December 30, 2018

When the rug is pulled from under your feet

My husband and I both come from poor families. Growing up, we didn't have a lot of this world's goods, but we never lacked anything that was essential. Then our parents skimped and scraped to give us those 'extras' that make childhood so happy.


Come marriage, and my hubby and I felt the call of God to spend our lives in Christian ministry and so for 21 years, we served as volunteers in two missions, without pay or superannuation, just trusting the Lord to supply all our needs. We never went without a meal, though we did have some interesting ones! And just as our parents did, God often blessed us with the 'extras' beyond our needs.


Things changed for the last ten years of our working lives, when we moved States, and the Christian organisations we worked with actually employed us, paying a salary and superannuation. This enabled us to purchase a home and pay off a mortgage and buy a reliable car.


So come retirement, we were eligible for a government pension plus a small income from our tiny superannuation. Then God blessed us again with some amazing 'extras'. For 13 years I had the joy of designing bags, wall-hangings, quilts, pincushions etc and being paid a significant amount each year by Craft magazine publishers. To have that income added to our pension meant we had enough money to do a little bit of travel and indulge in some other small luxuries. 


The first rug to be pulled from under my feet was when seven of the magazines that published my work closed down and the one remaining reduced its number of issues. With less income in 2018 and little possibility of publication, there was no need to purchase lots of fabric, sewing aids or any of the amazing gadgets that keep being invented for stitchers. We were still able to live comfortably yet frugally.

I also still had an income from pattern sales on my Craftsy Store where I had nearly 200 patterns available for purchase. My patterns were in front of millions of Craftsy members who hopefully would fall in love with my designs. But ... you guessed it, the rug was pulled from under my feet two days ago. Craftsy's new owners decided to cull their 12,000 designers and 220,000 patterns. They advised me they were keeping my store as I was identified as a "top designer". However they left  just 2 (yes, two) paying patterns and eight free patterns in my store!!! Of the eight free designs, three are Christmas, and four are blocks in a 12 block design! It was obviously a random, computer-generated choice of what patterns were left in stores!


So, what do you do when the rug is pulled from under your feet? Well, the first thing is to pick yourself up off the floor where you've been flung. The next thing is to turn to God who is an expert in picking up the pieces! In this situation, there is a third thing I need to do - fix up my hundreds of links to Craftsy that now do not work!

I am still thinking through how I can best sell my patterns in future. I will eventually have them all available direct from my website, but of course I would like them to be available to a much wider audience. 


So I am back on my feet - just! and have plenty of work to do on my website when my Christmas visitors go home next week!  

May you have many blessings in the new year.

Happy stitching!
Val

13 comments:

Nanna Chel said...

Jenny of Elefantz is in the same boat, Val. perhaps some of the designers could join forces somehow. No idea how that would work but it seems a shame for you all not to be able to have your work published.

Fee said...

Val, I know exactly where you are at. I too lost all of my attends except for 3. One was FREE and the other 2 were blocks in a 10 part quilt. Go figure ! Onwards and Upwards ! I am still deciding which direction to go in but it certainly does change our lives. Sending hugs and much love xxxx Fee

gracie said...

So many of you as experiencing this dilemma. Here's hoping it will all work out for you in 2019.

Calicojoan said...

Sending you best wishes for a much better new year. This Craftsy thing has disrupted so many lives. :-(

Rosemary said...

Really shocking what is happening to so many of you. I am so glad that I picked up the patterns from you that I bought and the ones you so generously gave ... I have a tendency to download as soon as I get the patterns so, fortunately, I have them (I hope). There are others you have that I wanted and will buy once you are set up again and I know you will be ... because God doesn't close one door without opening another. I wish you much success!!

Ingrid said...

Lo más importante es que estás en manos del Señor. Él guiará tus decisiones. Yo no conozco cómo se maneja el tema de las ventas por internet, pero como Dice Nanna, sería bueno que se comuniquen entre ustedes, las diseñadoras, a ver si por lo menos una buena parte de ustedes logra usar un mismo sitio para vender sus patrones. Así nosotras, sus seguidoras y compradoras no nos sentiremos tan confundidas como nos estamos sintiendo ahora, ya que no sabemos a dónde tenemos que dirigirnos al momento de comprar o descargar un diseño. Es una lástima. Ese sitio funcionaba muy bien.

Mandy Currie said...

Hello Val, I've followed your blog for a while but never commented before (sorry). I feel strongly that it is so unfair what Craftsy have done to our designers and I think they will lose a lot of customers. I'm so grateful that you are keeping positive about all this and will keep you and the other designers in my prayers that you will find the right answer for you and get the customers you need and deserve. Your designs are beautiful and deserve a wider audience. Best wishes for 2019. God bless. Regards Mandy

Jenny Edlin said...

Val.
I so love all the work you do-your patterns are amazing. I can so relate to your story. While a late starter I was fortunate to start designing and have my quilts published until June last year. It was my extra source of income in retirement too and I was lucky enough to have some 50 quilts published over 4 years. So that stopped and with few magazines left I have been lucky to get 1 published in Homespun in April next year. But that is also going to every 2nd month and with all the designers etc out there there is less opportunity to get projects published. I had looked at Craftsy and so glad I didn't go down that path. It would be great if there were some other outlets as there are so many creative people out there who deserve to have their work shown. All the best for 2019 and keep your amazing stitcheries and projects coming. I just need more hours in the day to make all the things I want to but hand stitching is one of my favourite things to do and you were one of my first inspirations when I started my journey. I am sure another door is going to open for you.

Melody A. said...

Please do consider Etsy, even though they have suffered some growing pains too, their fees are not horrendous, they also have a platform to make your own webstore if you desire that. I was very upset so many designers were suddenly gone from their site and it was handled so unprofessionally. I love looking at your patterns so let us know where you go. Take care from Iowa

Little Penpen said...

I'm sorry about the Craftsy thing... it seems they got too big for their breeches! You would think they can handle all the designs without cutting into the livelihood of so many. Sorry!

Susan said...

I am glad you trust in the One who works all things together for good for those who trust in Him. What Craftsy did was dispicable not only for all those who had designs out there, but also to those of us who purchased them. Supposedly all of them are in my library, but I can't see pictures of them. I have to click on a designer's name and then open them one by one to look for the one I want. I haven't checked yet on the classes I purchased. Supposedly they are still there and I can still watch them. For how long, I don't know. They are not something I can download. And I doubt there will be any interaction with the teachers, since I know one has retired and I am not sure at this point if they have treated all the teachers like they have the designers. I also can't see Craftsy staying in business after all this. It looks like they are trying to get rid of all the inventory with big sales, but I don't feel like buying from them now. Praying you will find a new outlet.

Val Laird said...

Thank you to all my dear blogger friends who have written me such encouraging comments. As I don't have the return address for some of you, please accept this as my personal thanks for taking the time to write and bless me with your comment. Hugs, Val

Brenda @ Songbird Designs said...

Craftsy has hurt so many of my quilting and embroidery friends. I know that you will be just fine as you allow God to show you the way to go with your patterns! You do such beautiful work. Because of you, I actually did my first little piece of wool embroidery (even though it was from a kit) and am so pleased. My dear granddaughter claimed it for her Christmas tree! LOL Hopefully, Craftsy will be back better than ever, but they may not since they were so cruel to their designers. Time will tell. Have a blessed New Year, Val!