Welcome from NE CA. Glad you joined us. As far as machines, you can get a nice elna that fits your criteria. I would stay away from the new Singers or the "industrial" Singers. I'm sure you'll get lots of recommendations for different machines, you'll just have to check them out and decide for yourself which is best. As far as the rest of the items, I would get on the mailing list of Joann's. Then, you'll get a flier twice a month, each one with a 40% coupon that you can use on anything not on sale. We love pictures.