Update | Facebook, Instax, My Sweet Petunia, Jobs, and More!
Sneak Peeks. Creativation and Creativeworld will be here before we know it. Are you ready for some sneak peeks? Our 2018 Creativation Sneak Peeks page is now live!
AFCI 2018 Sneak Peeks Art
Retail. Working at Hobby Lobby lately seems to come with more than its fair share of the weird and wacky. First there was the horse that tried to go shopping in South Carolina. (Seriously. There's video.) Then there was the North Dakota shoplifter who got caught because he got his cart stuck in the snow - and left his wallet behind when he fled. Unfortunately, it was no laughing matter when a North Little Rock employee of Hobby Lobby was assaulted yesterday by a fleeing shoplifter.
Closings. Two Chicks Designs, a popular source of scrapbooking and sewing themed t-shirts, is closing down this week after 15 years in business. The company retailed via their website and often exhibited at conventions as well.
Social Media. Facebook is cracking down on what it calls "engagement baiting" in an attempt to make newsfeeds less spammy. I strongly suggest familiarizing yourself with the new rules, as some of the tactics for improving reach that were formerly considered best practices will now get you designated as a spammer and removed from newsfeed distribution.
Facebook Engagement Baiting
[Disclosure: The following item contains an affiliate link that pays this site a commission at no cost to the reader if a purchase is made after a click.]
Subscriptions. Like everything else on the internet it seems, Craftsy has gone to a subscription model for access to its online classes. A new "Craftsy Unlimited" subscription costs $14.99 per month (or $120/year) in the U.S.
New Products I. Technique Tuesday is adding stickers to their product line for the first time ever, to go along with their popular planner stamp sets.
New Products II. Ali Edwards has announced a new subscription kit called Stories by the Month. This kit is a much-requested physical product version of her monthly digital kit, and pricing starts at $9.99 per month for a 12 month subscription.
Trends. Etsy has released its trend guide for 2018. The handmade ecommerce site predicts that the Pantone Color of the Year "Ultra Violet" is going to be a big hit with consumers. The guide also highlights chokers and mismatched earrings as hot jewelry trends. In home decor, the Japanese concept of wabi-sabi (which loosely translates to imperfect perfection) is expected to dominate.
Patents. The litigation between My Sweet Petunia and Tonic Studios over alleged patent infringement continues. My Sweet Petunia, maker of the MISTI tool, is suing Tonic Studios over the Tim Holtz branded stamping tool that was announced at Creativation last year. After the first suit was filed by My Sweet Petunia, the tool's release was delayed so it could be redesigned. After the new version of the Tim Holtz stamp platform was subsequently released by Tonic Studios, a second patent infringement lawsuit was filed in August by My Sweet Petunia. Current legal filings include motions to possibly merge the two cases into one proceeding.
The biggest fight in the case currently, however, is a motion still being fought over in which My Sweet Petunia is requesting an injunction preventing Tonic Studios from selling the Tim Holtz stamp platform until the case is decided. My Sweet Petunia is arguing to the court (in heavily redacted documents so numbers aren't publicly visible) that the MISTI's sales have experienced a "dramatic reduction in unit sales" and that My Sweet Petunia "stands to lose its entire business in the absence of prompt court intervention."
Trademarks. The company that holds the intellectual property for Polaroid is being sued by Fujifilm, which makes Instax cameras and film. Fujifilm filed suit in mid-November 2017 in response to Polaroid claiming that new Instax square film infringed on Polaroid trademarks for its "square in a square" frame prints. Polaroid was demanding millions of dollars in royalty payments from Fujifilm. The suit is still in its early stages. Many intellectual property cases drag on for years.
Polaroid also took action in October to enforce its trademark on the Polaroid print against Persnickety Prints, a photo printing company that is popular with scrapbookers. Persnickety offered what it called "retro" prints that were "square in a square" type design, reminiscent of a Polaroid print. Under threat from Polaroid, Persnickety took a poll of its customers and replaced its original retro print with a new border design that has the white border only on the bottom of the print.
New Projects. We're excited to announce at Nally Studios that we have launched a new website this week. Chasing Dust Bunnies will incorporates craft, home, travel, lifestyle, and homeschooling content - or, basically, anything I feel like writing about! I hope you enjoy it as much as I am enjoying writing it.
Jobs. The following industry jobs are currently listed as available:
