First Ever Shrinky Inky Giveaway!

Great Googly Moogly - look over there - 117 followers as of this post!  Thanks so much and welcome to all my new readers.  In honor of this momentous occasion - my first ever giveaway - since Valentine's Day is around the corner, what better than a Vintage Romance collection of goodies handpicked by me!

The Vintage Romance prize package includes the following:

• Vintage cream colored pearl evening bag with satin lining and zipper closure.
• Vintage chocolate brown linen handkerchief trimmed in a wide cream lace edging.
• Vintage lavender and crystal brooch.
• Vintage white chiffon scarf.
• Silk rose hair flower with french hair barrette (made by me!)
• OPI for Sephora in "Dear Diary," a warm light pink creme nail polish.
• Cargo Essential Shadow Palette in the Dark/Neutral colorway - four perfect tones for a vintage look - pink champagne, light taupe, medium ash brown and charcoal brown in matte and satin finishes.

All prizes were purchased and collected by me personally.  This giveaway is not sponsored by any business.

Entering is easy, just do the following:

1. Complete the entry form and be a "Follower" of my blog: (CONTEST HAS ENDED - THANK YOU!)



FOR ONE BONUS ENTRY:

1.  Post about this giveaway on your blog with a link back to Shrinky Inky's Fine Adventures.  If you do this you must enter your blog address on the entry form in order to qualify for the bonus entry.

No duplicate entries will be allowed.  Entries will be accepted until Midnight (Pacific Standard Time), Wednesday, February 3, 2010.  This contest is open to US or International addresses and the winner will be selected by using the random number generator at Random.org. Winner will be announced and notified via e-mail by Friday, February 5, 2010.  Please be sure to use a valid e-mail address that you actually check, as I will draw a new winner if I don't hear from the original winner within the three calendar days.

An Open Invitation to Join The No Spender Bender

Back in October of 2009, the fabulous Kitty Von Purr and I came up with the idea for a "No Spending" month to help us get a handle on our frivolous purchasing.  We also vowed to put at least five items on Ebay and sell our unwanted items off.  It was a great success and focused us both on our spending habits.

In November of 2009 we created the November No Spender Bender.  This was formulated around no unnecessary spending at all, but allowed for three "free passes" to be used at each participants discretion.  In January of 2010, Miss B at Living In The Past got on board and coming up in February, I am happy to see that Andrea of New Vintage Wardrobe is joining us.

I extend the invitation to you all to join me in The 2010 No Spender Bender.  This will be ongoing each month and you can participate whenever you want to (or don't want to - it's the honor system!).  The rules are simple:  NO UNNECESSARY SPENDING.

So what's unnecessary spending?  Anything you don't need to survive or that is not replacing an existing worn out or broken item.  Simple as that.  You can have three "free passes" to buy what you want/need/desire/covet/find on sale.  Naturally there may be emergency expenses we're not prepared for and those don't count (medical, car, family, etc).

You'll be surprised at what habits you can break (I've gone 4 weeks with not a single Ebay purchase - that's a BIG improvement!) and the obvious money you will save each month.

Let me know if you are participating by commenting on this post and feel free to add any suggestions.  It's a free flowing idea and it's just there to help me (and you) get a handle on our spending habits.  Good Luck!

Thank You All!

Wow, I can totally feel the love!! 100 followers today and I'm so happy - thank you to all of you from the bottom of my heart!!

A big thanks goes to my friend Mary for the blog love she sent me from Deluxeville.  That was a really wonderful surprise!

I've got the goodies for the 100 Followers Giveaway at the ready to photograph this week and will have the contest info up by next weekend so keep an eye out and tell your friends to follow me so they can enter too!  I think you'll like what I've selected for the giveaway ;)

Follow Me!

Thanks for all the comments on the "fat inky eats hot dog" picture - I love that picture too.  It was taken in San Diego at a party with all my wonderful friends that I miss so much.  The winds have scattered us far and wide now, but we manage to keep in touch.  Those years were special and soooo much fun!

Okay, now I want to enlist your help, gentle readers.   I have 82 followers as of this writing and would really like to increase my readership.  Help me get to 100 followers so I can hold a giveaway!  I have some lovely prizes I've been collecting and plan to head out this weekend to round up a few more - so please help by recommending my blog to your friends and readers!

Thanks a bunch :) 

And coming VERY soon - reviews on Shoesgotsole.com and SunnyThreads.com (I'm just waiting for the torrential rains to stop for some wearing/photo ops!!)

The Real Me

I've been tagged by Miss Mary Deluxe over at Welcome to Deluxeville to post a picture that represents the "real me." Hmmm, thanks Mary, I think ;)

Well, the real me.  Who is that anyway?  There's lots of versions of me but the first that came to mind is me doing what I love best - eating and goofing off.  So here I am trying to devour a giant hot dog hat circa 2002 or so.  Nothing is safe around a fat girl.....

So let's see the *real* you!!  I can't wait to see your pics!  I tag: 

Laura at Come to C-dot
Amy Jeanne at It'll Take the Snaps Out Of Your Garters
Lolita at Vintage Starlet
Mishalla at The Mysterious Life of the Metropolitan Housewife
Cat at The Vintage Housewife

Are you Cinderella?

Somewhere out there is a Cinderella with a size 10 foot waiting for this lovely pair of red shoes!

SOLD!  To the lovely Fleur across the pond at Diary of a Vintage Girl!  Thank you so much!

Red (not cherry, more of a dark red), all leather construction, including a leather sole that is perfect for dancing, adjustable heel strap and removable clip-on bows - like having two pairs of shoes! They are in great condition, as I have only worn these two or three times.

Approximate measurements: Heel to toe measurement 10.5” Width at ball of foot 3.5” Heel Height 2"

More photos available in this Flickr Set.

January Bargains

So many sales, so few funds :)  Hopefully you can take advantage of a couple of great wardrobe sales I've come across recently thanks to the fantastic enabler, Miss B., at Living in the Past!

Amazon is having a deep discount on some styles of Remix Vintage Shoes like the beautiful Black and White Spectators that have been on my wish list for over two years!




Freddies of Pinewood in the UK is offering a few of their fantastic vintage reproduction dungarees, overalls and cute tops on sale.  Just use "sale" in their search feature to find the bargains!

And finally from Kali at The Makeup Drawer, I learned that Sephora is discontinuing carrying the Cargo line and everything is half off.  This includes my new favorite pressed powder that does double duty as a foundation - Cargo's blu_ray Powder at $15 (usually $30). 

If you have any bargains to share, let me know in the comments!!

Bare Naked Inky

If you've been reading this blog for anytime know you know that once upon a time I weighed 322 pounds.  Up until April of 2007 to be precise.  On April 26, 2007, I had gastric bypass surgery and I lost 140 pounds over the course of two years (I found 15 of them in the last year but working to lose those again - better to catch on at 15 rather than let it get to 140 again, don't you think?).

I spent the better part of my 30's and 40's morbidly obese and really should be dead, but I had a second chance at a healthy life and I took that chance.  Some may think I am shallow (hell, I think I am shallow) or narcissistic (and yes, I am). I wasted more than 15 years not giving a fart about how I looked or how I felt or how I was killing myself one pint of Haagen-Daz at a time.  This is my time to take care of me.

Since the last post was a reader question from my formspring page (see over there on the right column - you can ask me ANYTHING!) - I thought I might show you what photos they were referring to.  Behold the before.  No hair or make up tricks.  Just plain old ordinary me (Photo taken November 10, 2009).

Now the after picture - with potions, lotions, a little magic and a lot of smoke and mirrors

(no photoshopping - just some makeup magic)

Photo taken October 5, 2009.

The bare naked inky and her more fabulous alter ego.

From The Ask Me Anything File

Q:  Hiya! i saw your transformation photo on the fedora lounge and you looked gorgeouss! I was wondering what "potions and lotions" you use on your face daily/nightly? you look so great

A:  Hi and thank you so much for the compliment! I have to say I am lucky with genetics most of all and I have avoided getting any suntans since I was in high school. Also drink plenty of water to hydrate yourself. Dehydration makes your skin look crepey and thin, and aging does that anyway so internal hydration is a must.

I am using a cleansing/treatment line right now called Striking Skin Care that has the four basic products I use all the time. Use a good cleanser that does not leave your face feeling dry (I also LOVE Cetaphil Daily Facial Cleanser), an eye cream, an anti-aging serum and a moisturizer (with sunscreen if you go out during the day). The anti-aging serum is optional depending on your age/needs. The eye cream is a MUST, as is a good moisturizer/sunscreen. Night creams are optional in my opinion but sometimes a heavier cream at night is good, especially in dry weather or during the winter.

I also like the Olay Professional Pro-X line very much and used it for a while before switching to Striking Skin Care. I don't think products have to be expensive to be effective - the trick is to use them day and night - we all get lazy sometimes!

I use witch hazel as a toner if my skin is feeling oily during hormonal times, but not daily. Typically it's in the normal stage and occasionally it's dry around my forehead/nose.

Under my makeup I always use a primer. Right now I love Urban Decay's Pore Perfecting. A good primer before makeup just makes things smooth out and helps my makeup last longer.

Now it's your turn to Ask Me Anything!

Disclaimer:  All products mentioned in this post were purchased by me, except Striking Skin Care, which I originally won in a blog contest, but have since purchased my own.  No compensation was received by me from any companies mentioned.