Cajun Corner - Vol. 4, No. 1

Cajun Corner – Vol. 4, No. 1 – January 7. 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.

Ahhh, a new year.  First on the agenda is, Happy Birthday, Mama.  She would have been 94 today. 

The Mardi Gras season is upon us.  Today at 3 p.m. at Paradise Bar & Grill on Pensacola Beach is our King Kake Party.  Everyone is invited and sure to have a great time.  There will be music, and, of course, King Kake.  Most important, though, is we crown our krewe’s new king and queen.  Come on out and party with the Mystic Krewe of Nereids.

My George has celebrated his birthday for nearly a week now.  Happy Birthday, sweetheart.  He is definitely a keeper.

Our fall garden is gone.  The recent frigid temperatures in the 20’s finished those plants.  We had harvested everything we could before the freeze.  It was time.  Ha!  Of course, it was.  First week of January every year, like clockwork, there is a freeze.  We had a freeze for 2 days and now we are back in the 50-70 degree range.  That was just the fall garden.  We also have a winter garden.  George took out all of the old plants and we are getting ready to transplant some broccoli and plant some celery.  Our garlic and carrots are still growing, as is the catnip and parsley.  I love gardening in Florida because you really can garden 12 months out of the year.

Last year may have been the year for Facebook but this year may turn out to be the year of Pinterest.  What is Pinterest, you ask?  Go to www.pinterest.com.  I’m not really sure what you would call it.  It is pictures.  It helps you organize.  Where some bulletin boards on the internet allow you to “post”; Pinterest allows you to “pin”.  It is just their cutesy name for it; or, “posting” may be words where “pinning” is pictures.  Who knows?  You must be “invited” to Pinterest.  If you would like to be “invited”, just let me know and I’ll be glad to send the invitation.  This all sounds so dull.  Let me tell you that from the first time I went to Pinterest, I was hooked.  I simply could not stop looking at the pictures and reading the comments.  It looks like it will be a good venue to post Cajun Stitchery items, and that is the real reason that I’m on Pinterest – but, I simply cannot stop looking at the pictures, and reading the articles.  Once you are registered on Pinterest, you can have as many “boards” as you like.  The boards are used for organizing.  For instance, you can have a board for home décor, or recipes, or gardening, or whatever you like.  You can have as many boards as you like.  As you find things on the internet, or Pinterest, you can put them on the appropriate board for future reference.  Let’s say you want to redecorate your living room.  A search on the internet brings up several photos of your style, or a chair that would work perfectly, or a painting, or whatever.  You would just “pin it” to your board with a tool that you keep in your favorites.  As you collect photos, you can go to your board and start to define how you want to decorate your living room.  You can also save arts and craft tutorials, a good article, whatever you want.  I’m still trying to get used to the organizing of the boards and remembering to click the appropriate board for the items that I’m pinning, but that is just learning.  People are visual.  Pinterest is in our future.  I do not see Pinterest taking the place of Facebook, though.

A friend that I met on Facebook ordered two of our flannel scarves.  One was the “Party Girl” scarf – embellished with rhinestones, of course.  The other was custom.  She wanted a man’s long scarf in black flannel with gold fleur de lis.  I was a bit worried that I would not be able to find solid black flannel, but there was nothing to worry about.  I found the black flannel at the first store.  A search on the internet showed me that men’s sporty, long scarves are the same size as women’s.  They are about 72” long by 10” to 20” wide.   The one I made for her was 72” long by 10” wide.  The fabric was doubled to hide the back of the embroidery.  In my opinion, it would have been too bulky if it were any wider than 10”.  Nevertheless, the scarf turned out so beautiful that I’m making another one to list in our Etsy Store.  After all, the Saints ARE going to the Super Bowl again this year, right?

Our end of the year Etsy sale was a lot of fun.  Several items were sold.  Scarves seem to be the thing that people wanted.  Not only was the sale fun, but it gave me an opportunity to go through all of the items in our Etsy Store and do some extra embellishments here and there.  I was also able to see some things that I want to take out of the store--forever.

The market baskets are still selling like hotcakes.  The rhinestoned and Mylar Mystic Krewe of Nereids design is a hit.  Personally, I think each krewe needs to have their own krewe’s design for market baskets since we all carry so much stuff.  The latest market basket order did it up right.  The customer ordered the Nereid design on one side of the basket with her name embroidered on the other side.  It is perfect.  What do you do if you already have a market basket but your basket isn’t purple, green, or gold?  That’s easy.  You get a market basket for Mardi Gras, patriotic holidays, Halloween, and Christmas.  You have a purse to match different colors or seasons, don’t you?  You also need a matching or holiday appropriate market basket, too.

I finally came up with the 2012 design for my Krewe’s birthday gifts.  The design should be revealed today when our first birthday girl of the year receives her gift.  After that, I will be able to show off the new design.  I digitized it myself and I sure hope those girls like it.

Another friend of mine has started a website called www.stronglocalbusiness.com.  She has some really good articles on her website and also has forums and several interactive things.  It is worth a visit.  The whole gist is to buy local and buy made in the USA, thereby creating and saving jobs.  I cannot stress enough my feeling that the USA has an abundance of untapped talent.  I’m not blind to the fact that we live in a world that gets smaller each day due to technology; that there are people starving in third world countries; and that the majority of US citizens cannot imagine living without conveniences that other people in the world cannot imagine having.  However, in order to help others, we need to help ourselves.  The caregiver must also take care of herself/himself to be able to continue being a caregiver.  We all need to buy local and buy items made in the USA.

While making scarves, I did a little research and the number one country in the world that sells fashion scarves is, you guessed it, China.  Number two is India.  My scarves are handmade right here in the USA.  Even our thread comes from a mill in North Carolina.  We can do this, but we need to unite and do this together.  We can turn around our economy and put ourselves in a healthier position to help others.

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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Here is a recipe that I found on Pinterest.  It reminds me of the larger than life chocolate cake that a dear friend of our’s made for George’s birthday.  It also reminds me why I do not like to cook:

Salted Caramel Chocolate Fudge Cake

Yield: One 6-inch, 3-layer cake

Chocolate Fudge Cake

Yield: Three 6-inch round layers

Serves: 8+

Ingredients

1 1/2 cups (180 g/6 oz) all-purpose flour

1 1/2 cups (300 g/ 10 oz) sugar

3/4 cup (90 g/3 oz) dark unsweetened cocoa powder (I use Cacao Barry Cocoa Powder – Extra Dark )

1 1/2 teaspoons (7.5 mL/6 g) baking soda

1 teaspoon (5 mL/4 g) baking powder

1 teaspoon (5 mL/5 g) salt

1/4 cup (60 mL/2 liquid oz) vegetable oil

3/4 cup (190 mL/6 liquid oz) buttermilk

3/4 cup (190 mL/6 liquid oz) hot brewed coffee

2 eggs, room temperature, lightly beaten

2 teaspoons (10 mL) vanilla (I use Nielsen-Massey Vanillas 8-oz. Madagascar Bourbon Vanilla Extract )

Method

1. Preheat oven to 350° F (180°C). Prepare three 6-inch round cake pans with butter, parchment paper rounds, and cocoa powder. Tap out excess.

2. In bowl of electric mixer, sift all dry ingredients and add all remaining ingredients to bowl with the dry ingredients and with paddle attachment on mixer, mix for 2 minutes on medium speed (you may need the plastic splash-guard that comes with mixer) and pour into prepared pans. If possible, use digital kitchen scale and weigh divided batter in pans for even layers. Batter will be liquidy.

3. Bake for 20 minutes and rotate pans in oven. Cakes are done when toothpick or skewer comes clean–approximately 30 minutes. Try not to over bake.

4. Cool on wire racks for 20 minutes, then loosen edges with a small palette knife, and gently invert onto racks until completely cool.

Salted Caramel Swiss Buttercream (for filling)

Yield: ~4 cups

Ingredients

1 cup (200 g/7 oz) sugar

1/4 cup (60 mL) water

1/4 cup (60 mL) heavy cream

generous pinch of sea salt (and additional sea salt, preferably Fleur de Sel, for sprinkling), for example: Fleur de Sel De Guerande- French Sea Salt; 6oz

1 1/2 cups (340 g/12 oz) unsalted butter, at room temperature

4 large egg whites (120 g/4 oz)

1 teaspoon (5 mL) pure vanilla extract

Method

The first step is making the salted caramel (you can also do a non-salted caramel by omitting the sea salt), to set aside to cool while you make the Swiss Buttercream. You then add the cooled caramel sauce it to the buttercream as the very last step. I haven’t tried buying ready-made gourmet caramel sauce and adding it, but I suspect it would taste nothing short of awesome.

1. Place 130 grams (5 ounces or 1/2 cup + 2 tablespoons) of the sugar and the water in a medium saucepan to a boil over medium heat. Brush down the sides of the pot with a dampened pastry brush to prevent sugar crystals from forming. Stop stirring and cook until caramel is dark amber, gently swirling from time to time. Remove from heat, and slowly add cream, whisking by hand until smooth. It will be splatter, so be careful. Whisk in sea salt. Let cool.

2. Place butter in an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment (flat beater) and beat on medium speed (I use #4 on my mixer), until pale and fluffy, about 3-5 minutes. Transfer to a large bowl and set aside.

3. Wipe the bowl of an electric mixer clean with lemon juice, and place egg whites and remaining sugar into bowl over a pot of simmering (not boiling–you don’t want to cook the eggs). Whisk occasionally and gently until sugar dissolves and mixture registers 160° on a candy thermometer.

4. Remove the bowl from heat, and place back onto the mixer fitted with the whisk attachment. Whisk on medium speed for 5 minutes. Increase speed to medium-high, and whisk until stiff, glossy peaks form (about 5-6 minutes). Once the bottom of the bowl is neutral and no longer warm to the touch, reduce speed to medium-low, and add beaten butter, one cup at a time, whisking well after each addition.

5. Switch to paddle attachment. With mixer on low speed, add cooled caramel, and beat until smooth (about 3-5 minutes).

6. Prepare to taste the most incredible buttercream you will ever encounter.

*Adapted from Martha Stewart’s Caramel Buttercream

Dark Chocolate Fudge Frosting

Yield: ~5 cups

Ingredients

1/4 cup + 2 tablespoons (45 g/1.5 oz) unsweetened Dutch-process cocoa powder (I use Cacao Barry Cocoa Powder – Extra Dark )

1/4 cup + 2 tablespoons (90 mL/3 oz) boiling water

1 1/2 cups (3 sticks/341 g/12 oz) unsalted butter, room temperature

1/2 cup (63 g/2 oz) confectioners’ (icing/powdered) sugar

Pinch of salt

1 pound (454 g/16 oz) good-quality semi-sweet chocolate, melted and cooled

Method

1. Combine cocoa powder and the boiling water in a small bowl or glass measuring cup, and stir until it cocoa has dissolved.

2. In an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment (flat beater), beat the butter, the icing sugar, and salt on medium-high speed until it is pale and fluffy–about 5 minutes.

3. Reduce mixer speed to low, and add melted chocolate (cooled), beating until combined and scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed.

4. Beat in the cocoa mixture until well incorporated.

Notes:

1. Frosting can be refrigerated for up to 5 days, or frozen for up to 1 month in an airtight container.

2. Before using, bring to room temperature (usually overnight on counter does the trick), and beat on low speed until smooth.

*Dark Chocolate Fudge Frosting Recipe adapted from Martha Stewart

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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. 48

Cajun Corner – Vol. 3, No. 48 – December 5, 2011

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.

Last Saturday on Buy Local Day, Cajun Stitchery had a table at the Perdido Bay Golf Club.  One of my WBL ladies manages the place and generously offered vendors a means of getting their wares to the public.  This was not just your run of the mill craft fair.  She had a generously sized table and chair for Cajun Stitchery right in front of the door from the bar/restaurant to the golf course, covered, of course.  Then she had hors d’oeuvres served periodically throughout the day.  The crab cakes were to die for.  You couldn’t have asked for nicer weather.  Several ladies from WBL had tables and I met several new friends.  It was a wonderful day.  I would definitely do this one again, if the opportunity arises.

I finally worked with the boring needle.  Oh, that is a nice addition.  In the past when I make the can wraps, I have Boudreaux stitch out the design and included in the design are 4 little eyelets to enable me to run the elastic.  After the can wrap is embroidered and taken off the hoop, I take a hammer and hole punch to get the fabric out from the inside of the eyelets.  The hammer and hole punch method is a real pain and time consuming, not to mention that there always remains bits of fabric in the holes.  With the boring needle, I can stitch out the design but when it gets to the eyelets, it does a circle with the boring needles, which takes out that inner fabric, then, the machine stitches the satin stitch for the eyelet.  I do have to stop the machine each time the boring needle punches a hole and remove the little fabric circle, but that is much easier and cleaner than otherwise.

The other new method of removing those little eyelet holes is grommets.  I have had and have used the grommets for eyelets in golf towels.  The problem with that is you have step one, which is to hammer the die to create the hole, then, step two is to hammer the grommet into the hole.  The grommets are usually loose at first.  I keep hammering to tighten the grommet, frequently smashing it.  This week we received our newly purchased grommet machine.  It is not the big automated one.  It is manual.  You place the grommets in the dies, then put the fabric in between and press the handle and voila, you have a grommet attached with a hole.  This machine was pretty expensive but Cajun Stitchery can use it and it sure makes the process easier and much more professional looking. 

The next machine that I want isn’t a machine at all.  It is snap dies for the grommet machine.  With the snap dies, I can attach snaps to items.  I guess the real purpose of the grommet machine is for tents and sails and other canvas type items, but it will work on my items, too. 

We have gone a whole week without problems with our U-verse.  However, this week we have been working with AT&T on our smart phones.  For all of the years that we each had the little razer phones, we never dropped a call.  Now, with the smart phones, George will call me from Home Depot, Wal-Mart, Lowes, etc, and I either get his voice garbled or we cannot make a connection until he goes outside the building.  He has always been able to call me from these stores with the little razer phone without any problems.  Also, now I seem to be dropping calls a lot.  When we look at the little bars on the phone that indicate the wave strength, we only get one or two bars and sometime none.  So, we have spent a good portion of this week on the phone with AT&T.  Yes, in the middle of talking with the AT&T lady the call was dropped.  They tell us that the issue was turned over to one of their engineers and should be fixed by Tuesday.  We’ll see.  In the meantime, we are still learning to use the phone.

Speaking of the phone, the main reason we got the smart phones was so that we could use The Square to accept credit card payments.  I took The Square to the Buy Local Day event at Perdido Bay Golf Club but never needed to use it.  One of my customers did pay with a credit card this week, though.  It worked and was simple to use.  Now that, my friends, is one pretty cool little device.

I received a belated birthday gift from a dear friend of mine this week.  Earlier this year, she and her husband had taken a cruise in the north Atlantic to whale watch.  On the cruise they went to Quebec and Nova Scotia.  While in Nova Scotia, she located some craft ladies who she had make me a scarf.  She wanted to give me something from my ancestral homeland.  I cried when I received it.  It is so beautiful and delicate and I will wear it with pride.

A lot of my time this week has been spent listing Christmas items in our Etsy Store.  Please browse the store and, of course, if you have questions, just ask me.  We have 3 or 4 more items to list and that’s it for Christmas.

We are gearing up for the next holiday season and that is Mardi Gras.  Yes, I’m still making the custom Christmas Stockings, aprons, etc.  We are just not making anymore Christmas items that are not custom.  We’ll sell what we have in stock now.  I do have some ideas for Mardi Gras items so stay tuned.

If anyone is interested in bath robes, let me know.  I ordered some waffle weave robes, 48” long, hotel quality, one size fits all.  They are going to cost about $50 each, plus shipping.  Of course, the more I purchase, the lower the shipping rate.

We still have all sorts of ready made items in stock, such as napkins, pillowcases, towels, shirts, jackets, totes, etc., plus handmade items that have not been listed in our Etsy Store.  Please feel free to come by and look at all of the items for a unique Christmas shopping experience.  Call first to make sure I’m at home, though.  The coffee is always ready at Cajun Stitchery. 

CHRISTMAS is around the corner.  Get that Christmas shopping done now and enjoy the holidays.  Shop local and buy made in the USA.

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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Thank you Marshall Larrivere for the following:

Boudreaux staggered home very late after another

evening with his drinking buddy, Landry. He took off his shoes to

avoid waking his wife, Betty Lou.

He tiptoed as quietly as he could toward the

stairs leading to their upstairs bedroom, but misjudged the bottom

step. As he caught himself by grabbing the banister, his body swung

around and he landed heavily on his rump. A whiskey bottle in each

back pocket broke and made the landing especially painful.

Managing not to yell, Boudreaux sprung up, pulled

down his pants, and looked in the hall mirror to see that his butt

cheeks were cut and bleeding. He managed to quietly find a full box

of Band-Aids and began putting a Band-Aid as best he could on each place he saw blood.

He then hid the now almost empty Band-Aid box and

shuffled and stumbled his way to bed.

In the morning, Boudreaux woke up with searing

pain in both his head and butt and Betty Lou staring at him from across the room.

She said, “You were drunk again last night weren't

you?”

Boudreaux said, “Why you say such a mean thing?”

“Well,” Betty Lou said, “it could be the open

front door, it could be the broken glass at the bottom of the stairs,

it could be the drops of blood trailing through the house, it could be

your bloodshot eyes, but mostly ..... it's all those Band-Aids stuck

on the hall mirror.”

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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. 47

Cajun Corner – Vol. 3, No. 47 – November 26, 2011

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.

Hope everyone had a very Happy Thanksgiving.

We spent Thanksgiving Day with friends.  It was the usual fair of eating until you could barely breathe, took a walk, and then we played an enticing game of Scrabble.  It really was a wonderful Thanksgiving.  We have so much for which to be thankful.

We are still learning our smart phones and still having issues with our U-verse.  Earlier this week the internet went down, again.  This time they sent a repairman who seems to think the problem is in the AT&T wires and not our home wiring.  The internet came up again and we were happy.  It went down again today requiring us to call, again.  We are back on the internet now.  It comes and goes.  I sure wish they would fix the problem.

Today I received The Square.  The Square is the entire reason we got the smart phones and the U-verse in the first place.  The Square allows Cajun Stitchery to accept credit cards.  I must have Wi-Fi available so it should work at the house.  I’m going to the Perdido Bay Golf Club this afternoon where we will have a booth with other local small businesses.  I sure hope we can get Wi-Fi there so I can accept credit cards. 

Buy from local small businesses day is a great idea.  There has been a lot of publicity.  I’m thinking that most shoppers want to buy from local small businesses but the prices that many small businesses have to charge is more than people pay at the Wal-Mart type businesses.  In addition to that, it is the day after Black Friday when shoppers are really hyped about getting bargains.  Cajun Stitchery has drastically reduced the price on many of our items that we will be selling today.  We are also looking into various machines that will help us produce a better product and be able to reduce prices at the same time.  The problem, of course, is that the machines cost a lot of money that we would have to recoup.

The boring needles came in.  I’m a little nervous about using them and I’m waiting for my friend to try her’s first.  I read as much literature as I could find on them, including watching some videos.  It just appears that an attachment is necessary.  I contacted the manufacturer of our machine but they never returned my call.

If anyone is interested in bath robes, let me know.  I’m getting ready to place an order for some waffle weave robes, 48” long, hotel quality, one size fits all.  They are going to cost about $50 each, plus shipping.  Of course, the more I purchase, the lower the shipping rate.

CHRISTMAS is around the corner.  Get that Christmas shopping done now and enjoy the holidays.

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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Thank you Marshall Larrivere for the following:

Walking into the bar, Boudreaux said to Charlie

the bartender, “Pour me a stiff one - just had another fight with the

little wife.”

“Oh yeah?” said Charlie, “And how did this one end?”

“When it was over,” Boudreaux replied, “She came

to me on her hands and knees.”

“Really,” said Charles, “Now that's a switch!?

What did she say?”

She said, “Come out from under the bed, you little

coward.”

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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. 45

Cajun Corner – Vol. 3, No. 45 – November 11, 2011

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.

Veteran’s Day is coming to an end.  The Blue Angels Air Show was right over our house today.  It was a fabulous celebration.  The air show continues tomorrow, as well.

I’m lined up to have a booth at Gallery Night on November 18^th  in downtown Pensacola and at the Perdido Bay Golf Club on November 26^th.  Don’t forget to buy from local small businesses on November 26^th.  It occurred to me this week that the reason people shop at malls is because all of the stores are under one roof.  Just telling people to shop local small businesses is not good enough.  How are people going to find small businesses who work out of their homes, like me?  So, I made a suggestion to our wonderful Women’s Business Luncheon group that we need to find places to gather and have booths on the 26^th.  I really thought the perfect venue would be our Small Business Development Center.  I asked if we would be allowed to set up in their parking lot, which is just on the outskirts of downtown.  I still haven’t received a response.  In the meantime, another member has arranged for us to set up at the Perdido Bay Golf Club from 1-5 p.m.  She set aside a table and chair for Cajun Stitchery.  So, that’s where we are going to be.  If you are in the area, come on over to Perdido Bay Golf Club on Saturday, November 26^th between 1-5 p.m.   Meet some of your local small businesses and do your Christmas shopping.  Of course, it would be nice if there were areas set up all over town to spotlight our local small businesses.

It is getting busy now.  I’ve been working with several friends trying to learn how to make cold calls.  It really all started last weekend.  I was messaging a friend and was still pondering why people loved my merchandise at the craft fair, they touched, they commented, but then would walk away without purchasing anything.  I’m thinking that I am doing something wrong.  So, while we were messaging, she decided that I need to meet a lady who owns a new local small business.  Before the conversation was over I had an appointment for Tuesday.  Tuesday arrived and I did meet with the lady.  I made up a packet of information about Cajun Stitchery and embroidery, including my price list.  I brought one of my catalogs and even created a sample embroidered logo for her to see my work.  I walked in wearing my black fleur de lis scarf with rhinestones.  Another friend happened to be there and she really did all of the work for me.  She told the owner how she orders her embroidery from me and is a completely satisfied customer.  The rest was just chit chat.  Once her logo is done by her graphic designer, she is going to send it to me to have digitized and embroidered on aprons and smocks.  She also wants some scarves made.  We had a very pleasant conversation and have even arranged to meet again next week.  It was a good meeting.

Later, I thanked my friend and was telling her about the meeting when she decided that I needed to come to her office and practice cold calls.   While we sat and chatted I told her that was probably the first cold call that I’ve ever made.  In disbelief she asked how I got business.  I said, “I have a lot of friend and I talked about embroidery a lot.”  In fact, all of my business is via word of mouth.  At this she said that I needed to meet with a friend who is some sort of executive at Circle K.  That was humorous because that night George and I were going to our weekly Scrabble game which included a friend who is an executive at Circle K.  She wants me to put my can wraps on consignment. 

That evening I talked with my friend who said this probably is a good idea.  If I can get this lady to put my can wraps in her local Circle K stores on consignment, then we will be able to see how they sell.  I sent the introductory email to the lady today but so far have not received a response.  So, say a prayer that this works.  In fact, George and I are talking about printing out labels saying, “Made in the USA” to put on the can wraps and everything else that I make.  The nice thing about the can wraps is that they already have their own Can Wrap Rap by 2-Short Cajun Mama.

While I was on my first cold call, the lady showed me The Square.  Right now the only way that I can accept payment via credit cards is through PayPal.  The reason is because the credit card machine cost money, there’s a monthly fee, all in addition to a percentage taken from each credit card swipe.  The Square, however, is a little one inch device that plugs into the top of a smart phone.  It is the credit card swiper.  There is still a percentage charged for each swipe but no bulky machine and no monthly charge.  Now I can accept credit cards at craft fairs, home parties, wherever I am at the time.  I would rather carry a debit or credit card on me than cash.  I assume others feel the same way.  So, George and I have ordered 2 smart phones from AT&T which should arrive on Monday.  We have rearranged our phone package so don’t be alarmed if I’m off line and without phone service on Monday.

My birthday carried over into this week.  I finally had to quit eating completely except for all of the wonderful dinners and wine that I’m receiving.  My Wednesday night ladies were wonderful, as usual.  Our little nurse was still wearing her nurse’s hat from last week.  I received even more birthday presents this week.  As George says, “Looks like this birthday is going to last all month.”  Sure hope so.

Before I forget, I still have the box for non-perishable food for the homeless shelters.  If you are in the area, drop off some non-perishables.  The food drive is going on to December.

I still have some red and white, regular furry Christmas Stockings, approximately 17 inches long.  I will be glad to embroider a name on them for $7.00 each (includes the stocking).  I also made a pattern for a regular Christmas stocking, same size, which is pretty simple.  I’ll make the stocking and add the name for $12.00.  Let me know if you are interested. They are fully lined.  Fabric will change depending on what I have available at the time of the order.

All cell phone holders in our Etsy store are half price ($5.00), so stop by www.cajunstitchery.etsy.com and get some cute cell phone holders as gifts for Christmas.

CHRISTMAS is around the corner.  Get that Christmas shopping done now and enjoy the holidays.

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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Thank you Marshall Larrivere for the following:

Boudreaux opened the morning newspaper and was

dumbfounded to read in the obituary column that he had died. He

quickly phoned his best friend, Landry.

“Did you see the paper?” asked Boudreaux. “They

say I died!!”

“Yes, I saw it!” replied Landry. “Where ya callin' from?”

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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.