Christmas and Arts & Crafts in July

It's Monday morning.   Thank goodness, I think I'm back on a regular sleep schedule.  Monday, of course, is lawn and laundry day at our house.  No lawn today because it's raining.  This is one of the beauties of working out of our home.  I can work and do laundry at the same time.  Also, I don't have to get out in the rain to go to and from work.  Sweet.

This morning 3 of our 4 pots of lemon balm on the deck is dead.  We don't know what happened.  Maybe too much rain.  The lemon balm really does smell like lemons but better than that, it contains natural citronella.  I think we are going to empty the pots in a nice, sunny spot in the yard and try again.  I've never had problems with the lemon balm before, so this is puzzling.

The tomato plants are very lush but no tomatoes.  I looked it up on the internet yesterday and it said that if you have several consecutive days of temperatures over 90 degrees that the fruit will not form.  That must be the case.  So, I'll just continue to pamper my tomato plants and maybe when the temperature gets down in the fall, we will have tomatoes.  At least that's my plan.  Bell peppers and green beans, however, are doing extraordinarily well.

George had planted some hibiscus in the front yard that have blossumed this year.  Those dark pink flowers are gorgeous.

It was a pretty active weekend for us.  Friday night we attended a cocktail party on the beach.  Saturday we met for lunch with George's sister on Perdido Key, and yesterday we had a delightful afternoon with the neighbors celebrating the 4th of July.  I guess most people in the US have a holiday today, but not me.  I don't even mind because I love what I do.  It's part of my life.

I've been working on lace lately.  Today I actually think that I'm going to post some handkerchiefs with my lace on Etsy.  I'm still trying to combine the black and white, french and animal themes throughout.  That's not easy for a girl who loves color.

We have a few orders that need my attention this week.  Some pillowcases, scarves and bags.  I need to get to Cantonment to my favorite fabric store.  Maybe I can do that tomorrow.  They are probably closed today.  I think they are closed on Monday's anyway.  That'll take awhile because once in that store I touch everything and look at everything.  It's my playground.

Also this week, I'm hoping to build a light box.  I've read that a light box will help with the photography of my items.  We'll give it a shot.

Since it's now July, it's time to start thinking about Christmas and the upcoming Arts & Craft Festival on the beach.  Need to work on getting enough items in stock to fill our booth for the October Arts & Craft Festival.  I haven't heard a lot about it this year and I sure hope we are still doing it, in spite of the oil situation.

Also since it's July, I have to pay our quarterly sales tax.  Paying it is not as bad as figuring it out.  Poo yie.  Not my favorite thing to do.

Nevertheless, July is going to be busy.  Since George has the job with Deepwater Horizon now, I am not going to have my right hand man here to help with the embroidery. 

On our Mexico Beach trip we had some fabulous food.  My friend, Lynn, sent the recipes and my absolute favorite was the spinach balls.  I made them the other night.  My intent was to make them and take them to the 4th of July celebration.  However, George and I ate all of them.  I want to make some substitutions to the recipes that keeps the wonderful flavor but leaves out or substitutes some of the high coloric ingredients.  Spinach is so good for you.  It's really the butter and bread crumbs that are the only high caloric ingredients.  I'll see what I can do.  It's an easy recipe that even I can follow.

Back to work.  Stay posted.

Cajun Corner - Vol. 2, No. 25

Cajun Corner – Vol. 2, No. 25 – July 2, 2010

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

ΘΘΘΘΘ

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

This week we have to catch up for two weeks since I took a long weekend last weekend and went to Mexico Beach.

First, I want to clear something up. Mexico Beach is in Florida, not Mexico. It is east of Panama City and about three hours from Pensacola.

Father’s Day was spent back on the beach, eating at Peg Leg Pete’s and roaming around Ft. Pickens. The drive down Ft. Pickens Road was as beautiful as ever. Twice we saw pods of dolphin playing in the water. It was a picture of paradise on a breath taking, perfect day. I have posted to the blog since Father’s Day. So, go back a few postings and catch up.

Last week, in anticipation of the weekend, I went shopping. I truly hate to shop. The only shopping that I like, and I really like it, is fabric shopping. Okay, I also like the dollar store. I’m so frugal that George says sometimes when I walk, I squeak. Ha-ha. Must have been a dormant gene because the rest of the family loves to shop and spend money. I just don’t like the concept of money. I know it’s needed and all but I find my joy in people, nature and art. Nevertheless, I broke down and went shopping. I purchased a new wardrobe for the weekend. I bought lots of shorts and sun dresses.

We were told to pack lightly because my friend’s house isn’t big enough for the amount of luggage that these girls usually bring. As my friend said, you are going for a 3-4 day weekend, not a month.

Friday, George drove me to Paulette’s house where we were to wait on our ride. When the ride arrived, George left and we were waiting on Paulette. In the meantime, we hopped in the SUV and went to my friend’s home because she forgot her coffee. We couldn’t have been there 2 minutes before she was back in the car and backing out of her driveway directly into a truck that had pulled up behind her. No one was hurt but the vehicles took some damage. Turned out the guy in the truck had pulled up to pick up his buddy for a day of golf. He had borrowed the truck from a friend. As they were exchanging insurance information, my friend realized that the guy was a deputy sheriff. What a way to start our vacation!

We were finally on our way and I sat shotgun. The trip did take a good 3 hours but I was enjoying the scenery and the girls in the car.

Mexico Beach is one of those lost in time little beach towns. It looks like a 1950’s Florida beach town that never really progressed past the 50’s. It is adorable. My friend’s home was one of the usual concrete block Florida homes. That is until she remodeled. Her home is light and bright. The colors on the walls are a different vibrant color in each room, all trimmed in white. Once you walk into the house it makes you feel happy. The home is very open, light and airy. The décor is all beach and mermaid themed. You just feel happy in that house.

The weekend was wonderful. You know the rules. What happens in Mexico Beach, stays in Mexico Beach. I will tell you that on many occasions that weekend we all laughed until we were doubled up. There were 11 of us, in all. By the time I returned home, I was totally rejuvenated.

One of the fun things on the trip was to see all of my embroidery that I’ve done over the years for these girls. They brought their pillows in the pillowcases that I embroidered for them. They packed in totes that I made and embroidered for them. And even wore visors from Cajun Stitchery. There were a few embroidered koozies and coasters, too.

Monday had me working on Etsy, again. We had some orders for napkins and I listed some new napkins on Etsy, as well. A friend has requested the Marine Corp insignia embroidered on a bag. So, I did a set of napkins with the insignia to show her the finished embroidery. The Marine napkins were listed on Etsy on Tuesday. It is very difficult to list 5 items a day. The listing alone takes me about 30 minutes. To make 5 items from start to finish in one day is more than I can do at this point. There is so much thought and work that goes into creating the design, even if it is just a stock design. We have thousands of designs and to pick only one, make it the right size, color, density, etc., is a lot of work. Even doing the embroidery on napkins takes time, although it is faster than constructing the item.

I stay up late a night reading the forums on Etsy and just trying to figure out how to sell. I have some good basic knowledge. I have a lot of business experience. And I’m learning something new all of the time. I was at a point where the key to Etsy is good photography and lots of listings, even if you have to re-list items, just to keep your shop on top of the most recently listed items. What I now want to understand is all of these analytics. Not just what they are and how to move around in the program, but also what do they mean to Cajun Stitchery’s success? I can tell you how many visitors have been to our Etsy store. I can tell you what days or even time of day that they visited. I can even tell you what they looked at. That’s all fine and good, but it doesn’t tell me why they didn’t purchase the items they looked at.

Apparently, I wasn’t the only one in this dilemma. Etsy arranged for a “lab” on Wednesday specifically for understanding the Google Analytics. The “lab” was a new experience for me. At a certain day and time you go to an online classroom. It’s a button on Etsy and it opens up and each person is represented by their avatar. You put your avatar in one of the seats and you have the ability to message to the group. In the center of the room is the speaker on webcam. You see her live. You can message and ask questions. The lab was a wonderful new experience for me. The content of the lab was also helpful. We had the lab on one site and Google Analytics on another site and we could, and did, switch back and forth throughout the hour lesson. I learned a lot. Now there is a forum on Etsy to ask more questions and for those who were not able to attend the lab. Etsy is really good about being helpful in your sales.

I walked away analyzing the stats. People are going to our shop. We do not have a high bounce rate, meaning that people are taking their time and looking around the shop. Few people search for us on Etsy, itself. Most of our visitors have either clicked on a link to come directly to our shop or they have simply typed in our address to come directly to our shop. But there are few sales. What do I need to do or not do at the store to increase the sales? One thing is to look at what has been purchased versus what has not. We have sold handkerchiefs, cell phone holders, and napkins. We have not sold towels, totes or koozies. There is only one towel on the site and that is a little hand towel with the big red lips. It may be there just isn’t a big selection of towels to choose. That one towel has had a lot of visitors, though. Insofar as the totes are concerned, I’m tiring of totes and I think most people are. They really do last forever and most of us have enough. However, these are not just your everyday totes. The embroidery is exquisite on each of them. If you search for totes on Etsy, there is a plethora of people making and selling totes and purses. More than likely the tote market is saturated. That leaves the koozies. Now I, personally, think the kloth koozies are a wonderful item. They are unique and pretty. George and I both use them. They are not selling. People may be thinking that $10 is too high for a koozie, but then I put the sets of 4 koozies for $20. That means half price when you purchase a set. Still no buyers. I’ve decided not to pursue the kloth koozie line.

I’m going to list more handkerchiefs, cell phone holders, and napkins. These are items that have sold. Then I’m going to try another category to take the place of the koozies and I believe for now that will be scarves, maybe table runners or small tablecloths in the future.

One of the Etsy forums said that the black and white combination, animals and anything French are en vogue this year. With that in mind I took some white napkins, and embroidered in black work a design of two birds sitting on a branch singing and embroidered the phrase “chanson d’oiseau” underneath. [chanson d’oiseau means birdsong] I listed the napkins. Without us even trying to advertise, people are visiting that listing. We put the listing on facebook, kaboodle, tumblr, and stumbleupon. I may have put it on an earlier post this week. Then I left it alone. We are getting visitors. That tells me that these are the trends for which people are looking. I have some more of the black on white polka dot fabric and I’m going to post some more handkerchiefs. I do want to include some new techniques with the handkerchiefs but I need to stay with the black on white, animal, French combination.

I’ve also learned not to direct advertise on Twitter and Tumblr. With those I simply post several times a day. They know what I do. On Tumblr I am able to include pictures and do that a lot. I have learned that people like pictures. Also, I’m trying to learn to improve my photography.

There is still a lot of work ahead but I feel we are starting to gain some momentum with the Etsy store and I’m very pleased.

The garden is doing just fine. For awhile there we were harvesting tons of tomatoes. We still have the plants and they are very lush and beautiful but no tomatoes. I have to figure out what is happening there. Looks like some more fertilizer may be needed.

On Monday of this week, a friend called George and told him to apply for a job as a wildlife observer with Deepwater Horizon. The friend had already recommended George for the job. George did look into it and showed up at the Crown Plaza on Tuesday for the interview. He said there were hundreds of people gathered to be interviewed for this job. As they were all gathered and waiting, it turned out that several of the people waiting to be interviewed had outstanding warrants. The police came in and hauled all of these people away. Can you imagine? Anyway, everyone was then told to go across the street to the Civic Center for the urine test. George passed and he didn’t even study for it. Lol. When they returned, they were told that another group came in after them and they handed out all of the applications and suggested that George’s group contact a lady on email and send their resumes. George was lower than a snake’s belly in a wagon rut. Although he doesn’t need the job; he’s retired. He wanted the job.

The following morning George received a call asking him to come to the Civic Center. Apparently the Crown Plaza kicked them out. He got the job. The really nice thing about it is that he will get benefits, i.e., health insurance. We have been without health insurance since I lost my job and it’s simply too expensive for Cajun Stitchery to purchase. So, this is a wonderful turn of events. He has to get “permitted” next week and then he starts work. He has a six month contract. His hours are 7 p.m. to 5 a.m. But that works out well for George because his doctors told him since he had the cancer on his arm that he should never be outside without long pants, long sleeves and something covering his body. In this heat, that would be overbearing. But at night, he doesn’t have to worry about the sun. One of my friends said I should change Cajun Stitchery’s hours to 7 p.m. to 5 a.m. since I work best at night anyway and we could be on the same schedule. Of course, I do need to have Cajun Stitchery open during the day and the hours are not going to change.

It’s going to be a fun weekend. Tonight we are going to a cocktail party at a friend’s condo on the beach. Tomorrow we are meeting George’s sister on Perdido Beach for lunch. Then, of course, Sunday is the 4th of July and we plan on joining some neighbors to celebrate.

I better get back to work. Have a wonderful week, everyone.

Always remember that we are just a call or email away at cajunstitchery@yahoo.com or 850-261-2462 and place your order.

ΘΘΘΘΘ

Two people sent me the following joke this week, Marshall Larrivere and Lynn Ciutat. Thanks to both of you.

Subject: BP No Longer Hiring Cajuns!

Bulletin... you heard it here first!

British Petroleum announced today that they will no longer hire

coastal Cajuns to help in the cleanup. Boudreaux and Fontenot

were told to clean as many brown pelicans as they could....

So far, they have cleaned and gutted over 56 birds.

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French phrase of the week: Je peux pas partir mon char. (I can't start my car.) ΘΘΘΘΘ

From: http://www.dailyecotips.com/

Independence Day is a time when most people get together with friends and have BBQs. At most BBQs there is a lot of paper plates and plastic utensils and cups which just get thrown away. This is a great waste and something that can be avoided. I want to share some simple tips that will allow you to have a more eco-friendly holiday weekend.

• Napkins- Use colorful cloth as napkins so that they can be washed and reused. You can easily go to the fabric store and make napkins out of fabric scraps.

• Tablecloth- If you want to use one, use an old sheet and let the kids decorate it.

• Plates, Utensils and Cups- If you have to use these, use washable stuff or recycled paper plates and biodegradable utensils.

• Food- Make finger foods, then you don’t need plates. Also buy healthy and organics foods from local farmer markets.

• Decorations- Make your own decorations out of stuff you already have around the house. You can also let the kids make the decorations.

• Invitations- If you want to invite people, use electronic methods like social networks to invite people. You can also use this to thank people for coming.

Please let me know if there is something that you would like to see in the weekly email. You may always call me at (850) 261-2462 or email me at cajunstitchery@yahoo.com.

If you are not a subscriber and would like to receive Cajun Corner weekly, please email cajunstitchery@yahoo.com and let me know to put you on our email list.

C’est tout, mes amis

Peggy Henshall

Cajun Stitchery

(850) 261-2462

cajunstitchery@yahoo.com

P.S. You are always welcome to stop by and look at all of the catalogs and pass some time with me, cher.

SALE OF THE WEEK (Good through Thursday, July 8, 2010)

Sale: Tote with initials embroidered = $20.00

Liberty Bags - #8811

Recycled® Super Feature Tote

Colors: black, hot pink, light tan, navy, purple, red, royal blue

50% recycled 600D polyester/PVC. 15"W X 13"H X 4"D. Zippered main compartment. Adjustable straps. Contoured main front pocket gusseted side front pockets. Compartments for water bottles and cell phones as well as pen loops. 8" X 9" inside hanging pocket. Hanging ring for keys. Color matched hardware.

Black and White, French, and Animals

We've had a few napkin sales on Etsy this week.  I'm still trying to work on getting serious shoppers into the Etsy store.  And still trying to figure out Google Analytics.  Today at 2:00 central time is an Etsy Lab on Google Analytics that I do not want to miss.  I think GA (Google Analytics) is a very powerful tool but knowing what to do with that information is something else.  I am looking forward to the lab today.

One article that I read said that the color combination of black and white is still very popular, as well as anything french, and animals.  So, I created a set of napkins that I call "Birdsong".  They are white napkins with blackwork.  The design is a couple of birds on a tree branch singing.  Underneath is written "chanson d'oiseau" (translated: birdsong).  The napkins incorporate all of the en vogue items: black, white, french, animals.  I must say that without pushing to get visitors, there have been several visitors looking at those napkins.  Guess these people really know what they are talking about.  Of course, I haven't sold the napkins yet.

Our patriotic collection has not only been viewed but the white napkins starred in a treasury.  Not one single buyer.  Hmmm.  I'll get there.  I'm learning more everyday.

This week we included a set of red napkins with the Marine emblem.  Those are really pretty and we can make them with any of the service emblems:  marines, navy, army, air force, coast guard, and national guard.  I have an order for a tote bag with the Marine emblem and wanted to try it out.  I'm still waiting on the customer to look at the napkins and tell me what she thinks about the emblem.

As a lark, we made a set of black napkins with a silver metallic hand.  This is to keep up with the unusual, which Etsy encourages.  These are beautiful but definitely unusual.

We sold the set of gold napkins with the white footprints.  The purchaser requested an additional set.  I worried over this a bit because we do not have any more gold napkins.  When I purchase napkins there is a minimum order of 5 dozen and we had recently received a new shipment but no gold.  I finally contacted the purchaser and explained that we have no more gold in stock but would be glad to put the little feet design on 8 different colored napkins, if they would like.  The customer agreed and we used white napkins with little gold footprints.  I just hate to say that I don't have something.  However, we did make and mail the 8 white napkins with gold footprints and relisted the 4 gold napkins on Etsy.

George has been busy applying for a job as a wildlife observer with the BP people.  Not sure if it's government or BP at this point.  He went yesterday and said that there were hundreds of people and they ran out of applications.  But this morning he received a call from them and they want him in again today.  We'll see what happens.  It's not so much the money, as much as he wants to help the animals.

I would be terribly remiss if I didn't include Mr. Tigger protecting the pizza.  I think he just wanted the box but he was so cute I had to take pictures.

C'est toute, mes amis

Mexico Breach -- Need I Say More?

No.  Mexico Beach is not in Mexico.  It's in Florida, east of Panama City, on the Gulf of Mexico.  It is a piece of old Florida.  No big highrises.  Just a quiet, Florida beach town about 3 hours from Pensacola and it sits on the line between eastern time and central time.  The water was beautiful.  The oil has not reached Mexico Beach yet.  Everyone is very friendly and helpful.  On Saturday, some of the girls went to the beach and another group went shopping.  I joined the shopping group.  We visited some cute little beachside stores exhibiting various local artistsans' creations.  Very inspiring. 

Our hostess entertained 10 guests this weekend, all women and all dear friends of mine.  It was funny to me to see all of the embroidered items appear.  There were tote bags, visors, pillowcases, etc.  All items that Cajun Stitchery created for these friends.  Her home was gorgeous.  She had taken a typical Florida, concrete block house and turned it into a beachside cottage.  Her sense of color and design was without flaw.  When you walked into her home the openness and bright colors exuded happiness.

We ate non-stop until I finally left yesterday.  Fresh fruit with Kahlua sauce was a favorite.  There were some spinach balls that I'm convinced are actually addictive.  Spaghetti pie.  Baked brie.  Jezabel sauce with cream cheese.  The food never stopped appearing on the counter.  I can't remember all of the different food that was prepared and served.  What I do know is that I'm now on a serious diet.  I do want that spinach ball recipe, though.  The weekend was a taste bud festival.

The most fun and most important part of the weekend was the conversations.  This is a wonderful group of intelligent and creative women.  All are very opinionated and compassionate.  We laughed until we were doubled up on several occasions.  We played a silly game of Left, Right and Center. 

I'm ready to create and have new ideas and some new orders, too.  Can't wait to get started.

Have a wonderful week.

C'est toute, mes amis

Facebook, Twitter, Kaboodle, Tumblr, StumbleUpon

Our Wednesday night girls met on Tuesday night this week.  We had a lovely time, as usual, and I came away rejuvenated.  Cajun Stitchery will be closed this Friday because I'm going to Mexico Beach with the girls for the weekend.  We'll reopen on Monday morning.  We have a friend who lives at Mexico Beach and has opened her home to all of us.  I think we all need this break.

Etsy remain my retail learning center.  I've been reading the forums and doing my best to follow instructions.  It seems the number 1 thing to selling on Etsy is good photography, and number 2 is constantly listing and relisting.  At least one new item a day should be listed but some of the more successful stores are listing 5 to 15 or so new items each day.  Wow!  That's a lot.  Especially when you have to make these things by hand.

That bring us to where is the line drawn between handmade and non-handmade.  I posed this question on a forum awhile back and it seems that if you purchase something "store bought" and do nothing to it, that is not handmade.  However, if you purchase something "store bought" and embellish it, in any way, that is handmade.  That's where the line is drawn.

Most of my items on Etsy are handmade from cutting out the fabric, sewing the item, and embellishing/embroidery.  However, using the guideline above, I was able to embroider the patriotic napkins and list them on Etsy.  Even though the napkins are "store bought" the embroidery makes them "handmade." 

I was pleasantly surprised, again, to be notified that the white patriotic napkins were chosen for an Etsy Treasury earlier this week.  It really was a beautiful treasury of red, white and blue and I was honored to be chosen as the first item in the treasury.  That brought some traffic to our store and some hearts but no sales.

The other thing is that when I first began working our Etsy store, there is a "share" button.  Clicked on the "share" button lists Facebook, Twitter, Kaboodle, Tumblr, and StumbleUpon.  I was already very familiar with Facebook and I could click on the Facebook icon and send a link to that item to my Facebook friends.  I joined Twitter, Kaboodle, Tumble and StumbleUpon to do the same thing.  Early on I realized that sending to Facebook maybe brought a visitor or two but not many.  But everytime I clicked on Twitter, the visitor numbers would increase by 15 or 20.  So, I Twittered often.  As time has gone by, I've figured somethings out.  You want to get traffic to your store.  You can have the best stuff in the world but if people don't see it, they don't buy it.  There are several ways to get traffic to your store.  Etsy has loads of traffic, but it also has loads of stores.  To get noticed on Etsy you need to list and re-list to keep your items popping up for all to see.  You can also join in the forum and other store owner will visit your shop and if they "favorite" your shop or item, then there is an icon on their shop favorites for you.  Also, by letting the users of Facebook, Twitter, Kaboodle, Tumblr, and StumbleUpon know your item is listed at your store and you send them a link, then potentially you can get more traffic.  Then there are the search engines.  Basically, you need to have a good presence on the internet.

So, I Facebooked and tweeted, kaboodled, tumbled and stumbled upon all day long for awhile, until finally it wasn't making any sense and I wasn't getting sales.  Then I was introduced to analytics.  These are programs that show how many visitors have visited your store, when, and how; where they came from and where they went.  Statistics.  It showed me that almost no traffic came directly from Etsy.  Our traffic came mostly from direct, Kaboodle or this blog.  I started looking into each of these sites and what they do, what is their purpose.  Kaboodle is simply a shopping site.  There is no need for me to constantly click on Kaboodle because I have an area on Kaboodle where my wears are located, once, and they stay there until I change or remove them.  Putting more of the same thing is too redundant.  So, I stopped clicking on Kaboodle all of the time and now just put my item on there once.  When it sells, I take it off of Kaboodle.  Turns out that the reason the visitor  numbers soar when I tweet but yet my analytics show Twitter visitors as virtually non-existent is because when I tweet the search engine bots visit.  I read someplace that if you tweet too many advertisements, Twitter will block you.  I think I have unwittingly done this.  Tumble is just another blog and StumbleUpon is similar to Kaboodle.

When I read enough articles and forums, I realized that no one wants to be bombarded with advertisements.  If I want to get visitors from these arenas, then I don't need to push my wares; I need to become friends and use the sites as intended.  They know I have an Etsy store by now.  I'll tweet or facebook my new items that I list but not often and I try to make sure that in between the advertisements, I put many personal comments.  I don't like hard core sales and assume no one else does, either.  So, I'm shifting gears and learning better techniques.  I'm a very gregarious person.  As one forum stated, you should sell yourself, become friends, and be kind, and let your items sell themselves.  There's a lot of wisdom in that.

C'est toute, mes amis.

A Computer, The Internet, And A Digitial Camera

It's been hot, hot, hot lately.  Of course, it has.  Today is the official first day of summer.

We went to the beach yesterday.  The water was beautiful and clear.  As we drove along Ft. Pickens Road we saw two schools of dolphins playing in the water at two different sites.  There is something therapeutic about going to the beach.  We had a lovely lunch at Peg Leg's Pete and then drove down to Ft. Pickens.  We walked through the fort, not very thoroughly though.  It was just too hot to be outside. 

When we returned home, we worked sporatically in the garden.  George saw a video about gardening propagation that said that when you take clippings to dip the end of the clipping in honey.  You use the honey like any rooting agent.  He was outside with his honey.  We'll see if the clippings grow.  Today we have a huge, beautiful hybiscus flower blooming.  Our solar waterfall has been going dry.  We were worried that it might have a crack in it but it turns out that all of the neighborhood animals are stopping by for a drink.  The birds, squirrels, stray cats and who knows what else are draining the little pot of water.  We are going to have to refill two or three times a day.  But it's worth it. 

Finally, George and I got on the computer and George is learning the digitizing program.  He's doing real well with it.  So, we played around with designs for awhile. 

I had placed some red napkins with a 4th of July embroidered design on Etsy and last night decided that I wanted the same napkin in blue and white.  They all turned out beautiful and are for sale on Etsy now.  Sure hope someone buys them.

I made another kloth koozie the other day that I need to put on Etsy.  I had some scrap, deep purple velvet and sewed an embroidered Muwaa red lips on it.  It looks pretty cute.

I'm in the process of making a little purse with the embroidered slot machine design, back and front on black spandex.  I wasn't going to make any more totes or purses but this has just kind of evolved.  I just need to put a strap and closure on it and it will be done. 

It feels so good to be able to help someone.  A friend of mine, who lives locally, is presently in Tennessee working for the government helping flood victims.  She was obligated to send a wedding gift to some friends but wasn't able to go shopping.  She ordered some napkins from Cajun Stitchery.  Via emails and messaging we created the design and the napkins really turned out beautiful.  She was able to purchase the napkins, which were reserved for her, on Etsy.  We wrapped the gift and put a card inside and will be mailing it this morning directly to the bride and groom.  She was even able to choose the cards she wanted from what we had available and then tell me what to write on the card.  It was such a load off of her shoulders and we were more than happy to help out.  A computer, the internet, and a digital camera.  That's all it took.

C'est toute, mes amis.

Cajun Corner Vol. 2, No. 24

Cajun Corner – Vol. 2, No. 24 – June 18, 2010

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

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Don’t forget to visit  www.cajunstitchery.etsy.com often.

Father’s Day is Sunday. Make sure you treat your father special, at least for that one day. If you are near the Gulf Coast, take him out to dinner on the beach. Those businesses really need patrons since the tourist count is down. I think I’m going to take George to the beach this weekend to celebrate.

Speaking of the beach, last weekend we went to the beach and ate at Peg Leg Pete’s and then went down to Ft. Pickens. I wrote the story in the Monday blog but the lady at the gate asked George is he was 62. He got a life time pass to all federal parks for $10. There are a few perks with getting old. Ha-ha.

This week has been consumed with Etsy. I’m trying to put something new on Etsy everyday. There is so much competition on the internet. Suffice it to say that I joined Twitter, Kaboodle, Tumblr, Google Analytic and StumbleUpon in addition to Linkedin, Facebook, Blogger, Picassa, Feedjit, Etsy and some others that I already belong to. I post on the Blogger site every Monday, Wednesday and Friday, routinely. Tumblr is also a blog and I’ve gotten to like that one a bit because I can blog snippets during the day and post pictures of things I’m doing. I’m not sure I can handle all of these but I need to get customers. I need to continually evaluate what are my pros and what are my cons. I can read, write, sew, and embroider. And I have been reading everything I can get my hands on to market the Etsy shop. I’ve implemented most everything that I can. Then I found one forum on Etsy where the shop owner said they did all of the tweets, links, hits and found in the end, the thing that worked was just to do what they love doing – crafting and posting the items for sale.

Since I have been participating on the Etsy forums I was included in a “Treasury” this week. I was so excited. A treasury is where other shop owners at Etsy pick a theme and then chose 12 of their favorite items from other Etsiers’ stores to feature in the “Treasury.” That was real nice because it kind of meant to me that it was acceptance by my peers on Etsy.

Between Google Analytics and Feedjit (both are analytics showing the statistics of visitors and other technical stuff) my visitors to Etsy come either directly to our shop or via Kaboodle. A lot come from this blog and blogs that have listed us in their favorites. If you have a blog, please include Cajun Stitchery and we will be glad to reciprocate.

The patriotic visors with the stripes on the bill, blue headband and stars on the headband are now SOLD OUT. Yay!!! We still have the visors with the flag on the bill, red headband and the flag on the Velcro closure in the back. $5 for the visor plus $5 for most embroidered names or initials.

We also have a dozen burgundy ponytail caps and a dozen khaki with green bill ponytail caps. Passing on that sale is the same deal $5 per cap and $5 for most names or initials embroidered.

My friend, DJ, stopped by this week to visit and pick up her mermaid droid phone holders. We had such a lovely time. I only wish she could have stayed longer.

It’s getting hotter and hotter outside and the garden kind of weeps in the middle of the day but that garden just gets prettier and prettier. We have been harvesting tomatoes and bell peppers.

I’m still working on Etsy. I’ve rearranged our store on Etsy several times. I’m trying to get a new item on their everyday, although some days I don’t. Now I’m reading the forums and participating in that way. Etsy says that by participating in the forums you get your name out to other Etsiers and that’s a good thing.

One of my friends has ordered a set of 4 black napkins with red embroidery for a wedding gift. The engaged couple have registered for red and black plates. These napkins are going to be beautiful. Since my friend is working out of town right now, I’ve proposed that we do these napkins through Etsy and I can wrap the gift, include the card, and send onto the newlyweds, who are also out of town. Ha! Customers don’t even need to come to the house anymore, if they don’t want to. We can handle it all. Service with a smile:>)

I also have another set of pillowcases to design and embroider for someone special in my life.

I better get back to work. Have a wonderful week, everyone.

Always remember that we are just a call or email away at cajunstitchery@yahoo.com or 850-261-2462 and place your order.

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Years ago, when Boudreaux was a college freshman, being fresh off the farm, and a rather healthy young man, he figured he'd try out for the football team. "Can you tackle?" asked the coach. "Watch dis," Boudreaux told him, and proceeded to run smack into a telephone pole, shattering it to splinters. "Wow," said the coach. "I'm impressed. Can you run?" "Mais, sure I can run," said Boudreaux. He was off like a shot, and, in just over nine seconds, he had run a hundred yard dash. "Great!" exclaimed the excited coach. "But can you pass a football?" Boudreaux rolled his eyes, hesitated for a few seconds. "Mais, Coach," he said, "if I can swallow it, I can probably pass it."

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French phrase of the week: puits d'huile oil well

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From: http://www.dailyecotips.com/

When you live in a hot part of the country during the summer, you know how important your air conditioner is to your comfort. It is also important that it doesn’t drive up your energy costs and there are some simple things that you can do that can keep this from happening.

• Thermal Curtains- These are a great solution to keep heat sources, like sunlight, from entering your house. For those on a budget you can just put these in the rooms that get the most sunlight. If you don’t want to go and buy new curtains and have heavy curtains you put up in the winter, they will work just as well.

• Blinds- If you have blinds up closing them will help to keep most of the sunlight out of your house and keep the house cooler during the day.

• AC Itself- Turn it off when you are not in the house to enjoy it. This seems like a simple tip but letting it run while you are not in the house uses energy that you don’t enjoy. Also if you are home alone and have window units, only keep the one on in the room that you are in. This will save energy cost and keep you comfortable.

• Blankets- It doesn’t seem possible that I would be talking about blankets and heat but it does happen. Instead of turning the air conditioning down so much at night, use a lighter blanket and you can turn the temperature up and save on energy.

• Maintenance- Clean your air conditioner if you have central air. Upgrade to an Energy Star unit if you have window units. This will keep your wallet and the Earth happy.

• Shade- When considering where to put your air conditioning unit, make sure that they are in the shade. This will keep the air conditioner from having to work so hard and will not use as much energy.

Please let me know if there is something that you would like to see in the weekly email. You may always call me at (850) 261-2462 or email me at cajunstitchery@yahoo.com.

If you are not a subscriber and would like to receive Cajun Corner weekly, please email cajunstitchery@yahoo.com and let me know to put you on our email list.

C’est tout, mes amis

Peggy Henshall

Cajun Stitchery

(850) 261-2462

cajunstitchery@yahoo.com

P.S. You are always welcome to stop by and look at all of the catalogs and pass some time with me, cher.

SALE OF THE WEEK (Good through Thursday, June 24, 2010)

PONYTAIL CAP SALE!!!

We have one dozen of each of the burgundy and green bill with khaki crown ponytail cap styles in the photographs. This sale is for these 2 dozen visors. First come, first serve.

The ponytail caps have a brass slide closure.

Sale: one ponytail cap without embroidery is $5.00 plus tax/shipping. We will be glad to embroider on the cap, upon request. Most embroidered names or initials are only $5.00.
(Note: We still have a few of the patriotic visors for $5 each, first come, first serve, until they are gone.)