an archived personal and craft blog from Elise Blaha Cripe.
chemex coffee maker (we made the switch last week and there's no going back), tokketok happy note pads, anthropologie beaded headband (I finally figured out how to make circle headbands work with my hair), black and white fedora (I've tried on about 100 hats in the past few days – to keep the sun off my face this summer – and this men's fedora looked the best), j.crew striped swimsuit, tattly temporary tattoos, david's tea travel mug.
grateful for time spent up in Sacramento with my family.
loving these Blowfish wedges (especially with a polka-dot dress).
determined to work green vegetables into every dinner.
honored to have our wedding album published in the current issue of Scrapbooks Etc.
feeling overwhelmed with all that is on my plate right now.
eating watermelon by the large bowlful.
asking for clothing opinions on instagram. (the skirt came home with me.)
happy to see stamp shop photos popping up. (the rest will be out the door so soon!)
entertaining a few new project ideas for the 27 materials.
looking forward to seeing a movie in the theaters this weekend.
re-realizing that biology could care less about my opinions on when would be a good time for a little one.
accepting that & celebrating all the good.
turning sketches and notes into concepts and plans.
booking flights to Vegas for an upcoming bachelorette party.
finishing the (Monday) NY Times crossword.
taking photos of my patio garden like a proud parent.
embracing every second of these warm, sunlit days.
I have to say, it's a joy to be done with this project.
It served it's purpose and then some. I made 40 different loaves of bread. I tried detailed and complicated recipes and super simple recipes. I tried different flavors and loaded up on carbs. But most importantly, I got very comfortable making bread. And that, it turns out, was the whole point.
Less than two years ago, baking bread seemed like a foreign and scary concept to me. (Much like growing plants did two months ago when I tried not to cry in the Lowe's garden center.) Of course, the best way to get past something that intimidates you is to immerse yourself in it.
You've got to bake the bread.
I read a few books. I read a lot of recipes. I invested in decent tools. I took photos. I took notes on what worked and what didn't and what I'd change.
But really, I just but the effort in and baked the bread.
In the next few weeks, I absolutely want to get a post together with bread baking tips. But today I just want to celebrate that the 40 loaves were all baked (though it took an extra five months longer than I originally intended!) and share some of my favorites from the bunch.
After all this, I realized that my most favorite bread is usually pretty plain. It's the type that comes out in a basket at nice resturants still warm and tastes excellent with just a bit of salted butter. The first two loaves below are exactly that and the others serve a wide-range of needs. All of these will be baked again, most before the summer is out.
And all the other loaves plus my thoughts & recipe adjustments can be seen here. Thanks for following along on this adventure!
I am going to be bringing a few new features to the blog this summer – two that are photo based.
Weekly, I'll be sharing the "around here" shots, which are photos that I take mostly in my workspace throughout the week. Then every so often, I'll be sharing posts titled "photo walk : ______." These will feature photos that I took with a specific theme over a super short period of time (like 20 minutes to an hour). I love the idea of shooting just one color (photo walk : yellow) or something more general (photo walk : pattern). Not all will be in my neighborhood (this is such a fun activity while traveling) but some will.
For the first one, I put on my flip flops and headphones and walked around my block taking photos of succulents. They grow like … wildflowers here and I am in love with the various varieties and patterns they create. Sometimes it seems like they belong under the sea or back in dinosaur times. And the colors… OH THE COLORS. If we eventually settle down near the beach, I'll cover our backyard in them.
I mentioned last week that I was going to be starting a second Project Life album. I have decided to break the year up into three albums so I can be sure everything fits and I am not limited on inserts. The best part of this is that I got to make a new title page.
I wanted it to mesh well with the first album's title page which meant I stuck to the same color scheme. Happily, Paul and I are back together so the photos (taken by Driver Photo) show us both in them instead of each of us separately on NYE 2012.
Just like on the first album, I included a quote and a grid journaling card. I stamped the four months that this album will hold on a piece of kraft paper. Those E & P buttons were custom ordered from Ormolu.
click the image above and it will become somewhat clearer.
Above is a side by side comparison of the two title pages. Because this is album two, I added a number stamp "0000002" (Yes, I got a little carried away with the zeros) and then went back to album one and added a "0000001" so they match. The "2012" pieces are from my Stendig calendar and were cropped to fit and adhered to the plastic page protector that comes with the albums.
I also had to create an "end-page" for the first album and that was a bit more difficult. I wasn't quite sure what to say so I didn't say much. Just two photos and then simple embellishment flaps. The only text was "on to the next…" handwritten on a grid card.
Simple, simple! I am excited to say even though I have been keeping up with this project for four months, it's still exciting each week. That's a rare thing, I think. I'll be sharing weeks 18 & 19 next weekend.
All embellishments on these two pages are from Ormolu and Banana Fish Studio. Paper is American Crafts (big zig-zag), Crate Paper (little zig-zag), Project Life (grid & text), wood pattern c/o Scrapbook Circle & Recollections (polka dot). Today and you are here stamp are both from the stamp shop. The script text was painted by me last fall on computer paper.
As you may have guessed, the rubber stamps are beginning to ship. Thank you, again and again, for your patience. My stamp makers were a bit overwhelmed with your orders – but I am sending them out as fast as I recieve them and the quality is just fantastic.
And in other news – Paul and I built a table! Our loft space is almost decorated! I'm on to Project Life album 2! Summer books will be listed soon! I'm going to use mine to document our upcoming trip to Palm Springs!
Happy Friday. Have a crafty weekend.
(p.s. that rad stripe & heart washi tape is c/o Freckled Fawn.)
Bread no. 40 : french bread recipe below.
Adjustments : I halved this to make just one loaf and then my changes are shown below in italics. Thanks so much Jill for sending the recipe!
Notes : it's like the end of an era.
Review : good. Probably could have used a bit more salt. The wheat switch might have de-flavored it a bit. Perfect with a bit of butter though.
+
2 tbsp. oil
2 tbsp. sugar
1 tbsp. salt
1 c. warm water
1 c. cold water (I skipped the cold water portion and went with all warm)
1pkg yeast
6 c. sifted flour (as mentioned, I halved this recipe and used 2.5C white flour and .5C wheat)
1 egg white.
Combine oil, sugar, salt, cold water. Combine yeast & warm water in small bowl. (I stuck the sugar in with the yeast and water) Add to 1st mixture beating vigorously. Beat in flour. Knead. Cover w/ cloth and let stand 1 – 1/2 hrs until double in size. Press down and let stand 15 minutes. Then divide in two, shape into tapered loaves, and put on two greased (large) cookie sheets. Let sit another hour until double. Beat egg white and brush on top of loaves then slice tops with 1" long slits every 2 inches. Bake @ 350 for 45-50 minutes. (Mine only needed to bake for about 37 minutes.)
Oh man, I have found my new hobby.
When I first shared my garden at the end of March, I had a bunch of basil, various herbs and five tomato plants. I got a lot of encouragement and suggestions in the comments and was very grateful for all of them.
The first piece of advice was to move my mint into it's own pot because it will take over everything it's near. I did that right away. I also read this great article on herb gardening. I highly recommend it if you are like me and have had trouble keeping your herbs alive in the past. I learned so much about how to trim my herbs so they grow back quickly and stay healthy.
The second suggestion from my blog comments was to get my tomatoes into something deeper so they'd have room to grow. I waited on that one because I wanted to see how things were doing before I spent more money on pots & dirt.
Annnnnnnnd wow, did those tomatoes grow. And then some. It must be the climate because I don't really know what I am doing yet. (Our house is surrounded by strawberry fields and orange groves – so we're for sure in the right place).
It's inspiring and encouraging to watch my plants flourish – especially after I have killed so many indoor and windowsill herb gardens. I am out there every morning, inspecting and marveling. And in the evenings, I usually water and "harvest" from the mint, basil, cilantro and rosemary for our dinners or drinks.
This past weekend I headed back to our local nursery to stock up on a few indoor plants, more dirt and deep pots to separate the tomatoes. The past two days, I reorganized and re-potted – and just in time. The root systems on the tomatoes were CRAZY already. I shouldn't have waited so long. But they are in new homes now and hopefully will do well in their own larger pots. I have them supported against the patio wall which seems to keep them upright for now. Each plant has flowers already and I hope to see the start of tomatoes in a few months.
Moving the tomato plants meant I had more space to spread out the basil which is doing really well. Everyone asks why we have so many basil plants and the answer is simple – PESTO. It takes a ton of basil to make pesto (even the way we do it which includes asparagus). If I end up with too much basil, I'll just make extra pesto and freeze it (or give it to the neighbors).
And then the most exciting part of our patio garden, is our new semi-dwarf meyer lemon tree. Paul's family was here this past weekend and generously gave us a tree to add to the patio. The guy at the store said it would be good in a large wooden pot for at least five years and in just a few months it should be producing lemons.
It goes without saying, I am so excited.
captured on Instagram.
And I would like to take a second to introduce you to and welcome back some wonderful small businesses that help support me and this blog by advertising on my sidebar. Please take a second to click through and see what they are up to!
April was crazy around here. May is set up to be almost as nuts. Taking things one day at a time and REJOICING that Paul and I have got our balance back together. I am very passionate about all the items on this month's goals list. Going to really work towards these and embrace as much summer weather as we get over the next 31 days. I love May.
Everyday Storyteller is a new idea book arriving this May and to celebrate there is a launch party happening May 4th. I was honored to join Cheryl Ashcraft, Anna Aspnes, Katie Clemons, Paula Gilarde, Sara Gleason, Michelle Hernandez, Debbie Hodge, Katrina Kennedy, Amy Kingsford, Cindy Liebel, Crystal Livesay, Robyn Meierotto, CD Muckosky, Nancy Nally, Christine Newman, Ashli Oliver, Amanda Padgett, Renee Pearson, Lynnette Penacho, Elle Price, Heather Prins, Traci Reed, Lauren Reid, Amber Ries, Kristin Rutten, Betsy Sammarco, Jenn Smith-Sloane, Jessica Sprague, Melissa Stinson, Amy Tan, Tiffany Tillman, Jennifer Wilson and write an article about minibooks for this magazine. Sign up for the VIP list to join the launch party and to be the first to know when Everyday Storyteller is released.
EDIT : I am not participating in any giveaway this morning. No need to comment to win. Thanks.
enJOY it 