Getting a lot done!

Even though we spend most of our time at home (since Johnny and I are both working from home), it still feels like we're busy all the time. Not in a bad way...but in a productive way. :) 

Bozley and Nova both had appointments at the groomer on Sunday. Boz hadn't been since the end of May and Nova had never been. Luckily our groomer was able to get them both in at the same time...since they both seem to get anxious when the other isn't around. The groomer said they did wonderful though! And they always smell so good when they come home. :) I always like taking pictures after they get home...but I took a ridiculous amount of pictures trying to get one that had both of them in focus at the same time. :P I did manage to get a good picture of them, though. 

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Then on Monday, Nova had her appointment to get spayed. I dropped her off at 7am and then I got a call from the vet's office around 11am saying that everything went well and she was waking up from anesthesia. She stayed overnight and poor Bozley just kinda laid around the whole time she was gone and wouldn't eat his food. Johnny said that when I dropped Nova off, Bozley was howling the whole time I was gone. I picked Nova up the next morning and Bozley was SO excited when she walked in the house. He stayed right by her side the rest of the day. It still amazes me how much they bonded with each other in such a short amount of time. But...it has been very difficult to keep Nova calm despite the Trazadone prescription they gave her. :P She's more interested in playing with Bozley. So trying to make sure she doesn't tear open her stitches or anything has been an exhausting task. :P  OH! And the vet sent Nova home with one of the cone collars...she couldn't figure out how to lift her head and walk! LOL. In true goofy Nova fashion, she kept walking with her head down which made the cone catch on the ground and she'd just stop and not move. I had to hold the top of the cone up so she would walk straight. :P 

Ashlyn's birthday was last week. The weekend before she celebrated with XH's family (not XH...he sent her a text message saying happy birthday but that's it and she wasn't impressed) and then we had Great Wall for dinner and ice cream cake on her birthday. Then yesterday we went out to dinner at Olive Garden with my mom and grandparents and then back to my grandparents' house to play a board game that my grandpa made called Pegs and Jokers. I lost big time! :P Since we had seven people playing, we had multiple decks of cards. Each player gets six cards...and at one point all six of my cards were sevens. :P And Johnny was playing most of the game with only four cards because he forgot to draw after each turn. LOL. But we had a great time. My birthday is next month (the big 40!) and a weekend or two before my birthday mom is taking a big group of us out to go miniature golfing and then coming back to our house to have my favorite meal for dinner: meatballs and cheesy potatoes. :) 

I finally got the refund for the defective heat press and was able to get a replacement heat press and my Cricut. :) They arrived on Thursday and Friday. This weekend I rearranged the office so everything would fit. I moved the file cabinets so there would be more room. Unfortunately my printer is just too big to fit in the armoire so I moved it to my desk. I had to take EVERYTHING out of my desk so I could move it...it's a heavy desk by itself! But I was able to rearrange everything in my desk for more logical organization. I updated my last blog post with a picture and description of my office now. :) There are still a few things I'm wanting to get (storage solutions, supplies, etc) but I'm hoping I'll be able to get some things for my birthday and Christmas. :) I can't wait to get in my groove and start building up some inventory! 

I made my first sale!

I am very excited to report that I've made my very first Etsy sale! :) So in honor of that, I thought I'd give a more complete update on my new crafting adventure. 

I'm from a family where the love of arts and crafts has been passed down from one generation to the next. There is an obscene amount of arts and crafts supplies between my house, my mom's house, and my sister's house. In our world, you can never have enough arts and crafts supplies. :) My mom and sister both have a Cricut (mom has the Expression and my sister has the Cricut Explore Air 2) and I've been wanting one of my own for awhile. This year, I was finally able to get one. :) And it just so happened that the new Cricut Maker 3 came out in June...so that was perfect timing. But shopping for the Cricut really got me thinking (again) about crafting as more than just a hobby. 

I've wanted to transform my hobbies into a business for quite awhile, but I just haven't had the time or resources to do so until now. With the Covid19 lockdowns and courts only running limited dockets, there hasn't been a lot of transcription work. So, I had more time to devote to coming up with a business plan. I spent a lot of time researching and hammering out the details. I'm very much the kind of person that wants to do something right if I'm going to do it at all. There's always a lot of googling and spreadsheet-ing going on. ;) 

My business is already set up with the state. I already have an EIN that I had to set up when I started doing law enforcement transcription. Kansas doesn't allow for registering a business as a sole proprietor/DBA so all I had to do was apply for my Retailer's Sales Tax Registration. With that, I'm also able to use my registration number to purchase wholesale supplies and not have to pay the sales tax up front for the materials I use. I only have to collect and remit sales tax in Kansas...and I doubt I'll make enough money in one particular state to meet the economic nexus to pay sales tax in other states. I started handling the quarterly sales tax payments for Johnny's small business back in 2013 so I'm very familiar with the process. And until I have more sales, I can file my sales tax annually instead of quarterly. 

I stumbled upon sublimation when I was researching the new Cricut machine. I felt like it would be a great fit for me. Sublimation is printing designs using special dye inks onto sublimation paper (and mirroring the image) and then using heat and pressure to transfer the ink from the paper onto the substrate (polyester fabrics or hard surfaces with a special poly coating for sublimation). The heat turns the ink into a gas which then binds to the poly with the pressure and creates a long-lasting image. Not only will I be creating sublimation end-products (shirts, hats, tumblers, mugs, keychains, air fresheners, coasters, pet tags, tote bags, cosmetic bags, garden flags, etc.), I am also selling digital designs for sublimation through my Etsy shop (which was my first sale today!) at CandiMakerDesigns. So far, I've been creating designs from graphic elements that I have a commercial license to use from graphic collection websites. As I become more experienced with my digital drawing tablet (it's quite a change from pencil and paints!), I'll be creating more of my own graphic design elements. I will also be offering other types of printables in my Etsy shop as well (digital files that people can print themselves for planners, stickers, forms, templates, etc), but I've just focused on sublimation designs so far. I have a lot of Fall/Halloween designs up right now, but I'm also working on Christmas designs. And soon I will be adding a wider variety of designs and printables. I also still need to set up my ecommerce site where I'll sell the crafts I've actually made.

I joined a lot of sublimation groups on Facebook to network with others. There are a lot of roles...people selling digital designs, people selling actual product, people selling substrates or blanks to sublimation on, etc. There are even people coaching others on how to run their business. But there is a huge amount of information out there.

One thing I've found is a lot of people complaining about Etsy in the sublimation groups...but I think a lot of those people didn't really understand what they were getting into when they started...like what Etsy charges in fees (which is specifically spelled out on their website). And a lot of complaints came after sellers were violating policies that are spelled out in the "House Rules" on Etsy's website as well as copyright and trademark infringement. It's fairly easy to NOT sell work that infringes on the intellectual property of others. If you saw it on TV, movie, in a song, sports teams, etc. then it's pretty much off-limits. There are so many people who want to make a profit from the art and established popularity that others have attained instead of building their own. Not only can Etsy shut down your shop and hold your funds, but you can be sued and even ordered to pay statutory damages. A lot of people choose to take that risk for the money they can make at the time...but I'm not one of them. Not only am I unwilling to risk my livelihood...as a writer and artist, I'm not cool with stealing either. All artwork that I use which isn't my own...I have a commercial license from the actual artist. There are also a lot of people who complain about the requirements needed to attain Star Seller status...but it's not supposed to be something that everyone can easily accomplish. It's supposed to show buyers that the seller goes above and beyond.

Edited to Add: I *finally* got my refund from Vivohome and was able to purchase the replacement heat press (instead of a 12x15 swing away, I got a 15x15 clamshell) and my Cricut Maker 3. It's funny that the first thing that pushed me forward with creating a crafting business was the last piece of equipment I bought. ;) I finally took some photos of my office with everything set up. Right now I'm just using a hodge-podge of furniture that we've had. Eventually I want to find/build something different, but this will work well for now. I also want to put some stuff up on the walls (storage and decoration)...so it'll continue to be a work in progress. But I did take a picture of how my office looks so far: 

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The desk in the left photo is the same one I've had since 2004. I have all my planner supplies, art supplies, office supplies, etc. stored in various organizers on and in my desk. Then I have our regular Epson WF-2650 on the top of the desk and my Epson ET-16650 where a computer monitor would normally go...because it's such a huge printer. I love it though! I have my sublimation paper next to the ET-16650 for now, but I'd like to figure out a better storage option for it. I have three different sizes: 8.5x11, 11x17, and 13x19. And then the laptop is on what is actually the pull-out keyboard shelf. 

The top right picture is my heat press on the desk from Johnny's childhood and all my heat press supplies (pressing pillows, teflon sheets for vinyl, extra heat tape, my heat-temp gun, butcher paper, etc) are in the drawers. The convection oven (which used to be in the kitchen) is on a nightstand at the end of the desk. There are drawers on the other side that will hold silicone wraps for mugs and tumblers. It's hard to see in the photo, but there's also a box fan behind the desk to put in the window for more ventilation when needed. 

Then the middle right photo is my Cricut Maker 3 in the TV armoire we got from my husband's sister-in-law. It doesn't have very good lighting so for now I have my handmade Dr. Pepper lamp that I made in middle school in there. :P Eventually I want to get some LED lighting to stick up in there. Right now I have my vinyl sheets on the top shelf in the armoire, but I want to get some hanging storage for the vinyl that I'll probably hang on the door to save wall space for other things. And then I'll move the mats from behind the Cricut to that top shelf. And after this picture was taken, I put my Cricut tools in the storage slots on the end of the Cricut. I didn't take a picture of it, but I have all my sublimation blanks (mugs, tumblers, shirts, coasters, keychains, etc) on the shelves in the cabinet on the bottom of the armoire. 

And then the bottom right picture is really just decorative stuff. The shelf is actually the hutch that goes on top of Johnny's old desk. I have all my art books, cookbooks, everyone's yearbooks, etc. on the shelves and then all of our old wedding decorations are on top of the shelf. Oh and the sign I got after my great-aunt died last year. She was an artist and I love having a piece of her in there where I'm also creating art. :) 

Everything always seems to be a work in progress for me, because I usually think of ways to improve all the time...but this works for now. :) I'm so excited for this new adventure! 

Making Progress!

In my last post, I discussed some customer service issues that I've been having with both Vivohome and Lowes. 

Johnny had to return something he bought to fix the mower because they ended up being the wrong size or something. While he was there at the returns desk, he talked to them about his birthday present that FedEx lost in transit (tracking still hasn't updated since August 9). After a few phone calls, Kyle (not sure if he is a manager or just an associate) was able to scan our receipt to do an in-store return for a refund. We should've gone to the store sooner! It's so nice to have that all taken care of and not continue waiting in limbo for a couple more weeks. 

And this morning, I woke up to an email from Vivohome suddenly changing their mind and giving me the address to return the heat press. So I went straight to the post office before Johnny had to start work. I had to pay the return shipping (which is irritating considering it's a heavy item and cost more than $100 to ship to California) but at least it's progress. "Dan" told me in the previous emails that Vivohome was going to, "actively contact the bank to protect our own interests," so I'm wondering if the bank contacted them about the dispute and told them that they would approve my dispute if they didn't honor their return/refund policy. I contacted the bank and provided the tracking information just in case Vivohome tries to deny the refund after I've already returned the heat press to them. They're a very shady company...so it wouldn't surprise me at all if they tried to do anything like that. But I took pictures showing that the heat press was being sent in the original box and a picture of the heat press and all the accessories packed in the box...in addition to the previous videos showing all the accessories in the original packaging and the condition of the heat press. I also paid the few dollars extra for insurance just in case something were to happen in transit. Because again...it isn't like I can trust Vivohome to make anything right. Hopefully when they get it on Friday/Saturday they'll immediately issue the refund without any problems. We shall see. And if the USPS loses the package...then I can be refunded the $350 covered insurance plus what I paid for shipping. Otherwise, I'll just deduct the shipping on my income taxes. 

And in other unrelated customer service news...I really hate calling in to a customer service line and having to listen to FIVE MINUTES of a recording (about something that is completely irrelevant to me) just to then have the next recording tell me that all agents are busy and the queue is full so I should go online and use their chat feature. Yeah...that was after I'd already tried to use the chat feature and was told that what I needed could only be handled over the phone. I'm just full of complaints! :P lol.

I suppose I should get back to this four minute file I have for work. It's a pretty poor quality audio file so I've been procrastinating. It's not due until Thursday, but I just want to be done with it so I'll submit it tonight before I go to bed. There were actually multiple files available for this case...but I took one of the short four minute files to check the audio and was like...nope! So I didn't claim the other three files for this case. The longer files would have taken forever to get done with this audio quality. And considering I am paid by the length of the file and not the length of time it takes me to finish the file, it would put me FAR below minimum wage for the time it would take to finish those files. Hopefully there will be more files available tomorrow. There haven't been a whole lot of files in the queue lately. Hopefully it'll pick back up again soon. 

Already September?!

I don't know why I'm always surprised by how fast the year seems to go by. :P 

We really didn't do anything for Labor Day this year. Johnny didn't even grill for dinner! But he worked in the yard a bit and has been trying to fix the lawnmower. We really don't have very good luck with lawnmowers. :P I think we've probably bought, like, 3 lawnmowers in the last 9 years we've been together. I ordered a part that he needed, so hopefully it'll work! 

I've been busy doing things with my CandiMaker business as well. I've spent a lot of time working on graphics and getting used to my new printer. I really, really love the new printer. But dealing with the company I got my heat press from...that has been a NIGHTMARE. 

I've talked before about how I view good customer service as essential for any business. Well...Vivohome absolutely FAILS in that department. If you think about ordering anything from them...DO NOT DO IT. Their website has a detailed return/refund policy and 90-day 100% satisfaction warranty guarantee. It sounds good...but it's worthless unless they actually honor that guarantee...and they do not. 

My heat press arrived on June 23rd and I opened the box to make sure all the attachments were there, but I didn't take the heat press itself out of the box because I couldn't use it until I had a printer. As I mentioned before, I couldn't find the wide format printer that I planned to get except for listings on Amazon that were $400 more than list price. So since the newer model was only a little bit more than that, I had to wait until I could afford the newer model. It arrived August 18th and then my sublimation ink arrived on August 24th. I rearranged the office and set everything up August 26th. When I removed the heat press from the box, I immediately saw that the control box was wobbly because the metal arm it is attached to was not completely attached to the heat press. In order to reach the screws to the metal arm, the control box would have to be removed completely. I looked to see what size screws they were, and I could see that the screw heads were obviously stripped. Then I noticed that a lot of the screws on the heat press had stripped screw heads. I immediately emailed the company asking what I'm supposed to do with this defective unit. Then I also noticed that the cord that goes from the heat plate to the control box actually sits on top of the heat plate...where it says "do not touch hot surface" which is a fire hazard. So I definitely wasn't going to use it like that. 

The person named "Dan" who answers Vivohome's official email address has made it obvious that they have had no intention of ever standing behind their 90-day warranty guarantee and return/refund policy. "Dan" didn't even know what "stripped screws" meant (he asked if I was saying the screws were missing and told me to look in the box) and said he would send me new screws. On August 30th I specifically requested a refund and took a video of the quality issues (per their refund policy). The guy said, "We accept returns within 90 days, but now your machine cannot be used normally due to human reasons," and, "Our machine is not made of iron." For one, it's made of steel. For two, I told him that I've never even used it, much less touched it with a screwdriver. He said, "You bought our machine in June. If the machine has quality problems, we hope that customers can contact within 48 hours. More than 70 days have passed, and we can’t believe that you haven’t used this machine in the past. Therefore, the drop of the screw is indeed due to man-made reasons, which cannot meet our 90-day return policy for quality problems. Hope you understand." What I understand is that this is a Chinese company hiding behind a US address and they will not honor their own written policies as stated on their website. He even tried to send me a screencapture of their return policy (including all the "90-day" terms I'd repeated many times) and highlighted where it says to contact them within "48 hours" but that was under the section talking about damage by the shipping company...which is irrelevant to the situation. This was a manufacturing issue, not a damage during shipping issue. And I even sent him the tracking numbers for both my printer and my sublimation ink to corroborate what I told him about not being able to use the heat press until I had the printer and ink...and what days those items arrived (two days before I first contacted him). 

They still refuse to authorize the return and won't give me the address to return it to (their policy states that the address for returns is different than the address the item came from). It was even more evident that Vivohome never intended to honor their 90-day refund policy in their most recent response which was, "It has been 2 months since you bought our product, and the parts have been dropped due to the use of it for too long." I'm sorry...WHAT? Even IF it had been used (and it hasn't), what "use" is going to strip screw heads on a heat press? Furthermore, if "2 months" of "use" cause the metal screws connecting the control box to the steel base come loose, then it is a poor-quality, defective product and I would STILL be entitled to a refund either way! Seriously...what kind of dishonest company believes that it's acceptable that a purchase "cannot be used normally" after only two months?! Since when is TWO MONTHS equal to "too long" when using something that is not disposable?! Not to mention the fact that they have completely disregarded the fact that the cord sits on the top of the heat plate. Ugh! So...I filed a dispute with my card company yesterday (with the video evidence I sent to the company along with ALL the emails) and hopefully I'll have better luck that way. What a horrible experience! Stay away from Vivohome! Oh and they do not allow poor reviews to be published to their website. I know...because I wrote a 1-star review and it is nowhere to be found. 

This is why I make most purchases through Amazon...because any problem I've had with items purchased on Amazon have been resolved quickly (and usually immediately upon first contact). I can return an item to Kohls and have my refund within 2 hours. I even had some neoprene car coasters that hadn't shipped by the date they were supposed to arrive...and they immediately gave me a promotional credit that was about twice what I paid for them. THAT is amazing customer service and THAT is why I give them all my money. LOL. ;) And just this afternoon, something that I'd ordered was supposed to have 6 items and it only had 3 items. It wasn't an item that was eligible for replacement, so the automated chat bot gave me a full refund. What?! Even an AUTOMATED CHAT BOT has better customer service than "Dan" from Vivohome. I didn't even type anything...I just had to click on the pre-populated options to select the applicable responses. Chewy is another company with excellent customer service. We've tried many foods to find one that picky Bozley will eat. If you contact them, they'll refund you the amount you paid for that food, ask you to just donate the rest of it, and then will help you find something else that might work better. 

Speaking of purchase issues...I still haven't gotten the refund for Johnny's tools yet, either. FedEx still hasn't updated the tracking since August 9th. Lowe's told me that it would be "30 business days" from the time that I requested the refund (August 16th). Ugh. :( Talk about bad luck lately...

But regardless of all the issues that have cropped up recently, I'm still very excited about my new adventure. Over the weekend I worked more on my "About" page for my Etsy shop. I only have two designs listed there so far because I needed some listings to finish creating my shop. But I will share the link once I finish getting it all set up. :)