I just can’t help it!  I’m so excited!  I decided to have a moving sale to let everyone know where I had moved to when I changed the name from Kathy’s Simple Scraps to Digiscrapdivas.com.  I’ve had a great weekend in the shop!  So many new customers buying my kits I just can’t help but be thrilled about it.  Not only am I getting my creations into the hands of lots of new people, but hopefully they’ll be showing them off in the galleries and show even more people out there what I’ve been designing.  I’ve even had a few people buy once, then come back and buy some more so that tells me they liked what they got and that feels great.  I’ve been doubting a bit lately and this was just the kind of reassurance I needed at this point.

Then one of the CTMs at my site posted this afternoon with some really great news for me…one of my creations, the New Sundress Collection, is listed as a "product to look out for" in Scrapbooking Creations, an Australian scrapbooking magazine.  How cool is that?  Okay, so maybe I’m easily amused, but I’ve never even had a layout published, so this is absolutely thrilling for me.  I’m hoping one of my aussie friends over there will send me a copy so I can frame it and put it up in my office…I think it’s frameworthy .

Among the many new customers I’ve gotten this weekend, I know at least one designer has bought a kit.  Fernlili bought my Weathered Paisley Page Set, which is I think my best seller to date.  She kindly shared a couple of layouts through the computer-scrapping group and even sent out a correction to the group because she had listed the kits as being available at Simple Scraps, my old website.  Wasn’t that sweet of her?  She used the free quick page, but also did a great layout with the set…Conversations at Pages of the Heart.  Isn’t that a great layout?

Speaking of great, I have to show off a couple of things.  First, this set:

I just sat down to scrap a few Easter pics the other night and ended up with the Summer Fruits Page Set.  It came together pretty well, I think.  I did this 2 pager with it:

These layouts are in my gallery at Digiscrapdivas.com full size if you want to see them a little better.  Here are page 1 and page 2. 

The really great thing about this set was, it was about midnight and I was ready to go to bed, but then I got an e-mail about the SBB Photo Swap I’m doing and the photos in it looked as if they were made for this kit.  So, in about 30 minutes, I put this layout together and I just love it!  It must have been serendipity!

Okay, okay, I know I’ve gotten a bit carried away posting pics here, but I have to do one more…I took these photos of my baby girl yesterday and scraplifted this layout from a paper mag to show them off.  I used some great brushes from Stephanie Shimerdla at Obsidian Dawn to create the heart papers…aren’t they beautiful?

This little set is actually an accessory to the Sweetest Thing Mini Page Set, which is free for registering as a customer at The Shop at Digiscrapdivas.  This part of the set, which I gave the very original name of Sweetest Thing Part 2, is actually free with any purchase of $10 or more during the Moving Sale at the shop this weekend…everything in the shop is 40% off!

Okay, I’m off now to put a few things on the P4D calendar and the calendar for our Digiscrapdivas Yahoo! group…we have some great challenges going on over at the Digiscrapdivas site, so if you haven’t had a chance, yet, come check it out!

Have a great remainder of the weekend!
 

Decisions, decisions, decisions…

Now that I have officially left SBE, I have a few kits that are completely off the shelves now and I’m trying to decide what to do with them.

They were some of my first kits, so they’re not the quality I produce now.  They’re not bad, but they could be better.  So, my question is, do I redo the elements in them and try to improve the quality of the kits or do I upload them as-is and sell them at a reduced price?  Here they are…

So there they are.  The Forever Boy has been one of my top sellers to date and Watermelon Dreams has been a good seller, too.  So, I guess the thing to do is just put them back on the shelf…but I can’t help but critique them and see things that I now do better.  The thing is, though, people might be just as happy to buy them like they are for $4-$5 as they would to pay $6.50 for the reworked version.  One concern, though, is that if they do think they’re not quite up to par, will they assume that all my work is the same way?  Oh, I hate the decision making part of this business!

On another note, I now have two entire collections, Recycled Hat and ABC Brites available on my site (as multi-file downloads or CDs) as well as a Megakit, The New Sundress Collection.  Tomorrow, I’m going to try to get the Forever Boy Collection (same print as the one above, but lots more colors and patterns and fun elements) up in the store tomorrow and when I’m all settled in, I’ll be having a moving sale!  Look for it soon!

Gotta go sleep now…nitey nite!

Okay, first I have to say how lucky I am to have a nice computer guy who loaned me a pretty nice machine to get me by ’til my laptop comes back…it’s working very well for me, but I have discovered one little issue.  The colors in my kits and layouts don’t look like I’m used to seeing them look.  I really have a feeling it’s the video card and not the monitor, but I’m going to test that theory today.  Anyway, I’m afraid to design on it because I don’t know what the stuff will really look like…which leads me to yet another concern…if I see this much of a difference from one machine to another, what do you see?  I mean, do my kits look great to me but not-so-great to some people because of the difference in the monitor/video card, etc… ?  I’ve been concerned with this before, not so much about the variance between monitors as the difference between what’s on the screen and what prints out.  That is another concern, especially since Kelley and I are working on some printable projects to offer over at digiscrapdivas.  I have used the Adobe Gamma to try to set the monitor correctly, but still, the colors aren’t quite right.  So, I’m going to hook up my VERY old machine with this monitor and see what I see there because that will let me know if it’s the computer or the monitor…not that I can really do anything about it at this point, but at least I’ll know.  So, more on this later.  Meanwhile, enjoy your day!

I am cursed.  Somehow, I have been cursed to suffer from electronicus disfunctionis…every piece of electronics I touch turns to…umm…well, this is PG rated, so I’ll just let you use your imagination on that one.

It all started when I decided to reload my desktop.  I had a decent desktop…okay processor, 1.5 GB RAM, 40 GB Hard drive plus a 160 GB hard drive.  It wasn’t exactly smokin’, but it did its job.  Well, when I reformatted the 40 GB hard drive to reinstall my software on it, somehow I messed it up and it refused to take an operating system after that.  So, I took it to the shop and it just got worse….long story short, I now have an old motherboard and processor in it and it doesn’t even have an ethernet port so I can’t even get on the internet with it at this point…plus, my Sony Flat Panel monitor was going bad, so that began my search for a laptop.

So, I went to Circuit City.  Being a believer in Sony products, my first purchase was a Sony Vaio.  Well, after I picked it out, I found out the only one they had was the one on the shelf…it had a couple of issues, but for the deal I got, I thought I could live with them.  So, I took it home and then discovered that while it did have two memory slots, they were both occupied by a 256 stick of memory…so, if I added the 512 stick I got, I’d have to remove a 256 and would only increase my RAM by 256.  Well, this would not do.  So, I returned it and got a Gateway.  Got it home, put my software on it, then discovered a dead pixel.  Took it back, got another one and within a couple of weeks, the keyboard started periodically dying on me.  Okay, enough of this, I decided.  No more Gateways…well, Circuit City didn’t have anything else that suited me, so I went down the street to Best Buy.  After careful consideration, I decided to try an open box Toshiba because I was assured that it had been thoroughly tested and worked fine…guess what?  It didn’t.  So, the next morning, I took it back, took the plunge and got this one.  A Toshiba S75-2112.  Beautiful screen, nice processor, overall a great machine.  Until a few days ago when it just started shutting down with no warning.  I thought I had a virus and panicked, even though I knew I was very well protected against such things.  So, I called the Geek Squad at Best Buy and we diagnosed it as overheating.  In order for it to be fully checked out, it would have to be sent to Toshiba, but a "chill pad" might resolve the problem.  So, I went and bought a Chill Pad…and guess what?  It’s defective!  Do you believe it?  There is a short in the connection so it works sometimes and doesn’t work other times.  So, again yesterday, in mid upload of one of my older kits that no longer resides at SBE, it shut down.  I didn’t realize that the chill pad wasn’t working.  Well, I really don’t understand why this just started happening and so I called the Geek Squad back and have been advised to send it to Toshiba and have it checked out.  Great…so what will I do without a computer for two weeks?  I’m still working that out, but this problem seems to be getting worse.  So, I’m trying to upload these last few kits, back up everything that hasn’t already been backed up to my external and prepare myself to be without for an indefinite period of time.  I can go to my husband’s shop to check e-mail, blog and visit my site, but my computer time will definitely be less than my norm.  I can’t believe it.  This is laptop #5…

So, now you understand why I have drawn the conclusion that I have…I just hope this isn’t contagious .

So, I’ve finally gotten the site pretty much like I want it.  The forums are good, the gallery is good, I love the things that are on the front page.  Now, I have to get back to concentrating on my design work.  I have had a really frustrating few days with that…I seem to be stuck.  It will pass, I know, because it has happened before, but it is still frustrating.  I need to concentrate on getting all of my former SBE products in the shop and that will keep me busy for a day at least, but I just miss designing.  I’m feeling a bit discouraged at this point and maybe a bit puzzled, too, and I just don’t know how to overcome this.

This has to be the most difficult job I’ve ever had.  In every other position I’ve ever held, it was all black and white, either I did a good job or I didn’t.  In this job, though, it’s so darn subjective…I mean, I love my kits and think they’re great, but then I’d expect that everyone loves their kits.  So, I keep designing kits I love and wondering why everyone else doesn’t.  I thought my new one, Farm Fresh, would be a great seller.  I love it and I’ve already used it for several pages.  But, I think it’s sold one time…yes, just once.  So, what am I doing wrong?  Am I not getting the publicity out there like I need to?  Are the kits just too darn big and people shy away from the because of the big download?  Are they just plain not what is wanted in the digiscrapping world?  I wish someone could answer this for me before I spend much more time designing these kits that aren’t selling.  I mean, yes, I love the pages I’m creating with them, but I could just create the pieces for each layout as I use them or even go be on a design team for someone else for that matter if all I’m going to do is scrap.  I’d spend lots less time that way.  The thing is, I love to design.  When I’m finished, I sit back and admire my work…of course, I’m sure all designers do that.  But, I just have to question the amount of time I’m taking from the other things in my life to do this when I haven’t even covered my expenses, yet.  I guess it’s just the old high school girl in me, wanting to be among the popular crowd, wanting to see my name mentioned when people talk about great new kits or awesome designers…I can’t help it.  I thrive on feedback and I think that’s one of the reasons I enjoy this so much.  A well-known digidesigner told me to do what I love and it will work out.  So, that’s what I’m trying to do.  Either I’ll start selling more kits or I’ll find another way to support my wonderful little community of people that I’m already growing to love.  I’m such a people person that I am truly enjoying this part of the job…being a presence over there is great for me and I hope to continue to grow our community to include more and more scrappers to participate in our fun events and just be part of the group.

If you’ve read this far, I commend you.  I tend to not do alot of verbalizing of my frustrations so this is the easiest way for me to voice them and I feel better just for having said them "out loud" so to speak.  So, thanks for letting me vent…and come visit me at the site to see a much more cheerful side!  Have a great weekend!

I found this cool survey on Debi’s blog…

Scrapbooking Style
Traditional paper based or Digital? Or Both (Biscraptual)?	Digital
Other Mixed Media Arts?
Define Your Style in 5 or less words	simple uncluttered classic minimalist
Name your Scrapping Heroes	I can’t name any in particular…I see layouts I love every day, by new scrappers I’ve never seen before…I’m inspired by style and creativity and there’s a little of that in all scrappers.
Social Scrapping
2Peas or Not?	Not.
One forum lover or spreader of your joy?	I like to spread a little joy around, but it’s getting pretty thin right now.
Active Member, Moderator, or Lurker?	Active Member and Moderator
Do you Scrapblog?	Yes
Do you Attend Crops, and if so – how regularly?	I try to make Becki’s Late Morning Crop at SBB every week ’cause I like Becki…I’m also going to be starting crops at my site soon and I can’t wait!
Do you Attend Scrapbooking Events and Retreats – if so, how regularly?	No.
Scrapbooking Objectives and Profile
Are you or would you like to be a Scrapbooking Designer?	I am
Would you Like to Make Money from Scrapping?	I do (well, that’s debatable if you ask my hubby )
Is Scrapbooking a Career Objective – fulltime or parttime?	at least parttime
Do you scrap for yourself, your family or others?	all of the above
Is it about the legacy, the memory or the art?	all of the above
How Many Hours on average per week do you plan / actually do towards scrapbooking?	way too many
Average Monthly Budget for Scrapping Supplies?	none…I make them all.
How many scrapping magazines do you buy/subscribe to on average per month?	5
How many Idea Books do you own?	too many to count
A Bit About You
How many years have you been scrapping?	only about 6 months
Define your family and partnership status	married, mom to twins who will be four in October
Fultime worker, part-time worker, fultime at home	Part-time worker, part-time student, scrapbook designer
Just Some Fun
What do you think will be the next big product / trend in scrapping?	more integration of digital into paper projects and paper projects into the digital world
What old product / trend would you like to see make a comeback?	haven’t been doing it long enough to know an old product or trend, LOL.
What’s your favourite website to do with scrapping? (Only one!)	Mine, Digiscrapdivas.com!
CREATE YOUR OWN! – or – GET PAID TO TAKE SURVEYS!

of blog neglect.  I have been so darn busy with working on the new site that I haven’t posted over here in a couple of weeks…funny thing is, there’s been so much going on that I should have been posting daily.  So, let me backtrack…where to start?

Let’s see…my last post was about my Digiscrapfest crop, so I’ll start there…it was great!  I really enjoyed socializing and was so relieved that my software and server did fine.  I had a good turnout and met some new people and got to chat with some of my loyal ones…I can’t wait to start hosting crops at the site.

About the site…we did a server move and it didn’t go quite as smoothly as I had hoped.  In fact, I still have a few finishing touches on the back end to clean up, but we are back up and running and have plenty of space to grow.  Future plans are to add a few great designers to our shop.  I mentioned it on a post I sent through P4D yesterday, but haven’t heard from a single soul, so I’m kinda bummed about that.  I guess I need to send out a more formal announcement that will get their attention better.  I still have to work out all the particulars, as well, but that’s on my to-do list.

Oh, gosh, I did have an interesting day yesterday.  I’m sitting here with my laptop propped up on each end by a stack of scrapping magazines…why?  Well, yesterday, it kept turning itself off.  Scared me something terrible…I thought I had a virus which I really couldn’t believe because I have virus protection, spyware protection, the works.  So, after it happened about 4 times, I called the Geek Squad at Best Buy, which is where I got it and they said it could just be overheating.  I guess I’ve been working the poor little thing too hard, LOL.  Guess that was it because since I got it up off the desk so that it had adequate ventilation, it’s been great.  What a relief that was because with the server move not going quite as smoothly as I’d hoped, I was already nervous enough and couldn’t imagine being without a ‘puter for a week and a half to send it off for repairs .

So, I’m still tweaking everything over at the site and keep playing around with the home page…I have to say that I love that page and how I’ve put it together.  I also love that I’ve learned so much about this stuff by doing this myself.  It is so cool to be able to look at the site and know that I did it, LOL.

Okay, I’m making myself a list of blog entries that I need to do and I’m going to do better about updating daily, including the "words of wisdom from the ranch" thing…but, for now, I’m off to add some new…well, actually old goodies to my shop.  I am officially no longer selling at Scrapbook-Elements and so I’m in the process of getting all of my kits in The Shop at Digiscrapdivas.

Have a great day, all!