Scraptastic not doing 12x12 Kits Any longer

I am not surprised. There was a red flag with all of those exclusives. Hopefully, Hip Kit will be able to persevere through the AC problems.

Oh, OKay. I thought I was losing my mind for a second there.

Oh dear hope it's not the start of a general decline. I was just thinking I might actually sign up to Hip Kit after I saw a sneak of the August kit.

Can't say I am surprised. The writing has been on the wall IMO for a year. I was stunned to see them add new kits at the start of the year. I feel bad for her, but rarely felt like I received sincere customer service...can't be successful when you have an attitude with your customers.

American Crafts isn't the only game in town. She could have opted to include Echo Park/Carta Bella, Authentique, Simple Stories, Bella Blvd, Elle's Studio, Lawn Fawn (they carry basic patterns), Pinkfresh, My Mind's Eye, Photoplay and many others not under the AC umbrella versus going all exclusive and adding production to her plate.

It is the costliest to ship and being all exclusive probably the costliest to produce. I understand why, but she is cutting off the biggest draw for her club, I think. I think she would have been better off with just a main SB and main PL and stopping with everything else. I think decorating planners is a fad, even if it might be her bread and butter right now...in the long run, I don't see this being a wise business decision.

I also think shipping late is not on the distributors...I think she is cash strapped and had to get funds from subscribers before ordering (evidence to me is the digital images of kit contents versus actual photos).

I agree, Impearia, that it is a sad time. The downsizing of Scraptastic Club's offerings is sad news to me. I'm on the team, and will be stepping down after the last scrapbooking kit is released. I'm upset about this, as Scraptastic Club was easily one of the best teams that I have ever worked with.

It saddens me to see comments blaming Jessica and speculating about other options she had, because I know that she gave it her all, despite some very frustrating circumstances. I also completely understand why she has to pull back from the scrapbooking kits at the moment. Those who suggested above that she should work with other manufacturers should be aware that she in fact did, actually (including with some of the manufacturers mentioned in the comments above), but only when the available product worked with the vision she had in mind for the kits. Jessica did not want to resort to creating a-kit-any-kit, and wanted to stay true to her aesthetic. The venture into exclusive products/kits for a few months was a brave one, and I, too, was nervous about what that would mean in the long run, but it turned out that I really loved the exclusives. I admire Jessica's resourcefulness and her discernment regarding product choices, as it makes clear that she wants to remain true to what feels right to her. I respect the decision that she has made, as saddened as I am, and as worried about the industry as this makes me.

I'm sorry to see any of the "standards" leaving the industry. I really worry about our hobby as a whole! I very much enjoyed scraptastic and only quit to save money.

I can understand the difficulty working with AC and non AC companies. I can imagine the monthly stress operating a kit club. I assist my LSS with planning and purchasing products for an annual scrapbook event she does for 350 scrapers. We do eight double page layout kits and goodie bags. It is shocking how hard it is to find a company to sell us 350 pieces of whatever we are picking out for the layouts!! It is a struggle and sometimes we are limited to what they have NOT what we want! And every kit has to be the same along with the goodie bag stuff. It is sad and alarming each year how difficult it is to get products and she doesn't even look at AC, they will screw you every time! Sad to hear the news with Scraptastic. 😞

It's difficult because, like the company I worked for, they didn't order product until after the shows, and placed the order for what was pre-purchased, and then some extra. Kit clubs were always prompted to order as early as possible so that we would have enough for their needs. If they waited until after the shows, and other stores/clubs had already started purchasing, we could not guarantee that there would be enough left. In very few instances, we would place a reorder just for a kit club, IF they needed enough for a run that would not cost us an arm and a leg, and leave us with tons of leftovers that would sit in the warehouse collecting dust, because once the initial excitement was over for the latest and greatest, no one wanted it anymore, so we got stuck with it.

Oh wow. This sounds sad. I was not a subber but I truly hope this is not a sign of more to come!