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:

http://www.imprintit.biz/cgi-bin/cobrand/site.w?location=olc/catalog-home.w&top=catalog&frasmes=no&target=main&sponsor=000699

and www.companycasuals.com/cajunstitchery.

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

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.