New business has slow name, fast turnaround
Michelle Barney, co-owner at Twisted Turtle, at her embroidery machine Monday, June 5. The jacket being embroidered is a Sleeping Indian wool jacket, manufactured in Troy. (Elka Wood/The Western News)
The Twisted Turtle, a custom printing business that opened in Libby June 1 was a long time in the making, as co-owners Michelle Barney and Jeff Holder spent five years discussing whether to expand Holder’s basement printing business into a storefront at 622 W. 6th St.
Barney will handle custom embroidery and much of the graphic design, using a new software-run, on-premises embroidery machine. Holder will operate the screen printing, imprinting everything from clothing to banners and signs.
“The biggest sign I’ve ever made was for Beyond Training here in Libby, and it was 12 feet by three feet,” Holder said. “It depends on the nature of the job, but we try to keep our turnaround to 10 days or less.”
The business name came about as Holder and Barney sat around one night in Holder’s backyard.
“We wanted a name that would stick, and that had nothing to do with what we do,” Barney said. “So we were sitting there, throwing out names around the fire, and Twisted Turtle was what we came to.”
The pair have a strong working relationship built on years of knowing one another.
“We’ve known each other since school,” Barney said at their June 2 open house. “We just work well together, our creative minds work well, his strengths are my weaknesses and vice versa.”
The Twisted Turtle already has customer in Dee Teske, who has tasked the shop with designing and printing shirts for this year’s Ignite The Nites and Highlanders Festival.