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Post by leftturnonly on Jan 21, 2019 23:51:58 GMT
PL was on QVC long before those kits. QVC or HSN? I was talking about HSN and yes I realize she had PL kits before those. She had Amber & Turquoise on QVC for certain. I bought the Amber. I'm pretty darn sure she had the Cherry on QVC the year before. I thought about it, didn't get it, and then semi-regretted not. I got the Amber and laid out the cards for the year in an album, began taking pictures, and didn't like it. I didn't like so many cards alike. I didn't like that all the photos were designed to be horizontal. I did the first week and stopped, working on different projects instead. And then my husband died suddenly. So, yeah. I remember. HSN didn't get them until QVC was done with the craft shows.
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Post by leftturnonly on Jan 21, 2019 23:54:05 GMT
Here's the cards from the Amber core kit...
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Post by leftturnonly on Jan 22, 2019 0:00:03 GMT
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Post by lisacharlotte on Jan 22, 2019 0:20:09 GMT
I still like that Cherry kit and those bold graphics. Kinda wish I had bought it as well.
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flamingo
Shy Member
Posts: 10
Jan 16, 2019 18:42:37 GMT
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Post by flamingo on Jan 22, 2019 0:31:06 GMT
Here's the cards from the Amber core kit... This was the first official scrapbooking product I bought. I remember getting the cube type box in the mail and being surprised the paper quality wasn’t better. I think a few kits after that they changed manufacturers.
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Post by marg on Jan 22, 2019 0:36:44 GMT
This is the Cherry core kit... Funny, seeing this, I still think I would have preferred the Cherry kit. (Although I did get creative with the Amber cards after a while.) I have the very first kit - it was very similar to the Cherry kit with many of the same designs, but less variety, instead there were more of the same cards - mostly the graph paper-ish journalling cards. I can't remember how I bought it, but it was sold with an album and acetate monthly bookmarks, and it was called something else - like Project 365, as you mentioned on a previous post. I still have a bunch of the cards leftover. This Cherry core kit is nicer.
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Post by leftturnonly on Jan 22, 2019 1:12:21 GMT
This Cherry core kit is nicer. It is nice, isn't it? I actually got the photos from ebay, so if you want it, you can still get it.
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Post by crafty on Jan 22, 2019 2:11:50 GMT
The app is free and the Cherry Kit is one of the free kits (I think) so you could snag those and save them as jpegs to print.
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flamingo
Shy Member
Posts: 10
Jan 16, 2019 18:42:37 GMT
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Post by flamingo on Jan 22, 2019 2:51:07 GMT
The latest IG post and stories seem oddly combative (speaking about not being interested in the ways things have always been done). I do applaud the innovation of the app and I’m crossing my fingers this means they’re focusing again on scrapbooking.
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lynn0117
Full Member
Posts: 247
Jul 2, 2018 15:47:03 GMT
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Post by lynn0117 on Jan 22, 2019 3:43:06 GMT
The app is free and the Cherry Kit is one of the free kits (I think) so you could snag those and save them as jpegs to print. It’s free on her digital project life site too so you could download it and print it that way as well.
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craftymom101
Pearl Clutcher
Posts: 3,798
Jul 31, 2014 5:23:25 GMT
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Post by craftymom101 on Jan 22, 2019 3:56:18 GMT
flamingo I agree, Becky's stories were definitely combative. "Some companies feel stuck". Says who? She stuck with rounded corners for most of a decade because that's what she likes, not what customers want. She shouldn't preach about business when hers is on the decline. Now her post is making me combative! Make pretty, thoughtful, well executed products and stop blabbing about it! I liked seeing her new Project Life products (and will likely pick up the woodgrain album) but the rest is just noise.
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Deleted
Posts: 0
Nov 24, 2024 4:02:48 GMT
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Post by Deleted on Jan 22, 2019 4:26:31 GMT
The latest IG post and stories seem oddly combative (speaking about not being interested in the ways things have always been done). I do applaud the innovation of the app and I’m crossing my fingers this means they’re focusing again on scrapbooking. I can't watch them anymore. They're just too cringe-worthy. I would be so embarrassed if she was my mom, my wife or my client.
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Post by sleepingbooty on Jan 22, 2019 11:19:59 GMT
Becky on IG stories talking about how CHA/Creativation has slowed down, some brands have stayed stuck (wow, way to go bashing your industry fellows who have managed to stay afloat all these years) and then showing off her earrings because, allegedly, she got so many questions about them (of course, there was a special Becky code to save 10% at checkout #whatakoinkidink). What's clear is that she has no clue where to go. She keeps babbling about thinking about what to do next with her business. There just is no direction. At all. She is talking to fill the emptiness of her brand. Like that annoying "friend" who's trying to make their unoriginal and uninteresting business happen and just keeps yapping in the hopes to become top b*tch. And you're stuck wondering who the hell brought this person into your social group and what kind of revenge you can plot to make them pay for adding this uninterrupted noise ("Oh, I guess I now have a basic understanding of how annoying living with tinnitus is!") to your socialising. Also, they could be doing better with the kits. They just could. I see money possibilities and I see myself throwing money at a value kit - heck, even a core kit - despite the floppy paper quality if the designs really win me over. Not going to lie: slightly disappointed in the Click edition despite loving Krista's work. It's just not versatile enough. Same happened with Liz Tamanaha's Project 52 Fresh edition: there were not enough basics to write down everyday stuff and lists in comparison to filler cards I wouldn't use more than a couple of times. Why are they resisting this avenue? Make an actual great core kit. Don't think that if you do, people will never buy another core kit. Repeat the same with a slightly different design, different colour scheme and we'll be sucked in all over again. Do a higher end 4 seasons core kit, even with floppy paper: add foil finish, replace one stack of cards with ephemera, incorporate the major holidays like Christmas and Easter, add a stack of single 3x4 designs with loads of funky holidays (international coffee day, sibling day, Earth day, etc.) and general themes that can easily be used to illustrate meeting up with special people and venturing out (which is the actual stuff of our lives we document). Yes, that would mean paying your designer more because of more designs (but hey, American Crafts have an in-house team you should totally make work more to get a better product #JasmineJoneswillsell). Price it up because of how special it is ($5 extra). Less cards, more quality content. It'll sell. You no longer scrapbook, Becky. Don't listen to yourself to develop product because you're no longer in the know, no longer part of the actual community you're trying to make a living from. Stop filling the void because it makes you uncomfortable to sit with the facts (and your mistakes). Don't treat your brand like some sunk cost fallacy pet project. Pick it up right here, right now. Make those changes. AC will embrace them. And stop. explaining. yourself. on. social. media. You're just making up excuses, gurl. We see right through your 27 IG stories a day. They don't keep Doctor Obvious away.
Give Allison Pennington a value kit, by the way. And pay her enough to draw plenty of different designs.
Not that Becky will actually listen. Clearly, someone is feeding her some of our criticism in this thread but she isn't hearing it.
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Post by miss2peas on Jan 22, 2019 13:46:37 GMT
I just read the two last’s posts and I am just can’t stand anything she posts anymore. It’s almost like a bad movie that you don’t like but can miss the ending. Another thing that was made very clear is that her agenda is not something that coincides with how I feel. I have quite a few years of Scrapbooking to “catchup on” but I am not going to slap them down just to get them documented. I do this hobby for a creative release, not only to get it done for the sake of getting it done. From the comments though it seems like people are on board, so hopefully whatever she does will work and people will actually buy what she is selling so her company doesn’t do under. Talking to people isn’t going to keep her business alive. One other thing that really floors me in this post is that she has not kept up with her own Scrapbooking and it suppose to now be a blessing. What it really means is that a person who owns the company does not even participate in the hobby she is trying to sell. I don’t feel her excitement is real, I feel it’s forced. One final thought, She did say at one point recently if you want to embellish go for it or something along those lines, would it hurt for her to maybe try to back the people that want to. By maybe selling some more extras along with the kits or showing examples of decorating the pages more. I know it’s not what she intended for when she created pl but how is it gonna hurt her to show another way to use the cards if you want to. Here people, you can use them like this or like this? Obviously what she has been doing isn’t working so anything’s worth a shot. Sorry for the long post! 🙂
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Post by Citygirl on Jan 22, 2019 14:09:28 GMT
"I'm interested in doing what isn't already being done"
Really? Seems like everything she's tried to do in the last year was already being done to death by everyone 🤔 Notebooks, signs, sister wives dress, podcast......done, done, done, done.
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Post by needtime2scrap on Jan 22, 2019 14:17:53 GMT
Most other companies/designers at creativation were lifting each other up and excited about their own products and each others but not her, she had to make sure she got that little snarky dig in there. Hello mean girl much?
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Post by miss2peas on Jan 22, 2019 14:35:01 GMT
Most other companies/designers at creativation were lifting each other up and excited about their own products and each others but not her, she had to make sure she got that little snarky dig in there. Hello mean girl much? Exactly, and she finally showed her products when the show was over and they had turned off the lights! So many companies were sharing stuff the whole time but nope not her.
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auntmimi
Full Member
Posts: 471
Jun 22, 2018 18:55:37 GMT
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Post by auntmimi on Jan 22, 2019 15:15:41 GMT
The latest IG post and stories seem oddly combative (speaking about not being interested in the ways things have always been done). When she said the convention has "slowed down" I thought she said, "sold out." I had to go back and listen again. The whole tone of her stories was snarky, condescending, and mean. She is doing nothing innovative or interesting. She treated her new release as a total afterthought at the end of the show when they turned off the lights. Who does that to drum up business??? She's also starting to gear up to hawk a "getting caught up on your kids' albums" class. This is one area where she has shared a ton of content for free on YT and IG (and that I will frankly admit was super helpful/inspiring to me with trying to get my almost 6 yo DD's stuff in some semblance of order). What could she possibly add that is "new" to justify the cost of this class? That it's all in one spot? That she re-shot the videos instead of using her IG stories or an old YT video? I got burned on the iPhone photo class so I won't be buying it.
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suzyuk111
Junior Member
Posts: 63
Feb 2, 2017 23:31:28 GMT
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Post by suzyuk111 on Jan 22, 2019 15:19:14 GMT
I read her post on FB this morning and on rereading it, it still makes no sense. It is like a rant of a crazy woman, putting down others while saying ambiguous things about herself. Weird
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Post by sean&marysmommy on Jan 22, 2019 15:36:48 GMT
Do a higher end 4 seasons core kit, even with floppy paper: add foil finish, replace one stack of cards with ephemera, incorporate the major holidays like Christmas and Easter, add a stack of single 3x4 designs with loads of funky holidays (international coffee day, sibling day, Earth day, etc.) and general themes that can easily be used to illustrate meeting up with special people and venturing out (which is the actual stuff of our lives we document). Yes, that would mean paying your designer more because of more designs (but hey, American Crafts have an in-house team you should totally make work more to get a better product #JasmineJoneswillsell). Price it up because of how special it is ($5 extra). Less cards, more quality content. It'll sell.
omg YES, I want this kit! I would buy this! lol
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Post by sean&marysmommy on Jan 22, 2019 15:42:39 GMT
I'm probably an ideal customer for PL right now. I haven't scrapped in years, I want to get back into it, but I'm overwhelmed with where to begin. I want something simple, easy, coordinated and quick for me to put together. I'm not ready to commit to a monthly kit because I'm afraid it'll be a fluke and I'll lose interest. I'd love to find a core kit, or maybe something a bit smaller, that is fun enough yet basic enough for me to scrap all kinds of photos. I wish we could've seen more of the products vs. a quick glimpse. And where will it be sold, now that the big craft stores aren't carrying PL?
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Post by alone_inacrowdedroom on Jan 22, 2019 16:00:11 GMT
It was before she sold to AC. That was the premiere of PL being sold on HSN and Lisa was on there selling the 'Jade' and 'Blush' kits that came with the binder. PL was on QVC long before those kits. The first one was Cherry. (Jan 2010 - Jul 2013) Then came Amber & Turqoise (Jan 2011 - Jul 2013) Then Clementine, Cobalt, Baby Him, Baby Her, Baby Neutral, Olive, Seafoam the next year. It seems to me that there may have been one before Cherry. I think it was something like Project 365? (Like the challenge where you take a photo a day.) Complete List of PL Kits by release date
* I have only read bits and pieces of the thread so if this was covered already, my apologies. It's just that I remember these earliest kits oh so well. In looking at this list, my very favorite kits were Seafoam (2012) and Midnight (2013). To me, that was the heyday of PL. Don’t get me wrong, I still own probably 18-20 core kits and countless value/mini type kits, but man I would love to see her do what she was doing around the time of Seafoam, just with square corners. I remember seeing lots of inspiration for the kits at that time, and the designers seemed genuinely excited and posted inspiration on their own blogs. *sigh* those were the days. Innovation can be great, if you’re doing it right. But some situations call for the preservation over innovation model, and I think this is one of them. If she could recapture a lot of what she was doing at the peak of PL, I think she could start winning the trust of her core customer base back.
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Post by lisacharlotte on Jan 22, 2019 17:01:37 GMT
I'm probably an ideal customer for PL right now. I haven't scrapped in years, I want to get back into it, but I'm overwhelmed with where to begin. I want something simple, easy, coordinated and quick for me to put together. I'm not ready to commit to a monthly kit because I'm afraid it'll be a fluke and I'll lose interest. I'd love to find a core kit, or maybe something a bit smaller, that is fun enough yet basic enough for me to scrap all kinds of photos. I wish we could've seen more of the products vs. a quick glimpse. And where will it be sold, now that the big craft stores aren't carrying PL? Midnight and Seafoam are the best core kits she made. They are both neutral enough to use as is or punch up with embellishments. Midnight is particularly good for adding an accent color.
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Post by sleepingbooty on Jan 22, 2019 17:37:03 GMT
I want something simple, easy, coordinated and quick for me to put together. I'm not ready to commit to a monthly kit because I'm afraid it'll be a fluke and I'll lose interest. I'd love to find a core kit, or maybe something a bit smaller, that is fun enough yet basic enough for me to scrap all kinds of photos. I wish we could've seen more of the products vs. a quick glimpse. And where will it be sold, now that the big craft stores aren't carrying PL? I think it's financially smart not to commit to a monthly kit club when you're starting again. Becky H. is currently still selling on most Amazon platforms (a lot of product is available from amazon.com). I'm guessing her kits will arrive there as well. Scrapbook.com and other major online retailers should carry the latest releases when they become available (beware: they won't carry them long). Have you looked at combining two value kits instead of a core kit? That ought to give you quite a few designs to work with and keep your price point in check.
Your other option is to go digital and purchase from filler + journaling card designers that fit your aesthetics. Most of these also offer options with photo templates and create "mini" collections monthly, letting you pick and choose what you want. Paislee Press, In a Creative Bubble, Sahlin Studio, Allison Pennington are some Pea favourites. If you're in the US, the American Peas have great tricks to get these printed on nice cardstock on the cheap. Hybrid looks way more intimidating than it is, I promise.
Personally, I loved Everyday, Midnight and Inspire (I'm so bummed Vanessa Perry has stopped documenting + designing) the most as core kits. I guess I was always a Liz Tamanaha girl at heart.
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Post by lasteve1 on Jan 22, 2019 18:28:21 GMT
I want to echo what everyone else has said here... it really is a shame how far she's fallen. I just don't get waiting until after Creativation is over to share images of the kits? And also, just a quick picture of the back of the box? Why not flip through all the cards like they used to do? She has like 40 IG stories active right now and about 5 of them are showing the kits... after the show ended! I just don't get it. She needs a PR person. And the very first thing that person needs to do is set a IG stories limit on her... say she can have 6 active stories at a time. She is so out of control that I clicked through all her stories to see the PL sneaks, then watched a couple other people's stories and then, when I exited out of stories, she had MORE new ones up. How??? WHY??? Also, why is she advertising that she is late sending out the weekly email for her class? I get that it was a holiday and she was at Creativation, but she probably should've scheduled that to go early. But, if she didn't, why not send a direct email to everyone in the class explaining? Why advertise it on stories that she is late with the weekly email and then try to sell the class in the next story. I am disappointed in the Click kit now that I've seen a little more of it. The designs of all of her recent kits just seem so childish and trying too hard to be "trendy." I think for a scrapbook you should try to go for timeless. Yes, some current events references are fun, but those should be in your stories, not in the products. At least that's my opinion. sleepingbooty I bought the Project 52 Fresh Edition in the PL app because it's only $1.99 and I just export the cards and print them myself, with square corners. You can do that with any cards from the app. It's a pain, but since her kits have poor print quality/paper anyways, I might as well print them myself. Plus then I can change colors, type on the cards, etc., all the benefits of digital, and I don't have a huge box of 400 cards sitting around. I agree that lots of the designs were lacking, but it was worth it for the 2 dollars. The last core kit I bought actually wasn't that long ago--it's the "Currently Edition" I believe designed by One Little Bird. I love it, except it still has round corners and that's really kept me from using many of the cards, other than cutting them up.
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Post by leftturnonly on Jan 22, 2019 19:40:37 GMT
In looking at this list, my very favorite kits were Seafoam (2012) and Midnight (2013). To me, that was the heyday of PL. Don’t get me wrong, I still own probably 18-20 core kits and countless value/mini type kits, but man I would love to see her do what she was doing around the time of Seafoam, just with square corners. I remember seeing lots of inspiration for the kits at that time, and the designers seemed genuinely excited and posted inspiration on their own blogs. *sigh* those were the days. Innovation can be great, if you’re doing it right. But some situations call for the preservation over innovation model, and I think this is one of them. If she could recapture a lot of what she was doing at the peak of PL, I think she could start winning the trust of her core customer base back. Yes. The truth is that there are fewer customers and no one goes through an entire core kit by themselves. Unless you do an entire album in one, you end up with a lot of product that sits around far too long. She wants to do something new? Cut down the size and repetitiveness of the core kits! Do more timeless designs and less trendy stuff. No way do mustaches, diamonds, llamas, unicorns or the like appeal to me. That's why that cherry kit still looks so good. Those filler cards to write on are timeless and still look nice. Stop treating customers like they don't know. No one wants to play in your yard when you're too bossy. Show customers how much you care. Stop saying it and do it, even if it means faking it 'til you make it again. I don't really care all that much about the corners. I quickly went through 2 of her rounders (garbage) and just gave up. I've used cards from other companies, papers I've cut up myself, and her cards mixed altogether with rounded and square getting along just fine. I didn't have much of a choice, when it came down to it. Trying to match her corners was too much of a challenge. Pocket scrapbooking is a simple system. It's an important system. How hard can it be to keep producing the plastic sheets and making them available online at the minimum? If she wanted to take her business in a new direction and instruct others how to preserve memories at the same time, she could be a little less rigid and a bit more flexible with what people put in those pockets. Did she ever come out with the promised 3x5 pockets in 12x12 format? I needed those so so much! What I do not need are expensive notebooks, wrapping paper, etc. And when I do need those types of things, I need them right then and there so I take myself to the local box store and purchase something to have immediately.
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Post by leftturnonly on Jan 22, 2019 19:53:22 GMT
I want to echo what everyone else has said here... it really is a shame how far she's fallen. I just don't get waiting until after Creativation is over to share images of the kits? And also, just a quick picture of the back of the box? Why not flip through all the cards like they used to do? She has like 40 IG stories active right now and about 5 of them are showing the kits... after the show ended! I just don't get it. She needs a PR person. And the very first thing that person needs to do is set a IG stories limit on her... say she can have 6 active stories at a time. She is so out of control that I clicked through all her stories to see the PL sneaks, then watched a couple other people's stories and then, when I exited out of stories, she had MORE new ones up. How??? WHY??? Also, why is she advertising that she is late sending out the weekly email for her class? I get that it was a holiday and she was at Creativation, but she probably should've scheduled that to go early. But, if she didn't, why not send a direct email to everyone in the class explaining? Why advertise it on stories that she is late with the weekly email and then try to sell the class in the next story. I am disappointed in the Click kit now that I've seen a little more of it. The designs of all of her recent kits just seem so childish and trying too hard to be "trendy." I think for a scrapbook you should try to go for timeless. Yes, some current events references are fun, but those should be in your stories, not in the products. At least that's my opinion. Believe me, I don't say this to bash BH in any way... It sounds to me like she may be having some heavy anxiety and/or depression going on. If so, it is completely understandable and happens to a great many of us. This is why you have talented people who work for you, so that they can take up the slack and see to things like emails and product display. The fact that no one is doing those jobs tells me that BH has insisted on keeping control and then been unable to handle it. Again, this is not a criticism of Becky. It's an observation by someone who hasn't paid Becky much attention in a number of years and who deals with complex anxiety herself. I don't want to wade through a bunch of random shots to see her latest products carelessly promoted. Who is going to do that? No one. If no one steps in to help her business right now, it's done.
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Post by KikiPea on Jan 22, 2019 20:00:25 GMT
And why is Becky talking about frigging command strips while other people are at Creativation showcasing her product? It's like she could give two sh*ts about what looks like some really good physical product. WAKE UP, BECKY! Heidi is there, for God's sake!! All together now: "Becky don't give a f*ck!"
She doesn't know what products they're putting out as clearly evidenced by any PL kit flip-through video they've put out (very few and all were exceptionally crappy quality, random small-time YouTubers do it so much better). In case you need any evidence, please watch the Project 52 Rad kit unboxing she did with Kari who is the product manager and the only one actually in the know at BH about what's going on with PL product (and also the one who mispronounced Krista Sahlin's name despite having had her collaborate several times already #facepalm):
Skip to 10:15 if the timestamp didn't work.
Quoting Becky H. herself:
Becky doesn't know what kits they're releasing, what's in the kits. She does not have some final say or veto vote. She doesn't even care. The product's been designed a year back, manufactured and is finally ready to be released after having been through many checks and even a sample product. She only bothers with it when it's all in the box and ready to be shipped to retailers! It's time to all get on board with what Becky herself is saying: she is not involved with what we all associate her brand with. She is busy with other stuff, y'all. Podcast and Beddy's blankets and her new MegaMcMansion and pilgrim dresses. What core kit? What scrapbooking stuff? Huh?
The stuff she is so OBSESSED about is really all just so so, IMHO.
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Post by leftturnonly on Jan 22, 2019 20:02:13 GMT
Becky H. is currently still selling on most Amazon platforms If she's able to redeem her name, Amazon is a fine place for her to base her product. Frankly, I'd rather buy from them than from other online places anyway. I can't remember the last time I've even been near an actual scrapbook store, and I've been living in 3 distinctly different parts of the country for the past several years. It's box store, online, or nothing. Midnight and Seafoam are the best core kits she made. They are both neutral enough to use as is or punch up with embellishments. Midnight is particularly good for adding an accent color. That Amber kit took a lot of creativity to use!
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Post by scrapaddict702 on Jan 22, 2019 20:38:20 GMT
Maybe she doesn't see much of the PL profit anymore. Given that sales have slowed, it's a good possibility. It would go a long way to explaining why she isn't pushing the product (and when she is, it's more the app than the physical stuff)...she's pushing it for American Crafts and not her own pocketbook. I would wager a guess that in AC producing her products, they get their investment back before she gets anything. If there is creative control that AC can take to expand the brand, it would also explain why she continues to denounce the things (6x6 paper pads, ephemera, chipboard stickers, etc) that people who use the PL concept in ways she didn't want them to be as unnecessary. It would also explain possibly why the kits are now produced with square corners (the only real time she addressed those of us wanting square corners was when she was partnered with SU...she simply directed those people there). If she is THIS disassociated with the production of PL products, it would make complete sense for AC to make the tweaks she refused to do.
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