Thursday 15 March 2012
CSI-Case File No 8
This will be my final CSI challenge as I do not plan to play at CSI anymore. It has come to my attention that those over at CSI believe my pages are only mediocre. I put a lot of time and effort into getting the correct colours and using the elements given. I have observed over several weeks that some of the Design Team members don’t even seem to get the colours correct and those chosen for feature or most wanted don’t always have the correct colours either. Not only that, the same people seem to get picked over and over and over again.
I scrap for me and while I don’t scrap to be selected as feature (although I did get a mention once), it is disheartening to hear that my work is not feature-worthy. I am certainly under no illusion that my pages are as good as the Design Teams and I have no desire to aim to be one. I get that a site wants to entice people past the first page. That to me is what Design Team members are for. Put Design Team members’ layouts on the front page if you are so worried that pages such as mine will reflect poorly on your site. Why does a site say that everyone is welcome to play regardless of their level? While this may be the truth (that anyone can play), it is not truthful when already you see a pattern established of the same people winning. So beginners or simple page designers need not waste their time of uploading as they are clearly not in the running to ever win anything, let alone even get their layout displayed. Are the chosen layouts fantastic, without a doubt, but do they always meet the criteria, no they don’t. It’s players like myself that spend time getting the colours correct and leaving honest comments on other peoples pages who get annoyed when some people come to their blog and leave comments saying how wonderful their layouts are, yet turn around and behind our backs say they are only mediocre and not good enough to feature. Thank you to those of you who are honest in your comments. Unfortunately, too many are ruled by their ego rather than the reason they began scrapping in the first place.
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Beautiful page
ReplyDeleteHi, Marissa,
ReplyDeleteI love your page. The photos are wonderful, and I especially love the way you added the three factoids. That great big star is awesome tucked behind the patterned paper, and I love how you added the three smaller stars. Great title work too. I love the way you've designed this to show the progression of photos.
I read your post, and you seem to have been misled and given false information. You said, "those over at CSI believe my pages are only mediocre." I just read all of the comments posted on the pages you've shared in the gallery, and they have all been very complimentary and positive from both CSI members and the design team.
In fact, one of your pages has been placed Under Surveillance--voted on not just by me, but by the design team as a whole, so your work obviously is feature-worthy. This is what being placed Under Surveillance means. And just to let you know, your name has rolled through the voting process several times and has missed out on being featured by a short margin.
I hope that you will continue playing with us at CSI. Your pages are always a pleasure to see in the gallery!
Am I missing something.. where is all of this information posted? I'm very sad that you feel this way and that some one would lead you to believe these things. I'd never speak for another person, and I don't like having someone speak for me..
ReplyDeleteI spend a lot of time going thru the gallery giving honest heartfelt compliments and praise. I take my role as a DT member seriously, and feel it's my job to lift and support all of our members. I don't have time to gossip or play games. I'm sorry you feel this way. I've enjoyed your creations at CSI and at HMITM. If you leave CSI, you'll be missed. Good luck to you and all your endeavors.
I am not going to point fingers or go into the he said she said as I am not one to get involved in the drama of things. It is what I read with my own eyes that has brought me aware of what actually goes on behind the scenes(and those involved know who they are). This is what I am disappointed about. I am simply getting on with my scrapping and moving on. However, I am a believer in letting people know how I feel and being a voice. I could not simply leave and not mention my reasons. Thanks again for the challenges, I did enjoy them.
ReplyDeleteLove your page Marissa and have enjoyed seeing your pages at CSI….and I love your honest approach to expressing your opinion in relation to the rules of the challenges….I too am not under the illusion of having my page ‘picked’ or as ‘good’ as a design team member, but have been told via a friend that my pages are not feature worthy either. This was brought to my attention through a friend on the site because we dared to ask a question about the rules. This question was asked in a private chat as we were advised not to post it in the public forum. Unfortunately it was taken out of context via a private email from the administrator and has now left me with no alternative but to play along somewhere else. I did notice you have been picked for under surveillance and rightly so – your pages have been lovely AND you have followed the RULES of CSI unlike pages that I have seen of late (and let’s face it – they are the SAME people who have been picked time & AGAIN) even if they have not followed the rules. Hence, why we asked the question about the rules of CSI in the first place and unfortunately have been shot down in flames ‘behind closed doors’.
ReplyDeleteAs for your comments Shaunery and Debbie – yes – I can see your comments publicly on Marissa’s pages and as DT members these comments have been made diplomatically. This I believe is purely a political move on your behalf. After the lack of communications from emails that I have personally sent, I find it very hard to believe that you have GENUINELY placed true & honest comments to not only Marissa’s page but to most members that are playing along at your site. Me included. I would like to take this opportunity to bring to attention to ALL MEMBERS playing along at CSI – unless you are in the ‘know’ in the scrapbooking ‘world’, don’t expect to be ‘feature worthy’ –, we have been told from the horse’s mouth….
That is all.
I no longer play in any challenges for many of the reasons you have brought up. In fact I don't participate very much, besides lurking, in the online scrappy world. That having been said I love using the challenges as a starting point for my layouts. They can be fantastically motivating!
ReplyDeleteI like your layout and hope you continue to enjoy your scrappy time.
Thanks Carolyn for leaving a comment on my blog. Good to see others feel the same about these challenge sites. I am not giving up on challenge sites as I find them a great motivation and starting point to get pages done. I will keep searching until I find one that is fair in motivating and encouraging people of all levels of scrapbooking, not just those who appear on many sites.
ReplyDeleteI recently joined at Colorful Creations and plan to do some of the challenges there. http://colorfulcreations.ning.com/events
Feel free to pop on over and join if you wish. I have only just started there and so far it seems to be a friendly site.
Thanks for stopping by.
Am I allowed to ask? I have been on another site won't say which one, they are saying they sacked a DT member because she was crooked and causing trouble. I couldn't see where you were listed as DT member. I really like your pages and don't understand why they would sack you not even sure how you can be crooked. Anyway you Go Girl, I think your pages are good they might not look like what is featured on most other sites but they are your work after all and really that is all that matters.
ReplyDeleteI am not sure what you have heard or by whom but I was not a DT member there. I really don't know how anyone could be 'crooked' and if raising the question of fairness is 'causing trouble' well what a world we live in. I was simply someone wanting to do challenges as it gets me motivated to get pages done, but was a little frustrated at the time spent on getting the colours close and sticking to the criteria but only to see DT members change the colours and also to see featured members do the same. A few friends that play asked the question, if we are all not getting judged on equal ground then I am more than happy to spend less time on trying to get some of those ridiculous shades perfect when apparently I didn't have to anyway. Sometimes its a pain to work with a really bright colour that doesn't seem to work within the palette itself and If its okay to change it to a pastel then I am ok with that as long as I have the same chance at being featured. Is that not fair??? It seems if you are popular you can do what you like (that is my opinion from what I have seen anyway). At the end of the day, that is fine, but why make it a challenge in the first place. I have moved on and playing somewhere else. Everyone else should do the same...move on.
ReplyDelete