just because you're skinny

doesn't mean you're in shape. last week a ten floor stair climb proved that to me. don't get me wrong, a couple of months ago i was a diehard exerciser but then i had surgery and it was a good medical excuse to avoid the gym. BUT now that i'm trying to get back there it's so hard. the husband and i went running together lastnight and i was a sorry state of slacker. it was sad. i really need to pump me up. SO i'll be making my best attempt this week to conquer the stairmaster, the run and the weight room. i'ld love to get there in the am so i can avoid all the meatheads and the post-work traffic but i'ld need to go to bed early than 11 every night...wish me will power cause it has to be this week. since i've been trying this for 3 weeks now.

it's a wonderful life

tinker_earrings.jpg, originally uploaded by tinkerellen.

this weekend was fantastic. the weather cooperated, so i picked some blueberries {blueberry crisp, yum..} and got a sunburn yesterday. finished three grettas on saturday! two are in the shop, one i'm waiting on a reserve conformation...we shall see. that one may be up for sale as well. check them out, i'm loving red right now and it shows...BUT the cutest thing i thought i made this weekend was these. adorable little tiny polka dotted earrings. aren't they awesome? they're only 3/8ths of an inch so they're pretty petite looking. i like these that i had seen on other etsy sites but they were all too honking for my ears so i think these are perfect...yay.

hope everyone else had a perfect weekend!

walk away happy

walkawayhappy.jpg, originally uploaded by tinkerellen.

they're finished! sarah would be happy to know that they'll be going in the mail today. a day ahead of schedule. sort of. so this concludes the two-part invitations project! i like how both turned out, i think they're fun and a great addition to the portfolio {which i really need to get online}.

i bought some more ballet flats from payless. i adore their american eagle line. everything is so comfortable and cheap. i scored these for 12.50, way within my weekly budget. in fact, i could've bought two pair and still had money for a healthy lunch.

happy weekend everyone, i'll have grettas {2-3} in the store for next week! along with some more earrings and possibly some small pendants. {and if i get really motivated, tissue holders and headbands...}

christmas in july

well much to my surprise the new target {4-5 miles from me} opened a week early! {even though there's a "open july 29th" sign hanging on the building} and not only did my husband tell me it was open early but he went with me to check it out. it's so nice and i can't wait to go again tonight...ok, maybe i'll wait until tomorrow. stick it walmart across the street!

You know it's a bad day when you put your bra on backwards and it fits better.

{if she only knew what i was about to post on the world wide internet right now.}

i helped a friend {let's call her "Jacky"} move this past weekend and it was pretty run of the mill, bed frame, hand me down dressers, 1972 twin matress. until: the unpacked dresser drawers. and there, staring back at me, were two complete drawers full of bras. and not just any bras, victoria secret bras. granted, they could have all been on clearance {although she's not much of a bargain shopper} BUT if they had been 20 bucks a piece {not likely} i counted 700 dollars worth. of bras. seriously. and she openly admitted to paying much more than that for several of them. so we're talking about 1,000 dollars on bras. my angels account would love me if i stock piled bras like that. maybe she's planning on using them as weapon-vaulting boomerangs should we ever find ourselves in a flesh-eating zombie infestation? and she would kill them in style. i however would surely get eaten after about 7 bra-flings...

new fun fabrics on their way

new fabrics, originally uploaded by tinkerellen.

so what do i do with them when they get here??

audrey hepburn never had to deal with this

break you, originally uploaded by tinkerellen.

because one little blister will not stop me from wearing you.

things to look forward to this week

6yr_anniversary.jpg, originally uploaded by tinkerellen.

6 more years with this guy who sometimes drives me crazy but we have way too much fun together to worry about that.

4 completed Grettas.

clean laundry.

vintage Rhode Island map showing up in the mail.

more fun beads showing up in the mail and a pair of earrings that will become a contest prize...

jennifer's first sonogram photo.

go team go green

ikea_bags.jpg, originally uploaded by tinkerellen.

manda over at wannabe is focusing her posts on green week, which got me thinking. so here's what i do to save "mother earth" or rather to be a good steward of what God created for me to spend my days on...

these super swell super cheap ikea bags make grocery shopping eco-friendly {and fashionable, i have the two on the right} and they're super sturdy so i can cram everything in them and still be able to carry it all out to the car. {and i think i paid $1.50 each...}

over the past few years i've started weeding out all the chemicals in our hair care and body care routine. it's all natural soaps and shampoos, hair gels and toothpastes for us. it's a nice feeling knowing you're not ODing on chemicals that can haunt you with illnesses later on in life. and it's not as expensive as you'ld think. most of the stuff lasts twice as long as non-natural products so you're actually saving money.

just recently we also switched over to all natural dish soap and laundry soaps and i love the organic scents. and again, not as expensive as you'ld think. trader joes is a great little store to find reasonable {if not downright cheap} products. we don't have one close so when we visit family we make a stop and stock up. i've got a warehouse of shampoos, soaps and shave gels in our linen closet....

ask and ye shall...

look who said something nice about me. she also included a photo of the wonderful invitations i slaved over for two nights last week. i shouldn't say slaved because i loved making these but it's hard work! all the cutting and sticking and picking those stupid paper flowers apart...i am glad they're done and more glad that the parents of the groom loved them.

my project i slaved over for two nights THIS week was a cow hat. yeah, just imagine that. {and i can say slaved because i hated this project sooo much.}

this weekend, i'm slaving over three logo designs. i really really am craving the sewing machine but i just can't promise i'll get time to satisfy my need, so the shop may not get anything fun and pretty for another week or so...

if it broke, fix it

brand new fancy FIOS connection: left without phone and internet for a couple of days now. they fixed it yesterday, twice. supposedly.

cell phone: frustration regarding problem above and 800 number leads to slamming phone onto desk and cracking screen with wedding band. brilliant. {good excuse to finally get a cuter phone....}

not even paid for yet plasma tv: fireworks and crackles everywhere. getting worse. expensive 50" tv, technician to fix next week. hopefully.

cracked driveway: sealers to come when rain stops. eventually.

garage door: new opener apparently not the issue. door hanging guys coming next week. maybe.

cute black audrey hepburnish flats: hard pleather causing blisters every time i try to break them in. feet better suck it up, am not ditching designer shoes.

make me pretty

jewelry.jpg, originally uploaded by tinkerellen.

great, one more thing to become addicted to.

letterman here i come

i really should start watching letterman, i mean, i'm up late enough every night anyway. at least then i wouldn't have to turn to people.com to find out what all the hot celebs are up to these days {posh's reality show gets pulled because americans don't give a crap, maybe the decline of society isn't as bad as we thought....}.

anyway, i cut the fabric for about 6 {or so} gretta bags lastnight, i don't know, i lost count. but i'm way too tempted by all the great fabrics i keep finding so i really need to kill my current stash {and make a little dough} before i can justify buying all new stuff. it's hard but somebody's got to do it. so when do i have the time to sew them? never. ok, maybe not never but i have been getting side work here and there so i must must must focus on those deadlines first because i might just get laughed at if i throw a gretta bag into my current graphic design portfolio. so once they're done you'll all be the first to know until then i'll be debating what to do for my 6-yr anniversary this saturday...

if i were a rich girl

i would sit home and sew bags all day. but i'm not, so i'm working instead. and here i sit, with all these great fun exciting creative ideas bouncing around in my head like sugar-high barefoot children in a rental blow-up castle.

the end of the

rainbow.jpg, originally uploaded by tinkerellen.

this is actually from last week but isn't it much better than a photo of a scary big spider?

this weekend was so busy. we voluntarily painted someone else's shutters, we hit golf balls at the driving range in the rain, we watched 'danny deckchair', oil change, haircut, cleaning the entire house, loads and loads of laundry...you get the picture. anyways, i didn't get any of the sewing done i wanted to and i'm itching to use up some sweet new fabric i picked up thanks to an unexpected check from kelly over at kandid kiwi. thanks bunches, i even scored some of the latest amy butler home decor fabric which i'm saving for a prototype jennifer bag...

big ugly

big ugly, originally uploaded by tinkerellen.

sorry to do this to you on a monday morning, but this is what was lurking in my bedroom. i stumbled across him at about midnight and needless to say i wasn't sleepy anymore. anyone know what kind he is? as in the kind that would come back? he looked like a baby turantula, if that helps you at all....

and the winner is....

sweetberrypie.jpg, originally uploaded by tinkerellen.

#14!

which i believe is sarah from the plucky knitter but it could be a whole different sarah so whomever you are email me your addy!

the winner get's one of my very first attempts at jewelry design! i call this sweet berry pie since it looks like yummy blueberries and a strawberry. i'll be sending the necklace in your very own handy holder! so it's two gifts in one. yay. congrats and thanks to everyone who gave it a shot, even yo_mama, who came out of the closet just to win a handbag.

too tired

to write anything worth reading......

up late working on some awesomely fun {but back-aching} invitations...contest ends tonight at midnight and tomorrow i'll be announcing the winner. give it your all people.

le zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.

sneak peak

new_gretta.jpg, originally uploaded by tinkerellen.

well, this is MY latest gretta, it actually had a few mistakes so i'm calling this a "prototype bag" and keeping it all for myself {and i also happen to love it and be selfish}. BUT from all your suggestions, i'm thinking of making this wider, keeping the single handle, adding interior pockets and widening the flap to create, wait for it, a messenger gretta! of course i'll need to come up with a different name...but that's for later. so what do you think?!?

PS: i'm not closing the contest yet so comment away down there. all and any input is greatly appreciated!

contest! you could win...

gretta_pink.jpg, originally uploaded by tinkerellen.

not me {i've just been added to the shop however}, but something very cute and fashionable created by tink. i'll give you a hint. it includes something red. {and it's fabulous.}

so contest rules: comment! yep, that's it, just let me know what you think about my new bag tags {above}, how to make gretta even better, some color combos you'll like to see, introduce yourself or just say hi! and the more you comment the better your chances of winning get: i'll be putting numbers of comments in a bag and pulling one, so whatever number your comment is, you win! good luck and happy commenting!

bad moon on the rise

my cousin {jen} who lives out in LA works for a total jerk. her husband's grandpa {his most favorite relative} just died last week and this weekend is the memorial service so they're flying out today to rhode island and flying back to california on sunday. BUT her boss is trying to fire her right now because he claims she's taking a "vacation" and never gave him any notice and that she's just going there to hold her husband's hand {what?!}. basically, he insists she only take a day and a half in order to keep her job. that includes flying time. seriously.

so anyway, we're both pretty convinced he's trying to get rid of her so he doesn't have to pay her maternity leave {did i mention she's prego?? congrats jen!} and replacement fees, which he's already said he can't believe he has to pay. did i mention she's never taken a day off or called in sick in 6 months? yea, and he's trying to paint her as a completely irresponsible employee who makes her own schedule. uh huh. so this class act jerk should get slapped with a class act lawsuit. what do you think, would she win? {keep in mind that nobody wants to hire a pregnant woman full-time.}

out with the old, in with the new.

last weekend we finally broke down and bought some new appliances. well, this weekend our brandy new stove and dishwasher were delivered. they're so nice they even make the bargain-basement oak cabinets look good. i'm thrilled, no more coils and nasty cream ceramic, just a flat electric top and an oven that cleans itself. and the dishwasher! supposedly you don't even have to rinse anything. which is amazing since our old dishwasher would have dirtied up even clean dishes by the time it was done.

in news, another gretta bag will be up tomorrow, it's fantastically pink {and a bit modified}. and even though i decided to only work on bags for the shop for a bit i am working on a swell summer necklace line, which may or may not be done by the time winter gets here :) {begin rant} i've also decided it's time to just say no to all the favors i do. paying jobs: i'm all over, but the free stuff has got to stop. i'm NOT talking about any of you, i'm talking locally of course. i get asked weekly to do something new {for free!} which is just getting overwhelming {and did i mention i don't get paid?}. just when i mark something off my list someone else comes up with something they want me to do! don't get me wrong, i love word of mouth advertising and i love that people know what i can do BUT apparently everyone thinks i'm retired and have nothing else to do but FREE STUFF. but then there are those swell paying projects that really let me create and show what i can do! {like hand-made invites and baby announcements, what what!} so yay for fun paying projects and boo for freebie boring jobs. {/end rant}

friday faves: what a pear!

handy_pear.jpg, originally uploaded by tinkerellen.

i love this design. because it's mine! yep, from concept to color this is soley my design. then i printed it out and turned it into something useful. i also have an apples one in pink and red that i'm working on. i think for the time being i may just focus on cranking out some gretta bags. i really don't have the craft time in the summer that i do in the winter and i've been feeling somewhat overwhelmed with everything i want to do that i need to focus on what i have to do for a bit...ah well. such is resonsibility.

our 6-yr anniversary is fast approaching and i need ideas! we're thinking of a weekend in the mountains OR a weekend on the eastcoast by the beach but we'll probably just end up doing nothing like usual...any quick and easy {and preferably cheap} ideas?

100 degrees and toasty

me_carazy.jpg, originally uploaded by tinkerellen.

me, not the weather. i've been out sick since monday, i felt it coming last week but i pushed through to get some things done. ah stress. how our bodies love thee. so now i need to focus on resting and eating right. i've lost about 8 pounds since my surgery, which for me is pretty substantial, but i haven't been to the gym since a week before my surgery, so it's probably all my muscles saying hasta manana sucka.

so anyway, here's a pic fresh from this morning, i'm showing off one of my new fun headbands {two in the shop later today} and my sweet necklace that i love love love. and my fat arm. which is where the muscle used to live. but it packed up and moved away and it's overweight uncle saw the opportunity to move his trailer on the land. {i'm not saying i'm overweight, that would be cause for intervention, i'm just being funny, ha ha. get it?} anyway, i'm feeling better today but thanks to a bad wok choice in the food court yesterday i was up pretty late praying to the malox gods. so here's to a good weekend. hopefully.

i'll have a shop update later, a couple of handy holders, headbands, stamped onesies, even a gretta bag! {what what}. so stay tuned.