Hi, I am Antje (most people here in Australia call me Ann because it's easier to pronounce), I am heading towards the mid of my first century (feeling like I am still 25, ok most of the time), and I am the owner, director and only employee of Smart D'sign. Which means I do every single job in this little business by myself, including accounting, web and graphic design, digitising and customer service of course ...
I learned how to sew when I was still a teenager. My older sis taught me the basics and hints, being a Taylor and studied fashion designer. I also learned heaps from my mother, I was surrounded by creative people - and still am. My first project were very fashion (at least back then) tapered pants, made from light purple fabric with little white dots. Now, 30 years later, I can still recall the feeling of wearing this pants. Oh I loved them. And I always enjoyed playing with fabrics, yarn and threads and with pen and paper.
The boom of the computer took my creativity to the next level. I quickly took the chance to learn everything about web and graphic design and I enjoyed and still enjoy playing with photo-editing and graphic design software such as Corel Draw and Photoshop. My machine park grew also and the latest addition is a Brother PR1000e.
Soon after I got my first embroidery machine (Husqvarna Topaz 30, 2 years later upgraded to a Topaz 50) I thought how awesome it would be to be able to digitise my own (graphic) designs. So I went and bought Embird and attended courses to learn all the basics and the get the full knowledge of digitising high quality embroidery designs. Now I am working with Wilcom and really enjoy the full power of this full digitising package with all its features. It gives me the ability to create embroidery designs in such a high quality which I would also expect if I would be a customer.
My real passion are ITH embroidery designs because I really enjoy both, the process of creating a pattern and the challenge to turn it into a usable and easy to handle embroidery design. So, did you wonder why there are so many ITH embroidery designs in my online shop? Now you know, why ... :-)
I can clearly say I know what I am doing. I always try to deliver high quality designs, to make my customers happy. And if you ever should have problems with my designs, please don't hesitate to contact me for assistance. I put a lot of love into my tutorials too. They come to 99% with lots of step-by-step pictures in both, English and German, when it is an ITH design. I also create sewing patterns her and then, and for them I use Corel Draw to do the pattern design.
In 2007 I've started with my label Smart D'sign (registered business name), selling my products on Etsy and Dawanda (a German platform like Etsy. Unfortunately Dawanda has closed the doors in August 2018). Initially I've started with handmade felt products and one-of-a-kind fashion clothes and accessories. When I turned my focus on digitising machine embroidery designs I booked in for courses to learn this topic professionally. I've finished the courses successfully but as you may know, learning never stops. I can say for sure that the embroidery designs you purchase in my shop are digitised with expertise and knowledge.
You will find my in-house digitised designs here in my shop as well as in my Etsy shop. You can be sure that I am NOT outsourcing the digitising job. I want to deliver high quality and this can only be guarantied when doing the digitising in my own studio. You won't find third-party or cheap/poor autodigitised embroidery designs in my shop. I focus on Quality, not on Quantity. You will notice the difference I am sure.
Oh, I should also mentioned (you might already have guessed it :-) ) that my heritage is actually German. I am living in Australia now for a few years, together with my lovely husband, or dog and our chooks, and I am trying hard to take over the relaxed Australian lifestyle. I think I am doing pretty good now. This was actually a challenge for me since I can not just sit, doing nothing but enjoying the day. I always need to "play" with something, creating something and feed my brain. And this is why you have my little but constantly growing virtual studio in front of you, on your screen.
I am amazed by the support of all you lovely customers who support me also on Facebook, following me on Instagram and on Pinterest. Make sure you join my newsletter list to get notifications about the most important sales during the year. No worries I won't bombard you with a newsletter every week. I only send the occasional important letter for big season sales. :-)
A very warm welcome to Smart D'sign, I hope you enjoy browsing and love my designs.
I speak German (of course!) and English pretty fluently, so I can assist you in both languages.