Merry Christmas!

i know i know, a little early, but i'm leaving tomorrow and i won't be back until after january first so a happy new year as well! i hope everyone's safe, happy and pleased with their presents. no hitting, no spitting, no fighting. keep your hands to yourself and play nice at the kiddy table.

see you soon!

{ps: don't forget, our Savior was born to bring peace and redemption to a world filled with man's violence and sin. without Him we wouldn't have friends and family or love and happiness. without Jesus there would be no hope. imagine what life would be without Christmas?}

ok now, be honest

is anyone feeling rediculously overwhelmed. i mean, jump out the window, land face first in the snow and just stay there for a while overwhelmed? i don't know what is is, but i have been so 'in-a-mood' for the past couple of days. i'm tired and i'm cranky and i'm stressed and never the twain shall mix. but they did and today i'm finally starting to get over it. or get over me. i wasted a perfectly good night off with my husband being a nasty nasty person. all those hours i'll never get back to be sweet and nice and happy.

well. the good news is we have friday night to pack before we load it up and head to new england for ten days! yep ten days. i'm seriously thinking about bringing my sewing machine with us. i mean, a girl's got to relax on her only vacation in forever right? i'll probably grab a couple of books too. and i'm hitting up some swell shops with the stellar mb and sarah. you gals better be ready to spend hours looking at pretty fabrics. or looking at me looking at pretty fabrics.

anyway, i just wanted you all to know that it's ok. it's ok if you don't get all your cards mailed, or it's ok if you forget someone on your list and look like poo-poo at the party. it's ok if you didn't get so and so the same amount of gifts as they got you. it's ok if you didn't make that pie from scratch. so just let go and remember what's important during this time of year. seriously. step away from the flour sifter.

christmas shopping is the only shopping

i don't enjoy. ok, so i'm not done with everyone, but i'm close. i always save the hardest people for last, bad bad bad.

so out of all the handmade gifts this year {eyepillows, bags, hair clips, etc}, my favorite has to be a little tutotial tin i'm putting together for a few of my sewing people. the tin is complete with supplies and some swell fabric, enough to make three of the tissue holders i've shown here before. PLUS i made and illustrated my very own tutorial to go along! and of course i'll include an already finished model, in case they have any questions. i'm very proud of it i must say. seriously. i am.

so what is your favorite gifted gift this year?

merry handmade christmas to me

tote_tissue.jpg, originally uploaded by tinkerellen.

i was ancy the other night, but i couldn't focus on things that needed to get done so instead i sat down and tried to be creative. so without a pattern or an idea i made this tote bag and i love it. it's tan corduroy and some waverly home fabric i found on clearance that i adored. i knew someday it would end up as something lovely. there's also a row of four pockets inside. it's so handy and the size is perfect for me.

and in an effort to use up as much of my fabric as possible before the big move, i've been trying to make small things out of scraps, like eyepillows and tissue holders. all my previous tissue holder attempts were crap, so now that i've got it down to an art, i figured i deserved my own cute kleenex holder. love the navy and pink combination. i'll be making a batch after the holidays for the shop, along with eyepillows from the newly arrived nigella fabric. i love it!

ok, back to short posts from now on. thanks for reading!

free gift tags!

gift_tags.jpg, originally uploaded by tinkerellen.

for all you crafty people out there...{or maybe just the last-minuters who can't find any more christmas tags in their stash.}

jsut click on the tag and it will bring you to my flickr account, then you can choose the letter-size print-ready page of tags uploaded for you! just download, print and cut. i'm planning on punching a hole in the left center there and attaching them with blue and green ribbon....enjoy!

christmas cheer

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and an excuse to wear a good sarahjessicaparker/target outfit!

here i am in my christmasy get-up with a couple of coworkers. the party was great and the food was stellar but the DJ rocked my eardrums so bad i had to ditch early. this must be what it's like to get old.

the weekend was filled with lots of snow {almost 2 feet suckas!}, cancellations {no christmas play, boo} and movies! 'Reign over me' was an excellent movie, i highly recommend it. it came and went last year and i've been waiting to see it ever since, so i'm glad we ditched spidey 3 for reign. also watched Waking Ned Divine and The Flying Scottsman, both good in their own ways....

bias tape and me

bias_tape.jpg, originally uploaded by tinkerellen.

don't tend to get along. but this was my first attempt since it was free {thanks krista's mom!}. i think i learned a lot and i'm pretty sure my next bias tape project won't turn out like junk in the trunk.

it's beginning to look a lot like

ahh_snow.jpg, originally uploaded by tinkerellen.

a messy drive home. yuck. but it might be a good night to finish christmas shopping yes? jen, remember the night before your wedding we went to the mall during that blizzard?

oh, and i hated my banner so i changed it yo.

eyecandy: fabric so yummy

fabrics_amyb.jpg, originally uploaded by tinkerellen.

you could eat it. but don't. it's expensive.

actually though, you can find good deals on etsy {i'm such an addict, thanks manda}. i ordered these today and i just got an email from the shop saying they would ship this afternoon, woot! i'm so excited. they might make it in time to get some christmas gifts under way. i still have a few people to go, shame on me, perfect pendants and elly eyepillows anyone?

anyway, these are amy butler, {from the left} rowan, nigella {spinach fans, i've been wanting these so bad!} and belle, i think. but don't quote me, i just buy what i think is super awesome and then forget what designer/line it is when it actually makes it into a design of mine...

style for your food 101: the apple jacket

apple_aday.jpg, originally uploaded by tinkerellen.

so cute, i love this. it's really well made and colorful, plus it's supposed to protect my happy little apple from getting all bruised up in my bag. basically, my apples will now be snobs to all the other fruits. and i bought another one for that lucky christmas gift recipient...

to find your own, just search 'apple jacket' on etsy, cause i'm too lazy to link sucka.

congrats to amber!

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you won, aren't you psyched? i would be. you're getting one 1" round pendant, one 1.5" square pendant and an 18" silver-plated chain to wear them on, so congrats!

now what exactly was that big crazy excited news i had to tell you....wait, it's coming to me....yes, that's it: we're moving to...........wait for it...............NYC!!!!!

i know right, who wouldn't be completely ecstatic and truly terrified of something like that all at the same time? our house is officially on the market as of last thursday, and we already had someone come look at it yesterday!

so congrats again amber, i know how you love these pendants ;)

eyepillows matey

eyepillows.jpg, originally uploaded by tinkerellen.

for some reason eyepillows makes me think of eyepatches which makes me think of pirates which makes me say arrrg.

these are the presents i was talking about yesterday, they're so cute and i love them but i couldn't find my pillow this morning and i didn't want to wake up the husband poking around for a prop for a photo. they're filled with flax seed and a loose tea mix of relaxing scents so it's cool and heavy on your eyes and smells delicious. trust me, i love using mine to lull to sleep.

ok, a tutorial sans photos: just cut out two pieces of complimentary fabric, place them together face to face so only the underneaths of the fabrics are on the outsides. sew around all four edges but leave an opening on one of the short sides. turn inside out and push out the corners through the opening you left. then comes the tricky part. fill them. i need to purchase a funnel to make it easy and fast, without one it's a mess and you end up with little flax seeds everywhere {that just happen to look like tiny bugs, yuck}....push the extra fabric back through the hole and stitch the whole edge closed {add a tag or a bit of ribbon if you have any}. voila! you now have a sweet smelling relaxation eye pillow. kudos to you.

i already have orders for these, so i cut out about a dozen lastnight and plan to sew them this weekend, fun fun!

and check out the shop! new winter earring designs, so cute. and custom orders are finally done and shipping today...AND i picked a winner which i will announce on monday after i pick the prizes...stay tuned and have a good weekend!

it's a typical situation

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i can't say that i'll miss all of this.

a shop update, filling some custom orders and more pendants/earrings {including 'hippo love', flippin sweet} to come this week. they seem to be the easiest thing to make when i'm just sitting there relaxing with the husband. i also finished a couple of christmas gifts lastnight along with revamping my old sad eye-pillow with some bright and happy amy butler fabric. i was running too late this morning to take a photo, but trust me, it's swell.

and thanks to all the crafty swap participants! i've gotten 4 of 5 packages and they couldn't be awesomer. janet sent the coolest cherry embroidered ribbon which i cannot wait to use, some cool little tiny floral beads from canuck carly, sweet paper from kiwi and awesome vintage fabric from kareesta. muchos gracias ladies!

a handmade Christmas

felt_clips.jpg, originally uploaded by tinkerellen.

so i'm trying to hand-make as many gifts as i can this year BUT the whole recent life-changing event really, well, screwed with my plans. so now i'm just trying to include small handmade gifts with every store-bought gift. it's charming and a lot less time-consuming.

these cuties hair clips are going to my neices along with their warm fuzzy old navy gifts. they were super easy to make, just a little hand sewing with embroidery floss and felt. the clips i bought at joannes and the felt flowers i found in packs on etsy. they take maybe 10-15 minutes a piece and you can easily make them while watching tv. so if anyone has questions about them, let me know.

also, as if you needed more hints: pick one, brooklyn or manhattan?

yeah buddy

snow, originally uploaded by tinkerellen.

here comes the snow. and it's a doozie. my happy little subaru was made for this....

anyway, realtor meeting went really well. she thinks our house will be an easy sell. we'll see! we have minor touch-ups to do, but it's pretty much ready to show, as is. that couldn't have made her happier. looks like it might be listed as soon as this weekend! it makes me sad to see it go, being our first house and all the love and hard work we put into it...but, like all the other things, i have to learn to let go.

hot cocoa and a garbage bag

ok, here's a scary revelation: tossing stuff feels good. like really good. like taking a shower and getting out and feeling clean and new. i spent the weekend elbow-deep in too-much-accumulated-stuff. some of it's hard to part with {i haven't even gone near my closet, or my shoes} but i just keep reminding myself that a cute tiny eclectic apartment awaits me, full of warmth and love {and hopefully exposed brick} instead of just stuff.

i have a few people in a pot for the prize. i'm thinking it will consist of two perfect pendants and a chain to wear them on. i'll post pics when i figure out which pendants and pick the lucky winner.

oh and happy december! how's the shopping going? to make it easier, i'll give you all free shipping! until Christmas. just type FREESHIP DEC in the message to seller and i'll refund the charges. enjoy!