During the holiday rush I encountered one customer of a type that makes all artists cringe. She ordered a simple ear cuff which I happily sent on its way to the address provided. The address was a dorm on a college campus in upstate New York. Now from personal experience I have to say that dorm mail centers often are undermanned during the holidays and often chaotic as well, thus delaying mail delivery, and this was a small parcel.
A couple of days later she emailed asking when she could expect the package, I told her the day I had dropped it off at the post office and that due to season rush it could take twice as long as normal. A couple more days and I receive an email with a very negative tone stating she had not received the package yet wanting me to send another. I waited 24 hours before responding, I suggested that I would send another with tracking on it this time. A normal expected response would have been a thank you, instead I was being asked to ship to a different address 19 miles away because she had moved out of the dorms during that past week.

Breath! Just breath before responding. Well I guess I did not breath to relax quite a bit as I sent her a mildly snarky response that the tone of her communication had changed quite a bit. Perhaps she should check with the mail room first, as they will forward it to her. I received a quick reply back in a very irritated tone back that she had already checked with them and they did not get it and that I need to send her another item immediately or refund her money. Over the next 24 hours before I responded I did a little sleuthing via the internet. Why, because I had become irritated with this customer and had a suspicion that there might be something else going on.
I copied and pasted her name into Google and back came all the hits. Knowing which school I had sent the item to it was not hard to figure out who I was looking for. As silly as this sounds I felt she came from Chicago for some reason, it appears I was close, an outlying area. Wanting to be a famous dancer is great, but perhaps she needs to clean up her ghetto sounding profile on Facebook. This little background search, using nothing but publicly available items from the Google search set my mind, a refund would be best, not to mention with mail as slow as it was a week would not be long enough and expedited shipping would just add to my loss already.
I refunded her money and sent her communication that had refunded it. Mind you PayPal and Etsy both also send out refund notices. The next day I receive a nasty email demanding a refund or new item otherwise she would report me. As I typed out my response advising her against that action and hit send she had realized her money had been refunded as I got another email saying she saw the refund.
I had been polite and explained why I refunded the money (slow shipping times) and that I hoped she received the original mailing in time for Christmas. I figured all would be good. Three days later I logged into Etsy and to my shock saw she had left a negative review. In her eyes I spoke down to her (admittedly I was snarky ) and that I refused to refund her money until she forced me to. Excuse me! Etsy had not notified me of the negative revue, even with the exchange of emails their policy is the customer is always right and if too many people leave you a negative review then your account gets closed. Unless using their Kiss And Makeup feature (interpreted by me in this case as Kiss Her Ass feature) by sending the item expedited and hoping she will change her review.
I was not the only crafter to be hit by this scenario. It occurred enough times to fellow crafters that the information was being exchanged online through forums and other postings. Usernames were being blocked from stores before more losses were accrued.
So the lessons I learned:
Every year there will be one client that gets upset easily and will leave a negative review no matter how the situation is handled.
Etsy has an unreasonable review policy (which is their right)
Make sure your profiles are not publicly searchable, especially if there is a lot of questionable content in them.
In the end this too shall pass....

Happy New Year to everyone!

Purple Dragon Gifts is proud to be a sponsor and member of HoCArt, a community site for artists of all genres! If you paint, draw, metal smith, word smith, graphic, photograph, sing, act or otherwise this is a community were as it grows we hope your craft and skills grow with it.

Halloween Jewelry

Are you looking for something fun and spooky to wear to a Halloween party or work, then take a look at my Halloween collection !

Parrothead Jewelry - Another happy customer

Parrothead Crafts and Jewelry is another happy customer that has created visually stunning necklaces designed around the pewter Dragon Scale pendants from my store.

Here are two of the designs 

Thank you for your business Joanna!

Happy Customer

Daisy Patch Watches on Etsy is another happy customer...

Hi! I FINALLY managed to get them listed!

Here is a pic of the watch band. Your beads are great!

Thanks!

Which is for sale at http://www.etsy.com/listing/82326719/trick-or-treat-mini-me-size

The beads she ordered from me include Jack-o-lanterns and Candy corn.

GBK Emmy Gift Lounge 2011

The stars were out and a few took the time to admire a piece of jewelry I had on display while they picked up their swag. Kate Linder, The Young & The Restless, is the first I have pictures of enjoying this wearable piece of art.

While my latest batch of polymer clay beads is cooking... I have also been making some texture plates to use in my clay forming. It is fun to go around the yard looking for just the right texture for a project. Today I have been hunting for textures on a tiny scale for gravestones. In the past I would just use sand paper.
Also in the works is a repair for a client, her favorite pair of earrings from her mother needed some tender loving repair.

Interviewed On Meet The Makers

I was interviewed for my art and jewelry talents over on 'Meet The Makers'

http://meetthemakers.posterous.com/64002796

Added Items

Tonight I added several items from my existing stock to my site Purple Dragon Gifts, the items added are part of my pendant creations. More will be added as I find my pricing information and other details, plus check to make sure I have some on hand of course.
If you need several pieces I will greatly reduce shipping prices as it is always less expensive to ship multiples than it is one at a time. Also I can add several to the shop at a time for large orders, thus making the transaction traceable!

Tonight a dragon, a scarab and a humming bird all landed on the site.

Alchemy Gothic

For many years I have been a retailer for Alchemy Gothic, a line of fine pewter created in London, England. I have never listed it in my web store as the items are not made by me and I always felt I should separate the two businesses a bit online.

Soon the all new AlchemyPDG.com site will go live offering the entire current Alchemy Gothic line of products!

Versatile Display Units for Jewelers at Craft Shows

Below is a video I put together briefly showing how easy it is to use my jewelry craft show displays.

If you are interested in buying one I have them listed at Purple Dragon Gifts

Also I am making some custom styles as well based on what a vendor needs for their particular circumstances. Shipping and cost will vary depending on the exact customization you need, I recommend contacting me through the Request Custom Item menu option in my store on Etsy.

Display Options

 Colonial Maple

Dark Walnut

 Honey Oak

Red Oak

 Beaded

Leaves

Oak Leaf

Rope (add $10)

Squares

Change of Address

Purple Dragon Gifts is changing addresses due to a move!

The new mailing address is-

Purple Dragon Gifts
PO Box 1846
Littlerock, CA 93543

The phone number has not changed and is still 661-723-5353

Rebooting

Hello to my patrons!

It has been awhile since I created any new artwork and for good reason, I moved. The area I am in now has renewed my creative energy and ideas are starting to flow. Now the roadblock is the unpacking of materials and finishing the wiring in my workshop. Yes, I have a workshop now instead of the kitchen table or the computer desk, or even the very cluttered garage bench. A real live, albeit small, workshop.

My online shop address is still www.PurpleDragonGifts.com however I am no longer self hosting the site. I chose to go with Etsy as my primary selling platform as their site security is very strong and their pricing is perfect for me.

For the time being I will not be at any shows, stock is too low (Thank you all!) and I need to concentrate on finishing the work shop and getting back to the joy of creating pieces of beauty.