Embroidery Thugs

My cousin is visiting from California.  We were going to Louisiana to visit relatives but there's a flood in our way.  Truth is that we probably could still go and return and be safe, but you never know.  I cannot risk getting to southwest Louisiana and finding I cannot get back for a few days.  We are going to Baton Rouge on Thursday, though.  That will be a fun trip, I'm sure.

In the meantime, all of the zebra print items arrived and have been embroidered and today we personally delivered the items to our customer.  She was tickled pink.  She owns a hair salon and all of the girls at the salon were google eyed at all of the zebra print items.  I made them smile and they made me smile.  It was a delightful time.  They are getting ready to go to a hair show and just know they will be the talk of the show with the zebra print bags. 

A big thanks goes to my cousin Kim for coming up with the idea of luggage grips.  You know, those things that go around the handle of your luggage and secure with Velcro.  Some of the zebra print items could not be embroidered and some the customer didn't want embroidered; so, we made a couple of luggage grips.  They are as good as the luggage tags but much more functional.  Again, thanks to cousin Kim because embroidery, even in hot pink, really doesn't show up well on zebra, or any other kind of, print.  It's just too busy.  Kim suggested doing applique with a black or white background and the embroidery on the applique piece.  Sheer genius!  It matches and is readable.

Luggage grips are going to definitely become a part of our growing list of items that we sell.  In fact, the luggage grips can be done completely in-the-hoop, except for the Velcro.  Easy as pie.  Since I purchased 4 bolts of Velcro awhile back, then wondered "what in the world am I going to do with all of this?" I now have a use for the Velcro.  Woohoo!  Kim suggested that I do some with the word "MINE" on the grip.  I like it.  Yep, we can make the luggage grips for $7 each.  Email if you want to purchase one or more.

This past weekend I was working on can wraps for a postal friend.  Ooooh, there is an issue going on in Wisconsin.  Apparently the Wisconsin government has passed a law that government workers cannot have unions or something to that effect -- do not quote me on this.  Nevertheless, my friend asked me to make can wraps that say "Proud to be a Union Thug."  At first, I was a bit concerned about doing embroidery to celebrate thugness.  After I looked into it, it appears that Sarah Palin must have used the word "thug" in a speech and it caught on.  I noticed on the internet that there are places selling promotional type items with the "Proud to be a Union Thug" screen printed.  Anyway, the can wraps turned out adorable in red, white and blue.  Another design was created using one of our stock designs of a mailbox and the "Union Thug" embroidered across the pole.

C'est tout, mes amis:>)

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.

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.

Gifts, Presents and Some Really Good Service With A Smile

My 2 granddaughters celebrate their birthdays this week; one turns 20 and one 14.  Congratulations to Keena and Tanea and I hope you have a very happy birthday.

Have you ever found yourself in a situation where you need to give a present but haven't got a clue what to give?  Especially those people who are not close friends but friends nevertheless.  My sister had a talent for picking out the perfect gift for anyone.  When I was much younger, I would go to Nancy and ask what I should get for so and so.  She always knew the perfect gift for any situation.  If you are not blessed with a talent like Nancy had, then Cajun Stitchery is the place to go.  You are welcome to browse through our catalog at www.companycasuals.com/cajunstitchery or simply call or send an email to me.  We usually can find a perfect item.  It's a proven, scientific fact that people like to hear and see their names.  Which means that personalized items are perfect gifts for everyone.   In fact, Cajun Stitchery can create beautiful gift baskets, in addition to the specialized, custom orders.

Over the past few months we have provided a unique service to a friend who has been out-of-state working for the Small Business Administration via FEMA.  She needed to send a baby shower gift, 2 wedding gifts, and get her twins new duffle bags for school.  All while she is working out-of-state.  Here is what we did:  She would tell me what she needed by messaging me in Facebook or in an email. 

The first gift was a wedding gift for the Rollins'.  She knew that she wanted to give them cloth napkins.  She emailed me the link for their registry at Target.  Their dinnerware colors are burgundy and black.  We thought about burgundy napkins but decided that there are too many shades and if we don't match it up properly, it could clash.  In addition, colors on a computer monitor are not necessarily true colors.  We opted for black napkins with burgundy embroidery.  The next item was the design.  From looking at their choice of dinnerware and items chosen in their registry, I put together 3 designs that I thought matched their look.  I posted the 3 designs to Facebook and had the customer choose the design.  Once the design was chosen, we embroidered the napkins.  Photographs of the napkins were taken and the item was placed in our Etsy shop under a "RESERVED" label.  She paid via PayPal on Etsy and was able to see the gift.   The next phase was to get a card.  We keep several all occasion type cards available and had a few congratulatory wedding cards.  I messaged her with the description of the cards and she chose one.  Then she told me what to write in the card.  We then gift wrapped the present, included the card, and shipped to the Rollins'.

The second gift was for a baby shower.  She had the design and colors from a picture the mother-to-be had posted on Facebook but didn't know what she wanted to put the design on.  I suggested that she take advantage of that week's sale of a bag that had many compartments and sounded like it would be great for a diaper bag.  It even had a velcro closing drink holder which would work beautifully for a baby bottle.  She agreed and chose the color purple.  The photograph that she chose was not very clear but we could tell that there was some scroll work with a crown in the center.  Underneath it had the word "Princess" and underneath that, the baby's name "EmmaClaire".  I digitized the artwork and matched the fonts for "Princess" and "EmmaClaire" the best that I could and furnished her 3 designs from which to choose.  Actually, the first 3 designs neither of us really liked and finally I digitized the design that was chosen.  The embroidery was done.  She chose a card from our stock of cards; told me what to write and where to send it.  The item was placed under "Reserve" in our Etsy shop.  She purchased the item and we shipped it to EmmaClaire's mama.

The third item was another wedding shower.  She wanted napkins but wanted me to have fun designing something around the newlyweds' name -- Hooker.  That was so much fun.  I finally submitted 3 designs; she chose one and it was embroidered onto burgundy napkins.  Same routine, she chose the card, told me what to write on it.  We gift wrapped the present.  She purchased off of Etsy.  We shipped.

Finally, she wanted a couple of duffle bags for her twins who are in high school band.  One plays the baritone and the other the flute, Matt and Moe.  The same routine was followed except that Matt and Moe live nearby in Milton.  The bags were placed on Etsy and she purchased them.  Matt and Moe are supposed to come by the house this week to pick them up.

She has been gone for a few months and must be getting homesick by now.  I sure hopes that she can return soon.  In the meantime, she knows that if she needs any gifts, to shop at Cajun Stitchery where she gets unsurpassed personal attention to every detail.

No more driving all over town trying to figure out what to get that friend or family member.  No more walking up and down aisle after aisle trying to figure out what to get.  You don't want to spend a fortune on a personalized gift?  Just tell me how much you are want to spend and we'll work out a gift within your budget.

C'est tout, mes amis,