Me and the BG

I have been commiserating with like minded Facebook friends over Basic Grey's decision to pull put of the scrapbook supplies market. I did and do agree that they have a school of designers who'll be a great loss to paper designs. I even posted that BG Junkies like me would be saddened by their news.

I've continued to think about their decision ever since. And based only on my own experience with Basic Grey, I think they are doing the right thing. I probably have 100s of pages in my scrapbook collection that are based on, or feature, Basic Grey papers. I used to buy the collections almost unseen. I was definitely on that Merry-Go-Round of new product grabbing. But I grew out of it at some point, and am much more the sophisticated consumer these days. And when I looked through albums to find a few BG pages, the timeline says it all. My albums are overfilled. Basic Grey doesn't appear as anything more than offcuts and borders until I get to three behind the one I'm currently filling. 2012 was the last time I bought a Collection. Since then, I've probably bought less than a dozen pieces of BG 12 x 12. I have one  Basic Grey 6x6 book of papers, I couldn't resist. I have very little use for it!

By the time they reach the shelves here in the UK, these wonderful quality printed sheets are over £1 each. (As are many others, don't misunderstand this as a complaint against Basic Grey). They have remained single side prints, and the quality has been marvellously consistent. But if you extrapolate my purchasing into worldwide sales, hmm. It's probably not worth paying the designer, the printer, the shipping. And then there's all the other stuff that you're sort of expected to produce, stamps, stencils, dies. New releases (note the plural) at least twice a year, and a market which has reportedly levelled out. Certainly the consumer has had to be more prudent in the last few years.

It must be exhausting, keeping up, trying to predict the market in terms of style, design, colour, then being creative but to appeal to the purchaser. I cant cope with the sensory overload that comes out of CHA, so I don't try. I figure that it'll reach my attention soon enough. And I'm no longer ambitious about knowing the who and the what about every company. My interest in scrapbooking remains strong. But individual companies no longer have my loyalty....I buy paper on a whim, when I see something that pleases me. Across many marques. By the sheet.

Whatever the reason, I want to thank Basic Grey for what they taught me: not to be afraid of highly patterned papers! They were really good at those!  And also to applaud their clean and graceful market exit. One announcement, a cut off date and a thank you. Thank You, Basic Grey. I think you're quitting while you have control, and I admire anyone that sees that in their lives.