Shana, I don't know about the maintence of your machine but you should be able to google it and find out plus there are groups on yahoo for just about every machine out there. Congratulations to you and your sister. Embroidery is addicting. I have an old machine that takes cards and there are some you can buy with designs on it and are write proof but then they have the ones that you can download designs to and you normally have to have a card reader to see the designs on the pc. I agree with buying small amounts of thread at a time. If I come across a sale and I'm buying to stock up I try to some of the ones that I know I use a lot of. I always buy 2 shades of the same color because just about every design that I've done ends up having shading going on. I do substitute threads from the orginal design either due to me not having it or likeing another color better. Good luck with your new machine.