mary miles & jo nell hinshaw

Hi. Remember when I hinted to you about my special project? Of course you don't...that was over a month ago. You can catch up here. I'll wait.

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K, back on the same page? Well guess what?! I did it. I launched my very own Etsy shop, and I named her mary&nell. After bouncing several ideas around [I was convinced for a while that the name had to include the word ninja], I decided to name her after two very important women–my grandmothers.

The naming process happened over a few beers at a local pub. (ok, so no one here say pub...but that shouldn't stop me, right?!) Boyfriend and I were sipping on Shiners while I jabbered on about what I could name my shop. It went something like this:

"It should totally have ninja in the name."

"Uh, ok."

"Seriously, because ninjas are cool. And I'm a ninja. A shopping ninja."

"Sure."

"You don't think so?"

"Ummmm...do what you want, babe. It's your shop." (That's boy for, No I don't think so. It's a terrible idea, but I don't want to tell you that and argue. I just want to sit here and enjoy my beer)

"I knooow....but what do you think? I really need you're input."

"No, I don't think it should say anything about ninjas. You should probably think about why you're doing this and what it means."

Enter blank stare.

Boyfriend is a genius for a couple reasons: #1. His advice is spot on. Of course I didn't need to give the shop some silly moniker because at that moment I thought it was kinda cute. It needed substance. #2. Boyfriend got me to quit yammering about some silly name and could enjoy his Shiner.

So, there I sat, staring at my boy genius considering the advice he had just given me, and I had to be real with myself. Ninjas, however cool they are, had nothing to do with my shop. Drat! Somewhere between beer one and three I came to the conclusion that I wanted my shop name to be actual names. At that point, the naming process happened pretty quickly...

My grandmothers were probably two of the most influential people of the crafty/creative/artistic side of me. I grew up exploring my maternal grandmother's shop, where she made her living as a seamstress. My grandmother, Mary would make all of us granddaughters nightgowns and dolls and all sorts of things that lit up little girls' eyes. She would even help me with sewing projects of my own. Mary now runs a general store out of the that same shop, its contents ranging from four sack aprons [the cutest things ever] to books to small groceries and sodas. I have always admired her crafting and sewing abilities as well as her head for business.

I never knew my paternal grandmother, Jo Nell, but I have felt close to her my entire life. I grew up in the house she and my grandfather (more affectionately known as Bapa) built and raised my dad and aunt in. Many of her belongings lived in the back room of the house. Her sewing machine, patterns, fabric, ribbons, charcoals, paints, drawings, and so on. My entire childhood and teen years were spent perusing, cataloging, and using her things. I would lose entire afternoons going through her supplies and giving them a new life. I drew with her charcoals, decorated with her ribbons, and sewed on her machine. In fact, her machine lives at my house, and I used it for over 20 years until I was gifted a new sewing machine this past Christmas.

Starting off, mary&nell is a vintage clothing shop where I hope to share handpicked items that I adore. Soon, I want to see some of my own handmade items in the shop, and eventually menswear and homegoods. I certainly can't predict how mary&nell will grow and what it will become, but I hope naming her after these two amazing women will help to remind me what hard work and creativity look like.