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Rescue Dog Special Set

Rescue animals have been an excellent addition to my family for nearly 20 years. Many are like our little girl Lucy (black dog in the picture) – she was a family pet for a year and a half, but when they had a baby they decided that they didn’t want to deal with dog hair. She had a rough month bouncing from an Alabama shelter to rescue, then transported to Wisconsin, a foster home here and then she landed in her forever home with us. She approaches the world assuming that everyone adores her – and they usually do! Our most recent dog Sparky (brown dog in the picture) has had a tougher time of it. He came from a hoarding situation and as far as we can tell, he never met a kind human until he was rescued last year at almost 2 years old. It has been a big job teaching him that people are here to love him, not hurt him. We are making great progress and in our home he is a happy, CRAZY loving boy. He is the reason for this special set of designs. Last October, he suddenly started screaming in pain at random times. Our vet diagnosed him with a grade 3 luxating patella, which means that his right kneecap was sliding out of place and causing him severe pain. The only treatment was surgery by an orthopedic specialist. We scheduled it immediately and recovery was very rough, but ultimately, surgery was successful – making it worth every penny and every minute. Unfortunately, his other knee has developed the same problem. He had surgery on Thursday, March 28. He is my baby and not doing whatever is needed to get him back to his happy self is simply not an option – but it is a huge expense. I have created this set of 5 rescue themed designs and am selling the set for $5 to raise the funds for his surgery. If I am blessed enough to earn more than the costs associated with his surgery and recovery with this set, I will be donating any profit on the set above and beyond that to Brown Paws Rescue, the group that saved his life and works hard every day to save as many dogs as they can.

Thank you to everyone who has purchased so far – my heart is full! Some have asked how they can purchase more than one copy because the website does not allow duplicate purchases. You can use this Paypal Button to purchase additional copies. If you need me to email it to someone, please enter their email address in the notes box at checkout. DO NOT USE THE PAYPAL BUTTON TO PURCHASE THE DESIGN FOR YOURSELF – IT WILL NOT ADD THE DESIGNS TO YOUR ACCOUNT. This button is only to purchase additional copies as a gift for someone else or as a donation. To purchase for yourself, please use the links above or click here.

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How to transfer embroidery designs to an older embroidery machine

This post may contain affiliate links

What is PED Basic?

PED Basic is a card reader that allows you to transfer embroidery designs from your computer to an older Brother or Babylock embroidery machine (and a few newer ones).

Do I need a card reader?

If your embroidery machine has a USB port or can connect directly to your computer with a cord, you do not need a card reader. Cards were used to transfer designs before USB ports became common on embroidery machines. If you CANNOT use a USB stick or cord, your machine may have a slot that is approximately 2.5 inches tall for a card to be inserted. That is where the PED Basic comes in handy. I use one on my Babylock Ellure that is roughly 13 years old.

Where do I get a card reader?

I purchased mine on Amazon.

What else can I do with the PED Basic software?

You can size a design smaller by up to 10% and larger by up to 20%

Can I use it on Windows 10?

Yes. The card reader comes with a CD, but that is likely out of date. You can download the drivers and software directly from the Brother website.

Tip: My Windows Defender identified the software as malware and “helpfully” tried to quarantine it. I had to turn off Windows Defender to install and then turn it back on immediately after installing.

Can I use PED Basic on a Mac?

As far as I am aware, PED basic is Windows only. You could use it on a Mac if you use a Windows emulator like Boot Camp or Parallels.

Once you get your card reader up and running, check out all the fun projects you can make from A Creative Medley

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Bags bags and more bags!

You may have noticed, I am a huge fan of In the Hoop Zipper Bags. I now have 2 HUGE sets of 23 bags each. They contain the same size bags, with a key difference. The basic stipple bags are lined and can be made with fabrics that will fray. They have no raw edges exposed inside or out. The Vinyl bags are optimized for use with printed vinyl. Printed vinyl is more delicate than the glitter or marine vinyl that we are used to stitching, and it tears more easily. These bags have the minimum necessary stitches and I tried several corner styles until I found the best shape to give a crisp corner without being bulky or tearing. These bags are NOT lined, they have raw edges on the inside and they stitch up in a flash. Both types of bags are also available in smaller sets if you prefer that option.

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Summer Sale!

The Summer Sale is here!

Save 10% on all orders

Save 20% on orders over $15

Save 40% on orders over $30

Save 50% on orders over $60

Save 60% on orders over $100

No coupon code necessary

Sale ends Sunday May 17, 2018 at midnight US Central Time

 

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What is In the Hoop Embroidery?

Isn’t all machine done in the hoop? Absolutely, all machine embroidery is done using the hoop. In the Hoop or ITH embroidery means that all or most of a complete 3-d object is created on the embroidery machine. You aren’t putting a design onto something, you are actually making the bag, the stuffed toy, the mugrug, the keyfob, etc. right there on the embroidery machine. There is often a small seam at the end that you have to sew closed by hand or glue shut, but it is almost always done entirely on the embroidery machine with no sewing machine or significant hand sewing off the machine.

Instead of putting a design onto a bag, an ITH design will have you create the entire bag on the embroidery machine, zipper and all – like this Unicorn Zipper Bag

Zipper bags are not the only thing you can create In the Hoop – you can make Stuffed Animals, Stockings, felt pieces, play food, full size baby bibs and burp cloths, learning designs. The possibilities are endless. All of these designs were made without touching a sewing machine. Some required that a small seam is sewn shut by hand at the end, but that is it. Everything else, including making the arms and ears on the stuffed toys AND attaching them, is done right on the embroidery machine and is built in as part of the design.

 

In the hoop designs come in sizes for all machines, from 4×4 up to the biggest industrial hoops on the market.

Are they hard?

In the hoop designs can be extremely simple, like those Raccoon and Squirrel coloring pages and Doodle-its above. They are literally 3 steps – easier than an applique or even a regular design with lots of color changes. The bunny zipper bag is a bit more complicated, just because it has more steps. A good design from a reputable digitizer will come with instructions for each design. Sometimes they will be general – for example all of my ITH Stocking designs are made exactly the same way, you don’t need different instructions for each one. More complicated designs should come with more in depth instructions – for example the Peekaboo designs are unique for each one. Often you can also find YouTube tutorials as well.

Can I see how they work?

Sure! Here are a few videos people have made for some of my designs:

Peekaboo Bunny Critter Pouch on YouTube

Peekaboo Koala on YouTube:

Peekaboo Bunny on YouTube:

Part 1: 

 

Part 2: 

Doodle Its:

Can I try some for free?

Of course! This Maker keyfob is free here at A Creative Medley. Join our Facebook group and you will find several in the files and join our Newsletter to hear about our weekly Friday Freebie – each week a different design is free with any purchase. They are frequently In the Hoop designs.

Where Can I find more?

All of the designs shown above are from A Creative Medley

These are a few of my favorite In the Hoop designers. They all provide great instructions and customer service. In no particular order:

Loopy Lion Designs

Sevens Emporium

Ohana Applique Designs

Wruckus Embroidery Designs

Bobbin for Appliques

Lovely Leaf Applique

Digistitches

The Creative Frenzy (Formerly Dreamcatcher Designs)

BeeStitchin Embroidery

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Stitch it, cut it or buy it!

I am excited to share my first cut file with you! I am branching out a bit and adding a few cutting files as well as creating shirts on Amazon Merch. What that means for you is that for selected designs you can purchase an embroidery file, a cut file or just order the shirt to be printed for you! My very first one is this fun Sewing Keeps the Crazy Away – I don’t know that it is true, but we can pretend! You can choose the Embroidery Design

 

The Cut File:

Or the T-shirt!

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Friday Freebie June 30, 2017

It is Friday again and that means it is time for another Freebie! It has become tradition, each Friday I post a different design free with any purchase (with a few exceptions during sales, etc). This allows me to give you a great deal on some of my best designs or new releases. Make sure you grab it while you can – Friday Freebies expire Saturday night – so the 4×4 zipper bag will go back to regular price at Midnight on June 31, 2017.

This week, the brand new 4×4 zipper bag with music motif is our Freebie. Add the zipper bag, along with any other (not free) design and a coupon will appear in your cart. Click that coupon to apply it and it will remove the cost of the zipper bag. You must have both in your cart for the coupon to appear.

I also listed the 5×7 zipper bag with music motif this week. It includes designs to make both a horizontal wristlet style zipper bag AND a vertical cross body style zipper bag – 2 designs for the price of one. Really, if you buy the 5×7, and get the 4×4 freebie, you will get three for the price of one!

 

I have over 20 motifs between the stockings and bibs – which ones do you want to see next as zipper bags? Drop a note in the comments and let me know!

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Valentines Day Sale

It is time for the quarterly sale at A Creative Medley and to make it even better, we teamed up with several other digitizers to “share the love”

Fill up your cart and head to the checkout – the coupon will show up in your cart and all you have to do is click on it to add the coupon and claim your savings!

Head over to the designs at A Creative Medley and grab your goodies!

If you want to save even more, join our Facebook Group for the special add-on code just for group members. Then visit the rest of our digitizing friends who are participating in the Share the Love event.