From carol at stitcherymall.com Mon Feb 6 18:32:19 2006 From: carol at stitcherymall.com (Carol Chandler) Date: Mon, 06 Feb 2006 18:32:19 -0600 Subject: [StitcheryMall Press] Stitch Whizard Newsletter, Vol. 3, No. 1 Message-ID: <7.0.1.0.0.20060206182123.01cf8918@stitcherymall.com> The Stitch Whizard The Stitchery Mall Newsletter Vol. 3 No. 1 In this issue: * Interview with Riitta Kangas of Dancing Thread * Site Events * About This Newsletter ---------- Interview with Riitta How did you get started with digitizing and embroidery? I am a Technician Engineer in Textile and Clothing Technology. I was working in one Finnish company that produced clothes in Estonia. I travelled twice a month to Estonia to check that the production was going well and on schedule. I also calculated the needed fabrics and accessories and made the orders, and made the sewing instructions of the products. I was well paid and good at my very rewarding job... and always fighting with my guilty conscience. I had the real treasures of my life at home and I was running after money! I had to work on weekends if it was busy time (it usually was) and also on weekdays late at night (16 hours working day wasn't a rarity). So the decision to quit the job was one of the hardest and absolutely one of the best decisions in my life. Suddenly I had a lot of time not only for my family but also for myself. The time was right to learn something new and so I filled my long-term dream: I bought an embroidery machine and digitizing software. I believe that my studies in textile technology have made the learning of digitizing a little easier. I love digitizing so much because it is an endless project, you'll always find something new to learn. After a year of practising (digitizing and stitching, making changes in digitizing and stitching), I felt ready to contact Carol to ask if StitcheryMall was interested in selling my designs. I was really grateful and happy to get chosen. At the same time I decided to build my own webstore for the Finnish customers, because I found it quite difficult to get embroidery threads and stabilizers or they were really pricey. Has your business changed since you started digitizing? I have been in the embroidery business only one year, so there haven't been many changes yet. I have developed my webstore for my Finnish customers. In addition to the embroidery designs, threads and stabilizers I have begun to sell fabrics, items to embroider and now I am developing embroidered products to sell. I have also done some custom digitizing and designing for some Finnish cloth producers. What types of future projects are in the works? I am interested in everything that's possible to create with my machine and digitizing. I want to make in the hoop quilting, soft free-standing lace and some 3-D projects. What personal information would you like to share? I am a native Finn (Finland is situated in Northern Europe). We live about 28 miles from our second biggest city, Tampere. At the moment we have wintry cold weather (-28?C, -18.4 F). I have a wonderfully supportive and loving husband. We celebrate our wedding day on the Independence day of USA! Next summer we will have our 19th anniversary. We have two sons, 13 and 15 years next month, who have made our life so rich. We have also two pet rabbits. We have a great hobby, me and my hubby, we dance Tango Argentina, and also different dances generally. It is a great way to keep our relationship close and to have time just for two of us. It is also a good counterbalance to sitting at a computer! ---------- Site News We have new chat rooms! Stop by any time to chat or ask questions. We're not there 24 hours a day, but as much as we can be. There will also be scheduled featured chats with our digitizers. New digitizers for you to explore! It has been a while since we last sent this newsletter, and since then we have had some wonderful digitizers join us: Candy Apple Quilts Sonia Showalter Newsletters will be sent to our announcement list and to our press release list. If you would like to receive this newsletter by email, but are NOT interested in getting our design announcements, you may join our press mailing list at http://www.stitcherymall.com/mailman/listinfo/mallpress. ---------- The Stitch Whizard is published approximately once a week by the Stitchery Mall. In each issue, we will profile one of our digitizers, plus answer any questions that you send us. Feel free to ask questions about the site, general computer questions, or about embroidery. Mickey and Carol will answer site and computer questions, and our digitizers will answer embroidery questions. We would also like to know what you think about the site and the newsletter, and any improvements you would like to see. Send questions or comments to news at stitcherymall.com. Carol Chandler Chief of Stuff http://www.stitcherymall.com http://www.mydebtreductionplan.com/ http://www.whizardries.com -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://www.stitcherymall.com/pipermail/mallpress/attachments/20060206/78e91431/attachment.html From carol at stitcherymall.com Wed Feb 22 10:41:55 2006 From: carol at stitcherymall.com (Carol Chandler) Date: Wed, 22 Feb 2006 10:41:55 -0600 Subject: [StitcheryMall Press] Stitch Whizard Newsletter Vol. 3 No. 2 Message-ID: <7.0.1.0.0.20060222104012.01a89370@stitcherymall.com> The Stitch Whizard The Stitchery Mall Newsletter Vol. 3 No. 2 In this issue: * Interview with Robin of Candy Apple Quilts * Site Events * About This Newsletter ---------- Interview with Robin How did you get started with digitizing and embroidery? I had enjoyed hand embroidery, quilting, and cross-stitch when my daughters were both young, because it was something I could do while they were napping. When I bought my first embroidery machine 6 years ago, I was amazed at its ability to stitch out a design "all by itself"! It wasn't that many years ago that we never could have conceived of the idea of sewing machines having computers in them! When I bought my first digitizing software, I attended all of the group sessions to learn everything I possibly could about it. I took lots of notes in class, but it seemed that by the time I would get home, there would be a question or two that I still had. One day, during one of the classes, I asked the teacher what her best piece of advice would be for learning to digitize. She let a smile creep across her face, and said "Give your family a stack of take-out menus, and lock yourself in the room with the computer. Don't come out until you are smiling!" So, I did exactly that! I enjoyed the process so much that I went on to teach digitizing lessons in that same store. I always told my students the advice that I had received about giving the family a stack of take-out menus. I think it has worked for a lot of them! Has your business changed since you started digitizing? The business actually grew from that starting point. In the process of developing designs for my students, many of them suggested that I sell the finished product. I have since moved away from teaching, and I am spending more time on my own designs for my website http://www.CandyAppleQuilts.com. In the process of testing my designs, I ended up with stacks of embroidered squares. It occurred to me, from my quilting days, that I could piece all of these squares together, and make a finished quilt. Then, I thought, "How will I have time to hand-quilt these projects?" I went shopping for a long-arm quilting machine. When it was delivered, my family wanted to know how I would ever have time to cook dinner again! "Hmmm where's that stack of take-out menus ..?" LOL! What personal information would you like to share? I have been married to the same wonderful man for almost 28 years. I have two great daughters, and two adorable dogs. Currently, I am machine-quilting for customers, developing quilt patterns and embroidery designs for my web site, digitizing logos for various businesses, and I am in the middle of my second term on our local school board. Many times you will be able to find me in front of the computer answering email, digitizing, and talking on the phone to customers --- all at the same time! How do I do it? Remember that stack of take-out menus ? ---------- Site News We have new chat rooms! Stop by any time to chat or ask questions. We're not there 24 hours a day, but as much as we can be. There will also be scheduled featured chats with our digitizers. Newsletters will be sent to our announcement list and to our press release list. If you would like to receive this newsletter by email, but are NOT interested in getting our design announcements, you may join our press mailing list at http://www.stitcherymall.com/mailman/listinfo/mallpress. ---------- The Stitch Whizard is published approximately weekly by the Stitchery Mall. In each issue, we will profile one of our digitizers, plus answer any questions that you send us. Feel free to ask questions about the site, general computer questions, or about embroidery. Mickey and Carol will answer site and computer questions, and our digitizers will answer embroidery questions. We would also like to know what you think about the site and the newsletter, and any improvements you would like to see. Send questions or comments to news at stitcherymall.com. Carol Chandler Chief of Stuff http://www.stitcherymall.com http://www.mydebtreductionplan.com/ http://www.whizardries.com -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://www.stitcherymall.com/pipermail/mallpress/attachments/20060222/022981d7/attachment.html