Extra Backpacks

Here are the 3 Stephen Joseph backpacks I ordered which are available! Browder had this train one - great primary colors! Name or initials on the flap in red ?? ~ first & middle initial stacked w/ big last initial looks best.
Tutu - I just did one of these with a name in lavendar on the flap! Initials would be great too! Great little bag for ballet classes!

And the turtle which is my favorite!! Again, name or initials on the flap! Names can be done on the pink part too, but on the flap is easiest and seems most popular.

Please e-mail me if you are interested in any of the above! Price includes personalization and is cheaper than retail! I'm prepared to ship too! E-mail me for pricing and further info.

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(Amber - if you read this please e-mail me! I have yours done and cannot find an e-mail address or phone number for you! I'm terrible about deleting old e-mails!!)

The Rocket, and Design News...

Here is the rocket tube thing mentioned in my previous post. I think it's really called an Eagle? Anyway when you pull one behind a Waverunner you can go really really super fast (as opposed to a pontoon boat). Did I mention that Jeff got the WR up to 63 MPH earlier in the day? This thing is what I flew off of going who knows how fast. I'm feeling better today! I was in the front, so I had all the lake water spraying in my face and I could see the waves coming. I recommend the middle or back!
It has been a busy computer day. I have days where I feel like I'm on this computer for HOURS... today was one of those days! The Etsy business is picking up and as you can see I listed a set of birthday hats last night (and already sold a few today). It was a heavy e-mail day plus converting and e-mailing out designs as they are bought. Anyway... we've quickly realized in 2 weeks that Etsy is making a pretty penny off of everything that's on there! Therefore, we've already purchased a website domain and signed up for web hosting on a website!! I haven't picked out my web design yet and it'll probably take a week or two to get that and to get it all set up, but overall will be cheaper to run than selling on Etsy! We'll start out simple since we only have 7 or 8 designs (thus far). Paypal checkout and we'll still e-mail the designs out as they are bought. We'll eventually add instant download, as I know when I buy a design I usually NEED it right then! I think so far I've e-mailed designs out pretty quickly (and sometimes almost instantly). The thing that takes up time is having to e-mail to see which format is needed because most people forget to put that in the message section. I've started a spreadsheet to keep a record of formats so I'll know for repeat customers! From my experience I prefer just getting the format I use rather than 10 of them that I have to sort through or delete after I buy them! So..... lots going on! All this on top of monogramming orders coming in as school is getting ready to start! Today I had 3 people at my door almost at the same time!! No more empty shelf...
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Stay tuned for WEBSITE INFO!!
p.s. I heard Walmart had already started getting fall stuff in. I went today and only found 1 long sleeved red t-shirt (Garanimals). They did have huge piles of short sleeve YOUTH size tees in "fall colors"!

Backpacks

I think I posted a few weeks ago that I was able to order some Stephen Joseph backpacks. They have been mailed to me so they are on their way! I have a few still available so if you are interested, please e-mail me at rosemarygulledge@knology.net. The cost is cheaper than retail and will include a name or initials - please e-mail me for the details!
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We spent the weekend at the lake and I'm pooped today, and very sore! There was a certain incident on Sat. involving a waverunner and a rocket type tube, going very fast and me flying off!! Could have been much worse - needless to say I'm too old and am very sore! Other than me telling Jeff to spray Pam on G when he went outside (instead of Off), I don't think there are any long term effects or permanent brain damage! We ventured to Aquapalooza and heard Alan Jackson play a few songs and left with some free t-shirts! The whole event will be on CMT Labor Day weekend - lots of boats, bikinis and other things...
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We're headed to Troy to meet my mom to get the baby (she didn't go to the lake). I'll be back to work this afternoon! We've got at least 2 new designs coming out maybe tonight!

This doesn't happen often...

Below is my sewing "to-do" shelf. Yes it's a black wire shelf from Target!! It is empty. Like crickets chirping empty and quiet in here! I was almost caught up this morning, but had some things come in today and I've just got the last thing done!! YEAH! I am about to do one last sample for Jeff and I'm hitting the sack and am taking off til Monday! I also did 4 cute samples for EB today! It's funny that one of them is the exact clipart I looked at last night while I spent 2 hours clicking page after page of clipart! Great minds think alike!! I bought 5 and Jeff has already done 1. Will work on some stuff next week! I hope everyone has a great weekend! I'm taking advantage of the calm before the fall storm!
p.s. I've gotten in lots of ideas and pics and requests for designs. I can't imagine what all Rachel gets in!! We're just starting and I can't keep up with the "requests". We'll try to organize our thoughts and get to work next week!

More New Fabrics!

Surprise!! Sissy in my Uggs - she LOVES shoes! Jeff bought her some cheesy princess flip flops the other night for $6.50 but she couldn't squeeze her foot in to them, so he took them back! Not that she's old enough to wear flip flops but it would have been good entertainment for her for a while!
She even got them on the right feet!

Today I went shopping at a friend's house. She sews precious children's clothes, diaper bags, makes hair bows and all sorts of neat things and has TONS of fabric, so she let me come shop! She is listed above in my resources section ~ Girly Girl Designs (also at My Kids Attic in Montgomery). I could have gone crazy, but tried to be sensible and think "applique" and pick fabrics that I will actually use, not just buy and admire in the drawer! Here is a C-U-T-E stripe! All great colors! A pink damask and a pink check ~ says "crib check".

A few Christmas fabrics... hey, it'll be here before we know it.

And you can never ever ever have too many polka dots! The first on the left is a Michael Miller - I have a big dot similar to this that I've used a ton this summer, but this one is a shade or two lighter. Then a pretty green pin dot, a mossy green dot, pink/hot pink dot and lastly brown pin dot.

I'm down to 5 lonely items on my to-do shelf, plus a baby gift or two I need to do for myself. Plus Jeff is ready for the next design(s) to digitize. I'm loving this pace and know when fall comes I'll probably be slammed and back in the teens or twentys on my to-do shelf. But for now I'm enjoying doing a few things here & there!

Latest Design...

We just finished up the below cowboy/cowgirl boot and it is listed on Etsy! I sampled it twice to be sure we had all the stitching right and was able to sample in pink too for the girls!

We're going to try to do a few more this week, preferably some girl stuff and one gender neutral for birthdays, so check back!

2 More Designs!!

This bowling pin is an Emb. Boutique design. I was told that it needed to be "cool" for a cute little 5 yr old who is picky about his clothes! (Sounds like my Garrison only he's 3) I had seen a Boden shirt similar to this and so had the Mama, so from there she suggested these colors and I decided to tweak it a little and sub in the Emb. Boutique RAGGY star instead of the regular applique star that is normally on the design. I've said all along I'm a huge fan of the raggy designs!! Rachel has about 6 or 8 of them and several are on my blog (fish, flower, butterfly, cross). I also have her pumpkin and angel, both raggy! Anyway I thought this turned out cute and hopefully, COOL!! This is a great one for the older boys! I did the pin pretty big (maybe 5" or so?)
And here are a couple more TMR designs that were listed on Etsy just a bit ago! Jeff also has a cowboy boot in the works, but since these were relatively simple he did these first! I have seen a horseshoe with initials inside also but went with a name instead. This is mono wizard plus simple script font by the way.

And a badge - great with initials or name would work too. This is MWP miami font.

After the boot I'm thinking we need a few girl designs, so I'll be working on that. We also want to come up with a few fall designs so we'll be working on those as well!

New fabrics

Today Browder & I made the haul to Beth's Heirloom outside, or maybe inside?, Wetumpka! I had a 25% off coupon and have been itching for new stuff so we drove up there this morning. I mainly got ginghams (some I have and was low on, and some I don't have). Below is a royal blue, orange, navy FAT gingham, then an orange, brown and a smidge lighter brown gingham and lastly, an orange fabric (thinking fall).
Love polka dots! I had yellow, but this is a buttery yellow and a pretty teal color.

And lastly these great TRI-CHECKS (thanks, Gail!!) I have a couple of these already and love them! The 3rd one down is turquoise and brown which is really cute!

As I was checking out with my coupon, the lady checking me out asked me to write my name on the coupon. When I did she "recognized" me and said she read my blog on occasion and was excited about the new EB applique alphabet (which I have not sewn yet). It was kind of fun to be recognized, or moreso my name!! Beth's has GREAT fabric! I could seriously go crazy in there. But, I'm trying to be rational and think fall and Christmas since I have tubs and baskets and drawers of fabric already!!

Design #3

Another elephant... and no, we do not have an elephant fetish!! This is an original sketch by a friend of a friend that we got to "try" to see how it would work. Jeff had already started on the other one and wanted to finish and list it. We got this one done last night and the artist approves, so we'll get this one on Etsy tonight!! No more elephants for a while, I promise!! I do love elephants but 2 is enough for now! :)
I've been scowering ideas all day and I think we're working on a cowboy-ish design, or two or three next. I've gotten lots of cute ideas and suggestions so it's hard to know which to do next! Also trying to think of fall - football, halloween, etc...
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This morning I think I really outdid myself! Like the 4th of July parade, we did something this morning which took A LOT of effort! We had plans to go to a splash pad downtown with some friends from church. Why not tie that in with an embroidery delivery and a visit to my old office? I got us all fed and dressed and loaded up in the car. Did I mention I made sandwiches for all of us as well as ziplocs of grapes, cheezits, chips, a cooler of drinks for lunch, beach towels, sunscreen, changes of clothes, paper plates & napkins, the bathtub, OH..... Drove downtown, dropped a t-shirt off and went to visit my co-workers at Frazer Lanier. The kids were great - the boys got candy and everyone thought they were cute! I did get asked "Geez, how many kids do you have?????" When I started working there in 1997 I was single and lived in an apartment! After that we saw the church crew and hopped on the trolley for a tour of downtown. Got off the trolley and loaded up the stroller for the trek to the splash pad. The trek included walking down Water St., down through the tunnel on Commerce to the Riverwalk (saw the riverboat) and way up a gravel hill to the ampitheater and splash pad. It was about 110 degrees outside and I'm pushing a limousine stroller carrying Mallory and 6 bags & coolers. The kids played, we ate and then made the hike back to the car. We all came home and crashed! Good times!! I'm still exhausted! Showering and to bed early tonight. The little ones have school tomorrow so errands for me & B (and possibly a SB) and work work work!!
**********Check out Etsy shortly for design numero tres!!

Summer Summer Summertime (Will Smith version)

This summer is flying by! Browder starts Kindergarten in like one month!! I'm kind of looking forward to it ~ he will go to Eastwood Christian School and Kind. is only on MWF from 7:40 (ouch) until 12:30. The little bits will go MWF too (9-1), so for another year I will have them all with me on Tu & Th!! I think it'll be a fun year! Here are a couple of pics of Mallory in G's rain boots. The girl loves shoes!! She can walk in them remarkably well too!?
Look at the belly!!

And here we have 2 dozen white bibs!! YEAH!! I did not go to Market this time around, but my sweet friend Kay did and was gracious enough to pick me up some bibs and send them to me! I got them today and am very excited ~ hopefully these will last me for a little while! They sell these at Storkland for $6.95 with nothing on them, so yeah for Market and Kay!! Thanks again!!

I have not listed the new elephant yet. Will do so shortly and sold another airplane today! I'm supposed to get 2 more ideas/designs ready for Jeff to work on and he's getting better and better with each design. It is pretty time consuming right now with lots of trial and error, but hopefully we can offer more and more and it'll get easier and easier! We actually have a sketch of another cute elephant that someone sent us to try. It's an original sketch and very cute!!

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Today the G & Mal went to school so I picked up one of B's friends to play for the morning. They had a great time! We rode the scooter/bikes up to the Sturbridge pool for a swim, which lasted about 10 minutes and they were bored with that pool. Not very exciting I guess? So... we rode back home and loaded up and went to the Wynlakes pool! It has a slide, slushies, chicken fingers and popsicles so way more exciting I guess. They swam til I had to go pick up the little ones, then I took C home and now everyone is asleep! Off to work!

Design #2

Just completed design #2 which will go on Etsy soon (if not tonight, tomorrow). This came from the same clipart collection as the airplane, so again, simple and cute!
It has been a crazy day! Lots of e-mails, sold a couple of the airplane designs, got my Etsy banner set up, etc. By the way, TheMerryRose was actually just my username on Etsy and I've had it for a while b/c occasionally I buy stuff from there. No thought was really put in to it other than all my life I've been called all kinds of variations of my name (and sometimes not my name!). Roseanne, MaryRose, Rose, etc. Since it was my username for buying it looks like it'll be my "store name" for selling! I've gotten lots of e-mails and some great leads on cute clipart sites, and also some possible leads on some original artwork we might be able to use! Very exciting!! Jeff is still learning the software so still keeping it simple (which I prefer). But, am taking notes and suggestions and we hope to get more and more new designs up as we have time to work on them! Stay tuned...

Very Very Very Exciting News...

No, we're not expecting #4!! No, we didn't win the Florida lottery when we were on vacation. And no, I am not training for a marathon. Below is the first official Gulledge applique design (which feels like another baby). YEAH!! After many hours of reading, studying, learning, asking questions, trial and error, etc etc etc... my husband Jeff completed his first design! It is now available for purchase at http://TheMerryRose.etsy.com! For as long as I've been doing this, which really isn't that long compared to some, my motto has always been "the simpler the better". I love some simple designs!! After searching and pondering lots and lots of clipart, we purchased a set and chose this as our first project. You can't get much simpler than this!! The name was added just for fun ~ any and all feedback and suggestions are appreciated!

This doesn't change anything at the ole blogspot! I'm still doing the same embroidery I've always done, only now I'll have designs here and there to offer that are our own. At first they will be offered on Etsy. No grand website until we get our feet on the ground. Not to mention this digitizing adventure is mostly Jeff's and he's still in the cabinet business M-F!! My job is technical support, testing, answering questions, etc. We're starting out very simple and will hopefully expand as we learn more and more.

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Another thing that does not change is that I am still a huge fan and supporter and makeshift advertiser for Embroidery Boutique!! If it wasn't for Rachel the above airplane would not even be possible! She has been fabulous at offering support, answering questions and giving us guidance as far as where to even begin!! From my experience with sampling for her and in general doing applique and embroidery for all of you (the blood sweat and tears of this business), Jeff & I kind of came to the realization that this might be a good thing to learn!! We're very excited!!

New EB designs

The new EB designs are on the web (and I've posted pics up top too)! These samples were done by a friend of mine while I was on vacation and she did a GREAT job!! So cute - the treasure map is my FAVORITE!! Cute new applique alphabet too!

http://www.embroidery-boutique.com/

Fashion Faux Pas...

I'm no fashion expert. I don't read InStyle and only get People when I'm on vacation. But... I'm pretty sure I committed a violation today when I went out in public with 2 different shoes on!!!!! Same style, sort of, but not even the same color! I was all over Wynlakes eating lunch lookin like this and didn't notice. Loaded the kids up and headed to Target. We're getting out of the car and Browder finally says "Mom, why do you have those shoes on?". I looked down and completely lost it! I called Jeff to ask him why he didn't tell me, only I was laughing so hard that he thought I was crying and had been in an accident!! What's a girl to do? I went on in Target and did my shopping! I had all 3 kids and G was pretty wild so if anyone noticed hopefully they understood!

Kids are down for their afternoon snooze so I've got both machines going. Business has gotten busy in the past day or two - lots of stuff mailed in and a couple of drop offs from out of towners! We have a dinner tonight and a birthday party tomorrow and other than that, a pretty slow weekend so hopefully I can get some work done!

Another big brother T...

I did another big brother t-shirt and the design is already on the blog, but I thought it turned out cute on this red t-shirt! This time I added the letters to their overalls (for first names). This design is from Nobbie Neez Kids. They have tons of great "stick" people designs.
I'm also stitching out a "Mouse Head" and will add it to my pics when I finish. It has an outline stitch right inside the satin stitch and I'm putting a name inside, so great for DISNEY trips! (p.s. there is a Disney-ish font which I don't have, but can get for $3, but for this name we decided one of my regular fonts would look better.) I've also had a request for a school bus for back-to-school, so I'll be working on that one soon too!
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I've got an under-the-weather 6 yr old at home today. The little ones went to school. I think he is partially exhausted from the weekend and this week! Lots of swimming and activities and no rest! I'm going to watch him today and if he is still puny, we'll be making the Friday trip to the pediatricians office!! :( While he is lounging on the couch this morning I am working. Pretty slow and steady this week but I'm starting to get a little busy, so I'm trying to stay on top of it!

Happy 4th!

I was kinda proud of myself Sat. morning. Our neighborhood has a 4th of July parade every year. (Our neighborhood has a lot of stuff actually and we just never go) I did do the parade 2 years ago and it was fun, so we did it again Saturday! It took a lot of effort, hence me being proud of myself!! I love the Will & Grace episode where HCJr. invites them to go biking and their famous quote was "we don't DO stuff"! We decorated the stroller and B's bike and all got dressed in our 4th attire (red tank top was all I could find). We WALKED to the front of the neighborhood, which is quite a hike, waited on the parade to start and the parade went back to the clubhouse where we had lots of water and popsicles. It was a scorcher that morning!! It was a lot of fun and worth the effort! I had my physical last week and got my results, which said "increase exercise" by one of the cholesterols. Jeff's response was "you mean BEGIN exercise".

Here is a big sister shirt I did this afternoon. I have had several requests for these lately so it must be baby season!! There are endless possibilities for these sibling shirts! I saw one today at Storkland with a big flower on it that said big sister! (A-this particular shirt is EB's vintage applique font for the BIG and MWP tipsy font for the sister part.)

While I was on vacation a friend of mine did some sampling for EB! A new alphabet and some pirate designs for sure ~ I haven't seen them all yet so I'm anxiously awaiting them like the rest of you!!