On the 27th of each month, come midnight, you will see me a nervous wreck. At the stroke of midnight, I turn into...a pumpkin? Nah, wrong story.... my story says that I turn into a page refreshing maniac! In fact, I can bet you there are many out there in the world, at the stroke of this certain time on the 27th of each month, we all turn into this page-refreshing madwoman that has known to bite hubby's head off when they attempt to ask the holy grail question "WHY".
Indeed Why? Because we are all Studio Calico (SC for short and for the sake of my typing fingers, you see, I need to preserve my fingers for the page refreshing madness.) subscribers. For the uninitiated, Studio Calico is a leading manufacturer in the scrapbooking industry. They offer monthly kits of scrapbook goodies that you a will receive every month. Ahhh ok, then why the madness since it is guaranteed? Well my best guess is to insert some excitement into us scrapbookers' life so that, well, we have something to scrap about. Yes! That must be IT. Otherwise what could account for the nail-biting, teeth grinding "excitement" that comes along with it? Hmmm on second thoughts, they must have relatives in the fields of dental and manicure.......
Kit guaranteed? Yes but not the delectable, absolutely MUST-have-or-I-will-have-nightmares add on kits! Each month, apart from the 3 monthly kits offered as a subscription, they have easily 6-8 add on kits that complement the main kits. The main draw of these add ons are usually the stamps (or chops as lovingly called locally). Guilty as charged! Yes, my first consideration of getting an add on kit is if the stamps inside are what I want. This dramatically pushes or pulls me to get or not to get. If I do decide to get, that's when the madwoman of refreshing land appears. "POOF!"
These add on kits are limited in numbers. That is what made them so sought after. So unless you have the fastest fingers on earth, you inevitably will get a message that says what you have just (thought) put into your cart is "Temporarily unavailable". But what does that mean? You see, in order to be as fair as possible, all items in your shopping cart will only stay there for 10mins. If you do not checkout your cart within that 10mins then all the items will be "returned" to the purchase page for others to buy. Effectively this means that you have a grand total of 10mins to make up your mind or risk losing the items to another stark raving mad page refreshing woman.
Let's rewind back to my very first time as a subber (short for subscriber). All subbers receive access to the Presale page where kits are made available for sale to subbers only 12hrs before its internationally revealed to the world. On my maiden voyage to this land of madness, I only went into the Presale page a good 3hrs after it was revealed! *GASP* How could I? Well the argument is why fight with others? Since it is a presale, I am sure to get what I want. HA!!!! Imagine my disbelief when I was greeted by a sea of "SOLD OUT" signs. ALL kits were snapped up and boy did I learn my lesson!
Come next month, I made sure all kiddos (hubby included) are fast asleep by 11pm+. I charged up my hp, made sure my WiFi is switched on and at the stroke of midnight, I dove into the madness of trying to lay my hands on the kit(s) that I want need. I keep refreshing till either I get that kit, or I see the SOLD OUT sign. Typically, within 30mins I will either get all that I want, or be disappointed that I had missed some. Fast? Yes. Rarely do you get a month that kits are not sold out. Most if not all of the add on kits will be sold out.
How do I feel about such a system? Well definitely adds some excitement but seriously, it can be quite nerve wrecking. Why? Well if I am only buying for myself, that's easy. If I dont get what I want, I can easily forgot it. BUT, if its a kit that a friend wanted then that's when I get nervous. I always feel bad, very bad, if I can't get these kits. Commonly when that happens, I will go back in again, 12hrs later during the international reveal to try and get it. There is a sense of satisfaction if I do manage to get all that I need to during the subber's reveal, then I can go to sleep and not worry about it till next month. Shallow? Maybe, but to me, its just some good clean fun that makes my heart beat a little faster and gives me something to grin about :)
Think you are up for this nerve wrecking hobby? Well, sign yourself up at Studio Calico and get your heart beating faster this month! Want to know more? Check out their FAQs and the very best of luck on your maiden voyage!
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