A Message from Tim Holtz

 
hey bloggers, after the exciting launch last week of the new seasonal distress series, i have to say once again how overwhelmed and grateful i am for it all.  i can't even begin to thank everyone so much for sharing in the excitement and creative chaos this launch stirred up.  so i wanted to share a little background of how the idea of the seasonal distress series came to be.  as you know, i truly love my distress line with ranger.  after being on the market for over 7 years, i continue to use these inks as if they are the latest and greatest.  i'm happy with the palette of 36 colors of distress, but of course there are times when i want a certain color especially around certain seasons.  which got me thinking…i've said it many times, trust your crazy ideas...

so i pitched my idea to ranger, to create a batch of unique seasonal colors for distress inks.  i loved the idea of creating a palette of 3 new colors perfect for the season.  we would create a batch of these colors once a year to release to the market.  these colors would only be available for the season and not be made again until the following year.  being a U.S. manufacturer, adding new products of any capacity has its challenges, but adding more to the already popular distress line had even more.  numbers we're crunched, reports ran, production materials ordered, distributors notified, and schedules made, if we were going to launch this we were going to be ready - at least that was our intention…

to say we were all blown away at the response from all of you would be an understatement.  based off any previous new distress ink launch we produced more than predicted sales.  in fact we manufactured what should have been weeks worth of inventory, but instead it sold out within 6 hours, completely unexpected.  don't get me wrong, i knew it was going to create a bit of a frenzy being limited and all, but 6 hours?  of course once we all realized what was going on, it was too late to do anything about it immediately, but that didn't stop us from trying to figure out a solution.  one of the many benefits of ranger being a U.S. manufacturer is the ability to react quickly, so we began to try to secure more materials, create more dyes, allowing us to make another batch of these seasonal fall distress inks. although it was not part of the initial plan, we want to do our part to meet the demand set by all of you.  so i'm happy to say that ranger is making one more production run of the fall seasonal distress inks to ship out in the next few weeks. i truly appreciate the support from all of you, and wanted to do my best to make sure more people had the chance to get a set of these colors if they wanted.  simply amazing!…

now to answer some of the many frequently asked questions:
- are there going to be reinkers for these colors?  the short answer is no, but the reason is simply because these unique seasonal colors are made in a small batch to create the specific colors i want.  so i had to choose and i would rather have more distress pads available than half the amount if we made reinkers.
- will i be able to get these seasonal colors again?  yes, my idea was to have these colors around for the season.  so next fall, these same colors will be created again and made available for the season (kind of like seasonal fruit i suppose).
- are you making other distress products in these seasonal colors?  i only wanted to create these seasonal colors in distress ink pads.
- since they are part of a "seasonal series" does that mean there are going to be other colors for winter?  yes, i've created a set of seasonal colors for winter as well, and they will be released on november 1st!

well hopefully this has explained a little more about the seasonal series of distress inks.   i can't express my sincere thanks enough to all of you for sharing your creative energy with this launch.  it's been a fun way to bring new colors to the distress palette and i appreciate all of your amazing support and excitement.  guess this idea wasn't so crazy after all - who knew?…t!m

Comments

[Petronella Sabol]

Glad to hear there are more coming!

[Maira Aguilar]

Thamk you again Tim. The ink pads are fenomenal!!

[Aquarius]

How brilliant that you've taken the time to explain to us why we maybe won't be able to get hold of these new colours in the UK - maybe next year...

[Anita]

Wonderful to hear to get some this year!

[Bunny Vance]

Thank you so much for the explanation! We tried to get them ~ sold out. So we are supporting another retailer and just purchasing from them for our personal use. What a great idea and what a better one to explain it all to us. Communication makes for great relationships, you my friend in addition to Ranger just made your commitment to your customers stronger by posting this statement.
Blessings,
Bunny & Jillian Vance

[Susan]

Thank you Tim for your energy and vision, I cannot wait to get my seasonal colors next week and I am looking forward to November 1st.

[Kathy Eddy]

Wonderful news! I was close to un-subbing from a couple of my yahoo groups over the complaining and bickering that went on about not getting their share, etc. from vendors. You would think by limited folks would get it! Can't wait to see the Winter Release colors!

[Dorothy]

wow Tim...and Ranger...you guys blow me away with your customer service and kindness!!
Thank you!!!

[Janine]

This is the Number 1 reason why I choose Ranger products over any other vendor out there. The products, of course, are excellent quality but, even more than the products, are the outstanding people behind this organization. The company I work for, as well as many others out there, could really learn a great deal from a post like this one from Tim. I have never witnessed, in my 40 (plus) years, a company as connected with their customers as Ranger. Kudos to you!

[Betty Sarachik]

I must be the only store in the US who has not sold out of the TH Inks

[Linda H]

Crazy or not, your ideas are always the best!! Ranger Ink is a very smart company for listening and getting your ideas to market! Thank you ALL!

[Shirley]

That is very exciting. I am not surprised--the colors are magnificant!

[Cheryl S.]

I think that this is a great explanation. I am going to try and get my hands on these hot commodities, if I can!

[Caroline]

This is such a great news. I really like messages from Tim, they always have nice surprises. Can't wait to see what he has cooked up for the winter distress.

[Victoria Sturdevant]

Thanks! I'm waiting for a call from LSS to pick mine up!

[Robyn Josephs]

thanks for the clarification.
Hopefully I'll hvae mine by Friday!

[Jennifer S.]

6 hours? Wow! I sure hope my pre-order got filled before the sell out!

[cflack]

Congratulations to both you and ranger for such a surprising and successful launch. Although it really isnt a surprise if you look at how great these products are. :0)

[Anne Christine]

I am living in Norway, but thanks to Internet I've been able to order a set which is on it's way from USA :-) I am really looking forward to Nov 1st, I will for sure try to get my hands on those as well ;-)

Thanks for continously create new and exciting products for us!!

[rhonda]

Thanks for the info Tim glad I got some and I can't wait to use them!

[Diana]

i love the idea that you and Ranger took the time to explain to us. fantastical thing for sure.
i have my fingers crossed i get the next set.. come on November 1st!

[Marilyn]

You just have the BEST ideas, T!m!!!

[Noreen]

Thanks for letting us know - it's not frustrating when you know what's going on.

[Julie aka ScrappyDandyDoo]

I really NEED to get my hands on some of these :D

Julie xx

[Sue Benedick]

If Tim puts his name on it, it will be gold. Wow 6 days!!!