Summer in Arizona

Oh my gosh, I didn't realize that it has been so long since I have posted. It looks like I was the last one to post anyway. :(
It is summer and it is HOT here in Arizona. We have already had our first 118 degree day, we have had 2 giant habubs. We haven't had much rain though. Wish we would get more here in the valley.
Business has been slow. Either because of the summer or the economy. Don't get me started on that....
School will be back in session soon and I have picked up some work with back to school items like back packs and lunch bags. There are sure some cute ones out there.
I have a new line of tote bags coming out soon. I find more and more people trying to be "green" (I prefer "Blue" since we ARE the blue planet" ;)  I use tote bags for the grocery store or a quick run into Costco or Sams. I always have them in the car. Will have them on Etsy and Craigs list soon.
As always I am so Thankful to know the awesome women of SuperWAHMz.com.
Well, take care, have a great summer........ until next time. :)

Etsy

Well, I finally got around to posting on my Etsy page.
Business is slow but finding time when you are a home/mom based business is hard to do sometimes.
There always seems to be something to do and no time to do it.
At this time I don't have embroidered items on Etsy.
Instead I chose to post some of the NEW stock I have left over from custom embroidery jobs
that I did and over ordered.
These blanks are perfect for embellishment.
They will make great gifts for birthdays or Christmas.
Since it is Thursday and I usually post on Thankful Thursday let me say now that I am
so thankful to have known the women of SuperWAHMz for so many year. You are awesome.
I am Blessed for sure to have you in my life.

21st Century :)

Here I come, kicking and screaming, into the 21st Century LOLOL
I need to work on my website.
I think it is about time I learn how to do that myself and
maybe take a class or two on search engines and how they work.
I need to learn how to blog more efficiently and
I need to learn how to tweet LOL
OH.... and I need to make a newsletter.
Not much to learn there. Maybe I CAN teach this OLD dog some new tricks.
I think I might be looking forward to the challenge.

Merry Christmas

This has been an interesting year. I suspect that 2010 will be more of the same however I hold a positive attitude and will pray for peace of the soul and the strength to carry on no matter how things go.
I value you all so much. You have enriched my life and always make me smile. I miss our chatter and hope that we will find more time for each other next year.
Nick and I wish you all a very Merry Christmas and a safe and Happy New Year.
God Bless us one and all and God please continue to bless the United States.
Be well :) Diane

To keep my business or not to keep my business

That seems to be the question I am asking myself these days.

Are any of you asking yourself that same question? Times are tough, nothing any of us don't know. My industry seems to be suffering maybe more than some. The first thing to go for a business is the little extras and embroidery seems to be one of those little extras. Even the local sports teams are having to cut back.

I totally understand but it does beg the question.... can D's stay in business another year. That is a question I never though I would ask myself, especially after 17 1/2 years.

In the back of my mind I continue to ponder opening a different type of business. I think I will always own my own business. I think it is in my blood. Just trying to figure out what that business might be keeps my mind turning.

Hope all is well with everyone. I miss the chatter.

It's been a long time

Been so long I almost forgot how to post to our blog. I say that with a sly smile on my face. Sorry for being MIA. Summers in AZ are so hot it is hard to wrap my mind around doing anything but hibernating. ;) Fall is quickly approaching though so there IS a light at the end of this tunnel.

Work has not been so good for D's Stitcheree.
I am hoping that the summer months have been better for all of you running your own business. The economy is tough, we all know that. I do have a question though for anyone who might like to chime in.

How is the economy effecting your OWNING your own business.

I just got a notice from my bank that effective Oct. 1 they will start charging a service charge of $15.00 a month on business accounts that carry under $1,000.00 daily balance. Since moving to AZ I have not had to pay a service charge with my bank and I have never held a daily balance of $1K. It is only $15.00 but in months where I might only make $100.00, that is a lot of money. I will see how the rest of this year goes then I am seriously considering closing my 17 1/2 year old business. I thought I would always work for myself but I may soon join the ever growing number of people unemployed.

Great Gift Idea

Oh My Gosh, I did not realize that I had not posted for such a long time. Where is the time going? I can't believe that next week is Thanksgiving already. MY favorite holiday of the year. I am thankful for so many things :) On this day in particular I like to have my dinner guests say one thing they are thankful for. It is odd to me that sometimes it takes quite a few minutes for someone to think of just one thing. I think people go through life NOT thinking of things they are thankful for and they should. Life is good. Even in these hard times.

On to my great gift idea.
I have a line of Totes for our pet lovers.
They are very successful with the rescue groups as fund raisers.
I was just thinking the other day that they would also make great gifts for the person who has everything or that hard to buy for person on your list.
If they love their four legged family member they will love our new

Pets are Family too Tote.

Our totes are personalized with names and you choose your colors.
We have done bags with up to 4 names so far. You can check out the other bags and order at
D's Stitcheree. They can also be found on Etsy.
Happy Thanksgiving. Turkey rules!

Specials at D's

Enter the Super Duper SuperWAHMz Contest!

I just bet you will be so excited when the election is over. I know I will be.
We all need a little financial relief. I can't offer billions in a bailout but...
D's has decided to offer a limited time special on a couple of our gift items. We are also offering FREE shipping on orders placed by November 15th.
If you do early/mail in voting, please remember to sign your ballot.

Dogs Rule

Here at D's we have added a FUN new item to our Family FUN Wear line of great embroidered gifts.
We believe that Dogs are family too and we thought that you might like to proudly display your pooches name on a colorful tote. Of course we all love cats too so keep an eye out for our new Cats Rule items, coming soon. I am looking forward to adding more Dogs Rule items as time goes by.
Since this is Thankful Thursday let me see if I can find something to be thankful for.....hhhmmmmm lets see....... LOLOL as if I can't find a ton of things to be thankful for. :)
Today though I think I will say I am thankful for my health. Although fighting my weight, all in all my health is pretty good. I have work, I am thankful for that. I have an awesome husband and I am super thankful for that. I have awesome kids and grandkids. Oh my gosh, who could ask for more. AND, let me not forget my SuperWAHMz friends. They are THE best. I have some pretty awesome non wahmz friends also. I am so thankful for friends. Life is just good. :)

Super Saturday

Well, after being a whine baby about not having work, the universe saw fit to give me more work than I can handle right now..... so what do I do???? I start a blog...
http://stitchens-morninsunshine.blogspot.com/
I am so happy today that I thought I should start to share. I am basically a positive person, a little hard to be in these days of politics, economy and the lack of world peace but I sure try.
OK, I am off to work.......... :) Oh, how I love saying that.
Since I didn't post on Thursday I should be sure to pop in here now and say a word of thanksgiving that our dear friends are all safe and that Kandas has her electricity back up.

Resume?

OK, I need a resume. I have owned and operated D's Stitcheree for 16 years. I know there must be something good I can put in a resume other than I am a SWAHM. I love being a SWAHM but find that I may now have to seek outside employment, at least for a little while. hhhmmmmm how does one compete with much younger workers when she has been at home for 16 years and does not have a formal education. Went to college 26 years ago. Do I go back to school at 56, hubby says no, I would never recoop the cost because employers would rather hire younger workers. I LOVE being a SWAHM and this will probably be mute in another month when my business picks up, BUT, for the time being this is an interesting predicament I find myself in.

Hump Day

Hump month. This morning I ran my reports from last month so that I could pay my taxes. D's did not sell anything last month. First time in 16 years I had a $0 report. This bothers me on so many levels. I am wondering if when the election is over, things will get back to normal? This is such a historic election, such an unsure time for our country. Personally I am tired of all the pettiness on both sides. Get on with Country Business and get jobs and money flowing again. What is wrong with these people. Small business is the back bone of our country but what are we gonna do if small business close because of $0 monthly reports. I am trying to stay positive. I wish we could get across to them (the politicians) that we don't want partisanship. We want results.

Thankful Thursday

THE best thing I have to be thankful for this week is that my dil does not have cancer. How could I possibly hope for anymore. Well, I could but for now I will just be so thankful that that new was good news.
A long time ago I was watching Oprah and she was doing the Thankful Journal. I started a TJ at a time when my son was in the 1st Gulf War...... well, he wasn't actually IN the war but he was in the area at that time. Anyway, some days its was really hard to find things to be thankful for but if I remember right, Oprah said we should be able to find at least 3 things to be thankful for. There were days that just waking up in the morning was one of my 3 things. LOLOLOL How sad huh. My son was gone, my business was growing, I had a teenager. What more can I say.
Now I wake up every morning just so darn thankful for life. Life is good. Even when it is blazing HOT here in AZ, I don't have any work and I STILL need to loose weight. I really think life is what we make of it. As the old saying goes, when life gives you lemons, make lemon-aide. :)
I am taking this HOT weather, lack of work time to clean my garage. I have boxes and boxes of inventory. I am really making a dent out there and now find that I have a lot of items I can use for the holidays so..... keep an eye on D's Stitcheree for all things Holidays. Of course I will still do custom orders. If last year was any indication I will have to have a cut off date for custom orders so if that is something you are thinking about and would like to chat about, drop me a line.

Thankful Thursdays

I will start today off with the fact that I am so Thankful for the good health of my business associates and friends.
Now, business wise I would have to say that today I am also Thankful for a new customer who is so excited about my work that she is spreading the word. She is putting me in touch with 3 potential new customers. What was that old saying, you tell a friend and they tell a friend and they tell a friend etc. :)
I will be starting on the holidays now. Here at D's Stitcheree Custom Embroidery is alway in demand around Christmas. Because Custom Embroidery requires a longer time than stock embroidery it is good to start early.
I also do a lot of Corporate Embroidery this time of year. I have a feeling I will go from not being busy at all to being very busy. That is OK. Bring it on. :)
I think I will have a Christmas in July Sale for stock designs so watch D's Stitcheree and Etsy for that announcement.

Talk about it Tuesday

I would like to talk about the Pink elephant sitting right smack dab in the middle of my house. It is called the Economy. Conversations have been taking place in various business groups I belong to about the economy and how it is affecting our business's. Being an embroidery business, something most people don't need very often, some never, is tough in the economy today. I have seen my business slow down to a stop. Looking for an outside job is hard to do since I have been working at home for 16 years AND there aren't any jobs to be had anyway. There are so many people out of work.
We have been discussing the fact that we have given up any trips this summer just to put gas in the cars. This is not a happy subject in my house because our grandkids live in CA and we are in AZ.
So.... what have you given up just to make ends meet. What are your priorities??
Maybe your business is doing really well. I would love to hear about it and how you keep things going in the economy of today.
A while back we had the discussion about Made in America. It is interesting how the two subjects have overlapped. I don't know if we can have a survey on this blog but I would find it interesting to know, how do you choose a product. Price or ??
I had a dream once to produce Heirloom products that could be handed down to family members. I am seeing that dream fade away. Not only because of the economy but because it seems that some people don't care so much any more about passing down family heirlooms. I find that so interesting.
hhmmm I gues I have chosen a couple things to Talk about Today. It will be good to hear your opinions.

Thankful Thursday

on Friday.
oops. I guess I am loosing a day here and there :) I have so much going on right now. I am still fighting this summer cold. Just about nothing worse than a summer cold.
I am trying to go through overstock of apparel. My business took a different turn when we moved to Arizona and I will not be using all these tees now so might as well sell them.
I am working on Christmas ideas. These are my first 2 projects. I will embroider them on kids sweatshirts and personalization will be FREE. I would love to do a Christmas in July sale so we will see how that goes.
Today though, as always, I would love to tell you all that I am sooooo Thankful to live in this great country of ours. I feel so blessed to have been born here. AND also as always, I am so thankful for your friendships. In business and personal areas of my life I cherish you all.













In honor of my love for our country I have come up with this little decorative hand towel.
I use mine as decoration only on my kitchen stove. I have given it as gifts and some use the towel others choose to use it as a decoration. Either way I think it is a lovely addition to your kitchen or bathroom.

Custom Embroidery

For Fantastic Friday I would like to share the completed

custom embroidery project that I have been working on. I ran into a little trouble yesterday when I was running the custom design because I had made it a little too large and the needle hit the hooping frame. Thank goodness (Thankful Thursday) that I had bought extra fabric. Once I redid the design to fit properly, everything ran smoothly.

The frame did not have a matting so this morning Nick and I went to Michaels and purchased a matt. I think framed art work looks so much nicer matted.
My customer is on his way. Hopefully he will love the results of this custom embroidered project. I would love to hear your comments.

Custom Embroidery

Here at D's Stitcheree I am usually embroidering company logos. I like to specialize in small companies. As a small company I know how hard it is to advertise and you need to make every penny count. I think that I can preform a service to other small companies by offering promotional items at a reasonable price. If you are close you are more than welcome to bring in your own apparel, if you are far, I have an online catalog you can access for apparel and accessories.
Sometimes though I am given the great honor of doing a Custom Embroidery job. Custom jobs are exciting and time consuming but the end product can be an exceptional piece to be cherished by the recipient.
A few years ago I was asked by a mom to design a project for her daughter who was getting married. There is a lot of back and forth when designing a custom piece. Thank goodness (Thankful Thursday) for email. Once the piece was embroidered I shipped it to the mom rolled around a cardboard core. She took it to the cleaners and had it pressed and framed.

I am now working on another Custom piece. The process can be long but in this case I only have 3 days. The original drawing is rough but someplace to start.
I turn the drawing into embroidery on my computer. Get an approval and then go forward with the embroidery.
I will do the embroidery today and post more pictures tomorrow.