All Star Embroidery seams to have found a home

For 18 years, Jody Buesgens has been decorating fabric and other materials with needles, thread, yarn and ink. “Creating a lasting impression” is her slogan and as of last September, that impression now has a storefront.

All Star Embroidery, 12900 1st St. in Becker, is a screen printing and embroidery company specializing in corporate, school and organizational apparel. ASE and its employees are experts in designing and applying art to spiritwear, uniforms, promotional products and gear for local businesses, individuals and schools.
The company also supplies many local businesses, churches and schools with specialty gifts, trophies and awards and Buesgens thought it was essential to the growth of her business to bring her business out into the open.
“I thought it was important for us to have some visibility, to give our customers the chance to come in and touch and feel the materials and try things on before committing to buying an item or two,” said Buesgens.
Buesgens and her husband Jeff decided to move to the Becker area in 1995 from the cities because they were looking for a good school system for their kids, Amber, Aaron and Lauren. A friend of the family tipped them off to Becker and they made the move despite the fact Jeff still held a job in Chaska.
Eighteen years later, he still does.
Jody has always been interested in arts and crafts and one day she just decided to invest in an embroidery machine and her business took off.

“My goal has always been to provide a great product at a competitive price and that, so far, has been a big part of my success,” she said.
The company’s biggest customers include athletes and parents of the Becker and Big Lake High Schools. They do work for police and fire departments, churches and the local tattoo supplies parlor. They also do merchandise work for fundraiser events where customers can use All Star’s graphics and artwork or supply their own for a one-of-a-kind look.
Some of the products found in the store are sweatshirts,, jackets, hats, duffel bags, socks, windpants, shoes, scarves, jerseys, lanyards and blankets. All items can be bought “as-is” or customized with graphics, names or logos. “Be a walking advertisement for your business or team,” says Buesgens.
Buesgens is running a couple of sales through March and April on storewide items and is willing to provide some free services for companies or sports teams looking to buy product in bulk.

"1200 lumens flashlights 1000 lumen flashlight"

When serious snow hits, there’s more to preparation than just stocking up on milk. A few simple precautionary steps can keep you and your house safe in the snow, says News4 consumer reporter Liz Crenshaw.

Liz’ tips:

Outside your home, disconnect any hoses from outside spigots if you haven’t already done so. If you still have time, clear gutters and outside drains of debris so that melted snow can travel down the drains. You want to keep water from the melting snow from backing up into your basement.

If the power goes out, turn off any electric appliances you were using to help prevent a power surge when the power comes back. That includes the stove, your TV and computer. Just leave one electric light on, and don’t touch your refrigerator. When you see that light come back on, then one by one you can turn on your appliances.

During any power outage, keep plenty of  1000 lumen flashlight on hand and make sure to have extra batteries to keep them running. Fire officials say flashlights are a safer choice than candles. If you must use candles, don’t leave them burning unattended. And keep them away from curtains, clothing and books.

Make sure your smoke detector has fresh batteries. That way, it will go off even if you don’t have power. Fire officials warn if you use a kerosene heater, make sure to fill it outside your home. And don’t try to fill it while it’s actually burning or hot.

If you have a generator, run it outside, away from your home, garage and windows. Carbon monoxide is a major concern with generators.

And if you haven’t already, pack two emergency kits — one for your home and one for your car. Don’t forget to include 1200 lumens flashlights, battery powered radios, extra batteries, water and snack foods that don’t need to be refrigerated.

LED display puts Bay Bridge in new light

The Bay Bridge will never win a beauty contest against the iconic Golden Gate, but for the next two years, it gets to set aside its inferiority complex for several hours each night while it’s lit by the glow of 25,000 twinkling LED lights.

The organizers of the $8 million Bay Lights sculpture were set to flip the switch on the project Tuesday night to trip the lights fantastic along the cables of the bridge’s western span.
The lights will appear to move along the north-side cables of the 1.8-mile span in patterns and sequences generated by artist Leo Villareal via programmed computers located in the central anchor of the bridge.
It is a work of public art, funded without taxpayer dollars, a “gift of light,” Villareal said.
“You don’t have to buy a ticket,” he said. “You don’t have to go into a building.”
City officials expect 50 million people to visit the area to see the 1000 lumen flashlight.
For the past several months, crews worked from 11 p.m. to 5 a.m. to string LEDs on cables 525 feet above the water, installing about 500 lights per shift.
So far, organizers have raised about $6 million to cover the costs, which include a little over $15 per night in electricity.
The project was the brainchild of Ben Davis, a creative consultant, who pitched the idea as a gift to the community, and organized by Illuminate the Arts, a San Francisco nonprofit that promotes public art programs.
The effort required a wide range of permits and cooperation from Caltrans, the Coast Guard and even the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
“When, typically, the system is designed to say no, people found a way to say yes,” Davis said. The finished piece is a “work of contemporary art unparalleled in art history.”
The lights can be seen from the northern side of the bridge, along the waterfront or from a boat on the bay, but not from the decks of the bridge, where they might otherwise distract drivers.
Along with oohs and aahs, the project is expected to generate nearly $100 million in additional revenues for the city from visitors eager to see the 1200 lumens flashlights and spend money while doing so, San Francisco Mayor Ed Lee said.
But it wasn’t just about economics, Lee said.

“Art has always been an inspiration to me – you can imagine anything you want in these lights,” the mustachioed mayor said, adding that in prior tests, he has seen a mustache every time. “It will be for the child in us to celebrate.”
At Hotel Vitale, at Mission Street just off the Embarcadero, four terraces on top of the building will offer perfect views of the lights, “a huge selling point” for weddings and parties, said Jill Plemons, director of sales and marketing.
Imagine a bride and groom dancing with the Bay Lights in the background.
“It gives me the chills,” Plemons said.
Like other businesses along the waterfront, the hotel will be promoting various packages in the coming weeks and months that combine a hotel stay, a dinner or a bay cruise featuring the lights.
Villareal has a two-year permit to operate the art installation on the bridge.
Lee, however, predicted a longer life for the lights on what has long been the second-fiddle span.
It turns “infrastructure into art,” Lee said. “This is a beacon for our arts community.”

Men are wearing much sexier underwear than you think

Men are wearing much sexier underwear than you think reports online retailer Dinodireco.com
Women might want to think twice about what undies they buy their partners for Valentine’s Day this year because the current trends of what men are really buying online is much more revealing about what sexy undies they are wearing reports online retailer of designer men’s underwear Dinodireco.com
Men are increasingly buying sexy underwear online for themselves and understanding what they buy may help partners choose the right gift for them.
People often assume they know what others want and are sometimes surprised to discover that it is not always what they thought. Just like men, women can easily get it wrong when buying wholesale boxers underwear  for their partner. Jane, owner of Dinodireco.com admits that she too had a totally different perception of what men wore, saying, “I would never have believed that men would have been in to such sexy and elegant designer underwear if I weren’t the one selling it”.
Knowing what underwear men like is not always obvious as they tend to be slightly more private, or even shy about what they prefer, especially if it is something that may be perceived as risqué, such as thongs and transparent briefs. However, online shopping provides a degree of anonymity, which allows men to be more daring and try different styles they may not otherwise contemplate. Consequently, what they buy online may be a truer reflection of their preferences, rather than high street sale statistics of wholesale underwear for men.
So, what underwear are men wearing? Well, men are very much in to a broad range of sexy and sensual designer underwear, such as men’s thongs, hipsters that sculpt the body like a second skin and barely there briefs that leave little to the imagination. A broad range of modern fabrics such as delicate, superfine microfibers and decadent, semi transparent, mesh fabrics that feel smooth and sexy complete this new sensual trend in mens designer underwear.
Clearly men are much more discerning about what their undies look and feel like, and further testimony to their demand for sexier pants is the fact that some of the leading designer brands like HOM underwear are catering to this market.
So, to make sure you buy your partner the right undies this Valentine’s, the best advice is not to assume what men are wearing, but to take note of what the larger online retailers such as Giggleberries are stocking, and if in doubt seek advice from the retailer.
Company Bio
Giggleberries is a popular choice for designer wholesale boxers underwear , swimwear and men’s socks from many leading designer brands such as Bruno Banani, HOM, MANstore, Sloggi and many others.

Twitter to build app for new Firefox OS smartphones

Microblogging site says it will have an app available for the browser-based mobile operating system when handsets launch in the next couple of months.
Twitter is jumping into the Firefox mobile mania, committing an app to the forthcoming platform.
The microblogging site announced today that when devices running Mozilla's browser-based operating system begin to be shipped to consumers in the next couple of months, it will have an app for the mobile platform in its Firefox Marketplace.
"Similar to our other mobile apps, Twitter for Firefox OS has a rich interface, featuring the Home, Connect, Discover and Me tabs, as well as the search and compose Tweet icons, so you can easily find and send Tweets from anywhere in the app," Twitter engineer Manuel Deschamps wrote in a company blog post today.
The new app will also feature Web Activities, a feature unique to Firefox OS that allows users to tweet photos from within any app that supports the feature.
Mozilla announced yesterday at the Mobile World Congress show in Barcelona, Spain, that it's lined up 18 mobile network operators and four mobile discount smartphones makers to back its open-source mobile operating system. The first phones should arrive in the second quarter of the year.
Like its desktop cousin, Firefox OS runs Web apps written in Web languages like HTML, CSS, and JavaScript, but it also features phone-specific interfaces for things like monitoring battery life and phone orientation.
Mozilla won commitments to sell Firefox OS wholesale smart phones from these carriers: America Moovil, China Unicom, Deutsche Telekom, Etisalat, Hutchison Three Group, KDDI, KT, MegaFon, Qtel, SingTel, Smart, Sprint, Telecom Italia Group, Telefonica, Telenor, Telstra, TMN, and VimpelCom. Handset manufacturers on board are Alcatel, ZTE, LG Electronics, and Huawei, with a boost from chipmaker Qualcomm.

Millennial Designer Honors Heroic Women ... With Fantastic Underwear?

When I put my underwear on in the morning, I hardly think about what I'm doing. I've even been known to apologize to folks for the lack of matching bra — as if it's some egregious offense. So when I was introduced to a fantastic new wholesale boxers underwear concept playfully called The League of Ladies from designer Shelly Ni, which features historic women of note as superheroes, I couldn't have been more ecstatic. What could be better than turning a mindless task into a fun, informative, and empowering action? (Maybe doing all of the above while eating a cupcake, but putting underwear on one-handed might be difficult.)

I got the chance to ask Ni some questions last Friday about the underwear that will change your morning routine for the better. As in a lot of endeavors, necessity is the mother of invention.

"For an entrepreneurial design class at the School of Visual Arts, I and my Interaction Design peers have been tasked with launching a new venture this semester. I wanted to pursue something both meaningful and playful to keep me revving through months of bringing an engaging product or service into the public eye," says Ni.

Upon perusing Ni's design portfolio, it's apparent that her work gracefully accomplishes the difficult task of being simultaneously beautiful, functional, and socially conscious. While this might seem an easy task for a student of design school constantly asked to exercise their creative muscles, this accomplishment is the result of the extensive background work Ni undertakes in all of her projects. For The League of Ladies, Ni says "I came across the Pink Loves Consent campaign in December ... sharing the article with friends sparked several long conversations about rape culture ... I asked myself, what could I as a designer actually do about them?"

After interviewing friends and classmates about the Victoria Secret prank and her ideas, it was obvious to Ni that there was a desire for wholesale boxers underwear that was not just an article to wear but "a place to put a message. And not just any message — a message [women] cared about, a message that made them feel good about themselves, a message they could wear proudly, a cheeky message that feels like a private joke." Thus, The League of Ladies was born.

Below, a transcript of our interview:

Sarah Dropek (SD): Do you consider yourself a feminist? How would you define what it means to be a feminist? What implications does your answer have on the work you've done and the underwear endeavor you're working towards?

Shelly Ni (SN): The short answer is, 'Yes!!'. The longer answer has to do with my dissatisfaction with the flat, prescriptive narrative society writes about any demographic. No group of people is homogeneous enough to compress into a single story, much less the dismissive ones still shared about women today.

I'm over hearing about what I can or can't do, what women should or should not do, having our opinions / thoughts / intentions / plans condescended to or worse, blocked. I'm all about discovering and then acting upon what I hold to be important, meaningful, and respectful. This project, at the highest (or deepest) level, is about helping women of any age realize their inner truth on their terms.

SD: I am enamored with your work on the Nautilus Bowl and the story behind it. Much of your past work is that which fills a need in a creative way. You seem to have a socially aware bent to your work, how you did you feel the superhero underwear fits in with the rest of your projects?

SN: I'm flattered you picked up on that socially aware thread! Yes, the social impact of this project is something I'm putting a lot of effort towards. I'm designing my pieces to create affirming or playful moments and spark conversations around gender issues. I don't want to promise anything not in the bank yet, but I'm working to build a model that allows me to donate proceeds from sales of wholesale underwear for men, to organizations related to a character's theme. (Marie Curie, women in science, Frida Kahlo, female artists, etc.)

SD: Are you planning on selling the products online only? If so, considering the Victoria Secret prank, will you be using models for the product? What are your thoughts on retouching, both on a personal level and in general retail?

SN: Online only, but there could be in-the-wild guerrilla campaigning in the future! I'll probably use models since there is only one of me, and I'm not that narcissistic. Retouching — for personal photos, I'll make small technical adjustments to improve the color balance. I'll photoshop in a dragon in the background, because dragons are awesome. I'll use Instagram filters. This project is about real women. I would not alter a model's photograph to create something that wasn't there in real life.

In general retail, I'm tired of being sold another vision of perfection that's not relevant to me. I'm not interested in perfection. I'm especially aware of models that don't look like me or people I know. In undergrad, while writing a paper on East Asian eyelid surgery, I counted the number of East Asian models in a decade of Vogue magazines. The numbers were dismal. I loved Pink Loves Consent's models.

SD: Do you have a list of historical women you're building to work with? Are the women represented on the product with their likeness or with abstract designs related to their accomplishments like the Marie Curie teaser looks like it might suggest?

SN: I have a small personal list, but I'm super curious about women other people want to see as superheroes. After all, I'm not designing these for myself.

Currently the designs for the underwear will be symbols, like the Marie Curie teaser. Unless people are really clamoring for faces or pictures of people on their panties, I'll stick with Wonder Woman style iconic / abstract branding.

SD: What is your hope for those who end up wearing your creations? What do you want them to take from it?

SN: Choosing what pair [of underwear] to put on in the morning can be a tiny ritual. If panties are the first thing you put on your body as you start your day, what would happen if they created a small moment of reflection, affirmation, or humor?

Someone told me a great anecdote about buying boys' boxers as a kid, with other girls, feeling rad lounging around in Batman underwear, unavailable in the girls' section. After sketching underwear with different kinds of feminist messaging, the idea of paying tribute/being inspired by real women resonated.

I'm hoping that transforming strong female role models into superhero-scale characters (without distorting their real achievements or personalities), can engage more women with their biographies. Owning undies associated with characters lets you identify more strongly with what you love about that role model. You're embodying what you respect, a little bit, but you also get to shape what your part of that story looks like that day. Superhero Marie Curie could mean anything to you — chemistry, tenacity, guts — the important part is that stepping into your own pair of Marie Curie themed undies reminds you of that personal meaning.

Be Hip and Stylish with Fred Perry Shoes

Fred Perry Shoes truly have a history of excellence. Noticeable with the laureate mark and founded by 3-time Wimbledon tennis competition champion Fred Perry, Fred Perry shoes and sneakers surely have a history of greatness. It is an offshoot of the well known Fred Perry clothing range which is considered as one of Britain's finest contribution to the fashion world. Fred Perry shoes and sneakers nonetheless have really made a name for themselves in the Fred Perry product collections. The shoes and sneakers are really uncomplicated, easy-to-wear, and really never go out of fashion. They really are classic shoes and sneakers!
Fred Perry shoes and sneakers are sporty street wear shoes and sneakers. Their look is pretty casual. Fred Perry shoes and sneakers are mainly made of light weight materials like canvas, cotton, twill, suede, and lightweight leather. The use of these types of components makes the shoes comfortable and very easy to walk with. Fred Perry's designs are simple designs. They practical designs and make the shoes fine street wear wholesale women shoes. Fred Perry shoes and sneakers are either lace-up or slip-on. The colors are generally neutral, patterned or straight and can easily go with your day-to-day clothes.

Fred Perry shoes can never go out of style. They are distinctively traditional footwear. Fred Perry's designs remain true in spirit to the conventional looks and feel that they been known for. Nevertheless, the designers are not afraid of experimentation. The Fred Perry group has been acknowledged to work with contemporary designers. This group work resulted to the re-imaging of the traditional style with a modern look. Fred Perry shoes are modern but have a traditional style into them. This convention makes them traditional yet fashionable.
You find Fred Perry footwear collections for both men and women. The existing Fred Perry mens shoes designs include the Vintage Tennis Jersey, Vintage Tennis Rip, Drury Twill, Kingston Stamp Down, Kingston Mid Twill, Kingston Tumbled Leather, Kingston Jersey Marl, and Kingston Strip. Likewise, the current Fred Perry womens shoes lines consist of the Phoenix Canvas, Phoenix Check, Villier Pique, Palm Canvas, Sun Power Stripe, Inigo Mini Gingham, Tivoli, and Inigo Canvas. The Fred Perry footwear collections also feature sandals.

Fred Perry Sneakers and shoes are easy to wear, casual, classical and fashionable men dress shoes wholesale. They really uncomplicated. They traditional sporty street wear shoes yet very fashionable. Fred Perry shoes have an heritage of excellence that emphasizes the spirit of classical looks blended with modern styles. A blend of tradition and modernity are encapsulated in every single pair of Fred Perry shoes and sneakers. Fred Perry, the brand that has grown from its very humble sportswear origins into a company that is acknowledged and highly regarded all over the world! Feel the hassle-free walk along with your Fred Perry footwear!