enJOY it

an archived personal and craft blog from Elise Blaha Cripe.

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Moving along… lots to include these past few days.

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I added letter/number stickers from an office supply store to both sides of the grid transparency to represent how many miles I ran in the half-marathon. I like these letter stickers because no matter what letters you're working with, they are the same size. This was perfect for the transparency because I didn't want anything "extra" to show through on the backside.

I painted a zig-zag pattern on the tabbed card. I used painter's tape and craft paint to get the effect. The journaling is a slightly edited version of text from this blog post. sidenote : I am enjoying pulling blog content from into this book. It's making it easier to get lots of text and stories incorporated.

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On the backside of the tabbed card, I adhered a grid of photos that were taken with the ShakeIt app on my iPhone. I put them all together in PSE and printed at 4×6. A thick lululemon clothing tag was used as a "page" that shares the photobooth pictures Vern and I took after the race. I stapled them to green cardstock, trimmed the cardstock to size and adhered it to the back of the tag.

That little red thing is the chip I wore on my shoe to chart my time during the race. It's cute and fit in the book – done and done. The "pre-race" photo on the right is backed by the teal cardstock page.

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Before I adhered the photo to the cardstock, I sewed a bunch of denim circles down. I recently cut a pair of old jeans into shorts and wanted to incorporate some of the leftover denim in this book. I freehand cut different sized circles then layered them on top of the paper (some showing the "front" of the material and some showing the "back".) I held them in place and carefully sewed on top of them with my sewing machine.

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I used a piece of plastic packaging as a transparency and zig-zag stitched two 2×2 inch photos (adhered back to back) to it. This solution worked well because the photos could "float" on top of the circles on both pages. I like mirroring shapes in book spreads and the circles accomplish that. I added some text to the brown label (discontinued from Paper Source) and wrapped it around the bottom right of the page so it could still be seen while the transparency and photo were on the right side.

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Behind the kraft circle paper, I incorporated another 8×6 photo. I really like these big photo spreads. This one is of our window sill plants. I adhered a piece of the plastic tag that came with our big pot of basil on top.

And that's that! Again – loving this project to the stars and back. At the rate I'm going, I'll be adding bigger book rings and additional pages before the end of June. To me, that's great news.

Questions? Holler in the comments. Still need a summer book? Get one here. Want to see more of this album? Go here. Are you working on your own summer book? Add photos to the newly created flickr group!

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21 responses to “summer minibook update #7.”

  1. Allison Rust Avatar

    OK, I’m loving this book as I love all of your books, but this update in particular is just freaking cool. I LOVE the zig-zag page!! It looked like patterned paper at first glance. Dig it. And congrats on your run 🙂

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  2. elise blaha Avatar

    thanks! that zig zag page is my favorite too. 🙂

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  3. Lisa Fine Avatar

    I love the photos from your half marathon, and that you included the chip timer.
    And the denim is so fun. What a great idea.
    Hope you are well.

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  4. Skye Avatar

    ok, I just can’t get over how creative you are and how many photos you fit on such small pages! I love the zig-zags and the denim. thanks for sharing so often- it’s really inspiring me to get working! I’ve started my summer book (though I’m using your quilted minibook, not the one that actually says summer) but I’m not very far along yet.

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  5. Jess Lonett Avatar

    the more mini book updates you do on this the more i am considering giving this a try. i swore off “scrapbooking” in high school after i had to make one for a graduating senior on my pom pon squad. i love how you incorporate mixed materials and sewing into it!

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  6. Ris Avatar

    I love this–especially the half marathon page! I’m inspired to try something similar.

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  7. Carrie Rosalind Avatar

    I LOVE your summer book so much that I had to buy one myself! Anxiously awaiting its arrival so I can break into mine, but I already have a ton of ideas for it! Thanks so much for sharing your process!

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  8. elise blaha Avatar

    hooray! thank you!

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  9. Laura Avatar

    Love how many different ideas & techniques you incorporated into this update!

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  10. Alice Avatar

    I love the chevron page ! It’s so cool. Love that you wrote in between the chevron. I just through an old pair of jeans and man, i should have kept it !!! Love the denim circles and the transparency page. It looks real cool.
    By the way, i just received my book today. It was a nice surprise !!! I can’t wait for my trip so i can start collecting things to put in it ! It will be an awesome way to remember this month long trip to US !!! Thank you

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  11. kimberly Avatar

    ok, i’ve decided that i just have to start printing my pictures at home…i’ve been using shutterfly (because i like the matte look and my local places only do glossy in house) and it takes FOREVER to get my pictures, and by then, i have a back log of things…i’m loving these posts–gets me thinking about my mini book projects in a whole new way! thanks, elise!

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  12. Jenn Avatar

    I looked at this on my phone, but knew I wanted to come back and look again on my laptop… awesome job. I’m impressed at how your’e keeping up… some really creative ideas all wrapped up in that lil book!

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  13. Laura Avatar

    visiting from 10 simple things. I am so impressed with your book and creativity. I’ve never thought of using a sewing machine on anything but fabric before. I am obviously a rule follower.

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  14. Sandy Avatar

    Love your summer book so much. I got mine this week and the papers inside are so pretty. I’m waiting for my photos to get here from snapfish and I’ve been writing everyday in my journal so I know what to add to it. I can’t wait to add them and everything else I’ve saved so far. Did you start in May for your book?

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  15. Leah Bean Avatar

    Yeah, I’m with the others, I broke down and got one myself! I’m pumped to get it and start putting stuff in it. I think the reason it appeals to me is that it isn’t fussy. It seems relatively easy to just DO IT.

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  16. Dawn Avatar

    That was a great minibook. I love making them. My favorite page was the circles made from the jeans.

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  17. elise blaha Avatar

    awesome! Yes, I started in May, but thats just because I was anxious for a new project and it felt like summer in San Diego. Now its gray and chilly so thats a bummer. 🙂

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  18. Sarah Swann Avatar

    Love your book so far! I’ve started adding stuff to mine and I’ll snap some pictures and add them to the gallery tomorrow.

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  19. andrea Avatar
    andrea

    Hey Elise,
    I was wondering how you set up you printer to print on the random pieces of cardstock. I want to print on them but dont want my print to destroy my paper.

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  20. elise blaha Avatar

    hi Andrea, I am pretty familiar with my printer and small pieces of paper. I generally cut scraps down to size and run those through first if I am worried about messing up good paper. Hope that helps! e

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  21. andrea Avatar
    andrea

    i did. i figured if i attach them to a regular piece of printer paper and line it up i have printed card stock.
    much easier than i thought it would be.
    thanks.
    -a

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