Saturday, October 22, 2011

Cajun Corner - Vol. 3, No. 42




Cajun Corner – Vol. 3, No. 42 – October 22, 2011

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

ΘΘΘΘΘ

Don’t forget to visit our blog at www.cajunstitchery.blogspot.com, and www.cajunstitchery.etsy.com often.   We are also on Twitter and Facebook. 

Visit our on-line catalogs at:



It has been cold this week.  The temperature has dropped into the high 30’s and low 40’s around here.  I think we will be getting back to 50’s to 70’s soon.  So far the garden looks in tact, although it could use a good watering about now.

The other day our Labrador retriever, Evie, went outside with us in the evening and immediately her nose was to the ground smelling.  She was scenting something around the garden and our deck and ended up on top of the deck with her nose in a space between boards.  We didn’t hear or see anything and just went about business.  Later, we decided to step outside again, and a possum was running down our walkway to the driveway.   Evie knew what she was doing.

Last night, when I returned home from an evening with the girls, our back door was ajar.  The wind must have blown it open and George had fallen asleep on the sofa watching a movie.  The problem this is that our cats are house cats.  Their front claws have been removed and I certainly don’t want them outside.  We counted cats and our little black Manx, Poly, was missing.  It was about midnight and we were outside calling, “kitty, kitty, kitty.”  Finally, I looked at Evie and said, “Go find Poly.”  She darted to the back of our garage.  George brought the flashlight.  Sure enough, there was Poly.  Poly is home and safe but she is in the doghouse.  Evie, on the other hand, is being treated as a celebrity.   

Have I told you how wonderful the SBDC is?  Of course, I have.  This week I contacted my business consultant because sales have gone down a bit this year.  Obviously it is because of the economy.  Nevertheless, I needed to brainstorm with my business consultant on available avenues to peruse.  I didn’t hear back from her for a day or two and then I received an email.  She had posed my questions and concerns to several marketing experts and forwarded their answers to me.  I never cease to be amazed at the information and people she has available from which to garner information.  The ideas that issued from that email were totally on key.  I had been thinking of these things but it is so comforting to have the marketing expertise reassuring me of the right direction.  If that wasn’t enough, she has made an appointment to come to me next Wednesday afternoon to brainstorm and discuss my concerns. 

No doubt my largest handicap is that Cajun Stitchery does not have a store front.  My store front is actually the internet.  In this day and age having a store front on the internet is not a bad thing.  I just need to stay on top of the latest social networks and make my store front pop.  The problem with that is I can just spread myself so far.  I could hire someone or a company to work with my website, but there is a problem with that.   The problem is that I wouldn’t be able to get in there and change things around without the assistance of others.  It is the same reason that I drive a stick shift.  I have more control.  I’m going to have to find a happy medium and I do have some ideas.

One of the ideas is to kick it up a notch.  Embroidery is not a cheap commodity.  Just look at tee shirts.  Screen printing is beautiful.  I have seen some really over the top screen printing designs, but put that art into embroidery and you have elegance, professionalism, class, durability, and the look that goes from everyday to special occasion.  There are embroidery techniques to satisfy everyone’s style, including the teenagers and young professionals.  Hopefully, you will begin seeing some embroidery from Cajun Stitchery that is more artsy and stylish and a notch better than in the past.  Logos will always be our bread and butter and we have that down pat.  Small business has become one of my passions and I will always be searching out new and better ways to allow small businesses the luxury of embroidery.  I just have this artsy, creative side of me that wants to burst out.

Before I forget, I still have the box for non-perishable food for the homeless shelters.  If you are in the area, drop off some non-perishables.  The food drive is going on to December.

Right now I’m working on a table runner for MADD (Mothers Against Drunk Driving).  They are having their Monster Mash next Saturday evening at the Artel Gallery in Pensacola.  If you haven’t bought tickets, you need to do so.  Contact me and I’ll put in touch with the right people.  Insofar as the table runner is concerned, I should have been finished with it yesterday but it won’t be ready until Monday.  It is a peacock design.  Actually, I was looking through my stock designs and came across an Asian set with a beautiful peacock.  Once I started playing around with the peacock, I was hooked.  I stitched the peacock onto some teal colored fabric as a stitch-out.  Wow!  Gorgeous!  That stitch-out will become something but right now I have to stay focused on the runner.  In my “kick it up a notch” mode, I’m using a thin, shiny, brocade looking fabric, in a brownish-goldish color.  The embroidery design, alone, is beautiful.  I added some small touches of metallic thread.  Next I plan to line the runner with a very thin, black tricot.  I don’t want the runner heavy or bulky.  Then I will affix rhinestones and tassels.  I am debating on some smaller background designs to adhere the tricot to the runner but I haven’t decided that for sure.

I’ve sold several can wraps with the new Cajun saying on them. 

The Coffee House coupon is no longer available.  Toucansave’s new coupon is for a massage therapist.  For $28 you get a deal worth $250.  Now, that is a good deal.  Wouldn’t that make a great Christmas present?

I’ll be making some more “You Have A Booger” handkerchiefs soon.  I put those in our Etsy store for $10 each.  I’ll make these handkerchiefs this week’s sale.  This week only, I’ll sell them for $7.00 each.  We now also carry men’s white handkerchiefs.

All cell phone holders in our Etsy store are half price ($5.00), so stop by www.cajunstitchery.etsy.com and get some cute cell phone holders as gifts for Christmas.

CHRISTMAS is around the corner.  Get that Christmas shopping done now and enjoy the holidays.

If you are not a subscriber and would like to receive Cajun Corner weekly, please email cajunstitchery@yahoo.com and let me know to put you on our email list. 
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Thank you Paulette Provost for the following:

A large group of Iraqi soldiers are moving down a road South of Basra, when they hear a voice call out from behind a sand dune. "One Louisiana Cajun soldier is better than ten Iraqi."

The Iraqi commander quickly orders 10 of his best men over the dune, where upon a gun battle breaks out and continues for a few minutes. Then silence.

The voice once again calls out, "One Louisiana Cajun is better than one hundred Iraqi."

Furious, the Iraqi commander sends his next best 100 troops over the dune, and instantly a huge gun fight commences. After 10 minutes of battle. Again, silence.

The Cajun voice calls out again, "One Louisiana Cajun is better than one thousand Iraqi."

The enraged Iraqi commander musters 1,000 fighters, and sends them to the other side of the dune. Rifle fire,
machine guns, grenades, rockets and cannon fire ring out as a terrible battle is fought.  Then silence.

Eventually, one badly wounded Iraqi fighter crawls back over the dune, and with his dying words tells his commander, "Don't send any more men, it's a trap. There's two of them."

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C’est tout, mes amis



Peggy Henshall

Cajun Stitchery

(850) 261-2462




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

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