Friday, March 30, 2012

Cajun Corner - Vol. 4, No. 12



Cajun Corner – Vol. 4, No. 12 – March 30, 2012



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:



This past weekend we took a trip to Tampa to visit our son and his family.  My daughter-in-law graduated with her RN degree.  I cannot even express how proud I am of her and the whole family.  This is the first time that George and I were able to visit them at their new home.  They actually live in a little town called Wimauma, Florida, on the outskirts of Tampa.  It was a whirlwind trip.  We left Pensacola early Sunday morning and returned Tuesday afternoon.  The graduation ceremony was Monday evening.

Their home is beautiful.  They had the house built when they lived in Pensacola and moved in when they moved to Wimauma.  They were one of the first homes built in their subdivision.  So, Hank – like his mother – made of point of meeting everyone as they moved into their homes.  He is such a social butterfly.  The neighborhood group gets together frequently.  There are those who like to visit and those who are a bit more private, like any neighborhood.  They even have evenings around the campfire.  I got tickled at them because they neither smoke nor drink but they have a full wine rack.  Hank says it is just for show.  At my house it would be well used.

The graduation ceremony was impressive.  I have never attended a “pinning” before this.  At most graduations the graduating students line up and received their diplomas and shake hands with various people.  It was similar for this pinning except that when they got on stage they sat down and one lady pinned them and another put the nurses cap on them.  I cried and took pictures the whole time.  Something I learned is that when you receive your LPN, you get the nurse’s hat in solid white.  The RN gets the nurse’s hat with the black stripe.  Shernise says that she intends to return to school in the fall and work toward her bachelor’s degree.  Despite many obstacles, this little family has persevered and continues to do better and better.  I love them and I’m very proud of the family.  In fact, Hank and Shernise have been married for 15 years and have a very similar relationship to George and me. 

When we arrived at Hank’s home, they were all tickled at my hair color.  What was really funny is that one of my granddaughter’s had dyed her hair the same color.

While we were away, Evie was enjoying an extended visit at the vets.  It was kind of nice because she got her annual exam, nails trimmed, etc., and was ready when we got home.  She was happy to see us but not really sure what happened.  To make matters worse, George brought home a puppy the next day, Wednesday.   The puppy is named Sammy.  Sammy is 10-12 weeks old, a black Labrador retriever with a white spot on his chest.  The vet says that Sammy is probably full Labrador.  Oh yes, Sammy is also 34 lbs.  Not the little, tiny puppy most people think of when they hear the word “puppy.”  He is tall and lanky.  So far Evie is ignoring Sammy.  I am a bit surprised that Sammy is not very active.  But he is probably just getting used to a new environment.  He did meet the cats last night and barked up a storm.  The cats, of course, are totally indifferent to him.  Since Evie is so attached to me, Sammy is staying with George during the day.  We are actually thinking of making him a carpenter’s belt. 
By the way, on our trip to Tampa, we went via Highway 98 and then Highway 19 to New Port Richey.  George had never been to Mexico Beach and we made it there in time for breakfast on Sunday.  Taking Highway 98 around Mexico Beach and following it to Highway 19 was breathtakingly gorgeous.  The highway was right next to the Gulf for miles.  As gorgeous as the scenic route was, it took considerably longer.  On the way home we took the interstate highways which were much faster.

I learned the map function of my smart phone during the trip and nearly ran the battery dead playing with it.  A little blinky arrow appears on the map showing where you are presently located.  You can zoom in and see the roads around you and even find gas stations and restaurants. 

It is always a good feeling to return home.  The asparagus is ready to start harvesting.  Remember the end of the celery that I planted?  It is growing.  The parsley and catnip are trying to go to seed.  The sweet peas need to be picked.  Ahhh, the garden.

The hawk that was sitting on the fence last week, sadly, was found dead on the ground the next morning.  It probably had some sort of hawk disease.

When we returned home we found a package at the back door.  It was our new hoop and table for Clothilde.  The table just snaps into place and is extra large to accommodate large, heavy pieces of fabric.  The hoop can hold a design up to 15” x 18”.  That’s pretty big.  The same night we received another shipment of the stabilizer that I ordered.  So, everything arrived the night that we returned home. 

A couple of the secret embroidery projects can now be revealed.  The towels are bath sheets that were embroidered for a young couple’s wedding.  These designs are pretty large about 13” wide x 5” high.  Brianne’s has rhinestones applied.  The rhinestones did sparkle but I cannot promise they will remain on the towel after too many washings.  The customer who ordered these and provided the bath sheets said that she and her husband received bath sheets when they were married and used and enjoyed them for a long time.  It is a really good idea for wedding gifts.  With a design this large, the satin stitching would be too wide and would appear very loose.  Instead, we used a fill design that replicated two or three rows of satin stitches next to each other.

After we got home I was working on some dog collars.  Now I need to embroider the collar that we got for Sammy.  I still cannot believe that we bought a collar that I can make.

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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Want a beautiful herb garden by your door?  Take 3 or 4 progressively smaller pots.  Fill the largest with potting soil, then place the next size on top and to the back of the first, fill it with potting soil, and so on for each smaller container.  Then plant herb seeds or seedlings in the soil around the base of each of the pots.  When it grows you will have a small terrace of herbs.  Of course, make sure your herb garden gets plenty of sun and water.

Harvest often. Harvesting promotes growth. It keeps plants in their growing cycle instead of letting them mature and finish their life. So stop by your garden before dinner each night and snip away. (Never tear.) You can harvest up to a third of the foliage. And if you see a flower, clip or pinch it off. Once an herb flowers it’s trying to finish its life cycle.

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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.

Friday, March 23, 2012

Cajun Corner - Vol. 4, No. 11



Cajun Corner – Vol. 4, No. 11 – March 23, 2012



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:



As I sit here typing, there is a small hawk perched on our fence.  George and I were just outside and noticed him sitting in the garden.  At first we thought he was injured.  His head was moving.  He walked and fluttered his wings.  He was just sitting there.  It could be a youngster that mom pushed out of the nest.  Oh, well, it will be interesting to see what he or she does.  We aren’t going to catch him.  He seems stressed already and trying to catch him would only cause more stress.

The hawk sure picked the perfect place because the garden is doing great.  It is spring and all of the seeds are germinating.  Peppers and tomatoes look identical when they first emerge from their seeds.  Once they get their second set of leaves you can tell the difference.  The onion bottoms from the onions that I chopped for dinner earlier are growing.  In fact, this week I cut off the bottom of some celery we had in the refrigerator and planted that.  The beans that took over the garden last year are now sprouting.   We have plans of using wire or PVC pipe and creating an archway with the bean vines this year.  That would be so unique.  No sign of potatoes yet.  Half a bag of whole potatoes were planted in our back compost.  They are planted pretty deep but hopefully they will grow.  We even noticed some pepper seedlings growing in our foot path.  They must have been dropped last season.  This time we planted a lot of bell pepper seeds.  The cayenne peppers were wonderful last season but we love bell peppers, too.  Even a broccoli root stump that was accidentally left in the garden has begun to sprout.  Oh yes, and the asparagus is growing and a few sprigs are ready to cut.  The mint, rosemary, parsley and thyme are abundant.  Some little purple leaves are beginning to push up from the ground which tells me our purple basil is back.  The stevia is getting leaves, too.  Of course, we have onions, garlic, carrots, lettuce, broccoli, and sweet peas growing vigorously.

Flowers are a favorite of mine.  The orange daisies are blooming and the rose bush has several buds.  The wisteria is beautiful and fragrant.  The lilies and gladiolas are sprouting and those wild purple irises are plentiful.  The African Irises bloomed this week and those flowers are simply stunning.  The red camellias are pretty much spent but our pink camellia bush is covered in beautiful double flowers.  Those little white flowers on the ground that I love so much are turning into blackberries.  Yummy.  Last fall I planted some seeds for small blue flowers.  The flowers are blooming but I don’t remember what they are called.  Snapdragons are very familiar and right now we have red, yellow and pink snapdragons blooming.  The muscadine grape is growing but our usual green seedless is not doing much of anything.  We pruned it way back last year.  Sure hope we didn’t kill it.

So much is going on in our yard that it is hard to come inside.  Sure would be nice if we had Easter Lilies bloom on Easter, but they usually don’t bloom that early.  When they do bloom, they are gorgeous.

The bamboo that we planted a few years ago has grown and achieved our goal of creating a natural fence.  Now it is creating a natural fence in the back of the house next door.  The sprouts have found their way into our yard and even in the garden but they are cut off right below ground level.  This usually lasts for a week or two and then no more sprouts until the following year.  Finding the sprouts has become a fun and unusual activity lately.  If there is any interest in cane fishing poles, I believe we can help you.

Our regular coffee pot bit the dust today.  We go through one or two each year.  Yes, you heard me right.  George and I are big coffee drinkers and there is coffee perking at our house 24/7.   It doesn’t even disturb us when the coffee maker dies.  We just go to the store and get another.  What I do not like is the waste.  Someday I’ll have to figure out how to recycle my coffee makers.  I’d brew the coffee on the stove but then the stove would have to be on 24/7.  After Hurricane Ivan hit in 2004, we were without electricity for weeks.  The one thing we did have was coffee perking on the grill.  No.  We did not grill food.  Remember, I don’t cook.  We used the grill for coffee making, only.  The first thing we did when we got our chiminea was to figure how to perk coffee on it.  I suppose we could have worse habits.

So, what exciting has happened this week?  I’m not a real fro fro kind of person.  I do like fur, feathers, anything soft, and anything shiny.  When it comes to my hair, well, I end up letting it grow to the point of aggravation and then go to the nearest stylist and have them cut it short.  No styling involved.  In fact, when asked how I want my hair cut, I usually respond that I want it short so that I can get up and go in the morning without any fuss.  Wednesday was one of those days when my hair aggravated me.  I called my neighbor who owns the local beauty salon and he said to come on in.  It was a slow day.  When I got there (2 blocks away from my house) we sat outside for awhile and I said, “Let’s have fun with my hair today.”  This is really unusual for me.  I was tired of the gray and wanted my hair dyed.  He took out his color charts and I was immediately drawn to the reds and auburns.  After some discussion and viewing color options, I chose a dark kind of red.  It almost looks black.  It is actually a very dark cherry with bright red cherry streaks at the part.  Then I perused some magazines and showed him several hairstyles that I liked.  He put it all together and for about an hour after I got home George just stared at me.  This is about as far away from gray as you can get, short of shaving initials in my head.  It really does look adorable and I’m very happy with it.  I think it conveys my personality.  It is bright, colorful, and full of spunk.

Have you noticed that there is no talk of embroidery?  It seems that everything that I have embroidered this week is a secret of some sort.  I can tell you there were towels, market baskets, and monograms.  There are no pictures to show because I cannot divulge the secrets.  Not only that, but next week is going to be filled with secret embroidery, too.

I can, however, tell you that Clothilde is well worth the money spent on her.  This week I wanted to use Boudreaux for some embroidery because he needs a workout.  He didn’t work.  He must be jealous of Clothilde getting all of my attention.  He blew a fuse.  We have to get a fuse from Radio Shack and make sure he’s in working order again.  Boudreaux has a lot of hoops in a wide variety of sizes.  Clothilde has three sizes.  That is not all that will fit on Clothilde.  That is just all that came with her.  This week I ordered a new hoop for Clothilde that should be in any day now.  The hoop is 16.92” wide by 19.52” deep.  That means there is a 15”x18” area to embroider.  That is one big hoop and bigger than Boudreaux’s jacket back hoop.  There is an even larger hoop for Clothilde but it is only a couple of inches larger and costs about five time as much as the one that I ordered.   Hoops are not cheap.   I also ordered an extra large table for Clothilde.  The table is specifically for flat goods, like fabric or towels.  The table fits on the arm of the embroidery machine and not only holds the weight off of the arm, but helps manage large, flat items easier.  Boudreaux has a table that sure came in handy when I was embroidering all of those tuxedo jackets earlier this year.  The tables fit on the machine, not under or beside the machine.

Next I would love to get some small frames for Clothilde.  Boudreaux has a set of fast frames which come in very handy when embroidering on pockets or cap backs.  Fast frames use adhesive paper, instead of stabilizer.  I’m thinking about getting Clothilde a slim line set.  Slim line uses a clamp method, rather than sticky backing.  A year or so ago I wanted to get a slim line for Boudreaux that was large enough to embroider rugs.  The company refused to sell it to me because it would not fit Boudreaux, because Boudreaux is a compact.  Clothilde, however, is a full size embroidery machine and someday I would like to get her the slim line for rugs, welcome mats, bathroom rugs, car mats, yacht mats, etc.  There are so many hoops and attachments available.  Then there is the sequin attachment.  Cajun Stitchery will have to make a whole lot of money to be in a position to purchase the sequin attachment.  It is tempting, though.

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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DO YOU REMEMBER:  not letting the balloon touch the floor?  That was a real game.

Did You Know? Parmesan Lids Fit On Canning Jars!

Use a curling iron to seal cellophane bags.

Vinegar kills weeds.  Don’t use chemicals.  Just spray vinegar on your weeds.

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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.

Saturday, March 17, 2012

Cajun Corner - Vol. 4, No. 10



Cajun Corner – Vol. 4, No. 10 – March 17, 2012



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:



I have always been a basically lazy person looking for short cuts.  When Mama taught me to hand embroider as a child, my embroidery never looked as pretty as I wanted and I would give up and put it aside until I got another urge.  Before she passed on and while she lived with us, I would take out my hand embroidery and accoutrements.  She would watch me as I embroidered, or tried to do a new stitch or whatever.  Then she would say, “My Mama would have been so disappointed in me if I embroidered like that.”  Never put knots at the end of embroidery thread, it is a big no-no.  At least in Mama’s world it was bad. The perfect embroidery should leave the tail and weave it into the back of the embroidery so that you do not know where one ends and the other begins.  I took the short cut, as usual.  One of the real beauties of hand embroidery is that it is 3-dimensional.  There are stitches that create all sorts of knots (the intentional kind of knot), flowers, balls and embroidery that pops right off the fabric.  How in the world did women of olden days create such exquisite embroidery?  They must have embroidered 24-7, but then they would not have time to do all of their other chores.  Some embroidery, of course, was flat against the fabric.  I’ve seen hand embroidery depicting scenes that looked almost as clear and vivid as a photograph with all of the proper shading.  These were true artisans. 

Why all of this carrying on about hand embroidery?  I have seen and touched some exquisite hand embroidery this week.  The pieces were the kind of embroidery that you gaze upon and know they are so far out of your league you shouldn’t even try.  That led me to do some searches online, especially at Pinterest, on fine hand embroidery where I saw additional remarkable pieces of art.

When I first began looking at machine embroidery, I was intrigued with sewing machine embroidery (differing from embroidery machine embroidery).  Again, these are some true artisans.  Yes, there are people in the world today that can make their old Singers do fine embroidery.  The machine doesn’t need any special stitches at all, just a needle and thread that go up and down.  You hoop your fabric in the same kind of hoop that is use in hand embroidery, except you turn it upside down for the machine.  Take off your presser foot and use an embroidery presser foot – some don’t even use that.  Lower your feed dogs.  Embroider.  Initially, I did a few, very few, items using this method. 

It wasn’t long after I discovered the sewing machine embroidery that I found Doris (my Singer home embroidery machine).  Since I have already established that I tend to be lazy and search for short cuts, the sewing machine embroidery idea went out the window in lieu of machine embroidery.  With the embroidery machine, I did not have to think and plan as much.  Then Boudreaux (my first commercial embroidery machine) came into my life and, well, life has not been the same since.  Oh, how I love Boudreaux.  Now we have Clothilde.  Bet you thought the new one would be named Thibodeaux.  Clothilde works faster than Boudreaux, is more precise and user friendly.  Basically, she does better work, with more precision, in less time.  Of course, it would be a female. Lol

The next challenge is to figure out how to make Boudreaux and Clothilde stitch comparable embroidery to hand embroidery.  Hmmm.  There are some techniques available, albeit time consuming.  Please recall last year’s Easter Bonnet with the 3-D butterflies and fringed flowers.  Admittedly, the bonnet was outrageous but the techniques were solid.  What if I could turn those techniques into fine embroidery? 

The technique of making nice, professional patches used to be reserved for the Merrow machine.  Since the advent of embroidery machines and some ingenuity, professional looking patches are now easily made on embroidery machines.  The Merrow machine uses an overlock stitch and the embroidery machine uses a satin stitch, but they basically look the same.

Now that Clothilde has moved in, she brought her own set of computer programs.  One of the programs has some items about Schiffli machines.  I do not want a Schiffli machine.  The Schiffli machine holds 1,000 needles and if you think I am going to thread that many needles, you are out of your mind.   The Schiffli machine takes embroidery machines to the level of repeating designs on a plain fabric creating a fabric with repeated embroidery motifs that you can purchase by the yard.  I’m sure you’ve seen this type of fabric.  These machines are incredible.  They also make the lovely lace fabric by embroidering repeated designs on tulle, I think.  All of this can also be done on Boudreaux and Clothilde but in much smaller increments and it would take a lot more time.

I have carried on about embroidery and I think I saw one of our beans sprouting today.  The beautiful weather and the yard are calling me outdoors.  My annual red snapdragons are still blooming after 3 years and now we have yellow and white snapdragons that are into their second or third season.  The catnip is lush this year.  In fact, I brought a bouquet of catnip in the house the other day and George thinks I may have damaged my cats permanently.  They haven’t been the same since.  Ah, well, those cats need to lighten up anyhow.  Cats can be so serious.  Blackberry cobbler season is right around the corner.  Those beautiful little white flowers are everywhere.  I am hoping for a bumper crop this year.

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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INTERESTING…
I found the following Vodka Soaked Gummy Bears at http://www.thatssomichelle.com/2011/08/vodka-soaked-gummy-bears.html
Shopping List (inspired by Cathy Macomber on the Tuesday Nite Wildcats)
1 bag of gummy bears or gummy candy of your choice
1 cup of Absolute or Gray Goose vodka (or enough to cover the candy completely)

Place your bears in a large bowl and pour over your vodka, cover with plastic wrap and let sit for at least 24 hours. I wouldn't go further than 48 hours, they may start breaking down.

Pour out your vodka (serve if you like, it will be pink and sweet from the bears) and carefully skewer your gummy bears. Arrange and serve.

IF YOU THOUGHT THAT WAS INTERESTING, TRY THIS…

(Found this on Pinterest)

Skittle bombs: take bottles of unflavored vodka and packs of skittles. pick a skittle color and put them all in a bottle. shake until they dissolve. Freeze to chill before serving.

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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.

Saturday, March 10, 2012

Cajun Corner - Vol. 4, No. 9


Cajun Corner – Vol. 4, No. 9 – March 10, 2012



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



ΘΘΘΘΘ

Don’t forget to visit www.cajunstitchery.etsy.com often.   We are also on Twitter and Facebook. 

Visit our on-line catalogs at:



Oh, what a week this has been!  I don’t even know where to start.  Most people start at the beginning.  I will start at the end.  Mama used to tell me that I always do things backwards because I’m left handed.  Who knows!

The weather is so beautiful right now that I just want to garden.  A week or so ago there was an article on Pinterest that said when you cook with an onion, save the root end that you would normally toss and plant it.  According to the article the onion will begin to grow and voila, free plants and free onions.  There is logic in this.  The root ends of about 4 onion bulbs were planted in the garden and today they are growing.  If they produce more bulbing onions that would be wonderful since bulbing onions have not been successful in our garden in the past.  You know what this means.  The root ends of all root vegetables are now going to be replanted.

Another Pinterest article said that rather than cutting up a potato and planting the eyes, plant the whole potato.  By planting the whole potato you safeguard against some diseases and insects that go for the fleshy part.  There is half a sack of potatoes on the counter that will be planted for this experiment. 

Last year our tomato plants just kept supplying tomatoes.  They were all small tomatoes.  None of the tomatoes were larger than maybe golf ball size.  They were tomatoes nevertheless and they were delicious.  After a particularly cold few days in January, the tomato plants were finished and placed in the compost.  One little tomato plant was unintentionally left in a pot on the side of the house.  Guess what has started blooming?  That little tomato that could has blossoms. 

Our business consultant from the Small Business Development Center visited this week.  She has such good ideas and helps keep me focused on our goals.  For those of you who have been reading Cajun Corner for a long time, you know the goal is to be the Tiffany’s of embroidery.  The problem is that every aspect of embroidery is so enjoyable that I am going in a hundred different directions at once.  My peep keeps me focused on our goals.

The annual Arts & Wine Craft Fair on the beach will probably always be on our annual agenda because of our connections with Pensacola Beach.  However, additional craft fairs will be few and far between.  That just is not Cajun Stitchery.  It is not possible or feasible to provide “custom” embroidery at a craft fair. 

The Cajun Stitchery Etsy Store will stay.  That store has many purposes, not the least of which is an outlet for craft urges.  It also serves as an experimental store to see if people like different colors and different items, and so forth.  Of course, if I make it, it is made in the USA and this is a good place to sell the Made in the USA scarves and handkerchiefs.

This week Shelby Johnson also visited for a one-on-one meeting to get to know each other and each other’s business.  Shelby is our Wines For Humanity representative.  If you have not met Shelby, you definitely need to meet this lady.  She has home wine parties.  About 50% or 60% of the money that Wines For Humanity earns goes to charity.  Shelby is hilarious and we spent most of our time laughing and giggling like school girls.  If you would like to host a wine party at your home, please let me know and I will put you in touch with Shelby.  That girl knows what wine goes with what food and in what glass.  A wine party would be a great get together for any group of women to sit back, drink some wine, learn a little bit about wine, and enjoy an evening.   Just for a group of women?  Heck, this would be a great get together for men and women.  Wouldn’t it be fun to get a group of friends together for a pot luck dinner and have Shelby serve the wine?

Our new Amaya commercial embroidery machine arrived late Monday afternoon.  Our SWF machine was moved into the living room and the Amaya is now situated in the studio.  The SWF is a 1201C.  The C stands for compact.  The machine always seemed very large but now that the standard sized Amaya is here, the SWF does look compact.

Our friend from Orlando, actually she lives in Geneva, brought the machine in her truck.  Since she is also the service technician for the Amaya machines in Florida, she stayed for service and training.  She left Thursday morning.  The machine is amazing.  She gave the machine a once over and did the routine maintenance and made sure it was in good working order.  Then she began the training.  George and I both attended the training.  The cap frames are so much easier to use with the Amaya.  Ball caps are no problem for us whatsoever.  The machine connects to my computer rather than using floppy disks like the SWF does.  Should the need arise; we can have both machine working at the same time. 

The Amaya came with some very special computer programs.  The program that I had been using to digitize was not a bad program.  It was just the low end of the spectrum and I was teaching myself how to digitize with it.  Usually home embroiderers use the Embird program. The new program, Design Shop, is the professional, high end of the spectrum, program and can do some pretty amazing things.  The big bonus for the program is that it is so user friendly.  Now I need to learn the program.  While she was here, my tech showed me how to change the fill of a design into a name or whatever you want.  I would post pictures of the items that we did but they are presents and should not be shared before giving.

Before the Amaya got here, however, we embroidered a shirt for a new customer and friend.  The situation was that she is still working with her graphic artist to achieve the perfect logo.  In the meantime, she needed to wear a shirt with her company name to Bark for Life today.  She contacted me for help.  She purchased a very nice coral/peach colored polo at Sam’s Club and I embroidered the name of her company in brown.  Her company (which always puts a smile on my face) is “We Scoop The Poop.”  How cute is that?

We Scoop The Poop wasn’t our only emergency this week.  One of my WBL friends contacted me saying the annual Maguire’s Run is this Saturday (today) and the guy who originally began the event has passed away.  She wanted 100 black arm bands with something like “In Memory of Les” embroidered in Kelly green.  I played around with some lettering and came up with a shamrock with the name LES in the middle.  She loved it.  I told her that since we were training on the new machine this week, I could do the 100 arm bands but she would have to get the arm bands to me.  I just would not have time to do more than embroidery.  It was quite an ordeal.  We finally decided the best way to do this was getting some fabric cut about 5” by 25” or so.  I suggested some sort of knit fabric, especially jersey, because you can pull the fabric and it will roll the edges and not fray.  As it turned out jersey was unexpectedly and outrageously expensive, so she got some broadcloth and had a friend cut the dimensions needed.  Since my tech was here, anyway, my tech, George and I collaborated on this project.  It was decided that we would fold the fabric lengthwise to hide the side edges.  A rectangle was digitized to hold the fabric down around the shamrock.  This still allowed for unsightly frayed edges down the remainder of the arm bands.  Finally, we decided to use spray adhesive, which held the side edges, and gave a nice finished look to the project.  Once my tech left on Thursday, I began working on the arm bands.  In the end we did 123 armbands on Thursday and Friday using our new Amaya.  Sweet!  Not to mention we have another happy customer.  And I hope Jennifer’s team won the race.

Yesterday I received a message on Facebook from Pandora de Balthazar regarding monogramming work.  Pandora owns a very high end, local luxury bedding store.  This is the type of work I dream about.  She and I have scheduled a meeting for Monday morning.  I do have to thank some people.  Pandora said that Shelley Johnson gave her my name amid high praise of my work.  Thank you, Shelley.  While Pandora and I were conversing on Facebook, Lila and then Courtney, also chimed in with praise of my work.  Thank you, Lila and Courtney.

Since I’m handing out thank you’s, Shelley Johnson and Becky Shearman were the reason that Cajun Stitchery got the Bananimals account during Mardi Gras.  Thank you Shelley and Becky.

It is good to have friends.  Apparently it is really good to have Shelley, Lila, Courtney, and Becky as friends.  And apparently you hit the jackpot when you have Shelley for a friend.  Of course, you all realize that Shelley owns the ISLAND TIMES and if you want to know what is happening on the island, you need a subscription to the ISLAND TIMES.  Also, if you want a good laugh, you need a subscription to the ISLAND TIMES because whatever is going on at the beach is sure to have some comic relief involved.  Visit www.myislandtimes.com for further information.  Of course, you can always see Cajun Stitchery’s ad right next to “Peas, Porridge & A Dry Martini” by my friend, Kathi Lewis.

No one answered the contest last week.  The answer is:  Small businesses employ 57% of the country's private workforce.

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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Tip of the Day:  Use a lint roller to pick up glitter messes.

Found this on the internet at http://www.meetthedubiens.com/2012/01/chocolate-lip-gloss-and-free-printable.html

How to make chocolate lip gloss:

What you'll need

Vaseline
cocoa powder
sugar
microwave safe bowl
lip gloss containers
labels printed on sticker paper

Directions:

1. put about 1 cup Vaseline in a microwave safe bowl

2. Heat the Vaseline in the microwave in 30 second increments, stirring between each heating (this is very important, don't just throw it in the microwave for a few minutes!). It took me about 7-8 minutes the batch of Vaseline. It will be liquid when it is fully melted. Make sure you wear gloves or oven mitts and make sure children are being supervised.

If you find the Vaseline REALLY hot you may want to let it cool for a bit before you mix in the cocoa powder. I didn't and didn't have any trouble dissolving the cocoa powder but some of my other readers had trouble dissolving the kool-aid if the Vaseline was too hot!

3. Stir in a couple spoonfuls of cocoa powder and a sprinkling of sugar for some sweetness. You don't need exact measurements here. Just put some cocoa powder in until you reach your desired color. I used a couple small spoonfuls. Stir until it is all dissolved. This only took about 30 seconds. If it's not dissolving the Vaseline may be too hot. Let it cool a bit.

4. If starting to solidify you can heat again for another 30 seconds - skip this step if it is still liquidy

5. Pour into your lip gloss containers and leave to solidify - a couple hours

6. Print out labels on sticker paper

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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.





Friday, March 2, 2012

Cajun Corner - Vol. 4, No. 8



Cajun Corner – Vol. 4, No. 8 – March 2, 2012

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:



Is it Friday already? 

It was March 3, 2009, when I went down to the tax office and got myself a business license and filed for our Fictitious Name with the State of Florida.  March is Cajun Stitchery’s anniversary month.  Cajun Stitchery has survived three years and we are not out of business yet.

The first thing we have done to celebrate Cajun Stitchery’s anniversary is to purchase a new (used) embroidery machine.  Yes, this will be our second machine.  The new machine, an Amaya, is MADE IN THE USA.  The Amaya’s are the only commercial embroidery machines made in the USA.  There are a lot of really cool things this machine does that our older SWF machine does not.  Nothing that would probably interest this audience but it sure makes us happy.  Instead of a 12 needle machine, this is a 16 needle machine.  That means that we can put 16 different colored spools of thread on this machine at one time and stitch out a design with 16 different colors.  The old machine is limited to 12 needles.  Although 12 needles are not bad, 16 needles are better.  The top speed of our SWF machine is the same as most commercial embroidery machines, 1200 spm (stitches per minute).  The Amaya’s top speed is 1500 spm.  Not to mention that the Amaya has automatic tensioning.  With two machine working for Cajun Stitchery, we can take on twice the number of jobs and size of jobs.  If one machine breaks, for some reason, we will have the other to continue working while the broken machine is repaired.  There are a lot of reasons.  Happy Birthday, Cajun Stitchery.

Our new Amaya should arrive this coming Monday via our embroidery tech friend from Orlando.  The following two days will be training, with and without wine, for both George and me on our new machine.  Right now the old SWF machine will be placed in the living room until the house next door is finished.  The SWF still purrs like a kitten and embroiders beautifully.  So, we will be cramped for space for a little while.  It is worth it. 

Aside from the new machine, I went into our Etsy Store and reduced some prices so that there is nothing in the Etsy Store over $20.  Please visit our Etsy Store and browse around.

George and I are also planning to visit our son and his family in Tampa later this month.  Shernise, our daughter-in-law, is graduating with her RN degree.  I cannot tell you how proud we are of her.  We will be there for her pinning.  She said that she didn’t want to bother with the actual pinning ceremony.  My friends who are RN’s have all told me that they felt the same way but went through the pinning ceremony nevertheless.  In retrospect, all agree that the pinning ceremony is a memory that each of them cherish.  Now I have to figure out a really good gift for her.

Now that the Mardi Gras festivities are over, I had time to attend my WBL meeting today.  I didn’t realize how much I missed those wonderful girls.  I have already set up a meeting with one of the girls who represents Wines For Humanity.  That is the name of the company and pretty much sums up what she does.  I have often said that some day I am going to have a party at my house with Wines For Humanity and our Dove Chocolate lady.  You know that will be a good time.

I have also agreed to have a booth at the Power Link Small Business Conference & Expo at the University of West Florida on April 27 and 28, 2012.  This should be a fun time to meet others in business and determine how we can help each other’s business.

This week has also been consumed writing a fictional story for my krewe.  These annual post-Mardi Gras stories have become a tradition.  They are as zany and outlandish as my imagination will allow.  Someday I may even start another blog for my fictional stories.  I do love to write.

I made a cute dance bag this week.  In retrospect, I probably didn’t glam it up enough but my main reason was to see if I could sew a presentable round bag.  It is really neat because once you unzip it, you see that it is lined in gold lame.  It is blinding.   It is in our Etsy Store for sale.

I’m working on a long scarf right now.  I have a large piece of navy blue, stretch lace fabric that I’ve never used for anything because it is so pretty.  I decided to make a long scarf.  The scarf is 108”.  That is 3 yards, and about 20”-25” wide.  I’m still playing with it.  Since the lace itself is a design and it is so light, I really don’t want to embroider on it.  I have attached some colorful eyelash yarn to the ends and may attach more.  I am just not sure where I’m going with it at this point.

We’ve also embroidered several scrubs for the beautiful ladies at Bloom Spa.

I did have a situation where a lady contacted me for a lap handkerchief a/k/a lap scarf.  She wanted it 30”x30”.  The purpose was to lay the scarf on her lap and cover her knees and legs at church.  Sorry, but I’ve never heard of such a thing.  After doing a Google search for lap handkerchiefs, I found that there are actual stores that specialize in them.  I made one to sell in our Etsy Store.  Take a look.

George showed me a painting of a mermaid and merman entwined that he liked.  So, I digitized it.  I even made myself a scarf with the design.
It has been a busy week and I hope everything remains busy because I truly love what I do for a living.  Please let me know if there is anything you need that might require embroidery.  And remember you do not need to order embroidery if you want something out of our catalogs or through our wholesalers.  We can still get it for you.  Just ask.

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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Thanks to Marshall Larrivere for the following:

Down in Lafourche Parish, Louisiana , Boudreaux gets a job with BP helping with the cleanup.

He reports for work and is told to speak to a supervisor about his assignment.
He finds the man and asks, "What it is I suppose to do?"
The supervisor tells him to go to the animal shelter and clean the pelicans.

Two hours later, Boudreaux comes up to the supervisor and says,

"Okay. Dey all cleaned. You want me to cook some rice?"
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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.