enJOY it

an archived personal and craft blog from Elise Blaha Cripe.

project life 2013 : week 26.

July 21, 2013

It’s week twenty-six and I’m still playing catch-up.

click the photos to enlarge for a somewhat clearer image.

Week of : June 24 – June 30.

What happened this week? Paul headed back to his deployment on Monday and I was home with Ellerie. My mom was here and my dad and brother visited as well. We left the house just a few times. Again… this spread is mostly the Ellerie show as I expect all of these next few weeks will be. Life has to balance out. I am confident that it will.

Anything special in the spread? Not really. I played with a lot of the same colors for the embellishments this week. Loving the look of orange, white, kraft and black. Playing with the color story is often my favorite part of Project Life.

Techniques this week : I added the journaling from this post to a 5×7 insert. The front photo is the photo that accompanied it in the blog post.

Overall thoughts : As I write this, I am exactly four weeks into being a mama. In those early days, I wondered how on earth I would work Project Life back into my life now that everything felt so exhausting and upside down. I am so happy to report that while I’m still tired and totally sideways, this project is still my favorite. I feel happy when I work on it and love that these weeks will be documented.

Ratio of iPhone photos to “real camera” photos : 5 to 7.

Ratio of photos taken by Elise to photos taken by Paul : All Elise except one taken by my dad.

Supplies used : Seafoam core kit, Kelly Purkey Project Life kit, heart sticker and letter stickers, Paislee Press hello card, Chic Tags love tab, Studio Calico “Always Be You” card, Elise Joy stamps (shop will reopen mid-August), Paper Source cardstock and circle stickers.

Tools used : Design A pocket pages, 5×7 pocket page, Fiskars corner rounder, Zig Millenium pen, Rotatrim paper trimmer, Office Depot date stamp, staz-on ink. All photos were printed at home on my HP Photosmart 2575 printer on Office Depot semi-gloss photo paper.

Project Life is a memory-keeping system created by Becky Higgins. I use photos, text and stuff to document our life weekly. You can see all the posts from 2012 here and 2013 here. Do you have a question about how I am tackling this project (including anything about the photos)? Check here.

Posted in project life 2013

15 responses to “project life 2013 : week 26.”

jessica o’brien | jessohbee

July 21, 2013

i love seeing baby-centric project lifes! your ellerie is just magical. i too was so grateful for project life even when it was (and remains to be) hard because if i was still only doing traditional scrapbooking, none of those photos or words would have made it to an album. project life forced me to, in a way, and i’m so happy for that because life and the babies change so quickly. keep going mama!

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Alida

July 21, 2013

Four weeks…wow, I’m sure your’s felt a bit longer than my four weeks. Reminds me of that piece..it goes something like “If you want to know the value of one second etc. ask etc.” What a difference four weeks can make.

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Fiona

July 21, 2013

It’s lovely to see these pages. Project life is such a great way to capture those little moments in time. Makes me wish it was around when my eldest was born (he’s 6). I love seeing all those beautiful newborn shots and remembering those first magical weeks, seeing a little person unfold. Ellerie’s just beautiful. Well done in keeping up with your memory keeping, and thanks for letting us share in it!

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linda

July 21, 2013

amazing you are keeping up – give yourself a whole lot of credit dear! i’m a new mom to a 4 month old and the details of the first months seem so far away! wish i would have started a better memory keeping routine for sure… it’s easy to forget things especially in our tired state.

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Little Italy

July 21, 2013

I love this! She is so darn cute!!
And the best part? She is absolutely going to love looking through this when she gets older. What an amazing gift 🙂

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Erin

July 21, 2013

All your photos of Ellerie–and your sweet family–are wonderful. And bravo on continuing with your Project Life album so quickly!

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Carrie

July 21, 2013

Hi Elise,
I first found this blog in December 2012, just a few weeks before I moved across the country. I had spent my whole life in Boston and I was moving to San Francisco to be with my boyfriend (after 4 years of long-distance) and start my first full-time job. The anxiety that is “excitement+fear” was completely unbalanced until I felt nothing but fear when I thought about the move. The only time I didn’t feel angry (at my boyfriend for taking a job so far from our home coast) or devastated (that I’d be so far from my family, specifically) was when I planned my new apartment. Since I moved so much during my college years, it had been a long time since I felt at home somewhere, and the idea of having my name on a mailbox for a full year was wonderful. A quick google search for “DIY wall art” brought me to this page http://eliseblaha.typepad.com/golden/2011/12/project-18-of-26-big-script-art.html
I loved it. I’m obsessed with words and poetry and lyrics and couldn’t wait to try my hand at this project. While looking for more projects, I found the rest of your entries, and spent days engrossed in your story. After reading the first two or three, I began to cry (I’m a cryer, it’s true) because the things you said about dealing with deployments and moves and your home rang so freaking true. “I can’t do this but I’m doing it anyway” struck me because it’s exactly how I felt. I knew I was going to SF for a good reason but I had been stuck for weeks in a feeling that I literally could NOT pack and get on a plane and move to California. “Listening” to you helped me realize that I was going to do it anyway. As you articulated in a recent post about moving tips, it’s important to remember that a move is not something that happens to you– you make it happen. Even though I felt that I had no control (given that I would lose my job and my boyfriend if I didn’t go) I was actually the only one in control. I was the person causing it to happen. It was supremely therapeutic to realize this and I owe it to you. I even told my friends and family about you– “I can do this,” I said, “Because if Elise can be pregnant and run a business and move while her husband is deployed, I can surely do this too.”
I did move, and it was fine– I’ve done many DIY projects (including your taped table, which was awesome!) and made friends and settled into my new home well. Everything was good until I had a recent bout of bed bugs which made it very difficult to live my life and be happy in my home, and I’m sad to admit that I forgot about you during those hard times.
My Dad is visiting this week, and I decided to add some more art to my apartment with 2 canvases I hadn’t used. I remembered your lyric canvas and came back to the site only to see your adorable daughter staring back at me. I gasped– somehow in all my crap, I had forgotten about Elise and her life and her struggle and her incredible spirit. I was almost 20 pages behind and spent the night catching up with you.
First of all, Ellerie is a gorgeous name for a gorgeous baby (with a gorgeous mid-century changing table that I lust over each time I see it!) I am so freaking pleased to know that you and your family are all healthy and home again. I know that your life and your story is not some fictional allegory that you post to help 23-year-olds like me feel better. But I had to post this and hope that you read it, so you can maybe understand just a little bit how much you’ve helped me. You helped me move to SF, you helped me build my home, you helped me be a better partner to my boyfriend, you helped me take things on when they seemed impossible, and you help me realize my Real Problems vs. Pretend Problems on a day-to-day basis.
Last night I painted a canvas sea blue and used white lettering to write these Jason Mraz lyrics: “If it’s a broken part, replace it; if it’s a broken arm, then brace it; if it’s a broken heart, then face it; hold your own, know your name, and go your own way.” It hangs above my bed as a double reminder– to listen to those lyrics, and to remember Elise.
Thank you so much, and I look forward to reading your blog posts for as long as you continue to share with all of us!
Sincerely,
-Carrie

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J3SS1C4

July 21, 2013

Love this spread! Especially seeing the photo of youand Paul with her! She really is gorgeous, and I love the simplicity of your layout to hightlight your photos

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Emma

July 21, 2013

Hi Just a thought for your project life and the birth of Ellerie include a page with what happened in the world on the day of her birth. I did it for my first child two years ago and for my second child 5 months ago and it was interesting to compare and see what was happening outside the hospital room. My mum did the same for me and I hope my boys will look back on what happened on the day they were born to see how much has changed in the world each year.
Emma

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Cerise

July 21, 2013

Beautiful. I love the addition of the blog entry and the lovely journaling around sweet Ellerie’s portrait.

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Karen

July 22, 2013

6 weeks things get under control and by 3months you are a professional.

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Pink Ronnie

July 22, 2013

Just beautiful, Elise. I love the way you use the decorative elements in your home as background for your photos – it adds so much colour, warmth and personality to your spreads!
Ronnie xo

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Leigh

July 22, 2013

I agree with Karen. At the 6 weeks mark, things really start to even out.

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elise blaha

July 23, 2013

Thank you, Carrie. I am so glad you enjoy my blog. 🙂

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Michaela

July 23, 2013

You’re project life is so Inspiring. I love how clean and crisp your layouts are.

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