Little Girls Summer Dresses

My Mom is the most accomplished seamstress I have ever known. We have photos of many of the outfits mom made for us when Sis and I were younger (I'll have to scan some of those for another post). I remember being so excited to have a dress or outfit that no one else had because my mom had sewn it just for me. With an additional 40 years or so of experience and new technology in sewing machines, mom continues to create one-of-a-kind outfits that would put a smile on most any little girls face. Mom has nine unique summer dresses available on our website http://www.yoursmineandhers.com/sewcreative/girls-fashion right now. Everything mom makes is constructed with durability and ease-of-care in mind. We hope you have a look!

Old Fish Basket

I found this old fish basket the other day and thought I might find a use for it...

I did... all it needed was a good cleaning with a wire brush and some spray paint, a few cool river rocks and a candle...I have a new outdoor hanging candle.

Also found some old fishing lures, might use parts of those to add a little sparkle.

Memorial Day

DD977 - USS Briscoe

What a wonderful Memorial day weekend! Thanks to all our service men and women who sacrifice so much for our country! As a former Navy wife, I am well aware of what families endure when a loved one is deployed to a far away place. Sister Renee is a former Army wife, so we know all to well that holidays can be an especially challenging time, particularly if you have little ones. What a blessing it is to have the technology of the internet available!

Just 20 short years ago, in 1992, when my second son was born, my husband was in the Persian Gulf on board the USS Briscoe during Desert Storm. That was before the wonders of instant message's, emails and Skype.

We were able to talk on the phone a few days after Mat was born, via the MARS C.B. radio  network. The ship radio operator contacted another C.B. operator who contacted another, and so on, across the ocean until they reached a C.B. operator in Virginia who then used a land line phone to contact me so I could speak with my husband for five minutes. We were warned in advance..."this would not be a private conversation".

After I recalled this story for the kids over the Memorial day weekend I took time to pause and give thanks that our military families have a wonderful tool like the internet to ease the burden of the separation they must endure.

So again, hats off to all our veterans, service members and their families - You're the Best of the Best!

A Little About Us

     Hello and welcome to our Yours, Mine and Hers blog. We plan to share some info about our website, life in the Heartland of America (Kansas and Oklahoma), and some helpful tips along the way. We still have much to learn, but I am certain that with the help of all our wonderful family and friends (both online and off) we will get the hang of this wonderful tool we call the web.

     Just to share a little bit about ourselves, we are a family of creative ladies who utilize our many skills and do a variety of projects from sewing and jewelry making, to yard baubles and candliers.

     There's Mom (Nina), whose primary interest is sewing and quilting. My mom is my hero. She is the strongest, most self-sufficient woman I know. And sew...WOW...Mom's been sewing for almost 60 years, she can see a photo of something in a magazine and sew something almost identical. Her attention to detail is meticulous, and her thrifty nature means she sews with durability in mind.

     There's little sister (Renee), who also has a lot of crafty talents and is focusing on signature sets of necklace and earring combos designed with today's expressive woman in mind. Among Renee's many other talents, she also handcrafts beautiful greeting cards and floral arrangements (we hope to see some of those on our website soon).

    Then there's me (Paula), or Magpie Polly as you see on the blog. Polly, because that's just a term of endearment my husband often uses, and Magpie because, like mother nature's magpie bird, anything shiny catches my eye. I love to create with glass beads and baubles, and mother has passed on her love of sewing, so I do some of that too.

     Enough about us for now. We hope you will visit our website at http://www.yoursmineandhers.com/ and most of all we hope you find the blessings in your day!

 

Yours, Mine and Hers is on the web!

www.yoursmineandhers.com 

It's official with a Memorial Day Launch! Yours, Mine and Hers is on the web.

Please visit and send feedback - we would love to know what you think!

Mother's Day and Poison Sumac

     We had a wonderful mother's day here in Oklahoma. Had a cool, sunny day with just a bit of a breeze - Perfect! Went out for breakfast - Wonderful! Went home and relaxed in the back yard for a while - also Wonderful.

     As my son Mat (19) was leaving for work, a bit later, he and I picked some mulberries off the trees in our yard (Yum! Another post). We began talking about some of the different plantings around the trees, most of which I had planted and knew a species. Mat pointed at one particular green, leafy vine and asked, "What's that?". I reached up and tugged on it and replied, "I have no idea, I didn't plant this". We proceeded to pull it up as it was getting into a clematis under the trees. Good son that he is, Mat did most of the tugging and we got it out alright. Thanks Mat!

     I knew about 2:00am (14 hours later) something was going on with one of my eyes, tried to sleep. At 6:00am when Mat stumbled into the kitchen, with both of his eyes swollen...well, we knew it was not good.

     Retracing what we had done the day before....and a quick search on the internet...I'm embarrassed to say that after 50+ years of living, I did not know what poison sumac looked like in the spring. I knew, as most folks in Oklahoma do, the red leafy vine seen along the road, in the fall, is poison sumac. I just had no idea this stray green vine could be so much trouble.

     We have been to the doctor twice, the pharmacy, and several other places where people have commented, "There's a lot of that going around this year". I guess that's a pitfall of the wonderfully mild winter we had this past year. As you can see in the photo I have a potted plant nestled, in the shade, next to the fence. All that green leafy stuff around the pot, that's poison sumac. Beware, it's no fun!

Let's get this BLOG started!

Just getting started in the world of Blogging.

Just about to go "live" with our website...very exciting!

Still working out a few bugs...it's been a challenge...but we have learned much.

Have lots of things we want to blog about.

Looking forward to sharing a variety of content like Tips, Tricks and Tutorials,

and maybe some helpful "For Your Information" (FYI) stuff, plus some stuff about our website.
Thanks for looking and we hope you will visit often.