products.
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Post by Texas Scrap on Sept 8, 2023 14:00:50 GMT
I’m no celebrity, but I’ve scrapbooked for 30+ years and definitely had seasons in those 30 years of not scrapbooking at all. I think it’s a pretty normal thing for people to take breaks from intense hobbies and for me it preserved my enjoyment. When my kids were in elementary I focused my creativity on school related things and it was nice to pour that energy into something different.
I think she’s incredibly talented and her Dec Daily idea/planning videos for Ali last year were so so good. She’s a voice I really enjoy and so I think it’s really smart to pause when you need it. She’s such a talented creator I suspect we will see more from her in the future.
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Post by janamke on Sept 8, 2023 15:01:29 GMT
I enjoy Krystal, I hope this breaks gives he everything she needs!
For this familiar with her videos, does she ever just do a walkthrough of her completed albums? I don’t necessarily want or need 45+ minute process videos. I prefer walk throughs then if I need more detail I find the specific day.
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Post by joblackford on Sept 8, 2023 19:43:54 GMT
This is more of a general observation, not just about Krystal, but I have noticed a lot of crafters throw themselves wholeheartedly into things and love the hard work, but then something else comes along that catches their attention, or their life takes a different direction that means they can't keep that level of energy up. A lot of them are very good and work really hard, but they also seem to be the kind of people who hold themselves to a very high standard and perhaps offer too much that they can't keep up in the long run.
It's hard to keep up a creative business that relies on you making new things month after month with no downtime. Even Ali E had a few months/years when she was just phoning it in, and she has a team of people do the crap part of the business. Almost all of the crafty creators are juggling some combination of kids, elders, or day jobs on top of the behind the scenes grind of the business aspect of content creation. It's a wonder any of them can keep being creative at all.
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Post by scrappyem on Sept 8, 2023 20:09:58 GMT
Agree with so much here. I wish there was a way for creators like Krystal to get paid or companies like Feed Your Craft to stay in business. I feel the same way about design teams. There's so much time that goes into being on a team and very few pay money. I believe all offer products, which is great, but kinda hard to buy groceries. No idea what the answer is but I wish there were more support for the industry overall. I've always felt scrapbooking as a whole isn't great at marketing or reaching a larger audience outside of our niche community. So few folks "make it". It makes me sad.
The nerd in me really, really wants to see the hard numbers for all these companies like market share, sales, etc. It seems like card making is where the sales are and the YouTubers I watch who do planning get a ton more views per video than the scrapbookers. That's just what I see though, so I'm curious about the actual numbers.
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Post by teacherlisa on Sept 8, 2023 21:27:51 GMT
I don't have a problem with this, because it looks like she closed her Patreon altogether, rather than pausing it - indicating she has no intention to restart it. Putting the videos on YouTube is a way for her former subscribers to still have access to the videos. Yes, they aren't technically "exclusive" to them anymore, but they were exclusive for 1-2 years and she's not collecting money from them anymore. If I were a patron, I would rather still have access to the videos, even if it is now on a public platform. Just my two cents. I agree 100% |
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Post by needtime2scrap on Sept 8, 2023 23:56:25 GMT
You know it could be something more simple...money. With the economy and the prices of things right now, perhaps doing a creative hobby to make money isn't cutting it. Maybe the draw of a regular paycheck that you can count on month after month is needed at this time. The number of patreon customers at $5-8/month to come close to a regular paycheck has to be pretty high. And the constant need to keep things creative & fresh, consistent posting and having educational value (hey I'm learning new crafting skills/tips). It's probably easier to just a 9-5 and craft as a hobby again.
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Post by sleepingbooty on Sept 9, 2023 18:25:53 GMT
Being an influencer and public creator in this craft is extremely rough. You mostly don't get paid by brands but get free products (with strict deadlines to submit your creations). You may get a little money doing the occasional class but to get there, you'll need to put in a lot of free hours and work hard on establishing yourself and growing a followership. To make enough as a basic salary, it's nearly impossible without working your way up to your own products/sub club or becoming an employee. Patreon is just bonus money for most of these people. And for those who do appear to get enough for a monthly salary, it still isn't enough for retirement savings.
The parasocial relationships in scrapbooking/documenting are also different from other online creators and influencers. You're putting your family on display, often children. This is still a craft dominated by motherhood. When those children grow up, they undoubtedly may want to be less present if not completely absent from their parents' social media. That's definitely another factor that contributes to questioning one's place as a public documenter, too.
Kudos to those who've clearly poured a lot of hours into creating and sharing their life. It's paper and photos. There's only that much you can do. So many burn out.
I have a different opinion on the matter of putting everything that was paywalled publicly available for all, especially when you were still getting membership money very recently. But it seems like Krystal is not putting everything up for public consumption after all, just a selection. I'm surprised she's closing Patreon altogether. I've been a Patreon patron for many years now (podcasts mostly, not scrapbooking) and the way it usually goes when a project ends is that the bulk of the material offered for patrons only stays up on Patreon for quite some time and then sometimes goes to a private playlist/feed only the former patrons receive the link to access. You can pause a Patreon campaign indefinitely so there's really no rush to push everything and everyone out the door. Patreon doesn't store the materials like videos and podcast episodes anyway so it's really no extra work for a creator to put all the private videos in a YT playlist and share the link with the former paying members.
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