Cajun Corner - Vol. 5, No. 11

 

Cajun Corner – Vol. 5, No. 11 – March 25, 2013

 

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.

Late again.  My only excuse is that it was a busy weekend.

A dear friend from Huntsville visited the beach for her birthday and the girls threw her a birthday party Friday night.  We had so much fun and literally laughed until we cried.  I got home around midnight. 

Saturday I visited a friend in Navarre at her hair salon.  That was a long drive in the rain but well worth it.  She and her staff at Studio 98 Hair Design are so much fun.  I always have a ball when I go out there.

I did get some work done on Saturday but not a whole lot.  Saturday night another friend of mine and I began messaging on Facebook.  She is such a close friend that we consider her part of the family but we never get to see each other until we meet a funerals.  We have a funeral to attend on Tuesday, thus began our conversation.  It seemed like we messaged for hours and it was delightful.

Sunday I worked on orders that needed to get out Monday.

A friend on Facebook messaged me that she is getting married on March 30^th and needed some embroidery done.  We met and the embroidery was done and delivered.  She contacted me this past Thursday saying she needs another handkerchief but asked if I’d mail it to her because she can’t get over here.  We mailed it to her this morning.  In fact, it was an easy order because she paid via PayPal.  That girl has done her wedding completely DIY.  The shirt sleeve with the groomsmen’s names embroidered on the cuff for her to make wine bags is such an adorable idea. 

The big project of the weekend was bowling shirts.  Why didn’t George do these on Boudreaux?  There is an explanation.  The design was about 11” by 11” and Boudreaux does not have hoops that big.  Plus there was gold metallic thread involved and, at least at this time, George doesn’t use metallic thread.

George informed me today that he is going to move Clothilde to the house next door in the next couple of days.  When he does move her, I have to give him one whole day of not embroidering with her.  I’m so excited to have her next door and really start getting the business set up there.  This plan is starting to take shape.

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. 

No time to read Cajun Corner?  Visit our blog at www.cajunstitchery.blogspot.com and click the Odiogo button to hear the computer read the blog.

The following Spring Facts were found at http://www.parkrideflyusa.com/blog/2012/03/21/16-fun-facts-about-spring:

1. We’ve all heard the term ‘vernal equinox’. Vernal means ‘spring’ and equinox means ‘equal night’. Both words are from Latin.
2. Despite the term, the day when there are 12 equal hours of daylight and darkness usually happens before the first day of spring.
3. The first day of spring in the southern hemisphere is the date of the autumnal equinox in the northern hemisphere, usually in September.
4. Benjamin Franklin was the first American to propose Daylight Saving Time in 1784. However, it wasn’t fully implemented in the US until after the Second World War.
5. The practice of starting Daylight Saving Time on the second Sunday in March in the US started in 2005.
6. Daylight Saving Time starts and ends at different times around the world.
7. In Europe, Daylight Saving Time is known as Summer Time.
8. The reason that there’s more daylight during spring is that the earth’s axis tilts towards the sun at this time of year.
9. Some of the plants that have strong associations with spring include dandelions, daffodils, lilies, primroses, hyacinths, tulips, azaleas, iris and lilacs.
10. Dandelions originated in Asia.
11. Several singers have sung about spring including Van Morrison (Celtic Spring), Billie Holiday (Some Other Spring) and Frank Sinatra (Suddenly it’s Spring).
12. Animals and insects associated with spring include the rabbit, frog, deer, fox, bear, bee, butterfly, ladybug and hummingbird.
13. Spring fever is not just a myth – the body may experience physiological changes due to changes in diet, hormone production and temperature.
14. Melting snow and additional rain may cause more flooding in spring.
15. Children grow faster in spring.
16. Spring is when birds return home after migrating in winter. About 1800 bird species migrate.

 

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.

Cajun Corner - Vol. 4, No. 11

Cajun Corner – Vol. 4, No. 11 – March 23, 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.

As I sit here typing, there is a small hawk perched on our fence.  George and I were just outside and noticed him sitting in the garden.  At first we thought he was injured.  His head was moving.  He walked and fluttered his wings.  He was just sitting there.  It could be a youngster that mom pushed out of the nest.  Oh, well, it will be interesting to see what he or she does.  We aren’t going to catch him.  He seems stressed already and trying to catch him would only cause more stress.

The hawk sure picked the perfect place because the garden is doing great.  It is spring and all of the seeds are germinating.  Peppers and tomatoes look identical when they first emerge from their seeds.  Once they get their second set of leaves you can tell the difference.  The onion bottoms from the onions that I chopped for dinner earlier are growing.  In fact, this week I cut off the bottom of some celery we had in the refrigerator and planted that.  The beans that took over the garden last year are now sprouting.   We have plans of using wire or PVC pipe and creating an archway with the bean vines this year.  That would be so unique.  No sign of potatoes yet.  Half a bag of whole potatoes were planted in our back compost.  They are planted pretty deep but hopefully they will grow.  We even noticed some pepper seedlings growing in our foot path.  They must have been dropped last season.  This time we planted a lot of bell pepper seeds.  The cayenne peppers were wonderful last season but we love bell peppers, too.  Even a broccoli root stump that was accidentally left in the garden has begun to sprout.  Oh yes, and the asparagus is growing and a few sprigs are ready to cut.  The mint, rosemary, parsley and thyme are abundant.  Some little purple leaves are beginning to push up from the ground which tells me our purple basil is back.  The stevia is getting leaves, too.  Of course, we have onions, garlic, carrots, lettuce, broccoli, and sweet peas growing vigorously.

Flowers are a favorite of mine.  The orange daisies are blooming and the rose bush has several buds.  The wisteria is beautiful and fragrant.  The lilies and gladiolas are sprouting and those wild purple irises are plentiful.  The African Irises bloomed this week and those flowers are simply stunning.  The red camellias are pretty much spent but our pink camellia bush is covered in beautiful double flowers.  Those little white flowers on the ground that I love so much are turning into blackberries.  Yummy.  Last fall I planted some seeds for small blue flowers.  The flowers are blooming but I don’t remember what they are called.  Snapdragons are very familiar and right now we have red, yellow and pink snapdragons blooming.  The muscadine grape is growing but our usual green seedless is not doing much of anything.  We pruned it way back last year.  Sure hope we didn’t kill it.

So much is going on in our yard that it is hard to come inside.  Sure would be nice if we had Easter Lilies bloom on Easter, but they usually don’t bloom that early.  When they do bloom, they are gorgeous.

The bamboo that we planted a few years ago has grown and achieved our goal of creating a natural fence.  Now it is creating a natural fence in the back of the house next door.  The sprouts have found their way into our yard and even in the garden but they are cut off right below ground level.  This usually lasts for a week or two and then no more sprouts until the following year.  Finding the sprouts has become a fun and unusual activity lately.  If there is any interest in cane fishing poles, I believe we can help you.

Our regular coffee pot bit the dust today.  We go through one or two each year.  Yes, you heard me right.  George and I are big coffee drinkers and there is coffee perking at our house 24/7.   It doesn’t even disturb us when the coffee maker dies.  We just go to the store and get another.  What I do not like is the waste.  Someday I’ll have to figure out how to recycle my coffee makers.  I’d brew the coffee on the stove but then the stove would have to be on 24/7.  After Hurricane Ivan hit in 2004, we were without electricity for weeks.  The one thing we did have was coffee perking on the grill.  No.  We did not grill food.  Remember, I don’t cook.  We used the grill for coffee making, only.  The first thing we did when we got our chiminea was to figure how to perk coffee on it.  I suppose we could have worse habits.

So, what exciting has happened this week?  I’m not a real fro fro kind of person.  I do like fur, feathers, anything soft, and anything shiny.  When it comes to my hair, well, I end up letting it grow to the point of aggravation and then go to the nearest stylist and have them cut it short.  No styling involved.  In fact, when asked how I want my hair cut, I usually respond that I want it short so that I can get up and go in the morning without any fuss.  Wednesday was one of those days when my hair aggravated me.  I called my neighbor who owns the local beauty salon and he said to come on in.  It was a slow day.  When I got there (2 blocks away from my house) we sat outside for awhile and I said, “Let’s have fun with my hair today.”  This is really unusual for me.  I was tired of the gray and wanted my hair dyed.  He took out his color charts and I was immediately drawn to the reds and auburns.  After some discussion and viewing color options, I chose a dark kind of red.  It almost looks black.  It is actually a very dark cherry with bright red cherry streaks at the part.  Then I perused some magazines and showed him several hairstyles that I liked.  He put it all together and for about an hour after I got home George just stared at me.  This is about as far away from gray as you can get, short of shaving initials in my head.  It really does look adorable and I’m very happy with it.  I think it conveys my personality.  It is bright, colorful, and full of spunk.

Have you noticed that there is no talk of embroidery?  It seems that everything that I have embroidered this week is a secret of some sort.  I can tell you there were towels, market baskets, and monograms.  There are no pictures to show because I cannot divulge the secrets.  Not only that, but next week is going to be filled with secret embroidery, too.

I can, however, tell you that Clothilde is well worth the money spent on her.  This week I wanted to use Boudreaux for some embroidery because he needs a workout.  He didn’t work.  He must be jealous of Clothilde getting all of my attention.  He blew a fuse.  We have to get a fuse from Radio Shack and make sure he’s in working order again.  Boudreaux has a lot of hoops in a wide variety of sizes.  Clothilde has three sizes.  That is not all that will fit on Clothilde.  That is just all that came with her.  This week I ordered a new hoop for Clothilde that should be in any day now.  The hoop is 16.92” wide by 19.52” deep.  That means there is a 15”x18” area to embroider.  That is one big hoop and bigger than Boudreaux’s jacket back hoop.  There is an even larger hoop for Clothilde but it is only a couple of inches larger and costs about five time as much as the one that I ordered.   Hoops are not cheap.   I also ordered an extra large table for Clothilde.  The table is specifically for flat goods, like fabric or towels.  The table fits on the arm of the embroidery machine and not only holds the weight off of the arm, but helps manage large, flat items easier.  Boudreaux has a table that sure came in handy when I was embroidering all of those tuxedo jackets earlier this year.  The tables fit on the machine, not under or beside the machine.

Next I would love to get some small frames for Clothilde.  Boudreaux has a set of fast frames which come in very handy when embroidering on pockets or cap backs.  Fast frames use adhesive paper, instead of stabilizer.  I’m thinking about getting Clothilde a slim line set.  Slim line uses a clamp method, rather than sticky backing.  A year or so ago I wanted to get a slim line for Boudreaux that was large enough to embroider rugs.  The company refused to sell it to me because it would not fit Boudreaux, because Boudreaux is a compact.  Clothilde, however, is a full size embroidery machine and someday I would like to get her the slim line for rugs, welcome mats, bathroom rugs, car mats, yacht mats, etc.  There are so many hoops and attachments available.  Then there is the sequin attachment.  Cajun Stitchery will have to make a whole lot of money to be in a position to purchase the sequin attachment.  It is tempting, though.

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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DO YOU REMEMBER:  not letting the balloon touch the floor?  That was a real game.

Did You Know? Parmesan Lids Fit On Canning Jars!

Use a curling iron to seal cellophane bags.

Vinegar kills weeds.  Don’t use chemicals.  Just spray vinegar on your weeds.

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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.

Cajun Corner - Vol. 3, No. 24

Cajun Corner – Vol. 3, No. 24 – JUNE 17, 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. We are also on Twitter and Facebook.

The Fiesta Ball is now a thing of the past and we must move onto the next event. Before we leave the Fiesta topic, let me suggest that everyone go to www.PensacolaBeachMardiGras.com and look at the photographs of the evening. I love our group picture. I am the short woman, of course.

The next event would be Father’s Day, which is this Sunday, June 19th. What does everyone do for Father’s Day? Both of my dad’s have passed away. I did put some items, recommended by George, in the Etsy shop specifically for men. Just wondering what everyone else does? We used to buy little gifts for Johnny but there really wasn’t much more.

Last Saturday I reluctantly went to my friend and hair dresser’s open house for her hair salon. She’s asked me before to bring my wares to her open house and I have declined. This time I decided to attend. I sure am glad that I did. She’s had her salon for, I guess, about a year and has done a remarkable job. The salon, All About Me, is lovely. There were other “artists” there, as well. One lady was selling her oil paintings, another sold jewelry, and another was a photographer. Out came the market baskets, purses and other items which filled the top of a counter. Then I sat. If for no other reason, it was worth it to meet these ladies. Several women began talking about makeup and before I knew it, they were applying makeup to each other. I learned some great tips on disguising wrsinkles and double chins.

A couple of the girls from the krewe showed up which put me at ease. At least I knew someone. I met the other hair dressers there and they even had live music performed by a local musician, Paul Killough. When the door prizes were announced, I won a hair color treatment. Both of my krewe friends each won a prize, as well. In fact, all three of us made appointments for yesterday. Two of us showed but one had to cancel for health reasons.

Would I do this, again? Absolutely, I would. I do need to learn how to set up and present my items better but that comes with practice, I’m sure. I did have a few sales and simply enjoyed the evening tremendously.

Wednesday night is always our girls’ night out. This Wednesday we began gathering at The Break for COLORS (Celebration Of Life Of the Republic of Sandspur). Everyone is invited to COLORS on the 15th of each month at a location that changes each time but is always on the beach. Once a month all of the old timers, characters and others gather to exchange beach stories and find out all of the local news and gossip. Even our Shelley, from the Island Times, is there.

After COLORS we went to Paradise Bar & Grill for dinner and drinks. We had a lovely time. Not only were many of our krewe members in attendance, but also many of the people from COLORS joined us. It was definitely a fun evening with good friends, good food (Rene is the best), good drink, and great entertainment.

After Paradise, several of the girls went home and several more went to Paulette’s to continue our Wednesday night festivities. We laughed until my face hurt but that is so typical of our Wednesday night girls’ night.

With my new do and my hair dresser with me, I attended the Gulf Breeze WBL (Women’s Business Luncheon) meeting today. The Gulf Breeze WBL meeting has been around since the month that Cajun Stitchery opened its doors in March, 2009. Recently attendance had dwindled. It was so good to see that attendance was up today. These wonderful women have become my friends and they really are a wonderful group. So, I was happy that Cathy, my hair dresser and friend, joined me today.

As I write this, my white flashing boa is still slung over the banister. The red, white and blue tinsel wig, flashing tiara, and red, white and blue flashing light sticks are decorating the center of my kitchen table. Guess I’ll leave it all as is for the 4th of July.

Today my baby, Hank, turned 43 years old. We called to wish him a happy birthday but got his voice mail. So, George and I sang the Happy Birthday song to him over voice mail. lol

I’m sold out of the little hot pink, mini market totes. Of course, I can get more. One of the regular size market baskets was sold at the open house. These baskets are just adorable and very functional. I have one for myself with the Cajun Stitchery logo embroidered. Since I carry so much stuff around with me, I even put my purse in the basket. These market baskets are canvas and really nice. Perhaps it’s because no one else seems to be using market baskets for advertising purposes, but people really do stop to look at them. They have stopped me.

Right now, in stock, we have black, red, purple, navy blue, hot pink, and black with white polka dots. These are all regular size market baskets and the price, without embroidery, ranges from $22 (for solid colors) to $28 (polka dot), each. A name or initials would be $5. Of course, the more embroidery you want on the basket, the more the cost.

From the same shipment, we also have a black laptop case($24), a black with white polka dot carryall($14), some blue and white striped canvas purses ($8 each), hot pink purses($8 each), hot pink mini purses($6 each), and a brown purse($8 each). I’ll embroider a monogram (name or initials) for $5.00.

The market baskets have a bunch of uses.

• One customer said they are perfect for a beach tote.

• They make great personalized gifts or gift baskets.

• With your logo embroidered, they are a wonderful advertising tool. If you are like me and always seem to carry a bag with my wares, picking up or delivering items, your logo embroidered on the basket is ideal and unique. It’s an eye catcher.

• Recent embroidery on a market tote was done by embroidering the outline of the word “Mine” and then filling the word with rhinestones. It turned out beautifully. The same technique can be used for any word.

• They also make great picnic baskets. Include a set of matching cloth napkins, a tablecloth, some personalized can wraps, and an assortment of picnic items and you have a great gift. These totes have two mesh pockets on either end on the inside of the basket, as well as plastic feet and a luggage grip. A red market basket with blue or white embroidery, filled with red, white and blue napkins, tablecloth, can wraps, and other picnic items for your 4th of July picnic would be very patriotic.

• Another really great idea is a wedding gift with the names of the bride and groom and the date of the wedding embroidered on the basket. Fill it with household items, linens, or picnic items.

• And don’t forget that this makes a great diaper bag for mom. Embroider the baby’s name on the side. Fill it with diapers, blankets, bottles, and an assortment of baby items. Pink for girls; blue for boys. In fact, today someone came to me at the WBL meeting saying that she thought I brought a baby.

• Fill it with your cleaning items and take it from room to room as you clean the house.

• Same with gardening items. Don’t forget to include a pretty little apron.

• The possibilities are endless.

We now have the red, white and blue stripe, and the blue, white and red stripe webbing, 1.25” wide. There are more rhinestone flag buckles. If you are interested in a pretty terrific Father’s Day gift or for the 4th of July, George will make the patriotic belt for $10 each. Just let us know the waist size. About 6 inches are added to the waist size for proper adjustment of the belt. Better hurry if you want it for Father’s Day because Father’s Day is on June 19th.

SALE: Good through next Thursday, June 23rd. Adjustable can wrap with your name or initials embroidered in outline with rhinestones for $7 each. The rhinestones are applied by hand and usually sell for at least $10 (depending on how many rhinestones are applied). Never lose your drink again.

CONTEST: First person to answer correctly is the winner. What was my first job in Pensacola – what company? The winner will receive a set of 4 cloth napkins, restaurant quality, and 20” x 20” with your initials/monogram. (Color choice depends on what is in stock.)

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.

Thank you Marshall Larrivere for sending the following joke:

The year is 2016 and the United States has just elected the first woman, a Louisiana State University graduate, as President of the United States, Susan Boudreaux.

On inauguration day in the front row sits the new president's Dad and Mom. Dad noticing the senator sitting next to him leans over and whispers, 'You see that woman over there with her hand on the Bible, becoming President of the United States.’

The Senator whispers back, 'Yes I do.'

Dad says proudly, 'Her brother played football at LSU.'

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French Phrase of the Week: The following was taken from LSU.edu:

Tu peux le répéter? (Can you repeat it?)

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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.

The Most Unexpected Places

Saturday I attended an open house at a friend's beauty salon.  She told me to bring  some of my stuff and set to sell.  Obediently, I did as she suggested.  It turned out that this was a wonderful evening.  Yes, I sold some things and was able to show off the new market baskets, but I met new (and old) friends and simply had a lovely time.  On top of a lovely evening, I won a door prize for my hair to be colored.  Two of my friends also won similar door prizes and we scheduled appointments together on Thursday.  That should be fun.

I had purchased four of the hot pink, mini, market baskets.  A customer had purchased three and ordered some embroidery.  I bought an extra one, just in case.  Well, that extra one was sold at the open house.  Yesterday and today I worked on the mini hot pink orders and am now ready for delivery.  They are adorable, don't you think?

This week is when Wachovia and Wells Fargo merge.  Today was when the accounts online were affected.  Of course, nothing worked for us.  We called customer service but were not able to get someone who understood what we wanted to do.  Finally, George and I went to our bank.  For the most part the banking was successful but more than that, the representative helping us began asking about embroidery and was looking into embroidery on hand fans, like Spanish fans.  She attends ballroom dancing classes.  It just goes to show that you can pick up customers wherever you go, even in the most unexpected places.

I still haven't finished my bookkeeping today so I'll make this short.

C'est tout, mes amis:>)

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:>)