Cajun Corner – Vol. 6, No. 2 – January12, 2014

 

Cajun Corner – Vol. 6, No. 2 – January12, 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.

Yesterday was our Krewe’s King Kake Party and it was fabulous.  Laissez les bon temps rouler!  And it starts.

Last week when I could get some free time Boudreaux was busy embroidering Mardi gras masks and everything purple, green and gold.  We have turtle masks done.  Now I’m working on the butterfly masks.  I still need to get the mermaids and fleur de lis masks made.  There are so many more ideas in my head.

I took several pictures of how to put the new mask onto a pair of glasses.  The photos were posted on FaceBook and a few other places on the internet but I’m still trying to figure out how to post in our Etsy Store.  I will figure it out and see if we can get some mask sales.

The new pouch that I made to replace my older denim pouch that I use to carry my cell phone and items has worked out beautifully.  I carry it with me everywhere in place of a bulky purse.  Of course, if I have a lot of stuff to haul, I put the pouch in my big purse.  There are just a few items that I need to have on me at all times and they all fit in the 4.5” x 6.5” pouch.  It is just such a hassle to carry a big purse to a restaurant or bar or wherever because you have to watch it when you are in public and you usually have to put your purse under a table or next to a chair.  The little pouch doesn’t take up much room and can be placed on a table.  A tab is built into the side of the pouch to carry my keys and to hold the pouch.  A friend of mine said she would prefer a shoulder strap and says that would be even more convenient.  I would be interested in everyone’s opinion on whether or not a shoulder strap would be a needed addition to the pouch.  A cord could certainly be attached and when you aren’t using the shoulder strap, it could be tucked into the pouch.  Let me know what you think.

 

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. 

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.

Thank you Bob for the following:

A senior couple decided to go shopping one day, and split their efforts by going separate ways. Near the end of the shopping event they decided to get together for lunch. As the woman was on her way to the rendezvous point, she heard a traffic warning on the radio that a car was driving in the wrong direction up ahead. Knowing that her husband was near the point of the warning, she decided to call him on the cell phone. When he answered, she explained, "I just heard on the news, someone is driving in the wrong direction on the highway!" And the husband replied, "One? There are hundreds of folks going the wrong way where I am!"

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. 52

Cajun Corner – Vol. 3, No. 52 – December 31, 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.

Today is New Year’s Eve.  I sure hope everyone can look back on this year and have many happy memories.  May 2012 bring each of you good health, joy and prosperity.

Our family tradition is to take down our Christmas decorations on January 2^nd, George’s birthday.  Out with the red and green; in with the purple, green and gold.  I actually have some friends who take the Christmas decorations off of the tree and replace them with Mardi Gras décor for a Mardi Gras tree.

I must say that 2011 was certainly a Facebook year for me.  I have made so many good friends via Facebook this year and met all kinds of people from everywhere.

The garden is still giving.  It is unbelievable but wonderful.  We have to harvest more peppers and tomatoes today.  It’s time to plant celery, which I’ve never grown before and hope it does well.  Sometime this coming week the spent plants will be removed and new seeds planted.  We have some broccoli seedlings that need to go into the garden soon.

This has been a busy week.  Everything in our Etsy store is now on sale.  As I was putting the items for sale, I was upgrading a lot of things, especially the scarves and adding lots of rhinestones.  I still don’t have everything that I’ve made on there but I really want to get rid of some of the items that have been around for a while so that I can make some new items.  The sales are good until I take the sale off, which will be in the next couple of days.  You should visit the store and browse a bit.  I really slashed prices on the majority of the items.

The market baskets have been a huge hit this season.  So, for the Mardi Gras season I’m doing some market baskets with the Mystic Krewe of Nereids in gold/topaz rhinestones and a couple of cute mermaids in mylar.  I think all krewes should have these, especially since we carry so much stuff around.  But Krewes aren’t the only people who should have market baskets.  Many of my business friends should have them, too.  Not only is it a fabulously unique way to advertise by having your company name embroidered on the basket, but these baskets are perfect when you are carrying your wares around, like Avon, Mary Kay, soaps, oils, embroidery, etc.

You know each year I give my krewe members the same but special gifts for their birthdays.  One year I gave them personalized mermaid pillowcases; last year it was personalized mermaid bath towels.  This year I have something else special but I’m stumped on what design to use.  I’ve thought about several things but nothing has really grabbed me.  January starts a whole new year and new birthdays, so I better come up with something quick.

We were able to get the red aprons at a super discount price during the Christmas season and have sold out.  The sale is now closed and instead of $5 per apron, they are now $10.12 each.

We still have many items in stock that are on sale and have not been listed in our Etsy store.  We have tee shirts, polos, jackets, napkins, caps, and other things.  Call or email me if you are interested in looking at these items.

Happy New Year!!!

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 Paulette Provost for the following:

Boudreaux and Thibodeaux were a couple of drinking buddies who worked as aircraft mechanics at de Estherwood International Airport . Mais one day de airport was fogged in and dey were stuck in de hangar with nuttin' to do.

Boudreaux say, 'Man, I wish we had someting to drink!'

Thibodeaux say, 'Me too. Y'know, I've heard you can drink de jet fuel and get a buzz. So dey pour demselves a couple of glasses of high octane gas and get demselves completely smashed.

De next morning Boudreaux wake himsef’ up and is surprised at how darn good he feels. In fack he feels GREAT! NO hangover! NO bad side effects. NUTTIN! Den de phone rings. It's Thibodeaux!

Thibodeaux say, 'Hey, how you are dis morning?'

Boudreaux say, 'Man, I feel great, how 'bout you?'

Thibodeaux say, 'I feel great, too. You don' have a hangover?'

Boudreaux say, 'No dat jet fuel is great stuff -- no hangover, nuttin’. We ought to do dis more often..'

Thibodeaux say, ' Yeah, well dey's just one t’ing.'

'What's dat?' says Boudreaux.

'Have you farted yet?' axes Thib.

'Mais No.' says Boudreaux.

'Well, DON'T - cause I'm in Shreveport!'

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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.26

 Cajun Corner – Vol. 3, No. 26 – July 1, 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.

It’s here. It is the 4th of July weekend. I sure hope everyone has wonderful plans for the weekend. Have fun but please be safe. Pensacola Beach has so much going on this weekend that I cannot list everything. I suggest that you look up the Island Times on the internet for the list of events, dates and times.

As for George and me, we are staying in the neighborhood. Our Pennsylvania neighbor will be visiting for the 4th of July and we plan on getting together. Everyone brings something to these occasions and I’m bringing bread. In fact, until this is read, the others don’t know that I plan on making the bread myself. Mama would respond, “Well, la di da.” She would also ask me why I would want to do that when there is plenty of bread at the store. The answer is that I have an automatic bread maker that I rarely use and decided to do this. We shall see how this turns out.

Last Sunday we attended the award ceremony for Paradise Bar & Grill. That place was packed. It was also very hot. We had a lovely time and ate our usual cheeseburger at Paradise for dinner.

Another dog collar was made this week. This was for Amber Lee. She is going on vacation with her owners, Shelley and Richard, and like any girl, needed some new vacation attire.

One of my friends was telling me this week that her 3 dogs got loose last week. Someone called her to say her dogs were down the street. Obviously, she was talking to me about getting collars for her dogs.

You never know when that precious pet of yours will get out or be stranded. When George and I lived in Orlando, we had a beautiful, American, golden cocker spaniel that was actually stolen from our back yard. We looked everywhere for her and were finally told that a group of people had been in the neighborhood stealing dogs for scientific experiments. I don’t know how true that is but I do know that I cried many nights over that dog. We never found her.

Last week’s sale on napkins spurred several people to buy them. We were busy embroidering napkins this week. At one point I had orders for more natural colored napkins than I had. I thought I would be smart and get a rush order of napkins in so I could fill all of the orders. That did not work out. I had to tell one potential customer that we simply are out of natural colored napkins.

In fact, you aren’t going to see any more sales for $2 napkins at Cajun Stitchery unless I run across a great sale, myself. All year my wholesalers have been sending emails, brochures, etc., saying that the price of cotton has gone way up and those prices will be reflected in the merchandise that I purchase. When I contacted my napkin supplier, I found that the cost of the napkins has doubled. Not only that, but now I’m required to purchase a minimum of 5 dozen of the same color napkin. The new sale price for any new napkins is going to be $4.

SALE: Right now I still have some of the $2 cloth napkins. These are the 20 inch square, restaurant quality napkins with hemmed edges. The colors that we have in stock are:

1. Purple

2. Lavender

3. Blue

4. Royal Blue

5. White

6. Burgundy

7. Teal

8. Brown

9. Sea Foam Green

I’m selling these (in-stock) napkins at $2 each; first come, first served. They make great Christmas presents. I highly suggest you buy them now.

We do have 5 dozen ivory napkins, 20” x 20”, with hemmed edges, restaurant quality, for $4 each.

We still have some market baskets in stock. I sold the black one this week. It is going to be really cute with a gold monogram and 2 gold fleur de lis. We still have: purple, red, hot pink, blue, and the black with white polka dots. These are the regular sized market baskets that are 18"L x 11.5"W x 9"H with Collapsible/Removable Frame. 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.

Last week my neighbor, Charlotte, won the contest. We had several entries. Many of the entries were correct but Charlotte was the first with the answer. Stinky is our oldest pet. She is 16 this year. Remember, you can only win once every 2 months to give everyone a chance.

CONTEST: First person to answer correctly is the winner. What was my mother’s pet name for me?

The winner will receive their monogram on:

Hot Pink Canvas Purse

10.5"L x 6"W x 11.5"H

Snap Closure

Zipper Compartment with Two Open Pockets Inside

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 Paulette Doucet Provost for sending the following joke:

Three friends from Church Point, Louisiana were asked, "When you in

your casket, and your friends and church members are mourning over you,

what would you like dem to say?"

Thibodeaux said: "I would like dem to say, I was a wonderful husband,

a fine spiritual leader, and a great family man."

Fontenot commented: "I would like dem to say, I was a wonderful

teacher, and servant of da church, who made a huge difference in

people's lives."

Boudreaux said: "I'd like dem to say, 'Look, he's movin!'"

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French Phrase of the Week: Il fait humide. (It is humid.)

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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. 5

Cajun Corner – Vol. 3, No. 5 – February 4, 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.

Last weekend was another wild and fun, Mardi Gras weekend. We started out with our Moon Pie Party on Friday night. That was a great party. Thank you to everyone who attended and helped make it such a success. We had all of our light sticks, lighted scepters, and lighted everything. More than once I found myself dancing on the stage. Congratulations go to Amy for winning the 50/50.

On Saturday our krewe attended the Junkanoo’s Third Annual Chili Cook-Off. Yes, Cowboy Carl made it there with the chili. The girls did a wonderful job of decorating our table and area. We all wore pieces of our cowgirl costume, except for me. I wore the whole thing with the suede skirt and vest and the gold, pointed toed boots. It took several days for my feet to recover. It was all worth it because we won 1st place. It was a bit odd for me to watch my krewe receive the aprons that I embroidered earlier in the week. Haha. That was a fun day, too. I even think Cowboy Carl enjoyed the event.

Sunday I hunkered down to do the lettering for the Krewe of Bad Habits. By golly, I got it done and did a good job, I might add. The completed design was emailed to them on Monday.

Remember the mylar embroidery on our tux jackets. I used the mylar embroidery to avoid snagging our cuffs and losing the sequins. Well, it kind of worked as planned. The mylar embroidery did perfect. The satin stitching around it caught on everything, just like the sequins did. And it wasn’t the satin stitching all the way around the cuffs, just on the inside toward the body because it snagged on my pins. I think that if I put a few layers of Elmers glue, or some permanent glue that dries clear, over the satin stitching, then the snagging issue should be solved.

The big secret from last week was Ella’s birthday present. She received the diva mermaid on a clam shell on her white towel. The colors were just breathtaking. They turned out so much better than I had anticipated. The clam shell was appliquéd using a very soft pink colored fabric and outlined in a deep purple. The diva mermaid was, of course, done in mylar embroidery with a medium purple and lavender. Of course, the stitch out is hanging in my bathroom. George says I need to start giving the stitch outs away because we don’t have room for so many towels. He knows by the end of the year we will have a krewe-ful of towels. I loved Courtney’s response. She said that they all have their own pillowcases to take on our overnighters and now they are all going to have their own towels. Hmmm, I wonder what next year will bring.

Tomorrow is Nauga. Yep, the Krewe of Nauga has one event and that is a pajama party tomorrow morning at 10:30. With just one event, this krewe has over 500 members. That should say a lot for the fun involved. The attire is to wear your pajamas. The cost is $15 per person and I believe they serve breakfast. The party is open to the public. As I’ve said before, George and I have never attended the Nauga Party and this will be our first year. George absolutely refuses to wear pajamas. That’s okay because many just come in jeans and a sweatshirt or whatever. The theme is animal print. Last year our precious Judy showed up dressed as a one eyed, one horned, flying purple people eater and was horrified to find out that she was crowned Nauga Queen. Her picture was in all of the local newspapers with her face painted purple. Personally, I thought she was adorable.

I’ve been trying to work on the Etsy shop this week. I’m trying to get some more scarves in the store and since I’ve been freezing this week (the highs have been in the 40’s) I’m working on some flannel, plaid scarves. Chrissy arrived at Krewe Den this past Wednesday with the most adorable scarf. It was black. Felt like velour, loosely woven. On one end was a big “Who Dat?” written in gold, glitter paint and outlined in rhinestones. Absolutely gorgeous! I may do a “Who Dat?” scarf later but not right now.

As I’ve written before, the girls are always complaining about crew neck t-shirts. The crew neck is so confining. This year, one of my vendors, has what appears to be a nice scoop neck tee. It’s an Anvil Women’s Sheer Scoop Neck Tee. This is the sale of the week. It’s short sleeved. To keep the price down, due to shipping, I have to sell in lots of 10 to get the price.

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.

My favorite poem:

Are you almost disgusted with life, little man?

I'll tell you a wonderful trick

that will bring you contentment, if anything can

Do something for somebody, quick!

Are you awfully tired with play, little girl?

Wearied, discouraged, and sick-

I'll tell you the loveliest game in the world,

Do something for somebody quick!

Though it rains like the rain of the flood, little man

and the clouds are forbidding and thick,

You can make the sun shine in your soul, little man

Do something for somebody, quick!

Though the stars are like brass overhead, little girl,

and the walks like a well-heated brick

and our earthly affairs in a terrible whirl,

Do something for somebody, quick!

Did you know:

Louisiana contains 41 percent of the coastal marshland in the United States.

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French Phrase of the Week: Le Parti de Nauga (Nauga Party)

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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.

SALE OF THE WEEK (Good through Thursday, February 10, 2011)

SALE: 10 Anvil Sheer Scoop Neck Tee for $8 each ($80) [size S-XL] embroidery is additional charge

Colors: black, Caribbean blue (out of size S), hot pink, mocha, silver (out of size S), white

391 Anvil Sheer Scoop Neck Tee

• 3.2 oz. 100% ring spun cotton; preshrunk

• Classic countoured silhouette with side seam

• Display tape and single-needle seamed collarette

• Double-needle sleeve and bottom hem

Monday is Laundry Day

Two more weeks until the Arts & Wine Festival.  I was talking with a friend a few weeks ago about the Festival's logo.  At that time, I hadn't seen it.  In jest, I came up with Cajun Stitchery's version of the logo.  So, what do you think?  I like it.

The Junkanoos are back.  This order came in from one of my Junkanoo friends.  She has wanted shirts with the Junkanoo logo for awhile.  She finally brought me a shirt.  We changed thing around a bit. Took off the green and purple background, used a different font, put the krewe name at the bottom, and the member's name was placed at the top.  I like it. 

George asked me last night when was I going to embroider a pillowcase with "Hers" on it to match "His"?  I told him probably the next time I do laundry and find an unembroidered pillowcase.  Monday is laundry day.  I guess today is that day.

A request came in from a friend recently.  She is interested in neck wallets.  Neck wallets?  I had never heard of such a thing.  I haven't taken the picture yet but I have made one.  First, I had to do a bit of research on the internet to find out what they were.  Basically, they are simply a pouch that hangs around your neck like a name tag on a lanyard.  My friend works on the beach cleaning up any oil and observing the wildlife.  She works at night and would rather have her cell phone around her neck.  You can have just about anything you want in a neck wallet.  You can carry your phone, notepad, pencil, money, ID, credit cards, or whatever.  My friend just wants it to hang around her neck, but some people use them to put under their shirts for safety reasons.  Kind of like the old money pouch in the bra thing.  Pouches of any kind are pretty simple to make.  The one I made last night has a 4"x5" pouch, then a 4"x3" pouch/pocket in front of that, then a 4" by 2" plastic sewn in for ID or whatever.  The flap is 4"x4" and folds over, only revealing the plastic pocket at the bottom.  The strap/lanyard is 32" long and rather than coming to a point and hooking on a single D ring, this strap is sewn into each side of the pouch, like a purse strap.  It is actually very cute.  The one I made is plaid (red, blue, black and white).

Now let me tell you a bit about the plastic.  On my neverending quest to reuse, recycle, and reduce, I realized that there is plastic in various colors, like Wal-Mart bags and then there is clear plastic, like dry cleaner bags.  I used a piece of dry cleaner bag -- clear plastic -- for the ID holder.  I'm not totally pleased with the look of the plastic but it has given rise to some ideas that I will hopefully be able to work on at a later date.  The plastic on the neck wallet opens at the top, 4" wide.  Over time, that may sag.  I'm thinking of framing it and then attaching the frame.  Wonder how that would work? 

I have this very delicate white veil kind of fabric.  I love it and it's so soft.  I took a couple of yards of this fabric and did a mountain of embroidery in black on it.  Ooooh la la!  It turned out to be a beautiful scarf.  I was practicing aligning repetitive designs in a straight line.  Both ends have the floral design with the lovebirds and the word "Amour" above.  The opposing sides have a floral design - my practice project - repeated over and over again.  The middle kind of looked empty to me, so I added butterflies.  The repetitive embroidery along the sides caused puckers which look like gathers.  I like of like it.  The puckers gives it texture and dimension.  Anyway, I ended up listing the scarf on Etsy last night.  We'll see if others like it, too.

I'm letting George sleep in this morning.  In the middle of the night, my dog, Evie, decided to start barking.  We were up.  She never barks at night and we were alarmed.  The best we can figure is that she was irritated with one of the cats.  I went directly back to sleep but George was up.