You're One in a Dozen

I had a great customer experience a few weeks ago with Lodge.

I had an enameled cast iron pot that I use for ALL THE THINGS. I make stew in it three times a month, I cook beans in it, I make bacon jam in it, I cook the fruit for my free range fruitcakes in it.

It's blue, and it's my constant companion in the kitchen. I am unnaturally attached to this wonderful piece of cookware.

So a month or so ago, I noticed that I had used this thing so much that I was wearing through the enamel! I've had it since 1992, so that's understandable, but I nearly cried real tears for my little friend and what seemed to be our imminent goodbye.

I was so sad that I told my "texties" about it one morning, and one of them - my friend Mel - told me to do something I never would have thought to do - see if they had a lifetime warranty. I was all ready just to buy a new one, and then bury the old one in the backyard after a lengthy, somber funeral. But it was worth a try, right?

So I took pictures of it and sent them in to the company.

Lo and behold - the next day I got an email back, generously offering to replace my beloved. I was ASTONISHED.

To me, it was a big investment - because $75 for a kitchen tool is a lot of money - and by that, I mean - that would buy a lot of craft supplies - and I don't spend that kind of cash on a whim. So for a company to honor a warranty on what I consider to be a pricey item - it's a pretty big deal.

For example, let's compare and contrast this experience with the one I had with Grohe - who treated me like an absolute criminal when their faucet completely failed me.

I can tell you I will never in my life purchase another thing from Grohe, and I will forever be a fan of Lodge. It's not hard to treat people right and still be profitable and responsible. But it's so rare that it's worth writing about.

The difference between world peace and not world peace is probably quite similar to the difference between Lodge and Grohe, IMHO.

So Sundays are the days I have a live session with my team members. We've decided that a live project is fun, and so last time, I posted a supply list so they could craft along if they wanted to. But this past weekend was super busy, and so when it was time for the call, I had to just sit down and improvise - with a stamp set they all chose - which is the Hey, Chick set that will be available for Sale-a-bration on January 4th.

I had NOTHING prepared and so I sort of crowd-sourced the card - I just let them give me feedback as I went, and it was SO much fun. Most definitely a better card as a result of the team effort.

I used one of our new 3D embossing folders - it's a hexagon pattern. And while we were live, I tried brayering both sides with Basic Gray ink - and it turns out on the recessed side - IT LOOKS JUST LIKE CHICKEN WIRE! Brayering the other side - not so hot :).

Yay for happy accidents!

So that became my background.

Then I used our new watercolor pencils to color the chicken and the cute egg carton image from the Perfect Mix stamp set (also available January 4th (or now if you purchase the starter bundle) to express the sort of sarcastically hilarious "You're one in a dozen" sentiment. It's like you're one in a million except you're more common. So funny.

Even if he is common, he's cute as a bug in a rug, I THINK.

This weekend is my customer appreciation holiday party and so I'm looking forward to having tons of fun with my crafty peeps. I will start cooking today. Then we are sort of gently sliding into the holidays - I always take the last week of the year off, so I'm looking forward to some crafty time - which I haven't had much of the last few weeks.

I hope you are feeling festive!

Loveyameanitbye.