Cajun Corner, Vol. 2, No. 10

Cajun Corner – Vol. 2, No. 10 – March 13, 2010


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

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Don’t forget to visit http://www.cajunstitchery.etsy.com/ often.

Cajun Stitchery’s first anniversary has been wonderful and still ongoing. Our terrific neighbors presented Cajun Stitchery with a congratulations card and a bottle of wine. Woohoo! We are not getting as much participation in the contests as anticipated. I guess I have a lot to learn about contests.

This week’s contest winner is Judy Loignon. Judy won a set for 4 napkins with the embroidery of her choice. Judy says what she likes most about Cajun Stitchery is the personal service. She likes the fact that we will work with our customers to create the perfect design. Thank you, Judy, for such kind words and input.

This week’s contest: This week Cajun Stitchery would like to know some eco-friendly ideas. Doesn’t have to be an essay but you are welcome to do so. The winner will be announced next week in Cajun Corner. Prize: 4 embroidered napkins.

This past week we have been working on Junkanoo jackets. Queen Junkanoo Leigh Weaver gave her gift to the krewe by hiring Cajun Stitchery to embroider the krewe’s first names on their jackets. Things were going just fine until we hit the ones that had glued patches over the pocket where the embroidery should go. A friend of ours introduced us to Goof-Off. Apparently, we are the last people around not to know about Goof-Off. This stuff will take glue off of fabric, remove dried latex paint, lipstick, oil, and just about anything. We tried it and it worked on the glued patches; although, some of the color came off of the sequins, but not too much. Later in the week, we were working on a Nereid jacket and the hood slipped under the sash and got grease on it. Not a problem. That Goof-Off got the grease out instantly. This is really good stuff and I’m happy to keep it in our supply cabinet for those unexpected times.

I embroidered the pillowcases and they turned out more than fabulous. You know what I forgot to do? That’s right. I forgot to take photographs of the pillowcases. This forgetting thing is really getting on my last nerve. All is well that ends well and if I can remember to bring my camera next Wednesday, I can take photographs of the pillowcases. I really want those pillowcases to have the look and quality of heirloom. These pillowcases and the designs really captured that heirloom feeling. It is funny because the girls were looking at the pillowcases and immediately started talking about the heirloom pillowcases that have been handed down in their own families and what to do with them when the fabric gets old and unusable.

I am now thinking about putting together hope chests for my two granddaughters. More research will be needed because I have questions. If you put a hope chest together, you cannot use the married name because you don’t know what it will be. Do you use the first name only? You also don’t know what size bed they will have. In the olden days, they had either a twin or double bed, but now we have queen and king size, as well. What size sheets do you use? What if she never gets married? Does she still get a hope chest? If not, isn’t that unfair? If so, when do you give the hope chest because you may be giving it prematurely? If anyone knows the proper etiquette for a hope chest, please send me an email. I would love to know.

George has been busy working on our ceilings this week. He is scrapping the popcorn ceilings and plans to repaint them without the popcorn. This, of course, got us into the mood to redecorate. Here’s the thing. We love our little home and the colors are perfect the way they are. I guess we just need fresh paint and a real good spring cleaning. Maybe I’ll make some new curtains and chair covers.

Oh, oh, oh. You know the issue about metallic thread? Most embroiderers don’t like to use metallic thread because of the problems posed. You have to slow the machine to a crawl, loosen the tension, and pray a lot. All of this is because metallic thread is actually made from metal. The up and down movement of the needle, plus the metallic thread going through the eye of the needle causes friction and then thread breaks. If an embroiderer even offers metallic thread, the price will be higher than normal because the time consumed in the embroidery will be so much more than using other, non-metallic, thread.

The normal thread that we use is very shiny but not metallic. We purchase our thread direct from a mill in Gastonia, NC. Usually we purchase five shades of whatever color we get. The mill is able to provide any color you want. We started wondering if we purchased five shades of gold, how close would that look to the metallic gold thread? Well, we ordered five shades of gold and a new spool of gold metallic thread. We were elated to find the identical color to the metallic gold. We can now offer the gold non-metallic at the same price as any other embroidery. Metallic gold is always available, but at a higher price.

It is tax season. If you knew my Mama, you would know that she prided herself on doing her own taxes and she chided me the few times that I did not do my own taxes. She passed away when she was almost 91 years old and had done her own taxes even that last year. She told me that when she first purchased the apartments that she did hire someone to do her taxes and then used those as a guideline for herself for the years afterwards.

I have a different take on the tax thing. I feel that I’m intelligent enough to read through the guidelines and do my own taxes, if I wanted or needed. But there are advantages to having a professional do your taxes. Obviously, a professional will be up-to-date on the tax laws and you are assured not to miss any tax breaks available. As a business owner, I know other people could do their own embroidery, but I would hope they look at Cajun Stitchery as giving a professional look to the embroidery as well as doing the things that a home embroiderer either could not or would not do. That’s how I feel about tax returns. In addition and depending on who does your taxes, you get a lot of valuable financial information.

All of that said, Cajun Stitchery has a new member to its team: Dale Jones, CPA/Accountant and new franchise owner of Padgett’s Business Services. Dale and I met at a Woman’s Business Luncheon and hit it off right away. We had lunch together earlier this week to discuss doing Cajun Stitchery’s taxes. She was hired right away. Her prices are reasonable and she understands small business very well. Best of all, she understood me, where I want Cajun Stitchery to go and what I want it to do.

I guess you noticed that Cajun Corner is a day late this week. I spent all day yesterday with our assistant county commissioner and Code Enforcement officers cleaning up the neighborhood. Then last night we spent the evening next door with the neighbors and one last hoorah with our friends from Pennsylvania. They returned home this morning.

Always remember that we are just a call or email away at cajunstitchery@yahoo.com or 850-261-2462 and place your order.

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Thanks to Helen for this week’s joke:

Beau Jocques and Fernest are quietly sitting in a boat fishing on the bayou,

chewing tobacco and drinking beer when suddenly Beau Jocques says,

"I think I'm gonna divorce my wife - she ain't spoke to

me in over 2 months."

Fernest spits, sips his beer and says, "Better think it over...

Women like that are hard to find."

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French phrase of the week: La boutique appartenait à Peggy Henshall. (The store belonged to Peggy Henshall.)

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The best time to turn over garden soil is during the last quarter of the moon (decreasing moon phase) because that's when the water table has dropped to its lowest point. This means there is less moisture in the soil. Taking your back into consideration, it is easier to turn soil over when there is less moisture in it!

Please let me know if there is something that you would like to see in the weekly email. You may always call me at (850) 261-2462 or email me at cajunstitchery@yahoo.com.

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.

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 new catalogs and pass some time with me, cher.