Nail Art Tutorial no.1

Purple varnish with while mandala dots.

Step 1: paint purple varnish onto nails over clear base coat

Step 2: using a wooden skewer dip end into white acrylic paint then press onto nail to form a large central dot

Step 3: using pointy end of skewer dip end into white acrylic paint and form four small dots around central dot

Step 4: add for more dots in between previous dots

Step 5: add four dots N, S, E & W of pattern

Step 6: create two dots in between each N, S, E & W

By now you should have a nice circular pattern of white dots

Step 7: place four more dots N, S, E & W of pattern

Step 8: allow to dry before painting over with clear top coat

(You can choose different colours - colours shown for demo purposes)

  

Blanky4me Review: we love our blankys!

It started off with one blanky, a large family blanky from Blanky4me.com...  A lovely large red blanky with cheetah print on the underside.  So warm, soft and cuddly.  We'd huddle under the blanky and watch some telly together or read or talk.  Mostly I hogged the blanky because it's so comfortable and big and cozy.

Which then lead to more blankys!!!!

Another read and yellow blanky for one son and a blue and yellow blanky for the other... and we couldn't leave our fluffy white dog out.  He got a dark chocolate blanky with cheetah print underside (that's him - the white furry thing - at the bottom of the photo).

What I love about the blankys is they're well made and don't come apart at the seems, and my boys can be pretty rough with their stuff, plus they can be washed easily.  Not to mention they're personalised blankys and you get to choose your colours (top and bottom), font and text colour.  They make a great gift that will last a long time and can be cherished.

We've had our blankys for a while now and still love them as much as they day we got them.  Mine (the family blanky) pretty much follows me from room to room... as do my boy's blankys (we might be slightly obsessed with our blankys)... and they're still in excellent condition.

If you or your children are blanky lovers, or you've got friends who are or someone with a newborn baby on the way... pop on over to Blanky4me for your personalised blankys.
  

Master Print Solutions Review

This is an independent review on Master Print Solutions based on my dealings with them.

February 2017 I purchased a cyan printer cartridge from Master Print Solutions after answering an unsolicited call.  While I cannot fault the printer cartridge and like the idea of supporting another small business, I have a number of concerns.

During my initial contact with MPS the salesman I spoke, who was friendly and courteous, was going to offer me his direct line but stopped talking part way through his sentence, odd!  He then said he would send a follow up email to confirm our conversation and attach his contact details.   No email was sent.

I researched the company and could find no customer reviews.  Upon seeing their Facebook page I noticed they only have 12 likes and no feedback / interaction on their page… Somewhat concerning.  I thought maybe they're a new company yet their Facebook page was opened in 2014 (only 12 likes in 4 years?)

I tried phoning MPS several times on the phone number supplied on their website and kept getting the message: There is a problem with the service you are trying to call. Please contact your service provider for more information.

I sent an email to MPS via website ‘contact us’ regarding the issue of not being able to phone. No reply was received.

The salesman rang again some weeks later to see if I required additional printer cartridges - they phoned regularly even though I had already explained I do not go through printer cartridges that quickly.  I raised the above issues with him.  Again I was told I would receive an email with contact details.   No email was sent.

Mid July 2017 I receive a bogus invoice for over $500 from MPS for goods I never ordered and never received.  A letter was sent to MPS outlining these dealings saying:

I understand the concept of MPS sending a bogus invoice hoping it will be paid (then maybe the goods are shipped?), because MPS have no doubt been calling and calling and only ever reaching JOLI's answering-service* and not leaving messages…

Yet I’m not really sure why MPS feel this is a suitable way to operate? Of course I have no intention of paying the invoice… and still debating if I even want to consider supporting MPS at this stage.

*[ALL incoming calls are directed to our answering service because we get FAR too many unsolicited calls and answering them takes up valuable work time].

Four days after my letter of complaint is sent to MPS (around one week after their bogus invoice was sent) they send $500 worth of printer cartridges - WHICH I NEVER ORDERED!!!!

Can you imagine if all business operated this way?  Sending invoices and goods you never ordered and requesting payment anyway!

As soon as the courier delivered the printer cartridges I KNEW I would not be dealing with MPS again - their tactics are not ethical.  Now I have to figure out a way return the goods which is an inconvenience at best. Returning to sending via the courier they've used means I either pay for postage or try and get the company to agree to pay the return postage - and with a company operating in this manner who knows if they'll be agreeable to paying return postage.

At this point in time I would not recommend dealing with Master  Print Solutions.

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