Girl Friend Get Togethers

As it happens I have 2 daughter in laws who are quite entrepreneurial!  This week Kendal was invited to bring her Pampered Chef product to an event that had 50 attendees who also got to look at other wares that included aprons.  As it happens a local gal has begun a business making aprons,... [More]

LaRueSews-Quilts-Binding Isn’t the End

The subject matter this time is probably one of the “testiest” that I have approached.  We are nearing the end of making a quilt from start to finish.  Adding the bind is the best part, right up to stitching down the binding on the back.  The photos I am using were ma... [More]

Keeping It Simple with a Quick Casserole Carrier

If you are like me, you subscribe to more than one embroidery and quilting magazine and scour them all front to back when you finally get the chance. Sometimes I'm inspired by the projects in the magazines but many times I'm overwhelmed. And any time that I sit down to sew I'm likely... [More]

The Prom, the Purse and the Lady

Last time we met here, I left you with two photos that I said I would Identify when I came back from my little sojourn from the BLOG.  Here’s some answers for you.  Several months ago, my granddaughter told me that she planned to make her prom dress.  Since she was a senior... [More]

How a computer stopped an embroidery business ..

Computer repair can be costly, I don't just mean out of pocket cash .. but, cash that doesn't reach your pocket because your computer issues are halting business.  As you can probably tell, I have been MIA for the last 2-3 weeks.  Blame the computer .. I spent hours of my time tryi... [More]

Flag Day Celebration

Did you know that Flag Day is this Sunday?  It is nice to take a moment and remember how gratef [More]

Tea for two

Some people are surprised by our African tea cup designs... Why tea cups? What do tea cups and teapots have to do with Africa? Good question. What many people do not know is that South Africa used to be a British colony. For many years the British ruled South Africa and as a result many of the Briti... [More]

Where exactly did I put that? You mean I could make money tagging other people's precious items?

Every month is Start Your Own Business these days, but Brother has gotten serious about this concept.  Infact if you go to our website you can see a great financial opportunity that we have for you all.  You can actually save lots of money if you buy a PR-620 NOW!  Whether you are an ... [More]

Twitter - An Annual or Perennial in Your Social Media Garden?

Inspirational PlaceMy family is very fortunate that our home has been blessed with a beautiful garden in spite of having nary a green thumb in sight. When my wife and I first saw this property two-and-a-half years ago, it looked like something out of a magazine - the inside was pristine and the outs... [More]

June Brides...Old and New!

Did you hear me laughing this morning? I was reading an email from Quilter's World magazine and they were recommending that you re-purpose a wedding dress into a christening gown.  Not a bad idea, but for me that would never have worked because I had a mini-length wedding dress! I rem... [More]

A new roommate, a new niece and a new quilt!

You may remember my January 17 post "What is all this stuff and how did it get into my house?" Well, the situation has worsened. There is now 3 people's stuff in a house that was already overstuffed with 2 people's stuff. How in the world can this have happened? I was just beginnin... [More]

It seems the art has 100 colors, what is a digitizer to do??!!

I just had one of those embroiderer and 'can't make up her mind' customer interactions. The antagonist of the story, played by the customer, is a great water color painter -- if you don't believe her, just ask her -- and, she brings in 3 water color paintings.  Well,... [More]

I get by with a little help from my friends

Although I haven't posted in my blog for more than 10 weeks, you all have always been close to me in my thoughts and I've felt your warm collective hug. With the help of your prayers, warm thoughts, words of condolence and encouragement I've been able to somehow get through the dark days... [More]

LaRueSews-Quilts- Quilting and ME Working Together

Yes, friends of Ann The Gran, Quilting and Machine Embroidery are great partners.  They can be used in ways other than making a quilt with machine embroidered blocks.  The two following photos are the first of a number of photos what will appear on LaRueSews-Quilts in the not too distant f... [More]

Digitizing Training ~ The RUN Stitch

Sorry for taking the week off .. I really like to prep for Mother's Day .. after all, my Mom is THE Queen and I really like to dedicate the whole weekend to her .. cooking, cleaning, taking her shopping and and out to a nice dinner and maybe a movie (though there isn't much at the movies her... [More]

A Social Media Star is Born - The Many Facets of Facebook

Celebrity GossipThe prevailing wisdom of our celebritized culture seems to tell us that, when everyone has an opinion about you, you know you've done something right. Facebook is a celebrity, a big star. It's a cultural phenomenon. Everyone has an opinion on Facebook. And just as the tabloid... [More]

Spring has Sprung

Spring has sprung in New Jersey.  Everyone is out and about walking and enjoying the beautiful trees as they bloom. That is here in New Jersey, apparently Mother Nature has a few things confused and my grandchildren in Colorado are still wearing their snow boots. Don’t forget though that ... [More]

LaRueSews-Quilts-Batting, Which One Will I Choose?

We are nearing the time when you will be getting your quilt ready to quilt.  That means that you have to make some choices about batting. First of all, just what is batting.  Batting is the middle layer of the quilt that provides warmth and comfort that we all know as a quilt.  In wa... [More]

Art to stitches - what kind of art works well

Q:  You hear stories of beautiful embroidery designs created from sketches on a bar napkin.  Is that true?A:  Though I may have had gotten ideas from sketches, the better the art, the better the embroidered design will be. Your software undoubtedly can import a wide array of art.&nbs... [More]

Starting an online business

Q:  I heard that online businesses were a fad and that in time physical storefronts will emerge on top again.A:  Ask your local travel agent what they think of it being a fad !! Online stores are more popular than ever before, as a matter of fact, I was working on a deal with a large fran... [More]
On Feeling Young, New Friends & Lunch in Orlando

On Feeling Young, New Friends & Lunch in Orlando

Ann (AnnTheGran) CobbThanks for your Feedback

I'm really pleased that all of you really took to heart my request in my last letter to get involved with commenting on the new site. We had the most comments and participation we've had since I started blogging. Your feedback really does encourage me and my guests who write on the site to do the very best we can do. Please keep it up; the more you participate in my new site, the more you'll get from it.

Lunch with Eileen and Ann in Orlando

I'll start with an update on my Orlando event. We're getting lots of new people, and lots of new questions, but I want to let everyone know that we still have some room. We've also decided to expand the "door prize" opportunities; not only do we have almost a hundred door prizes, but Eileen and I have decided that we are going to host a private lunch both days for some of the winners. That means that there will be almost 40 winners who'll get a lovely (and free!) lunch with either me or Eileen. If we have the expected 200 or so attendees, that means a 1 in 5 chance of winning! We've extended the deadline for entry for that lunch to March 19, so if you've been sitting on the fence about going, it's time to get off! I've also added more detailed information about Eileen's seminars and my seminars at the event. Finally, I want to send out a special reminder to our users in Florida; don't delay registering just because you're local; when we're full, we're full! All the registration details are here.Deegee

New Blogger - Deegee

I'm proud to announce that we have another new guest blogger on the site, Deegee Hitzfelder of Deegee's Digi Designs. We've known Deegee for quite a while, but there's recently been a huge spike in interest in Deegee's wonderfully nostalgic designs due to a recent project she submitted to our friends over at Designs in Machine Embroidery Magazine. Deegee will be going through the treasure trove of projects that have been made using her designs, and sharing with us some of her favorites. Ken Parsons has also posted a few more quick ideas that include ways to creatively combine and manipulate designs. I hope you'll welcome Deegee and Ken and make them feel right at home by commenting on their submissions or asking them questions.

Magic Bookshelf - What's a Wiki?

Speaking of commenting and asking questions, you have certainly made my Beamish Boy very happy with all the nice comments on his Magic Bookshelf blog. Most of our users are pretty computer literate -- we are a web site, after all! -- but we're all busy too, which means we don't always have the time to keep up with the "lingo", and that's where Greg comes in. His post this week tackles another one of those things that you hear about -- wikis to be precise -- and how we are using them here on the new AnnTheGran.com to help our users stay knowledgeable and current on all the latest and greatest tips and techniques in the creative realm.

How I Keep Feeling Young

I think that's enough for you to go through this week, so I'll leave it at that. As always, please feel free to send me your own creations (click here to see how) and share your stories. Seeing how all of you find new and interesting ways to apply creativity in your own lives is what helps keep me feeling young and motivated!

Keep the Wow Coming,

Ann

Comments (3) -

I keep getting error messages on these blog emails, which has become quite annoying as I have to deal with them every single time.  My husband/computer guru says it's not my computer, so could you check on your end?


Line 439


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Thanks, DebbieMcC,


That does sound annoying. What e-mail program are you using to read the e-mails? There have been reports from some of our users who use AOL that the e-mails did not display properly. We have contacted AOL, and it seems to be an issue of compatibility between their mail client and the service we use to send out our e-mails. If you are not an AOL customer, could you let us know what mail client you are using (ie. Outlook, etc.)?


Will there be vendors at the Orlando meeting?  I am in the market for a stand-alone embroidery machine and do not know where to start.


Thanks.


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