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Post by gigi333 on Aug 25, 2016 22:36:51 GMT
Wow. I got all 4 of the new mme collections and I'm really happy with them all. Though I totally agree the b side can't be used but I'm a little magpie so I always use the glitzy side anyway Haha, I was planning on using about half of the B-sides so imagine my disappointment! The 3x4 card set is made of such a flimsy paper it's making Becky Higgins cards look like high end stuff. And several of the die cuts in the pack already had a small tear and/or slight crease due to how thin the paper is. Maybe I'm harsher on quality of paper because I pay the premium price being in Europe. Just the 6x6 pad set me back almost 9€ or over US$10! For something I now likely won't be using about half the product of, that's very expensive. And far too expensive compared to what I can get from brands who do choose nice paper and are barely more expensive (and in certain cases cheaper!). I'd also prefer the 3x4 cards to be way stronger. but anytime I've worked with mme collections I've really loved the end product. I am in Europe too and it totally blows how little there is here, and also how no one I know has even heard of scrapbooking and think its so lame
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Post by 505scrapper on Aug 25, 2016 23:18:26 GMT
I agree about the Amy Tan and Maggie Holmes stuff. It just seems to all repeat. Except for the zoo animals which are odd to begin with. One set had a zebra, the next had the giraffe. What's next? An Elephant?
Last October I was on medical leave from work and I watched a lot of YouTube. I remember watching so many haul videos with some of the newer releases and kept wondering what all the fuss was about. None of it was appealing to me.
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Post by 950nancy on Aug 25, 2016 23:20:49 GMT
Pollyanna stepping in… I haven't fallen out of love with any brand (there are a few that I never was in a committed relationship though). I just want there to be more companies that design at least a few of their lines towards more masculine designs. A few will throw me a bone now and then, but for the most part, most of the papers are feminine or girlie, or even cutesy. I am done with floral and pink and hearts. If you knock those two things out of a paper pack, you don't always have much left. So I will consider buying EP, Bo Bunny, MME, or Carte Bella as long as they have what I like.
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Post by anniefb on Aug 25, 2016 23:31:18 GMT
I'm kinda over Dear Lizzy, Amy Tangerine and I've never been a fan of Shimelle's collections. I think AC should get fresh, new, one off designers to do collections and see what they come up with. Just because a designer has one great collection in them, doesn't mean they have 4 or 5. Totally agree. All the collections start to look the same.
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Post by wonderwoman on Aug 25, 2016 23:48:53 GMT
I agree about the Amy Tan and Maggie Holmes stuff. It just seems to all repeat. Except for the zoo animals which are odd to begin with. One set had a zebra, the next had the giraffe. What's next? An Elephant? Last October I was on medical leave from work and I watched a lot of YouTube. I remember watching so many haul videos with some of the newer releases and kept wondering what all the fuss was about. None of it was appealing to me. lol~ I haven't figured out a way to incorporate a giraffe eating a doughnut into my layout yet... Maybe I am just not creative enough...lol~
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Post by 950nancy on Aug 26, 2016 0:14:34 GMT
I agree about the Amy Tan and Maggie Holmes stuff. It just seems to all repeat. Except for the zoo animals which are odd to begin with. One set had a zebra, the next had the giraffe. What's next? An Elephant? Last October I was on medical leave from work and I watched a lot of YouTube. I remember watching so many haul videos with some of the newer releases and kept wondering what all the fuss was about. None of it was appealing to me. lol~ I haven't figured out a way to incorporate a giraffe eating a doughnut into my layout yet... Maybe I am just not creative enough...lol~ Our zoo has the biggest herd of giraffes (in a US zoo). They built the walkway around the giraffes so you are at eye level with them when you feed them. They are always selling giraffe crackers. I would like to suggest you come out to Colorado Springs and feed them. I haven't quite worked the doughnut into this yet though.
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Post by scrapaddict702 on Aug 26, 2016 0:15:54 GMT
I agree about the Amy Tan and Maggie Holmes stuff. It just seems to all repeat. Except for the zoo animals which are odd to begin with. One set had a zebra, the next had the giraffe. What's next? An Elephant? Last October I was on medical leave from work and I watched a lot of YouTube. I remember watching so many haul videos with some of the newer releases and kept wondering what all the fuss was about. None of it was appealing to me. For whatever reason, I attribute elephants to babies...so elephants wouldn't be that bad since I still have baby pictures of all of my kids and hopes/plans to do a baby album for each of them in PL format eventually (probably a project that will happen when they are all in school full time...so, 4 years from now, lol). I have even purchased dies of elephants at TM and on sale at Joann's with baby pages in mind. Hauls are like yawns to me...very contagious...even if I know I don't need something...when it's hauled, I feel like I need it, lol. I'm learning to be way better about it, though!!
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Post by gmcwife1 on Aug 26, 2016 0:50:54 GMT
Just my opinion...but, Teresa Collins - used to love her stuff, now I just feel like it's Heidi Swapp reincarnated. Hmmmm, I wonder if this is why I always confuse the two of them
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Post by lisacharlotte on Aug 26, 2016 1:27:49 GMT
Pollyanna stepping in… I haven't fallen out of love with any brand (there are a few that I never was in a committed relationship though). I just want there to be more companies that design at least a few of their lines towards more masculine designs. A few will throw me a bone now and then, but for the most part, most of the papers are feminine or girlie, or even cutesy. I am done with floral and pink and hearts. If you knock those two things out of a paper pack, you don't always have much left. So I will consider buying EP, Bo Bunny, MME, or Carte Bella as long as they have what I like. I actually bought the Elder core kit even though I'm not LDS. The patterns and colors are masculine and remind me of men's dress shirts.
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Post by crazy4scraps on Aug 26, 2016 3:21:30 GMT
I am sick of Doodlebug and their big-headed creatures. But, that's just me! LOL. See, I still love their style, but that's because I have my own little "big headed creature" in my house now! I finally have an actual reason to use all of the stuff I've bought of theirs over the years.
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Post by Night Owl on Aug 26, 2016 4:25:20 GMT
I still love Doodlebug but their lines like Easter, Christmas, Thanksgiving look the same every year.
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Post by AngieandSnoopy on Aug 26, 2016 4:34:39 GMT
lol~ I haven't figured out a way to incorporate a giraffe eating a doughnut into my layout yet... Maybe I am just not creative enough...lol~ Our zoo has the biggest herd of giraffes (in a US zoo). They built the walkway around the giraffes so you are at eye level with them when you feed them. They are always selling giraffe crackers. I would like to suggest you come out to Colorado Springs and feed them. I haven't quite worked the doughnut into this yet though. I didn't know you lived in Colorado Springs! I love Cheyenne Mountain. My late DH and I went there a few times when we lived in the area. We always fed the giraffes. The penguins and giraffes were my favorites.
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Post by 950nancy on Aug 26, 2016 4:37:12 GMT
Our zoo has the biggest herd of giraffes (in a US zoo). They built the walkway around the giraffes so you are at eye level with them when you feed them. They are always selling giraffe crackers. I would like to suggest you come out to Colorado Springs and feed them. I haven't quite worked the doughnut into this yet though. I didn't know you lived in Colorado Springs! I love Cheyenne Mountain. My late DH and I went there a few times when we lived in the area. We always fed the giraffes. The penguins and giraffes were my favorites. We have a new(er) elephant enclosure too which is amazing. They have a ton of space and even a waterfall to hang out under. It seems like every few years they build a new exhibit. Not bad for not getting any money from the city. It is all donations and ticket sales.
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Post by impearia on Aug 26, 2016 4:50:41 GMT
I will add that with some of the big names closing up like basic grey, I've begun to notice smaller companies like Kaiser craft and there's still a lot of good stuff out there! Eta I'm just now discovering jillibean soup and photo play too! I still miss Basic Grey. And am hoarding some of the papers of the final collection they put out earlier this year. Kaisercraft is considered a small(er) company? They're pretty big in Europe (and Australia I'm guessing). I'd say it's one of the few brands I'm 100% sure to encounter in any of our country's scrap stores. Nice paper quality too. Kaisercraft is a MASSIVE company in Australia, pretty much any scrap store carries them, and they have their own stores too, plus of course Spotlight (think Michael's). They usually release 3 collections a MONTH...no that is not a typo. I almost never buy anything from KC because I find them derivative, and I dislike the quality of their single sheet paper. It is quite thin in comparison to other companies. The weight is much more similar to what paper was like back when it was single sided...and it is okay, but I prefer my papers heavier since I no longer use cardstock bases. The one thing they make that I do like is their rhinestones and gems. Save
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Post by miominmio on Aug 26, 2016 5:50:58 GMT
Haha, I was planning on using about half of the B-sides so imagine my disappointment! The 3x4 card set is made of such a flimsy paper it's making Becky Higgins cards look like high end stuff. And several of the die cuts in the pack already had a small tear and/or slight crease due to how thin the paper is. Maybe I'm harsher on quality of paper because I pay the premium price being in Europe. Just the 6x6 pad set me back almost 9€ or over US$10! For something I now likely won't be using about half the product of, that's very expensive. And far too expensive compared to what I can get from brands who do choose nice paper and are barely more expensive (and in certain cases cheaper!). I'd also prefer the 3x4 cards to be way stronger. but anytime I've worked with mme collections I've really loved the end product. I am in Europe too and it totally blows how little there is here, and also how no one I know has even heard of scrapbooking and think its so lame It might depend on where you live. There are several Norwegian, Swedish and Polish brands available (in addition to lots of American ones).
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Post by gigi333 on Aug 26, 2016 7:18:56 GMT
I'd also prefer the 3x4 cards to be way stronger. but anytime I've worked with mme collections I've really loved the end product. I am in Europe too and it totally blows how little there is here, and also how no one I know has even heard of scrapbooking and think its so lame It might depend on where you live. There are several Norwegian, Swedish and Polish brands available (in addition to lots of American ones). I live in Ireland, and there is very very little I can buy locally, there is a craft shop near me but its very card making based and it rarely has items I really want, I buy pretty much everything online at scrapbook.com mostly
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Deleted
Posts: 0
Apr 29, 2024 21:27:10 GMT
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Post by Deleted on Aug 26, 2016 23:25:57 GMT
lol~ I haven't figured out a way to incorporate a giraffe eating a doughnut into my layout yet... Maybe I am just not creative enough...lol~ Our zoo has the biggest herd of giraffes (in a US zoo). They built the walkway around the giraffes so you are at eye level with them when you feed them. They are always selling giraffe crackers. I would like to suggest you come out to Colorado Springs and feed them. I haven't quite worked the doughnut into this yet though. I lived in Colorado Springs for about 6 months a long time ago and I LOVED that zoo and the giraffes; never forgot it and feeding them. I just read down thread it's called Cheyenne Mountain? Was it called Roy Rogers Zoo or something a long time ago? I thought that was the name, or something similar?
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Post by chaosisapony on Aug 27, 2016 0:10:20 GMT
I agree with so much that's been posted here I want to quote 80% of the thread lol.
In some respects I don't mind the repetitive'ness of certain brands. Back in the day when we had an American Crafts rep visit the shop for ordering she explained that the Dear Lizzy brand was originally created with the intent that each collection would build upon the previous one. It was supposed to benefit retailers who always wind up with a couple patterns that don't sell and just linger around the store not matching anything else. Those old patterns could be intermixed with the new to help everything move out of the store quicker. In turn this would benefit consumers because they would be able to pull from their leftovers in their stash and it would match the new stuff. Making them happy and more likely to purchase Dear Lizzy products because they knew it would match things they already owned. <<< All of that makes a lot of sense to me and I think as it was originally intended, it was a good idea!
However, now we have Dear Lizzy, Amy Tangerine, Maggie Holmes, Shimelle, and to some degree Crate Paper, all doing just that under the AC umbrella. The entire portfolio now lacks diversity because they all play on just what is currently trendy in color schemes and design. AC took a good concept and ruined it by taking it too far.
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Post by 950nancy on Aug 27, 2016 3:33:58 GMT
Our zoo has the biggest herd of giraffes (in a US zoo). They built the walkway around the giraffes so you are at eye level with them when you feed them. They are always selling giraffe crackers. I would like to suggest you come out to Colorado Springs and feed them. I haven't quite worked the doughnut into this yet though. I lived in Colorado Springs for about 6 months a long time ago and I LOVED that zoo and the giraffes; never forgot it and feeding them. I just read down thread it's called Cheyenne Mountain? Was it called Roy Rogers Zoo or something a long time ago? I thought that was the name, or something similar? There is another attraction up the mountain from the zoo called Will Roger's Shrine. The views are amazing.
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Deleted
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Apr 29, 2024 21:27:10 GMT
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Post by Deleted on Aug 27, 2016 10:15:01 GMT
I lived in Colorado Springs for about 6 months a long time ago and I LOVED that zoo and the giraffes; never forgot it and feeding them. I just read down thread it's called Cheyenne Mountain? Was it called Roy Rogers Zoo or something a long time ago? I thought that was the name, or something similar? There is another attraction up the mountain from the zoo called Will Roger's Shrine. The views are amazing. Oh, yes...now I remember; I combined the two, lol. Thanks!
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Post by icequeen on Aug 27, 2016 13:30:28 GMT
I will add that with some of the big names closing up like basic grey, I've begun to notice smaller companies like Kaiser craft and there's still a lot of good stuff out there! Eta I'm just now discovering jillibean soup and photo play too! Love Kaiser Craft's! Especially their new Christmas stuff.
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Post by epeanymous on Aug 27, 2016 14:14:17 GMT
Pretty much all of the pastel girly AC lines. I bought a ton of Dear Lizzie and Maggie Holmes stuff in the beginning, but it is enough already. I like pink just fine--it's the bows and flowers that kill me.
One thing that puzzles me is that all of these companies claim to be on trend, but it is only one really narrow set of trends. There are a lot of color stories they don't pick up and motifs they don't use (where were they when everything, everywhere was Scandinvian?). It's not the manufacturing lead times -- my Crate and Barrel plates are made in China too.
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Post by crazy4scraps on Aug 27, 2016 15:56:34 GMT
Pretty much all of the pastel girly AC lines. I bought a ton of Dear Lizzie and Maggie Holmes stuff in the beginning, but it is enough already. I like pink just fine--it's the bows and flowers that kill me. One thing that puzzles me is that all of these companies claim to be on trend, but it is only one really narrow set of trends. There are a lot of color stories they don't pick up and motifs they don't use (where were they when everything, everywhere was Scandinvian?). It's not the manufacturing lead times -- my Crate and Barrel plates are made in China too. I think it must just be the industry. I'd be willing to bet that C&B is working on their new product lines way more than 6-12-18 months out.
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Post by anniefb on Aug 27, 2016 19:03:28 GMT
I agree about the Amy Tan and Maggie Holmes stuff. It just seems to all repeat. Except for the zoo animals which are odd to begin with. One set had a zebra, the next had the giraffe. What's next? An Elephant? Last October I was on medical leave from work and I watched a lot of YouTube. I remember watching so many haul videos with some of the newer releases and kept wondering what all the fuss was about. None of it was appealing to me. lol~ I haven't figured out a way to incorporate a giraffe eating a doughnut into my layout yet... Maybe I am just not creative enough...lol~ LOL I just went through some embellishment packs and just tossed a whole lot of weird embellishments I knew I'd never use.
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Post by anniefb on Aug 27, 2016 19:09:25 GMT
That was an interesting insight chaosisapony. As you say - may have been a good concept at the start but has now been carried to extremes by AC.
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Post by Night Owl on Aug 28, 2016 2:49:20 GMT
Speaking of animals I noticed horses in a few lines. I don't know what to do with them, but seems like they equate horses with girl lines. I guess though they are better than all the "Diva" stuff. I can see using Diva once on a layout but I don't want to encourage the Diva stuff. LOL
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Post by alissa103 on Aug 28, 2016 3:12:52 GMT
Pollyanna stepping in… I haven't fallen out of love with any brand (there are a few that I never was in a committed relationship though). I just want there to be more companies that design at least a few of their lines towards more masculine designs. A few will throw me a bone now and then, but for the most part, most of the papers are feminine or girlie, or even cutesy. I am done with floral and pink and hearts. If you knock those two things out of a paper pack, you don't always have much left. So I will consider buying EP, Bo Bunny, MME, or Carte Bella as long as they have what I like. ITA. Although I haven't liked Bo Bunny as much the last few years. I did buy their colorful Christmas line last year - it was a nice change of pace from the traditional colors or the stupid pink lines (I hate the pink in Christmas lines)!
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camcas
Pearl Clutcher
Posts: 3,969
Jun 26, 2014 3:41:19 GMT
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Post by camcas on Aug 28, 2016 10:15:14 GMT
I agree with wanting some new designers.....I too am OVER pink turquoise and gold...over over over over...
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Post by crazy4scraps on Aug 28, 2016 16:25:01 GMT
I agree with wanting some new designers.....I too am OVER pink turquoise and gold...over over over over... Me too. I fondly remember way back when all of the companies were small and they all had a different "look". There was so much more diversity in product. There was something for everyone back then. Now, not so much.
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camcas
Pearl Clutcher
Posts: 3,969
Jun 26, 2014 3:41:19 GMT
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Post by camcas on Aug 29, 2016 6:24:32 GMT
Totally agree crazy4scraps...there is a real sameness now
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