Embroidery Highway

Video: Identifying Fonts For Embroidery

ATW B.O.G.O - Buy One set get 4 Sets FREE "Diaper Pin Alphabet-Gift pack" Sale Ends Oct 2nd

GET ALL 4 SETS FREE with the purchase of the featured HollyDesignStudio.com "Diaper-Pin-Alphabet"!
FOR JUST... $9.97 - That's 5 SET for the price of one!!
Featured set seen here...
See all designs in this pack here...

http://www.artisticthreadworks.com/public/Diaper_Pin_Alphabet.cfm

"Ghoolish Gift Package" 10 pack of ATW Embroidery Designs for only $9.97 **PLUS a Surprise BONUS SET !!

This "Ghoolish Gift Package" is 10 SETS of ATW Embroidery Designs **PLUS a Surprise BONUS SET !!
That is 10 Sets for ONLY $9.97 Plus 11th set free!! NO Trick just a treat that is 5x7 (Redwork)
One of the 10 SETS featured in this Package....

See all designs here:

http://www.artisticthreadworks.com/public/Ghoolish_Gift_pack.cfm

Winners Of Digitizing Contest 2

Digi-test #2 winners...

Bonnie Collier
Jill Litchfield
Pat Warble
Anne St John
Maria Schuelke
Jane Dunne

This is a total of 15 folks when added with last week's 9 other winners. Holly had several others who were just about "there" but had to cut it off at a number that would work on the "go To Meeting" party line maximum which is 15 attendees. It was really hard to choose!

If you were NOT one of this contest winners, please know that we are going to be recording the small group sessions Holly does with these 15 folks in order to turn them into a coaching tool. So those who are not in this one can watch the recordings after Holly finishes. I will be showing Holly how to turn the recordings into online viewable content for you so she can do it herself shortly after she finishes each session. No bottleneck of waiting for me to edit and upload... :-)

Two more things about these sessions...

Thing 1 is that these will be valuable to watch if you are learning to digitize, but they will probably be pretty darn fun to watch even if you are not learning to digitize as this is going to be similar to the apprentice programs on TV where the folks in the group are going to be "challenged". NOBODY WILL BE FIRED, but the challenges should be entertaining! That's all I can let out of the bag on that topic. LOL!

Thing 2 is that if you ARE learning to digitize in order to compete for a slot in the planned January contest, then you should watch all of these episodes, and work through all the videos available for learning here on the site, and you should be digitizing everything you can between now and the end of December. That will mean that YOU will be a much better digitizer come January when the next contest happens. Remember though, that the OTHER FOLKS who are getting into that contest will also be much stronger digitizers then too. So DO work on your digitizing skills between now and then.

Holly says the key to getting better at digitizing is the same as the answer to the question the young musician asked while visiting New York City... "How do you get to Carnegie Hall?" and the New Yorker answered "Practice, practice, practice!".

Congrats to all the winners from this first 10 week contest and to everyone who entered and sent in a design. There were 110 contest entries!

-- Larry

via www.artisticthreadworks.com

Holiday(s) Penguin Embroidery Design Set from Holly Pike

What a great way to celebrate every holiday or occasion then with these cute little friends.
60 Designs in one set... All major holidays + Fathers Day, Mothers day and first day of school
ALL for only $7.79! WOW great price for 60 designs!

See sales page here:

http://www.hollysdesignstudio.com/holiday-penguin/

"Sarah Fall Time Redwork" Embroidery Designs from Hollysdesignstudio.com

"Sarah Fall Time Redwork" Embroidery Designs from Hollysdesignstudio.com
These beautifully crafted Redwork designs are perfect compliment to any fall project. You can buy the entire set of 10 for just $5.79!
See sale page here:

http://www.hollysdesignstudio.com/sarah-fall-time/

Un-Zipping Program?

Yesterday my computer announced to me that Winzip was not free software, and that I now had to pay for it. I seem to have been using it for free for about 8 yr. Does anyone know of a free or very cheap program that will unzip embroidery designs? Thanks, Angela.

 

When Winzip came out about 15 years ago it was the only way you could unzip files. About 7 or 8 years ago Microsoft added unzipping capabilities to Windows. Just right-click on the zip file and choose EXTRACT from the menu.

There are also other non-Microsoft programs that will extract Zip files for free such as this...

http://comm.pkware.com/zipreader-download.html

Larry

 

Seasonal Fairies Embroidery Designs avaliable @ hollysdesignstudio.com

Let these cute little fairies help you celebrate each and every Holiday!
Price on this set of 19 unique designs and 34 total designs (some with and without lettering and borders) is just $15...

 
See sale page here:

http://www.hollysdesignstudio.com/seasons/

Off-Topic But Worth Sharing... "Financial Help"

A member recently asked in our forum if anyone had advice on dealing with a bank that raised their minimum payment on their credit card.  

Here's my advice...

There are a few people who really DO help folks out and give good advice. Dave Ramsey is one of those people. Suze Orman is another good one. Much of their advice is free and anything they recommend is "for real" and if there is a charge for the service or product, it will be reasonably priced for what you are getting.

http://www.daveramsey.com/home/
http://www.suzeorman.com/


You're probably aware already that there are plenty of crooks out there who make money off people who are in financial trouble. Their "advice" consists of really bad moves that in one way or another put what's left of your money into their pockets.

Start your search for info on Dave Ramsey or Suze Orman site. Use the links on their sites to other sites if your search leads you off their site. But be VERY VERY cautious of any websites or offers of "help" that you find NOT linked to directly from their websites.

In other words... if the link comes from one of their sites to another site then that other site has probably been vetted by them. But if there is a link from their site to another site (Site #2) and then a link from that second site to a third site (Site #3), then you should be wary of the third site or any beyond that first site linked to directly by Dave or Suze.

I am NOT SAYING the third site and beyond are not legitimate! I AM saying put up your "scam radar" any time you get more than one click away from a trusted source on this topic because "helping people get out of debt" is a VERY popular way for con artists to take people to the cleaners so stick with the trusted sources.

Larry

Shipshewana Indiana Trip

Holly and I got back to Illinois just after sunset last night.  We got the camper connected up to the electric and settled in for the night.  I will hook up the water and sewer lines today.  We can run self-contained for a week easily so no need to do that as soon as we landed.  I was pretty tired after the day's driving. 

We went to Shipshewana Indiana to have our refrigerator repaired.  I drove over there on Sunday and drove back Monday afternoon and evening. We had most of the day Monday to see the area. 

There are a lot of small businesses in Shipshewana that specialize in some aspect of RV products.  Elkhart is less than 20 miles away and is the RV manufacturing center of the US.  While the RV industry has taken a huge downturn due to the recession, it is still there and keeping as many as possible employed until things turn around again and we see a robust economy return. 

It was our first stop in Shipshewana and I loved the place!  It is in the heart of Amish country.  Everywhere you look there are Amish farms and horse-drawn buggies moving up and down the country roads.  More importantly to our readers...

THIS IS QUILT COUNTRY! 

As you can see from a couple of the photos I posted below, there are quilt shops and fabric shops in the Shipshewana area that make it worth the trip.  (We asked before taking photos of the quilts and were given permission to do so.)  The queen or king sized quilts had price tags of around $1,000 on them.  Smaller quilts (crib size) were in the $200 to $400 price range. 

Note that these are hand-stitched quilts.  All 100% hand-stitched.  No long-armed quilting machine.  No sewing machine.  No electric machine.  No treddle machine.  Hand-stitched.   Wow.  That's a lot of work for the money! 

Along with the quilt shops, the RV places, the farms, and the restaurants, there were plenty of bed and breakfast places too.  SO while we were not there for a vacation, I can say we enjoyed the visit.  If you're looking for a fun place to go, check out Shipshewana Indiana. 

From Lollys Fabric Shop In Shipshewana

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

From Amish Quilt Shop

Holly and I are in Shipshewana IN today. Stopped in quilt shop. $1,050 and hand made 113x113 inches.


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Turning Embroidery From Hobby To Business

A lot of people I talk with have the idea of turning their embroidery hobby into an embroidery business at some point.  It is often with the idea of creating a retirement job for themselves and sometimes it is sooner. 

How DO you make this transition? 

There are several paths people take.  One is to start a sewing business.  Others start a teaching business.  Still others go the craft show route, the party plan, a website, the ebay way, the digitizing path, a quilting service and many more ways. 

While I've talked with people doing all these things and more, I'm most able to help with people who want to digitize or start a website since that is where our experience lies. 

Watch our website www.artisticthreadworks.com over the next 10 weeks as we help 15 people start down the pro digitizer path.  We will record the coaching sessions on Saturday mornings and make them available to our site members as we go along.  It should be interesting to say the least!  :-)

One of the folks in this 10 week contest will begin in January working closely with Holly as her apprentice for a year. 

 Another place you can look for more info is in the ArtisticThreadWorks "Learn Embroidery" section where you can click on "Embroidery Business" link.  Lots of articles there to help you get started in your embroidery business.

Winners of Digitizing Contest #2

Digi-test #2 winners...

Bonnie Collier
Jill Litchfield
Pat Warble
Anne St John
Maria Schuelke
Jane Dunne

This is a total of 15 folks when added with last week's 9 other winners. Holly had several others who were just about "there" but had to cut it off at a number that would work on the "go To Meeting" party line maximum which is 15 attendees. It was really hard to choose!

If you were NOT one of this contest winners, please know that we are going to be recording the small group sessions Holly does with these 15 folks in order to turn them into a coaching tool. So those who are not in this one can watch the recordings after Holly finishes. I will be showing Holly how to turn the recordings into online viewable content for you so she can do it herself shortly after she finishes each session. No bottleneck of waiting for me to edit and upload... :-)

Two more things about these sessions...

Thing 1 is that these will be valuable to watch if you are learning to digitize, but they will probably be pretty darn fun to watch even if you are not learning to digitize as this is going to be similar to the apprentice programs on TV where the folks in the group are going to be "challenged". NOBODY WILL BE FIRED, but the challenges should be entertaining! That's all I can let out of the bag on that topic. LOL!

Thing 2 is that if you ARE learning to digitize in order to compete for a slot in the planned January contest, then you should watch all of these episodes, and work through all the videos available for learning here on the site, and you should be digitizing everything you can between now and the end of December. That will mean that YOU will be a much better digitizer come January when the next contest happens. Remember though, that the OTHER FOLKS who are getting into that contest will also be much stronger digitizers then too. So DO work on your digitizing skills between now and then.

Holly says the key to getting better at digitizing is the same as the answer to the question the young musician asked while visiting New York City... "How do you get to Carnegie Hall?" and the New Yorker answered "Practice, practice, practice!".

Congrats to all the winners from this first 10 week contest and to everyone who entered and sent in a design. There were 110 contest entries!

-- Larry

Photo Contest Winner: "Baby Gift"

Baby gift

Posted by: hjdj Date Posted: Sep 16, 2011 Description:I need ideas on how to frame this. I am pleased with how it turned out but I do not know what to use for a frame. All ideas welcome. Thank you, Donna

 

Thanks for posting this photo!  You've won a 3-month membership on ArtisticThreadWorks in this weeks photo drawing. 

All members of ArtisticThreadWorks are encouraged to post photos of their projects in our Member's Photo Gallery.  We choose a photo every week as a winner of a 3-month membership!

 

Photo Contest Winner: "I really luv ewe"

I really luv ewe

Posted by: mpb Date Posted: Sep 07, 2011

Thanks for posting this photo!  You've won a 3-month membership on ArtisticThreadWorks in this weeks photo drawing. 

All members of ArtisticThreadWorks are encouraged to post photos of their projects in our Member's Photo Gallery.  We choose a photo every week as a winner of a 3-month membership!

UPDATE:  9-17-2011...  Hi Margaret!  I didn't recognize the username and picked your photo as a prize winner.  It's really a nice quilt!  Hope you and Barry are doing great.  Holly and I should be in Navarre by mid-November.  If you guys can stop by on your way South that would be wonderful!

To my other readers... Margaret & her husband Barry are friends of ours from Canada. We met several years ago in a campground near Clearwater FL and have stayed in touch since then.  Because she's a personal friend, I'm going to pick another winner for this week's photo contest.  :-) 

-- Larry

Wondering about..................

message Posted By Posted Sep 14,2011 8:27 AM  mama_duck

Wondering about..................how the designs are chosen for digitizing?
Dart toss? random number generator?
Or person with incredible sense of balance?
or someone with acess to my wish list?

message Posted By Posted Sep 17,2011 5:56 AM  Larry@ATW

 

Holly tries to mix each week with something for kids and something not for kids. Also with something for folks who like simple and for folks who like more complex. And she keeps in mind what holidays or seasons are coming up. Then she looks through her artwork and finds something to fill the bill.

-- Larry

 

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OR DO BOTH...  

(So you'll be sure to never miss a freebie!)

 

 

 

New 9-17-2011: "Zoo Circles"

 

 Become an ATW Member and get all the above designs, plus full access to more than 1,000 articles and videos about machine embroidery, more than 18,000 designs, our forums, project photo galleries and much more!

 

 

 

Daily News "Winners" updated

I've been working on the Daily News new website for about 2 weeks now. There are still several advertisers who are pending to be added. Should have that done shortly along with a couple other housekeeping tasks there. But I did get the daily WINNERS set up for the next several weeks and it's really easy to do with the new daily news. I'm liking that! -- Larry

Warm regards,
Larry Pike

www.ArtisticThreadWorks.com

"Gift pack 3-Fiesta-San-Leon" - B.O.G.O sale ends September 18th

"Fiesta-San-Leon" B.O.G.O... and Go and Go and Go! Buy ONE Design Set and get 4 SETS Free! GET ALL 4 SETS FREE with the purchase of "Fiesta-San-Leon"! Includes instant download! Sale ends on September 18thth! See all Sets of designs in this pack here... http://www.artisticthreadworks.com/public/Gift_Pack_3-Fiesta-San-Leon.cfm Formats included are ART, DST, HUS, JEF, and PES. designs fit in a 4x4 hoop, some designs are 5x7 Larry & Holly http://www.ArtisticThreadWorks.com http://www.EmbroideryHighway.com http://www.facebook.com/artisticthreadworks

How to Remove ads from Gmail Account

For those of you who use gmail(like I do) you might like this article about how to remove the ads from your gmail inbox...

http://www.techonzo.com/2011/08/remove-ads-from-gmail/

Larry Pike

www.ArtisticThreadWorks.com

www.EmbroideryHighway.com

Sent from my iPad!

Winners Digitizing Contest #1

Thanks to all who entered!

Please... If you are not on today's winners list, please enter contest 2 which will be available Saturday morning for signup.  Holly will be pulling several more from this second contest too.

Also, if you dont get into the 10 Week Program this time, please keep practicing your digitizing as we will do this again as soon as Holly has gone through this first group of folks. This first group is our beta-test grop for what we hope to have as an ongoing training program.

And one more thing to remember that Holly brought up on last Saturday mornings phone call is that even the "experts" cant always tell who the long-term winners will be...

Michael Jordon was cut from his high school basketball team!

Elvis was told after his first appearance on the Grand Ole Opry that he had no future in music and should go back to driving truck!

And Einstein was told he wasn't smart enough to take algebra!

So... If you didn't win the first contest, please enter contest #2 now.  We are looking for some more winners in contest #2 to fill the rest of the open slots! 

Winners from 1st contest are...


Lorraine Meyer
Peg Friel
Pat Beilke
Debbie Gantz
Shirley Pipkens
Cheryl Curlee
Karen McAdams
Laura Taylor
Karen Matthews

That's all for now!  Stay tuned for contest #2 starting today!

Enter Digitizing Contest #2!

Contest has ended!  Please follow winners post above!

Your Friday Design Download

Download today's new designs!

 

PREMIER Members of ATW download ALL of today's designs...

http://www.artisticthreadworks.com/designsearch

 

FREEBIES You can download today's new sample designs...

http://www.artisticthreadworks.com/public/ATWSAMPLE090911.cfm

 

Membership is just $7.00 a month or $19.95 every 3 months... 

http://www.artisticthreadworks.com/public/Whats_Next.cfm

 

Buy elegant designs starting at just $3.79 per set at...

http://www.hollysdesignstudio.com/

 

Tutorials for embroidery, computers, or digitizing at...

http://www.artisticthreadworks.com/public/department34.cfm

 

 

Larry & Holly

www.ArtisticThreadWorks.com

 

"Gift pack 3-Fiesta-San-Leon" - B.O.G.O sale ends September 18th

"Fiesta-San-Leon" B.O.G.O... and Go and Go and Go!

 

Buy ONE Design Set and get 4 SETS Free!

GET ALL 4 SETS FREE with the purchase of "Fiesta-San-Leon"!

 

Includes instant download!  

Sale ends on September 18thth! 
 
See all Sets of designs in this pack here...
http://www.artisticthreadworks.com/public/Gift_Pack_3-Fiesta-San-Leon.cfm

 
Formats included are ART, DST, HUS, JEF, and PES. 
designs fit in a 4x4 hoop, some designs are 5x7
 
Larry & Holly
http://www.ArtisticThreadWorks.com
http://www.EmbroideryHighway.com
http://www.facebook.com/artisticthreadworks

"Unicorns-and-Carousel-Horses" - Redwork B.O.G.O sale ends September 11th

"Unicorns-and-Carousel-Horses" B.O.G.O... and Go and Go and Go!

 

Buy ONE Design Set and get 4 SETS Free!

GET ALL 4 SETS FREE with the purchase of "Redwork-Carousel-Horses"!

 

Includes instant download!  

Sale ends on September 11th! 
 
See all Sets of designs in this pack here...
http://www.artisticthreadworks.com/public/redwork_unicorns_and_carousel_horses.cfm

 
Formats included are ART, DST, HUS, JEF, and PES. 
designs fit in a 4x4 hoop, some designs are 5x7
 
Larry & Holly
http://www.ArtisticThreadWorks.com
http://www.EmbroideryHighway.com
http://www.facebook.com/artisticthreadworks

"Holiday(s) Penguin Embroidery Design Set" on sale @ hollysdesignstudio.com

Adorable little penguins help you celebrate each and ever holiday or big event of the year!  60 Designs in ALL!!

http://www.hollysdesignstudio.com/holiday-penguin/

 

Includes instant download!  

JUST $7.79

 

 
Formats included are ART, DST, HUS, JEF, and PES. 
designs fit in a 4x4 hoop, some designs are 5x7

"Embroider your own Greeting Cards" on sale @ hollysdesignstudio.com

"Embroider your own Greeting Cards" Designs for each occasion on sale @ hollysdesignstudio.com

http://www.hollysdesignstudio.com/embroidered-greeting-cards-sampler

 

24 holidays and occasions

Instant download for only $14.97

 
Formats included are ART, DST, HUS, JEF, and PES. 
designs fit in a 4x4 hoop, some designs are 5x7
 
Larry & Holly
http://www.ArtisticThreadWorks.com
http://www.EmbroideryHighway.com
http://www.facebook.com/artisticthreadworks
 

"Gift Pack- Holidays-and-Seasons" One more day - sale ends Sept 4th

"Gift Pack Holiday-and-Seasons" B.O.G.O... and Go and Go and Go!

 

Buy ONE Design Set and get 4 SETS Free!

GET ALL 4 SETS FREE with the purchase of "Holiday-Sampler"!

 

Includes instant download!  

Sale ends on September 4th! 
 
See all Sets of designs in this pack here...
http://www.artisticthreadworks.com/public/Holiday_Sampler.cfm

 

 
Formats included are ART, DST, HUS, JEF, and PES. 
designs fit in a 4x4 hoop, some designs are 5x7
 
Larry & Holly
http://www.ArtisticThreadWorks.com
http://www.EmbroideryHighway.com
http://www.facebook.com/artisticthreadworks

Larry & Holly

"Unicorns-and-Carousel-Horses" - Redwork B.O.G.O sale ends September 11th

"Unicorns-and-Carousel-Horses" B.O.G.O... and Go and Go and Go!

 

Buy ONE Design Set and get 4 SETS Free!

GET ALL 4 SETS FREE with the purchase of "Redwork-Carousel-Horses"!

 

Includes instant download!  

Sale ends on September 11th! 
 
See all Sets of designs in this pack here...
http://www.artisticthreadworks.com/public/redwork_unicorns_and_carousel_horses.cfm

 
Formats included are ART, DST, HUS, JEF, and PES. 
designs fit in a 4x4 hoop, some designs are 5x7
 
Larry & Holly
http://www.ArtisticThreadWorks.com
http://www.EmbroideryHighway.com
http://www.facebook.com/artisticthreadworks

Your Friday design download...

Download today's new designs!
 
PREMIER Members of ATW download ALL of today's designs...
http://www.artisticthreadworks.com/designsearch
 
FREEBIES - You can download today's new sample designs...

http://www.artisticthreadworks.com/public/ATWSAMPLE090211.cfm
 
Membership is just $7.00 a month or $19.95 every 3 months... 
http://www.artisticthreadworks.com/public/Whats_Next.cfm