Before I go further though I would like to just add my penniesworth on a couple of unfortunate issues that have cropped up recently. The first one regarding the "Pen Gate" saga (as Nikky has affectionately named it). Nikky Hall of Polka Doodles has been reviewing Alcohol pens, and a damn good job she's done too IMHO. At no time has she said anything was rubbish and not to buy, there have been good points and bad points to all that she has reviewed so far. She has done this to give fair and informative information to any crafter out there who may be a bit confused by all the different ones available, and have no idea which ones may suit them best.
Now there are some who think it's not possible to give a fair and impartial view on something when you freelance for rival companies. Utter tosh and nonsense I'm afraid. As a professional freelancing crafter I work for rival companies all the time, as do most other freelancers. I always do my best for that company that I'm doing samples for or demonstrating for. But I will not compromise my integrity and lie for them or praise their products unless I genuinely think they are good quality and do the job they were designed for. I know Nikky and I can tell you now she follows the same unwritten rules that I do. Yes she freelances for Kuretake UK ans Letraset, rival companies both selling excellent high quality pens etc. If they trust Nikky and the rest of us to be fair and give our best for them, then why are others questioning ours and their integrity?
OK onto the second issue. How to start? it's a hard one, I could be setting myself up for backlash with these issues but hey ho, I feel it needs to be said!
From time to time I have a flit round the forums like most people, I am a member of a couple but most I just just look in on. One particular forum gets me riled when ever I go on my wanderings which is such a shame as the majority of members are decent. So many of their posts start off positive then get hijacked by a negative post and the whole thing turns into an utter bitch fest and witch hunt (eeks I've said it out loud, but that really is what it looks like when you read through the threads). Now I'm not saying everyone on the forum joins in as they don't, and many try to intercede and change the topic of conversation. The majority of the members are genuine people who just want to chat about their crafting and other issue and just interact with other crafters, get help with problems or give advice. This is what it's all about, not picking on someone or a particular company and running them into the ground. Some of the things that have been said are so hurtful, it's like playground bullying.
Now there is freedom of speech and constructive criticism, but certain posts go way beyond this. When you are targeting a person and saying nasty things they should be kept in a private discussion or just kept to yourself, not plastered on an open forum for that person to read all the nastiness. Don't think for one moment that the people concerned don't ever read these threads because they do. I firmly believe that you should treat people as you would like to be treated yourself. If you had a child at school being victimised you'd be the first one down the school to get it stopped and the people involved punished. I'm sorry but in my opinion it should be no different just because we are adults.
So many times I have thought to join this forum but it has put me off every time I've gone to do so. I read a thread recently about how members were sick of all the negative posting. Well done to the first poster and all that commented after, I applaud you all for trying to make a change. There are many helpful and interesting threads on the forum, and for so many it's a lifeline of communication to like minded people. This is what it was designed for, chat, information, help and friendship.
Right I've said my piece and I'll say no more. My views are my own and may not be the same as yours, we are all different after all.
So onto the Clarity Stamp show samples. Sorry there's rather a lot of them!
That's enough now, sorry if I bored the pants off you. Some Kuretake samples next time. Not so many though.
