SCRAPPERY ~ UPDATE

Hi there everyone. You might need to settle in with a cup of coffee for this post..sorry in advance. We just wanted to come by and make a blog post and update all our loyal subscribers and customers. As most of you know there have been some significant delays in the scrapbooking industry lately in relation to the latest releases and the newly released Heidi Swapp planners.

Obviously being a kit club we plan and order our kits months in advance in accordance to new releases and the timed arrivals of these releases so these recent delays have meant that our latest kits (and possibly some upcoming kits) might be delayed slightly.

After speaking to the wholesaler today in length we wanted to come by and update you all. The reason for these delays have been caused by several things. Firstly there was an industrial strike at a LA shipping port. As there was a lot of product coming into these ports and the strike began back in November (with them only going on official strike last week) it has caused a large backlog in products getting to manufacturers to be shipped to suppliers. So this was a huge pain! This stopped the Heidi Swapp planners in being released at the start of the year and lets face it, we all wanted them for Jan 1! To make matters worse now they have been delayed AGAIN because the binders (but not the accessories) have been delayed. We got frustrated when we saw that some retailers had received their stock here in Australia and after talking with our wholesaler and with American Crafts we discovered the issue was because the binders were delayed and while the first orders slipped out American Crafts then made the decision to halt all shipments of the Hello Beautiful planner line until all the products could ship together. This was so frustrating as the supplier that we order through fell into the latter category. So that particular line has been delayed until March 20. We know this is so frustrating for those that had preordered one of these planners, but we assure you that they will be worth the wait! They look so gorgeous.

Another scrapbook line that happened to be delayed is the Wanderlust collection by Heidi Swapp. We had planned to have this in May kits but as Nae is getting married in May we have decided not to have a May kit and rather feature some of the Wanderlust in the June kit. It was sort of frustrating as we were expecting this a lot sooner. It turns out that no Australian store should have this collection in until after June 20. The reason for this is because American Crafts have secured a contract with Spotlight for exclusivity during this time. We also noticed a couple of Australian stores already stocking this range and this was due to a similar situation as above with the departments within American Crafts not talking to each other and *some* orders slipped through the system and were sent without them knowing about the 'exclusive contract'.

So because we have decided to take a break in May as Nae does all the posting of kits and will be off getting married and honeymooning this means that the Wanderlust delay should not affect us too much.

Also the latest releases for the kits including; Craft Market, Maggie Holmes Confetti, Dear Lizzy were slightly delayed and moved for shipping for the first week of March. This was only a small delay and due to the backlog of shipping at the ports. We are hoping this delay at the ports will end very soon as they say the government will step in soon because these huge strikes are starting to affect the economy and even causing worldwide shipping container shortages.

So all in all, we basically want to apologise for the slightly mixed up release dates we have had for kits these last couple of months. It really has been beyond our control and as a kit club that relies so heavily on products arriving on time, it is super frustrating. We just really wanted to be upfront and honest with you all and make sure you knew just as much as we do.

We have also decided because of these delays and thinking about how our business runs as a whole to change the schedule for releases and peek parties. So below is the new schedule;
INVOICES SENT FOR SUBSCRIBERS ~ FIRST WEEK OF THE MONTH
PEEK PARTY ~ MIDDLE OF THE MONTH
KIT RELEASE DATE ~ LAST WEEK OF THE MONTH

One of our business goals when we started was to ensure that the kits were released on time each month and we are very upset that these last couple of months have seen delays that have been out of our hands. Hopefully with a new schedule and this strike easing, things will get back on track and we will start to see product arriving quicker and on time.

I know this post has been huge but I hope it has explained a few things to make sense of the delays these last few months.

We look forward to sharing our next February kit in the next week.