So today I turned 34, but that's OK, because a few days ago I got carded buying alcohol. And the cashier was really surprised when she saw how old I was. So I'm OK with 34. I'm also feeling incredibly thankful. If you read my last post, you know about the whole Tonya Pendley scam thing. I'm still working very hard to gather evidence against her and file charges with the Attorney Generals, FBI, and Post Office. I made sure she couldn't pass any more checks through any of the branches of my bank today. They said they couldn't do anything to get my money back, but hopefully I can protect others from her. I'm trying to notify every place I can think of. The administration on ArtFire has blocked her IP address and warned all the artists with pending sales from her, so ArtFire artists should be safer now. Anyway, since this all started I have received a phenomenal amount of support from my fellow artists. Joanne, of PurpleLilyDesigns, was also hit by Tonya Pendley. She was kind enough to send me copies of evidence against her. Lisa of Accesorizmecrafty, started a Pass the Hat sale to raise money for me (tears of gratitude in my eyes). Gayle, of ArtisanGoodsbyGayle, submitted an article to Handmade News about what happened, and about artists helping artists. I got a preview, and it's a very well written piece. Pink Clouds and Angels bought an item from my studio (my Melting Snowman Pen) in order to help me out. Exquisite Studios just made a very nice donation as well (more tears of gratitude!). To each of you I say thank you, from the bottom of my heart. And to every single person who has offered their kind thoughts, sympathy, and suggestions, I thank you as well. You really have re-affirmed my belief in human kindness. I never expected any of this. I just wanted to warn everyone about this thief, so they wouldn't fall prey to her as I did. And thanks to those who donated and purchased items, the checks I just wrote for my bills won't bounce. No seriously, right before I got the notice in the mail about Tonya's bad check I mailed out all my bills (hey, I figured I had an extra $500 in my account). Now I can breathe a little easier thanks to the generosity of some truly wonderful people. I knew joining Artfire was a good move, but I had no idea how many wonderful people I would find there. Thank you for making this a very happy birthday for me. Mere words can't express the depth of my gratitude for all your kindness.
-Michelle of CreativeCritters
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HAPPY BIRTHDAY,gurL!...just saw your comment in forum and clicked thru to here....you are very welcome and hope my article is published sooner than later to bring you some more help beyond artfire...tried to send main feature editor an email thru the HMN system,but error popped up saying problem...will let you know if I hear back from Vanessa,the editor
ReplyDeletehope your birthday was stellar!
hugz,gayle
Happy barfday little one! I'm glad you are finding out first hand that for every rotten person on the net there are some really great ones to replace them!
ReplyDeleteHave a wonderful birthday!!!
Happy Birthday! And that's so wonderful that all those people are stepping up to help you :)
ReplyDeleteHappy Birthday!!
ReplyDeleteI have begun to notice that for every bad thing that happens to us, more good things come out of it.
It's nice to see that people are stepping up to help you =]
That's what the handmade community is about.