I’ll never forget the first big shopping cart purchase I made back before I started digitizing. I don’t remember the date, but I remember the rush I felt as I piled my cart up at Digistitches.com and checked out during an amazing sale. Sixty dollars and fifty cents – I have a feeling it must have been during a Christmas-ornament-painting rush because I seemed to have money burning a hole in my PayPal account. It was the first time I’d spent anywhere near that much on an embroidery site. I remember I got a ton of goodies in that basket!

Over the weekend someone spent over fifty dollars in my Etsy shop. I opened the email and stared at it, incredulous. In that moment I felt several things at once, the most profound being the memory of my biggest purchase years before. My mind immediately flashed back to the comfort and ease with which I filled up my cart, and paid with no hesitation, ready to enjoy my goodies. I was not buying one cheap design to try out a new digitizer. I trusted Digistitches. I knew that my purchase would be of high quality and I would enjoy using my new buys (and they were, and I did/do!).

So when I saw that large purchase in my shop this weekend, I just felt an incredible amount of pride. I think most of us embroiderers are pretty frugal with our money, so while the point could be made that maybe that person is just rich and doesn’t mind throwing her money away if she doesn’t like the designs, I would argue that that’s not so. This was much more likely a person who has tried some of my designs, likes my style, thinks they stitch well, and wanted to spend more money with me. There wasn’t even a sale. The pride felt when you are the one person working a “brand” and you realize that people enjoy what you make, and they trust you with their projects, their hobby, their business – it is priceless, and I do not take it for granted!

I know what it’s like to be the customer and shell out your hard-earned money on a design (I still do! I regularly patronize other digitizers), and I cannot thank you enough for choosing me when you have spare PayPal money, an Etsy gift card, or just extra money left at the end of the month. Without you, there would be no me! I value my customers, whether they spend two dollars or two hundred dollars. Thank you for trusting me to help build your creative vision. I promise to always respect your creativity and produce only designs that I would spend money on and stitch myself.

Thank you for being a friend! err- customer!