Look what I found in my Inbox!

The long Easter weekend is not a break for me this year with so many work things to do ....

So after a sleep in, and checking in on my sick husband who has been banished to the upstairs guest suite lest he give us his germs, I have opened the computer to work on some stuff for the National Digitizers Retreat.  There among my inbox was an e-mail from QTNN, I think you'll love this video! 

Happy Easter!

What are your plans for the long weekend?

Far away on the other side of the world, my eldest child Cara is off to Turkey. She lives in London right now, and as she is a school teacher she gets plenty of time off to go travelling!  It will be her 30th birthday in May and she is planning a weekend at Euro Disney .... from down here in Australia it sounds absolutely great.

Normally I'd look at the long Easter weekend as a chance to re-charge before winter sets in.  We only have one long weekend during the winter and that is the Queens Birthday weekend, so as I say I normally use Easter weekend to make sure I'm rested for the winter, but not this year.

I will be at the computer finishing instructions for the various classes at the National Digitizing Event which is on from the 14th to 16th April, right here in Melbourne.

I've just about finished all the editing of the instructions, but then have to turn around and re-write them for using the new TruEmbroidery Software for Mac.  I'm loving doing it but it does take many, many hours, so I guess that explains what I'll be doing this weekend.

Another Beautiful project being taught at the National Digitizing Event.

Happy Easter everyone!

A Snowball that just keeps getting bigger and bigger!

At the end of last year we made the decision to stop printing my newsletter.  It is 12 years since I started Michelle's Sewing Basket, and over the years the quarterly Newsletter had grown and grown.  It now has a whopping 24 pages!  

Sometimes I wonder how on earth I will ever get another one written, I can be so empty when I sit down in front of the computer and try to begin.  I do have a bit of a brain storming system, and that will help me to work out the flow of the newsletter.  I've also decided to make sure there are two or three actual projects for people to make in the Newsletter, as well as the usual shop info.  I also try to write a couple of interesting articles on new product, the history of a technique or tradition etc.  I am not a great writer, in fact I think my English teacher said that my technique was shocking.  I kind of say the words in my head, and if it makes sense there then it gets written down (that's why there are lots of side comments like this in brackets ... I actually think in brackets).  So, yes I know my writing technique is sloppy, devoid of any understanding of the rules of the English language, but hey, it works.

So this week is Newsletter publishing week.  The words flowed well, and the result is 24 pages.  Now I'm trying out something new, converting it to a flip book for customers who have tablets .. .I reckon that it will be amazing if I actually get it to work, but it seems to be going well so far.

Would you like to see my Newsletter?  it is here:  www.michellessewingbasket.com.au 

Just click the tab "newsletter" in the top tool bar.

We will have a new look website in the next month, and that is exciting too.

My shop, Michelle's Sewing Basket

Multi Tasking ....

I think I can measure my recovery from 2 years of health nightmares by my capacity to multi task.  Up until recently I just couldn't do it!  It seemed to take every brain cell I had just to remember what I was supposed to be doing, without thinking of managing more than one thing at a time.

You can imagine then, that I feel great that today I'm sitting in my meals area, (close to the coffee!), working on two computers, and monitoring my Pfaff Sensation Embroidery machine at the same time!  I'm sure something will go pear shaped before the end of today, but right now things are humming along just wonderfully.

My husband Jim made me some great display thingy's for the children's clothes I embroidered last week (and a spare), and he managed to get my baby monitor working again.  We brought it when we were fostering and had the occasional baby to care for, then used it for Kevin, and now it is the secret weapon I have for multi tasking.  I can hear my embroidery machine, and am right on top of it when it stops.  The Pfaff Sensation is so reliable that I am confident that I won't have any thread jams or tension issues that sometimes frustrate us when we embroider, and so all I need to know is if the bobbin needs changing, or I need to do something with the embroidery.  

This week I hope to finish the Term 2 newsletter, and I'm doing it on Mac's Pages for the first time which is a little bit challenging, although I do have the comfort of knowing that I can set up an appointment with the Apple Genius if I need it. I'm also working solidly on the samples for the National Digitizing Event.  They are going really well, although I confess to starting with the easy stitch out's first.  Today is the first day of a big one!

What do you think of these two cuties?

When I was loading the photo's of the machine embroidered Owl and Elephant I found the photo's we took at Melbourne's La Nuit Blanche (The White Night) two weeks ago.

You can tell that we are still learning how to use our camera!

The light works were absolutely lovely, and seriously our photography skills leave a lot to be desired.  I think I will have to do a course in how to use the camera before we take off on another overseas adventure.

For now it is back to writing the newsletter, and embroidery!

Can You Tie a Bow?

I am up bright and early to get Kevin ready for school.  The activity of the last 10 days has caught up with me and I'd much rather be in bed catching another hour of sleep.  But since I'm here I thought I'd have a quick look for something to inspire everyone.

I often think that my bows look pathetic!  Bows seem to go everywhere .... wrapping presents, heirloom sewing ... everywhere.  Here is a terrific video I found with technique I think I will try.

As for me?  It is off to the Embroidery Machine when I finish clearing my emails this morning!

Back from Training

Do you ever find yourself looking at your diary and wondering how on earth you are going to get through the next week?  That was how I felt around 10 days ago.  Looking at my diary showed me that Jim would be interstate for 7 days while doing tech training, I had to cover his shifts at the shop, and finish writing instructions in preparation for the National Digitizing Event here in Melbourne, I had to get my laptop to the HP warranty repairer, I had to juggle Kevin and his special needs, remember our other son James's birthday, and get ready to go interstate myself as soon as Jim returned.  (Phew!)  It was a week I was dreading, but here I am "the day after" and we all survived!

My HP is back with a keyboard that has all the letters on it (if you missed my saga, my 6mth old HP Pavilion had lost the markings on more than half a dozen keys), and I have to say that I am really impressed by the kind folk at NCSS who did the repairs the same day I took it in!  Jim did his training, returned and took back all his shop shifts, Kevin survived the week without much going wrong, and I did remember James's birthday.  I've done my Certification training which means I can officially sell TruEmbroidery at the shop.  In fact I'm adding it to the online store as soon as I finish this blog post.

Sadly for the HP I'm falling in love with my Apple, and I have even started the newsletter (for the shop) on it.  I have a strong feeling that it is going to become my main computer!

Enrolments are coming in steadily now for the National Digitizing Event, so if you are still thinking about your enrolment you should probably get it done!  Remember you can enrol for 1/2 days or whole days, the enrolment forms and class details are on these web-sites www.michelleaitkendesigns.com.au and www.michellessewingbasket.com.au.

Tomorrow I will start to stitch all the samples for the National Digitizing Event.  It is my reward for being good and working on paperwork for what seems like forever!

Here is your inspirational picture for today!