I say this because the storys that are pumped out by those nurserys that dont know any better go along the lines of "you need to grow this plant in 80% humidity or its going to produce deformed traps, its going to have stunted growth, and its not going to be as healthy" All of which is nonsense, the hardened off plants are far more hardy and tolerant of change than those that are babied in a 80% terrarium. The majority of my plants are indoors as well under grow lights, so I have no worry about hail or such things. It has just saved me a few hundred dollars on a fish tank and equipment as well as taking the extra hastle out of dormency at winter. What would I have done, carry the whole tank outside during dormency or the whole tank in the garage during this time? You may not have had fungus, neither have I, fact is with all that sitting humid air you are more prone to it. Like I said, people swallow this story that I stated above, just like I did until I took a chance with all these plants. A simple test is to try it yourself and see the physical difference between the humid conditions and the plant which adapted to your conditions. I can assure you that the hardend off plant both looks and physically feels stronger. Mine also recover faster from shock, and that is not my imagination. Over all they are far stronger plants that in my opinion would come out of any problems easier thatn those living in the tank. None of us get these things to see them die, we ofcause want the strongest and healthiest plants so that we dont have to post here about "what now?" The industry is full of the kind of nonsense that I quoted, thats what I speak of. Terrariums can be a nice looking feature to a house, I have no problem with that or terrariums overall if setup correctly, kinda like the effort that LG and alot of you put in your tanks. But what I cant stand is the position I was in as a new grower, here I am purchasing a FISH BOWL!!, with instructions saying to cover it with saren wrap. Now lets think about this. High humidity (up to 100%), still air, constantly wet conditions......where is this going too? Now I would have been a tad happier if there was a drainige system to get rid of any excess water and which would help get rid of the build up of minerals. I would have been happier if there was airstones to pump fresh air into the tank. But this kind of mentality is what everyone is pumping out today, that fishbowl could have EASILY started a fungus outbreak, how long do you think it would have taken before the other plants got it? I see so many people on here that Ive answered who are sticking their plants in tanks and bowls, not because they want to, but because they believe they have to from the bull they have read online. This is my complaint, people still dont know jack about so much in nature, guys like Byron_1 go along and run experiments to actually gather valid facts that they find, instead of sticking to info from some idiot that guessed it up 100 years ago. I think its time growers realise that plants and these ones in perticular can adapt very easily and very happily with greater benefits to them as I see it. And as far as your comment about the hail, as upset as I was that it happend, the plants are still fine and you know what, I took that risk and accept that. I am not prepared to go spend $200.00 on fish equipment when my plants are growing just as fast in this climate, and looking far healthier. I can only laugh at "your VFT will develop deformed traps under low humidity", ye well apparently my Big Mount VFT which has a 1.9" length trap that currently has 35% humidity here does not believe this. Cheers Sheldon

I have a few things to say..and hope after this brief comment the swap ends peacefully. Stressful things happen in life that make us fall behind. No one expects these things to happen.. but once they do, mailing a box out is one of the last things on your mind. Swapping is done for pure fun. You take a chance each time you swap. Nit picking what was in the box is really uncalled for. Time was taken to make ANY CRAFT, plus pack & mail ANY box. I didn't ask each person to include a number of items, just whatever items they created and wanted to share. It was the thought that counts. I hosted this swap with the intentions of everyone having fun, and receiving something. I would of personally sent out any packages that came up as no-shows/lost. It's so easy to type a quick rant (complaint) without really thinking on how hurtful the words are. Please take the extra time to think about what your posting (especially if it's rude) you can't take it back once you've posted it. To be very honest..I would of loved to get Tina's box. Just knowing that Tina took the time to pack/send me something, really anything- even though Her life was stressful at the moment, would of been enough for me. Deb

I too know for sure that shows are a thing of the past. I have been in the handmade business for 20 years this year and used to do a big well known show here in Texas. It died about 5 years ago. Meaning all they got were people in dirty t shirts and people who came to copy. Then the import craze began. All you would see is people passing off the imports or buy sell as we used to call it and that ruined the shows. So therefore the public quit coming and paying $4-6 dollars to come see our products. Why when you can get it at any dollar store. Thats another thing. The dollar stores hurt pretty badly. People do not want to pay much for anything anymore. But I have managed to hold on all these years. We work ourselfs to death day and night every day of our lifes for this. We design build and I handpaint childrens furniture. It is very hard long work. Nothing is stained or pegged with buttons. I started my own web site about 3 years ago this past October and this year it finally got noticed and now we are in the top 6 in the search engines without me paying anything. If they only knew we do not get enough sales even though we are better quality and price than the few other sites in our field. We do a once a month Market decorating show here in Texas that draws 100 to 300 thousand people in the good months. Some months we make enough to pay our bills and nothing more and some we make a bit more to buy something else for ourselfs not our business all the time. It is a tough world out there. We still work every day about 16 hours a day and are worn out. We however do something that most would not do or could not do. I think this is always the case. The more ususual or harder the product to make the better you stand a chance of making it out there and selling your product. You cannot copy someone elses product or change it a bit and make any money at it. They must not be able to buy it anywhere else. Also my 2 cents worth on the craft stores. Hobby Lobby carrys very little product to construct anything. They have gone to selling imports and pre made products instead of components to make your own or design anything. It used to be when the first opened up it was all about supplies for the craftsman to make their own product. Now a days you better have a good imagination to put something together with what they have to offer...ha ha anyone else feel this way that has been at this as long as we have. This is our full time business and has been our only sole income for 20 years as well. Connie

Years ago when I first started making jewelry I took it to a flea market where I had sold handmade dolls and other things for a year or two. As we all know our talents do improve with experience. One day two older ladies approached my table, stood there looking, and one says loudly to the other..."This stuff doesn't sell" I wanted to say..."Lady, you should have kept on walking" Where you sell and who you sell to makes a world of difference. I try not to give my work away but I do try to keep my prices within reasonable reach to most people. For this same reason I choose materials that can reflect that. Much of my work is valuable because of the talent and time I have invested in them. Iif you want sterling expect to pay for sterling. A co-worker once said..."You are making a killing on this stuff" This was after I had sold her a necklace and earrings set for $8.00!!! We just have to understand that you cannot please everyone. My theory is..."If you like it....buy it......if not keep walking. I love my crafts or else I would not do them.