Creative Memories and Ahni & Zoe are closed. They are not re-opening.
Caleb Hayhoe bought the rights to the CM & AZ names along with some production equipment. The albums that other companies offer(ed) are not the same as those CM sold.
What I stated above are facts, available to anyone from various reliable sources. Many (myself included) are hoping that Caleb Hayhoe will re-introduce CM quality albums & tools. Personally, I am very encouraged because he is asking for input as to what customers want. There is still a lot of uncertainty about this new venture and those still searching for archival quality albums to replace those that were made by CM will have to wait & see what happens. I am cautiously optimistic!
There is still a lot of confusion about CM/AZ/OMFL which is due mainly, in my opinion, to vague and misleading posts being made by consultants for the various companies as well as being posted on various Facebook pages – including the A&Z FB Page.
If one stumbled upon this post and was not up to speed as to what’s been going on recently I imagine they’d get a completely wrong idea as to what’s actually happening:
Yes, there is a start up team, no they aren’t associated with A&Z. Some of the people working for A&Z are going over to the new company that is gathering opinions regarding the future business.
Our Memories For Life is not Associated with CM
*Sigh!*
Looking at the OMFL Facebook Page I’ve seen a few people post questions about the relationship between OMFL and CM. The situation is confusing enough on it’s own and it’s made worse by Rhonda Anderson tossing the CM brand name around and reminding everyone that she was the co-founder of CM while posting about OMFL.
No matter what anyone says, OMFL products are NOT the same as CM products!
Adding to the confusion for scrapbookers is the way posts are deleted rather frequently on the OMFL FB page. Have a question that may be less that all sunshine & rainbows or attempting to provide factual information about the way things are actually happening? Chances are that type of post will be deleted. I’ve seen this happen myself when someone posted a polite reply to a question that asked if OMFL was the replacement for CM. It’s like déjà vu as this is how A&Z often operated, too.
Regarding Ms. Andersons’ claim that OMFL has “photo safe products” - “photo safe” is a claim that is not worth anything unless it can be backed up by scientific research, tests & standards. Being that she was co-founder of Creative Memories, a company that produced ISO certified albums, you would think this is something Rhonda Anderson would be familiar with. No word yet as to when the OMFL album components that contain PVC (definitely NOT “photo safe”) are going to be replaced.
Similar is Not the Same
While the OMFL Border Maker cartridges do work in the CM Border Maker system and vice versa these aren’t identical as evident from many people finding that the OMFL cartridges will fall out when used in the CM system. The cartridges are designed to be released by pushing a button but all it takes is a little shake, especially if you’re holding the maker with the cartridge facing down, and it will fall out of the maker.
This wouldn’t be such a big deal if it was acknowledged and communicated to consultants and customers.
This is more than just one or two “bad” cartridges, unfortunately.
Those cartridges are heavy & I’d be pretty upset if one came crashing down on my wooden table, ceramic tiled floor or my toe!
Also, there are reports of the fan cartridge not working properly.
I’ve seen a few people mention that if you go slow sometimes the results are better but sometimes, no matter how slow you go, it just isn’t punching correctly.
As in the past the familiar “negative” label is being tossed around quite frequently to describe those that are attempting to share facts so that customers and consultants can make informed decisions.
Sad to see that some things never change, do they?
Mistakes are made by all companies and I think how those mistakes are handled say a lot about the company.
