The Great Kate part Deux

Well, to say she was a trooper would have been an understatement. We both found ourselves shivering grabbing icy cold banisters and walking around a rooftop without shoes but we got great shots so it was worth it. Here's proof that I was prepared. I brought her some knee socks and rainboots for trecking through the snow because I knew how badly she wanted outdoor photos. And if you know anything about Kate, she is willing to walk strappy sandalled through the snow to get what she wants...I wanted to avoid frostbitten bride. And navy blue polo boots just seemed perfect.

This shot of the two of them is so wonderful because it feels iconic, so I thought it would be great in black and white:

There's always the details:

And this shot has to be my favorite. I was worried about the intimate setting of the Inn but every nook and corner held a bit of perfection. The light through this small window was a perfect setting:

The Great Kate.

About 8 or 9 months ago a friend of mine from upstate ny called and asked me {formally} if I would be her wedding photographer. As much as I loved Kate it was an easy YES, HECK YES! And then she mentioned she even budgeted to pay me! Bonus, people! Anyway, it was amazing to be part of her big day.

J was my trusty assistant and he was so overwhelmed by how intimately we, as photographers, were involved. He said, it was almost like your own wedding day, just reliving it through them. And I guess I would have to agree.

Kate was the most amazing bride, beautiful, calm, reserved and fully trusting. It was truly a huge pleasure to work with and for her yesterday, and to be such an intricate part of her day. I only hope that when she sees her photos, she'll be as happy as she was when Paul asked her to marry him!

Here's a sneak peek since it's going to take me most of the morning to upload and sort these files. It's a moment that captured all the vintage glam that she so effortlessly exuded:

Merry Christmas Eve

Today has been a glorious day of hanging around in our pajamas and doing nothing, but it seems I have a problem doing nothing, so I took advantage of the down time to make some delicious goodies to bring to parties and give as gifts. These are bags of chocolate and peppermint covered marshmallows for all the kiddies tomorrow. I also made another batch of peppermint chocolate fudge {still can't believe how easy fudge is to make} to bring to a party tonight, along with some peppermint bark that's packaged as small neighborly gifts.

Since I highly doubt any of us will be around the blogosphere tomorrow, I'll wish you all a Merry Christmas today. Enjoy and I hope you all have great days filled with fantastic presents, fatty foods and fabulous family and friends. And let's not forget the real reason for Christmas, gift cards! Just kidding, happy birthday to Jesus! Thank you so much for forgiving a sinner like me. So this year, give Him your very best gift, your heart.

vacation shmacation

Seriously though, it was really nice to get away to somewhere warm. Some of you wanted to know how the trip to key west so here it is. We did a lot of this:

and saw a lot of these: {pelicans are HUGE by the way}

Carrie spent most of the trip doing this {it was nice to not be the only one behind a camera}:

We had an impromptu photoshoot on our resort grounds but unfortunately we picked the windiest and coolest hour the day before we left: {oops}

And almost every night we watched one of these and then went to grab some dessert {I think Carrie has the photos of the desserts}:

Thank you Carrie for all the great photos you took!!

A tinker party indeed!

It's true, i'm hosting a holiday shopping party at my not-nearly-finished home. Luckily i'm not too proud to display my missing trim and my half complete bathroom.

Anyway, if you're in the CT area and want to come buy {oops, I meant by} then email me at tinkerellenATyahoo.com for location details. Cause you know, it's silly to be giving out your address to the whole entire internetz.

These cute little guys will be the party favors. Really simple to make and cheap, I hope to have leftovers to hand around to the neighbors... Oh and i'm already dreaming up delicious fatty desserts to make. Come one, come all and support handmade this Christmas. {And of course i'll fill you in on the vaca once I can catch up!}

temporary card holder

Well we received our first Christmas card today so I thought it was time to set up a way to display them. This is a simple thing to do in your kitchen. I attached the ribbon to the inside of the cabinet door with some masking tape, but if you didn't want it to look as ghetto as mine you could use double sided tape. I hung an ornament from the bottom of the ribbon to keep the ribbon straight. I recommend an ornament that won't break, in case gravity or little hands get to it.

Remember those handy chip clips? Well, they double as card clips for this project. Voi la, you're done. A cute and ornamental way to display your cards this year!

Until next time, i'll be relaxin' on the beach!

and then there was the living room

with it's magnificent fireplace. I've always wanted a fireplace for real fires. None of these fake super efficient gas fires for me {no offense to all you clean burning flick of a switch people}, I like the smell of the wood, it's very New England-y.

Anyway, the living room was one of the only rooms that didn't need a LOT of help. It really just needed some paint, some new trim and some refinished wood floors. I think it turned out warm and cozy, and once we actually get some furniture, it'll be functional too. What do you think?

kitchen remodel

Just a quick background on our house: We bought a foreclosure. The people it was passed around to liked to do things themselves. A lot of crappy things. This thing was a giant fire hazard just waiting to burn to the ground. The basement had light switches and outlets hanging on 1x2s from the ceiling joists. It was bizarre. And we thought, sure, that's the perfect house for us! HA! Well, honestly, it is the perfect house for us, and once we're done it'll be the perfect house for anyone! But that takes time, intellect and money. Luckily, I'm freelancing here and there so time I have along with a slight eye for design, J is the smarts, AND we purchased the house on the down-cheap, well, for Connecticut anyway...

Ok, now this is the part of the house that we spent the most money in, unless you count all the plumbing and electric bills from the entire house. Kitchen's are key in raising a houses value obviously, so this old one, although functional, had to go. The cabinets were original, and not as easy to remove as you would think. Unfortunately for the mouse living underneath them, they were history. Luckily for him the porch door was open so he just bolted into the backyard, a little shooken up but nonetheless safe.

Can you believe that THIS:


Turned into THIS?:

Neither can I, but I must have redesigned this kitchen 25 times before we figured everything out. We opted to remove the two windows and porch door and insert a slider for more light. The photos are deceiving since the before's are from summer and the sun's just a bit weaker this time of year, but the before kitchen was a dark cave compared to what it is now.

Oh, and here's a peak into the laundry room we had built out from the existed small pantry closet that was there before:

The kitchen is now function-central, and hosts a pretty good amount of people comfortably. The sink window is being replaced soon and the backsplash will be tiled after that. I also have some trim to put up around the laundry room and slider but after that we'll be pretty much complete in this room!

craft happy

I had a little assistant helping to model a Christmas gift during crafty afternoon yesterday. This is a $1 hat with an easy felt flower embellishment. Takes just a few minutes to make and looks oh so cute. Wouldn't you agree?

Although I may need to pick up a couple more of these hats from Target for our next crafty day cause they were in high demand from the little Christmas elves.

getting crafty with it, na na na na nana na

Yes, I really did just make you sing that. You're welcome.

I'm really getting tired of all the painting this place requires, so I've mentally taken a break and some time to put a few small Christmas gifts together. I also stamped my own cards this year for a measly 9 dollars. Wahoo. Plus, I got all fancy with them and added little gems to each card. I thought about glitter but then remembered my lifelong hatred for little tiny specs of crap everywhere. If you're sending me a card with glitter on it, I beg you, please reconsider. I open them over the trash can, read them while still in the envelope, and immediately throw them away.

I'm really digging green and blue lately, not sure why but it's sparking a creative twitch in me every time I see the combo. So for Christmas decor I'll be sticking with these muted blues and greens and throwing in a cranberry red. Mmmm, I like it.

I also had some creative inspiration to make more ribbon belts and headbands using these tutorials: felt pom poms, which I don't REALLY love, but might try using upholstery fabric like she suggested, scrunchy rosettes, which I do LOVE and this tutorial which I haven't had time to try yet...can you tell I'm really digging flowers lately? I want them on everything, my shirts, dresses, belts, headbands and necklaces. I'm a bit obsessed. Luckily I haven't had the time to make so many, and most of what I've made is heading out the door as gifts...

Anyway, HAPPY THANKSGIVING if I don't talk to you tomorrow. I'm off to clean, do laundry, grocery shop and just generally prepare for our guests coming in tonight...and maybe make some more belts, but no, I shall resist!

it's all in the details

Hello internetz! I know, I know, I've been busy. To say the least. It's been a crazy whirlwind of a year. I've been working feverishly on the house, and am ashamed to say I can't show you the after pictures due to my severe slacking off on trim work. And really, nothing looks finished without trim. So in the meantime {while i'm waiting for the first apple pies of the year to some out...yum.} i'll show you a few of the details:

updated brushed-nickel hardware, everywhere:

a new stove with the perfect blend of modern conveniences and retro styling:

a beautiful wood mantel, one of the few untouched surfaces in the house:

apples on the new island, complete with two stools for a morning hot spot:

and the fireplace which has hosted one very warm and toasty fire, and promises to give us many more to enjoy this winter. {i've always wanted a fireplace...}

and this is why the renovation will take us FORever.

this is a closet. ONE closet. And it's finally done. Well, minus the outer trim which isn't up anywhere yet...I figured doors were more important.

Anyway, this is the reason this reno will take us so stinking long. And why we're living in a construction zone. I wish I had a better before picture, but this will have to do. It used to have a weird platform on the floor and some nasty linoleum that matched the crazy 70s blue vibe from the bathroom. Then we tore that out and had the flooring guy install hardwoods in there.

I had to paint everything, prime the door and jam, we wainscoted the back wall to hide all those nasty sheetrock issues and left a nice neat opening for future plumbing access. Then I cut primed and painted the baseboards and put it all back together! And let me tell you, that painting was not fun, look at all those shelving nooks and crannies!

Anyway, today will be the completion of the laundry room. That way I can finally make a few loads of laundry disappear from the floor of our bedroom...

while you're waiting

for my great return to the world of blogging and crafting and baking and pretty much anything but what I've been doing, I'll leave you with some leafy love:{these were all taken with my handy dandy fits-in-my-back-pocket Canon PowerShot SD780 IS in the foliage mode.}

{We're moving in tomorrow morning people!! I'm tired just thinking about it. Our second move in just 6 months, but hopefully our last for a few years...and now back to packing.}

it's almost here

The big day. Moving day. And to be honest, i'm NOT ready. I AM however ready to stop all this back and forth between places. It'll be nice to do the work when I'm right there. We're not missing major things, like a bathroom or a kitchen, but we are lacking in minor things, like window trim and doors. Hopefully, by the weekend, we'll be even closer to being presentable. Regardless, this Saturday we'll still be toting our things through that red front door. Which I will be painting mustard yellow. When I get the time. AND speaking of time, once I have more of it, I will be blogging the process and the before and after photos. There's so much we've done and I want to show you all. Like it or not.

So I thought I would just let you all know that I am still here but I'm slowly going insane. I expect to be fully mental in about 6 days...see you then.

Two weeks and counting.

So what was I thinking taking a break on Sunday?? Well, let's just consider it a mental health day. I'm REALLY ready to be done, even though the end isn't nearly in sight. Well, not in my mind anyway. ALthough our move-in date is a week from this saturday. :O I know, crazy. If by some crazy amazing miracle we do have it all done when we move in, it will have been two months of renovations. Which really doesn't feel like enough time. And let me tell you, it's not.

Anyway, who wants to hear about all that stuff? We took a stroll up the mountain again to foliage peek. The fresh air and the exercise and going out in something other than painting clothes was really refreshing. Check it out: