Artecy Cross Stitch. Frequently Asked Questions.

Below are some common questions we have been asked over the years. Click on the question below and it will take you to the answer. If you do not find the answer you are looking for please do not hesitate to contact me with your query at artecy at artecy.com (replace at with the correct symbol @, listed like this to reduce spam)

I have lost my username and password what do I do?
What is a Permanent Member?
What Format do your patterns come in? Do I need extra software to print them?
Can I email my credit card details to you for payment?
I do not live in Australia can I still make purchases on your website?
I do not like to pay online can I pay you another way?
Is there a limit on how many patterns I can print as a member?
Can I print patterns to trade or for my friends?
Can I sell your patterns on ebay etc
Can I complete the cross stitch and sell the finished product?
How can I be notified when you update your patterns?
I have been notified you have updated your patterns but I when I go to your website it still shows last weeks patterns in your new section?
Do your patterns really turn out like the pictures on your website.
Can I get a cross stitch pattern done from a picture of Winnie the pooh, Mickey Mouse etc. ?
How can I suggest a pattern?
I have changed my email address how do I notify you?
How do I get my logon details when I join as a member?
I have received your confirmation email to say I am a member but I have trouble logging in?
Can I get one of my own photographs converted into a cross stitch pattern?
I am having problems printing the patterns. They are not opening up in Adobe Acrobat Reader?
I do not have a colour printer and do not want to print the large picture shown on the last page of the pdf files. Can I print without this image?
My printer is old and I cannot see the symbols clearly enough, can I photocopy the pattern so it is darker or larger?
It costs alot of money for printer ink. What do I do if I do not want to print all the patterns I like now but I want to store them to print later?
What coloured Aida cloth or fabric should I use?
Are there any patterns you have which are not available to members ? Will you be deleting any of these member patterns soon?
Do you sell patterns form other designers or fabrics, cottons etc?
Why are your prices so low, what is the catch?
If I make my purchases by mail order how long will it take to get to you?
Can I complete the Sew Little Stitches cross stitch and sell the finished product?
What can I stitch the Sew Little Stitches patterns onto?
I have sent an email to you a week ago but did not receive a reply, why not?
Is there anywhere else I can get your patterns from?

I have lost my username and password what do I do?
Please send me an email at artecy at artecy.com (replace at with the correct symbol @, listed like this to reduce spam) requesting your username and password and I will email it to you within 24 hours. If you would like to change your username or password please let me know and I will do that for you. I apologise that you cannot do this automatically from the website but that requires a database which is very costly and out of my reach at this stage.

What is a Permanent Member? Permanent membership means as long as the website is running you will remain a member. This website has been running for 8 years, I do not expect to stop doing this website for a long time yet. I love creating these patterns for all of my members.

What Format do your patterns come in? Do I need extra software to print them?
All of our patterns are available in black and white symbol format in a PDF file. This is a very common file type, you need the free program Adobe Acrobat Reader to view and print the patterns. If you would like to see how our patterns print before you make a purchase please visit our free patterns page. There is also a link there to download the reader if you do not have it already. All patterns come with a list of DMC colours to use for each symbol.

Can I email my credit card details to you for payment?
No. This is very unsafe to do as anyone can intercept an email and then steal your credit card information. You should never send such sensitive information in an email. If you do send your payment by email, Artecy Cross Stitch will accept no liability if your information is stolen and misused by a third party. We have a secure online payment systems through Paypal which is a very reputable safe company. No one but them sees your credit card information not even us.

I do not live in Australia can I still make purchases on your website?
Yes. We accept payments from all over the world. Paypal currently accepts payments from 55 countries. If you country is not accepted you can pay us with fax or mail order. We have payment buttons in US dollars on our website as the vast majority of our customers are in the US. If you do not use US dollars your credit card will be debited with the equivalent amount in your currency depending on the current exchange rate. If you would like to see the price in another currency click here for a currency converter

I do not like to pay online can I pay you another way?
We also accept fax or mail orders. We accept Visa or Mastercard for fax or mail orders. We also accept bank cheques made out in Australian dollars or personal cheques in your currency with an extra $5.00US for currency conversion fee. We unfortunately cannot accept international money orders.

Is there a limit on how many patterns I can print as a member?
Once you are signed on as a member you can print any or all of our patterns, there are no limits on how many patterns you can print. As well as being able to print any of our current patterns you will also be able to print any new patterns we release throughout your membership. Please remember though the patterns are for your personal use only. It is against our copyright for you to print multiple copies of a pattern to pass onto others.

Can I print patterns to trade or for my friends? No you cannot. These patterns are for your personal use only, you cannot print them for others or pass the pdf files to others, if they are wanting our patterns they will need to purchase a membership, cd or buy the pattern individually. This is a violation of my copyrights. If you have a pattern you bought at a shop you only have one copy and it is fine for you to give that pattern to someone else, you give it away and you do not have a copy. It is against copyright though for you to photocopy that pattern and give someone a copy and keep a copy for yourself.

With my patterns you are getting electronic pdf files, you cannot pass these files to others and you cannot print a copy for someone else as you still have access to the original pattern, it is the same as photocopying it for someone else. For our full Copyright rules please click here.

Can I sell your patterns on ebay etc No you definitely cannot sell my patterns on ebay or anywhere else. These patterns are for personal use only, that means you print them for your own use. You cannot pass your username and passwords to others and you cannot print the pattern off to give to others. Any member who is found distributing our patterns for profit or passing on their usernames and passwords will have their membership cancelled without refund. They will also be banned from the website and can face legal action from me for copyright infringement. We have tracking software which monitors the patterns which are downloaded so we can see if the patterns are being misused. I put alot of effort and many late nights into making these patterns all I ask is that you please respect me and my efforts.

Can I complete the cross stitch and sell the finished product? This is permissible on all of the members patterns except the Fred Marsh and Willow Arlenea patterns. You can stitch our Sew Little Stitches patterns on items you sell see full terms of use in our answer further down the page. You unfortunately cannot sell your finished cross stitch patterns from our Featured artists patterns or Fred Marsh or Willow Arlenea. These artists who allow me to use their works have requested that you all use these patterns for personal use only, they do not want their artwork to be distributed through completed cross stitch patterns. You can reduce the value of their artwork that way. You cannot mass produce the patterns as stitched items for sale. They are for hand cross stitching only You cannot use our patterns for machine embroidery and mass produce items for sale. If you intend to sell more than 100 completed works using the one pattern you will need to contact me for licencing rights.

How can I be notified when you update your patterns?
You can join our newsletter. You will receive one email per fortnight which will let you know as soon as we release our new patterns. Our newsletter will also have links to great craft and cross stitch sites on the internet.

I have been notified you have updated your patterns but I when I go to your website it still shows last weeks patterns in your new section?
When you visit websites on the internet the pages are stored in temporary internet files on your computer. Depending how long your computer is set to hold these pages it may still show last weeks patterns in our new section. You need to go up to the tool bar at the top of the page and click on refresh. This will refresh the page with the latest patterns. If it does not hold down shift and press refresh.

Do your patterns really turn out like the pictures on your website.
Some people have reservations when doing patterns charted by a computer program. We do not alter the images on our website to look better than the pattern is, what you see is what you get We try to get the colours as close to the original image as possible. We also use other techniques to minimise scattered stitches to make the patterns easier to stitch. If you would like to see how our patterns turn out please visit our completed patterns gallery.

Can I get a cross stitch pattern done from a picture of Winnie the pooh, Mickey Mouse etc.
Unfortunately we are not able to create patterns from pictures which have copyright attached as this is illegal. So it means we cannot do patterns for company logos, disney characters etc. We only use images which are considered in the public domain or which we have permission to use.

How can I suggest a pattern?
Only Members can suggest patterns, we do not accept suggestions for free patterns. If you are looking for a pattern we do not have you can contact us by email or make a suggestion on our message board or on our forum. We will try our best to get a pattern from your suggestion sometimes it is not possible though due to copyright restrictions and not every image will convert well into a pattern.

I have changed my email address how do I notify you?
Please email us with your change of email address if you are a member as we need to keep our records up to date. If you subscribe to our newsletter you will need to unsubscribe your old email address and subscribe your new one. This can be done in our newsletter section.

How do I get my logon details when I join as a Member?
Immediately after payment you will go to a page to download the membership information PDF file which also contains a temporary username and password which you can use for 2 days. Your unique permanent Username and Password will be emailed to you from Artecy Cross Stitch within two days from payment. It is very important that your Paypal email address is correct as that is the email address we will use to send your logon details to you.

I have received your confirmation email to say I am a member but I have trouble logging in?
When we send you an email to say you are now a member we will list your username and password, which you will need to logon as a member. You need to enter them exactly as they appear in your email. It is case sensitive so if you have capital letters in your username or password you will need to use them. If when you click on members login and the box comes up if there is any information already there then delete and retype as provided.

Can I get one of my own photographs converted into a cross stitch pattern?
We now have a new website just for this at www.crossstitchphoto.com If you are an Artecy Cross Stitch Member this service is offered at half price...

I am having problems printing the patterns. They are not opening up in Adobe Acrobat Reader?
First you need to click on members login and sign in using your username and password. You will then be taken to a section which says welcome to the members section.
Then go the category on the left that you are wanting and look for the pattern you wish to print. The patterns will say click here to print under the small image. When you click on click here to print it should open the adobe acrobat reader you have installed.

You will then have a blank page for a little while as the pattern is downloaded. It can sometimes take 10 -15 minutes for the pattern to appear if you have a really slow internet connection.

If the pattern does not come up and nothing seems to be happening click on the refresh button at the top of the page.
If that does not work you can go to where it says click here to print and right click your mouse button.
You can then select either open in new window, and if that does not work click on save target as and save the pattern onto you hard drive, then open up adobe reader and open the pattern from where you saved it on your hard drive. If you still have problems it may help to uninstall adobe reader and reinstall it again.
Please try these suggestions and if you have any further problems please let me know.

I do not have a colour printer and do not want to print the large picture shown on the last page of the pdf files. Can I print without this image?
We have added the larger picture of each pattern on the last page or front page of the pdf files for your reference. If you do not have a colour printer or do not want to print this page you can select not to. When you go to print the pdf file, it will ask which pages you wish to print, just say print to the page number before the coloured picture. It is best to view the coloured picture at its actual size, select view at the top of adobe acrobat reader and select actual size.

My printer is old and I cannot see the symbols clearly enough, can I photocopy the pattern so it is darker or larger?
We have no problem if you want to photocopy a pattern to make the symbols darker or larger if it is for personal use only. It is a copyright infringement though to photocopy our patterns for sale or trade with others.

It costs alot of money for printer ink. What do I do if I do not want to print all the patterns I like now but I want to store them to print later?
To save the pattern to your hard drive.
Find the pattern you want to save, right click on the words click here to print. A little option box will come up. Select save target as... then wait a few seconds soon a box will come up asking where you want the save the pattern too. It might be best to create an Artecy Cross Stitch folder and put all the patterns into it.
To save the pattern onto a cd rom or floppy disk.
Save patterns first onto your hard drive as above. Then if you want to put them onto a CD you need a CD burner and software which goes with it. The software will explain how to save the files onto a disk. If you are just putting them onto a floppy disk 3.5" insert a blank formatted floppy disk into your computer. Go to my computer and open up the floppy disk drive, it should have nothing in the box. Open up the folder which contains the artecy cross stitch patterns and then copy and paste them from the artecy folder to the floppy disk drive.
Please note saving our patterns onto disks is for personal use only. They may not be sold or copied in any form for others. This is copyright infringement. We also have our own CD Roms of patterns available which allow you to print the patterns at your leisure.

What coloured Aida cloth or fabric should I use?
We generally suggest for most of our patterns to be done on white or cream coloured aida cloth or fabric. There are some patterns with black backgrounds which you could substitute the black stitches for black aida cloth or fabric. We will let you know on our patterns if you need to use a different colour Aida cloth. If you are an experienced stitcher, you can customize the pattern to suit yourself. You can substitute colours if you wish

Are there any patterns you have which are not available to members ? Will you be deleting any of these member patterns soon?
The only patterns not available in the members area are the Featured Artists patterns as royalties are paid to the artists for each pattern sold, however members can buy any two and get a third one for free. We have increased our website space in 2008 so at this stage all of the members patterns will be in the members area for at least 8 - 10 years.

Do you sell patterns form other designers or fabrics, cottons etc?
All of the patterns on the Artecy Cross Stitch website are designed by me Tereena Clarke. I do not sell other designers patterns from this website and I only sell patterns, I do not offer kits, fabrics, cottons etc.

Why are your prices so low, what is the catch?
I actually have people say that the prices are too good to be true and they think there are some hidden charges. I am a Mum working from home, I do not have employees or a shop to pay rent for so I can afford to keep my prices so low. I do not make a huge profit from this website but that is not why I started this. I need to pay the bills but also as a mum on a budget I understand that it is hard to be able to afford patterns and I want everyone to be able to enjoy this hobby. I think you pay enough already for your fabrics and cotton so you do not need high pattern prices as well.

If I make my purchases by mail order how long will it take to get to you?
If you are posting from outside Australia it usually takes around 10 business days, within Australia it should take 2 business days. If I am posting CD's to you it will take the same time for you to receive them.

Can I complete the Sew Little Stitches cross stitch and sell the finished product?
These designs can be stitched on items which you sell providing that:
1. You personally stitch the items themselves. You cannot employ or hire others to mass produce
items for sale featuring my designs. These are for hand stitching only, not machine embroidery.
2. You must display on a label or on a website, ebay, or wherever the completed items are sold
that the design is from Sew Little Stitches by Artecy Cross Stitch.
3. You do not alter the designs in any way, for example you cannot change any of the colours
used. You can add to designs, for example if you are making a sampler and wish to add writing.
(For personal use feel free to alter a pattern for your requirements.)
The Charts/Patterns themselves cannot be redistributed, copied or sold either singularly or in the collection to others. They are for your personal use only. Copyright 2005 Artecy Cross Stitch. All Rights Reserved.

What can I stitch the Sew Little Stitches patterns onto?
These Designs can be used on for example:
Greeting Cards/Gift Tags, Towels/Tea Towels, Napkins/Placemats, Photo Frames/Frames,
Samplers, Cushions, Paper Weights, Bookmarks, Trinket Boxes, Clothes, Glasses Case,
Ornaments, Bag Tags, Key Chains, Coasters, Magnets, Scrapbook Layouts.
Or anywhere else where you need a small design. I would love to see how you use them so if you would like to send me an image of your completed patterns I will display it on the website.

I have sent an email to you a week ago but did not receive a reply, why not? I try to answer every email within 2 days. One of my pet peeves is companies who do not reply to your emails. If you have not received a reply from me within 2 days please email your query again occasionally spam blockers stop the receipt of legitimate emails.

Is there anywhere else I can get your patterns from?
Alot of our patterns for sale are also available to purchase online through patternsonline.com and through Crossstitchuk.com. The special offers on this website only apply if you purchase directly through us.

Copyright © Tereena Clarke T/as Artecy Cross Stitch. All rights reserved.
All trademarks are properties of their respective owners.
This is an arts and crafts related website for lovers of art, cross stitch and craft hobby enthusiasts,
and for art and craft supplies and cross stitch supplies please see our cross stitch links pages.

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