Cajun Corner - Vol. 5, No. 58

Cajun Corner – Vol. 5, No. 58 – December 28, 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.

This week’s Cajun Corner should be filled more with pictures than words.  It should, but you know that isn’t going to happen.

I sure hope every one of you and your families had a wonderful Christmas.  The week before Christmas, my son, Hank, called daily to see if his package arrived yet.  When it finally arrived we put the box under the tree.  Hank called, “You have to open the box.  I have to explain something.”  So, we opened the box expecting wrapped presents.  Oh no, there were two beautiful housecoats in the box.  What did he have to explain?  He just wanted us to know that the black one is for dad and the white one for mom.  That little dickens just couldn’t wait. But that’s not all.  He received our package and delivered presents to everyone on the spot – without waiting for Christmas.

I must admit that Hank takes after his mother.  For a long time I’ve said we need pre-Christmas presents.  Further, I think that is probably why advent calendars were started with gifts for the 12 days before Christmas.

Although this season, thank God, has been very busy with work, we did enjoy a pleasant dinner with friends early in the season, after the Christmas parade.  She had a bit of an accident early in November on her bicycle and we all teased that she should have training wheels.  Guess what we gave her for Christmas?  Yes, training wheels.

Early in the season was the SOB (Sisters of the Beach) brunch which, as usual, was a hoot. The Wednesday night Mental Health Night a/k/a MHN girls had a wonderful Christmas party.  The Nereids also had a fabulous Christmas slumber party.

Since the girls were all too busy to meet on the Wednesdays after the MHN Christmas party, George and I took one Wednesday night and went to Tippy’s Tavern for their prime rib dinner.  OMG!  It was fabulous.

Cajun Stitchery’s studio was decked out for Christmas.  Hopefully, it will be more decked out in years to come but I was very pleased this year.  Since the front door opens into the “living room,” we turned the living room into a show place for our wares, complete with Christmas tree.  Each day the Christmas lights were turned on for customers to enjoy.  As you walk through the front “show” room, through the kitchen and into our work room, we looked like Santa’s workshop.  Every stage of orders were hanging and stacked everywhere.  It was great! Thanks to our local radio station, Christmas music played constantly throughout the season.  I made a red Santa Sack with zebra print fur at the top.  That Santa Sack carried beads through the Christmas parade.  It carried presents and a change of clothes to the Nereid slumber party.  It was displayed in our workshop and finally was filled with George’s Christmas presents and placed under our tree for the big day.

During the season we had several repeat customers as well as new customers.  All are my friends now.  There were a lot of names embroidered on stockings; monograms on shirts; logos on jackets, and all sorts of wonderful gifts and embroidery.

On top of that, Etsy was booming. I got so tickled because I have an Etsy widget loaded on my android and every time we had a sale, I could hear “cha-ching” from my phone.  At first it kind of startled me.  Later I learned to love the cha-ching sound.  We sold Christmas items, mermaid stocking, laundry bags, placemats, and all sorts of thing.  The best seller, by far, were the handkerchiefs.  Some were for wedding showers and some for mothers and mother-in-laws.  Several of the handkerchiefs were monogrammed and several were not.  Oddly, none of the booger hankies were sold.  I guess that fad is over.  However, lace is certainly in.  This was by far the best Christmas season our little Etsy store has ever had.

We normally take down the Christmas decorations on George’s birthday, January 2^nd.  This year the decorations were put away the day after Christmas.  Insofar as Cajun Stitchery is concerned, we need to move onto the next season … MARDI GRAS.  I have begun decorating but more needs to be done.  I’m taking this week between Christmas and New Years to build up our Etsy stock and fill more orders that are still coming in.  Yes, we already have krewe jackets to embroider.

In building up the Etsy stock, the first line of business is mermaids.  There are some beautiful new mermaid items available already. 

I have created a new baby bib design made on the embroidery machine.  This design has scalloped edges and is much more girly and heirloom looking than the other rectangular design.  The new bibs have not been listed yet.  In fact, I haven’t even taken pictures of them.  That will come in a later issue.  But remember the problem I had figuring out what to suggest for baby showers.  We have that under control now.

This is the week for making resolutions and I’m working hard on that, too.

 

 

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:

Mr. Johnson was overweight, so his doctor put him on a diet. He said; "I want you to eat regularly for two days, then skip a day, and repeat this procedure for two weeks. The next time I see you, you should have lost at least five pounds." When Mr. Johnson returned, he shocked the doctor by having dropped almost twenty pounds. "Why, that's amazing!" the doctor told him. "You did this just by following my instructions?" The slimmed down Mr. Johnson nodded. "I'll tell you, though, I thought I was going to drop dead that third day." "From hunger, you mean?" "No," replied Mr. Johnson, "from skipping."

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.

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:>)

Cajun Corner - Vol. 3, No. 19

Cajun Corner – Vol. 3, No. 19 – May 13, 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, catalog at www.companycasuals.com/cajunstitchery and www.cajunstitchery.etsy.com often.

We have a lot to cover today, so let’s get started.

First topic is a trip to Louisiana. A few months back when my cousin Kim came to visit, I kept telling her that aside from looking at all of the Theaux’s for her genealogy, she should also meet and look into the Landry’s. Mama and my Aunt Lil have told me such wonderful stories about being little girls with my great grandmother, who was always referred to as “Mom.” My great grandfather was Henry Landry. Mom’s maiden name was Felecie Romero. Both sides of the family have a rich history, but the Landry’s are, by far, the party animal side of the family. The Landry’s are the Cajun side of the family.

Nevertheless, I told Kim that I need to introduce her to some of the Landry’s. She said that she had a conference coming up in May in one of the Carolina’s and we planned that after her conference, she would fly to Pensacola where we would drive to Lafayette. Sounds like a good time and a good plan. I cannot take off very much time because when I’m gone Cajun Stitchery is closed and Cajun Stitchery cannot afford to be closed. So, I planned one day to drive to Lafayette, one day to visit, one day to return. I contacted my cousin Eddie to help gather some Landry’s for Kim to meet. Eddie replied that he would be glad to help and May was a good month for that. Besides, we wanted to visit with my Aunt Philo who is now 92 years old.

Kim left California for the Carolina’s early this week. I began making some solid plans. First, I contacted Aunt Philo’s friend, Paulette, to see if she would be in town for our visit. It turned out that Paulette is going to be in Daytona Beach the entire week. That’s okay. I will still visit my aunt. Since Philo is deaf, I don’t want to visit if we aren’t going to understand each other. If she can see, she was always able to read my lips and Kim says she is fluent in sign language. So, we are still okay with that.

Neither Kim nor I could get in touch with Eddie since that first message. That’s okay because I can get in touch with my cousin Roland. I called Roland and found out that one of his sons was recently killed in an auto accident in Naples, Florida. Roland said the son was cremated and they had a nice memorial service in Naples and last weekend they had another memorial service in Louisiana. The whole family attended. I was heartbroken. I am so keenly aware of the unfathomable heartache of losing a child, no matter how old he is. Roland, a true Landry, nevertheless wanted us to come. He said to let him know what day we would be there as soon as I knew, so they could gather some local Landry’s to meet Kim.

George had been vacillating about going. He really wants to go. If he goes, then we need to board the dogs with the vet. I called the vet and got the information that I needed. They will board the dogs; give them their shots and annual check up, all at the same time. But they need to know in advance when we will be leaving the dogs. We have to make reservations for the pups which I did not because I wasn’t sure what days we would be going to Louisiana.

I then contacted my friend, Sandy, to let her know that we were coming. Sandy and I have never met face-to-face. She was a good friend of Mama’s and has become a good friend of mine via email and the internet. I would love to meet Sandy face-to-face. Sandy replied that she would love to meet me, as well. She will be in town. One problem, though, Louisiana is having a flood and next week is forecast to be the worse of it because the Army Corp of Engineers is probably going to open the Morganza Spillway which will flood New Iberia and the surrounding areas. They may have to evacuate. She suggested that I watch the flood news and sent me a map of the flood area in the Atchafalaya Basin.

At this point, George and I started realizing that if Memphis is flooded from the Mississippi and they are dealing with mass devastation, and the river has begun flooding the State of Mississippi, and we have to cross the Pearl River in Mississippi and the Mississippi River in Baton Rouge, not to mention the Atchafalaya, it may not be a matter of whether or not our destination gets flooded. It may be that we cannot get there through the flood on I-10. I began searching the internet for any news. The Bonnet Carre Spillway has already been opened to divert the water from New Orleans. The Advertiser in Lafayette is prominently reporting what to do if you are told to evacuate. The flood is headline news all over the area. The Louisiana governor said the Morganza Spillway will be opened and to expect 5-25 feet of flooding throughout the Basin, including New Iberia and St. Martinsville. Lafayette probably will not get flooded.

The last thing that anyone needs during an impending or potential environmental devastation is company from out-of-state. So, I tried contacting Kim. Kim will arrive in Pensacola late Sunday afternoon. Bless her heart, she’s in the middle of a conference and I’m emailing that we may not be able to go to Louisiana. She replied that we will discuss this when she gets here and see the situation at that time. I love a cool head. Of course, in order to make reservations to board the dogs, we have to give at least a little leeway. Besides, if she has work to do in Louisiana, she may want to fly directly to Lafayette, rather than Pensacola. No. She says her work is in Baton Rouge. The last I read was that Baton Rouge has already begun flooding.

Then I called Roland to let him know the situation. Like a true Landry, he says, “it’s not going to flood here.” Then he begins to explain the levy system that was constructed after the 1927 flood. Hmmm. He said that the government isn’t going to close I-10 and I should be able to get there. Hmmm. Roland lives in Youngsville, between Lafayette and New Iberia.

As it stands today, I don’t know. Common sense tells me not to take chances and intentionally travel an area that I know is already having problems. George doesn’t want me to go, especially since my trip back to Pensacola would be me alone, if he doesn’t go. On the other hand, my heart wants to go play with the family in Louisiana. Who knows what will happen between now and Sunday?

As a sideline from calling the veterinarian, it dawned on me after talking with Leigh Ann that I should make the dogs coats with the Cajun Stitchery logo embroidered on the side. I love animals and I know that dogs are built to work. Some dogs are hunters; some are workers, some herd, etc. Evie has always had chores. She cleans the floor and frequently is a pre-washer for the dishes. Stinky doesn’t have chores – she’s a princess. I decided that their new jobs will entail advertising for Cajun Stitchery. You know what they say; the two biggest attention getters are babies and animals. So, I made Evie a coat with the Cajun Stitchery logo on either side. I haven’t made one for Stinky yet. They need to wear their coats to the vet’s. Maybe we’ll pick up some business there.

Over the past year or two, some of the girls have been giving collapsible market baskets for gifts. The market baskets are cloth with a collapsible aluminum frame. They get the girl’s name or initials embroidered on the side of the market baskets. They get these baskets from a really cool store in Gulf Breeze. Well, that’s not right. They should get them from Cajun Stitchery. That is, if Cajun Stitchery could offer them. We can now. Browsing around on the internet for wholesalers, I found the baskets and oh so much more. I did find a place that carries the baskets that the girls have been giving. But I found another place that carries the baskets, but better. I can get either. The girls told me they pay about $30 for the baskets that they have been giving. I can do that, too. I found a really cool wholesaler in Georgia that sells the baskets in zebra, leopard and a multitude of other prints. These baskets are lined with a zippered inside pocket, and I can embroider on them. The cool thing is that I can sell them for $30, too, including the embroidered name/initials. This wholesaler also carries the insulated market basket with zippered top to keep your items cool. I can sell the insulated market basket for $35. They have bunches of other cool stuff. I have already placed an order with them for a variety of items. One of my girls has already ordered the 3 piece rolling luggage with telescopic handles ($200), rolling insulated cooler with telescopic handle ($40), insulated market basket ($35), and lined market basket ($30), all in zebra print. The pictures and descriptions appear to be a high quality. Something else they have that really caught my eye was an entire line of fleur de lis items.

Believe it or not, as I was typing the above, the first shipment from my zebra wholesaler came in. The luggage will be coming in a separate shipment next week. The rolling cooler in zebra print with hot pink trim, came with black trim and the wholesaler is sending the correct one. A fleur de lis wallet that I ordered was out of stock and not included but this stuff is beautiful. I cannot embroider on all of it. For instance, the insulation on the insulated market basket with zippered top would be compromised if I embroidered on it. But I can embroider on the lined market basket and the rolling cooler with telescopic handle. I even got myself a treat. I bought a hounds tooth lined market basket that I will be embroidering our logo upon. There are some really cool wallets and purses. I’m including the professional pictures of most of these items but honestly, some of these pictures don’t do the product justice. It’s mostly laminated fabric. It shines! Email me if you want to place an order or have any questions.

Memorial Day is coming up at the end of May and I’ve listed several patriotic items in our Etsy store. For this week only – through next Thursday – I will embroider “USA” in red, white, and/or blue on your jeans or a shirt or other embroiderable item for $5.00. This is really a good sale because our minimum order is $9.45.

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 Kathi for sending the following joke:

Thibodeaux called the airlines information desk and inquired, "How long does it take to fly from Baton Rouge to New Orleans?" "Just a minute," said the busy clerk. "Well, said Thibodeaux, "If it has to go dat fast, I tink I'll just take da bus."

==================================================

French Phrase of the Week: The following was taken from LSU.edu regarding Cajun french differing from other french:

In Louisiana when we jouer à la pelote, it is typically a game of baseball, football or soccer that we are referring to. Careful, though, because for our French-speaking Canadian neighbors, la pelote refers to female genitalia.

===============================================

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.

A Change In Plans

Wow!  So much has been happening.  I was planning a trip to Louisiana with my cousin from California next week.  I've called relatives to tell them we are coming.  My cousin has made the appropriate airline reservations.  I've contacted the vet to board the dogs.  In other words, we are ready.  Then a friend emailed me from New Iberia and informed me that the Achafalaya/Mississippi River is flooding and next week is when they expect the worst of it.  I'm still waiting to hear back from my cousin who has begun her sojourn -- she was going to a conference in South Carolina and then coming to Pensacola.  And I was really looking forward to at least a day with relatives and crawfish. 

Someday I will actually learn how to use all of the controls and gadgets on my digitizing program.  But for now I am learning and chalking up hours of experience but there are times that I get frustrated.  Yesterday I had to just get up and walk away from all of it.  Today I was back at it.  The Krewe of Bad Habits logo has taken an enormous amount of time to digitize and then to make it 5 inches was almost like redoing the entire logo.  It's still not perfect but I am happy with it.

This week I found a wholesaler in Georgia with some gorgeous items.  What really attracted me was the zebra and leopard print items, and the fleur de lis items.  Around here that is the trend.  I did email pictures of a few of the items to some friends and sold some right off the bat.  I ordered a bunch of stuff from the wholesaler today.  They told me it would take 2-3 days to fill the order and then they will have FedEx deliver.  The wholesaler's area was part of the tornado devastation in Georgia.  I can't wait to see this stuff up close and touch it and see the quality.  It really looks nice on the internet.

I found the cutest online store for dog apparel.  That made me start thinking that when I take my dogs for their annual visit to the vet, I think I'm going to make them dog harnesses with Cajun Stitchery embroidered on the sides.  In fact, George and I were joking around and I told him that I was going to put pockets on either side of the harness with my business cards and flyers.  Now I'm thinking seriously about it.  How cute would that be?  I have actually begun making Evie a harness.  Maybe I'll make some and sell them on Etsy.

My thoughts and prayers tonight are with everyone along the Mississippi River, as well as those working through the tornado devastation in the southeast. 

Bon soir, mes amis.