Dear community of amazing customers, supporters, family, and friends,
First, let me start with an enormous THANK YOU for all the patience and grace you have given us as we go through some pretty difficult blows to our little shop.
I apologize for taking so long to write an update. This one covers a little bit of everything (since life and our small family business are all swirled together.)
CURRENT ORDER STATUS
I want to get right to it for those who have open orders with Picture This Clothing or with Sam Barsky’s T-shirt Store from Dec + Jan.
We relocated to a new shop just before the holidays in Dec. (not ideal timing, but the best we could do), and with the move came some extraordinary damage to our two primary manufacturing machines. Thus, we've been relying on our former shop neighbor to run prints/orders for us while we try to get things repaired, and fitting into his availability has caused additional delays. (No negatives on him btw, we’re grateful for his help!)
As of today, Friday Feb 2, we are slated to receive a big batch of Dec/Jan orders tonight at 4-5pm PT. We will cut all the pieces tomorrow and begin sewing ASAP. Items will start shipping approximately Wed. Feb 7, 2024, in the order of oldest to newest.
If you would prefer to cancel/refund your Dec/Jan order PLEASE CONTACT ME before Monday, Feb 5.
If you’ve placed an order since Jan 06, please expect 30-45 days to ship.
WHEN WILL YOU BE UP AND RUNNING AGAIN?
I wish I had an answer for this!
Here’s what I know right now.
Our heat press is a giant machine we bought brand new and had shipped over from Italy back in 2018. We’ve never had a problem with it before, but now that we do, we’re learning it’s pretty tough to get a technician who really knows these particular machines. Especially in Pahrump, NV where we’ve relocated.
The guy who helped us set it up and taught us how to use it, sadly passed away during COVID. To his family, we are so, so sorry for your loss.
Steve was awesome, and we sure are grateful we had such a fun and knowledgeable guy helping us out early on.
Some Good News:
Turns out Steve’s grandson Steve is also a “Monti” tech, and he’s scheduled to come do a diagnostic evaluation next week. Fingers crossed it’s fixable! Dreamy if it’s fixable pretty fast.
Our printer is another story. We think the printer head needs to be replaced entirely. If not this, then the whole printer may need to be replaced.
Fixing up both of these machines is a pretty massive expense, so we’re basically just doing the best we can while also trying to get the Desert Homestead fixed up so we can actually MOVE IN.
If you’re not familiar with the Desert Homestead story, start here.
SO, CAN I STILL PLACE ORDERS?
We’ve got regular/new orders for PTC on pause until we have some clarity around our machines. Gift Certificate redemptions are still open with the note of 30-45 days to ship from the date you order.
Sam Barsky T-shirt orders are still open with the note of 30-45 days to ship from the date you order.
ARE YOU SHUTTING DOWN?
We have no intention of shutting down. We LOVE what we get to make at Picture This Clothing. We LOVE our community. We LOVE seeing the brilliant imaginations of kids.
If it turns out our main machine is irreparable, it’s a bridge we’ll cross if we get to it. For now, we plan to fix things up and keep trucking!
WHAT’S GOING ON WITH THE DESERT HOMESTEAD?
I hoped to do more regular updates but it seemed like life had a monsoon of other plans.
The previous owners moved out in October with the help of their daughter Wendy and her husband Steve.
They moved into a lovely apartment in Oregon. Jan loves being so close to her kids and grandkids, Jim loves visits to the Fred Meyer store with his grandson. I feel 100% confident this was the best move for them.
Before their move, Ken and I took them to dinner at the steakhouse inside the Pahrump Nugget. After our nice meal, Ken ordered every dessert on the menu and we all got to try everything. Jim and Jan talked about the experience as one of their fondest memories in a long, long time.
We couldn’t find a home for their dog Lulu, who could not move into their apartment with them, so Ken and I adopted her with love, lots of homecooked meals, and lots of travels between Vegas and Pahrump (had no idea she’d love car rides so much!)
With the help of my stepmom Mary and our single Picture This employee Wilson, we’ve gotten a lot done on getting the house alllllmost move-in ready, and the shop is iteratively getting more organized and cleared as we go.
We’re currently only out here one or two days a week, and we’ve learned that scheduling ANYTHING takes about 3-5x longer in Pahrump than in Vegas.
While we once hoped to be mostly moved into the home part by Christmas (2023), we’re now setting our sights on Summer 2024.
It’s definitely a “project home” but I think we knew that going in. Definitely a lot more surprises in directions we hadn’t imagined, but despite some of the “one thing after another” aspects of it all, I feel like we made the right choice with this place.
When we finally get to the point where we live in the house and Picture This is running smoothly in the shop, it’s going to be PERFECT!
With care,
♥️ Jaimee