Rethinking things....

Well, I'm not a techie!  I spent all day yesterday just trying to get thru the administrative stuff at Shopify and I've decided to put it all on hold for now.  I don't have the patience for figuring all this stuff out so for now, I'll just stay at Etsy and put up with their nonsense.  More later.

New Website Coming Soon

Well, I have decided to set up my own website.  I haven't started yet but after Etsy removed my America 250 Sampler pattern claiming I violated an Intellectual Property law based on a "supposed" complaint from the official government America 250 Committee, I have reached my breaking point with them.

If I want to fight this, I have to contact the Committee.  Ya, wish me luck on that one!  I'm not allowed to discuss it in the Etsy Forums (not that I ever hang out there) or they'll disable my shop, and still up for consideration is the removal of my Star Seller status.  If they do, their algorithms will completely ignore my listings.

And we all know that they are using bots to do this s**t, not real people.   

And never mind all the AI garbage patterns that Etsy allows on their site.  Yes, be sure if you order any patterns on Etsy that you are ordering from a reputable cross stitch designer and not some one using AI to make "so called" patterns.  They're pretty easy to spot if you look closely.

I've been with Etsy since the beginning and little by little, they have taken over completely running the show instead of letting me run my shop.

Trying to get thru their algorithms is a nightmare.  They're fees have gone through the roof.  And their smug attitude is too much to tolerate at this point in my life.  I'm going to be 65 years old on Christmas Eve.  I'm done taking crap from anyone!

And I'm not the only one.  Other designers have had their Semiquincentennial designs removed as well. 

So, I will be setting up my own website.  It'll be a warm, friendly site that suits my love of cross stitch and crafts.  And it won't be Patreon.  I'll be using Shopify.  I can do Stitch-Alongs there and a Pattern Of The Month Club.

In the long run, it will save me some money, some time and energy and a lot of aggravation! 

I won't be shutting down my Etsy site anytime soon.  I'll do that down the road once I know the new website is established so for now, feel free to shop there.  It'll take me a little while to get things set up.  I've been doing this a long time and have a lot of patterns to post. 

In the meantime, if you're still wanting to stitch my America 250 Sampler, you can order it from me directly via my email.   

That's it for my rant! 

New Freebie From Karen Gillespie

We have a new free pattern from our dear friend Karen Gillespie.  She's been doing a series of Star Quilt designs for each holiday.

You can download the PDF file here along with our other Free Cross Stitch Patterns.

In other news, I'm still thinking through the whole Patreon thing.  I keep asking myself if I need another webpage to maintain and I really don't but I think a pattern of the month club would be fun and I do think it would be easier to host stitch-alongs there.  So we'll see what I decide.

In the meantime, please enjoy this cute little Halloween design from Karen! 

  

New Mystery Stitch-Along? Please read!

Hi everyone!

 

I’ve been sitting at my computer a lot lately, thinking about doing something a little different. I enjoy doing the Mystery Stitch-Along's but there's a lot of techie work on my end doing it thru Etsy and Facebook. 

 

To kick things off, I'm thinking of doing a 3-Part Winter Mystery Stitch-Along that finishes up by February 1st. Then we could start a new one for Spring.

 

I’m also thinking about starting a "Pattern of the Month Club". They would be small designs, maybe 60 X 60 or 75 X 75 stitches, where members get a brand-new, exclusive PDF chart from me on the 1st of every month. They would be exclusive to members until the series is complete and then I would release them to my regular outlets.

 

To make things easier for me and you, I would do this thru Patreon. 

 

Don't worry—I will still keep adding new patterns to my Etsy shop and retail shops just like always! This club is just a fun way and an easy way to do stitch-alongs and some new "monthly designs". I'm still working out the details but before I jump in, I wanted to ask you all first: Would you be interested in a monthly club like this?

 

Let me know what you think in the comments below!

October Releases - Folk Art Samplers

I can't believe that Summer is over and it's Autumn now.  I love the Fall season but I'm not thrilled with what comes after it!

You might know that I started designing in 1989, working with magazines and manufacturers.  This made me a rather prolific designer as I had to adapt to what publishers were asking for.  To this day, I'm grateful for that because now, I can work in many different styles of design and I never get bored.

My current interests are folk art samplers rather than the more realistic, heavily shaded designing that I did years ago.  I've always loved samplers, and have stitched many over the years so now I'm turning my focus towards a more simplistic adaptation of my ideas.  Still colorful!  But more geometric.

With that said, I have 4 new releases for October.  I hope you like them!

A Cardinal Christmas features a majestic red cardinal perched atop a festive holly topiary arrangement.

 

A Partridge In a Pear Tree was inspired by the classic Christmas carol.  This elegant folk art design

features a stylized blue partridge perched atop a golden pear topiary. 

 

A Blue Christmas Tree was inspired by the Elvis song.  I was thinking about my mom.  She loved Elvis

and she loved Christmas.   This design features a beautifully geometric tree growing from an ornate blue

urn, topped with a sweet little blue songbird. 

 

A Peaceful Christmas Night was inspired by the deer that I see in my yard almost every day.  This elegant design features a majestic brown deer silhouette standing peacefully between two green pine trees. The background is filled with blue and purple snowflakes and the entire design is surrounded by geometric borders. 

 

You may have heard that I no longer stock printed leaflets in my store.  All patterns are now available only as PDF download files.  With the cost of Etsy fees and shipping, it just isn't cost effective.

 

If you prefer printed pattern leaflets, please visit any of the retail needlework shops.  Many carry my patterns and if they don't, I'm sure the will be happy to order them for you. 

 

You can these and my entire collection at Kitty And Me Designs on Etsy.

Be sure to use Coupon Code:  STITCH1