rut.

(fair warning....this was a stream-of-consciousness-get-it-all-journal-entry type thing. that is to say, it's a bit jumpy and might be difficult to follow. so...sorryforya.)

I started this blog on a whim. You've probably never read this, but that's where it all started. Brilliant piece of writing, I know. I wrote sporadically...when an idea hit me...generally on a monthly basis. What I really loved to do was stalk other blogs. I'm in love with YHL, Kendi, and Sydney. I mention them in casual conversation as if they're friends of mine (that's not creepster, right?!). There are a handful of others that I adore, but I keep coming back to those three no matter what. They inspired me to do more. So I did. For a little while. I fancy myself a writer so I thought it'd be easy to keep coming up with wonderful things to write about and I could really let my creative juices flow. You know what? It's not. Life gets in the way. I'm still in a rut if you want to know the truth. I've had writer's block for about nine months. Maybe you just thought I was prego and on a mommy hiatus. I'm not. Nor was I.

What I am is a creator. A crafter, wanna be writer, photographer, designer, jill-of-all-trades. Whether I'm writing, sewing, gluing, cutting, painting–I create. It's what I do. And I've been ignoring that. Don't you do that? You know you're happiest when you eat well, exercise, make time for the things you love...and you just don't do it. I've complied list upon list of thing I want to make, and my lists just keeps getting longer. I've done very little, and I think it's time for that to stop. But here's the thing. My "space" looks like this:

and I'd prefer it look like this:

There are a few things I need to accomplish in this room.

• A general cleaning is in order
• I need space for crafts
• Space for my sewing machine and related projects would be nice
• And of course, space for items from mary&nell

It certainly doesn't sound too hard. Maybe Santa will bring it for Christmas.

I'm no longer awkward!

It's true. Writing about my awkwardness and awesomeness must be helping me rid myself of the awkward elements because I just can't think of any. Seriously. The totally random dream I had about a totally random person doesn't count. (no, I'm not telling you.) And I don't think getting swamp ass at work counts either. (it's Texas in. the. summer.) And neither does dropping the F bomb in front of your friend's small children you haven't seen in well over a year...and then doing it again. Ok, so maybe those do count. Damn. I guess I'm not losing any awkwardness.

Fine. Then on to awesome. I'm awesome. Nuff said.

Oh, and The Help [thanks Seester!]. And Harry Potter movie marathons. Oh, and Rahr brewery. And $5 pizza with garlic butter sauce! Awesome!!

And now for a little mary&nell lookbook teaser [everyone likes pretty pictures, right?]:

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.

 

I'm working on a special project.

And that's about all the details you're gonna get. Well, I'll give you a clue.

Etsy.

Ok, that was less of a clue and more of an I'll tell you exactly what I've been working on. Whatev. I guess now that I've spilled the beans I'll show you the fancy pants banner I whipped up last week.

Do you love it? Me too! You can thank Mary Lu for letting me borrow her arm and chest for the background image. In fact, go on over to her blog and have a look around. You can enter her 500th post drawing for a chance to win dinero for Amazon.com, and who doesn't love free money?

Oh, and if you feel like poking around in an empty, soon-to-launch etsy shop, pop on over here.