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#1
03-26-2010, 03:15 PM
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PrettyScrappy.com: A Statement From Our Team of Designers
Dear friends,
This week our team of designers has been dealing with a very unfortunate situation with a designer at another store. We’ve attempted to rectify this situation privately behind the scenes, but the dishonesty involved in what is going on is something that we as a team feel needs to be brought to the community’s attention. On Monday, March 22, I contacted Julie Frank, the store owner at Pretty Scrappy, in regards to a kit that one of their designers Robyn Greif aka ScrapperGirl Designs, had created that was in my opinion way too close to one of Libby’s original designs. I asked for the kit to be removed from the store as a courtesy to Libby due to the fact that the kit was essentially a knock off of her original work. The owner replied to me and essentially dismissed my concern telling me the only thing she felt was really similar between the two kits was the word strips which she had asked the designer to remove from the kit. She then informed me that the designer was "purely inspired" by a commercial use package of medical elements, which she used for the kit and nothing more. Here are the kits so you can see and decide for yourself…   After doing this for 4 years, our entire team of designers is well aware of the fact that you can’t copyright themes or colors, but as professionals we strive to create our own original work week after week, and we know and appreciate that the majority of other designers out there do so as well, which is why a situation like this and the lack of a serious response was very disappointing. At that time I shared the situation with our team of designers out of frustration at what had occurred. Had the above been the only thing that happened, we would have vented privately for a bit and that would have been that. These things happen - it isn’t the first time it has and it won’t be the last and at some point you come to realize that there is only so much you can do beyond asking for the removal of the kit when stuff like this is brought to your attention. However, after the initial support of Libby had taken place and our designers started looking at ScrapperGirl’s collection of work more closely, many of our designers found their original elements taken directly from their kits and placed into her kits for sale at PrettyScrappy.com. The kit below is just ONE example of what we discovered…  And here is a listing of the elements which were originally created by our designers. It should be noted that none of these products are available as CU items. These are elements scanned and extracted by our designers personally for use in their own kits. These are not knock-off items that LOOK like the designers' items, they ARE the Sweet Shoppe Designers' original elements with the name changed to scrappergirldesigns or sgd.  The items above can be found in the following kits available here at SSD. Feel free to click the images if you’d like to look for the items above as they appear in our kits. Another Year Older (star paper by Christy Lyle made monochromatic by SGD)  Doodles & Damask (flower, bead spill, stitching & button by Penny Springmann)  Heart Whispers (paper tag by Melissa Bennett)  Frolic (wood frame by Shawna Clingerman)  While all of the above is infuriating when so much heart and work goes into our designs, it is even more shocking that we have no record of Robyn ever purchasing these products from us here at SSD or from ANY of our designer’s personal stores. As far as we are concerned, she is claiming elements as her own from stolen products, which is incredibly disheartening and infuriating to be honest. At this point we have not been told otherwise despite several of our designers asking for an explanation. Once we had all of the above information, we asked for an apology and some action to be taken against this designer, and on Tuesday morning, I received what I thought was a sincere apology from Julie at Pretty Scrappy letting me know she was terribly sorry for what had happened and that Robyn was no longer a designer in their store. While the whole thing was incredibly frustrating, we took some measure of comfort in knowing that this designer was slowed down for at least some measure of time. Unfortunately, on Wednesday morning we received information that Robyn had not been removed as a designer from PrettyScrappy at all, but had merely changed her design name to Big Apple Designs in an effort to shut us up and make us think we’d “won”. As you can see from the screenshot below, there is no doubt that Robyn who was originally ScrapperGirl had changed her name to Big Apple Designs in the forums and store at PrettyScrappy.  Since Wednesday morning, Big Apple Designs has disappeared from both the forums and store, and the user PlainJane has taken her place in the PrettyScrappy forums. Again, I wrote to Julie at Pretty Scrappy with my disappointment in how this situation was handled and informed her that we would be making a public statement in regards to this matter so that our concerns would be addressed somewhere since she was unwilling to take the situation seriously. So here we are. As someone who takes great pride in the professionalism and integrity of my team, it pains me to make a public spectacle like this as I prefer to handle these situations privately. However, due to the lack of action, our team felt that it is time to start standing up for ourselves as designers by making a statement to say that this kind of thing is NOT ok. Digital piracy has many ugly faces, and this is unfortunately a very sad and disturbing one. We are not out to harass anyone or make life difficult for an up and coming store or designer. This is not a case of a big store bullying a little one, and we realize that there are likely very honest and good designers creating and selling at Pretty Scrappy, but this situation was handled very poorly and dishonestly by the store owner and designer, and ultimately we deserve to have our designs protected one way or another. Please help us protect our work by keeping your eyes open and letting us know if you see thievery as blatant as this situation has been. We know that similar colors and themes come out throughout the digital community, and that is as it should be as each designer can always bring a fresh perspective to their projects, but when kits are a direct knock off of a designer’s work, or worse when people are claiming someone else’s work as their own, there is a serious problem that needs to be addressed as you deserve to spend your money on designers who put their heart into creating their own work each time they hit their computers. To expect anything less is a mockery of the business we love. On behalf of the entire team of Sweet Shoppe Designers, thanks so much for your time and support, Robin
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#2
03-26-2010, 03:25 PM
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Wow. I can't even believe that! I'm so sorry this is happening to you wonderful designers, and I will definetly keep an eye out and support you all.
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Fairon
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#3
03-26-2010, 03:29 PM
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sitting here with my mouth wide open. out.rageous. most definitely robin and co.
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#5
03-26-2010, 03:36 PM
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I am doing the exact same thing Laura........my mouth is WIDE OPEN. Jaw dropped. I can't believe the lack of integrity.
Robin and designers..... I am so sorry you are faced with this. You have a whole community supporting you! I will definitely keep my eye out. That is just not right. Not only that.........I will not be even visiting that site. They don't deserve my support or money. Horrible. Sending out lots of hugs to all you wonderful ladies! ((HUGS))
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#6
03-26-2010, 03:41 PM
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Disgusting! It's really sad that this designer to do this... but then for that store to back her. Just disgusting! Seriously, what are they thinking? Don't mess with SSD, designers, or the community!
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#8
03-26-2010, 03:49 PM
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wow I am just blown away by the nerve of this. Kudos to Robin for protecting her designers and store and handling this with maturity and integrity. Honestly I just love hanging out here in the forums, galleries, store, etc. SSD is the best place ever!!!!
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KIM
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#9
03-26-2010, 03:56 PM
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Oh my word. I have no words. I was under the impression that anyone in a position to write tou's would respect someone else's. Wow. The nerve.
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#10
03-26-2010, 03:42 PM
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this is just awful!
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#13
03-26-2010, 03:49 PM
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Actually, I'm not shocked by the "designer's" behaviour (I don't applaud her, either, I somehow can't get how she can feel good about her work if she *knows* it wasn't hers at all). People would attempt such things, that's a known fact. What appalls me is the behaviour of the store owner after you repeatedly contacted her and asked her to remedy the situation. That sucks big time.
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 Last edited by adrianka; 03-26-2010 at 03:51 PM.
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#14
03-26-2010, 03:50 PM
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Robin, THANK YOU. For protecting your awesome designers and for protecting the integrity of this industry we all love so much.
Libby, Penny, Melissa, and all the other girls ripped off - I'm so sorry  What LOSERS! the nerve. 
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#15
03-26-2010, 03:51 PM
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Wow. Just blows me away. What a disgrace to the business. I'm sorry that this happened to any of you here. I feel really bad for the designers who were blatantly disrespected.
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#16
03-29-2010, 02:03 PM
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This is such a shame....I am so sorry this is happening to all of you hard working designers.
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♥ Love and Peace ♥
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#17
03-26-2010, 03:46 PM
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This makes me FUME and sick to my stomach. That a designer could do that in the first place, and then outright lie and say she was using CU products... but its obvious that some were never even recolored!!! And then for the store owner to pretend like she took care of it is SO shady!!!!
I'm glad that you posted this Robin. I had not seen the site before, but I probably would have in time, and now I know to stay away from it. I refuse to support businesses who do this sort of thing. Disgusting.
__________________
 Huge fan of:   
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#18
03-26-2010, 03:48 PM
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wow. I hate that people are so horrible. I will keep my eyes open for sure
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#20
03-26-2010, 03:59 PM
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Robin, thank you so much for coming forward with this information. Really, without designers and stores standing up for themselves like this, the community doesn't know and continue to shop from stores that support such behavior. Despite the fact that we see it over and over again, I'm just apalled that people continue to do this. My heart goes out to the design team here at SSD. Y'all in no way should have to put up with this mess.
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#22
03-26-2010, 03:30 PM
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OMG Wow. My heart goes out to all of you affected and to any designers who have had something similar happen to them. There is no excuse and it really is a shame that so many think they can make a quick buck by stealing another's work of art. Hopefully this will be an eye opener to others out there as well. It's sad. (((hugs))) to all of you for having to endure this.
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~Jenn~
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#25
03-26-2010, 04:40 PM
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The first thing I just done after reading this post is deleting my account at their shop. I just bought an item a long time ago so I didn't see the lasts ones and I'm feeling very angry to see what happen! It's just totally disgusting and bad. I don't write very often here but I feel I have to when reading you and I want to send all my support for all the lovely team! I'm sad and sorry for you all. I'll be very attentive and keep my eyes wides open. I know digital piracy exist and unfortunately will continue but in this case, it's just incredibly unprofessional and unbearable. Hugs and love to my favorite shop, you are the Best!!!!!!!!!!!!
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#26
03-26-2010, 04:32 PM
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I, too, am sitting here with my jaw on the floor. I don't see how people can do stuff like this & sleep at night! (((hugs))) to all of our amazing designers here @ Sweet Shoppe, & to you Robin, for handling this so professionally.
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#27
03-26-2010, 04:38 PM
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Big hugs
.. pirates suck and to add insult to injury.. the store owner not taking care of it is really appalling too!
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Lisa
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#28
03-26-2010, 08:00 PM
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WOW! That's just plain awful! I do think this was handled appropriately btw... you tried to discuss it with the store owner and instead of doing the right thing, they sided with a pirate. We'll continue to keep our eyes peeled, but sorry to hear this happened.
__________________
  Returning from a long scrapping hiatus!
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#29
03-26-2010, 08:19 PM
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I was so sad when I first heard about this. Thank you for sharing and for handling this, Robin.
Stinks that it's even an issue... gah.
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Kristin
social media girl for ljs designs.
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#30
03-26-2010, 08:21 PM
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Just wanted to add something...PrettyScrappy was part of ADSR this year and they had a prize for completeing a challenge. Not sure if other people have downloaded it or not. I never got around to it and dont plan to now.
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    Dreaming of creating for Cindy Schneider, Studio Flergs & Kristin Cronin-Barrow
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#31
03-26-2010, 08:23 PM
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Its a bit shocking, but I can believe it. People are so corrupted. I'm very sadden to hear that the store backed her up in the end. That is so wrong. I'm sorry to you guys here that were all affected. It makes me sad to even know the store you guys are talking about but I do. I don't shop a lot of places and am glad that here is one.
And to think this evil human is called a designer. And has done it at other places previously. I wish there was a list of humans like this one so we could know who to make sure never to buy from/talk to/etc. Thank you for making it public and letting us know.
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Brittney
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#32
03-26-2010, 09:56 PM
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I almost hate to say I am a designer at Pretty Scrappy, but I am too, sick to my stomach. I actually noticed that Robin was not in the store anymore, nor are her things and wondered what the deal was. I design under the name, Teri's Thing-O-My-Jigs and I will be contacting Julie. I do this for fun and although I am a small designer, and have been established at Pretty Scrappy for about 3 years now, I will be talking to Julie tonight and will have to ask to leave the store. I sell at GingerScraps too and will have to just be happy with one store for now. There is no amount of money that would keep me at a store where the integrity is questioned. I am sorry for you, the designers that were put through this, and wanted you to know, that I for one, will have to do what is right. Thank you for bringing it to my attention in a professional manner. I just deleted everything off my ftp and am letting Julie know now. I will make sure my customers get any links that are due them. Thank you again and I wanted you to know, there are many good designers there that will suffer from this.
 T
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Teri Mayo Teri's Thing-O-My-Jigs "But I trust in You, O Lord, I say You are my God. My times are in Your Hands"
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#33
03-26-2010, 10:09 PM
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I'm so sorry to hear about all of this.
__________________
   ::Creative for Polly and Rufus Designs, creashens, Paislee Press Designs, Fizzy Pop Designs, Lauren Grier, Leora Sanford and Jazzmin Designs::
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#34
03-26-2010, 10:15 PM
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Wow. Just...wow. Kudos to you, Robin, for handling this in the way that you did.
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#35
03-26-2010, 10:23 PM
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I am so sick. Seriously. I was at pretty scrappy because of Teri and my love for her and I am removing all of my layouts, etc. I do hate it hurt the good ones like Teri but I know she will do fine at gingerscraps or where ever she goes next. Wow I am just in shock.
I am so sorry guys. It is sad, just sad. Quote:
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#36
03-26-2010, 10:24 PM
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Quote:
Teri, I want to applaud you taking action so quickly! I absolutely would have done the same thing were I in your shoes. It's all very upsetting, and I'm sure this was very difficult for you to do after such a long affiliation. (((Big Hugs)))
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Hugs, Babette LBCreations - Designs by Babette DigiScrap Professional Designs
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#37
03-26-2010, 10:36 PM
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Quote:
Well Teri said everything I was feeling including being a designer(former as of tonight) I can't believe the lack of professionalism from the Store Owner(of Pretty Scrappy) and the crazy sick acts of the "designer". I'm so sorry this happened to everyone who was affected and I am totally saddened to have my name attached to such a site...I will be following Teri's suite in leaving the store ASAP.
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#38
03-27-2010, 03:40 PM
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I am so sorry to hear that this has happened to the Designers. I like to think that we live in a "perfect digi-world" but, this shows a different side of the digi-world.
I was on the CT Team at PS...I was saddened to hear of the closing. But, I will still support the true designers because I really appreciate their hard work. Kayre
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#39
03-27-2010, 09:43 PM
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W.O.W. I am so saddened and disappointed by this. I will definitely keep my eyes out and I want you all to know how much I LOVE this site, value your original work, and appreciate your integrity!
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#40
03-27-2010, 10:36 PM
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(((hugs))) to everyone, I feel so sorry for you, this is a crappy situation for everyone involved. It bothers me that things like this go on and other store owners aren't brave enough to stand up and tell the customers about it. I have to say it also bothers me that people who aren't members here may not know about it. I did a quick search of my hard drive to see if I had anything of this designers, and I admit I had to laugh out loud at her TOU. Why not just write, do as I say not as I do!
 Terms of Use-ScrapperGirl Designs http://scrappergirldesigns.blogspot.com robyngreif@comporium.net By downloading and using kits made by ScrapperGirl Designs,you agree to my terms, and the copyright law in your country. FOR PERSONAL USE ONLY, NO COMMERCIAL USE IS ALLOWED! S4H/S4O Friendly. You may alter anything like color, size adding to or removing from them but you may not claim the altered graphics as your own. Please give credit to ScrapperGirl Designs. You may submit your scrapbook layouts online as long as you give credit to ScrapperGirl Designs. This includes anything that you have altered from my kits. You may not use anything from this kit, or any of my kits to create obscene, defamatory, or immoral works. Nor is it permitted to use content from any of my kits for any other purpose which is prohibited by law. You may not share these graphics, zip files or folders in tact or otherwise (meaning even just one of the items from my kits) with anyone else. You may not use these graphics for commercial use. Meaning you can not sell anything from my kits, unless it is clearly marked as Commercial Use or CU. You are not allowed to resell, give away any of my kits for others. You may not upload my kits to any redistributing sites such as 4shared or the like for others to download. THANK YOU for following my Terms of Use, if you have any questions regarding these terms or anything in general regarding my designs, or if you just want to share your LO's with me then please send me an email at robyngreif@comporium.net Please give proper credits to "ScrapperGirl Designs" when using the products for your layouts (galleries, personal websites, blogs, etc). Please include my name and product title in the credits.  :thumbdown :Hopefully this designer and store owner will get the hint that what they did made them extremely poor excuses for scrappers and human beings. Hugs Crystal xx
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My Blog
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#41
03-27-2010, 11:58 PM
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I'm stunned by all this ! Sorry for all that have been hurt by this ! ((((hugs))))
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#42
03-28-2010, 12:11 AM
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Thanks for posting this Robin! I'm so sorry you guys have had to deal with this. As a fellow designer, I really appreciate you bringing it out into the open so the rest of the community could be informed of what's been going on.
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I can't believe they didn't make her quit selling!
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#45
03-28-2010, 09:21 AM
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I see the story took another turn... I'm sad for those designers from PrettyScrappy whose files were deleted just like that, without warning. Another proof that the owner is not a fair person. First to back up a thief, then this.
This must be *so* unpleasant to everybody directly involved, but at least Robin and the designer girls have found out (or ratere, had re-confirmed) how much support they have in the community. Even from the designers at PS that got into this mess innocently and ended up being wronged by the owner. *hugs to all*
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#47
04-05-2010, 12:45 AM
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I think theft is horrible and honestly cant believe she would steal from any shop at all let alone one of the more popular ones i mean it easy really a matter of time before some one realized it.
As for Julie I think honestly as a former PS designer and a former store owner that she was protecting her friend... I mean maybe Robyn's excuse initially made since... i think any good friend would stand by them at least initially... i don't know exactly what took place so i cant say 100% but when a similar situation arose in my own shop some time ago I was sort of unprepared I asked the designer and removed her once the theft was proven but this can hit you like a ton of bricks and we all make mistakes... i mean i do think it was handled wrong but maybe its the first time dealing with the situation... i don't know I'm just they kind of person who doesn't believe in first impressions... what if you meet some one on the worst day of their life... As for Robyn I hope she doesn't make it back into the design world with some fake design name!
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#48
04-05-2010, 11:25 AM
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I can't beleived!!!!!
Oh my God, I cannot understand everything what has happened. My name is Eva Quevedo Ruiz aka Aveziur, Designer in Pretty Scrappy and have been out of the work for personal reasons last two weeks. To my return I have thought in my personal forum that the members of my creative team have been commented this topic and it has made me petrified. I still don't know that has happened with Pretty Scrappy, since I have not had time yet to see all my mail, but on this message I want to meet spirits to the designers of Sweet Shoppe and to say to them that I'm so sorry for the terrible situation that happened.
For what to my concerns, if Pretty Scrappy remains opened, and there is no convincing excuse, I will leave the shop, (I will look for better other one) and will try that this evil matter does not splash to me. I will write in my blog a post explaining this matter and I will erase everything related to this shop as far as possible. Again, I feel very much this happened, and if in some occasion I can use as help anyone of Sweet Shoppe do not hesitate to contact me. Thank you for putting me in the picture about this matter. Excuse me for my english mistakes. Hugs, Aveziur My mail: eqruiz@gmail.com My Blog: eqraveziur.blogspot.com
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#49
04-05-2010, 12:55 PM
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I again want to say thank you to SweetShoppe for posting this and bringing this to our attention no matter how painful.
Someone started a thread at DST for other store owners who may be hiring for the displaced PS designers. Search "Pretty Scrappy" at DST and the thread will come up (Store closed...) is the title. Thank you again to SweetShoppe for being Sweet!
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#50
04-05-2010, 06:51 PM
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I was also a designer at PS, and can only say that I am so disappointed in all of this! Due to my daughter's senior prom and Easter, I had no idea this was all happening. I would have done the same as Teri and the others who left. I wish I would have had a chance to delete my products. My design name is Ladybug Pages, and I will get products to anyone that has any issues with anything of mine. Please email me at ladybugpages@gmail.com. So sorry to all of those she stole from. This makes me want to rethink designing at all!
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