stick it to 'em

pincushion.jpg, originally uploaded by tinkerellen.

a little useful fun with some useless scraps.

my friend just got some ked flip flops with black and white polka dots {identical to my gretta bag} and i must must must have them, so i'll see if i can track them down later today, hopefully they have my size! because i need more shoes. no really, 42 pair is not enough.

berrylicious

berry head, originally uploaded by tinkerellen.

awesome simple strawberry pie makes me happy. so do these reversible headbands. i really must make more so i don't have to wear red every day....

i can't focus anymore

i have a bazillion things going through my head that i want to write but nothing that really warrants it's very own post so i'll just blogroll.

unexpected guests deserved a strawberry pie, so i tried the super easy recipe i found on wisecrafts blog. it turned out delish.

i finished a couple of projects this week which have been looming over my head, yay, so now it's on to more fun projects like some invites for the plucky knitter. i'm thinking rounded corners and simple ribbon in lavender and chocolate brown...

the husband and i have started reading our bible's together every night {and we just ordered a bunch of christian muzak cds, yay for new tunes}. it's been a great way for us to spend quality spiritual time and thoughts together and i'm so excited about our growth in the last few years. it sounds cheaserific but honestly, our relationship has never been better.

new music from the library: tristan prettyman. picked it up because of the cover art {you mean people actually do that, oh yeah...} and i haven't stopped listening to it since. it's good stuff. check it yo.

and that's all for this hazy wednesday. hey, maybe i'll actually get to the gym today. or maybe i'll just take a nap instead....

orange julius!

orange_clarks.jpg, originally uploaded by tinkerellen.

i just discovered the orange julius sto' in the mall. yum. i haven't exacty bought one yet, but it brings me back to college where we would pool our money just to buy one to share. delish. also in love with the fresh donuts from the farmer's market.

new orange clarks {above}. love them. most comfortable flip flops, hands down. and the funky designs on the sole are a mere bonus.

ps: i am le tired.

feel the consumer love

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1. the cutest gift tags from elle's studio etsy shop arrived a couple of weeks ago. i purposely bought them to bring some color to number 2 and i couldn't love them more. and they're birds. cute.

2. black and white IKEA gift wrap. am thinking not only about using red ribbon and my ellsie tags to adorn these, but also taking a red {or pink} marker and coloring in the lines...

3. eat your artichokes cards from vera june's etsy shop. love love love these. they're printed on nice watercolor paper so they have texture and the colors of the artichokes are beautiful {and they were cheap!}. i can't wait to write to someone...

4. gift tags also from vera june. got these to add some color to the ikea gift wrap if i run out of the red bird tags...

5. new new new fun fun fun fabric. for, you guessed it, more gretta bags for the shop. i'm in love with the pink and red combos and i plan on making an extra bag for me to keep...

had a great super fantastic weekend. lots of sun, relaxation, cleaning, laundry and shopping. and now it's back to actually working.

on a side note: thanks to everyone who's helped support me in my shop. i've sold 26 items! i feel the love. and check out isabelle, she's in the shop as of this morning! i promise to have more handy holders in the next week. i've even designed some of my own stellar papers and added tinker tags to the handy holder design....

officially unofficial

kimono_dress.jpg, originally uploaded by tinkerellen.

we're all about labels these days, so let me clarify. this is a shopping blog. and a crafting blog. and basically a good way for my mom to keep track of whether or not i'm having a baby sometime before i turn 35.

so here's the latest purchase, a fun graphic kimono-style dress from h&m's madonna line. not that i'm all like, "oh! madonna designed it, i have to buy it". it was more like, "oh! this silk dress feels so nice and flirty and it's on clearance for 30 dollars." score. i love the soft pink with hard black and white. it's feminine, funky and bold. i was going to wear it today but instead i'm bundled in my jeans and roxy sweatshirt. brrr.

introducing handy holders!

handyholders_group.jpg, originally uploaded by tinkerellen.

be excited, be very excited. these i LOVE. they are so easy to make, and i get to use up my stash of fun scrapbooking papers without having to spend hours scrapping. if you have a sewing machine you have to try them...

1} for the business card holding size {shown here} i cut scrapbook paper {amy butler and heidi grace have awesome stuff} into 4.5" by 7.5" and then using my new corner rounding punch {best craft investment yet} i punched the fold-over corners to get a nicer look...

2} cut two pieces of vinyl found at your local craft/sewing sto' and place paper in between, smooth and add ribbon.

3} now sew across the edge of the paper on the edge that will be hidden under the flap {the bottom of your paper cut-out}.

4} fold the flap up to the 6" mark and creat a soft crease with your fingers. now sew the entire thing just around the edges to give you a nifty pocket.

5} fold the remaining flap over the top and add a snap for closing {i have a handy tool for this} and voi la! instant easy cute gratification.

the final size ends up being 4.5" by 3", perfect for fitting business cards or your license and credit card for those fun nights out that none of us actually get. the ribbon is handy for adding a keychain ring to or a clip. i plan on making some more sizes for a wallet, sunglass holder and...wait for it...a maxipad holder. it doesn't get more exciting than that.

if you don't have a sewing machine, i'll be putting these in the shop sometime today! yay. {manda, your bag will be there too, wa hoo...}

meet isabelle

isabelle.jpg, originally uploaded by tinkerellen.

i love her. seriously. she's bigger than the other bags i've made and she screams summer. so the question is, do i sell her, or do i keep her and use the crap out of her for the next few months....

now that's the random hotness

i've recently discovered the awesome bras at h&m. this is great for me and my checking account, bad for victoria secrets and my angel charge card. no longer will i spend 35-50 dollars on one bra when i can spend 12.90 and be perfectly content and supported {which, who are we kidding, i'm in no desperate need of fifty dollars worth of support}.

also currently in love with the american eagle line of shoes at payless. i'm absolutely willing to spend 20-50 dollars on a quality pair of clarks, but for summer's cute shoes it makes perfect sense to buy cheap, cute and comfy {which they all are, surprisingly}. i heart payless.

and some more hotness, my new fave color combo, brown, white and teal. i'm sporting brown gouchos from target {a steal at 7 bucks!} and although i vowed to never succumb to such a nasty fashion trend {one year too late at that}, i can't help but adore these cotton comfy dreamy half-pants. it's like walking around in my pj's all day.

other summer obsessions: heathered ultra-thin cotton, wife-beaters {love the jcrew one jen, muchos gracias}, clarks orange flip-flops, the farmer's market and my sunroof.

PS: i need hair help. help! what should i do with the mop that currently resides on my head? highlights? crop? cut? dye? don't forget, i have a new nose now so the possibilities are endless!

work it baby

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my husband took part in a triathalon this past saturday {something he's been wanting to do for a while}. so on friday he turned 31, and on saturday he finished the triathalon in one hour and thirty five minutes. not bad for a man who spent the last two weeks fighting sinus infections and allergies. and taking care of me. in other words, his training was sparse but he still ended up within five minutes of his goal. he's such an athlete. i told him i was headed to my triathalon, great northern mall, shoppingtown mall and carousel mall. {yay for new cheap clothes by sarah jessica parker...}

unveiled

me_sidenose.jpg, originally uploaded by tinkerellen.

the new nose. granted, it's still very swollen {and will be for a few weeks} and thus looks really long, but i really love it. and i can already breathe so much better. and my nostril stays open! no more collapsing. and look at how straight it is! right-o. was it worth it? yeah, sure, the best part: it's over...

when the going get's rough, just shop with someone who's tough

nose_me.jpg, originally uploaded by tinkerellen.

today is finally here. in about 3 hrs i actually get to see what's under this annoying cast. and i can finally reach that itch. ya hoo.

ah, surgery

cheri_surgery.jpg, originally uploaded by tinkerellen.

so i had rhinoplasty for those readers who don't know what the heck is going on. i had a deviated septum along with some swollen something or others internally that were causing less airflow. plus, i decided to have some cosmetic work done while they were in there.

so here's a photo from pre-op in my room. the nurse tried to get an IV through my hand. hello. i have the smallest hands known to an adult human being. since that didn't work, duh, she had to try again in the arm. so now my hand's bruised. oh well. i was so nervous at this point. so. nervous.

the next photo is after the surgery, immediately after. i had a hard time coming out of the anesthesia, they were pumping me full of drugs to keep me from getting sick and i was in the room longer than anticipated so they had to go tell my husband. finally i woke up {yeah sure} and they moved me to my room. look at the size of my lips! my entire face was swollen, as you can see in the next photo of me chillin' on my couch. this is where i spent most of the next week.

more to come...

{PS: i've missed you all!}

back in black

eyes that is. everything went really well and i was home by 1 yesterday. today it's much of the same. sitting around watching movies, reading magazines and drinking tons of water. unfortunately i can't tell what my nose looks like until he removes the bridge cast, but even through the gauze i feel like i'm getting more air than before... anyway, i'll have pictures soon. everyone have a good weekend!

sale, dear beautiful sale

sale_sale_sale.jpg, originally uploaded by tinkerellen.

last day of the sale. i'll be temp shutting down shop while i'm recovering...once i'm back i'll be loading lots of new fun stuff!

crap for rent

i made the mistake of watching one of my surgery-rentals last night. and by mistake, i mean, not the fact that a shiny fun new movie won't be waiting for me tomorrow afternoon, but the mistake of not watching it while completely drugged up and possibly not even remembering the two hours that is Catch&Release.

*warning: cheesy pun to follow* if you were to ever "catch" this movie, immediately "release" it and save yourself the misery. if the goal of the screenwriter was to create several characters that no one would ever like, than he was spot-on. bravo mr. hollywood screenwriter, i hated everyone in the movie {with the exception of kevin smith who i'm giving the benefit of the doubt was actually high when he signed the contract}. i even hated the dead guy. i should have felt bad that he tragically died in the prime of his life, but i didn't. sorry dead dude.

just to give you an idea of the caliber of this movie, check this out: garner's character's name is grey. when she asks her booty-call what his favorite color is, he aptly responds, "grey". dork.

if you're looking for a disfunctional tragic waste of two hours of your life, rent this movie.

beads beads beads

beads beads beads, originally uploaded by tinkerellen.

egads! a post about something other than surgery.

after some highly dedicated research i found these hill tribe sterling silver beads on artbeads.com last week. highly recommend it, lots of beads and free shipping {if you're into that kind of stuff}. i also ordered lots of different colors in the floral beads {15cents a piece, hello} so i may make some cutesy earrings. now i just need to pick up a couple of silver chains, i'm thinking the blue moon bead line at michael's.

i'm very excited about this. i've been drooling over these since i saw MBs necklace months ago...

i can't get no sleep

IMG_7441_waitpreop.jpg, originally uploaded by tinkerellen.

it's the pre-surgery jitters! you guys must be sick of hearing about this by now, but it's all i can think about. well, that and my grocery list, when to visit the library and rent all those movies you all suggested, not getting sick, making the husband feel better so he can take care of me, what i'll need while lounging on the couch for three days, what house projects to do once i feel better, what if the surgeon messes up and i get that annoying nose whistle, do i really look good in purple, does anyone look good in purple, what will i look like with black eyes, don't forget my camera, bring reading materials for the husband, don't forget to marinate the chicken, etc etc.

and so last night in my head went like this, until the husband talked me out of all my silly fears and massaged me to sleep. did i mention i love him. seriously.

and though i feel it coming undone

busy busy weekend but it took me much longer to get things done thanks to feeling like poo. i really need to get back into the habit of early bedtimes {and the gym!}. it's amazing how much better i feel when i get enough sleep {and exercise!}.

went to urgent care yesterday for the husband. he thinks he has strep throat which wouldn't be a big deal {it generally heals itself in a few days} BUT i'm having surgery in 3 days. 3 days! so basically i can't get it. and all weekend we were sharing drinks and food and kisses and all that fun stuff. i'm not feeling anything yet but i think i'll call the surgeon just in case. i mean, maybe they'll throw me on antibiotics anyway. plus i have some other questions for them so it won't hurt to toss one more in there.

well it's cold, rainy and gray here. hope everyone else's monday is a bit sunnier.

friday faves: organic products galore

products.jpg, originally uploaded by tinkerellen.

left to right, top to bottom.

TRADER JOEs nourishing shampoo and conditioner, 2.50 a piece, LOVE LOVE LOVE. makes my usual frizzy and sad hair shiny and happy and 2.50 a piece people. come on.

shea and aloe after-sun spray from BODY SHOP. good. stuff. it's a cooling spray that smells incredible. i used the crap out of this stuff in california thanks to my convertible burn.

tea tree line from BODY SHOP. smells great and supposed to help with blemishes, but i don't have many, so maybe it does! plus, the small bottle of facewash lasts me and my husband months and costs about 12 bucks. {also pictured is the toner which i rarely use.}

anti-big balm from BADGER. haven't had the chance to use this yet but i despise OFF! so i thought i'ld give the organic rub a try.

chamomile eye-makeup remover from BODY SHOP. they usually run 5$ a bottle sales on this stuff so pick it up when you see that. works wonders and saves my washcloths from permanent mascara damage.

bronzer beads from BODY SHOP. gives me a natural glow that i don't even get naturally. no real smell and goes on light, no heavy summer makeup here.

there you have it, enjoy the weekend!