Love brings stitching business to Pea Ridge

— Jennifer and Martin Todd married in May. They went back and forth deciding what to do with the embroidery business they had in Van Buren.

“Pea Ridge seems like a great town,” Jennifer said.

Creative Stitching, located at 225 Lee Town Rd., will celebrate its grand opening Saturday.

For 15 years, the shop of the same name has operated in Van Buren, where Jennifer lived. It was the largest embroidery shop in Crawford and Sebastian counties.

The Todds recently relocated to Pea Ridge, where Martin lived.

Between them, they have eight children and 10 grandchildren. Two children are still at home and attendPea Ridge High School.

Their embroidery resume includes the Arkansas Razorbacks - the golf and tennis teams, and also the University of Arkansas Fort Smith basketball uniforms and warm-ups. They can also boast work for the Razorback Foundation and some major trucking companies. Jennifer is most proud of her own hummingbird design that appeared on the cover of Child magazine.

Embroidery is not all they do, however. Custom logos and screen printing are other services offered.

Pricing depends on what is ordered, and there are thousands of designs from which to choose or customerscan bring in their own.

In the shop, the Todds have a four-head commercial embroiderymachine for large projects along with a single-head machine for smaller ones. A new T-shirt printeris on its way.

“It’s the newest and fastest T-shirt printer made,” Todd said. “We want to be able to do everything in-house and not have to outsource it.”

Creative Stitching is a member of ASI, Advertising Specialty Institute, which is a national organization for decorators and promotion product distributors. Todd says the group has very strict membership guidelines.

“It helps to be able to get things at the best price for your customers,” Todd said.

The grand opening is from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 12. Cake and punch will be provided, and everyone who attends will receive a free monogram.

The shop is open from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Friday and 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturdays.

News, Pages 1 on 12/09/2009