There is not enough space to tell you all the wonderful information and special friendships that occurred in Orlando over the weekend of March 27 and 28, 2009.  I would not have the first idea where to begin, but I do want to attempt to give you a few of the best highlights that I got from the best darned Community Circle ever!  Well, from A (aprons) to Z (zippers) we just could not have wished for anything more.

Did I mention that the food and conversation were excellent?

I personally was unable to go to the Apron, etc., presentation, but I do know that they made some really unusual designs, including a ‘slip on’ single piece apron.  That Mary Mulari is one imaginative woman.  You can see her work and designs at:  https://www.marymulari.com.  Mary is doing interesting things, especially with zippers!  You just have to check that one out.

Then there was Rita Ferro.  If she is ever in your neck of the woods, you have to see her.  Not only is she a wonderfully interesting person, but has a sense of humor that will leave you in stitches - - - so to speak.  She wrote the book “Life is not a Dress Size” about 10 years ago.  You can still get that out of print book by looking on sites that have used books for sale.  Rita can help you to see the dream bed that will make you feel like royalty in a fantasy, wrapped up in softness and delight.  You can currently catch her on Facebook.

The next demonstration was from James Raymer of Dalco Home Sew.  Despite his ‘corny’ jokes, he managed to dazzle the crowd with some very pretty appliqué designs. Those have a total of 15 sewouts for some really nice embroidery with appliqué projects.  When he had the group test the heat applied crystals, they were standing 3 deep in line to play with the fun bling!  I even got into it and you will be seeing some great projects from me in the future!

June Mellinger gave a terrific demonstration of the newest Brother machines which caused more than one of us to faint!  Those machines do everything except diaper the baby, and frankly, they are probably working on that too!

We even had Rick Macali show us the Whys and Wherefores of Design Creations.  He really helped us to understand why digitizing is done as it is.  That makes us much so much better at doing our craft and he was so informative.

My presentation included some very helpful computer features and software that are free for anyone.  I also talked about motivation in business as well in completing our embroidery projects.  People shared their motivational tips as well.

One of my free and very useful programs is called “Snipping Tool.”  When you are on the Internet, you can select a portion of the information that you see on the screen and save it as a ‘jpg’ file.

You can save your ‘capture’ (snippet) in free form or rectangle:

Or you can capture the Full Screen:

As promised, here is the XP version of the “Snipping Tool” download.  This is the one to download if you are using the Windows XP operating system.  If you are using Windows Vista, follow these steps:

1. Select the Start Button in the lower left hand corner and then Select Help and Support. 
2. In the Search box, type Snip and press Enter. 
3. Download the small program.

There really was a lot more, these were just a few of the things that made the Community Circle 2009 the best of the best!

May I suggest that you consider starting a “Christmas Club” just for yourself for next year’s Community Circle?  Just saving a few dollars a week can add up quickly and you will be delighted that you attend.  I know I am!