www.willowtreecrafts.co.uk - Planners

Look at what I just discovered. Kewl A5 planners, with inserts for your scrapbooking shopping lists, layout designs etc. In lovely colour ranges also (pinks, lilacs and others), especially for the European market. These are available via Willow Crafts, who I happened to also just discover are holding a scrapbooking retreat in the Watford Ramada Inn for the weekend of March 30th, called Scrap Fever.

Why did I take note of this? Because Stacy Julian, the founding editor of Simple Scrapbookings and Big Picture Scrapbooking, has announced to all that she will be attending it.

Donna Downey is too.

Almost makes me want to go back to traditional scrapping for a brief weekend, lol. On the other hand - the planners are good for all of us.

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This seems to be an oddity of the digital scrapping world, that a bad initial experience can suddenly turn into a memorable experience. Perhaps it’s just the name of the game for software. I should know, I test it. And for the weirdest reasons, software has a form and livliness all of it’s own. One day it’s working, the next it hiccups. Any good tester will tell you that they can’t possibly find “all” the bugs in testing, but we do our darndest at the time. That’s no guarantee that when something changes elsewhere, that another problem might appear.

Especially over the internet, where we’re dealing with not only the software, but the servers, and then add in ISPs, bandwidth and all - and you have a huge jumble of “things which might go wrong”.

I encountered a problem in downloading some orders on one particular designer’s excellent work at The Digi Shoppe this week. For some reason 3 out of 5 of the packages weren’t recognised and I had to write to the admin to sort it out. All of us have experienced problems similarly with downloads through various sites, and it’s not these which make for a bad taste in our mouths. It’s how we percieve the service towards our problem.

I got great service, and I personally have never  had anything other than this, when writing with problems. After finally downloading my precious purchases, I’ve suddenly recognised the fact in myself - when this happens, I go back. Yeah?

For whatever odd reason, when I get problematic technical problems which make me go and have to mail or call for help, and I get an actual human response out of it - I suddenly become a huge fan of the site. I return, and spend more money, confident that I will receive good service when I need it, and robotic service for the vast majority of time.

Perhaps I wouldn’t recommend the approach as a cunning marketing ploy however - having all a shop’s downloads not work might provide a lot of consumer outpouring, but it might be an administrative nightmare to sort out on each consumer demand. There have been some sites which have accidentally had to do this, with server emergencies, failed backups, lousy IP service, or changes to shopping cart software - but not as a good thing. I remember them because they were forced to apologise to consumers generically and enmasse via the website itself or forum announcements. I’ve not help anything against them from an accidental viewpoint, and it’s not stopped me returning to them as a consumer, but it’s not the closer contact of receiving a personal email from an administrator which I’m warming to here.

Some designers with personal sites can do this themselves, and some do - they provide little rewards, discount offers or something else to make up for the problems. Brilliant - you’ve won me over immediately, just because I can see your name. You’re no longer just a name on a website - you’re a real live person doing her best to service me (without the farming contotations of a servicing, please…).

So, digital good service = personal emails, with names on them

Bad service is normally okay - if it’s a technical matter.

Yes, I admit it’s odd, but I guess in this virtual world, having an actual email come through from a website makes all the difference in feeling like a victim or having a voice. Well done, all the sites involved.  

her space : my space

One word, that's all they give you. Test out your photography creativity, and capture a snap of your everyday life.

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Design Collective

A new online class experience has opened up, run by a bunch of great designers out of the UK in particular. I stuck them onto my listings a couple of days ago, but have now got the opportunity to spread the word.

For only £10 per month, a subscription gives you access to a major class project, two additional projects, and a range of tips and ideas, with the classes issued throughout the month, via emails. You also get a newsletter with these.

Design Collective will also be providing a community forum to chat with fellow class takers, and a gallery.

Given the price of actual scrapbooking classes nowadays, I think seeking out online classes like this, particularly where you get a PDF file to follow - forever, at your own leisure, is a worthwhile investment. And with a lineup of talent as listed on the blogsite, I can almost guarentee you won't be disappointed in the classes given. Those women rock, and I'm not even paid to say so.

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ASPCA - Digital Scrappers for Animals

This is a very nice colloborative collection of digital stash to support the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. Lovely kit elements. I really want them, but the full kit is $29.95 and I would prefer to spend my own charity money on the local RSPCA here in Britain. I guess you're going to get that kind of conundrum, when you see a kit you want, but want to also support the sentiment more locally.

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