Wednesday, March 30, 2011

Card Stock, Booties, and Company

We had company this week.  A friend of mine from Orlando, who also happens to be an embroidery machine technician, had a two day job in Pensacola.  She stayed at our house.  It all started when her flight from Atlanta was delayed Saturday evening.  Instead of arriving at 10 p.m., she finally got here around 12:30.  Her plan was to get in, rent a car and get a hotel room.  We weren't going to see her until the following day.  But since the flight was delayed, the car rental businesses were closed.  Everything happens for a reason.  So, George and I are at the airport when her flight arrived.  I told her to get her luggage and meet us outside the luggage pick up area.  We drove around and around waiting to see her outside but she wasn't there.  Thank goodness for cell phones.  I called her and sure enough she had arrived but she was waiting on her luggage.  We parked outside in the pick-up area and waited, and waited, and waited.  She called me.  There were about 40 people on the flight without luggage.  They were all waiting in line to find out what happened to their luggage.  We waited.  Finally, around 2:30 she came out.  Apparently the luggage was still in Atlanta and they would deliver it the following day.  No luggage.  No car.  I took that baby home with me and set her up in the bedroom with the embroidery machine.

We all finally got to bed around 3 a.m.  She had to be at the job by 9 a.m.  We got a few hours sleep -- very few.  She and I were up in the morning.  I made her some eggs, toast and coffee.  She had to wear the jeans she wore the day before and I had a polo in my stock that fit her.  I drove her about 30 minutes away to northeast Pensacola.  Along the way we decided there was no reason for her to get a hotel room or rent a car now.  I would taxi her around and she could stay with us. 

The airlines delivered her luggage during the day and George and I picked her up at 5 p.m.  We decided to go out to eat -- her treat.  Yay!!!  We ended up at a local restaurant near our house call The Oar House.  It's on the water at a marina.  The weather was beautiful and we sat outside.  Finally, we were able to start catching up on things.  Our waiter was named Josh and was very pleasant and efficient.  However, at one point my friend wanted a glass of water.  We looked around and Josh was not in sight.  We waited a little while -- no Josh.  Well, we were talking, drinking and giggling and one of us came up with the bright idea of calling the restaurant on our cell phone and telling them to have Josh bring some water.  That's what she did.  In no time at all, here comes Josh with the water.  We were all laughing, including Josh, who said this was a first for him.  We totally enjoyed the meal and had such a good time teasing around with Josh.  He won't be forgetting us anytime soon.

After dinner we stopped off and bought a bottle of our new favorite wine -- Moscato, and came home.  The wine was opened and we began talking embroidery.  I was showing her some of the new things that I've made and we worked on some digitizing issues that I was having -- wine glasses in hand.  We talked and digitized and had a grand evening.  Then we all went to bed.

Monday morning we followed the same routine.  I took her to her job and we picked her up at 5 p.m.  We all decided that we wanted steak for dinner.  We stopped at another local restaurant that happened to be on our way home -- Mesquite Charlies.  I hadn't been to Mesquite Charlies in many years.  The ambiance was very beautiful and very western.  All of the staff had western names and our waitress was Loredo.  Remembering the night before we were teasing each other about calling Loredo on the cell phone, but decided against that.  She was a cute girl and we teased her unmercifully.  She was also a good sport.  The food was fabulous and the meal was very entertaining.  Once again, we came home to our unfinished bottle of wine.  She taught me a new technique of embroidery on card stock.  We were on the embroidery machine until late, embroidering card stock and then we embroidered on a file folder.  We can now offer some really cool wedding invitations, all occasion cards, and the like for anyone who wants something really special.  Then we began working on patches and honing down the technique.  We had a blast and went to bed late, again. 

Tuesday morning we all slept a little later.  She had to be at the airport by 10:30 a.m. for her noon flight.  It was delightful visit.  I guess I'm not used to all of the late nights anymore.  I was exhausted but wouldn't have changed a thing.

Of course, yesterday and today I'm playing catch up with embroidery work as well as house work.

I bought a couple of patterns at the store for baby booties and was trying that out to see how much time they would take.  The first one is always the slowest because you are trying to decipher the directions.  I'm not sure if the booties will be feasible but I'd like to be able to sell the little cap and booties together, matching.  The pattern cover for the booties pictures some really cute ways to embroider the booties.  One idea is to embroider the date of birth on the sole of the booty.  Another is to monogram the top front of the booty.  Really cute ideas.  My prototype was in jersey, orange and green to match the little cap.  The prototype does not have any embroidery on it.  My purpose was just to make the items and see how long it takes.  Of course, for the booties, the embroidery will have to be done prior to sewing.  There is no way to get such a tiny piece in the machine.  I must admit the cap and booties are fun to make and oh so cute.

I haven't had as many contests as I would have liked this month.  The first person to email me at peggyhenshall@yahoo.com with the name of my black labrador retriever's name will win this tote with the embroidered green hummingbird and the rhinestone flower.  Remember:  you can only win one contest a month.  The deadline for this contest is midnight tonight -- Wednesday, March 30, 2011.

Friday, March 25, 2011

Cajun Corner - Vol. 3, No. 12


Cajun Corner – Vol. 3, No. 12 – March 25, 2011


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

ΘΘΘΘΘ

Don’t forget to visit our catalog at www.companycasuals.com/cajunstitchery and www.cajunstitchery.etsy.com often.

This has been a busy week. One of my Facebook friends messaged me and said that if I would give her a couple of embroidered napkins, she would put them in napkin rings that she makes. She makes jewelry and happened to get a significant amount of wire that she was thinking of using for napkin rings. Anyway, she works at Hampton Inn on Pensacola Beach in the little cabana on the beach, handing out beach towels. In turn, Hampton Inn lets her sell her jewelry from the cabana. She would sell her napkin rings and have my business card next to my napkins. I think it’s a wonderful idea. Now I just have to create the most gorgeous napkins imaginable.

My cousin Kim made it back to California safe and sound. There seems to be an issue about my mother’s maiden name, Theaux. Mama and I always pronounced it thay-o. Kim seems to think it should be pronounced toe, which would explain our Uncle Toe’s name. But my cousin Dustin says that there is an olympian named Adrian Théaux who pronounces it thay-o. I believe the accent over the e makes the sound of the e as an a. Without the accent, it would be eaux sounding like o. To make things even more complicated, apparently different people in our own family pronounce it differently. I will continue to pronounce it the way Mama and I have always pronounced it. If thay want to pronounce it different, oh that’s up to them. haha

Several of my girlfriends went to Atlanta this week to see the Rod Stewart and Stevie Nicks concert. Therefore, we didn’t get together Wednesday night. Somehow I kept busy, nevertheless.

We finished the Studio 98 visors/caps. Sharona loves them. That makes me feel so good. When she came by to pick up the order, we were able to spend some time chatting and catching up. It was a wonderful afternoon with Sharon.

Remember my friend and customer who owns Incorporate Wellness? Where I went to the open house with the yoga? As it turns out, I won a door prize of an absolutely gorgeous and large fern. It is sitting in my living room now. I also won a session with a life coach. Today, when I picked up my winnings, JoAnne and her husband were there. They are wonderful people. We were still talking about the brain auras and the yoga exercises and giggling a bit when she relayed an incident that occurred at her home. The other night she was working on her computer and her son, over 6 feet tall, happened to be walking behind her and fell. She heard the thud, as did her husband. When they asked what happened he said that he ran into dad’s brain aura and it knocked him down. I’m still laughing as I type this.

A new customer contacted me this week wanting something unique for babies. So, I’ve been making more baby stuff to put in the Etsy store for all of those baby showers out there. It must be something in the water but we are having a bumper crop of babies this year. Right now I’m making some adorable baby caps. I haven’t put any in the Etsy store yet but they will get there soon.

By the way, if you haven’t seen the new handkerchiefs with the runny nose, you are missing a good laugh. The pictures are on the blog and the hankies are in the Etsy store.

I finally figured out the adhesive paper for the rhinestones. Now I can make some iron on motifs. Also, I bought myself a super dooper electric rhinestone attacher thing. It is really cool. I tried it out today and it works great. Even I can do it. It still takes awhile to do the rhinestones but the electric thing helps speed the process along.

The gardens are looking good and all those little seeds are germinating. If everything grows we will have flowers all over the place and more food than any two people can possibly eat – that’s what friends are for, right? Gardening is really very exciting.

Last week’s contest winner was another neighbor. I drive a red Geo Metro. Two of our contests this week went by without anyone entering. The contests are on the blog and if you don’t read the blog, then you are going to miss the free prizes. There is less than a week left in March. Whoever is the first to respond by emailing me at peggyhenshall@yahoo.com with the name of this year’s Wooley Booger Queen will win $20.00 worth of embroidery from Cajun Stitchery. Remember, each person is only eligible to win one contest this month.

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.

Thanks to Marshall Larrivere for the following:

Boudreaux had been drinking at his local bar all day and most of the night celebrating LSU's win over Ohio . Thibodeaux, the bartender says,

"You'll not be drinking anymore tonight, Boudreaux".

Boudreaux replies "OK Thib, I'll be on my way then."

Boudreaux spins around on his stool and steps off. He falls flat on his face.

He pulls himself up by the stool and dusts himself off. He takes a step towards the door and falls flat on his face. He looks to the doorway and thinks to himself that if he can just get to the door and some fresh air he'll be fine. He belly crawls to the door and shimmies up the door frame. He sticks his head outside and takes a deep breath of fresh air, feels much better and takes a step out onto the sidewalk. He falls flat on his face.

"I'm really stewed," he says. He can see his house just a few doors down, and crawls to the door and shimmies up the door frame, opens the door and shimmies inside.

He takes a look up the stairs and says "No freakin' way". He crawls up the stairs to his bedroom door and says "I can make it to the bed." He takes a step into the room and falls flat face. He falls into bed.

The next morning, his wife, Clothilde, comes into the room carrying a cup of coffee and says, "Get up Bou. Did you have a lil too much to drink last night?". Boudreaux says, "I did Clothilde. I was freakin' drunk. But how'd you know?"

"Thibodeaux called....You left your wheelchair at the bar again."

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French Phrase of the Week: Ne pas manquer un autre concours. (Do not miss another contest.

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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.

Wednesday, March 23, 2011

Rhinestones, Logos and Actresses



For awhile now I've been interested in rhinestones.  You may recall the evening that I ordered 70 gross of rhinestones.  I'm still interested in the rhinestone but it all happened because of the patches.

Always looking for a better way to make patches, I went to a local fabric shop at the behest of a friend to get buckram.  I purchase a yard of the buckram and came home.  Okay, I picked up a few other items and fabric, too.  At home, I decided to do a bit of research on buckram.  Buckram is used in many way but usually by milliners for hats and to make the covers of books.  It is used in making patches.  So, I did a bit of research on the patch making.  Then I began reading about plastic backing for patches.  We frequently use plastic backing for our patches and the article I was reading said the plastic backing is the best.  Then I saw that the latest greatest thing in patches is a hot knife cut.  I've ever used a hot knife before, so I looked that up and found that many of the patches with intricate detail in the outline are cut out with a hot knife that melds the plastic backing, with the poly fabric giving a very secure and long lasting finish to the edge of the patch.  Well, at this point, I decided that I need to get me one of those hot knives.  I began the hot knife search and started getting a lot of sites for heat presses.  Just looking around the heat presses will secure the hot fix rhinestones as well as other types of embellishment.  I caught myself before getting in way over my head, but those heat presses seemed pretty intriguing.  So, I went to a company that I use for a lot of my embroidery supplies.  Yes, they have the hot knife, but ooooh, they have the heat presses, too, and a machine that applies the rhinestones.  I was a gonner at this point.  I ended up purchasing the whole patch kit which includes the hot knife.  Then I couldn't resist and purchased a real cheap-o rhinestone applier thingy.  George and I decided that if the cheap-o one works, we can always revisit getting something more pricier.  All of that because I bought a yard of buckram.  The kicker is that I haven't made a patch since I got the buckram home.

Since rhinestones were on my mind, I decided to break down and do the rhinestone motif on that adhesive plastic that I purchased with the 70 gross of rhinestones.  It just never made any sense to me that you put the rhinestones upside down on the adhesive, with the glue end facing you, and follow your design which is taped underneath the adhesive.  Then once all of the rhinestones are in place, you replace the backing to the adhesive enveloping the rhinestone motif that you just made.  You turn it over and take off the backing and iron the motif onto whatever you chose ironing on the adhesive plastic.  They say the plastic won't melt but when the ends start to curl, you know you are done.  Following the directions, I did a little mermaid motif.  Isn't she cute.  Now I have to figure out what I'm going to put her on.

I've been digitizing so much this week that my eyes were hurting last night.  Today I decided that I just want to embroider for the fun of it.  George hung out my hummingbird feeder that one of the girls gave me for my birthday.  The hummingbird book, which was also part of my present, gave the recipe for the home made hummingbird nectar -- sugar and water.  So, I had the hummingbird book out and it was very interesting and we kept reading about hummingbirds.  I finally decided to embroider a hummingbird.  I embroidered it on a white fingertip towel.  It turned out so cute.  Now I'm waiting on the hummingbirds to show up.

I digitized the logo for the Mystic Krewe of Fruitcakes.  It looked good on the computer simulation but not so much when I stitched it out.  The lettering has 3 colors in each letter.  My problem was that I ended up with over 100 trims which caused the back of the logo to have strings everywhere.  The problem with that is that they tangle and can jam the embroidery machine.  It also takes time and causes the needles to come unthreaded.  This little 3.5 inch, 11,000 stitch logo took an hour to embroider.  That will never do.  I was just exhausted and took last night off.  Now that I've had time to digest this design, I think I've come up with another way of achieving the logo without so many trims.  Not today, though.  I'll do that one later.

No one won the contest that ended Tuesday night at midnight.  The author of "Beat of an Island Drum" is Ms. Jane Waters Cooper.

The first person to email me at peggyhenshall@yahoo.com with the name of the famous actress who passed away today at 79 years of age will win a set of 4 napkins embroidered with your initials/monogram.  This contest will end tomorrow, Thursday night at midnight.  Good luck:>)

Monday, March 21, 2011

Runny Nose Hankies and Other Goodies


This weekend must have been digitize weekend.  I have another Mardi Gras krewe asking for a quote on embroidery.  It's a new krewe, the Mystic Krewe of Fruitcakes.  What a cute name!  In order for me to give them a quote, I have to digitize the logo.  They are asking for a quote on caps and shirts with the logo.  This logo is going to be about 3.5 inches wide.  All of those tiny details to fit into 3.5 inches nearly blinded me.  I have to magnify the screen to see the details.  About every hour or so, I have to get up and look at something else just to get my eyes working properly.  The digitizing is almost done.  Then I have to fine tune and stitch it out.  If it doesn't stitch out nice and smooth, I'm back to the drawing board.  Usually it's just a tweak here and there.  I must say the digitizing is fun.  After this logo, I have to do the same for a county deputy's logo for his shirt.

We did go to a neighborhood gathering around the fire on Saturday night.  It was a lot of fun.  Our neighbors get along very well.

Sometime ago I ran across a couple of designs that just made me laugh out loud.  One was a nose with running legs out of the nostrils -- runny nose -- get it?  The other was a man picking his nose.  I embroidered a couple of handkerchiefs today with the runny nose.  Actually, the design is an outline but when I embroidered the outline on the hanky, the stripes in the fabric sort of hid the design.  So, I went to the opposite corner and embroidered the design filled in.  They are in the Etsy store.

One of my neighbors won the contest for the napkins this week.  She knew I had a red Geo Metro.

Let's have another contest for a set of 4 napkins with the winner's initials/monogram.  Who wrote the book "Beat of an Island Drum" decribing how Mardi Gras came to Pensacola Beach.  The first person to email me at peggyhenshall@yahoo.com the correct answer will get a set of 4 napkins with the winner's initials/monogram.  Contest ends Tuesday, March 22, 2011, at midnight. 

Good luck:>) 

Friday, March 18, 2011

Cajun Corner - Vol. 3, No. 11


Cajun Corner – Vol. 3, No. 11 – March 18, 2011

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

ΘΘΘΘΘ

Don’t forget to visit our catalog at www.companycasuals.com/cajunstitchery and www.cajunstitchery.etsy.com often.

My adorable cousin Kim has been searching for dead relatives everywhere. She was in St. Martinsville this week and called me. She left a voice mail that said, more or less, “Do you remember that I told you when I asked your mother about our ancestors that she kept saying that she didn’t care about those old, dead people and wouldn’t give me any information? Well, I was in the St. Martinsville Library (could have been courthouse) and found a big stack of papers in the Duchamp file. Neither Eric (another cousin) nor I had ever seen them before. I located a letter and in the corner it said ‘Lena Delhomme’. It was Lena’s paperwork from tracing her family tree … Bitch.” I laughed until I cried. Kim is right, Mama would always say that she didn’t care about all of those old dead people, and then would proceed to tell a million stories about them. Keep digging Cousin Kim, there are more skeleton’s in our closet than most.

Kim ended up at my Uncle R.L.’s, again. Uncle R.L. called to get my Cousin Lucille’s number – that I didn’t have – but it was delightful talking with Nonc R.L.

Wednesday evening was our usual girls’ night. We celebrated two birthdays. The girls loved their gifts and it was an exceptionally pleasant evening. My friend, Paulette, had finally finished her last radiation treatment the day before.

There were so many reasons for celebrations. It feels good to be back to the old routine.

Most of you probably don’t know that I write stories, short stories. I don’t even remember how it all began but I only write stories for the girls in my krewe. This year, during the Mardi Gras season, I was approached twice by girls in the krewe asking me to write another story. This week has been story week and the story just doesn’t seem to want to end. Of course, my girls are the main characters in my stories. Emails have been flying all week about the stories and, frankly, I’m kind of tickled about the whole thing.

This week we got an order for 30 visors/caps. George has been working on them. That allowed me to go to some meetings today. This morning I attended the WBL (Women’s Business Luncheon) in Gulf Breeze. I haven’t attended these meetings since last November because it’s been our busy season. It was good to be there and see my friends.

This afternoon I attended an open house for one of my Facebook friends, who is also a customer. Her business is Incorporate Wellness. She is a massage therapist. The open house was from 3-6 p.m. I guess I arrived shortly after 3:30 and found there were several small businesses in the same building jointly hosting the open house. After signing in, I was escorted to a room where a couple of ladies were demonstrating some yoga procedures. It was the “Super brain Yoga Procedure.” I’m not the type of person you would expect to do yoga, but I do have a healthy respect for oriental medicine. So, when in Rome… When I walked in it appeared everyone was hugging themselves. That’s nice. I think we should all like ourselves. Then we had to feel each other’s aura. I had a hard time with that one because I didn’t feel anything. Through each exercise you had to press your tongue against your palate. I think I had problems because my tongue was pressing on my dentures. Guess you can’t feel an aura with dentures. Then we had to face north. Well, actually you face east, but if you are over 50 you face north because if you are over 50 you cannot handle the power of the east. I had to ask which way was north. Once I was facing the right direction, I had to hug myself and hold onto my earlobes with my thumbs facing out. Then while in this position, I had to inhale through my nose and squat; then exhale (with my tongue pressing against my palate) as I arose from squat position. If we were going to squat 14 times, we would have to walk around the building. Well, cher, we ain’t gonna squat no 14 times. I was afraid I’d have to walk around the building hugging myself. I did a few squats and my friend, JoAnne, wanted to show me her office. God bless JoAnne, because this other lady was starting to feel my brain aura.

JoAnne showed me her massage room. The whole place was very nice and the people were all very nice and kind. I don’t even remember the names of everyone but one lady was a grief counselor. JoAnne’s husband Jim was there. He is a very nice man. Then I saw a face I recognized. OMG it was Sonya. Sonya has been one of my Facebook friends since forever. We never met in person before. As you know, I get so tickled when I meet my Facebook friends in person. Well, she was just as darling in person as on Facebook. It seemed everyone was asking for my business cards. I really didn’t stay very long but I am so glad that I did attend. JoAnne is a very special person. In fact, she is the one who ordered the 2 silk men’s handkerchiefs a couple of weeks ago.

As you know, this month Cajun Stitchery is celebrating its second anniversary. Last week we had a contest where the first person to email me my maiden name would win a quilted black satin jacket, size large, with their name embroidered on the front. I appreciate all of the cute remarks about my maiden name. All of you should be raised in the Poor House like I was. The winner was one of my neighbors. She told me that her husband is coveting her jacket.

To make it fair, if you have won one of our contests this month, you are no longer eligible to win again – this month. This week the first person to email me at peggyhenshall@yahoo.com the kind of car that I drive and the color will win a set of 4 napkins with their monogram in the corner. It doesn’t get easier than this because I’m always talking about my car.

By the way, I hope you are all watching the blog. Periodically you may find a contest on there, as well.

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.

Thanks to Harold Wilkes for the following:

Boudreaux won $10 million in the Louisiana lottery last week. Bright and early the next morning, he got in his Country Cadillac, and drove all the way to Baton Rouge to collect his money. When he walked in, he told the lottery man, "Hey, I'm Boudreaux, the lottery winner, and I'm here to collect my money!"

The lottery man said, "Well, Mr. Boudreaux, it doesn't work like that. You can't have the whole amount at one time, but we will pay you half a million a year for the next twenty years."

Boudreaux, upset, told the man, "Mais, no, sha, I won the lottery and I want all my money right now. I don' want to wait for twenty years to get it !"

The man tried to calm Boudreaux down, telling him that's how the lottery works.

Boudreaux, really angry now, said, "Mais, if dats de way y'all wanta be, jus' never mind! Here's your damn ticket --- gimme my dollar back!

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French Phrase of the Week: Allons au festival! (Let's go to the festival!)

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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.

Thursday, March 17, 2011

Are you the winner of today's contest?


Still winding down from Mardi Gras and all of our visitors and winding up to Cajun Stitchery's 2nd Anniversary.  Although, I have been informed that more company is coming later this month and in May.  Sounds like a fun and exciting year.

Last week in Cajun Corner we offered a free black satin jacket with a name embroidered on the front to the first person to email me my maiden name.  Lots of people responded but the very first was one of my neighbors.  She loved her jacket and rather than her name, she wanted a Christian design.  It turned out beautiful.  She asked me to do a patch of the design for her husband.  She is going to glue the patch onto a flat magnet so that he can use it as a magnet at work.  Otherwise, she feared he would take her jacket which he is coveting.

Most of this week, I've been working on the Studio 98 logo and finally met with Sharon, the owner, yesterday.  Sharon just loved the embroidery and ordered ponytail caps and visors for her 3rd Anniversary party on April 1st.  I gave her a sample visor with the embroidery and she said that before she was completely in the door at the studio, the girls took it from her.  That's very flattering, I think.

I want to attend another open house this Friday.  A Facebook friend of mine is a massage therapist and her company is having an open house this Friday.  As you know, I think the social media on the internet is so wonderful, especially Facebook.  I met JoAnne via Facebook.  She is the one who inquired about men's hankies.  In fact, last week I embroidered a couple of men's hankies for her son-in-law.  She told me this week that he received them and just loves them.  Embroidered men's hankies is such a wonderful idea.  I never know what to give guys as gifts.  My son and grandchildren get money.  But there are times when I want to give a thank you to a man.  Off the wall, funky hankies are a great idea.  Oh, and don't forget Father's Day will be here in a few months.



Here is today's contest.  The first person to email me at peggyhenshall@yahoo.com with the name of my labrador retriever will win a set of 4 cloth napkins with their initial(s) in a corner.  The contest expires at midnight, Central time, tonight.

Happy St. Paddy's Day, y'all:>)

Saturday, March 12, 2011

Cajun Corner Vol. 3 No. 10

Cajun Corner – Vol. 3, No. 10 – March 12, 2011


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

ΘΘΘΘΘ

Don’t forget to visit our catalog at www.companycasuals.com/cajunstitchery and www.cajunstitchery.etsy.com often.

Mardi Gras was fabulous. At the end of the parade, Casino Beach was full of floats. By the time our float arrived, we were directed down Ft. Pickens Road because there was no more room to park the float at Casino Beach. We traveled all the way down Ft. Pickens road, music blaring and waving to everyone. Only one other float was down there. We weren’t the last float in the parade, far from it. Apparently the other floats simply left the island or took their floats back to where they belong. So, our float turned around and made the trek back to Casino Beach. Now, of course, the traffic was horrendous. Our driver stopped the float outside of Casino Beach, let us off and took the float back to Krewe Den. We all proceeded to the pavilion for our dance and the announcement of the awards. Our krewe walked (at least, some of us were still walking) away with First Place. Poor Elaine fell walking up the steps. But she was okay. Our dance was perfect and oh so much fun. The entire krewe danced. Well, Kathi started out trying to dance and ended up sitting on the steps but her feet were still moving in step. Let me rephrase: The entire krewe learned the dance. Most of us did dance. Lol It was a blast. Red Beans & Rice was fabulous. The beach was wonderful. We never made it to the Krewe of Coma because we were pretty exhausted.

Tuesday night, one of our friends from Up North, Will, came over for dinner. We had so much fun catching up on things, playing on the computer, and talking.

We were expecting my cousin Kim, from California on Thursday, but Wednesday she called and was leaving Louisiana a bit early. I was so excited to have her here. Of course, George and I were running all over the place trying to clean the house and put fresh linen on her bed, and so forth. Kim and I had never met face-to-face. All I can say is that she was so … well, so me. We are about the same height; wear the same shoe size; we both drink coffee 24/7; we both love animals; we both embroider and sew. The list is endless. George was amazed at the similarities. We talked until 2 a.m. We went to bed. Got up in the morning and talked until the afternoon when we were having guests over for dinner and a get together evening. Yes, she met the neighbors. Of course, Patrice and Will were included. I boiled shrimp and potatoes. A neighbor made coleslaw. Patrice brought garlic bread. And the wine flowed. We had a fire in the chiminea and a few songs were sung, including our now infamous Possum Song. The evening was delightful. After the guests left, we continued talking (and peeling shrimp) until midnight when we retired for the evening. Friday morning we arose and began talking until 3 a.m. Saturday morning Kim had to leave to visit with Aunt Lil for the weekend. We began talking and were still talking as she drove away around 4 p.m. Now if that isn’t my Mama, I don’t know what is.

Kim is a genealogist and we went through several letters that my Grandmother, Flavie Theaux, had written to me about the family, many years ago. We went through old photographs and I was telling her stories that Mama had told me of the family.

Grant, Kim’s husband, is a symphony conductor and music professor. Kim plays percussion. She used to, also, be a dance instructor. She is quite an accomplished lady.

One of the amazing things about Cousin Kim is that she purchased a home embroidery machine a few years ago just like Doris. She did this without knowing that I own Doris. We both have Quantum Futura Singer embroidery machines. The difference is that she needed instruction on operating her machine, since she only recently took it out of the box. We spent a bit of time yesterday on the embroidery machines having a wonderful time.

Needless to say there wasn’t a lot of work accomplished this week. So, I had better get back to it real fast. During the week, I received an email from a friend asking me to give her a quote on a new Mardi Gras Krewe logo. I explained that I had company and she said there is no rush. No rush or not, I need to get onto that project. They are the Mystic Krewe of Fruitcakes. How cute is that!

By the way, Boxercraft finally sent me a few extra catalogs. A few of you had asked to borrow a catalog. They are here.

Well, Mardi Gras is over and we are now in the Lenten season. But, through all of this activity, did I forget something? Cajun Stitchery is now two years old. Let’s have some fun. The first person to email me and tell me my maiden name will win a quilted black satin jacket, size large, with their name embroidered on the front. This is not difficult because I’m always teasing about my maiden name. These are really nice jackets and run a bit on the large side. In other words, I would wear a size large comfortably.

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.

Thanks to Paulette Provost for the following:

Three Cajuns go down to Mexico to celebrate college graduation. They get drunk, and wake up in jail, only to find that they are to be executed in the morning, though none of them can remember what they did the night before.

The first one, Henri, is strapped in the electric chair, and is asked if he has any last words. He says, "I just graduated from Nichols State in Thibodaux , Louisiana and believe in the almighty power of God to intervene on the behalf of the innocent." They throw the switch and nothing happens. They all immediately fall to the floor on their knees; beg for Henri’s forgiveness, and release him.

The second, Gaston, is strapped in and gives his last words, "I just graduated from McNeese State in Lake Charles , Louisiana and I believe in the power of justice to intervene on the part of the innocent.." They throw the switch and, again, nothing happens. Again, they all immediately fall to their knees; beg for his forgiveness, and release him.

The last one, Boudreaux, is strapped in and he says, "Well, den, I'm from the University of Louisiana in Lafayette and I just graduated wit ma degree in Electrical Engineering, and I'll tell you right now, you ain't gonna electrocute nobody if you don't plug this ting in."

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French Phrase of the Week: C'est la saison de carême (It is the Lenten season)

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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.

Wednesday, March 9, 2011

Why Is It So Hard To Find a Gift for Men?

We had a big storm here today complete with tornado sirens blaring and all.  So, that makes me think that I don't want to go outside.  I'll just sit here and write on my blog.  Goodness knows, I have lots to write about.

Mardi Gras is over.  This was a long, wonderful Mardi Gras season.  I think everyone is tired, or should I say, exhausted.  Trying to keep up with my krewe and run Cajun Stitchery and my family is a lot to do.

Even before Mardi Gras, itself, arrived we had a special occasion that wasn't even celebrated.  Cajun Stitchery celebrated its 2nd anniversary.  I am certainly open to suggestion on how to celebrate this occasion.

One thing that I do want to talk about are baby bibs.  I don't usually make baby items.  My children and my grandchildren are all way past baby age.  A customer did contact me for an emergency baby shower gift the other day.  My only suggestion was to run to the store and get a receiving blanket and I could embroider on it.  She wanted something real unique and that wasn't it.  It did make me think that I need to have some baby items around here for occasions such as that.  I am about ready to finish my third baby bib.  The first two are in the Etsy store.  They are very easy to make.  The closure is Velcro.  I have many baby and children stock embroidery designs and this also gives me a chance to use some of those designs.  They are all adorable and I enjoy stitching them out.  So, if you are in a pinch for a quick, handmade baby shower gift, I can offer baby bibs.  Maybe I'll make more baby items as time goes by.

As any reader of my blog knows, I love cloth handkerchiefs.  Sometime ago I read an article that said women's handkerchiefs are harder to find than men's these days because women no longer use cloth hankies and men have always used them, and never quit using them.  Good for men.  A customer approached me during the Christmas holidays to do some embroidery on a man's handkerchief and asked if I had any.  Well, no, I didn't carry men's handkerchiefs and frankly, had never made a hanky for a man.  She and I both searched high and low for men's hankies without any luck.  Finally, George did find a pack of men's plain, white handkerchiefs are Wal-Mart.  I have that pack in my supplies for the next request. 

The next request was last week.  A Facebook friend wanted silk-type men's hankies embroidered.  The hankies that I have are cotton.  She supplied the 2 hankies and I did the embroidery.  Before I embroidered I did a bit of research and the difference in men and women handkerchiefs are the size, mostly.  A woman's hanky is about 10 inches square or even smaller.  A man's handkerchief is about 15 inches square or more.  In further research it appeared that for a woman's handkerchief the embroidery faces the edge of the hanky because women will hold or drape the hanky with the edges out.  For men the embroidery faces the middle of the handkerchief because if a man puts the hanky in his suit breast pocket, the hanky is folded so the edges are sticking out of the pocket and the motif needs to show right side up.  Of course, that is if the man chooses to fold the handkerchief in that manner.  There seem to be as many different ways to fold a man's handkerchief as there are to fold napkins.  Every woman that I have approached about folding a man's handkerchief has the corner edges sticking out the top of the pocket -- no exceptions.

I was contacted by a lady via my Etsy store for a man's handkerchief yesterday.  She wanted one like I had made but for a man.  She wanted the embroidery flipped so the edges would stick out of the pocket and she wanted it man sized.  She picked the pinstriped fabric with the red lips.  I made the handkerchief for her and she is pleased.  It is going to her brother.  She told me there was no special occasion.  Her brother wears suits all of the time and she felt he would enjoy something a big off the wall, such as the embroidered red lips.

I made one for her brother and another that is on sale at the Etsy Store.  As George and I were discussing this turn of events, we decided that, along with the baby items, this is something else that we need to keep on hand because, frankly, I can never come up with something really cool to give a man as a gift.  I always send George out to pick something.  Finally, a gift that is kind of kitschy but acceptable for a man.  I'll have to research men embroidery motifs now.

This all worked out well because I was going through some of our stock designs and ran across a couple of designs that I never noticed before.  They both immediately made me laugh.  One was a motif of a nose with running legs coming out of the nostrils -- the nose was running. lol  The other one that got my attention was a character picking his nose. Both designs made me thing back to the "You Have a Booger" handkerchiefs and I knew I had to make a few more handkerchiefs with these designs.  I think I'll make them men's hankies.

A new krewe, Mystic Krewe of Fruitcakes, has contacted me for an estimate on their logo.  I'll be working on that the rest of the week.  It's not that I foresee it taking me that long but we have out of state friends in town this week and one of my cousins is coming in later this week.  We are busy with company but it's so enjoyable.

C'est tout, mes amis.