Machine Embroidery On The Move...
We're back in the Houston/Galveston area as of yesterday!
Holly and I left the camper in Lakeland FL on Wednesday morning and headed
for a visit with our friends Nita and CJ O'Keefe. We're having a
couple improvements done to the motorhome and it will take a couple weeks to
complete them. In the meantime, we took the opportunity for an extended
visit in Texas.
We hope to get several things finished while we're here. I'm working on
some upcoming video releases and Holly is digitizing like mad working on the
next couple member bonus sets. We're also taking this time to plan other
projects for the upcoming year.
It's always interesting when I look around at what's going on in the world of
machine embroidery. I hope you enjoy this week's Bobbin-Buzz.
-- Larry
|
|
| |
|
|
"No! Not Martha Pullen... Martha STEWART!"
Martha
Stewart has announced her endorsement of SVP (Singer-Viking-Pfaff) sewing
machines.
"From the fashion savvy to the crafts enthusiast, sewing is
back in vogue. According to the Home Sewing Association, there are approximately
35 million sewing hobbyists in the U.S., up from about 30 million in 2000. The
resurgence of sewing is providing individuals of all ages and backgrounds with
exciting opportunities to create and personalize quilting, crafting, fashion
sewing and home décor projects and to embellish readymade items."
Read the whole story here!
|
|
|
|
|
|
. . .
Don't Get Taken For An Expensive
Ride!
Every day thousands of people have their bank account
cleaned out by online theives. Don't become a statistic! Here's 3 steps you can
take to protect yourself...
Beware of "phishing" scams! Crooks get
more creative every day with ways to get your account information. Whenever you
receive an email from ANY kind of bank, store, credit card company, ebay,
Paypal, membership site, etc... ANYONE sending you an email involving money,
RED FLARES should begin going off inside your
head!
These emails have one thing in common - they try to get you to
login to your online account using the link they send in the email. If you do -
then you're toast!
For example, if the crooks were pretending to be
Paypal, they would simply copy the Paypal home page and set it up on their own
server. It would look as much like the Paypal home page as a photocopy would
look like an original. Perfect duplication. The only problem they have is that
you wouldn't be on their page if you typed www.paypal.com into your browser. So they have to trick you
into going to THEIR version of the page instead.
How do they do that? By
providing you with a link inside the email that SAYS www.paypal.com but really takes
you to their server instead.
How do you protect yourself?
Never, never, never click one of those links to go to the website. Instead, go
to your web browser and type in the website yourself or if you have it saved
already as one of your "favorites" then click your favorites link instead. Don't
use their link.
Watch your accounts closely! Crooks don't
need to trick you using a "phishing" scam in order to get your credit card info.
It's much easier and low-tech than that. Holly has had her personal card number
stolen twice. Once was about 10 years ago and the other time was last summer.
When this happend 10 years ago she used her card to buy something at a
gas-station/convenience-store while driving through Michigan. When we got home
our bank's fraud department called. They wanted to know if she just bought $500
worth of video games at a store in Michigan. "Nope". Apparently someone at the
gas station - perhaps an employee - had taken the card number during the
transaction and given the info to an accomplice.
The second time this
happened was last summer. Holly bought some t-shirts online one day in July.
About a month later she was reading her email and noticed one from Western Union
confirming her money transfer. She read the email and found that she had just
successfully wired $999 to a person in a middle eastern country!
I
logged into our bank online and saw the transaction and another one pending for
another $999 and another one pending for $499... etc. I looked up the phone
number for Western Union, called their number and selected "Fraud Report" from
their phone system menu. I told them who I was and they said the second transfer
attempt was caught by their software and was stopped along with all subsequent
attempts to transfer money from her account.
Next I called our bank and
again talked with the Fraud Department. The bottom line was that we had to go
into our local bank and fill out a report form. Western Union reimbursed our
account for the money they allowed to be stolen from it and Holly received a new
card and new card number in the mail about two weeks after the
event.
About a month later we received a letter from the t-shirt company
informing us that their customer records database had been "compromised" and we
should watch our bank accounts and credit report for any suspicious activity.
How do you protect yourself? Keep a close eye on your bank
and credit card accounts! I look at ours every day. If something looks "funny"
you should talk to your bank immediately. Don't wait. Call before things go from bad to worse. And don't depend on the company that allowed their employee to steal your info to let you know about their screw-up.
Consider having more than one account at your bank. If you have only one account and all your available cash is in that account then your life can become very difficult if you have to wait two weeks for money to be reimbursed and for a new card to
arrive in your mailbox.
Everyone is suspicious of using their credit
card online initially, but we think nothing of giving that same card to a
waitress or waiter and allowing them to disappear into the back room of a
restaurant for 5 minutes with it. Most card info theft is done with low-tech
methods, but you should still protect yourself online as well.
When
doing transactions online, make sure the web page where you enter card info is
"secure". A secure page will have an address of "https" instead of "http". You
will also see a small padlock icon on the bottom of your browser window if the
page is secure.
And finally, know something about the company you're buying from online! I would be more comfortable buying from a known company online than from someone I'd never heard of before. Just because they can set up a website doesn't mean they're honest. Check reputations with others. Our forum is a great place to ask questions.
|
|
|
|
|
|
. . .
AEC 2007 - Atlanta, GA.
Here's a slideshow of
pictures from the American Embroidery Conference in Atlanta. Thanks to Kelly and
Kim for the pictures. As you can tell by the photos - everyone had a great time.
They also learned a lot from the teachers at the conference.
(If you don't have flash-player software, you can get it at this page for FREE...
http://www.adobe.com/shockwave/download/download.cgi
Before you click on the photo to start the slideshow, be sure to set the volume on your computer to an appropriate level :-)
Visit our PHOTOS section for more pictures from the AEC and from
our members!
|
|
|
|
|
|
Prize Drawings On April 30th 2007
We are doing two
additional prize drawings on April 30th 2007 for ATW. Each week we give away
something in the Bobbin-Buzz newsletter (3-month membership this week - see
below) as well as giving away designs every week. We also give away memberships
every month to three people that post photos in our photo gallery. What we are
doing in April is an additional give-away. Here's the details...
The
"Bobbin-Buzz" drawing: We are giving away a Brother NX400-Q sewing machine.
This is a computerized sewing and quilting machine. The list price on the
machine is $1149 and we picked one up new at a really nice price so we're giving
it away. Here's a picture of the machine...
The "Bobbin-Buzz" drawing will be held on May 1st and
everyone that is on the Bobbin-Buzz mailing list is automatically in the
drawing.
If you aren't on the Bobbin-Buzz email list yet, you can enter
here @ http://www.artisticthreadworks.com/public/85.cfm
The
"Artistic ThreadWorks" drawing: We are giving away a a complete set of
Robison-Anton threads. This is 452 mini-king spools of thread and the wall-mount
racks to hold them all. The list price on this prize is a little over $2,000.
The "ArtisticThreadWorks" drawing will also be held on May 1st and
everyone that is a member of www.ArtisticThreadWorks.com automatically in the
drawing. Here's a picture of the threads and racks...
NOTE: The machine in the photo is NOT
included!
You can be in the drawing automatically by
being a member here. Here's the page with info about joining ATW... http://www.artisticthreadworks.com/public/10.cfm
You
don't have to be a member to be in this drawing, you're just automatically in
the drawing if you are a current member on April 30th 2007. To enter without
being a member, send us a postcard letting us know you want to be in the drawing
and we'll enter you manually. The postcard must be received at our office no
later than April 29th 2007 and must include the words "ArtiticThreadWorks
Drawing - April 2007" along with your name, address, phone number and email
address to be eligible.
Notes 1: Don't send multiple postcards. Only one
entry per person. Don't send GIANT postcards, the number is drawn by computer -
not based on the size of the card. If you are a current member of
ArtisticThreadWorks on April 30th 2007, don't send a postcard - you will not be
double-entered in the drawing.
Notes 2: If you have won a prize from us
before, you're still eligible to win in these drawings. If you're in a foreign
country, you're still eligible to win UNLESS winning prizes in a free drawing is
prohibitted in your country. Okay - there are always nitty-gritty details to
these things thanks to the greatest government money can buy supplying us with
all kinds of red tape, but this is the simplified version of the rules. For
complete details, go here... http://www.artisticthreadworks.com/public/1627.cfm
Again
- to join ATW now... http://www.artisticthreadworks.com/public/10.cfm
Good
luck to everyone in the drawings!
|
|
|
|
|
|
From Our Forums
Question...
What's with the writing on the rear?
Posted
by mama_duck
Embroidering on the rear of a pair of joggers for my 7 yo
GD.
fills
entire space from left to right!
Evidently text on the rear is in 'style'.
Answers...
Posted by sueteske
Oh that's been in style for several years now. But how does all of that fit
on a 7 year old butt? It would fit on mine of course. The whole song might fit
on my butt. But I firmly(no pun intended) believe that after a certain age,
words do not belong on your butt. I was at a Christmas party and there was a 50
something woman with BEBE on her butt. She's quite thin...but no.Like wearing a
tube top after 40. Sue
Posted by sewsuesew
Oh what a visual of
that!!!! How ever it is cute on babies and small children. I'm not sure I
approve of some of the messages I see on teenage girls butts. But then my
parents didn't approve of the mini skirts teenage girls wore when I was a
teen... YEARS AGO just my thoughts on this one.
Posted by
MrsButterfly
Sorry did I miss something here... I thought Mama Duck said
joggers...am I mistaken or are joggers not shoes...forgive me but we Ausssies
call sandshoes...joggers...shoes that you jog in...Norma...
Posted by
janbland
I believe Mama Duck was talking about the short pants that runners
wear. For the young girls in the US, it has become popular to wear those type of
short pants with writing across their bottoms.
Posted by JBadger
Seriously, what is WITH the writing on the rear. Is it absolutely necessary
to have the word CUTIE emblazoned on your hind quarters? And is it really
appropriate for a 16 year old to trounce around in shorts (that look more like
underpants) that say SEXY????!!!! I mean I'm not particularly old - OK this year
I turn 35, but GIVE ME A BREAK. At 16 your not sexy, though you may be feeling
your oats for the first time, it should say something more like "SHORTSIGHTED"
or "DAZED AND CONFUSED" or "HORMONAL" or "EASILY INFLUENCED." I don't think you
really hit "SEXY" until you've had some serious life challenges and still
managed to come out swinging with a sparkle in your eyes and a spring in your
step (even if your boobs have lost that spring altogether). At that point you're
not only sexy, you're phenomenal. I'll skip the "SEXY" on my behind and just
feel it myself rather than asking for someone else to validate it for me. Just
my annoyed two cents ;) Julie
Posted by mair
I work at an
elementary school and the worst thing I saw was a 6th grader (11 or 12 yrs) have
JUICY on her butt. I was floored, don't some of these mom's ever look to see
what the kids leave the house in? And WHY buy them for her in the first
place????? The worst thing me and my sisters would do, was sneak our jeans out
of the house and put them on on the bus . We wern't even allowed to wear jeans
to school. Of course we were the same family that never owned a color TV until
1980!!!!!
Posted by LarryPike
I'm with you on the "I feel old"
part. Because I grew up in the 60's I "get it" when I see kids today wearing
jeans with holes ripped in the knees. Back then it was "cool" to wear your jeans
so long that they wore thin and then needed patches to cover the holes. But you
bought new jeans and wore then and washed them and wore them and washed them...
and that's how they got worn out.
Today it's "instant gratification"
with this fashion just like with everything else. They buy the jeans with the
holes already worn in them! LOL! And they PAY EXTRA to get them that way! Maybe
I AM getting old, but it just seems STUPID to me! -- Larry
Posted by
Nursie
That reminds me of when I was about 13 and there was a local pizza
place gave away t-shirts. The front had their name across the back it said " a
great piece!!"
My parents had a fit and wouldn't let me wear the shirt
not even at home. It was quite an arguement at our house. I didn't see the big
deal because it was pizza and a play on words. It eventually dissapeared and I
was so mad.
When my oldest daughter was 13 out comes this yellow t-shirt
at a family get together. Dad hands it to me and said do you think Nicole would
want to wear it. I took one look at it and said there is no way my daughter is
wearing that shirt. They got the best laugh out of this. -- Christine
Posted by Valpalgal
Your dad's name must be "Solomon". -- Val
Members...
There's
a lot more to this discussion. Read the rest at...
http://www.artisticthreadworks.com/members/forum/openthread.cfm?forum=1&ThreadID=28257#161879
|
|
|
|
|
|
March Photo Contest Winners
Winners March photo
contest
#18148
http://www.artisticthreadworks.com/public/viewimage.cfm?ImgID=18148
niteyshift Terri Bennett
#18085
http://www.artisticthreadworks.com/public/viewimage.cfm?ImgID=18085
Debra Debra Wattleworth
#18000
http://www.artisticthreadworks.com/public/viewimage.cfm?ImgID=18000
jbailey Jennifer Bailey
Congrats to all 3 winners. Each has won a
1-Year membership at ATW! Here's the picture from Jennifer Baily...
|
|
|
|
|
|
. . .
How To Get Help NOW From The Paris
Police
George Phillips of Paris, Texas was going up to bed when
his wife told him that he'd left the light on in the garden shed, which she
could see from the bedroom window. George opened the back door to go turn off
the light but saw that there were people in the shed stealing things.
He
phoned the police, who asked "Is someone in your house?" and he said "no". Then
they said that all patrols were busy, and that he should simply lock his door
and an officer would be along when available.
George said, "Okay," hung
up, counted to 30, and phoned the police again. "Hello, I just called you a few
seconds ago because there were people in my shed. Well, you don't have to worry
about them now cause I've just shot them all." Then he hung up.
Within
five minutes three police cars, an Armed Response unit, and an ambulance showed
up at the Phillips' residence and caught the burglars red-handed.
One of
the Policemen said to George: "I thought you said that you'd shot
them!"
George said, "I thought you said all the patrols were busy!"
|
|
|
|
|
|
Weekly Prize Drawing Winner
We are doing a weekly drawing
for readers of Bobbin-Buzz. The prize is a 3 month membership to
ArtisticThreaWorks. That's something anyone on our list can use!
To be
in the prize drawings - just be on our Bobbin-Buzz mailing list...
If you're not on the list yet, you can sign up
here!
This week's winner drawn at random is... dashmom@surewest.net
The winner
has 5 days to contact me via email and claim the prize. Send the email to Webmaster@ArtisticThreadWorks.com.
Congratulations and good luck to everyone else in next weeks drawing!
|
|
|
|
|
|
Embroidery Designs For Brother, Babylock, Viking, Pfaff and more!
|
|
|
|
|
|
. . .
New Video Release
I've just
finished production on a new video. It is called "Simple Sales With Your Own
Website" and it covers the step-by-step process of setting up a
simple and inexpensive website where you can sell your own
product.
How Simple?
There are 4
steps involved in selling your own product online...
Make the product you're going to sell and take pictures of it.
Make a website using software that's no more difficult than a word
processor.
Make a way for customers to pay for their purchase.
Make a way for potential customers to see your site.
The video
covers all 4 steps and runs about 1 hour. How long it takes you to do step #1 is
up to you, but the remaining 3 steps should take you about 1 day!
How Inexpensive?
I built the site shown in the
video for FREE!
Zero cost for the tools to build the site.
Zero costs for hosting the site.
Zero up-front costs for setting up the payment collection system.
Zero up-front costs for automated delivery.
Zero costs for advertising the product.
Becasue the product
being sold on the site I built is an "e-book", I even show how I set up an
automated delivery system. That means the buyer gets the product
delivered to them instantly and automatically. This delivery system costs a few
pennies per sale but cost zero up-front and means zero work to deliver the
product to the customer. This is basically like setting up a vending machine on
the internet, adding an infinite supply of the product and then collecting the
money every day.
The only time it costs anything is when a product is
SOLD and fees to pay for the financial transaction and the automated delivery
are deducted from the money collected. Zero out-of-pocket costs!
The
video is on CD and must be viewed on a computer with a CD-rom drive and software
for playing flash video. If you don't have flash-player software, you can get it
at this page for FREE...
http://www.adobe.com/shockwave/download/download.cgi
Shipping
will begin on April 10th, 2007. The cost for the video will be $49.95 normally.
Get $10 off with the introductory price of $39.95 for the next couple
weeks.
You can order the video now at the introductory price of just
$39.95 + shipping at...
http://www.artisticthreadworks.com/products/item560.cfm
|
|
|
|
|
|
. . .
New Designs Released This Week At
ArtisticThreadWorks...
See ALL this week's new sets here!
And this months Member Bonus Set...
"Dream
Catchers"
Here's a picture of ONE of this weeks new
sets...
See ALL the new sets here!
|
|
|
|
|
|
Who Has Collected The Most Embroidery Designs?
|
|
|
|
|
|
. . .
Cn-U-Read-Pir8-Speak?
Embroidery Designs For Sale
"Generous digitizer
looking for new customers. Thousands of designs to choose from. Just email me
for list. You won't believe the prices. All designs guaranteed."
xxxxxx@hotmail.com
Translation!
"Generous
digitizer"
(Stealing designs has a VERY low overhead)
"looking
for new customers"
(nobody buys from me twice!)
"Thousands of
designs to choose from"
(Will sell anything I've stolen for a buck and
make 100% profit!)
"Just email me for list"
(Building a
website costs money and takes work!)
"You won't believe the
prices"
(Unless you read between the lines!)
"All designs
guaranteed"
(Just try getting me to answer an email!)
"xxxxxxxxx@hotmail.com"
(You can't
trace this email address!)
You don't have to read between the
lines
when you buy from a DigitizersWorld
Pro!
These are honest, hard-working people with solid
reputations as digitizers and above-the-board business practices! Check our
PRO-list and buy with confidence from these digitizers...
http://www.digitizersworld.com/list
|
|
| |
