Plain or Fancy?

There's something to be said for simple pocket pages. On the other hand I like to throw stuff at the page! Let's do both then...

The colours in these photos were a tad retro since it was getting dark so I used the Becky Higgins' Digital Project Life Azure kit and changed the selfie pic to sepia. Here's the simple version:


It would pass muster but let's throw stuff at it anyway ... (Click on it to see a bigger version)


The seasidey bits are mostly from Creashens' Newport.

There's an article on simple v fancy on our main website HERE.

Let's do some recycling: same template, same kit, different photos. I love these photos of my Mum and Dad on their first trip abroad together in 1968. I even used their passport photos in it. Mum is doing her film star impression going up the steps of the plane.  I left the hotel postcard looking faded but brightened up the photos a little in Picmonkey.

All Work and No Pay!

by Yobeth Puckett
How did the industry standard in the scrapbook world become getting people to do your work and not paying them?  It's not isolated either, I've seen it in many different areas.

My first experience working in the digital scrapping world was on CTs (creative teams).  This is basically a barter system.  When you work on a CT your purpose, at the very least, is to promote said designer's new release.  You get the kit before it's released, create a predetermined number of layouts within a few days then use them to promote the kit when it's released.  Then you're usually asked to post your layouts in 2-3 galleries. That's not a bad deal for the designer or the CT member.  But some designers require a lot more. Depending on the designer, you may also be asked to participate in forums, praise teams, on Facebook pages, on your own blog, host challenges, and even make products for the designer to give away free in stores, trains and hops.  Wow, now it's looking a little more like slave labor!

I've also "partnered" with some designers to make products they can sell in their stores. I've had good and bad experiences doing this.  The theory is when something you design with the kit sells you're paid a commission. This is a win/win unless you aren't paid the promised commission. This can amount to a sizable amount and is nothing short of theft!

Then you have affiliate programs where you partner with the software companies.  Typically you may provide product reviews, tutorials, giveaways and other promotions for the company on your blog and a link to their product's page.  If a customer follows this link and purchases the software, you receive a commission for advertising, promoting and selling their product. But not all companies are paying commissions as agreed.  They don't have good tracking and reporting systems in place which makes it easy for them. But when two or three people you know say they bought the software using your code but you're never paid, it's not good and reveals their actions.  Actually, it's theft!  And it's happened more than once.

It's ridiculous!  It's not good to base compensation on the honor system when there is no honor among thieves.

A Jewish friend once told me that when someone says "Trust me!" it's yiddish for screw you.  Sad but, in a lot of cases, true.  Like, you promote my software & get us sales & we'll compensate you, trust me! Or, use my product to design stuff I can sell & I'll compensate you, trust me!

I can't think of any other industry that could get away with not paying someone for their labor!  As a matter of fact, it's illegal and is the reason we have minimum wage and other laws in place to protect workers.

I'm currently working with a lady that produces training videos that is actually paying me to write the accompanying handbooks.  Plus, I get the training video which I would have to purchase otherwise.  AND, she pays me the same day I send her the handbook!

Feel Free To Waste Our Valuable Time

So how does iNSD work when you run a digital scrapbooking store? It is, after all, a marketing event, let's be honest.  It's not rocket science. You get your designers to offer deals in the store and maybe grab bags. You offer generous freebies to your customers. Easy.

OR ....

You send them on a time wasting treasure hunt style blog train to collect letters where one of the designers has hidden the letter so well in a "start here - go there - come back here" blog post that it's impossible to find. I looked. Four times. So customers are understandably guessing that letter and it's wrong. They don't get the kit. They're annoyed. They complain on Facebook. What is the correct response to this in marketing terms?

1) Give out the code, or

2) (Better) Make the kit free for everyone.

Instead they are continuing to annoy people by ignoring them or saying "the code should work".

Customer service tip: When the customer has a problem you provide a solution to that problem, you don't tell the customer there is no problem. If you don't solve the customer's problem don't expect them to spend money in your store ever again. I can't believe I have to write this sort of thing. It's common sense.

iNSD is a busy time for scrappers. Some, allegedly, join in fun stuff. Those of us who run six Facebook groups are too busy looking after our members. And, no, we don't give out your precious codes, we provide a valuable service to stores by promoting their free deals and sending our members to the stores/blog/FB pages to get them. We don't have time for childish games and blog trains to nowhere.

Blog train tip: When you're running any blog train/Facebook hop check that it actually works. That the customer doesn't get stuck in a "Sign up for a newsletter. Confirm it. Get a link that goes to a 404 error page. Do not get link to next stop". How to kill it stone dead. How to ensure that person will immediately unsubscribe from your mailing list. Mailing list management is a big area where designers and stores get it wrong ... article to follow.

It really isn't hard and it comes down to respect for your valuable customers. They work hard in horrible jobs to pay for kits in your store so you don't have to work in those horrible jobs.

FOR GOODNESS' SAKE JUST GIVE THEM A FREE KIT!!!

Latest: Apparently the treasure hunt store changed the code. It then didn't work  for those who had got it earlier. So they had to go through again and get another one. For once, words fail me.

Does My .... Look Big In This?

Yes it does! Although that could be because my head is missing since the template division slices right through it.

Why do scrappers think this kind of thing is OK? People cut in half, limbs sliced off, Vincent Van Gogh impressions ... my friends and I call it the Eeek Factor.  I've even seen designers who think that spreading a photo across pockets in trendy manner is more important than not cutting members of  your family in half. Please don't do it!

There are tips in the article HERE on positioning your photo and choosing the right template - plus a tutorial on merging photo boxes in PSE.

Here's a version of the page (I have several, I'm so proud that DH has mastered the Walking Away shot) showing all of me plus some of the woods. You can click on it to see a larger version. The cards are from Becky Higgins Digital Project Life Coral kit and the template is Template B, the embellishments and background papers are from Trixie Scraps' Nature Walk.


Maybe this photo shouldn't be split up at all. Here's a version of the page made with the same kit and a  template from a mystery best-thing-since-sliced-bread program I'll be reviewing in the next few days.

Say it here and it comes out there ...

Do you ever find yourself yelling at the TV for someone to do or say something (usually in my case it's "For goodness' sake, object!" at a defence attorney), then they do it and you claim full credit? That's what happened to me and my friend Ruth Trice last week. Ruth is a very talented paper crafter who can do amazing things with all kinds of paper and stamps.  I'm complete rubbish with stamps but really wanted to include stamping in our tutorials and design ideas pages so I turned to Ruth for help.

Cue husband (well, probably both) wondering how two women can talk for hours about cards, pockets, stamps and the like. Since Ruth is an independent demonstrator for Stampin Up ! we talked about the kind if things she could make - and teach us about - with Stampin' Up products. [OK, they had their one ! after the Up and any more would have my English teacher, who wouldn't be keen on the loss of the g either, spinning in her grave ...] We'd both noticed the occasional pocket-y page layout and how Ruth was able to make the exact size 3 x 4 card with one of the products and wondered how long it would be before they offered more pocket scrapbooking products.

Then the announcement came about Stamping Up working with Becky Higgins to offer Project Life within Stampin Up. It was as if they'd heard us! It makes great sense for both companies and it's great for us! I'm coveting the new corner punch already as I like the fold flat Stampin' Up punches. There's one not even got across the Atlantic yet that has my name on it.

It's interesting that the Stampin Up cards are not going to have rounded corners. It made me wonder if Becky Higgins' company is going to offer an option of square corners at some stage. Folk who like rounded corners can make square corners rounded. Obviously. Those who like square cornered cards cannot do the reverse. There is therefore a section of the market lost to Becky Higgins and it's the people who don't like rounded corners. I would imagine someone has noticed this. Personally I like rounding corners, it's a relatively mindless but vaguely creative activity I can do in the wee small hours when sleep has gone walkabout.

Ruth and I are working on an ever increasing number of projects, including a gazillion ways to alter Project Life cards, but to whet your appetite here's a fabulous page she made using Stampin Up products. You can see more in our Facebook group and on Ruth's Facebook Page Artful Stampin.


Did you know that Ruth has put together some great kits for you to get a head start on your pocket  pages? You can find them and see more of her creations on her blog HERE

Eat More Ice Cream

Well, we could stop right there, with that instruction in the title!

On Shrove Tuesday we took about 100 photos of us making pancakes. Note to self: Must clean kitchen before taking photos in kitchen or it will be embarrassing. I couldn't resist giving this tub of ice cream its own page. I should pin it up in the kitchen as a reminder to get some more of it. I used mostly Just Jaimee's Ice Cream. The rosettes are from Sahlin Studio's Pure Happiness and I used a mask by Lindsay Jane. It didn't take me long to make the basic page but I kept tweaking it for ages moving the embellies around.


 Here's a different version using the same kit:

Those days when nothing happens

I like the idea of documenting our daily lives even though I don't do that PL thing as such. Week numbers?? You won't get anyone who has ever owned a timeshare wanting those on a page!

Some days nothing happens. As in this day when it took two attempts just to get out for a coffee (the UK sunk under all the rain this winter ...) I made a paper and digi version of this. As you can see, in the digi version stuff escaped and biscuits appeared. I used Raspberry Road's Coffee Shop. The February photo overlay is by Ali Edwards. I have SO many coffee kits and even have a Pinterest board about coffee. I should get out more. For coffee.

Click on the photos to see a larger version.


We have so many coffee photos I had to do something different with some of them. here's a hybrid 4" x 6" where I used the photo and an embellishment cluster from ML Designs' Good Morning. I deliberately left some white space around it.   I like white space. Literally WHITE space. It makes the photos stand out. There's a Design Ideas article to follow on that very soon.

It's April!

Our new buffet challenge for April is on the Facebook group and already we have some creative interpretations plus twofers, threefers and more. See if you can beat them!

The rules - even though there aren't any - are on our main site HERE.



Speaking of rules, we do have them for the Facebook groups to make sure they're nice places to be. Otherwise they end up being just another "buy this" group like so many others on Facebook.

You can see our list of groups and find out about how they work on this page. You didn't know we had so many groups? We lose count too! Feel free to join as many as you like and tell your friends!

Put Divas' Detectives On the Case

If you have found yourself searching for a scrapbook kit with a particular theme or just the right colors, put Divas' Detectives on the case.  We make it our mission to stay on top of trends and help digital scrappers in every way.
We've noticed many people asking for help finding kits with specific themes or colors and recognized a need we could fill.  With that in mind we created Divas' Detectives, a Facebook group of fellow scrappers dedicated to helping make your dreams come true.  Well, your dreams of finding that perfect kit anyway!

So click Divas' Detectives Facebook group and join us.  In addition to finding the kit you're looking for, you can help other scrappers make their dreams come true as well.  It's a win/win.

The Photo Challenge - March 2014

Scrapbooking is all about the photos. We, so the mantra goes, I don't personally believe that. To me it's all about adding "stuff" to the photos. Our buffet challenge on Digi Scrapping Divas this month IS all about photos ... make any page you like - or show us one you made earlier - showcasing photos from one of more categories. Some are easy peasy, some might need you to play around on Picmonkey or a more cunning and clever program. Shout if you need a tutorial!

The Epic Fail Challenge

We have challenges every months on the Divas Facebook Group. You can read about them on our website challenge page HERE. Yes, I know I keep forgetting to post them on the blog...

We also have some "Hey, let's do this!" challenges and right now we have am Epic Fail challenge. Did your day go wrong? Did you do something stupid? Did inanimate objects take on a life of their own? Make a page about it!

The weather in the UK has been dire recently with lots of flooding. On the south coast where I live we've also had high tides and storms to contend with and this is what happened to some local beach huts (between Boscombe and Southbourne for the UK peeps, and I cheated - the ones on the left are at Durley Chine a mile away). I used a quickpage by Cinzia Loosemore, the alpha is from Trixie Scraps, All About Me, The Littles.



If you'd like to see another Epic Fail page complete with sorry tale about the worst cruise ever go the The Ship's Rail !

Sometimes old colours just work

I bought "Waiting For Spring", a collab kit from Little Butterfly Wings and Juliana Kneipp, at the weekend. I intended to use it for a layout about waiting for Spring complete with terribly clever macro shot of a clematis shoot but that will have to wait for another day. Let's face it the wet weather in the UK is a joke and folk might just laugh if I made a page about Spring.

I got distracted by this collage background and the "Let's play outside" sign. Both reminded me of childhood photos. I tried many many times to correct the colour in this photo of my Nan, brothers and cousin in our back garden but it never turned out right. On this page it doesn't matter, it's fine as it is.

It gets worse ....

My last post was about documenting the disappointment. Right up there in our fancy header it says "cruising" does it not? Well, here's a twofer - a page about the most disappointing cruise ever.



I used mostly Scrapyrus' Anchor My Love. I can't even bear to write the story again. You can read about it on The Ship's Rail

Not Your Grandma's Grammar

by Yobeth Puckett

To say it's not your Grandma's grammar would be an understatement. Children in the United States aren't even being taught cursive in school anymore and grammar has been on a slippery slope for years!  I'm afraid to think where texting is going to take us.

I don't claim to be an English major but some things are just annoying. Homophones, for example, are one of my pet peeves.  Here are just a few of the frequently mixed-up words I see:

• to/too/two
• their/there/they're
• hear/here
• passed/past
• your/you're/ur

In the examples above, I added ur as my prediction for where we're headed!  I hope you realize these words do not mean the same thing.  Let's take their/there/they're and use them in a sentence.  They're going to sit with their family over there.  You get the gist.

Now let's consider punctuation.  A comma can change the entire meaning of a sentence.  The quote below is from writers.com website.  It is a perfect illustration and made me laugh.

I hope I haven't made too many grammatical errors while typing this post. 
English was never my favorite subject and a refresher course I took a few years ago reminded me why!

Feel free to send me any of your pet peeves in the comments.
Find more posts by Yobeth at scraptiousdesigns.com/blog.

The December Buffet

We're doing something a bit different with our daily word challenge for December. Instead of a fixed word per day you get to choose any number of words you like from the buffet table and see how many twofers, threefers etc you can get. I think we have a eightfer so far and it's only 4th December!

Here are your words:


Don't forget to show us your pages in our Facebook group!

Are you checking our Digi Scrapping Freebies group every day? Some freebies are only available for a short time and you don't want to miss out. This page was made with a free MMS template Home For Christmas by CatDesignz: