Smokey Mountains – Tennessee

There’s an old saying: the only constant in life is change. It’s not always comfortable, but it is inevitable.

In times like this, I like to look at Ecclesiastes 3:1,  or Pete Seeger’s “Turn! Turn! Turn!,” made famous by The Byrds in 1965, and James 1:2–4. “Trials produce patience, endurance, and maturity. Sometimes a disruptive period changes not only your circumstances, but you.”

I have to be careful about what I say here for legal reasons, but I will say this: there was a period of time when I asked God for help, and boy, did He deliver. That doesn’t mean He did it the way I expected, but that’s okay. He’s always come through for me. Somehow, always in the nick of time.

Ahhh, time.

I’ve got a little more of it on my hands right now, and I’ve been doing my best to balance work while also trying to embrace this season. Sitting around has never really been in my DNA. My last name, Kowal, means “blacksmith” in Polish, and I’ve always felt the need to keep my hands busy. As they say, “Idle hands are the devil’s playground.”

As much as I want to fully embrace this period, it can be hard, especially when you’re used to a certain routine.

I’ve tried to use this time to be a little more retrospective and introspective. I’ve been thinking about what I can do to be a better dad, spouse, communicator, and person in general. It’s one thing to identify the areas where you can improve; it’s an entirely different thing to actually put the wheels in motion and do the work.

But I’m getting there. At least I’d like to think so.

More than anything, I want everyone to know that I’m doing well. I’m happy, I’m positive, and I will always use my hands to make and build things. That part of me isn’t going anywhere. It’s in my blood.

The kids go back to school this Wednesday, and I’m not-so-secretly excited. As nice as it is having them around, I do think summer break can get a little long-winded. On the other hand, I’ve heard enough teachers say they need the break for their own sanity, and honestly…that’s fair.

In the meantime, I’d love to share a few special moments from this past summer.

Big Creek and Midnight Hole, North Carolina

Although it was a little difficult to fully enjoy the trip because this season of change had already begun in my life, I had a wonderful time with Liesl’s family in Gatlinburg, Tennessee.

My soon-to-be brother-in-law rented an absolutely stunning cabin in the Smokies. He’s a very organized guy and had so many great things planned for the three or so days we spent there.

As I’ve done many times in my life, when things feel a little upside down, I tend to gravitate toward two things: my camera and nature. This trip gave me the perfect opportunity to clear my head, get outside, and take some photos.

He had mentioned something about a hike and a waterfall, so naturally I made sure to bring my Nikon and prime lenses just in case I happened upon one of those rare “gallery-worthy” images, the kind you might only get a handful of when landscape photography isn’t something you do for a living.

I can’t remember exactly how long the hike was. I want to say it was about a mile and a half each way, but I couldn’t have been happier with what was waiting for us at the end.

While everyone else was testing fate by jumping off massive boulders into what felt like hypothermic water, I set up my tripod and started shooting, dragging the shutter just enough to give the waterfall that smooth, soft-water effect. I was in my happy place.

Speaking of which, I really need to get this one printed and hung somewhere in the house. I hope you enjoy it.

I’m not sure whether the amount of time we spend fishing says more about how much we love being outside, around nature and water, or whether it says something about how completely insane we are given the amount of patience it takes to stay out there for hours even when the bite is off.

Either way, I feel really lucky that my boys love to fish.

Gavin has become quite the angler and spends part of his summer biking to different fishing holes with his friends, just like I used to when I was younger. With all the technology and screens kids have access to these days, it feels like you don’t see as many of them fishing anymore, so I’m grateful that he’d rather trade the phone for a fishing pole every now and then.

I’m also really happy, and proud, to see Payton embracing fishing too. You should see this three-year-old’s casting skills. Sometimes I think baseball messes with his casting motion a little bit, but when he focuses, he can really launch it out there.

Pictured here is the first bass he ever caught completely on his own. He put the worm on the hook, cast it out, hooked the fish, and reeled it in himself. In this photo, he wasn’t quite ready to hold the fish yet, but he’s making progress there too. At this rate, it won’t be long before he’s completely self-sufficient.

And of course, I’m also blessed to have a woman who shares one of my favorite hobbies. Actually, she may be more into fishing than I am.

Apparently six hours on the water isn’t enough, and if I suggest heading home too early, she may have to reconsider the entire relationship.

Kidding.

Mostly.

Just as everything else in my life seemed to be changing, I started noticing changes in Pumpkin too. The first thing that really caught my attention was that he no longer wanted to eat his dry food, along with a few other things that just weren’t normal for him.

I took him to the vet, fully expecting something manageable. What I did not expect was for Dr. Grant to come out and say, “We have one sick kitty on our hands.”

Over the next three weeks, I went from knowing very little about feline bloodwork to feeling like I had practically become a hematologist. Non-regenerative anemia was the first indication that we were dealing with something serious, and from that point on, I went down every possible path trying to figure out what was causing it.

I talked to one neighbor about plants on her property, since certain plants can contribute to anemia. I spoke with another neighbor about pest-control products she had used. She did use them, but the testing we performed eventually ruled that possibility out.

I even went so far as to build a program with Claude AI to track Pumpkin’s bloodwork over time so I could see whether he was improving or declining and use the process of elimination to narrow down the possible causes.

Ultimately, we were left with two likely possibilities: some form of cancer or a blood-borne illness caused by a tick or flea. We started him on an antibiotic that would have treated the tick- or flea-borne possibilities, but unfortunately, his numbers continued to move in the wrong direction.

One thing I learned through all of this is just how powerful AI can be when used as a research tool. I was able to upload bloodwork, compare trends, explore possible diagnoses, and even review imaging. There were several times when something I found during my research led to a different conversation with the vet or brought attention to possibilities that hadn’t initially been considered.

What made all of this especially difficult was knowing how much effort I had always put into Pumpkin’s health. I researched his food, tried to give him the best diet I could, limited dry food, and made sure he always had access to fresh running water. I would even leave a faucet dripping for him because he loved drinking fresh water rather than anything stagnant.

In the end, my vet believed environmental exposure may have played a role, possibly lawn chemicals or herbicides. Pumpkin was an outdoor cat. I never let him stay out past sunset, but during the day, he spent a lot of time roaming, hunting, and doing exactly what cats like Pumpkin were born to do. I don’t use those chemicals myself, but of course, I can’t control everything he may have encountered beyond my property.

Despite everything we tried, his anemia continued to worsen until he began developing ataxia. The moment that really told me it was time was when he nearly stumbled down the stairs.

I knew then that things were changing quickly.

His blood was no longer carrying oxygen the way it needed to, and I knew it wouldn’t be long before his condition deteriorated rapidly. I didn’t want him to experience that. I wanted him to leave this world while he was still, in some sense, himself. Almost on top.

On the evening of July 9th, I called Dr. Grant, and she agreed to come to the house to help him transition.

While we waited for her, I took Pumpkin outside.

And of course, in true Pumpkin fashion, he caught a second wind.

He was a little clumsy, but he wandered over to one of the parts of the property where he loved to hunt. He sat there quietly, watching the brush, waiting for the slightest little rustle that might reveal his next target. He ate some grass. He watched. He hunted.

He was just being Pumpkin.

When Dr. Grant arrived, we gave him some extra time to simply exist in that moment and do what he loved most.

When it was time, I carried him over to his favorite little picnic table. I gave him some extra pets, scratched his head, and stayed right beside him while she helped him transition.

The first injection simply made him sleepy. It looked almost as though he were taking one last nap in the backyard, surrounded by his family, with me holding him.

There is something that gives me peace about knowing that his suffering ended before he ever had to understand what was happening. He didn’t experience the frightening decline that was coming. He simply became tired, relaxed, and went to sleep in a place he loved.

It was a peaceful ending to a beautiful life.

And when I think about where his story began, found wandering the streets of St. Louis, I can’t help but think about how far his life came from there.

What a lucky boy.

And what a beautiful one.

“There is a unique magic in an orange cat; they are quiet muses draped in sunlight, bringing an enduring peace and boundless creativity to the souls they choose to rescue.”

Aside from fishing, camping, bowling, being outside, going to ball games, and spending time with friends and family, I’ve also had a chance to put some energy into my real estate business, Autumn Gold Properties (click here).

At its core, the business focuses on vacant land, purchasing it, improving its value through things like entitlements or subdivision, and ultimately reselling it.

I’ve always wanted to get involved in real estate, and while I still plan to invest in some multifamily properties (I’ve already gone to look at a handful), I have to admit that after doing a LOT of reading and research, I’ve become a little infatuated with land.

I suppose that makes sense, considering how much I enjoy being outside in the first place.

So, if you’re looking for land somewhere, or you happen to have a piece of property you’ve been thinking about selling, look me up!

Thanks for reading! ~ Leo

Let me begin with the part we know for certain.

On July 15, 2026, STAHLS’ announced that it had acquired Siser, bringing the heat-transfer-vinyl manufacturer into the STAHLS’ family of companies. Siser was expected to continue operating under its own name, while the two companies collaborated on product development, customer support and global growth. The financial terms were not disclosed.

Then, on July 29, exactly two weeks later, Siser North America posted a letter announcing that it would discontinue the Juliet High-Definition Cutter. The company said Leonardo Design Studio would remain available and continue supporting both Juliet and Romeo. Siser’s choice of wording was interesting: it referred to “the current Juliet” being discontinued, which leaves open the possibility that something else could eventually replace it, but no replacement had been announced as of August 4, 2026.

Two weeks.

That does not prove the acquisition caused the decision. In fact, acquisitions usually involve months of negotiations, financial reviews and product-level due diligence, so it is entirely possible that the fate of Juliet had already been discussed long before the deal became public.

But I also do not think we should pretend the timing means nothing.

Juliet was Siser’s direct attempt to compete in the desktop cutting-machine market. It could cut HTV, adhesive vinyl, cardstock, stickers, craft foam and other materials, and its 12-inch format placed it directly in the territory occupied by Cricut, Silhouette and Brother.

Discontinuing that machine almost immediately after an acquisition deserves a closer look, especially when the acquiring company is investing so heavily in a technology that can eliminate the need for a cutter in one of Juliet’s largest potential markets.

That technology is DTF.

The Timing Is Impossible to Ignore

I want to be careful here because there is no public statement from either Siser or STAHLS’ saying, “We discontinued Juliet because of DTF.”

That would be an assumption.

What we can say is that STAHLS’ acquired Siser on July 15, and Siser announced Juliet’s discontinuation on July 29. We can also say that STAHLS’ already had a close relationship with Siser before the acquisition. STAHLS’ became an official North American distributor of Siser products in November 2025 and began prominently promoting Siser’s Romeo cutter, EasyWeed and other materials.

In other words, STAHLS’ was not introduced to Juliet’s business on July 15. It likely had a good understanding of Siser’s cutter line, its customers and how the equipment fit into the broader apparel-decorating market well before the acquisition closed.

That makes it unlikely that someone at STAHLS’ looked at Juliet for the first time and decided to kill it within fourteen days. A much more realistic possibility is that Juliet’s future had already been evaluated during the acquisition process, and the announcement came shortly after the deal because the decision was ready to go.

There is also a strange disconnect between the announcement and Siser’s website. As of August 4, Siser’s North American homepage was still describing Romeo and Juliet as its line of professional cutters, and the Juliet product page was still live and presenting the machine as a current product. That may simply be a delayed website update, but it adds to the feeling that the announcement happened abruptly.

It is also worth noticing what was not discontinued.

Romeo, the 24-inch version, was not named in the Juliet announcement. STAHLS’ had already been promoting Romeo as a professional production cutter for apparel decorators, emphasizing its larger cutting area and business-oriented capabilities.

That could indicate a fairly straightforward product-positioning decision. Juliet was the smaller cutter that pushed Siser into the crowded consumer and prosumer craft market. Romeo fits more naturally into STAHLS’ existing commercial-decorator audience.

If you are STAHLS’, do you really want to spend the money required to compete directly with Cricut in the mass-market craft-machine business? Or do you keep the larger production cutter that fits your established customer base and redirect your attention toward the technology that is changing apparel decoration?

I think that is the more interesting question.

DTF Changed the Math for Apparel

For years, the appeal of a desktop cutting machine was easy to understand.

Buy a Cricut, Silhouette or similar machine. Buy some HTV. Cut a name, phrase or graphic. Weed it. Press it. Sell the shirt.

It was affordable, approachable and did not require commercial printing equipment. It created an enormous market for cutters, blades, mats, tools and rolls of vinyl.

The limitation was color.

A one-color design was easy. A two-color design was manageable. Once you reached four, five or six colors, every layer required more material, more cutting, more weeding, more alignment and usually more heat-press cycles. Tiny details could lift during weeding. Thin text could stretch. Layer alignment could shift. Certain types of HTV could not be layered at all.

DTF changes that calculation because the number of colors barely changes the production workflow.

A one-color design and a twenty-color design are both digitally printed onto film. Gradients, distressed textures, tiny highlights, shadows and complex illustrations arrive as one finished transfer. The decorator positions the transfer, presses it and peels the carrier according to the supplier’s instructions.

That does not mean DTF is perfect.

DTF can have a heavier feel than screen printing or direct-to-garment printing because the transfer sits on top of the fabric. Large solid areas may feel more like a patch of ink than a soft screen print. Print quality depends on the printer, ink, film, powder, RIP software, curing process and application. Poorly produced transfers can crack, feel rubbery or have inconsistent color.

But for the typical small apparel order, the advantages are hard to ignore.

A customer can order twelve black shirts with a full-color logo, ten white shirts with the same artwork and three hoodies with customized names. That type of job is awkward for traditional screen printing and tedious with layered vinyl. It is exactly the kind of work DTF handles well.

Trade coverage describes DTF as filling the gap where full-color screen printing is not economical for short runs and where HTV becomes limited by color and labor.

That is why I think DTF does more than compete with HTV as a material.

It competes with the need to own a cutter at all.

If your primary reason for buying a cutting machine was to make shirts, and you can now order a full-color transfer for a few dollars, why spend hours cutting and weeding vinyl?

That question is going to matter to every cutting-machine manufacturer.

Paper Crafters Are Stuck in the Middle

 This is the part I think the broader apparel industry overlooks.

Paper crafting helped build the consumer cutting-machine market.

Long before every other person was making vinyl decals and T-shirts, electronic cutters were associated with scrapbooking, cards, titles, embellishments, shaped layouts and paper piecing. A machine’s ability to cut detailed cardstock shapes was a huge part of its appeal.

But the scrapbooking market was already showing signs of contraction by 2013. One industry observer noted that Walmart, Target and Michaels had reduced the amount of floor space devoted to scrapbooking, specialty stores were disappearing, and Google search interest for scrapbooking had fallen substantially from its mid-2000s peak. That was not a formal industry census, but it reflected a shift that many longtime paper crafters witnessed firsthand.

From roughly 2013 through 2015, the center of the cutting-machine world seemed to move.

Paper did not disappear, but vinyl, HTV, decals, signs, tumblers and apparel increasingly drove the conversation. Cutting-machine marketing became less about scrapbook pages and more about starting a T-shirt business, personalizing everything in the house and selling products online.

You can see that blended positioning today. Cricut describes its Explore 5 in terms of vinyl decals, full-color stickers, personalized T-shirts and cards. Paper crafting is still included, but it is one application among many rather than the clear center of the ecosystem.

Siser took the same approach with Juliet. It was primarily connected to Siser’s HTV and adhesive-vinyl business, but it was also a very capable cardstock and sticker cutter.

That created an unusual situation.

The apparel market helped justify the development and sale of better cutters, and paper crafters benefited from those machines even if they never cut a single piece of HTV.

Now DTF is removing the cutter from a growing portion of the apparel workflow.

DTF does not replace a cutting machine for paper. You cannot order a DTF transfer and turn it into a dimensional card, gift box, lantern, scrapbook layout or layered cardstock centerpiece.

But if apparel decorators buy fewer cutters, the total market for cutters becomes smaller. A smaller market can mean fewer new machines, less competition, slower software development and fewer companies willing to support a consumer craft platform.

That is why paper crafters are stuck in the middle.

The technology threatening cutter demand does not replace what paper crafters do. It simply reduces the number of other customers helping support the hardware ecosystem.

Cricut is not literally the only remaining choice. Silhouette continues selling Cameo machines designed for vinyl, cardstock, heat-transfer material, scrapbooking and apparel. Brother still has an extensive ScanNCut line with built-in scanning and models aimed at crafting, sewing and business users.

But Cricut remains one of the few truly mass-market, beginner-oriented ecosystems with a broad machine lineup covering compact, standard, premium and wide-format use. Cricut currently markets machines for everyone from beginners to experienced crafters and supports projects ranging from intricate paper crafts to shirts, stickers, decals and cards.

That makes the loss of Juliet more concerning than the discontinuation of one machine.

Juliet represented another serious competitor in the 12-inch desktop category. Competition is good for customers. It pressures companies to improve cutting accuracy, software, print-and-cut performance, material handling and customer support.

When a strong competitor exits, Cricut does not become the only choice, but the mainstream field gets thinner.

My Prediction for the Cutting-Machine Market

 My prediction is that DTF will put pressure on the entire desktop cutting-machine market.

Not because DTF replaces everything cutters do. It clearly does not.

It will put pressure on the market because apparel was one of the easiest ways to sell cutting machines to people who did not consider themselves traditional crafters.

Someone might not care about scrapbooking or card making, but they understood the idea of buying a machine, making shirts and starting a side business. That promise sold machines, vinyl, tools, heat presses, subscriptions and digital designs.

DTF changes the promise.

Now the easiest version of a shirt business may be:

Create or purchase the artwork.

Order the transfers.

Press the shirts.

Sell them.

The cutter is optional.

As that becomes more widely understood, some people who would have bought a Cricut, Juliet or Cameo primarily for apparel may skip the cutter entirely. Others who already own machines may stop replacing them because they are no longer cutting enough HTV to justify an upgrade.

We may already be seeing signs of a mature hardware market, although it is far too early to blame DTF for any one company’s results. In Cricut’s first quarter of 2026, product revenue declined 9.6% year over year even as platform revenue grew nearly 6%. Cricut also reported modest active-user growth and increased global machine sell-through, so the numbers show a mixed market rather than a collapse.

Still, the business incentive is clear. Recurring software, content, materials and fulfillment revenue can be more attractive than fighting over one-time hardware sales in a crowded category.

From STAHLS’ perspective, DTF transfers are especially appealing because the company can sell the customer something every time an order arrives. A cutter may be purchased once and used for years. A roll of vinyl lasts through multiple projects. Custom transfers, however, must be reordered continuously.

That does not mean STAHLS’ acquired Siser in order to eliminate Juliet. There is no evidence of that.

The acquisition also gives STAHLS’ a respected HTV brand, a large material catalog, manufacturing expertise, dealer relationships and access to Siser’s customer community. Vinyl remains profitable, and STAHLS’ openly promotes using vinyl alongside DTF.

But when I put the pieces together, I see a plausible business explanation for Juliet’s departure.

Juliet occupied the most crowded part of the cutter market. It competed with Cricut, Silhouette and Brother for desktop space. Supporting it required hardware inventory, replacement parts, software development, firmware updates, technical support, education and retailer commitment.

Romeo fits more naturally into a professional apparel-production environment.

DTF is reducing the need for cutters in full-color apparel.

And STAHLS’ is building a business around supplying ready-to-press transfers to decorators who may never need a cutter in the first place.

Again, that is my interpretation, not an explanation officially provided by Siser or STAHLS’.

But I do not think Juliet’s discontinuation is an isolated event. I think it may be an early signal of a larger change.

For years, apparel helped pull the cutting-machine industry forward while paper crafters came along for the ride. Now apparel production is beginning to move toward workflows that do not require cutting machines.

Vinyl is not dead. Screen printing is not dead. Cutters are not dead.

They are becoming more specialized.

Vinyl will remain valuable for specialty finishes, lettering, numbering, fast personalization and mixed-media work. Screen printing will remain highly competitive for larger production runs. Cutting machines will remain indispensable for cardstock, adhesive vinyl, paper engineering and many forms of detailed craft work.

But for ordinary full-color apparel, DTF is quickly becoming the default answer.

And if apparel stops being a major reason people buy desktop cutters, paper crafters may discover that the machine market they helped create is suddenly a much smaller place. 

On the other hand, I’m still holding on to Patrick’s post where he indicated that the “current” Juliet is being discontinued, and hoping that a new model is imminent. (Patrick is the “face” of the company and does all of their wonderful social media videos)

Thanks for reading!