One more item off the checklist.  The lens sleeves are now available on the Martilena site.  The main upgrade to these little babies is the interior.  All of the lens sleeves are now lined with the waterproof, nylon packcloth.  This gives you a little more weatherproofing no matter where you store the bag itself. They are still padded with the 1/4″ thick fleece & close tight with a drawstring & locking clip.  The three sizes available are 4″ x 6″, 4″ x 8″ & 4″ x 10″.  The bags themselves are slightly longer in length than the dimensions listed, so that they will accommodate lenses up to those lengths.

Also, you now have the option of choosing a separate fabric selection if you order 2 or more lens sleeves.  If only ordering 1, the fabric will match that of your custom bag. Custom sleeves are still an option, so feel free to contact me if you’d like something not listed.

To celebrate the new website & welcome everyone to Martilena,I’ll be offering a 20% discount on everything for a limited time.  Just enter the discount code “welcome” during checkout and receive the 20%off your purchase of $25.00 or more.   If you’ve been holding off or saving up, now is a great time to jump in…

Just created a new flickr group for Martilena or Wicked Stitch bag photos to be shared.  I'd love for anyone who has pictures of their bag or bags in action to add to the group.

New Etsy Store...

http://www.etsy.com/shop/Martilena

New Flickr Site....

http://www.flickr.com/photos/martilena/

New Website....

http://www.martilena.com

New Blog...

http://www.blog.martilena.com

New Facebook....

http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#!/pages/Martilena-Handmade-Bags/315623312076?ref=ts

Who knew it could be so much work to get everything updated!  My twitter account is still the same, just under the username Martilena now.

The blog for Martilena is now up and running!  All future posts will be made there regarding all company sales, giveaways or any type of update in general.  Anyone interested in continuing to follow the events of Martilena (WSD), please check out the new blog & subscribe.

Martilena Blog

Some of you may have already noticed that the old website is MIA & that if you go looking for wicked stitch designs you end up at my etsy store.  It seemed the safest way to shut it down without completely disappearing, while I added products to the new site.  Eventually it will redirect to the new site, once I have everything available there.

One super important thing to note is the change of my company's name...the new name is Martilena.  Just Martilena.  It's short which I love & sentimental to me since it was formed by merging the names of my son & daughter.  If you'd like to check out the new site, please feel free.... Martilena.com.  It's not completely ready yet, but I do have Maia, my new Knox & a new pouch, Demi,  available.


The new Knox is a great mix of the old styles & the new.  The overall look is still very similar to the old style, but some of the important features are now included, such as the high density foam padding, waterproof materials & the wider flap


The Demi Pouch is a great little pouch.  It's much larger than Julia, but still a small pouch (only 2" deep).  It includes a zipper pocket & snaps tightly closed with two heavy duty snaps.  It's available in a mix of the waterproof fabrics & a cotton print or all cotton print.  A waterproof pack cloth lines the inside.

More updates & changes to come soon.  I'll be posting to the new blog within the new week!  I'm thinking a giveaway may be a great way to have everyone swing on by & check it out.
.

As I begin to see the light at the end of the tunnel with outstanding bag orders, I have also begun the process of relocating my business (on the web).  The new website is basically done and patiently waiting for me to find time to load new photos & products.  I think everyone will find the new website more informative, more user friendly, more flexible with payment options & just overall improved.  Because it's something I've wanted for so long,  I'm super excited about the changes & thrilled with the overall look of the new website!  Which I hope to have up within the next two weeks!!

In order for the transition to be smoother for me, I'll be closing up shop on the current website within the next week.  Most of the more popular bags will still be available at the Etsy store & I will gladly write up a custom order for anyone interested in purchasing items not listed there (that were available on the website).

Also important to note, the soft bags as you know them will no longer be available on the new site.  I have plans to rework both Meridian & Knox  into more practical camera bags, but retain their softer look (compared to the rugged bags).  Some of you may have already seen the new Berta (moving to the rugged style)  in a previous post & Milly will just be eliminated.  The New Knox will be a great m ix of the two smaller bags, so that I can provide a great little bag for those of you who just want something small, protective & stylish.

Thanks again to everyone for being so patient with me!!

The post Christmas backlog  and an unexpected loss in the family  has resulted in me running close to a week and 1/2 behind my normal shipping schedule.  My apologies to those of you anxiously awaiting the arrival of your new bag.  I'm working day and night to get things back on track.

Because of the current situation there will be a longer than expected delay on getting the new Berta up on the website or Etsy.  If you are interested in the bag, please contact me & I can give you any details not included in the previous blog post.

Back to work....

Thanks to everyone for helping make 2009 a great success!  This year was an interesting one as WSD transitioned from a part time business into a full time operation.  For a single mom with 2 young kids,  it was an exceptionally scary step.  I owe a lot of thanks to my mom for all the weekend babysitting she provided throughout the year, when the workload of full time seamstress & mom  was just too much for me to handle on my own.   But as a the year comes to a close I have to say I thoroughly enjoyed the challenges & accomplishments of the past year and am looking forward to an exciting 2010.

The response to the new bags has been great & I'm excited to announce another new bag coming in 2010.  This bag is a larger bag designed to replace the current Berta camera bag.  If you are in search of a larger bag & like the exterior look of Maia, but prefer the interior pocket setup of Moxy than this may be the bag for you.

The outside of the bag looks similar to Maia, but there is a 2" height difference between the 2 bags.  This gives you a lot more vertical room to store items in the main storage area as well as creating nice deep vertical pockets.

The interior has 3 padded open pockets along the backside & 1 open unpadded pocket along the front.  The bag is padded with 1/2" high density foam, which provides more protection & support.  The bottom is has a chipboard bottom covered with a layer of the 1/2" hd foam.  The lining is waterproof pack cloth which is incredibly durable & designed to stand up to lots of wear & tear.


For more images of the new bag, please visit the flickr page.  I'll be offering this bag at the Etsy store in the next week or two.

And, last but not least, the biggest change for WSD ever is underway.  Hopefully, if all goes according to plan (and it rarely does) WSD will undergo a name change & get an all new website at the start of 2010.  The name change has been something I've wanted to do for quite some time, but finding the time to make all the appropriate changes seems impossible at times.  The start of the new year is a perfect time for the transition, so I'm keeping my fingers crossed that all will go according to plan.  I'll post more details as soon as I have them.

Thanks again to all of my great clients & friends for making 2009 great!! 

Congratulations to Meredith on winning the Moxy Camera Bag Giveaway & Congratulations to Sindy H. for winning the "What's in Your WSD Bag" contest!!

Thank you to everyone who participated in both events!!