I ❤ 8 Claws and a Paw Embroidery

I want to take a moment to give a quick shout-out to some very dear people, Joe and Julie of 8 Claws and a Paw Embroidery.
I still remember when "flipflopsindecember" gave away the Chunky Tinker Toy applique font on Sew Forum the summer of 2008, and it was at that point I was introduced to 8CP. They launched the amazing Claws and Paws Font Club where you could subscribe for 1 month, 3 months, 6 months or a whole year, and during that time period you could download any of the fonts already on their site, as well as the future fonts released every MWF. As time goes on, this becomes an unbelievable bargain because now they have over 547 fonts digitized!!

By submitting pictures for their project showcase, I won a month subscription to the club in 2009, and started downloading like crazy. :) And if you've followed my blog for any length of time, you know I use their fonts on almost every project that includes text. I love the quality and variety.

Last summer I received the honor of become a design tester for 8CP as they were really expanding their embroidery design library beyond fonts to include applique and fill-stitched designs of all sorts. I have truly enjoyed working with Julie in this capacity (even though it hasn't been at the volume I wish I could do).

It's such a joy to find God-honoring people doing excellent business, and it's been a pleasure to learn just how God-honoring Joe and Julie are with their entire lives. They responded to the call of international adoption, and launched their digitizing business in early 2008 to cover the costs of adoption. Did you know that?? I wonder if all of us embroiderers would have the blessing of 8CP fonts if they had ignored God's prompting to adopt...

As things progressed in the adoption process, they stopped offering 1-year subscription offer. They take seriously their business commitment, and didn't want to promise a new font every MWF for a whole year, not knowing what the future would hold. I admired their forethought and openness with their customers. They have been faithful to offer a new font every MWF, even through travels back and forth to Ethiopia to meet and later bring home their girls.

Now that their family has expanded, their business is changing a bit, as announced in a newsletter earlier this week. The Claws and Paws Club will be ending in January. While this may be disappointing to some, I am impressed by their decision to honor their commitment to God by putting their family first. And hey, they aren't quitting immediately -- they are carrying out their commitment to customers who had purchased subscriptions that run through January 9, 2012.

What does this mean?? TOMORROW, Sunday October 9 is the last day you can purchase the 3-month subscription to the font club. They will still offer the 1-month subscription through December 9. So if you have considered a club membership, NOW IS THE TIME!! I promise, it is a purchase you will NOT regret.

Thank you Julie and Joe for blessing the embroidery community with your amazing fonts -- probably 575 different varieties by January! I for one am looking forward seeing what new things you create in your "free time" now that the burden of 3 fonts a week is lifted. APPLIQUE!! ;)