Cajun Corner – Vol. 6, No. 6 – February 16, 2014

 

 

Cajun Corner – Vol. 6, No. 6 – February 16, 2014

 

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

 

ΘΘΘΘΘ

Don’t forget to visit us at www.cajunstitchery.com, www.flickr.com/photos/cajunstitchery, 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.

Oh my goodness, did I forget to write last week?  I guess so much has been going on that I missed a week.

The krewe has been busy working on the float and sewing costumes.  In the meantime, we prepared for our krewe cocktail party which was last night.

The cocktail party was a great success.  Our krewe stopped having a Mardi Gras Ball a few years back and decided, instead, to have a cocktail party for close krewe friends.  The cocktail party has turned out to be much more fun and lends to more conversation.  The cocktail party was a masquerade party and not only did the krewe wear masks but most of the guests as well.  Several people sported Cajun Stitchery’s masks.  I sure hope they found the masks comfortable.  I wore mine all evening without even noticing the mask was on my face.

This year we began a new event:  The Mystic Krewe of Nereids Inspirational Woman of the Year Award.   This year’s recipient was Lois Jernigan.  Lois has been a source of inspiration to everyone in the krewe and everyone who knows her.  She has come through much tragedy in the past couple of years, including surviving a terrible stage 4 cancer.  I will never be able to remember the name of the cancer but she not only survived but did it with the best attitude of anyone we have ever known.  She laughed and joked every step of the way.  There were many times when we would all think or say that this is the end, but Lois would come through with that beautiful smile on her face.  In the middle of her treatment she lost her significant other and love of her life to a heart attack.  She has lost her hair, lost a tremendous amount of weight, lost her lover, and lost her home.  Yet, she kept that smile on her face and love in her heart and lived.  Lois was at our krewe den today thanking all of us for the award.  She looked good today.  She brought sunshine to our lives as she joked with each of us.  Congratulations Lois.  I cannot think of anyone more deserving of this award.  More than that, I thank you for showing us how to face adversity with a winning attitude.

This past week we have worked on logos on tee shirts, heirloom embroidery, masks, and an assortment of project.  A lady contacted me on Etsy and ordered 24 of our scalloped handkerchiefs with monograms for her wedding in early February.  We are in the process of making some really cute sparkly pouches for Studio 98.  More masks are coming up in the next couple of weeks, too.

Oh and Valentine’s Day was last Friday.  That was a pretty terrific day for me.  As it turned out, I was up and down all Thursday night with a sick dog.  I ended up sleeping on the sofa to be near the door to let him in and out.  When I awoke Friday morning, George gave me a beautiful open heart diamond necklace.  Yes, that’s the necklace designed by Jane Seymour (the actress, not the dead queen).  Yesterday he gave me flowers.  Oh he is a good husband.

HAVE A GREAT WEEK

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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There are many different ways to make masks, but papier mache is one of the best. It requires nothing but white glue, cardboard, tape, and newspaper to make the basic mask. It is also very easy to rework and modify. Its biggest flaw is that it takes a long time to dry. Be sure to make your mask several days before you intend to use it. That way, you will have time to let it dry. Once it is dry, you can paint it and wear it on your big day!

Read more: http://www.ehow.com/how_4480482_make-masks.html#ixzz2tYBZbJo0

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.

Cajun Corner - Vol. 4, No. 4

Cajun Corner – Vol. 4, No. 4 – February 4, 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.

This week has been filled with the Krewe of Bananimals. They seem to be a really fun krewe on the beach and have decided that Cajun Stitchery will do their jacket back embroidery.  The design that they chose is so much fun and very colorful.  So far this week we’ve stitched out two of the jacket backs.  We are starting to get calls from the krewe for directions to the studio and lots and lots of questions.  The most unusual question was if we could stitch the design on white fabric so the jacket owner can stitch the fabric onto the jacket.  She was somewhat concerned that a white jacket would get ruined easily and she just hates to pay for the embroidery only to throw it away after a season.  Her solution is to have me embroider the design on white fabric that she will attach to the jacket and then remove when she is finished with the jacket and put it on a new one.  She didn’t request a patch, which would involve additional digitizing and embroidery stitch count.  George actually came up with the best solution:  when you are finished with the jacket, just cut the design out of the back and sew it onto the new jacket.  Nevertheless, I explained to the lady that she would need to get some white fabric about the same weight and color as her jacket.  It is easy to say you are going to get white fabric but truthfully there are so many shades of white.  Getting the wrong shade of white is not very attractive.   The whole concept of attaching the white fabric eludes me.  But she knew what she wanted to do.  If she has a creative vision, I certainly will not stand in her way.

The idea of being able to embroider for new customers is very exciting to me.  I get to meet new friends and provide a service that comes from my heart.

From now until Mardi Gras I will be spending most of my weekends at Krewe Den with the Costume Committee.  This year will mostly entail alterations of our costumes.  There is also a special project that needs embroidering.  You just cannot beat hanging out and working with special friends, on a beautiful beach, doing what you love to do.  If this is a dream, please don’t wake me.

Last night was our Krewe Kocktail Party at Krewe Den.  Last year was the first year we had the cocktail party rather than our usual ball.  George and I could not attend because we had the flu.  All year I’ve heard about the wonderful time everyone had.  This year we definitely were going to attend and, indeed, we did.  It was fabulous.  It was everything the girls said.  Although we did have music, it wasn’t the loud, blaring music that you would have at a ball.  We were able to actually have conversations and enjoy getting to know people in a comfortable setting.  One of the highlights for me is getting to know our Love Slaves and Mermaidens better.  These people do a lot of work for us and they deserve to play with us, as well.   The food, of course, was delicious and just kept coming.  George and I brought our bottle of wine, but about my second glass, I noticed a punch bowl.  I really think that “punch” is definitely the correct word to describe that drink.  When I finally spilled my drink all over the floor and gathered napkins to clean it up, it was time to bid our farewells and go home.  We had enough fun for one evening. 

There hasn’t been a lot of time this week for playing on Pinterest, although I do try to look at the pictures when I can. 

Our Etsy Store needs some work.  In fact, December and January were the best two months that we have had at the Etsy Store.  I really need to get to work on it and put some new blingy stuff in the store.  I also want to work on more fashion scarves, Made in the USA, of course.

One of the joys of gardening is being able to share.  A neighbor dropped by the other day and left with a pot of thyme and some hyssop plants.

Have a wonderful week and don’t forget to SMILE:>)

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. 

Craft Project:

Take cheap, mismatched plates and glasses, glue together and spray paint.  Voila!  Unique cake stands.  (Found this on Pinterest.)

Another Pinterest find:

How to fix broken powder makeup http://www.katrinalomidze.com/2009/06/fix-your-broken-powder-makeup.html

Here are the steps!

• Add a few small drops of rubbing alcohol into your broken powder makeup compact or casing.

• After you add the alcohol to the broken powder you will notice it seep into the powder causing it to become soft.

• Smudge the soft soaking powder around, making it into a paste-like substance and re-form it by smoothing it out with your finger. You will know exactly what to do!

• You can then smooth the surface out with the bottom of a spoon if you choose to, but remember that it does not have to be perfect to work perfectly.

• Let it dry overnight for best results.

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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.

Planning The Week

I don't think I touched the embroidery machine this weekend.  Can you believe that?  Our neighbor is moving and I want to spend as much time with her as I can before she leaves and travels up north to Pennsylvania.  We had the going away party Friday night which was a blast.  It was held outside in our gardens. 

Saturday I did some computer work and piddled around the house recouperating from the night before.  We had enough leftover food to feed an army.  In fact, we did get Gulf shrimp from Joe Patti's for the Friday night extravaganza and contrary to rumors, the prices had not gone up.  After dinner George and I decided to have a glass of wine on the deck.  We brought the cd player outside and ended up dancing around the deck.  It was a beautiful evening and we enjoyed ourselves.  Our neighbor had gone kayaking and was in a walk of some sort for some worthy cause and we could hear her and her friends enjoying themselves outside, as well.  It really was a beautiful evening.  George and I ended up watching movies.  I ended up going to bed around 5 or 6 a.m. 

On Sunday, I peeled the leftover shrimp and made a shrimp dip.  We sat outside with our neighbor and ate peeled shrimp and cocktail sauce, chips and shrimp dip, and leftover stuffed grape leaves.  Oh, and of course, the wine.  Despite the citronella torches, the mosquitoes were still out in droves, so we ended up inside and played a game of Scrabble.  By 8:00 p.m. we were all exhausted and bid each other a good night.  I was in bed by 10:00 and slept soundly.

So, here we are.  Monday morning and back to work.  We are starting out the day working on a couple of designs.  First, we have an order for the Poinsettia/Ballew napkins that we need to fill.  Then, we are going to stitch out the barber design that we created last week.  The customer is still trying to find a burgandy smock to place the design.

We have to create another design this week for a nail technician.  She does manicures, pedicures and gives a wonderful foot bath. 

Then I need to pay more attention to Etsy and get more stuff on there.  I'm trying to take some of the sample stitch-outs that we do and turned them into projects.  I took two of the large Junkanoo stitch-outs and created a really cute tote.  Some of the smaller stitch-outs have been turned into can sleeves.  I just hate throwing those stitch-outs away. 

C'est toute, mes amis