I am feeling so sorry for the FedEx driver whose truck is stuck in our Colorado driveway.  It is surprising that he attempted to go up the driveway and equally surprising that he doesn’t carry chains.  We are searching for our tow chain, but so far no luck.  So, if you live in Colorado and you are expecting something from FedEx today, it may well be here.

Our grosgrain wedding gown labels come with a “pinked” (zig-zagged) edge to prevent fraying. Most people tuck in these edges and apply it to the gown as shown.

Once pinned in location, you can press the edge with your finger or a warm (not hot) iron before doing a whip stitch to sew it into place. In doing the stitching, take a little bite of the lining fabric of the dress (being careful not to catch the front dress fabric in the stitch) and then catch a bite of the label itself. Do this along the edge of the label on both sides. It does not take a lot of stitches to hold the label firmly in place.

Today I am brainstorming more styles of quilt labels while my machines are purring along on today’s embroidery orders.

I want to offer labels for quilts that customers make or buy that memorialize the circumstances of their arrival - whether they are a gift from or to a special person, a celebration of a special occasion or whatever the reason.  Sometimes it is difficult to remember these details accurately years after the fact and a label makes sure all is preserved for posterity.

In my mind’s eye, these labels will be very custom and can even incorporate fabric from the quilt itself.  I love the idea of working closely with you to make the quilt label almost as special as the quilt.  So stay tuned as these details are worked out.  As always, I welcome any input you want to suggest.

I just joined the website Project Wedding (www.projectwedding.com) where various wedding vendors are showcased by category.  People who have purchased Initial Impressions items for their wedding can leave comments there about the products offered.

Two sisters are getting some cute towel sets for Easter and they are part of today’s embroidery projects.  Hailey is getting a seafoam green towel set with our darling luvbug dragonfly embroidery design.  Ava is getting blue towels with the coordinating Luvbug embroidery design.  What a nice alternative or addition to the normal eggs and candy.  I bet they

Today’s projects include working with a customer - or actually a wife of a customer - who accidentally opened up her Mother’s Day gift a bit too soon.  We had to put our heads together for a good female strategy to solve the problem.

It is snowing at the moment here in Colorado, but the general trend lately has been toward warmer weather, Many of us are longing to see our gardens started, and the beauty of flowers brightening our surroundings. How about adding some flowers to your embroidery projects while you are waiting?  Our flower embroidery designs are “perennial” favorites and a great way to Think Spring!

If you get an embroidery design to look straight on a T shirt when it is laid flat, it will look crooked when the T shirt is worn.  T shirts are cut square and human shoulders slope downward.

I am reading through the blogs and I am surprised at how few of the blogs contain any posts.  Rebecca invested the time to set these blogs up.  Come on people — give me something to read!

I discovered Etsy (www.etsy.com) about a year ago.  It is a consortium of sellers of handmade and vintage items and a great way to supplement the success of a regular website.

Unlike Ebay, with Etsy you are permitted to link to your regular website.  So when I first signed up for Etsy, I didn’t necessarily expect to receive any sales there.   I would have been content if some people found me there and migrated over to my regular site from Etsy.  But I know from customer communications that both happened.  I have had Etsy sales and people have wandered over to my regular site to see what my lettering styles look like or what items of mine are available there that are not available on the Etsy site.

Now for the benefits — There are no sign up fees, there is a low 20 cent per listing fee to list the items (regardless of value).  As you probably know, the cost to list on Ebay depends on the starting bidding price or the buy it now price.  And with Etsy, the completion fees are low too.  Best of all, everything on the site is handmade, so it is a great forum for my embroidered and personalized items because people who are searching there are searching for my kind of work.

My experience with Etsy has been very positive and I recommend it to anyone with a handmade product who wants to further their sales.  Do let me know if you have any questions.