Cross Stitch Club: How to Survive a SPAM Attack...
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"Cross Stitch Tips and News"
Brought to you by Patterns Patch Publishing
September 8th 2007

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CONTENTS:

- How to Survive a SPAM Attack...
- A Top Tip for Cross Stitch Heaven... How to store your patterns
- Recent articles posted at PatternsPatch.com
- Cross Stitch Patterns Uploaded Since The Last Issue
- Recent "Cross Stitch" Forum Posts

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Subject: How to Survive a SPAM Attack...

Hi [firstname]

Here's a truism that caught up with me last weekend: "It never pays to become complacent, because life has a tendency to bite where it hurts!".

I spent a very pleasant day on the Saturday attending an Internet Marketing workshop, being both educated and entertained by two of the most charming hosts you could ever wish to meet.

In the evening, I arrived back home as normal, very happy and "content with my lot". Some time later I switched on my PC and immediately noticed the email inbox count had risen by nearly 10,000 in the 10 hours I'd been away. Opening the mailbox, I could only look on in growing horror as the screen filled with several spammy messages per second. I kid you not, in those first few seconds it felt like I'd undergone a physical assault.

Now I can almost hear some of you say, "Come on! Hardly earth shattering or life threatening is it? So what's with the drama queen act?". OK! True! But believe me, to sit and stare at that screen as every few seconds it filled with this unwanted junk mail and thinking, "I haven't a clue how to deal with this." seemed pretty darned important right there and then.

But you know, our own sub-concious is a wonderful friend when we give it a chance. Having slept on it, my first lucid thought on waking on the Sunday morning was, "Mail Washer".

Mailwasher is a program I heard about a few years ago when a then-colleague had suffered a similar problem.

A quick search on the Internet showed it was still a "live" product (being actively supported and updated) so I quickly downloaded and installed the 30-day trial version.

When configured, Mailwasher sits in front of your email inbox and checks every incoming email (just like a sentry). You do have to educate the program a little when first installed, but it's been around a long time and is a fast learner.

ust one of the neat tricks employed by Mailwasher is to bounce back the spammers mail so it looks like your email address has been closed down. Most spam is delivered by robots, which fortunately means they're quite easy to fool.

From first searching for Mailwasher to stopping the flood of incoming junk mail and clearing out all the spam took me four hours on the Sunday morning. By mid-day my email was back to normal and I cannot praise Mailwasher highly enough. I had no hesitation in paying the $37 for the Pro version and suggest all readers of this letter keep these details handy.

Hopefully, this will never happen to you, but you just never know. Here's where you can read about and get a copy of Mailwasher:

http://www.mailwasher.net/

Oh! And there's a perfectly good free version too (our favorite price).

        ~X~

We've been advised that stitchers looking to join a cross stitch forum will never find our "Tips & Techniques" forum because it's a fairly meaningless term that people don't search for. So! Since this made a lot of sense to us, we've changed the name to Cross Stitch forum.

If you've not visited the forum before, why not come along and take a look; there's a lot of useful information in there.
 
        ~X~

Has any member experienced problems when downloading our patterns? Thank you to new member Angela for pointing out the trouble she had in trying to download 'Fantasy Fairy' and 'The Lord Jesus'. In both cases the wrong download was delived. We've since corrected these problems but are concerned there might be more.

So please! Don't just accept problems with a download, contact us and let us put it right ~ we'll be ever so grateful.

        ~X~

*~*  MEMBERSHIP FOR FR^E  *~*

If you'd like to win a "Three months membership to Patterns Patch
for Free", go here and take a look (it's really easy to enter):

http://www.patternspatch.com/public/231.cfm

Don't forget to search for the mystery word in this letter. When you've found the word, just put it in the subject line and email it to me john@patternspatch.com ~ Good Luck!

The latest winner of our draw for "Three-months membership to Patterns Patch for Free" is:

*~*  Sarah Underwood  *~*

Congratulations to Sarah and commiserations to those who didn't win this week. But hey, perseverance is a virtue; try again next week ~ it could be YOU!

And for those of you who didn't enter, why not? Don't you want this valuable gift?

You've got to be in it TO WIN IT!
 
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A TOP TIP FOR CROSS STITCH HEAVEN...
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  How to store your patterns

If you're a veteran stitcher, you'll be certain to have collected lots and lots of cross stitch patterns over the years, and now your drawers are probably stuffed with these patterns, many of which are loose and just thrown into haphazard heaps. You'll want to preserve them as best as you can, but you perhaps don't want to do something drastic like punch holes in them. So, what do you do with them?

Well, one suggestion would be to use clear plastic "punched pockets" that are readily available in stationary shops near you, and for very litle money too. These punched pockets are versatile with a number of features. You'll notice they cater for both three and four ring binders by having a series of reinforced holes on the left side, or zippers to hold all your patterns, while others sport index tabs too.

Now, with these, all you need to do is to store each pattern in an individual punched pocket and then store them in a binder. With divider tabs, you can organize your patterns either by designer, subject, or theme: such as mystical, landscapes, animals etc or in any suitable way according to your collection.

When this is done, you can relax -- your precious cross stitch patterns are bagged, tabbed and collated so your life long collection is now perfectly safe!

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RECENT ARTICLES POSTED AT PATTERNS PATCH:
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1. Tips and Tricks for Storing Cross-Stitch "Stuff".

As you begin to build up your cross-stitch supplies, you will find yourself needing some sort of organization to keep everything straight. Otherwise you end up with piles of "stuff," and you won't be able to find the supplies you need for new projects. Here are some tips and tricks for keeping your cross-stitch supplies organized:...

Read the full article by going here:
< http://www.patternspatch.com/public/144.cfm >

   ~X~

2. Blackwork: a Cross Stitch Challenge to Consider.

Blackwork is counted thread embroidery in black thread worked in geometric designs and  usually completed on evenweave linen. Red silk is a popular alternative, and is called Scarletwork. You may not enjoy working in just one colour.

Perhaps you are one of those people who enjoys sorting coloured threads, or love to see the merging of different shades of colour across your cross stitch project. If this is the case, maybe Blackwork is not for you. Even so, read on. You may be tempted to try Blackwork as an experiment, and then become hooked on it, as several of my stitching friends have....

Read the full article by going here:
< http://www.patternspatch.com/public/160.cfm  >

   ~X~

3. Crossing the Boundaries: Men in Cross Stitch

Often when we contemplate our cross stitch hobby we imagine serene scenes with quiet women in rocking chairs, stitching away in a peaceful corner of the room.  Although this is a great thought it's usually far from the typical cross stitch scene, although many of us wish it was.  Cross stitch can be done anywhere at any time and by anyone.

We stitchers already know that Cross stitch is a hobby shared by many different people; from young to old, mothers, grandmothers, fathers, grandfathers as well as single unmarried and childless adults....

Read the full article by going here:
< http://www.patternspatch.com/public/191.cfm >

   ~X~

This is just a small sample of the more than 140 cross stitch
articles enjoyed by our members. If you'd like to read more,
go here to become a member
< https://www.patternspatch.com/public/5.cfm > joining is easy!

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CROSS STITCH PATTERNS UPLOADED SINCE THE LAST ISSUE
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We're giving EVERYONE who reads this letter a FREE Bonus cross
stitch pattern ~ Follow the download instructions carefully
and email me john@patternspatch.com if you have any problems.

To view full-sized illustrations of this week's FREE downloads (for members), go here
< http://www.PatternsPatch.com/public/303.cfm >

You'll find additional information and can also leave comments
and rank (from 1 to 5) each download, if you wish.

   ~X~

 ** Patterns For Members Only **

- "A Young Leopard" By Riaan

- "Tiny Angel Faces"
 
- "Seven Rainbow Fairies"

- "A Winter's Scene"

- "Vintage Iceland Poppies"

 ** BONUS Download for ALL Readers **

- "Puppy Mischief"

The download page for your bonus pattern is here:
< http://www.PatternsPatch.com/public/262.cfm >

Please note that you have until the next issue of your
"Cross Stitch Tips & News" letter to download the BONUS pattern.
After then it will be available only to Members in the
Download Library.

   ~X~

We're trying to introduce as wide a range as possible in the
download library to cater for all tastes. So if there's a
theme we've missed that you'd like to see patterns for, then
please drop me a quick email to the address towards the
bottom of this letter.

To view this week's gallery, here's the link again
< http://www.PatternsPatch.com/public/303.cfm >

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RECENT "CROSS STITCH FORUM" POSTS
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The newly renamed Cross Stitch forum has continued to post many
interesting threads. If you haven't taken part yet, why not
take a look and maybe join in. Hey! You might even enjoy it.

   ~X~
   
1. Tiny Plastic Mesh.
   
Member "hislamb" posted this query, which, so far has
attracted 37 replies.
   
"While in Big Lots yesterday, I saw some cross stitch kits. Some of them used the paper that Mamab was asking about and some of them had plastic mesh with very small spacing... I had never seen this before but it looked like it would be 10 count. I have never seen this sold by the sheet anywhere... has anyone else seen this?"...

 ------------------------------------

"The perforated paper and the plastic are both available at all three needlework shops in my area as well as Hobby Lobby and Michael's. It can be rather expensive so if you have any use for either it would be a good idea to purchase it at Big Lots; I'm sure the price would be lower there..."
   
"... That would be great for a cover on a wedding album scrapbook! Especially if you use some of the gold metalic thread along the edges of the letter. ;)"

"If any of you are into scrapbooking, why not introduce other scrap bookers to cross stitch by including a small cross stitch piece in the layout of one of your pages? You might find that some of them will want to take up cross stitching in order to have a page as nice as yours. :-)"

If you'd like to try and win a free membership, reply to john@patternspatch.com with the word 'Picture' in your email subject line.

"I think many crafts can be used in conjunction with one another. It would be interesting to use cross stitch with beads to make jewelry, too, I think..."

"Hislamb, one of my brooches has been uploaded to the Members' Photo Gallery of this website. You may either view it from the gallery or use this link:
http://www.PatternsPatch.com/snip/136.htm "  
   
Read the rest of the discussion here:   
http://www.PatternsPatch.com/snip/137.htm  
 
    ~X~  

2. Fraying on Purpose Pictures

Member "hislamb" posted this query, which, so far has
attracted 26 replies.

"I got my pictures back today of the Mother Daughter Banquet and wanted to show everyone how well the fraying looked.
http://www.PatternsPatch.com/snip/138.htm "

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"...the tablescapes look great! They look like a professional did them. I'll bet you're glad it's over, aren't you? Have you already started planning for next year?

"Yes, I do have a theme in mind for next year...use purses as the theme piece with "Where Your Treasure Is" as the title... There are such cute patterns out there for making paper purses and could even cross stitch some small pieces to use as decorations also..."

"Another theme that I am considering for next years banquet is a patriotic one...I'm sure I could find LOTS of good cross stitch patterns for that!!!

I could start now and have lots of small framed pieces for prizes!"

"The only pattern for a purse that comes to mind doesn't involve cross stitch. However, why would it not be possible to make a simple envelope purse with a button or ribbon closure? You could stitch a simple motif on each one and could vary it for each recipient -- or use the same motif but with different colors..."  

"Hislamb, the link provided by Mamab shows a picture of a "Tin Topper". Making those might be less labor intensive than purses. Just ask all of your friends to save their candy tins for you; otherwise, you'll be consuming a LOT of mints. :-)"

"I had an idea last night that I think I might do....make a purse from paper and embroidery a flower with leaves on the flap. Inside, a piece of paper folded to open out when you "open " the purse will hold appropriate sayings and hopefully we can take and get developed, a picture for them to include on this sheet. I think it will make a nice keepsake."

Read the rest of the discussion here:
http://www.PatternsPatch.com/snip/139.htm  

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Make sure your stitching friends know about Patterns Patch. Forward this email newsletter to them so that they can subscribe
(www.patternspatch.com) and  receive future copies directly to their own mailbox.

To correspond with me, please send a short email to
john@patternspatch.com.

... and finally, if you have children, give them a hug and a
kiss, and tell them you love them.

Sincerely,

John Wigham

PS If you're not already a member, why not? You're missing out
on so much! go here to join now:

< https://www.patternspatch.com/public/5.cfm > joining is easy!

Your next "Cross Stitch Tips & News" letter will appear on
Saturday September 22nd 2007.
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Missed an issue of our Cross Stitch Tips & News letter?  Find them all at:
< http://www.patternspatch.com/public/department27.cfm >
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