Monday, January 6, 2014

I was surprised to say the least.....

I hope everyone has had a great Christmas and New Years! We had a lovely time with family and friends. After Christmas we traveled to B.C where we spent a great week vacationing with friends.
While I was there I saw a post on one of my new favorite Facebook Groups that irritated me. It was by one of the administrators and when I responded on the post I was booted and banned from the page within a half an hour.
Now, I have never been booted from a group so it was definitely a surprise when it happened. I genuinely enjoyed the  posts and learning new things from the members. The group is a very helpful place and filled with inspiration.
Fortunately, I took a screen shot of my response and another member copied and pasted the original post for me.
I am going to post both so you can read them. What do I hope to gain from this? Nothing but awareness as to how a simple crafting group is being manipulated with out being aware.
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Very rarely will you see me post something like this, but here goes…. This will be my last public post about this issue There have been several posts/comments made recently about the “rules” on mentioning other facebook groups/websites here in this group First and foremost I am an admin of this group along with Maria. I am also the owner of craftvinyl.com. Although I own craftvinyl.com I encourage other vinyl suppliers/wesbites to be mentioned on this forum as long as it is done respectfully. You are more than welcome to post other promotions/prices/sales even if those other promotions/prices/sales are in direct competition with my website. For those who are familiar with vinyl in general, we all know there are maybe 3-4 major vinyl suppliers who target the craft/cameo market. From a business owners standpoint I think competition in general keeps the prices down for everybody. If I see another website offering a lower price on the exact same item, I won’t bash that company or try to convince you to buy from me and only me, the smart thing to do is lower my price(s) and let the customer ultimately decide on where they want to spend their money. There is another cameo specific facebook group/forum that is very similar to our group. This other group has been mentioned regularly on this forum , the other group is "Happy SIL". This other group is considered a "secret" facebook group , meaning, you will need to have one of their members add you directly otherwise you will not be able to find their group. Unfortunately because of repeated negative comments/personal attacks on their forum towards myself and my company I will no longer allow their group to be mentioned in this group. Mentioning their group/forum will not get you "banned" from this forum, however the comment will be deleted. You are more than welcome to join their group, please understand joining their group will not get you banned from this group. The reason: There seems to be a lot of misconception in that group about the way I handle my website and the way I run this forum. As consumers we rely on our experience with a business when deciding if we want to continue to be a repeat customer. Yes, I understand there are power in numbers and there seems to be a large following of people who like to constantly “bash” my website, my name, and my reputation. I admit I am not perfect, I try my best to make sure every customer is satisfied, but with a steady customer base of over 40,000 worldwide customers I think that number itself speaks volumes over the number of people who think otherwise. With that said, bashing anybody or any other company will not be tolerated in this group. With all the hardships seen around the world on an everyday basis life is way too short to wish negative things on others. There are several other groups/forums on facebook that are great resources, but, because the sensitive circumstances it is best to leave this group out of the groups mentioned in our group. I will not bash this other group or publicly make the same negative comments that have been directed towards me although if the shoe were on the other foot I wouldn’t expect the same courtesy. I do find it unfortunate that potential new customers rely on these negative comments when making their decision(s) to purchase from my website or not As of Dec. 2013 we have over 16,000 members in this group and disagreements are going to happen, it would be unheard of to expect every member to see eye to eye, but, we are all human beings and atleast deserve respect from each other. That is all that we ask here in this group. After all, In 25 years I don’t think any of us want to look back and say "gosh I wish I had spent more time putting more people down". To each and every member of this forum I appreciate you, to each and every customer of mine I am humbled by your repeated trust, my family and I appreciate you more than you will ever know. Again, thank you….
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This was what I replied
I didn't think that I was rude or disrespectful, but I guess I was wrong. It got me booted and banned. 
I am a member of a few other cameo groups so I can still share and learn, would have been nice though to leave on my terms if I chose. 
Yes, I do realize I am adding to the drama that I am tired of, but I am a wee bit torqued over the situation.


Enough with the gloomy gus, I am planning on putting the craft cave back together after a crazy two months. I really want to get a bunch of cards for all occasions made up as my stash is running very low.
What are your crafting plans?

Wednesday, December 11, 2013

On the 2nd day of christmas prep....

Two posts in a row! Don't pass out from shock just yet. Lol
I have been so very busy this past 2 months working with my mom on ornaments and other Christmas goodies. We are having a great time and learning lots as we go along. After Christmas I plan to download the Cameo software on my mom's laptop and teach her how to use it.
I have been stretching out slowly with trying different designs on my own, not just files I have purchased or gotten from file shares.
I'm really starting to enjoy tracing. It is interesting and frustrating at the same time but yet, can be so rewarding!  One day I will be able to trace a photo!
Here are a few photos of what mom and I have been working on. Just a very very small sampling.

Monday, December 9, 2013

Getting ready for Christmas. ..

Wow....has it really been over a year since I last posted?!?! Bad blogger!
Life certainly has been busy. I haven't done a lot of scrapbooking lately but have been very busy creating for the Christmas season!
The Dashing through the snow glass block is a file I bought from Blingology. It is a very popular one for sure.
The Baby Jesus one is actually from a stamp set called Mary & Babe from CTMH.  It is in the Christmas mini. As soon as I saw it I had to order the set so I could make this!
Merry Christmas!
JoJo

Wednesday, October 3, 2012

Who will be the master crafter?


Well I did it, I decided to join the challenge being hosted by http://www.pinkcricut.com/2012/10/master-crafter/ She had a bunch of fabulous items donated by companies for this challenge. Now when I first got my package, I was stumped. I had no idea in which direction I wanted to go. This is what I came up with and wasn't happy about.

Now this bag works great for holding the scissor mouse which was one of the fun items included in the package. It is a great way to cut paper and super safe so the kids can use it too. I used mod podge to attach the piece of paper from the Rockstar mat pack also supplied from DCWV. I cut it out using the scissor mouse and stamped the love sentiment that was included by Pink Cricut herself.

So after looking at it for a few days, I just wasn't happy with it. Didin't do my first challenge justice. I finally came up with my entry while I was looking through my art journal. We had taken a paper piercing class a short while ago and I loved it. So, my project is a mixed media piece that I have done in one of my art journals. 



I used all of the supplied items in this piece except for the cotton bag (now my scissor mouse holder :o) 
I used the scissor mouse to cut the legs in my paper pieced woman. The top and hair were to difficult for me to do with the scissor mouse but with some practice I will be able to do it soon enough.
There are many different mediums used in this layout, gesso, mod podge, paint, big brush markers, paint pen, gelattos, ink, buttons and of course paper!
Her are close ups of the two pages....
If you give it your all, people will listen.


Thank you so much for stopping by, I truly hope you have enjoyed my entry. There was a lot of love that went into making this piece. Take a look around when you have some time and leave me your thoughts on my projects.
Sincerly,
Jos
Let your dreams take flight. Hold on tight and see how far you go.


Tuesday, July 17, 2012

A while back, I signed up for the stamp of the month kit and the S.M.A.K kits from Unity Stamps http://www.facebook.com/l.php?  Iu=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.unitystampco.com%2F&h=sAQHFgYNv I finally went and picked up my mail today and both my kits from June were waiting for me. When I opened up the K.O.T.M and saw these adorable little ice cubes and great sentiments, I just had to do something with them! I made it more or a boy themed card so that I have a card on hand for one of my sons many birthday parties. I used a dark blue card base at 5.5" square and then covered the front with a blue glitter paper from my LSS. Made a slit in the glitter to add in the tag to give it some pop and voila! Love me some Unity Stamps!
Thanks for stopping by,
Jos

Sunday, July 15, 2012

Can you tell that I love this digi character Wryn from http://tiddlyinks.com/? She is such a delight to colour. Great for a beginner like myself and amazing when done by some pro's. If you want to see some amazing colouring done by talented people, be sure to check out their FB page at http://www.facebook.com/tiddlyinksI have been buying digi images like crazy since discovering how much fun they are to colour. I feel like a kid again. Just like my childhood, I STILL have issues with staying inside the lines. Lol.
Thanks for stopping by.
Jos

Friday, July 13, 2012

A Little late, I know....

This is the card I made for my mom for mothers day, yes, that was months ago I know. Lol. I am not good at this blogging thing but will keep trucking along. I coloured this image with my copic markers. I am learning how to use the properly and I love it. I have taken a couple of classes at my favorite scrapbooking store http://www.facebook.com/pages/Something-to-Scrap-About/111927008832461  The teacher there is awesome, she is also one of my closest friends and took pity on me when I was ready to throw my copics out because I was using them all wrong. The cardstock and patterned paper are from CTMH. The digital image is one of my favorite characters called Wryn from http://tiddlyinks.com/