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,

Cajun Corner – Vol. 2, No. 29 – July 31, 2010

Cajun Corner – Vol. 2, No. 29 – July 31, 2010


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

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Don’t forget to visit our blog at www.cajunstitchery.blogspot.com and www.cajunstitchery.etsy.com often.

The next shipment of caps and visors is scheduled to arrive on Monday and Tuesday. George will be back at embroidering caps and visors for the upcoming Mystic Krewe of Nereids Splash Party on August 21st at Paradise Bar & Grill, beginning at 3 p.m. Hope Boudreaux likes these visors.

I worked with a young lady in Illinois this week creating handkerchiefs for her upcoming wedding. There was a lot of writing that she wanted embroidered on the handkerchiefs. Everything worked out well. There was a lot of adjusting to get the lettering and handkerchiefs to fit in the hoop. All is well that ends up well, and it did. Her lagniappe was a little hand towel that I embroidered with her name on it.

Now I’m working on the duffle bags. The customer ordered two of the duffle bags that were on sale a week or two ago. Both bags are black and they are for her two sons who are both in band in high school. Normally the embroidery would go on the zippered pocket but we decided that there is more room on the opposite side of the bags and the designs that we want are a bit bigger than will fit on the zippered pocket. I plan on working some more on the designs today but hopefully will have the bags completed by Monday.

With all of this wonderful work that we are getting, I haven’t had time to put anything new on Etsy. As George always tells me, do the paying stuff first. And so we are.

Today is the last day of July and the Christmas in July sale. Tomorrow I will change the prices on the sale items on Etsy back to the normal prices. If anyone is interested in these items, you better purchase them today.

George just reminded me that next weekend is our Mystic Lagoon spend-the-night party. That means I have several birthday presents to prepare. In fact, August is a big gift month. We just sent off birthday cards, plus a little something, for our two granddaughters. Their birthdays are a week apart in August. Nancy and I were that way, too. I was November 1st and Nancy was November 7th.

Don’t forget to visit our catalog website at www.companycasuals.com/cajunstitchery. It is very new and I’m sure there are glitches to it, but try it out and browse around and see if you like it. Let me know what does not work, what you like, what you do not like, and I’ll try to tweak the site. You are welcome to order from the catalog site. In fact, please do.

We are still getting bell peppers, green beans and I noticed some ornamental peppers are starting to form. Sassy has several small green fruit that will turn into luscious satsumas in a few months. We have a sunflower that bloomed this morning. The hibiscuses are beautiful this year. It is much too hot to do a lot outside at this time of the year. We do what we have to outside before 10 a.m. or after 3 p.m. There are some things that can be planted in August and we intend to do just that. We need to add a lot of dirt and compost to the tiers in the garden, as they have sunk down. The rest of the plants will need to be fertilized soon. The parsley is turning brown and we need to re-work that bed.

The article on ammonia that was included a few issues ago mentioned that ammonia mixed with water is one of the best fertilizers. You know I have to try that out.

Because it is so hot, George puts the sprinklers out each day. Thank goodness for well water or this would cost a fortune. I love to watch the sprinklers going because the birds all gather to take a bath and just cool off. We have a lot of cardinals this year and right now the females all seem to be gravid. The other day one little mama landed on a branch of our tomato vine and was so heavy, she broke the branch. She looked like she was about to pop. Today lots of little birds have gathered to play in the water. I love watching them but that pales to how much my cats love to watch them. Earlier today we heard a bang on a window and went to see what happened. I don’t know if the cat ran into the window trying to get the cardinal or if the cardinal slammed into the window.

We have also had a lot of lizards/geckos this year. The cats love to watch them through the windows. My cats have no front claws and are strictly house cats. Lately we’ve had a lizard that gets right up to the kitchen window and seems to taunt the cats. Oh, he is lucky the cats can’t get outside. They get in their pounce position, swish their rear ends, and there’s a lot of gurgling and deep sounds coming from those cats.

Yesterday Cajun Stitchery was closed. I attended a photo shoot for the Krewe of Nereids’ Splash party. Our Queen was in her beautiful Ariel costume, standing on a ladder in 7 feet of water. The rest of us were attired, shall we say, in various fashions, and seated around the pool, behind our Queen. Don’t miss this photo. It will be in the next issue of the Island Times. I’m the one in the yellow rain hat.

After the photo shoot we retired to the bar, where we entertained the morning customers with song and conversation. We toasted many people and had a thoroughly enjoyable time. George had to come get me and take me home. We retrieved my car this morning. Apparently several of the girls continued to party throughout the day. I know that I had some unusual voice mails on my cell phone this morning.

Christmas is coming and customers are starting to do their Christmas shopping at Cajun Stitchery. Get this out of the way as soon as you can.

All of our projects can be seen on our blog at www.cajunstitchery.blogspot.com. We post periodically throughout the week. Become a “friend” on the blog and never miss a post.

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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Boudreaux spotted Thibodeaux walking down the levee the other day, carrying a sack over his shoulder. Well, of course, curiosity got the best of Boudreaux, and he asked Thibodeaux, "Hey, Mon Homme, what you got in dat sack ?"

Thibodeaux said, "Mais, I got me some chickens in dat sack."

Boudreaux asked, "If I can guess how many chickens you got in dat sack, can I have one of dem?"

Thibodeaux replied, "Mais, my fren, if you can guess how many I got, you can have both of dem!"

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French phrase of the week: Tu vas pas te marier avec lui! C'est de la crasse pure! (You're not going to marry him! He's pure trash!)

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From: http://mind-mart.com/herbs-for-health-articles/herbal-poultices-and-compresses

Onion all by itself is excellent to use as a poultice for soreness, swelling and bruises. In the case of an ear ache, cut an onion in half and make hash marks across the top to release the juice. Put it in the oven for a few minutes to heat up. Place the onion on the affected ear for as long as possible or until the pain subsides.

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 catalogs and pass some time with me, cher.

SALE OF THE WEEK (Good through Thursday, August 5, 2010)

Sale: Ladies Scoop Neck Tee with name or initials = $15.00 plus tax/shipping

Anvil - #641

Ladies Scoop Neck Tee

Colors: azalea, black, Caribbean blue, chocolate, charity pink, frost pink, heather grey, hot pink, key lime, mountain rose, navy, violet, white, yellow haze

5.4 oz. 100% cotton, (heather grey is 90% cotton/10% polyester) pre-shrunk, bound-on self trim around neck, double-needle sleeve & bottom hem.

Cajun Corner - Vol. 2, No. 28

Cajun Corner – Vol. 2, No. 28 – July 23, 2010


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.

This week George has been embroidering caps, visors, and more caps for the upcoming Mystic Krewe of Nereids Splash Party on August 21st at Paradise Bar & Grill, beginning at 3 p.m. We have found one type of visor that our machine simply does not want to embroider on and will, therefore, have to replace those visors. When we first started learning about cap embroidery, one of the articles that we read said that different machines had different quirks and to find the caps that your machine handles well and avoid the ones that your machine just doesn’t want to embroider. The only way you know is to try. These visors are anti-Boudreaux.

Aside from caps, caps and more caps, we did an Etsy blitz this week. One day we listed several items, one right after another. Then two days later we listed a couple more items. We got visitors. We got hearts. This morning I found that 3 of our items were used in 3 different treasuries on Etsy. Those are all good things. Two of the treasuries listed red lips smiley hankies in the pin stripe which was very encouraging to me. I’ve been noticing that I’m seeing more pin striped, ticking type designs lately. Maybe that is coming into vogue.

A surprise with the red lips design is that the zipper lips don’t get as many visitors as the smiles. And I think that’s exactly the reason. The zipper lips are not smiling. Just goes to prove that smiles attract people and frowns repel people.

Last night I changed the prices on several of our Etsy items. It’s our Christmas in July sale. Maybe this is the wrong way to go about doing it but I didn’t specify which items are for sale. Once you click on the item, it says it’s on sale but you have to click on the item first. I was thinking about having some sort of contest but I haven’t quite figured that one out yet.

After our last Cajun Corner, I received an order for 2 of the duffle bags. The customer said she was giving them to her children for back to school. Oh my! Is it that time already? Yes, it is. Start thinking about everything you need to purchase for your children for school. Do your children lose things? Mine sure did. Have their names embroidered on the items. You know that Cajun Stitchery can do patches. Get several patches with your child’s name embroidered and glue the patches onto their items.

Mama used to make us book covers for all of our books. They were not only handy because we could stick papers and pens in the slot the book cover created but there was no mistaking whose book that was. If Mama had had an embroidery machine, I’m sure our names would have been on each of those book covers. The problem with this is that each book is a different size, so there is no OSFA (one size fits all) and therefore, each book cover would have to be customized. But a name patch would work just fine.

We are getting geared up for the Arts & Wine Festival this year. The Cajun Stitchery staff has had meetings lately on what we plan to bring to the Festival. Ooooh, I’m excited.

The camellia napkins were a great hit. My friend is bringing them to her friends tomorrow. We did order the fingertip towels but haven’t received them yet.

I contacted a new wholesaler this week. During my telephone conversation with the nice lady at the company, she mentioned that she didn’t understand why customers didn’t use their free website option more. What they do is Cajun Stitchery gets a free website with the company’s catalog. This allows the customer to browse the catalog and see what is in stock and the prices. The customer can actually purchase items right there. It’s connected to PayPal. Our website is www.companycasuals.com/cajunstitchery. It is very new and I’m sure there are glitches to it, but try it out and browse around and see if you like it. Let me know what does not work, what you like, what you do not like, and I’ll try to tweak the site.

Christmas is coming and customers are starting to do their Christmas shopping at Cajun Stitchery. Get this out of the way as soon as you can.

We are still getting the bell peppers and green beans from the garden. Yummy. It’s time to start planning the fall garden.

This week was not all fun and games. One of the original krewe members passed away. I had only met her once or twice but liked her immediately. She had battled brain cancer for ten years and it finally won. It is sad that she is gone but good that she no longer has to endure a painful battle.

On another sad note, one of my most precious friends has found that she has breast cancer. The good thing is that it was detected very early and although she requires treatment, she should come through without any problems.

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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From Marshall Larrivere:

One day, Boudreaux was walking down Main Street when he saw his buddy Thibodeaux driving a brand new pickup.

Boudreaux pulled up to him with a wide grin.

"Thibodeaux", where'd you git that truck?'

'Tammie give it to me.' Thibodeaux replied.

'She give it to ya?

I know'd she wuz kinda sweet on ya, but a new truck?'

'Well, Boudreaux, let me tell you what happened.

We wuz drivin' out on County Road 6, in the middle of nowheres.

Tammie pulled off the road, put the truck in 4-wheel drive, and headed into the woods.

She parked the truck, got out, threw off all her clothes and said,

"Thibodeaux", take whatever you want.'

So I took the truck!'

"Thibodeaux", you a smart man! Them clothes woulda never fit you!'

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French phrase of the week: Je crois qu'ils vont se fiancer pour Noël. (I think they're going to get engaged at Christmas.)

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From: http://www.all4naturalhealth.com/herbs-for-cancer.html

Often underestimated because it is common, garlic is the number one anti-bacterial, anti-viral, anti-fungal, and anti-parasitical herb. If something in the body needs killing, garlic is the herb for the job. Garlic is so powerful that people have killed their cancer from eating garlic alone.

If you have cancer, you need to be eating a minimum of 3-5 cloves of raw garlic per day. Eight cloves per day is a minimum if you are deathly ill.

Garlic is an herb that you cannot take too much of. Dr Richard Schulze, the master herbalist and successful natural healer, strongly advocates the liberal use of garlic to aid and strengthen the body. He has even gone as far as to say that if he is to use only one program or food for healing, it would be garlic. That’s how powerful garlic can be as an herbal remedy for cancer.

Garlic is truly one of the most powerful herbs for cancer fighting, as well as battling other diseases. When you are seriously ill, then the more garlic you are eating, the better. If you have cancer, you are best off eating 8, 12, 16, 20, or even more cloves per day. Having reeking garlic breath is a small price to pay for beating cancer.

It is critical you use high quality organic garlic which is potent and raw. Organically grown garlic usually has stronger health properties.

Quality garlic is hard, and its cloves are white. A good quality bulb of garlic will have around 12, large cloves, with each clove being around an inch long and as thick as an adult’s thumb. Garlic which has many small cloves (as many as 30 to 50) as well as being yellowish in color is usually of inferior quality.

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 catalogs and pass some time with me, cher.

SALE OF THE WEEK (Good through Thursday, July 29, 2010)

Sale: Multi Color Tie Dye Adult Tee + name or initials = $21.00 + tax/shipping

Hanes - #T1001

Multi Color Tie Dye Adult Tee

Colors: blue jerry, blue ocean, eclipse, eternity, evening sky, flag, fluorescent swirl, galaxy, moondance, neon rainbow, rasta blue, reactive rainbow, Saturn, spiral blue/lavender, spiral pink/lt pink, spiral royal/red, spiral purple/lt purple, spiral yellow/blue, spiral yellow/orange, wild spider, Woodstock,

5.2 oz. 100% ComfortSoft� cotton. Double-needle coverseamed neck. Taped shoulder-to-shoulder. Double-needle sleeve & bottom hem.