Wednesday, February 25, 2009

Well, Thanks Bunches, Walmart!

It's right there on their advertisement - We honor all competitors sale prices! I took an ad in to purchase a Cricut. Joanne's Fabrics had it on sale for $99.99. It's usually $199.99. This is a great savings! When I approached the Customer Service person, she said she didn't think it would be honored. She then called over one of the Assistant Managers. He left to go ask someone else. I knew then that this wasn't going to happen.

He came back with a pretend sad face and informed me that they couldn't let me have it for that price. It was too great a discount. I asked him about WM's statement in all of their ads about honoring competitors' sale prices. He shrugged his shoulders and said "Sorry". I shrugged my shoulders and said I had wanted to keep Front Royal money in Front Royal, but now I was going to have to take that money to Winchester. "Sorry" was all he could say.

I've never been able to get a competitor's sale price on anything at Walmart, except for items that are maybe less than $5.00. If that's what WM means by honoring sale prices, they should put that in their advertisements. "We honor all competitors' sale prices as long as it's less than $5.00."

I had tried last year to get the Cricut Design Studio at WM, using another store's advertised sale price. The CS person told me that the competitor's store had to be outside a 50-mile radius. Since it was for A.C. Moore, that left me out.

I wish they'd just print out their exceptions.

Monday, February 9, 2009

One Almost Dead Cricut

About two years ago, I purchased my little Cricut cutting system. I got it with a 40% off coupon at Michaels Craft Store in Harrisonburg. The Michaels in Manassas wouldn't let me use a coupon, so when I went to Harrisonburg, I thought I'd try my luck there.

I really enjoy using the Cricut and I've subscribed to the Cricut Newsletter that comes every month. I like seeing what other, more talented, people create using their machines. I kept coming up on all these abbreviations that I didn't understand. Finally, I realized that "DS" meant Dear Son, "DD" was Dear Daughter, "DH" meant Dear Husband, and so on. They even abbreviated the titles of the cartridges, or "carts" as they call them. For a long time I was totally confused, but finally got the hang of it. The only one I didn't understand was "DS" being used as in "I used my DS to create this design. Huh? She used her Dear Son? How? And why? "DS" was doing an awful lot of stuff. How old were these kids, anyway?

When I needed to call the company about something one day, I asked her what else did "DS" stand for? That's when I found out about the Design Studio! Ah ha!

Months later, I was able to purchase the Design Studio and I've loved it ever since. Until Friday. Well, to be honest, it's not the DS that I'm upset about. It's the Cricut. It seems that the motor is going. I've only had it about 2 years and I need to send it to Utah for repairs. I can't afford that. The repairs will probably cost around $75 (if I'm lucky, he said) and I'd have to pay postage both ways, plus insurance. I'm thinking that I'd be better off if I bought a new one. Crap.

You'd think that Provo Craft could have manufactured it a little better with a stronger motor so that it would last more than 2 years. This one doesn't even get heavy use. I'd say it gets light to moderate use. I have never taken it out of the house to use anywhere else, the g'daughters don't use it without supervision, and Kara has used it occasionally. That's about it. Never dropped it, never lent it out, never bent, folded or stapled it.

I first noticed trouble when it wouldn't cut all the way down the length of the mat. I had tried to cut "Congratulations" using Base Camp at 1". It cut "Cong" and then traced the rest of the letters. I reinserted the mat and typed in "rat" and cut that. Reinserted it again and cut out "ula". It took forever, but I finally got the rest of the letters. After talking to a Provo Craft rep, she finally told me how to reset my machine. I followed all the directions, waited 1/2 hour and tried it again. It worked!

Until the next time I used the machine, about a week later. Same problem. I tried the "reset" procedure. It worked, but it only lasted through one cut. The very next cut only cut about 1/2 way down the mat. Each additional cut was shorter than the first. Finally, only one letter. I reset it each time I want to use it. This takes 1/2 hour for each cut. Yikes!

This last time, the technician told me that it must be the motor. Unfortunately, I can't afford to get it fixed.

'I'm very disappointed.

Friday, February 6, 2009

Alex's Sock Monkey

I finished Alex's sock monkey! When I made the monkeys for Maggie and Emma, I had two socks left, so I went ahead and cut out the pieces and put them in a zip-lock bag with the pattern. You simply never know when you'll need another sock monkey!

I made him a pair of pants with some green starred fabric I found in my scrap box. When I was going through the box looking for something suitable, I realized all I had was girly fabrics. Pinks, flowered, satiny, lacy, frilly - but nothing for a boy. The green starred piece was just big enough to cut out a pair of monkey pants.

I made him a pair of socks with the leftover piece of sock. When I didn't find anything for a shirt, I embroidered a red "I love you" heart on his chest. To finish him off, I embroidered Alex's name and the year on the monkey's butt.

I'm going to try to find a straw boater hat. That will look great!