bless you

some more tissue holders. i decided to add a stitched edge to the design. cleaner i guess. now it looks like a big mouth to me. "gimmee some kleenex!!"

you like?

(it also reminds me of those round plastic coin holders they had at summer camp. you know, the ones that said 'i heart jesus' and opened by squeezing them...)

revenge of the dots

i know i know, i need to update! i've been waiting for a photo to update BUT there's too much to talk about and not enough to take photos of SO it's a photo-less blog post. ugh, i hate those. being the visual person i am and everything.

so the dots are back. er, still here. they come and go and itch and dry up and appear anywhere and everywhere. still no clue what they are BUT i did discover i'm allergic to my shave gel AND this chemical they use in lots of rubber products and shoes. yes, shoes. so my new fancy boots that i LOVED are sitting in time-out in my closet. so that all explains away the hideous flesh-eating rash from the end of last year BUT it doesn't explain all these DOTS!!

anyway, i'm following a gut feeling that i might be allergic to peppermint. can you develop an allergy to something so common and specific after 30 years? i'm perplexed.

gifted

so this is what the lucky and talented marybeth will be receiving in the mail this week, if she hasn't already. a punk attitude crafters bookmark. very fitting i thought.

i'm still undecided on the etsy thing. i mean, i personally just love any excuse to get together with friends and meet new ones {whilst making some dough and sharing my creative joy} and i love seeing the excitement in someone's face when they absolutely love something. that i made. a something that i made that makes someone else happy. it's pretty rewarding, even if there wasn't small amounts of currency involved.

so maybe i have decided. maybe i will share my goods via personable selling parties. perhaps some of you in CT or NYC would like to host one? let me know!

so i'm fighting a cold right now. i fear my weekend will be spent with the futon, movies, wii super mario and a box of tissues. actually, there are worse ways to spend a saturday. here's to looking forward to a virus! {the patch tests come off tomorrow morning...so far no burning or itching sensations, hmm.}

tested

so tomorrow morning i have patch testing at the allergist. i have all my little baggies filled and labeled. laundry detergent. soap. body lotion. etc etc. basically they create patches from the substances and stick them to my back. for two days. well, the good news is i don't have food allergies, which i'm sure is very limiting. thank goodness i can still stuff my face with whatever i want. cause that's what's really important here.

anyway, i'm hanging in there and a lot of cedaphil and some locally applied steroid cream seems to have helped over the past weekend. as has the mild weather, which i'm hoping sticks around.

on a side note i'm a little aggravated with myself lately. i've been a bit absent minded and the most recent thing is a misplaced memory card ad reader from/for my EOS camera. not a good thing to lose. along with a missing flash, i really need to start paying attention.

i need the healing juice, whatever that is.

i'm a big ball of itch. maybe i keep getting wrong answers, but nothing seems to help. i should rephrase that, it helps but doesn't cure. i'm dealing with it, but when you mess with my sleep man, it just doesn't go over well. and after a month or two of that, well, you get the picture. i have bumps everywhere. in the past day or two they've started to creep onto the backs of my hands. the one place i can't really hide. maybe the doctor will have answers tomorrow morning...

over the hedge

i love this hedgehog fabric that i bought, oh, maybe a year ago but wasn't sure how to use it. well i got ahold of some linen and voi la. very adorable travel tissue holders. and in relation to past holders i've made, i decided to simplify, lose the button and elastic closure and even the ribbon on the edges. i think this keeps a cleaner look and it seems to work just as well. once you jam those tissues in there, they're not going anywhere anyway, until you need them. oh and i also figured out a way to finish the inside seems so that's nice and neat now.

btw, i love weekends at home holed up thanks to the frigid weather. it gives me time to bond with my sewing machine. it was beginning to feel abandoned. i also love these photos. considering they were taken in passing this morning to make use of good light, i would say they're quite lovely. i feel blessed for all that i have and all that God {and my husband, ie: fancy shmancy camera} has given me. this year i'll try to forget that less.

and the weiner is....

embee! congrats! i'll shoot you an email with some options for you to choose from....

thanks to everyone who left me some input, much appreciated, but none of you chimed in on whether or not i should reopen the shop or host parties instead. oh well, i guess it's up to me to make all the hard decisions that will somehow alter my life...sheesh.

{charming fabric thumbtack sets pictured above, and ready for sale. phew.}

shame on you

i have to admit, i don't facebook that much. i know i know, tragic. so how do i keep up with all you fabulous people? well, by your blogs of course. and let's just get it out there in the open shall we? you've all been, well, slacking. seriously slacking. {says the girl who posts once a week.} i know life gets hectic and things fall off, and the first to go is the silly internetz, but i need my fix people and i'm just not getting it. i want pictures of your cute kids, updates on your craftiness, general references to your happiness, whatever you can give. so get cracking, especially you MB {yes, i just called you out...}. i mean, really, i'm so tired of that one post that i've been looking at for the past, oh, two months? come on, i need your awesome, more than once every couple of months. and this applies to the rest of you too...you know who you are!

so don't forget to comment on the previous post for a chance to win something cute. i'll announce a winner on monday.

oh, and so looking forward to a bitter weekend that forces us to cuddle inside and play super mario wii or do laundry. really, i love laundry. it's a sickness. warm clean clothes make me happy.

{p.s.} are you all just not online anymore?? i miss your comments! where is everyone? hello?

the etsy debate

so i'm debating whether or not i should reopen the tinkerwiththis etsy store. if i do reopen it, i will start shipping to everywhere {including you crazy canucks!}, so weekly trips to the post office would be a must, and around here, they're not always the easiest. like waiting for 40 minutes to pick up my new zealand christmas present before they mailed it back to the person who no longer lives there because they wouldn't just leave it on the porch! brilliant.

anyway, you all know i'm stressed for free time, so do i spend it photographing and listing products, or spend it making more cute and fun things {like bookmarks, makeup pouches, thumbtacks, barrettes, earrings, you get the point} and sell them online through this blog or host parties throughout the year?

hmm. it's a stellar conundrum indeed...

also if you wouldn't mind leaving me some input on your favorite items or something you'd like to see me tackle? there might be something free {and adorable} in it for you.

take charge and keep calm

so i figure i can and will take charge of the things i can control. maybe this is why organizing makes me so happy. when i'm sick i organize closets. when i'm sad, i clean baseboards and windows. when i'm bored i'll rearrange the kitchen cabinets.

so since i've been sick, i decided to clean and organize the one closet {the other housing my wardrobe} that holds everything for the apartment. so here you see my pantry, my cleaning closet and my coat closet, all jam-packed into one. but now there's a little breathing room in there and that makes me happy every time i grab my jacket. {we also just hung a long mirror on the door the other night, post-picture}...

yes i will clean all your closets. for a price ;)

this is not the blog you're looking for

or at least it hasn't been lately. to be honest, i have to have priorities because there's just not enough time in the day. i've cut back on a lot of things, and unfortunately they're most of the things that make me happy. like friends and crafting and photography and exercise. it's been a busy year, summer came and went and things still didn't slow down.

new york city is a rough city. you spend all day at work and the rest of it on a train then if you have any energy left you pull something out of the freezer, toss it in the stove and crash on the couch for a night of useless tv. and then wake up and do it all again! there's a lot of cool things about living here, but the day to day is draining. well, add a few additional stressful elements in the mix and i've had myself a few rough months. mentally and physically.

so what's a girl to do?
the only thing she can do.
adjust her attitude.

here's to a new year and a blog back to normal. or maybe i'll just make you all care about my life...

happy new year!

i'm hoping 2010 will bring on lots of positive changes.

new years resolutions:
the standard work out more, eat healthier and go to bed earlier
the not so traditional stick to my allowance
reopen the etsy shop
make time to craft for stress relief!
get a promotion at work

how about you?