About My Anti-Piracy Ad....

I've had a few comments recently and some e-mails even about my Anti-Piracy ad that I include in my zips and on my blog... I just wanted to take a minute to tell you a little about it. :-)

Yes, that is my daughter, Joanna she just turned 15 months on the 20th and I plan to update the picture frequently as she grows :-) Thanks so much for all the kind comments on how cute she is :-) I am currently pregnant so when this little one is born my daughter may have another buddy in the picture! :-)

Recently, alot of designers have been discovering pirated kits of theirs being given away by people and this always makes me sad.. I mean.. even though I TOTALLY disagree with video and music piracy I can ALMOST see why people feel justified in doing this..
they must reason away the guilt with something like... "Oh those music and movie studios make millions.. whats a few bucks?"

But where I fail to see any reasoning is piracy of our digital kits.

I think there is alot of misunderstanding when it comes to how much we make at this, so I wanted to see if sharing my own story could help people understand a little:

I feel that I sell pretty well and when averaged over time since last September when I signed on with Stone Accents Studio. I make far less than minimum wage at this. (hubby says 'It's almost slave wages!")
I went months when I first started April-August 2007 only making 20 dollars in that 4 month period!
(my husband says I am the definition of a 'starving artist' and in some ways he sees it 'artistic slavery' LOL mainly because I obsess over it, I LOVE my job, I LOVE art, and never in a million years thought I'd ever make even pocket-change doing it! And I'm sure alot of designers feel the same way.
There are alot of designers out there who design Full Time for various reasons, be it severe health issues, or stay at home moms who design whenever they can, trying their best to contribute to their income in whatever way possible.

For me, this job is my only option, its either work from home or don't work. I never went to college and because of this, I've never been able to get a job above minimum wage, and every job I've had will only hire you for the minimum hours allowed to not allow benefits of any kind. In my area, and I am sure alot of others, the cost of daycare would almost take every cent of a paycheck I would bring home, so again, this is my only option. I just wanted you to know that alot of us in the digital designer field are struggling to make ends meet and worrying about the bills just like anyone else.

To me.. stealing from someone in our profession is just about as low as stealing from the pocket of your grocery store checkout gal. I mean really, who would do that? If you knew you wouldn't be caught? I sure hope no one would.

Digital Scrapbooking by its very nature is a penny-saving hobby. Once you have a kit, you've got it forever and can re-use it forever. Thats one of the things that really appealed to me about it.. the frugality of it.

Just try going to your local Scrapbooking store and purchasing the same amount of papers and elements for the fantastic and low prices we provide, It would be rare if you found a deal that good, ya know? Anyway, I just wanted you all to know why I include the Anti-Piracy Ad in all my zips and I hope you will join me in saving yet another endangered species:
the Starving Artists :-)

((hugs))
Sherah