Cajun Corner, Vol. 3, No. 33

Cajun Corner – Vol. 3, No. 33 – August 19, 2011

Bon Jour!  Welcome to Cajun Stitchery’s weekly email and welcome to our family.

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Don’t forget to visit our catalog at www.companycasuals.com/cajunstitchery and www.cajunstitchery.etsy.com often.   We are also on Twitter and Facebook.

When Nancy and I were pre-teens and teenagers Mama made two great big bags for our Christmas presents.  She probably used about two yards of fabric for each one.  One was green and one was red.  She got some iron on letters and ironed “Nancy” on one and “Peggy” on the other.  She closed the big bags with cording that slipped through an opening at the top of the bags and she attached bells to the cording.  They were very cute and very practical.

We always opened our Christmas presents after midnight mass.  Nancy would open her bag and I would open mine.  After the presents were opened, we would have breakfast and then everyone would go to bed.

Mama was very practical but very creative.  I made a bag like this for George a few years back.  Of course, I embroidered his name and a cute elf on it.  Not only are these bags practical but also environmentally friendly Not even Mama realized that she was a conservationist.  They are environmentally friendly because the presents were not wrapped.  Newspaper was wadded up inside to hide the shapes of the presents but, as Mama used to say, “Santa doesn’t wrap presents.”  If anyone ever wants one of these bags, let me know.

The topic is Christmas and I’m talking about Christmas because I’m preparing for the 4^th Annual Pensacola Beach Arts & Wine Festival.  I began making Christmas stockings.  We’ll let’s back up.  I began considering making Christmas stockings.  I have a red fuzzy Christmas stocking that I purchased sometime ago at the store and used that as my standard.  I digitized a stocking with a curly elf toe.  Then I stitched it out.  It was much smaller than the store bought and although it would make a cute little stocking; it wasn’t what I had in mind.  See the photographs attached.  The first one had the ornaments.  I could get my hand in but it could be a tight fit if someone had large hands.  I then widened it.  See the photo with the snowflakes and the little Eskimo.  That worked well but I wanted it longer.  Then I increased the length and widened the top a bit.   So far my final is the one with the candles.  It’s not quite as big as the standard stocking but it is a nice size.  Then I did the one with the elf and the candy canes.  I fell in love with that one.  These stocking are not finished because I need to put a cuff on the top and I’m working on that. 

Since I was digitizing, stitching and thinking about stockings, I realized that over the years stockings have become larger and larger.  I’ve seen stockings that hang from a mantle and go all the way to the floor.  What is the point of that other than novelty?  When I was growing up, we did not have a fireplace or mantle.  I don’t recall actually having a stocking; we had the bags.  We did have stockings for our boys when they were growing up and would put little things in the stockings, such as little toys or lotto tickets or candy and treats or little novelty type stuff.  I don’t think the stockings were intended to encapsulate all of the presents.  Maybe historically they were, but not since the tradition of putting the presents under the tree.  I must admit, though, that Christmas stockings in general are pretty.  My ultimate decision was that it probably doesn’t matter how large the stocking is anymore.  So, I’m sticking with the final size that I created.

Last weekend George and I celebrated our 41^st wedding anniversary.  Our plan was to have lunch in Perdido with George’s sister, Kathie, on Saturday noon.  Come home and then go to Pensacola Beach to celebrate our friend, Amy’s, birthday.  It rained while we were having lunch in Perdido and followed us home.  We decided that we really didn’t feel like driving in the rain to Pensacola Beach.  So, we stayed home.  On Sunday, we planned to take the Pensacola Historical Trolley.  The owner is one of my friends on Facebook.  I messaged him on Facebook to ask if they were going to be having the tour.  No answer.  I went to his website that said that they have the tour 7 days at week at 11:00 a. m.  It did suggest that you make reservations.  I called on the phone and got a voice mail.  So, we went to the Visitor’s Center and looked around while we were waiting for the trolley.  11:00 came and went and no trolley.  We waited until 11:30 or so and left.  We decided to just drive around and take in the sights and actually ended up in Gulf Shores.  Then my phone rang.  It was the guy at the trolley company.  They had a group that reserved the trolley for a special tour that morning.  At least he did call back.  So, it appeared that most of our plans did not come to fruition but we enjoyed each other’s company.

I messaged a friend of mine on Facebook who is into scrapbooking and asked her about the tiny appliqués.  She told me that scrap bookers love that kind of stuff.  So, I’m going to have a basket or bowl or something at the festival with a bunch of tiny appliqués.  We’ll see how they sell.

There are so many ideas going through my head about the festival and things I want to make and ways I want to decorate the tent.  At one point I was worried that I would not have enough stuff.  That was only a fleeting thought because I am bulging at the seams with stuff.  If anyone has any old fishing nets, I’ll be glad to take them off of your hands.  I think I want to have a theme to our tent this year.

A couple of friends made an appointment with me for today.  We spent almost 3 hours taking orders and letting them look at Cajun Stitchery’s wares.  It was so much fun.  I’m always open for this.  Just make an appointment and I’ll set aside some time and pull out all of our stuff and just give a grand display.  Of course, I’ll serve coffee, water, wine, or whatever you like.  We can even look at designs on the computer.  Enjoy it all while sitting at my kitchen table.

We still have our shipment of XL Fruit of the Loom, Adult, short sleeve, tee shirts in a variety of colors.  I chose XL because that tends to be the size most often ordered.  Of course, I can get you whatever size you like.  The colors that we have are:  athletic heather, black, forest green, Kelly, khaki, J. Navy, pacific blue, royal blue, true red, and white.  Tee shirts make great gifts and everyone can use them.  So, if you are planning for Christmas, think about giving a tee shirt with a name or monogram embroidered.  Of course, we can embroider anything you like.  Just remember the old saying that the sweetest sound is your own name.  Give a tee to someone with their nickname or special term of endearment embroidered on it.  So what, if you don’t have the entire logo digitized; get a tee with the name of your company anyway.  (If there are enough responses for other sizes, I might get that size next time.)

SALE:  In stock XL Fruit of the Loom, Adult, short sleeve, tee shirts with a name or monogram for $10.00 plus shipping/sales tax.  Sale is good until we run out of stock.  See above paragraph for available colors.

I should be ordering towels in the next month or two.  If anyone needs towels, let me know.

Don’t forget the upcoming Mystic Krewe of Nereid’s annual Splash Party.  The Splash Party will be held on Sunday, August 28^th, beginning at 2:00 p.m., at Paradise Bar & Grill on Pensacola Beach.  Mark your calendars.  It’s going to be a real S-P-L-A-S-H.

Speaking of the Splash party tonight is our krewe’s monthly meeting.  My friend from Alabama is going to drop by and pick me up and we are going to spend the night on the beach.  Our meeting will be a working meeting and we will be preparing everything for the Splash Extravaganza.  Don’t miss this event.  It is family oriented, so bring the kids.   Dress up like mermaids and bring your water blasters.

As planned, this past Tuesday I was on local radio station, 1620.  I had prepared a cheat sheet, just in case I became so flustered that I couldn’t think of what I was to say.  The whole thing lasted about 30 seconds.  The cheat sheet should always be with me.  That was one handy little thing to have.

CHRISTMAS is around the corner.  Unbelievable, I know.  Get that Christmas shopping done now and enjoy the holidays.

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Cajun French Phrase of the Week:

Cracher en l'air ca va tomber sur le nez= if you do evil it will come back to hit you in the face or what goes around comes around

Taken from:  http://www.acadian-roots.com/cajun-names.html

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C’est tout, mes amis

Peggy Henshall

Cajun Stitchery

(850) 261-2462

cajunstitchery@yahoo.com

P.S.  You are always welcome to stop by and look at all of the catalogs and pass some time with me, cher.