Important Announcement about the Future
I will try to make this brief, while also making sure that the important information is covered. As many of you know, in March I started a re-brand of my site at the behest of G*S*U*S*A. That is still in process. On Monday I awoke to all but two of my almost 70 Etsy listings removed for “Intellectual Property Infringement.” I won’t say anything negative about G*S*U*S*A. They have every right to protect their property, which includes the trefoil, the silhouette logo, insignia (badges and pins), the name Girl Scouts, etc. 99% of what I design is my creation, the small details that contain the trademarked items make up only 1% of the design.
I thought about giving up, giving in and just folding. I felt defeated by the fact that every other store that I searched on Etsy offered products with the same “violations” as I had. Why were their shops still up and mine wasn’t? Neither the G*S*U*S*A paralegal nor Etsy could say anything other than the other stores weren’t reported. But the more I thought about it, the more I thought about the 99% vs. 1%, as well as my loyal customers. So I’ve made the decision to redesign my products to comply with not only Etsy’s rules but also the G*S*U*S*A copyright.
What does this mean for the blog?
The blog has already undergone a redesign that has been planned since spring when I changed the name of my Etsy store. Anything on my Freebies page is not guaranteed to be there tomorrow. If there is anything you might want, it’s a good idea to go download it, as everything, even my free stuff, will be redesigned. I’m confident you will still love the refreshed items, however, if branding is important to you, then by all means go download stuff here.
What does this mean for the Etsy products?
What this means for the products in my Etsy store is that I’m currently working feverishly to redesign my everything. I didn’t realize how time-consuming the task would be until I got started. So far I’ve managed to update just around 6-7 of the 68 products that I sell. Please note: if here is anything you have been watching, or planning to buy, please contact me to place an order. For the next week I will be taking custom order requests for current products. After the listings are changed and re-uploaded, I will no longer offer the products as they are currently designed.
How will the new items look different?
Basically anywhere there is a trefoil, silhouette trefoil design, reference to Girl Scouts, badges/pins/other insignia, those items will be removed. Replacing them will be graphics, hearts, shapes and icons to represent the items that have been removed. I will still reference troops, age levels and insignia name, but there will no longer be a representation of them graphically.
Will your colors and designs change?
No, the designs will have the same colors, elements and style that you’re accustomed to. There will be slight changes, but those changes are a very small part of the overall design. Think of them as punctuation.
When will the products be back up?
The products should be back up by November 6th. I will start updating products and re-listing them tomorrow.
My own store…The future
I’m working on hosting my own store, independent from Etsy on a new domain www.strawjenberry.com. I’ll keep you posted as things develop.
Thank you for your support!!
xoxo
