For those who follow, love my work, or are recipients of the survivor jewelry pieces I have made, THANK YOU. THANK YOU….THANK YOU….. I just can’t say thank you enough. For those who just ordered in the last week, I can’t wait to hear your responses after you receive your items. ALL of your support and encouragement makes me feel what I am doing is worthwhile and there are plenty of you to make me rethink STOPPING something I love doing and am able to do for survivors. (WARNING: the rest is just a rant) Now that the holidays are over, I wanted to express how close I came to shutting down my survivor jewelry site. It is supposed to be a joyous time of giving, however I had a few not so nice remarks made in regards to posting survivor jewelry and especially my not donating to a specific organization. (privately and in facebook group remarks) I also had a formal complaint filed two weeks before Christmas. It was horribly devastating in addition to holding up ALL funding from other orders. Those funds were needed to get survivor GIFTS shipped in time for Christmas. But somehow I did it! I absolutely love making Survivor pieces. For two reasons. The first… So we have something personal to wear and be proud as being a survivor! I do not play politics with ANY organization. I do not have a job, nor do I have someone to support me. It has been a huge struggle for me just like many other survivors trying to make ends meet. This is far from a profitable venture with the overhead and work it takes to get orders out. The second reason….I am hoping with other designs I make, maybe someday my artwork or jewelry could become profitable. I had my 100th survivor purchase in 18 months during December. During those 18 months, here is what I CHOSE to give back: I made over 25 awareness lapel pins and survivor thank you cards to be distributed to those rallying in DC for Aneurysm Awareness. (Joe Biden was a recipient of one!) I made a beautiful framed 5 piece AVM jewelry set for TAAF to raffle at their walk in San Francisco I’ve attended two awareness walks donating 25% of sales, 50% to my local support group I’ve shipped to several survivor fundraising events in other states - jewelry prizes for their drawings I made over 75 burgundy awareness ribbon charms and mailed during xmas time 2013 I made over 40 survivor ornaments and distributed for our local survivor xmas luncheon 2014 I hand made several survivor Christmas cards and mailed over 50 survivor cards all over the US I had weekly random jewelry drawings in September for Survivors celebrating Brain Aneurysm Awareness Month. If possible, I also try to give a little something extra with purchases. It really offended me that a few survivors made nasty remarks due to I don’t give money to the organization that they support. I also am not able to give away things to anyone who asks. I may not have the financial resources or the time due to the fatigue I constantly battle. I think having 100 orders and giving back to AVM or brain aneurysm survivors over 200 items is more than reasonable. Well I thought a lot about what had been said poorly or commented not so nicely elsewhere and my response is piss on you. The MANY compliments from other survivors outweigh your complaints. I do this for Survivors. I give back when I am able to. I am NOT sorry if this offends anyone and I will continue to create pieces for survivors who appreciate wearing survivor jewelry. As for the formal complaint. Plain and simple. You Lied. You received a customized survivor jewelry piece in addition to getting your money refunded. This was cause of additional hardship to a fellow survivor during the holidays. The cause and effect of this may force shipping policies to change requiring signatures and raising costs to all your fellow survivors.
Posted on: Sun, 04 Jan 2015 19:12:48 +0000
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