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The Topic
We’re hitting the mail and hitting it hard today as we answer lots of questions from YOU! How many stores should a designer sell at? What do we look at for CT members? Paper companies going digital and much more was discussed. Plus, YOU can help us decide what we will do for our 100th show.
Joining the Discussion:
Peppermint Granberg
Katie Nelson
Steph
Show Notes:
Persnickety Prints paper options by Christine Newman
Paper gone digital and vice versa
- Jessica Sprague
- AC Digitals
- Becky Higgins Project Life
- Digital designers for Project Life
- Zoe Pearn paper lines
- One Little Bird Designs for Gossamer Blue
Picks of the Week:
Peppermint: APC Uninterrupted Power Supply
Katie: Mortal Muses and Mortal Muses Explained
Steph: Browser Tabs by Lifehacker
Sponsors:
For the best deal in digital scrapbooking, become a member at TheDailyDigi.com.
I think for the 100th show ya’ll should have a couple of listeners as guests :).
I love when Peppermint uses her whispery, sexy voice!
Wait .. what? Now I have to listen back to the show.
Peppermint! Don’t rein in your tech stuff. When you have a good tech point, I pause the show and share that with my husband (who then looks it up himself). He stays on top of tech stuff as pertains to Photoshop CS and photography but sometimes you scoop him.
I have been know to state: My friend Peppermint says….
Only my husband knows Peppermint only exists in my computer.
Steph, thank you so much for the LifeHacker article. My boys are always giving me a hard time about how many tabs I have open at a time (currently only 11)!
Peppermint, I’m SO BUMMED that I missed the SO chat last night. I wanted to be there but we had a prior commitment
That is one I would have paid money to watch! 
It was very fun, but a little stressful. Turns out I am horrible at multitasking.
Thanks for another great show! As a relative newbie to digi scrapbooking, I was interested in the discussion about the community aspect of the craft and the close connections people make with the craft, designers and fellow scrappers online. Perhaps it’s because I am looking in the wrong places – in fact, this is likely – however I find myself struggling to find an online community that isn’t focused on one particular store or designer. As I haven’t yet had the time or money to yet build up kits from one designer (or even store) and indeed shop around a fair bit and combine many products into one layout, this leaves me a little bit lost about where to post my layouts or join in the discussion. Is there an equivalent of the paper scrapping boards at Two Peas that I’m missing? Or am I likely to develop an affinity with a particular designer that will draw me into their community? Any advice on this would be greatly appreciated.
I think most people do tend to happen upon one store they love first and participate there. While sites like Digishoptalk (DST) and MyScrapbookArt (MSA) are not associated with a specific store, there is not as much participation there as there was in the hey day, around 2006-2008. Many people moved over to Facebook and the forums have just fizzled away a bit. If you do find a store that you love, even if you shop elsewhere too, you’ll be more likely to find a core of like-minded scrappers there to share your hobby with.
You can hop over to Get It Scrapped– it’s both for paper and digi scrappers, but we mesh wonderfully with both the forum and gallery being active. It’s a good place to start: http://www.debbiehodge.com/gisforum/
As a note, even Two Peas requested that you stick to their store. As a new digi scrapper I haven’t found a real chatty forum. Sadly, when Two Peas kicked out the digi people, they lost the chat in the forum as well. I have found that I love spending my money with The Daily Digi since it goes far. I have checked out a few forums, and while my gallery postings might be lesser, a lot of the stores accept layouts that are a certain percentage of that store.
It’s funny, but for computer people, digi scrappers don’t seem to be super chatty in forums.
Thanks all for the replies. I really appreciate the input.
I’m a long-term digital scrapper and also have had trouble finding a community. Naturally store communities are built around designer products and my favorite designers are at different stores. There’s not enough time to be in 3-5 forums enough to “get to know” everybody. A few years ago I thought I had found my community but my favorite (by far) designer moved to another store. I didn’t switch forums to follow her due to my busy schedule. My participation online in forums fizzled out for a few years.
I second the Get It Scrapped community. It’s friendly, design and idea driven, and open to digital and paper scrappers. You can use any products on your gallery posts.
What is this Facebook participation of which you speak Wendy? I see stores and designer pages and a few comments posted from fans and friends. I don’t see much community there unless there are “groups” or pages I don’t know about.
I would suggest you head over to the Get it Scrapped forums as well. Great place to hang out
This has been the million dollar question for a lot of people, ever since the non-store sites (MSA & DST) dropped off in traffic. I’ll have to check out the Get It Scrapped forums, myself.
I think Meredith, you’ve just helped me work out why I like The digi show so much! I like to scrap but hardly post any pages because I have more privacy issues than Steph (said in the nicest way). But listening to you three ladies chat over the last nearly 100 episodes I feel like part of the community – I know insider stuff, your chat is like a friendship group and we have regular contact. Keep up the great work!
Love Persnickety Prints for printing journal cards. I like the Soft Texture Art paper the best. And I’m going to check out LifeHacker. I think I usually have 20 or 25 tabs open. Thank you!
I really love the idea of getting paper supplies digitally. I adore a lot of the paper products and the layouts made with them. At first I was excited American Crafts ventured into the digital realm. I really wanted their products to wow me like the paper products do. When I looked at the offerings… ugh! It’s too flat and the CT pages don’t give me any hope of dimension. Paper companies still aren’t comfortable in our digi world and it shows. I hope they figure it out… soon!
Peppermint!!!
Cosmo Cricket does still sell from time to time on Jessicasprague.com. In fact, they have a kit out this week: Snokel until August 9, 2013. They are limited releases, but they do show up about once or twice a quarter.
Awesome, thanks for the heads up!
Thanks for answering my question about paper companies transitioning to digital! I was so excited to hear it on air
You mentioned two of my go-to places for paper companies – Jessica Sprague and ACDigitals – so I thought I would also mention Websters Pages. I agree with you that many of the traditional paper companies lack dimension in their digital offerings. I’ve been turned off by the “rub ons” everyone seems to produce instead of dimensional products. (Although Websters Pages had a really great element pack of “digital jewels” that I love, so maybe there’s hope.) Seeing the struggles those companies have had going digital gives me even more respect for the prolific digital designers who release products every week (or almost every week).
~ Heather
P.S. I third the suggestion for the Get It Scrapped forums! No store requirements and a really good community going on there.
So on this episode I was really excited to hear that Peppermint and Christine print out cards. I was curious….do you make greeting cards? I would love to start incorporating my digital supplies into making cards, but I’m at a loss when it comes to inspiration. Do either Peppermint or Christine have suggestions where I can see cards that have been created and then printed? (Or Katie and Steph for that matter too, if you have any ideas)
I feel this is such an untapped “market” if you will. I’m thinking about quitting my job and starting a greeting card digi site. (KIDDING, totally kidding!)
Any suggestions, thoughts, ideas most welcome from my digi friends!
Terri
I used to make cards from digi supplies and print them on my home colour laser printer.
http://www.scrapbookgraphics.com/photopost/miscellaneous-gallery/p67107-baby-shower-card.html
http://www.scrapbookgraphics.com/photopost/hybrid-projects/p90580-natalie-27s-21st-card.html
http://www.scrapbookgraphics.com/photopost/members-galleries/p73025-friendshiptangie-chat-challenge-atc.html
I think it’s a great idea, but I can’t resist paper supplies, so I’ve not done many recently
Thank you Melissa! I actually found a class online that is teaching making digital cards. I would love to start combining my Silhouette skills with making cards. I have so many beautiful digital supplies that would make great cards! I may need to start a Pinterest board for us digital card makers!
I’ve never sent greeting cards out to be printed, unless our annual holiday cards count? For the most part I print my journaling cards at home because I lack the level of forethought required to send them out. When I sit down to work on PL it’s usually an impromptu decision.
Do you and your listeners understand that Becky Higgins Project life is designed by digital designers? That she hasn’t ever designed the products?
Well it is true…she branded herself with the concept of compartment scrapbooking which was invented early on (circa 1998) but the CK world pushed 12×12 one page style on the world so it all faded away.
She didn’t do anything but cut her paper because finally after having kids she realized she didn’t have all the time in the world to scrapbook…which was her job with CK.
Odd…how your show often treats her like some prodigy.
And Mark Zuckerburg didn’t “invent” social networking. I think in his case (and Becky’s) execution matters more than conception.
Kudos to all work-at-home moms! It’s hard to build a successful business, and even harder to do it while caring for young children. Hiring good people and crafting a great product are hard work, and those who can do it successfully, whether it be pocket pages, digital scrapbooking, a membership site, training videos, photography or anything else, deserve every bit of the success they achieve.
ALL paper scrapbooking products are designed digitally first by digital designers, not the actual brand or person that owns the company. Every single one of them. Becky’s products are not designed any differently. She does have the products “co-branded” in a sense by putting the digital designers name and logo on the products as well. Most paper companies do not do that. There *might* be a name on it, but not typically a designers logo. I would be willing to bet every one of the digital designers that have their logo on the shelves at Hobby Lobby, HSN, and paper scrapbook stores across America are not feeling too sad about it.
Pocket scrapbooking was invented looooong before 1998 and CK, but you are right, Becky branded it and made it what it is today. Along those lines; Steve Jobs didn’t design or program the Apple products, but he made Apple what it is today!
I personally know A LOT of men, women, and children that have been able to document YEARS of photos that were sitting on harddrives and in boxes using Becky’s PL system. Where’s the bad in that?
To be fair, their logos aren’t on the products. And this is something that I’ve discussed with another paper company as well. They’ll put the designer’s name on it, but they won’t co-brand with logos. None of the companies will do that as far as I know.
You can edit use Photoshop Elements as the external editor for Lightroom! (at least with LR3+)
In the External Editing preferences, click Choose in the Additional External Editor area.
Navigate to and select the application to use, and then click Open (Windows) or Choose (Mac OS).
More info here:
http://help.adobe.com/en_US/lightroom/using/WSF9ADEA57-1D69-43c5-B169-25A07CEC38CC.html
I started listening to The Digi Show when I started digi scrapping, so pretty much everything I know I can thank you ladies for. One particular game-changing realization came from using Katie’s templates. I always struggled with my layouts, working on them for hours and still not quite being happy with the result. I am a 100% template scrapper and couldn’t figure out what was wrong – all the work was already done for me by a professional! When I used one of Katie’s templates for the first time, I realized that I am a simple scrapper. Even though all of the embellishment clusters look beautiful on templates, once I’ve got pictures on them I find that having lots of embellishments seems too busy to me. I went back through some layouts-in-progress that I was struggling with (and there were a lot of them), deleted most of the embellishments, and was thrilled with the result. Knowing this has really sped up the process for me, and I have Katie to thank for it!
Keep up the good work! I love the Digi Show and ALL the different topics you do. I always learn something, which is why I keep listening!
Oh thanks so much! Your comment made my day!
I would love there to be an android app. It has been mentioned so often that I am close to assuming it will never happen. I have rooted my Nook (runs android directly)though and would love to have a daily digi app on it.
P.S.
I am a member and love the templates that are included every month.
I wouldn’t say never, but you are right, it’s not at the top of the list. I really do hope to get it done, but have to focus resources on the stuff people are paying for first (membership area and the paid iPhone apps). It all takes a lot of time. Good programmers are expensive and very busy and get to be selective about what work they do and who they work for (as well as how much they charge and how fast they work). I have struggled to find a programmer that understands my vision and is willing to carry it out, without overcharging me for it. I finally have someone that is as excited about everything I have planned as I am. That is rare!!!
We are on schedule right now for the members area and I’m really excited about that. The paid iPhone apps will be next and then hopefully the free Daily Digi app can be next.
Steph you made my heart pound with the number of tabs you keep open. I feel anxious if I see that I have 6 or 7 tabs open-that I will lose track of things… Love the show – it’s always a learning experience.
I just had a great idea for a show. What about what we don’t like about designers and stores (not in a mean way of course) and what they could change to make us want to buy their products.
Examples would be:
Never knowing when a designer is going to come out with a product either a kit or actions – especially when they are your fave.
Designers that don’t cut their alphas
Stores that don’t offer advanced searches
Stores that send out their emails for the weekly new releases and their emails are less than stellar or squished. Every time I get the email from Sweet Shop it is all squished and I can’t ever go to a link that allows me to view it in a browser.
Sites that are just ugly (sorry it happens).
Just an idea….. love the shows AND THE TECH STUFF.
Angie
I think we touch on some of those things from time to time, interlaced with other topics. I know the topic of download time limits came up in the past and a lot of stores have changed theirs to longer than 5-7 days. And we’ve talked about navigation issues at stores, in general. I think it would be hard to critique a store’s design or the way designers package their products because it’s subjective and there’s no pleasing everyone. I would urge you to contact individual stores with any specific complaints about things like their search abilities or their newsletter links, though, because it’s possible that it hasn’t come up enough to motivate change. If one or two people say that they want advanced search, it might be less of a priority than if a couple dozen people say it, you know?
I can’t agree with you more Peppermint! One thing that digi has taught me is that people really are so different in their preferences and there is not right and wrong. And, sometimes, we even change what we thought we hated and now love it. For example, I used to delete all my individual alphas because I loved the sheets. But, then Anna Forrest’s Title Builder came out which required individual letters and now I regret deleting all those individual alphas! I have had customers email me about my alpha cutter for chopping up sheets into individual PNGs, and then other customers emailing me asking for something to put the PNGs back into a sheet. LOL (Coming soon to my store for purchase or free looking, btw.) I used to think to myself, why can’t designers just offer both, but the reality comes down to time and productivity versus selling power. Some designers can do well by offering PNG templates, and others find that they really don’t sell in comparison and end up taking more time than it’s worth to offer it. So there is so much at play behind the scenes. In the end, I think we all tend to gravitate toward some designers that we love and that do things the way we love them and just end up having to accept that others are going to do things the way that make other customers happy. It’s all good! There are plenty of designers and methods to go around. And, like you said, if there’s something that you don’t like, speak up to the designer or store and it may be something they can change. Or, they may at least be able to explain why they are not able to do what you want at that time. (PS. I tell people who ask for advice all the time that it’s important to keep up a regular release schedule whether it’s weekly or monthly, but I am the worst at following my own mantra on that one!)
I suggest taking a screen shot of the newsletter that looks squished in your email and sending it to them. They may not be aware that some users are having a problem; I get that newsletter also and it looks fine in all three of the email programs I use on my different devices. I used to create a newsletter for a parent group and would test it on a couple of different programs, but you never know if there’s another one that doesn’t handle it well unless someone tells you.
Those are just my pet peeves and I agree that everyone is different and should do as they please. I would never want to hurt anyone’s feeling. I was listening to a new podcast by crafting your biz and they went over things you shouldn’t do in your emails and facebook. I had that on my mind when I suggested the show. Maybe I should have suggested a pet peeve show. At least the title would be funnier.
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