hanky love.

we're having a happy hanky sale at cipolla!

hankies in the etsy shop are on sale for as low as $7.50 each.
I'm making room for new hankies in the coming months,
so now's a great time to snatch up a bargain!

handkerchiefs are indespensible little tools - not just for sneezes, but for spills, hot coffee cups, funky pocket squares, and more.

they make fab gifts - pretty and practical, and eco-friendly too :)


chocolate cream trio - $22.50


vintage prints duo - $15.00


asian scenic hanky - $7.50

cipolla hankies are made from prewashed, 100% cotton. they are two ply, sewn carefully and topstitched for extra durability. washer and dryer safe. and damn cute!

hooray for hankies!
♥ m.

good eats.

waffles are one of my favourite things to make on a weekend day at home. i like to make a plate of them and snack while we putter around the house.


then we throw leftovers in the fridge and pop them in the toaster for a quick breakfast or snack during the week. easy and delish workshop fuel ;)


i like an eggy batter and milk chocolate chips - edges of the chocolate will get crunchy while inside it's melty and goey... seriously good eats.



back to work.
♥ m.

etsy fraud squad.

well, yesterday was quite the day here in the workshop. in the morning i found out that a new online "shop" had appeared, claiming to be a collective working with designers to sell handmade handbags. funny thing was - the bags were Cipolla's bags! images and descriptions taken right from my etsy shop (as well as from two other etsy shops). after i got over the initial disbelief - it was so weird to see everything arranged in a shop, even using the cipolla name, and me having no idea - i became horrified, nightmares of being associated with a scam that was at best collecting handmade prices and shipping out factory knock-offs & at worst taking the money and running. yikes.

i found out about this from a fellow victim who had been alerted to the shop through google alerts (i hesitate to give google even more promotion, but i have to say yay! for this service). immediately i emailed every contact addy i could find - but surprise surprise, they didn't work. i then emailed the host service, a marketplace similar to etsy without the handmade focus, and waited for a response.

but as i attempted to get back to work i couldn't stop thinking about it. i was worried for sure, but i was even feeling a little scared - i'm not very internet or e-commerce savvy - i felt a little helpless, not knowing what to expect or what i could ultimately do. the fellow seller who had also been used said she felt violated, and i think that's actually a good description. then i thought - i should post this in the etsy forums! i rarely go into the forums these days, but when you need advice or support, it seems that fellow etsians always come through. what harm could it do? i posted the issue and went back to the sewing machine for a half hour.

when i returned the thread was like 25 pages long! people expressing outrage, support, and best of all - doing detective work and sending off emails of disgust. by mid-day staff from the host service had found the thread and - though they never did answer my original email from the morning - promised to look into it immediately. etsy staff jumped right in too! and it was fabulous to know they had our back even though this was something happening outside of etsy. man, did the three of us feel the love! by the afternoon i had been contacted by the CEO of the host service and by the evening the "shop" was no more. i hope we caught it in time, before anyone had made any "purchases".

sometimes i forget that etsy is more then just a network of artists and shops - it can be a family. seriously, i'm not usually one to get too involved in the forums and i've never even been in the chat rooms, but it was amazing to read and feel the genuine concern and real efforts to help that poured out from everyone who posted yesterday. so thank-you all, you rock!

all in all it was a surprising, horrifying, frustrating, informative, and ultimately victorious and uplifting day.

not bad for a random wednesday in the workshop ;)
♥ m.


oh, and through it all, i even got my work done!











a new batch of favourite bags was finally finished and will be posted in the shop over the next few days.

opera shoes.

this december my family pooled resources and floored me on xmas morning with two tickets to the opera - fabulous, ridiculously expensive seats and a classic italian work: tosca. over the past year i have been daydreaming aloud about going to a show (after all, i pass the opera company building almost every time i take the tram). of course, it was one of those things that i didn't expect to make happen any time soon - so when i opened the gift i was so surprised i actually teared up (which of course just made my brothers' smiles even bigger as they watched).


so as i waited for the months to pass (the performance was in february), i prepared. i treated myself to new moisturizer and lip gloss at the pharmacy (so indulgent, i know!)... oh, and another round of black hair dye too. i had a great dress that i bought in the fall... but i dragged vic out for a few hours of shoe shopping. i wanted to really make it a big deal... i even wore nylons! and then a few days before the show i resolved to make myself a new bag - i often feel like the cobbler who's kids don't have shoes, so it was a fun change in the workshop.

i made myself this purse and wallet (below) from a fabulous plush velvety silvery remnant that i picked up at a local fabric shop months ago. i made a few extras for the shop too, so go check them out if you're a fellow fan of silver-grey goodness.

i wore a simple black 1950's inspired sweater dress, and my shoes made me happy with their fab little cut-outs and just the right amount of toe cleavage. vic was in black as well, wearing the silver poppy tie that i bought her from fellow etsian toybreaker (favourite!). we were sharp and shimmery in our fab black and silver splendor, and the cutest little femme/butch stereotype couple you ever did see! we were feeling so indulgent we even splurged on surprisingly delicious coffee and cookies at intermission. all in all it was a most fabulous night.



much love to the famiglia.
♥ m.