Kristie's Kreations

Blank Non-logoed Items

noreply@blogger.com (KKreations) — Wed, 22 Sep 2010 16:50:00 +0000

Not only does Kristie's Kreations put logos on items, but we can also provide non-logoed items that are hard to find!

These blank bandanas we recently acquired for Deseri Garcia with Vida Aventura are a good example.

Deseri is conducting a team building event in which she will be dividing the particpants into ten different groups. Each group needs to have their own color of bandana. The participants will be writing on them during the activity so we had to find somewhat lighter ones.

Finding bandanas in 3 or 4 different colors is pretty easy to find but when it comes to ten or more different colors then it becomes difficult. As you can see, we were able to find a variety of colors and she even had different colors to choose from!

If you are looking for bandanas whether printed or not then let Kristie's Kreations know! We are more than welcome to help!

Are you looking for a hard to find item that will be blank without your logo on it? What is it?

LinkedIn Company Profile

noreply@blogger.com (KKreations) — Wed, 28 Jul 2010 18:01:00 +0000

Are you on LinkedIN? If you are not then you definitely should be!! Kristie's Kreations just added a Company Profile Page on LinkedIN. Please check it out and follow us! We would really appreciate it!

Christmas In July Special - Picture Weave

noreply@blogger.com (KKreations) — Thu, 15 Jul 2010 18:54:00 +0000

We are having an awesome sale this July! Our Picture Weave items have always been such a wonderful gift! Our customers love them! Check out this testimonial which proves it!

We have them on special this month so Start your Christmas Shopping Now! Don't miss out on this unique gift that will be cherished for years to come!

For more information, Check out our Facebook page!

Call or email now to get your blanket or Wall Hanging going!

Christmas in July --- Holiday Cards

noreply@blogger.com (KKreations) — Tue, 13 Jul 2010 12:05:00 +0000

A well know tradition, of course, is sending out Christmas or Holiday Cards cards. I am sure that you have done this personally, but have you ever thought about sending a Holiday Card to your customers? Holiday cards are a great way to just say Hi….We are thinking about you and appreciate your patronage over the last year.

Think about the number of holiday cards you receive during the holiday season. I am sure personally, you receive many but how many do you receive from the companies that you purchase things from on a yearly, monthly or even weekly basis? The answer is probably not very many. I think I can count on one hand how many professional holiday cards that Kristie’s Kreations receives during this time of the year.

Not only are cards for the holiday season but they can also be sent throughout the year. You can send a card for any reason really that you want...........St. Patrick's Day..........Spring Card........Cinco de Mayo Card......Summer Card.......Fall card or any other reason that you can think. Cards don't just have to be sent during the holiday season.

Cards are one of the easiest ways to get your name and brand in front of your customers. Have you thought about sending cards to your customers? Why not make this the first year? Let us help you start your holiday card sending tradition. Give us a call!

Christmas in July

noreply@blogger.com (KKreations) — Mon, 12 Jul 2010 15:45:00 +0000

As you read that title, you may be thinking...........What? It is still the summer! Why is Kristie's Kreations already starting to talk about the holidays now? Well, the holidays are REALLY right around the corner.

There are many different places that like to promote Christmas in July specials. I thought that I would take a different approach to it. In reality, November and December are not that far away. Often times this is the time of the year when companies like to give their clients something special.

In the next couple of weeks, I will talk about many different ideas for the upcoming holiday season. I will talk about such things as cards, special pens, personalized gifts, and other items to show off our brand. It really is not too early to start planning!

Example of Client Branding

noreply@blogger.com (KKreations) — Mon, 05 Jul 2010 12:00:00 +0000

Last week I talked some about how many things are involved with branding with your apparel. When a customer says they want to get shirts embroidered with their logo, they do not realize how many things they will have to think about. Once I start asking questions, they quickly realize that it is not just a matter of finding a red shirt and embroidering the logo on the left chest of it. Even after a shirt is decided upon, that is not always the shirt that the customer ends up with years later.

One of our customers Mark Miller, of Mark Miller Cleaning, is a good example of this. Kristie’s Kreations has been embroidering Mark’s shirts for over 3 years. Obviously Mark’s company does cleaning but there really is more involved than simply vacuuming carpets. They also wet and dry clean carpets, complete new construction clean up and clean both residences and commercial offices. I am sure there are even more things that they also do. Not only does Mark do the cleaning but he also has additional crews that consist of both men and women.

When Mark first approached Kristie’s Kreations about getting shirts for his crew he knew that he wanted red and bright yellow shirts. He had purchased screen printed shirts in the past and wanted something nicer for his crews. They would be worn by all of his crews but he can have a high turnover which means he did not want to spend a lot of money on the shirts. Often times when someone leaves, the shirts are not returned to him. He also wanted a nicer shirt that would be just for him that he could wear when he was out networking or meeting with clients.

Over the years, we tried several different red and yellow shirts. We tried ones that have Teflon in them; we tried different weighted shirts, different material, different brand names, etc. The shirt that Mark wears for networking and meeting with clients was not as hard as finding a shirt for the crew.

At first he just wanted one shirt for everyone. He then decided that it would look nicer if we found a shirt that had both ladies and men’s styles. Mark finally has found a shirt that works the best for both him as well as his employees. They are comfortable and stay looking nice with the wear and tear of the cleaning. We now only go with the red shirts and yellow embroidery since he found the yellow ones show the stains more. When Mark finds that he needs news shirts, he now just needs make a phone call and tell me the sizes. Within two weeks, he has his order in his hands. Last week in face I received one of these phone calls from Mark. Four days later, he had the shirts in his hands!

Mark has been able to develop the apparel brand for his business. It has taken some time but he is extremely happy with the decision he has made. He often times receives compliments from clients or others that see them out and about on how nice his crew looks. This very important to Mark because this look shows how important he takes his work as well as his crew…..right down to matching shirts which they wear every day!

So many things to think about with apparel branding!

noreply@blogger.com (KKreations) — Fri, 02 Jul 2010 12:00:00 +0000

When looking at the apparel to be worn by the employees of a company many factors come into play. Here are just a few….
- Where will these be worn? (trade show, in the office, outside, golf outing, etc.)
- Will these be for sales calls or to be worn when working?
- What type of work will be done while these are being worn (cleaning offices, in an air conditioning building, construction site)?
- What season do you need the clothing for?
- Will you have different ‘uniforms’ for the different seasons?
- Will you stick with the colors in the logo or go with a variety of colors?
- Do you have both ladies and men that will be wearing the uniform?
- Are you going to need special sizes such as tall or 6XL?
- What do you want to accomplish with your apparel?
- How concerned are you about quality of the apparel?
- How concerned are you about brand name? (Nike, Cutter & Buck, Carhardt, Adidas, Columbia, etc.)
- Do you have a budget for your apparel?
- How will the apparel be purchased……..
o Will your employees be purchasing for themselves?
o Will the company be purchasing the items?
o Will the company be going in half for the items?
o Will the employees be given a certificate to purchase whatever they want?
- Do you want embroidery, screen print or both?

As you can see, there are many things to think about. This is not a short process. In fact, there are times that a decision is made but it must be changed such as a particular shirt is ordered but once worn a few times, you realize that it just doesn’t fit you well. No worries, if this is the case, we will go back to the drawing board and find another shirt. There are many different ones to choose from!

Are you ready to start developing the apparel brand for your company or association? If so, give us a call!

Necessary product for a touch screen cell phone

noreply@blogger.com (KKreations) — Thu, 01 Jul 2010 12:30:00 +0000

For the last couple of weeks, I have been testing out a new Promotional Product for Kristie's Kreations customers. I was wary of it at first so I decided that I needed to give it a try. Now, I really like it so I want to tell you about it.

Everyone over the age of 15 in Fishers, Indiana has a cell phone or at least a monitor. How many of those cell phones are touch screen…….probably a majority of them. If you own a touch screen cell phone then you know how dirty they often get.

This new promotional item, called a WIPE-it Now Screen Cleaner, helps your screen to stay clean. It is always attached to your phone so you can use it the very second you need it instead of having to remember to clean it when you get home or on your shirt. Not only will you use it but you can use them as a new give away to your clients or potential clients. Your logo will be in front of them every time they pick up their phone! Think about how often you use your cell phone! That is how many times your logo will be top of mind with your customers!

It really does stick to your phone or whatever you are going to use it on. I thought for sure it would come off my phone in my purse or pocket………but it doesn’t! If it starts to get less sticky then you just have to clean it!

It cleans the monitor screens of all mobile electronic devices...
cell phones, MP3 & DVD players, digital cameras, GPS devices and laptops.

It is inexpensive, lightweight and mailable! Would you like your logo to be in front of your customer so many different times throughout the day? If so, give me a call! We can help you!

When is a logo placed on the butt of a shirt the best location?

noreply@blogger.com (KKreations) — Wed, 30 Jun 2010 15:36:00 +0000

I am always talking about how important it is to show your logo when you are out and about. But, unfortunately, on a bike ride yesterday I didn't have anything on that was logoed.

I can’t tell you why I didn’t because I don’t know! I have so many logoed items such as embroidered hats and left chest embroidered shirts. The hats would not have worked because I was wearing a bike helmet. The shirts would have worked but only when I stopped or sat up at a stop sign. Even at that, the people would have had to have been to be looking straight at me and pretty close to me to be able to read it.

I should have worn a shirt that has the Kristie’s Kreations logo on the back. This particular bike ride though, I was wearing a backpack because we had to make a run to the Fishers Library to return a book. Unfortunately, I do not have my logo on the backpack. This also means the logo on the back of my shirt would not have worked for my bike ride. It looks as if I am out of luck to show my logo when I go on a bike ride and need to make additional stops.

Then later in the day, I was driving to pick up my daughter from day care. We were following a bicyclist. Because we were going to be turning soon, I stayed behind him instead of passing him only to cut him off.

While I drove behind him I was looking at the shirt he was wearing. He was totally decked out in bicycling gear…………shorts, shirt, helmet, bike shoes, etc. He was in fact wearing a logoed shirt! Unfortunately I could not see the large logo on his back because he was bent over riding his bicycle. I drive a large Expedition too which sits me up higher than most. Even with that, I was still unable to determine what the logo was.

The logo needed to be across the bottom of his shirt on his butt. This may seem like a totally weird location for a logo but think about it…………..If the logo had been screen printed across the bottom of the shirt then I would be writing about the logo I saw on the bottom of the shirt. Instead I am writing about the logo that was in the wrong location therefore I could not read it.

Next time I go out for a bike ride, I plan to wear my Kristie’s Kreations logo across the bottom of my shirt. This is the best placement for my logo for this situation.

When you are thinking about getting logoed apparel, you really need to think about the placement of the logo on the item. At Kristie’s Kreations, we can help you determine the best location for your logo branding! What event do you have coming up that you need to show off your logo? Contact us so we can help you.

Racing to Wear Your Logo

noreply@blogger.com (KKreations) — Fri, 25 Jun 2010 12:19:00 +0000

I have officially registered for my second 5K race ever! I am one of a record breaking 900+ participants signed up for the Fishers Freedom Festival 5K Race on Saturday. This is very exciting for me!

My first 5K race was a St. Patrick's Day Race (my favorite holiday after Christmas!). Because this was my first one so I had no idea what to expect. Not only that but the weather was about 40 degrees and during my training I had only ran outside one time. I really did not know what to wear, how it would go, or if I would even succeed in completing it. I am very happy to say that not only did I complete it but I had a great time and am now signed up for my second one.

This5K race is similar to my first one in that I again don't know what to expect. This will be my very first 5K race when it is REALLY warm outside. I think the forecast says that it will be in the 80's when we race.

A couple of weeks ago I got my hair cut a little differently which has caused some problems with my last few workouts, I have had to wear a hat, which I never did before, so that my hair does not fall in my face. This means that I MUST have a hat to wear during the 5K. The one that I have been wearing is great, especially since it is embroidered with Kristie's Kreations two K's but it is pretty warm.

Because of this I have ordered several new hats that will be embroidered and I will be trying them out. Besides my Kristie's Kreations embroidered hat, I am not sure what else I will wear. I am quite sure that whatever I choose, they will be logoed in some way with Kristie's Kreations.

It is very important that I show my logo as often as I can! Even if all of the 900+ racers do not see my apparel, the few that will race around me will.

What kind of events do you attend that you make sure you are wearing your logoed apparel?

New Style of Logo Embroidery....Shoulder!?!?!?

noreply@blogger.com (KKreations) — Thu, 24 Jun 2010 15:35:00 +0000

As I worked out today, CNN was on one of the several TV’s lined up on the wall. I had my ipod playing so I was not listening to any of the TV’s. The TV showing CNN caught my attention though. They were walking down a long line of people waiting patiently for the Apple Store to open so they could purchase their new iPhone. They had started towards the back of the line and were walking their way up to the storefront. Because of this, I was only able to see most of their backs.

As I watched the TV, several thoughts were going through my mind including……

-First of all I wondered why they would all stand for hours in that line when in a few days it will be available without the wait. Or better yet, whey didn’t they order it and have it shipped to them instead of waiting in that really long line! I don’t have an iPhone so I guess I don’t fully understand! (I would love to have one thought! :))

-I wondered where they were. There is no way they are here in Indy because it has been in the 80's and 90's lately. They had to be some place cold.

-Most of those in line were wearing jackets. It seemed like many of them were wearing the exact same jacket in fact! I noticed the same thing on many of those jackets…..I could tell what brand name they were wearing!

You probably wonder how because I already told you that I only saw most of their backs!

Well, many of them were wearing North Face Jackets. North Face Jackets have their logo embroidered on the back right shoulder.

Is this the new location for logos to be placed when embroidered? It sure caught my eye!

Would you want your logo there to catch everyone’s eye?

This really is a must read location for logos! When done correctly, it can even be seen from far away and you will find people coming up closer to you to see what is on your right shoulder!

What We Have Been Up To....

noreply@blogger.com (KKreations) — Wed, 23 Jun 2010 23:22:00 +0000

I feel like I have been really absent lately! That is very true! We have had multiple embroidery projects, a couple of screen print jobs as well multiple promotional products jobs!! We have been very busy! Check out some of the things we have been up to...........

Fishers Pediatric Dentistry...

We also did some embroidery for them but I can't seem to find a picture of those shirts! I have more to do though so I will remember to take a photo this time! :)

Indiana Water Environment Association.........

We have been working on multiple items for this group! One of them was we developed an order form so that all of their members could order items for themselves. More to come about that so stay tuned!!

Stanley Steemer............

Mark Miller Cleaning.......... Left chest and Jacket Back Size Embroidery

Focal Point Studios..........

There have been many more projects to show but I thought I would show you just a few!

Do you want to see your logo just like these? If so, contact us!

Changes to the Custom Apparel Industry

noreply@blogger.com (KKreations) — Tue, 22 Jun 2010 16:42:00 +0000

In the past couple of months, several of my suppliers have been going through changes. Two of my favorite apparel suppliers in fact are

First of all, the two suppliers who had a local showroom, of which I have taken many customers to over the years, is closing. Unfortunately, I found this out in a horrible way. I was taking two customers to the showroom so they could look at, touch and try on some samples. We walked in the door and saw lots and lots of empty shelves and racks! I was shocked! I believe I just stood there with my mouth wide open. That is when I found out that on July 1 they are closing their doors and I will no longer be able to pick up orders there. The company is not closing they are simply closing their local location.

Many of my other apparel suppliers are also making price changes over the next couple of months. Because I have been no extent on my blog, I have not talked about this. I figured the best way to communicate this to you is by posting a letter that one of my favorite suppliers sent to me. Here it is:

Business Associates:
I want to share with you the current challenges in the promotional apparel market and why you might be seeing increased prices in our industry. Because promotional apparel is globally sourced, various factors influence the cost of a promotional product:

• Raw material costs (i.e. cotton,
polyester, nylon, etc.)
• Labor costs
• Transportation costs
• Inflation in developing countries
• Duties and tariffs
• Foreign exchange rates
• Non-market costs

These factors, of course, do not affect every product in the same way, and suppliers also have many ways that they can help control prices. Nonetheless, current pricing is being affected by two primary factors: raw material and labor costs. Raw material costs have been rapidly increasing over the last several years. Taking cotton as an example, the following chart illustrates this dramatic increase over the last five years.

Source: Index Mundi, “Cotton Monthly Price,” http://www.indexmundi.com/commodities/?commodity=cotton&months=

The other key factor is labor costs. China is undergoing rapid business growth, which is resulting both in a shortage of labor and in workers’ demand for higher wages, as we’ve recently seen affect the automotive industry. Meanwhile, factories in other regions do not have sufficient infrastructure to support an increase in consumer demand.

Amid these two driving factors, there are smaller factors at play, as well. Most notably, the Chinese government, in anticipation of the upcoming G20 Summit, announced that they will allow their currency (RMB) to appreciate. This will increase import prices across Asia, negatively impacting the price of industry apparel.

With so many influencing factors, it is impossible to predict the full extent of the price pressures on our industry. But best estimates suggest that we face a near-to-mid-term period of rising costs until new production capacity is possible.
I hope this information offers you insight into the current pressures on our market. Please let me know if you have any questions.

I look forward to hearing from you.

Who's Who in Promotional Products??

noreply@blogger.com (KKreations) — Wed, 21 Apr 2010 13:05:00 +0000

Recently I put a post in my Facebook status that said, "If you are supposed to be my 'competition' then how can you NOT understand what I do??". I often times find that customers are confused about the difference between me and others. I was surprised to meet this person and they were also confused. This made me realize that I really need to explain the differences. I found this information on the PPAI (Promotional Products Association International) website and copied most of it.

Advertiser (Buyer): The company that buys the product from the distributor to use as a promotional tool; the promotional consultant’s client.

Promotional Consultant (Distributor): This is Kristie's Kreations! The promotional consultant develops solutions to marketing challenges through the innovative use of promotional products and is a resource to corporate buyers, marketing professionals and others.

Supplier: A promotional products company that manufactures, imports, converts, imprints or otherwise produces or processes promotional products offered for sale through promotional consultants.

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Generate customer referrals with Promotional Products

noreply@blogger.com (KKreations) — Tue, 20 Apr 2010 17:32:00 +0000

Have you ever taken a few minutes to think about the referrals that you receive? Referrals are a major way to grow one’s business. In fact, many companies do not advertise and grow simply from networking and referrals.

How do you go about getting referrals? Do you ask for referrals? Have you ever thought about using promotional products to receive more referrals?

Studies have shown that customers who received promotional products are 14% more likely to provide leads than those that did not receive a promotional product? In fact, salespeople who give promotional gifts to their customers receive 22% more referrals than salespeople who do not use promotional products.

When you give a promotional product to your customers, how does it make you feel? Not only did the person receiving the gift feel good but the person giving it also feels really good about it. Gifts are always received well by customers even if it does have your logo on it.

They can be used as a one-time promotion to simply say ‘Thank You’. Several promotional items can be themed to a certain promotion and be given throughout a certain time frame. Either way, providing promotional gifts increases business referrals.

Have you found this to be true for you?

What promotional products to you give to customers for referrals?

How would I use promotional products?

noreply@blogger.com (KKreations) — Thu, 15 Apr 2010 12:07:00 +0000

There is an easy answer to that question. There are many different ways that promotional products can be used!!

Recently reading through information from PPAI (Promotional Products Association International). They recently had independent research studies conducted. These studies showed that promotional products are effective marketing tools. Here are some of the ways promotional products are most commonly used:

Advertising Campaigns
Promotional product mailings can dramatically improve response rates.

Customer Goodwill
Promotional products foster customer goodwill (positive attitudes and feelings) toward a company and its salespeople.

Customer Referrals
Generate customer referrals using promotional products.

Direct Mail
Make a significant difference in direct mail response rates with the use of promotional products.

Employee Awards & Incentives
Awards and incentive programs improve performance and motivate employees.

Repeat Business
Customers come back more frequently when you implement direct mail programs using promotional products.

Three Dimensional Direct Mail Packaging
Packaging of promotional products can evoke curiosity, as well as increase direct mail response rates.

Tradeshows
Promotional products increase traffic to an exhibitor's tradeshow booth.

Buy Local

noreply@blogger.com (KKreations) — Wed, 14 Apr 2010 13:19:00 +0000

In the past, I have asked the question, “Who do you buy from?” Today I am asking you, “Do you buy local?” I think it is very important to buy from the local guy before the big chains. I know that everyone is watching prices these days. I do the exact same thing for some things but others I am willing to pay a little bit more so that I am buying local.

An example is this weekend we were doing lawn work and my husband and I rented a sod cutter. We had two choices very close to our house. One was a locally owned store and the other was a ‘box chain store’. We looking into the prices and decided that it was more important to use to spend a few dollars more and rent it from the locally owned store. A friend, who likes to tease me about this, came over and started to ask us where we rented it from. He then stopped in mid sentence and said, “Let me guess”, the local store.

Yesterday I was reading a publication from the Fishers Chamber of Commerce Fishers Business Insider. One of the articles in there was about doing just this, buying local. There were a few interesting facts listed that I thought I would share.

-For every $100 spent at a locally owned business, $45 was generated back into the local economy. For every $100 spent at a large retail chain, only $143 stays in the local economy.
-If every family in Indiana shifted $6 from their weekly budegt to purchase from Indiana based businesses, the state’s economy would be enhanced by almost $730 million.
-As a consumer, you pay 81 percent more on a product for value-added services such as packaging, transportation, and energy than you would if you bought local.

2010 Golf Season

noreply@blogger.com (KKreations) — Tue, 13 Apr 2010 20:11:00 +0000

The 2010 Golf Season has just begun! Every time I drive by a local golf course I see more and more people out playing. Will you be one of these golfers out on the course soon? Have you already been out hitting the balls around?

The next time you go, will you be going out with clients?……..Attending a golf outing?…………Sponsoring a hole?

If you answered yes to any of these questions…………..Do you have your supplies ready?

Do you have a pocket full of your logoed ball markers and tees to quickly pull out of your pocket when someone needs one? What about extra logoed golf towels for those really warm days when someone needs to dry their hands?

Do you have the logoed water bottles, logoed chocolate or the logoed first aid kits ready for your sponsor table when those players make it to your hole and need a little something different?

It’s not too late! You still have time to order these items so that you WILL be ready the next time you want to pass out those necessary items on the golf course. Let us help you with your next golf outing!

Isn't a color a color?

noreply@blogger.com (KKreations) — Mon, 29 Mar 2010 20:41:00 +0000

Not always!!! Often times you will hear RGB or PMS colors. There really is a reason for this. When you had your logo designed, you carefully chose the colors that you liked and that fit your brand.

The graphic designer may have shown you a booklet full of different colors or just simply showed you how your logo would look with different colors. The book was most likely full of Pantone Colors. This is the best way to make sure your logo is consistent from one media to the next is by choosing a pantone color.

Pantone colors are not always able to be reproduced exactly. Embroidery is a good example of this. There are many different thread colors but not as many as there are pantone colors. Because of this, we simply find the thread that is the closest match to the pantone color.

Here are the three most commonly used color descriptions:

RGB – Red, green, blue – This is mostly used for web and photography for displaying the images in electronic systems.

CMYK – Cyan, magenta, yellow, black – This is used for printed material such as the four color process. It is often times used to describe the printing process itself.

PMS – Pantone Matching System – This is a standardized color reproduction system.

What Format Do You Need My Logo In?

noreply@blogger.com (KKreations) — Mon, 29 Mar 2010 20:27:00 +0000

Have you heard of .eps or .ai format?

When you placed an order for promotional products or embroidery you were probably asked to provide your logo in .eps or .ai format. Were you confused about what these are? If so, you are not alone!

Below are brief descriptions to help you understand the differences:

.eps - Vector art file – This can be enlarged or shrunk without losing the quality of the artwork.

.ai - Illustrator file – This is also vector artwork that can be enlarged or shrunk without losing the quality. We prefer the original artwork with the outlines. Sometimes we do not have the same fonts that you may have. If artwork is given to us and the fonts are not in outlines then the look of the logo can totally change if we do not have the same font file.

.psd – Photoshop file – This is mostly used for photographs. Photographers like this program to edit photographs or create collages.

.jpg – This is the most common format. It is a compressed file to help in reducing the storage size.

.gif – A bitmap image – This is commonly used on the web. It is well suited for simpler images.

.tiff - A computer file format for storing images, including photographs and line art. It is typically used for printed

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No More Promotional Products for Credit Cards!

noreply@blogger.com (KKreations) — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 15:06:00 +0000

When I was attending Indiana State University for my undergraduate degree, I remember frequent events held around the fountain by credit card companies. They were simply trying to get us to sign up for their credit cards.

They were fun events that made us want to participate…that was if we had time on our way to class! Sometimes we signed up just because we would receive a cool promotional product with the ISU logo on it!

According to a press release from the White House, the new law states that credit card companies are no longer allowed to give gifts or any promotional items in order to entice students, or anyone else, to sign up for a credit card. Wow! Did you know this has changed? So much for hanging out at the fountain on the campus of Indiana State University!

Happy Birthday Nathan!!

noreply@blogger.com (KKreations) — Wed, 03 Mar 2010 13:00:00 +0000

I try to keep this blog business related but every once in awhile I add a couple personal notes. Today in particular I want to do just that.......Happy 7th Birthday Nathan!! My little boy turns 7 today! He is very excited and I hope he has a wonderful day!

March 3 is a very special day to have a birthday. Not only is Nathan's birthday 03-03-03 but he was born on his mom's birthday as well!

Happy Birthday to my special boy, Nathan!

Hoops for Embroidery

noreply@blogger.com (Tailwynd) — Tue, 02 Mar 2010 14:28:00 +0000

How do we get the shirt to stay in the machine while it is embroidering? Well the simple answer to this question is by hoops. And there is not just one hoop. There are several different types and sizes of hoops. There are a few that are the most common though.

We also have our favorite sized hoop. This is because most of the embroidery we do fits into this hoop. In fact, we have more of this sized hoop than any other sized hoop. This allows us to be the most productive with this sized hoop because we can have multiple shirts hooped and ready to go as soon as the others are finished!

Have you ever seen a logo that is just way too large for the shirt or maybe even the person wearing it? There may be several reasons this was done but one the most common reason is because the logo was created the wrong size therefore the wrong hoop was used. When creating a logo, you have to think about what sized shirt the logo will be going on.

We do have a unique hoop that we use when we embroider flat items such as monogram sheets or material that will later be made into a stocking, quilt or garment bag. This hoop can be a challenge though because we have to totally change the machine around and move the ‘table’ part of the machine. This is the hoop that allows us to embroider the largest design.

If we have a large design that we want to embroider on an item that is not flat then we do have another large hoop that we can use. Because this hoop is so large, it is flimsy and we can not put thick material into it.

Some of our hoops don’t even look like hoops at all. They are basically flat metal pieces that we use to stick the material to.

Believe it or not, we have special hoops that are used for hats and yet other hoops that we use for simply the back of the hat! Who knew there were so many different sized and styles of hoops!

Welcome March!

noreply@blogger.com (KKreations) — Tue, 02 Mar 2010 02:47:00 +0000

March is a great month! There are so many fun holidays that fall in this month that I just love! Not only is my birthday, and my son's birthday, in March but there is an awesome and very fun holiday……St. Patrick's Day!

What a fun time to celebrate and pass out handouts to your friends and clients. This is not your typical gift giving holiday which makes it an even better day to give a memorable gift to someone! There actually are some really fun items that are designated just for St. Patrick's Day. Everyone knows that on St. Patrick’s Day you must wear green or you will get pinched! Don’t come around me on St. Patrick’s Day not wearing green! If you do, you can expect to get pinched! St. Patrick’s Day is one of my favorite holidays! Last year I wore a green boa from my first meeting at 7:30 up until dinner with my family! What a fun day! If you want to be remembered on this fun and unique day then there is still time to get your items ordered and delivered on time!

Not only are there wonderful events in March but it also means that Spring is right around the corner! Welcome Spring! I am ready for you to get here!

Machine Limits with Embroidery

noreply@blogger.com (KKreations) — Thu, 25 Feb 2010 15:00:00 +0000

Embroidery is great! When done well, it looks very professional and neat! There are some limits to embroidery though.

One limit, which many of you have heard me say, is if I can get it into my machine then I will embroider on it. This means that if I can’t make it fit into my machine then I am limited and cannot embroider on it. The embroidery machine is similar to a sewing machine in that it has a needle (15 in fact) and a bobbin. The item that is being embroidered on has to go between these two objects. It also has to fit in the area, go into a hoop and move around once in the area.

Sometimes we embroider on large items such as golf suitcases, bat bags, suitcases and other large, awkward sized items. Often times we have to find a hoop that will work for the design and then hold the item the entire time the machine is embroidering. This can be a limit though if we can not make the hoop work or there is not enough room for the item to move around.

Other limits to embroidery which I will talk more about in the future are hoops, backing and small fonts.