Copyright laws were something I really had NO clue about until I got into a Facebook cross stitch group. But I became educated on it real quick! Below is a link that was shared to me by a very respected cross stitch designer, Joan Elliott, that explains copyright laws in respects to the cross stitch hobby:
It is never okay to make a copy of an original pattern to give to someone else. In doing so, you are hurting the pockets of the wonderful designers who spend many hours making these designs and not earning a lot for them in the first place.
If you want to sell or give an original pattern away after you have stitched it, that is not illegal. However, just take into consideration that you are still hurting the designer by doing so because that is now a pattern that person you gave it to will not buy. It is NEVER okay to make a copy of a PDF to give or sell to someone.
When buying patterns from places other than a local needleshop or reputable online retailers, be very mindful to look for signs that indicate a pattern is not legal and violates copyright laws. It is our duty and responsibility to be aware of these things and to try to support the designers of this industry so that they keep feeding our addiction…errr..I mean hobby!
Here is an article that is very interesting and informative and talks about how you can spot these illegal patterns:
Many designers have quit designing because they get tired of people stealing and selling their designs. When their designs are stolen and sold for someone else’s profit, it no longer is profitable for them to keep designing cross stitch patterns.
Veterans Day originated as “Armistice Day” on Nov. 11, 1919, the first anniversary of the end of World War I. Congress passed a resolution in 1926 for an annual observance, and Nov. 11 became a national holiday beginning in 1938.
Unlike Memorial Day, Veterans Day pays tribute to all American veterans—living or dead—but especially gives thanks to living veterans who served their country honorably during war or peacetime.
Why Should We Honor Our Veterans?
In my opinion, there is nothing much more honorable that anyone can do other than be willing to sacrifice their own life for that of another. There are many jobs where people put their lives on the line every day to help others, however, for our military members, it goes a little deeper.
When one decides to serve their country, that is not the only sacrifice they make. There is so much more they end up sacrificing and unless you are a veteran, currently serving, or are a family member of someone that served, this is not something most people understand or have a clue about.
oday I want to introduce you to another great designer in the world of cross stitch. Her name is Clare Bray of Climbing Goat Designs. I stumbled upon Clare through another cross stitcher, Timothy Johnson.
Tim is doing great work with a charity project for the victims and first responders of the Pulse Nightclub shooting in Orlando, FL. I wrote a feature on his story and if you have not read that yet, please take a few minutes to read it here now. It’s a VERY inspiring story!
Now on to Clare’s story.
Clare lives with her adorable pooch in a lovely area on the southern coast of England. I asked Clare how she came up with the name of Climbing Goat Designs and this was her response:
” I’d seen pictures and stories about tree-climbing goats in Morocco, and goats teetering precariously up steep cliffs, and thought they were basically awesome! I am crazy about animals and wanted a fun and funky shop name which matched my spirit, and it just fitted!”
I am going to let her Clare tell you her story in her own words. Hope you enjoy!
This feature story is about a member of my Facebook group, Cross Stitch Club. Her name is Mel Farnsley and of course, she loves to cross stitch. I had the pleasure of meeting this wonderful woman at the 2015 Cross Stitch Club retreat I hosted in Hershey, PA.
Just in case you are not aware yet and are interested, I am hosting the next retreat this coming September in Harrisburg, PA and you can find more information on that by joining the Facebook group 2018 Cross Stitch Club Retreat. I also have started to plan for our 2019 Cross Stitch Club Retreat to be held in Nashville, TN in August 2019. You can join the 2019 Cross Stitch Club Retreat on Facebook to keep up on details for that one as well.
I want to introduce you to a cross stitch designer, Heather Maraldo, that I just recently had the pleasure of getting to know. Her name is Heather Maraldo. Back in the beginning of November, I had attended a little cross stitch retreat in Allentown where a group of about 40 or so stitchers got together for a weekend of fun and stitching.
Meet Heather Maraldo
Heather was at that retreat, but I really did not get the chance to meet her at that time. Then a couple weeks later I was searching on Google for a baby birth sampler to do for a co-worker that is about to have a baby.
I let my co-worker choose a design she liked and this is what she had chosen.
If you are just beginning to cross stitch, you might think that all you need is just a needle and thread and you are good to go, right?
I know that is what I thought and continued to think for many years, but then I joined a Facebook group for stitchers and boy, did I find out how much more there is to make my cross stitching so much more fun!
I am now admin of a great Facebook group called Cross Stitch Club…please come join us if you are not yet a member! It’s a great and caring community of stitchers from around the world and we have a lot of fun!
Cross stitching is an amazing, relaxing and rewarding hobby. But for some, it is more than just a hobby. It is a way to give back to a community, raise awareness, and to show support or to make gifts for friends and family. I know personally, I get great satisfaction and joy stitching things for others more than I do for myself.
My #2 passion …wait, you already forgot what my first passion is??? If so, go back to my About Me page again to refresh your memory ..LOL…..so as I was saying..my #2 passion is my love of cross stitching. My mom first taught me when I was 14. I did a bit here and there but didn’t get really passionate about it until about 7 years ago when I found a Facebook group for cross stitching. Wow…did a whole new world of stitching open up to me then!
I just want to share a quick little something about the picture you see above. I designed this and converted it into a cross stitch pattern. Then it was sent around the world to be stitched by about 30 or so members of my Facebook group Cross Stitch Club. Pretty amazing, huh? It was amazing that this made it around to all the different places and didn’t get lost! It was done to be raffled off to raise funds for the Hershey Ronald McDonald House at the first retreat I hosted in 2015.
As much as I wanted to have this in my house, I did not purchase any tickets for this. But when it came time to do the drawing and I drew the winning ticket, my name was on it! But how was that possible if I did not purchase any tickets? Well there was a little plan put in action by the stitchers that they all wanted me to have it so they conspired that everyone that bought a ticket for it put my name on the back. SNEAKY! LOL
The emotions I felt at that moment almost had me in tears! I felt very loved and I will forever cherish this and the fond memories of this and all other retreats.
More about me and why I am so passionate about my cross stitching
Back in either late 2013 or early 2014, I stumbled upon a Facebook Group called Cross Stitch Club. Not long after I joined, I started seeing notifications to approve people to the group (and I was still fairly new to FB groups so I really didn’t understand how they operated). So I asked an admin if I was an admin of the group because I was getting these notifications to approve people. She was like no, but do you want to be? I said “sure!” Well that was all she wrote…I went crazy with it! LOL Up until that point, the group was not really a “group”. There was not much interaction.
I started doing activities and events and we have become what I think is one of the best groups on Facebook (am I a little biased or tooting my own horn? hmmm…maybe, but I don’t think so and I think my group members will agree with me! lol) If you want to be part of a stitching community that is like family, please come join us at Cross Stitch Club Originals. It will ask you to answer a question and in that answer, if you could please let me know that you have joined because you saw it on this website “luv4crosstitch.com”, I would greatly appreciate it!
Not long after becoming admin of Cross Stitch Club Originals, I started hosting retreats for this group. I have hosted 3 so far and our 4th one is coming up in September 2018. You can get more information by clicking here to be taken to the retreats page that contains more details. Also be sure to join my newsletter as I will be using that as a way to communicate new details regarding these retreats as well as new products I may come out with (and you may also get the occasional newsletter to just check in on you and offer some motivation or inspiration to brighten your day!)
I also plan to do random drawings probably about once a month for free items for those that are on my subscription list. Who doesn’t like free, right? So if you haven’t subscribed yet, go do it now so you don’t miss your chance for a freebie!
Through my love of cross stitch, I have started a worldwide project with the Ronald McDonald House organization. I am not going to go into a lot of detail here, but please check out the story under ” Worldwide Ronald McDonald House Project” for more information and if you would like to help with this project, please join the Facebook group that you will find mentioned here. I need LOTS more help to complete this project that has already brought so much warmth and cheer to so many people around the world!
I love to help people any way I can and part of that is sharing my love of cross stitch and providing a service of personalization with my products.
My Goals
I created this blog to share my passion of the wonderful art of cross stitching (and yes, it IS an art! lol). I want to be an inspiration, whether it be to get you motivated in your stitching or just to make your day a little brighter! It is my hopes that you will enjoy my site and that you will join me in my Cross Stitch Club Originals Facebook group and hopefully attend one of my wonderful retreats and make the friendships that I have with all these caring cross stitchers. I have heard that cross stitching is a dying art. Well I say “NO WAY!” 🙂
In the upcoming weeks, I will be doing feature stories on various cross stitch charity projects that have come about to help people cope with tragedy and let them know that people do care! Hopefully you will be inspired to help them in their causes!
With your help, we can keep our art growing! If you like my page, please share it with anyone else that you think might like it. This site is a work in progress, but I have high aspirations that it will be great and that I will make many new friends and maybe bring some new stitchers to the community!
If you ever need a hand or have any questions, feel free to leave them below and I will be more than happy to help you out. Please also leave me a comment below and let me know what you think of my page and please also join my subscriber mailing list to keep up to date on all my happenings with special projects and future retreats.
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