I have always loved the creative process of making something unique, special, personal, and fun. I love the calmness I feel when I am embroidering, crafting, or painting. I continually yearn to learn new things and hone my crafts. And to that end, I have added some new additions to my offerings!
Appliqué is the process of using additional fabric in the embroidery process to fill in larger spaces. It requires extra time, but also allows me to be much more custom with my creations. It uses less stitches, so I can do larger designs without the fabric puckering from a dense stitch pattern. The beauty of appliqué is that with a single change of fabric, the same design can feel entirely different!
Heat transfer vinyl (HTV) is the process of designing a simple graphic, cutting out the graphic on sheets of vinyl, "weeding" the graphic to remove all excess vinyl, and then pressing the vinyl into fabric using a professional heat press machine. As this is entirely new to me, I am starting small with more simple graphics that use less than 5 colors. The joy of HTV is that I can do much larger graphics, similar to appliqué, without having to worry about fabric puckering from all of the stitching required in embroidery. This opened up a whole new world of options for me! As it is also less expensive to create HTV items, which has allowed me to offer many more items at a more wallet-friendly price.
Sublimation is the process of printing a graphic with special ink that is attached to an object with either a special coating or viable fabric through heating the item. The ink turns into a gaseous state, which soaks into the object, then cools back down into a solid state to create a permanent design. It is incredibly durable, as sublimated items can be washed normally in a washing machine or dishwasher without losing any vibrancy. The best part is that any graphic that could be printed on a regular printer can also be printed using sublimation ink onto a special sublimation paper. The only downsides are that the graphics are only visible on white or light colored objects (the printer cannot print white ink) and not all items will accept the ink (such as cotton clothing).
Engraving is now also in my wheelhouse! I have invested in a machine that will engrave thin materials, such as metal and acrylic. I have used this to create keychains, business cards, night lights. The night lights are my favorite, as the base lights up the acrylic so beautifully in a variety of colors!
In addition to the above, I have also begun to create some of my own designs for anniversaries and photo outlines of people and pets. Once I get a little quicker at the photo outlines, I will offer up that service, as well.
It will take a bit of time to photograph all of the new items I have been working on, so please come back regularly and check out our latest additions! I have even added a "Newest" collection so you will not have to search for long.