Wednesday, June 19, 2013

Creative Memories Bankruptcy Update

 

About a month ago, I wrote a post explaining what I could about the Chapter 11 bankruptcy proceedings filed by Creative Memories (see that post HERE).  If you go to the home page of my website HERE and look near the bottom there is a link for "Restructuring News" (just below the blue line on the left side).

While the company has stated that it is "business as usual," things are changing.  The information that is available to consultants is delivered through various web pages, emails and Facebook posts and sometimes there are inconsistencies.  I will try to summarize the information that I have in order to help you decide on the best course of action for your needs.  Some of the plans of the company have not yet been approved by the Court so there may be changes in these plans.

Rewards Club

All Rewards Club members should have received an email notification of the winding down of the club.  No new members are being accepted.  The club will end on August 21, 2013 and Rewards Club credits will be issued and can be used until that date.  Membership fees will be pro-rated and refunded in the form of Rewards Club credits (must be used by August 21st).  This refund by credit will not happen until Court approval is received.

While Supplies Last for Traditional Products

All or nearly all of the current line of traditional products will be discontinued.  Many are already sold out.  If there are any tools, organizers or decorative products that you have been thinking about ordering, now is the time to order. It is possible that some of these items may become available again, perhaps in updated versions, but this is not certain.

Host Rewards

The Host Rewards Program will end as of June 30, 2013.  There is conflicting information on whether the rewards must be used by June 30th or August 21st.  If you have any Host Credits outstanding on your account I would recommend using them as soon as possible - while there are still products available.


Last Chance Order for Pages, Protectors and a variety of Album Coversets

If the plan is approved by the Court, there will be an opportunity in July to preorder an unlimited quantity of pages, protectors and selected albums and these will be manufactured to meet the demand,  More details about this Last Chance Order program and the specific products to be included will be made available "soon."  The proposed timing for this ordering is from July 8th to July 31, 2013.

Product Certificates, Product Credits, Content CD Coupon Codes

Product Certificates, Product Credits, Content CD Coupon Codes (and, possibly, Host Credits if they don't expire June 30th) will expire on August 21, 2013.  If you have any codes outstanding you should try to use them as soon as possible.  Check any digital CDs that included a coupon code to be sure that you have used the code.

Creative Memories Cricut cartridges

At the time I am writing this, there are five cartridges still available on my CM personal website - Be Young, Divine Wedding, Reminisce Accents, and Stork's Delivery.   Total Sports is the last Cricut cartridge that was released.  It is not listed on the same page with the other cartridges but you can find it HERE.  There a "look book" available HERE and you can also see all of the images in the Cricut Craftroom, but I can't find a link to the full handbook.  I do not know how many of these cartridges are available but the last new cartridge, Tiny Treasures, sold out very quickly.

I do not know if these cartridges will ever become available again, through Cricut.com or other sites.  I imagine it depends on the terms of the exclusivity agreement for the cartridges and could be affected by what happens with the bankruptcy proceedings.  If you were planning to buy any of the cartridges, it would probably be best to get them now, while you can.  Some of the cartridges that aren't available on the website may be in the inventory of individual consultants so you could try checking locally.  If you don't have a local consultant and want to order through my website I'd be happy to help you with any additional questions.


I have some products in inventory at my home.  If there is something that you want that is sold out online, please contact me by email (capadiadesigns (at) gmail (dot) com) to see if I happen to have the item you want available.  I can also do a search with other consultants to try to locate an elusive item that you need and I don't have...

Digital

The company is still working on their future plan for digital products.  I will do another post to try to give some advice about backing up your digital content and projects for the StoryBook Program and your photos on the Memory Manager program.  There has been some speculation that if these two programs are not part of the plan for the new company, the developer of the programs may continue to support them and sell additional content.

What to do...

I have checked my supply of albums and made sure that I have pages and protectors to complete all of the coversets.  There will be new albums, most likely of the Fast to Fabulous type (preprinted and assembled) when the company relaunches this Fall.  Since it is unclear whether new album pages will fit the existing coversets, I am planning to "stock up" just enough to complete the current projects.

Please leave a comment or contact me if you have any questions about the ever changing state of affairs at CM.  I am waiting to find out whether they will be keeping the digital programs - if not, I may decide to move on...  I hope that that the creators of the programs will take them back and continue to support both Memory Manager and Storybook (probably under new names).

The flower photos are all from our trip out west - trying to add something pretty to a long dry post!

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19 comments:

  1. Thank you for the update. I always like your honest approach in your posts. This is a sad time as I LOVE CM Albums and am not much of a digi person.

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    1. Hi Lori,
      Many people are sad about losing the albums - the company says the plan is to start fresh with a revived product line and there will be albums but no confirmation that they will be the same size/type as our current albums. I am a digi person but I still like to put the pages in albums sometimes instead of doing a printed book. I hope that CM can pull through this but it looks increasingly difficult as the days go by since filing in April. People should order now to try to get the things that they consider "essential" to their needs and that don't have a viable alternative option (there is lots of pretty paper everywhere but I believe the albums are unique). I have always loved their tools too - and own most of them.

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  2. I've been in love with digi scrapbooking ever since you introduced me to it. I hope they continue to support the storybook creator.

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    1. Melody - I am glad you have enjoyed it. I so enjoy digi scrapping and all of the other things you can do with the StoryBook program. I don't know if CM will continue with digital as we have it now but I certainly hope that the developers of the program will be able to provide support for all of us who love using it. I will certainly keep you posted as I hear about decisions being made.

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    2. I agree. I too, love my SBC. I too, hope that if CM doesn't continue with it that the developers will provide support for us! Thank you for keeping us updated. I appreciate it!

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    3. I am keeping my fingers crossed for good news!

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  3. Thanks so much for the update. I was googling CM to try and get more information and happened upon your site. I really love all you offer and will be subscribing. So glad to have found you to help me through this transition. It is rather upsetting for me. I guess finding your blog however can be one good thing I have received out of it all.

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    1. Hi kmaster - nice to have you here (even though I am sorry about the circumstances that led you to find me). The second bankruptcy is hard for both consultants and customers but I am planning to find and promote options for going forward. There are many good products and providers out there and I am sure that we will all adjust to new things - and may even like them better!

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  4. Do you have any idea when we will know the outcome of storybooks? I make 5 books yearly (one for each of my kids and one family album) and I am very distressed at the thought of not being able to print books anymore. While the software can still be used for other things, my main concern is books...are there other places that will support printing books from creative memories ?

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    1. Hi - (sorry I don't see a name here)
      They are still trying to work out an alternative for support and printing but don't worry - you have the ability to save your pages as individual JPEG files and then you can upload the full page images to any of a number of vendors that print books. I am planning to try out a few so I can recommend an alternative for printing your books.
      Let me know if you don't understand how to save your pages and I'll try to write a post explaining the process for using another printer as soon as I can.
      This has been very difficult for those of us who love digital - it seems like we are being abandoned but I am confident that new options may prove to be even better (and less costly).

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    2. Thank you Diane, I do know how to save pages :) Thank you for planning to try out a few vendors and letting us know. I have grown so attached to my program and the ability to have complete creative control.
      Lora (lorastraz@hotmail.com)

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    3. To print books, try:
      www.blurb.com

      My cousin is a photographic journalist and she publishes her books through Blurb.

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    4. Thanks - I have heard good things about Blurb but I haven't tried them yet.

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  5. I am just finding all this news out...just when I am trying to make a digital book for my daughter. I'm just devastated. I love digital scrapbooking from CM. Please list how to store JPEGS. Please make some suggestions on other vendors of quality digital papers. thanks you

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    1. It is upsetting to think that you will not be able to continue with the current printing options but there are alternatives that are comparable. You still have some time to finish your book and have it printed by CM. The company has given August 21st as the last day to use product credits. I would try to finish the book before then in case things don't go according to the current plan. I will be posting instructions and recommendations for alternate suppliers in a few days. The current digital programs are some of my favorite tools and I will be sharing how I plan to go forward.

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  6. I am very sad about cm because I am very traditional person who loves with their hands on craft. I am okay with digital if there is for a reason. But, I am the most concerned about digital software and I wonder if that was the reason why cm is out of business because digital is overcome the traditional and people don't buy traditional anymore. Also, I am concerned when people buy digital software and a member share the software to other member to reuse the same cd software to save money? Does it causing cm out of the business dues to losing the profit? I had some feeling it did happens but I am not too sure. I am somewhat wished that cm police banned people who sells on eBay or amazon. I hope that cm will meet the demands of current members who need the products.

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    1. Many people are very sad to see the end of a product line that they have used for years. The overall decline in scrapbooking is just part of the reason for this bankruptcy. I believe I read that digital accounts for only about 15% of CM's business so I don't think that you can say that digital pushed out traditional - at least not at CM. The software requires activation and is licensed for one computer only so I don't think it is likely that people are sharing CDs. CM is doing a Last Chance Order from August 8 - 31 so customers can order albums, pages and protectors to finish their current projects. These will be produced to fill the orders and may take a while to ship. All other items are available while supplies last. They plan to have a new product line in the future but have not given out information on exactly what will be included.

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    2. I find myself very unhappy that they are changing the product lines. I have many books that need more pages and page protectors and can't possibly afford to buy then all now. The books will be useless and all that money already invested a loss. If they do change their books and paper I doubt I will every get myself involved with the product again.

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    3. There are alternative pages that will work in your CM coversets so don't get rid of them. I will be posting some information and directions on using them on the blog soon. There are also some consultants that have large "stockpiles" of supplies (I have only stocked up for my personal needs).
      I am also unhappy to see the end of the products that I so enjoyed but we have to just move forward and find a new way to make the albums.

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Thanks for taking the time to leave a comment. I love to hear from the people who read my blog. I moderate all comments to keep spam off the blog without making you decode the squiggly letters so your comment may not appear immediately.