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The latest discussion on the DigiScrapCustomers group is about shopping habits. It's been a rather interesting read so far- even though I've heard these things before (they come up often). What I keep forgetting is that not every designer is a member of the DSC group- so they miss out on all these wonderful (and often eye opening) discussions.

So- from the most recent discussion, this is what I'm picking up.

1. Most customers do not browse the stores and 'window shop'- although they will go check out their favorite designer's stores.
2. They are more likely to check out a new designer if their ads contain pictures.
3. They will delete ads that don't have images of the kit(s) for sale, or where the images are attached rather than imbedded.
4. Links to the kit in the store are an absolute MUST.

To me, this seems like common sense. Yet, there are still designers out there who do not- for whatever reason- imbed pictures in their email, or who do not provide direct links to the kit (they might link to the store, but that isn't enough- many designers are prolific kit creators, and attempting to find a kit in a store is a daunting task). It leads me to wonder just how many of these designers really are worth the trouble- since many customers seem to be deleting without checking out these designers' kits.

It really should be in our best interest to do everything that we can to sell our kits.

Expectations

Why should customers have to pussyfoot around designers? Why are customers not allowed to state how disappointed they are in a designer's work? Why should they not ask questions in public?

I simply do not get the trend to shame someone who chooses to make something public. I've seen it at SBB, I've seen it at 2peas. Designers should have thick skins. They should be able to handle the criticism politely, with class, and without the snide remarks (the 'that's totally untrue and unfair' type comments). Did we all of a sudden forget that the people that we chat with on message boards aren't just people? They are potential customers! Everything that we say and do is going to be critiqued by the general population of a message board. And when it comes time to shop- no matter how good a kit looks, or how much you advertise that kit, someone, somewhere is going to think 'Well, that designer was flat out rude when a customer had a problem and asked a question in public.' Guess who won't be getting my money is I see this?

I know that I've ranted about this before- but it seems that it needs to be brought up, again. Once a person chooses to become a designer, s/he loses the freedom to post what you want when you want on a message board or mailing list (or, heck, how about a blog?). Oh, a designer can still post whatever they want- but not without consequences, whether they realize it or not. It stands to reason that if I won't give my money to a company that hires rude employees, then why should I give it to a rude designer?

But back to expectations. I do not expect any customer to ignore a problem. I also don't think that we should expect them to only handle problems through private email. Not every problem that is posted in public is done so in a malicious manner- as some would have people assume. Private emails are appreciated- but asking in public is wrong? I understand that we don't want to have an bad advertising- but when designers post on those threads that people should have kept it private, it shouldn't be posted on a public board, and basically shame the living hell out of a person simply because they chose to ask a question about a problem with a popular designer's kits, it doesn't exactly make that designer look good. I don't think that it's fair to our customers if we limit how they can contact us. Let them vent in public. Let them question in public.

Maybe what we need to do is step back and look at the problem in a new light. We need to start thinking 'is this really a malicious post? is the customer only asking an innocent question? how can I answer without making me look bad?' Let the other customers do all the shaming. The designers should take the high road and be polite and cordial- exactly what we expect from brick and mortar stores when we walk in and complain about something. Oh- can you imagine what would happen if this was face to face stuff? A customer walks into a digital designer's store, and asks if the problem that she's having is on her end, because it's happening with each kit from that designer that the customer has purchased. The designer's response? 'That's untrue and unfair, but I'm working on it.' Somehow, I don't think that would fly...

Done, Done, Done, Done, Done, Done, Done...

Shout hallelujah and praise the Lord, I am DONE!

Finally. I think that this might be my last request album for awhile- all you ladies who do this for a living, more power to you. Because this is freaking HARD.

Don't get me wrong, I love my hobby, and I love the subject, but when you are trying to create a book for someone, with specific instructions, for a specific reason (that doesn't include holidays or anniversaries), it's hard.

I think that I need to reward myself with something. Maybe the new Harry Potter book... And now I'm off to go soak my over worked fingers.

Only Two Days Left...

Ack! In only two days, I need to complete this album, burn it to CD, and get it to my mom, so that she can give it to my sister, so that my sister can print it out and put it in an album. But, on the upside, I've been working like crazy and have some layouts done. Yay!

This is one that I did yesterday. I took the picture over the 4th of July weekend, and knew that I'd use it in her album (how could I not? Just look at that face!).

I'm really enjoying working on this album, even if I'm rushed to get it done in time. I don't get to do all the girly stuff (unless it's for me), and Jasmine is a really girly girl. The kit that I'm using for this album is Good Times, by Holly McCaig.

This album is important because Jasmine has a major surgery coming up- the album will help cheer up Jasmine, as well as anyone who looks at it (hopefully).

Meme Challenge #8: 10 Desert Island Discs

2Peas Meme Challenge

This is hard. Really hard. That's probably because I don't buy CDs anymore- I download all of my music, and then burn it all to CD because I'm too poor to have an MP3 player yet (hopefully soon). Of course, I doubt that I'll ever be stranded on a desert island (because, right now, my very sunburned thighs are telling me that spending any time in the sun isn't a good idea). Since I don't buy CDs, and couldn't tell you which of my favorite songs were on what album, I'm going with my ten favorite songs.

1. Lacuna Coil- Swamped (You're listening to this right now).
   
2. Evanescence- Missing
3. HIM- Wicked Game (666 remix)
4. Nine Inch Nails- Deep
5. Orgy- Fiction (Dreams In Digital)
6. Green Day- Basketcase
7. Disturbed- Prayer
8. CKY- Plastic Plan
9. Lacuna Coil- Heaven's A Lie
10. Lacuna Coil- Falling Again
    

Time Crunch

Ack! I have less than a week to complete the album for my neice. Her surgery is coming up- and I promised my sister that I would have it done before her surgery. Ack, ack, ack.

Did I mention that I can't seem to find the CD with the pictures that she wants me to use in this album???

I have three layouts done- but need to do more. She wants a complete album that my neice can take with her to the hospital.

I'm hoping to work on it tonight, but we'll see how I feel. We're heading out to the farm for this afternoon. I'll probably come home exhausted. Oh- and the boys have been whining ALL MORNING LONG. I'm thinking early bedtime tonight.

Publishing

An interesting concept was brought up on this thread at Pages of the Heart. Are magazines really looking for pages that don't focus on children? Will submitting a layout that doesn't feature a child actually raise your chance of being 'noticed'- and therefore, published?

On that alone- probably not. Think about all the layouts that are submitted for subject specific calls ('summer', 'Christmas', 'The Day I Drank Tea'). Only a few out of the many submitted are picked up for those calls. Obviously, it probably couldn't hurt- but, and let's face it folks, if the overall design sucks, the magazine isn't going to pick up the layout. They do want to showcase only the best in their magazine (because how often would we actually purchase a magazine that featured layouts that just didn't work? Really- you can't trust articles on design in a magazine that chooses to feature layouts that are, well, not up to par).

But, let's talk about this whole child free layout thing. I don't blame magazines for wanting to publish layouts that don't include children- there is this huge demographic of childless scrapbookers out there. The paper companies realize that children aren't the only reason for scrapbooking- most of there lines would work well with layouts whether the subject is 2 or 22.

There's nothing wrong with scrapbooking your child's life, but your child is going to grow up eventually. Eventually- you will be the parent of an adult child- who doesn't have children. Will you stop scrapbooking when they are twenty? Doubtful- many of us are so far behind that we have no hope of catching up, but I think that once our children have grown up, and start lives of their own, we'll have plenty of time to get caught up on their childhoods. And once they are caught up- those who claim to really love the hobby might be looking for something else to scrap. At least until grandchildren come along.

And let's take a look at the Book of Me trend. Many are doing this so that our children know who we were. But there are also many of us who are doing this simply because it's fun to be a little egocentric for awhile (or because we love all the pink kits that are out there, but since we live in a testosterone dominated household, we can't use them on our children). When I scrap myself, I want colors that fit me NOW, not colors that fit me when I was three or four. I want to open a magazine and see layouts that will not only inspire me, design wise, but will inspire me to complete a layout for my BOM.

Take The Plunge

Just Jump

I love watching my children play. They don't think about what 'might happen.' They don't worry about things- they just do it. Take my five year old, Cody. When he saw that large pile of sand being dumped in the front yard at the farm, he didn't think about the sticker weeds that lined the beach, or the rocks hidden in the sand. He didn't think that he could sprain an ankle, or otherwise hurt himself- he JUST JUMPED. Last night, while watching the neighbors' set off their fireworks, he would slowly creep up to them, and I would keep calling him back. He didn't think about getting burned, or whether or not the large noises would hurt his hearing- he just thought 'those are cool' and went to look at them.

When he sees someone doing something that he thinks is cool- he doesn't stop and consider the consequences. Instead, he just watches how something is done and then he does it. We could learn a lot from him.

As adults, we spend so much time weighing the pros and cons of anything that we do. Do we splurge and buy the latest kit from our favorite designer, or do we hold off for one more paycheck? Should we stop for gas now, and can we wait until we reach our destination? Do we take the kids to the zoo even though the weather report says '30 percent chance of rain', even though there isn't a cloud in the sky? Do we hit Walmart at 3 in the afternoon, since we're in town, or do we make a second trip at midnight so that we don't have to stand in line (but we end up using twice the gas that we would have if we had gone at 3? Do we try some new technique or element that we see popping up in layouts all over the internet or do we stick to what we know- and are comfortable with?

While we feel best in our comfort zones, they can be dangerous. By sticking to what we are comfortable with, we run the risk of basically creating the same layout over and over again- we don't challenge ourselves to think of something new and unique. Eventually, we get stuck in a rut- and get bored with our hobby.

What I don't understand is how people can buy idea books, magazines, e-zines, and so on, and still create the same style layout over and over. These publications publish layouts for a reason- to give their readers IDEAS, to show them something new and different, to allow us the chance to step outside our comfort zone and do something different.

There is no guarantee that you'll like the new technique- just like there was no guarantee that my five year wouldn't land on his ankle wrong and sprain it when he jumped off that pile of sand. And the beauty of stepping outside your comfort zone is that you don't have to like the technique! You don't have to get it right the first time! It's a learning experience- you can either attempt to learn more about it, or you can decide that technique just isn't for you (but don't let 'failure' lead you to think that stepping outside your comfort zone is a bad idea- it never is).

Layers (Because I'm Bored)

LAYER ONE: On the Outside

Name - Tracey

Nicknames - Mommy- otherwise, I don't really have any.

Birthday - April 25th 1978

Birthplace - Morris Illinois

Eye Color - Green

Hair Color - Brown

Height - 5'6

Righty or Lefty - Righty

Religion - born and raised Evangelical Lutheran

Sex - Female

LAYER TWO: In The Inside

Your heritage - Scotch, some German, Native American

Who do you look like - I'm a carbon copy of my mom. Seriously- we have pictures to prove it. Oh, except that I didn't get her ultra cool two colored eyes (she has one hazel and one green- I got her green eye, lol)

Your weakness - I smoke.

Your fears - spiders and cobwebs (and I'm totally serious about cobwebs)

Your perfect pizza - BBQ Chicken

Goal you'd like to achieve - Living comfortably with my own business

LAYER THREE: Yesterday, Today & Tomorrow

Your most over-used phrase on MSN/Hello - lol

Your thoughts first waking up - either: 'Go back to sleep Cody/Dylan/Evan' or 'Why the hell aren't the boys awake yet?'

Your best physical feature - My hair and my nose.

Your bedtime - lately- between midnight and 1

Your most missed memory - spending Friday nights at my great-grandmother's house

LAYER FOUR: Your pick

Pepsi or Coke - Dr Pepper

McDonalds or Burger King - Burger King

Single or Group Dates - Single

Adidas or Nike - Nike

Chocolate or vanilla - Chocolate

Cappuccino or Coffee - Cappuccino

LAYER FIVE: Do You?

Smoke - yes

Curse - yep

Sing - only when I'm alone, lol

Think you've been in love - yes

Want to get married - been there, done that, have the husband to prove it

Believe in yourself - Yeah, I do

Motion sickness - nope

Think you're attractive - In some respects

Think you're a health freak - not even close

Get along with your parents - yep

Like thunderstorms - yep

Play an instrument - not really- I played the clarinet in 5th grade, and the piano in junior high, but haven't played an instrument since.

LAYER SIX: Have you ever

Smoked - Yes

Done a drug - no

Gone to the mall - yep

Eaten and entire box of Oreos - I plead the 5th on this one

Eaten sushi - nope

Been on stage - Yes

Gone skating - ice- no, roller- yes

Gone skinny dipping - no

Stolen anything - Yes

Played a game that required removal of clothing - I plead the 5th on this one as well

Been caught 'doing something' - yes

Been called a tease - Yeah

Gotten beat up - nope

Shoplifted - Yes

LAYER SEVEN: Getting Older

Age you hope to be married - I was 21 when I got married

Number and names of children - 3 boys- Cody, Dylan and Evan

Describe your dream wedding - don't really have a 'dream wedding'

How do you want to die - Peacefully in my sleep - with no pain.

What do you want to be when you grow up - I don't want to grow up

What country would you most like to visit - England

LAYER NINE: In a partner

Best eye color - Hazel

Best hair color - Blonde

Short or long hair - either really short (almost bald) or really long

Height - no preference (duh- since Mike is shorter than I am, lol)

Best articles of clothing - I like how a man's ass looks in khakis....

LAYER TEN: In the numbers

Number of drugs taken illegally - zip, zero, zilch. I am such a 'good' girl *halo*

Number of CDs that you own - I'm not about to count them.

Number of piercings - five- three in one ear, two in the other.

Number of tattoos - none

Number of times your name has appeared in the newspaper - nothing recently, but at least twice a year when I was in high school.

Three Day Weekend

Remember when three day weekends were just the coolest things ever invented? Ya know, back when we were in school? I used to dread Sundays because they were oh so boring- all that happened on Sunday was Sunday School (which I actually enjoyed growing up- all of my teachers were pretty cool, except the one that made us memorize the Apostle's Creed (which, btw, I can still recite from memory fifteen years later, thank you very much (and I haven't attended worship in who knows how long). Sunday afternoon was spent putting off the weekend's homework (that you told your mother you did on Friday night), and Sunday evening was spent rushing through that homework, and it was in bed early Sunday night and up early the next day. Yuck.

But- three day weekends. How cool were those? For some reason, Sundays on a three day weekend weren't boring- they were exciting. Probably because it kept hitting you every few hours- that 'Oh my gosh, it's Sunday and I don't have school tomorrow!'

Then we grew up. And three day weekends became just another weekend. We get frustrated that we can't run errands on Monday, because everything was closed for the holiday. We get frustrated with our children- they're home, they're bored, they want to be fed, they want to do something, they want to be entertained... We? We just want to get through the weekend and get back on our schedules.

Well- this weekend, it's time to screw the schedule! If you are lucky enough to not have to work this weekend- go out and enjoy it. If you have to work, but have even one day off- enjoy that day off. Forget the routine. Drop the schedule. Don't even consider touching the TV or worrying about errands or paying bills or doing other such 'adult' things. Don't stress this weekend. Just let everything go- and GO HAVE FUN.

Sunday afternoon- stop yourself and think 'Oh my gosh, it's Sunday and I don't have to work tomorrow!' It's summer, it's supposed to be beautiful here in Illinois (well, maybe not on Monday, but we'll see- you know how fickle weather reports can be), and I have three days of stress free fun planned. I'm going swimming. We're having cookouts every day. We're having a bonfire tomorrow night. And on Monday, we're heading to the local fireworks.

I'm excited- are you?