enJOY it

project 20 of 26 / a folded clutch.

January 10, 2012

Prepare for the project posts to start coming fast and furious. I have only 6.5 weeks until my birthday and six more projects to go which means I have to wrap this up quickly…

Little known fact, I collect clutches (and scarves). Someday I should do a post about all of them because I'm sort of obsessed. This is the first one I have made and I am pretty happy with how it turned out. I followed this tutorial, but made it much bigger. Mine is about 11×14 and is designed to fold to become a more manageable 11×7.5.

I picked up blue vinyl in the clearance section of Joann's and settled on pretty pink fabric for a pop on the inside and an orange zipper for the pop on the outside. I would love to experiment more with different fabrics and textures, but this was a good (simple) start. I feel like making clutches could become addicting, but I am going to wait and see how often I carry this one before I start sewing more.

And here is an awkward photo taken with my phone in the mirror of a resturant bathroom, but it helps show some scale and proves I am using it. (Remember, I followed this tutorial if you are looking to make something similar.)

That scarf in the photo is from gap and the white button up is the best fitting one I've ever found and it's from j.crew.

This is project 20 of 26.

I am attempting to tackle 26 personal craft projects before I turn 27 on 02.22.12. You can follow my progress here on the blog or on pinterest.

See project 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18 & 19.
40 loaves / cardamom bread.

January 9, 2012

Bread no. 32 : cardamom bread.

Adjustments : I used 1/2 C sugar instead of 3/4 C and swapped out two cups of white flour for wheat. I didn't cut this one in half, but I should of. It's a giant loaf.

Notes : so yes, I am absolutely planning on finishing my 40 loaves – just not on time. It's sort of nice though, now I can take my time again and seek out great recipes instead of rushing to the finish line. It's also likely I won't get done before Paul gets home (!!) which means there will be someone else to share the carbohydrate intake.

Review : this is fantastic bread. Fantastic. I have never cooked with ground cardamom and now I want to find a million more recipes for it.
kolo hudson 1.

January 9, 2012

Remember when I spent a week in Connecticut working on some stuff with Kolo? One of the things we worked on was video footage for their newest product trailer. The new album is called the hudson 1 and is sort of what would happen if the hudson 3 and hudson 2 got together and had a child. And that child came in 9 pretty colors (it's not yet available in mango).

I used the hudson 3 over the summer to reorganize my parent's old photos. The hudson 1 is the same excellent quality but a more manageable size for all sorts of projects. (Like as a photo journal as shown above.) Now that it's launched, I can share!

Good stuff.
BLOG 2.0 workshop / 2012 re-run.

January 8, 2012
I first ran this workshop in April 2011. It was a big adventure and overall very successful. I am excited to be offering it again 2012.
- This is an online class that focuses on using web coding and design to customize your Typepad blog.
- Class seats are $115 and payment will be made through paypal. You will receive a welcome email immediately after purchase.
- The workshop seats are limited and instruction will start on Monday, January 23.
- This class will take place on a private blog & will include two weeks of intense instruction followed by six more weeks of access to the blog, Q&A and extra help from me.
- After the complete eight week class, you will continue to have access to the instructional videos and be able to download a PDF booklet of what was covered in the workshop.
- Lessons will be taught via videos (where you can see my screen and hear my instructions) as well as written “lectures.”
- Included in the class fee is 1-on-1 help (within reason, I can’t redo your blog for you but I can give you the tools and answers to do it yourself) via email as well as feedback and constructive criticism if you are interested.
- creating a cohesive & professional blog design
- post visuals & buttons
- font & formatting
- general & useful HTML coding
- sidebar images, buttons, text
- banner & navigation buttons
- creating additional pages
- creating a small “store front” within a blog
- using HTML elsewhere online (like flickr & message boards)
- editorial calendars & scheduling posts
- advertisers & affiliate programs
- making sense of blog statistics
- my blogging story
- and more – including that 1-on-1 help via email
- As mentioned, this is a class for Typepad bloggers. I will be focusing all instruction on customizing your Typepad blog ONLY. **If you do not yet have a Typepad account but are interested in the class, please don’t set up your account yet. I have a coupon code for 20% off to offer new members OR people who need to upgrade to a Plus Typepad account. You will receive it after signing up. This is 20% off your membership for as long as you have an account. If you already have an account, you can still apply it. Very exciting.
- I would highly recommend that you have access to Photoshop Elements or another photo editing/design program. It’s not required, but you will find it helpful in creating graphic elements for your site. You can always download a free trial to use during the class.
“Designing my own blog was an idea I’d flirted with in the past but html and coding had always intimidated me. When I heard about Elise’s class I knew it was time to take the leap and challenge myself to learn something new. Her class was well-organized and easy to understand but also gave me the feeling of having extremely valuable skills under my belt! She made herself available to everyone who needed further instruction or feedback on their blog designs which was just as valuable to me as the information in the class. Her use of video tutorials as well as written lessons worked really well with my learning style and helped me navigate a new blog hosting site without feeling lost. Overall the class exceeded my expectations and I highly recommend it to anyone who’s looking for a little guidance in designing their own blog!” – Rachel Denbow of Smile & Wave.

“My boyfriend gave me Elise’s Blog Workshop class as a birthday gift. As a longtime blogger (and as someone with a degree in Web Design) I was a little unsure of whether or not I would actually learn anything. But by the end of the course, I was stunned by how much information and design tips Elise fit into a two weeks! During the course of this workshop, my blog went from blah and boring to something so great that I started getting immediate offers for sponsorships and advertisers! I’m also being headhunted by technology firms as a social media consultant – all thanks to the strength of my blog! Thanks, Elise!” – Cris Stone of Kiss My Tulle

“This was the class I’ve been waiting for. It saved me hours and hours of Googling and fiddling with trial and error. Elise taught us how to do things right the first time; and if she didn’t know, she would diligently seek out the answer to more complex questions we had. Elise saved me hours of frustration, which in my book is worth every dollar and more.” – the tiny twig
“My brother is a computer programmer who builds websites and writes computer software. He was astounded by what I was able to learn and put together in just a few short weeks. I went from knowing absolutely nothing about blogging (other than reading a lot of them) to setting up and customizing my own blog complete with coding! This workshop felt like having a patient friend guide you by the hand and tell you step-by-step just what to do. For what I got out of this workshop (one-on-one help, a Typepad discount, lessons in blogging AND coding AND design), I would have easily paid double. Very enjoyable and very much worth it!” – Linda of The Written Picture

Why only Typepad? Typepad is the platform I have used for five years and am most comfortable explaining and teaching.

Will you be teaching a similar class for other blogging platforms? No.

Why limited seats? I am offering a limited number of seats so I am able to give 1-on-1 attention when needed.

Do I have to visit the private blog everyday? No, you certainly do not have to read class updates everyday. HOWEVER, I did find that students who followed along daily seemed to “get it” with a bit less confusion. If you are unable to check the site daily during the instruction days (January 23-Febuary 3) that’s okay! But I would recommend reading just one or two lectures a day when you do have time. This will help everything sink in and allow you to build on ideas from one lecture to another. Basically, if you take you time to work through the material as opposed to cramming it all in, it will make more sense and ease frustration.

Are you going to be releasing PDFs of this workshop? Not anytime in the near future. I hope to run this class in full a few more times if there is interest and I can’t figure out a good price for the PDF that is fair for me and fair for you. So for now, there is no PDF release date.

This is an interesting & challenging class to teach. I enjoyed the lesson development and am excited to help you make your blog more YOU. Please keep in mind that this class will involve a lot work on your part as well. This is detailed stuff and I am going to make it fun, but I can’t do it for you. Please email me (elise.blaha AT gmail.com) if you have any questions about what the class will cover or what my capabilities are. I don’t want you to sign up for something that isn’t what you are looking for or really need.

Ready to sign up? Please use the “add to cart” button below. You will be directed to pay via Paypal. Soon after you submit payment, you will receive a confirmation email with more information. Keep in mind that if you pay with an e-check, your email will come once your check clears (which can take up to a few days).

Sign ups are now closed! Keep an eye on this page for workshop updates.

thanks! elise
project life : week 1.

January 8, 2012

Annnnnnnnd, we're off.

(click to enlarge & it will be a [somewhat] clearer image)

Lots of pressure this first week, no? I feel like I wanted to set a bunch of "rules" for how I would complete this album. And that's totally lame and not going to work because undoubtedly it will stress me out when I break MY OWN rules. What I am trying to remember with this project is that the whole is going to be much greater than the sum of its parts. I have to just take it a week at a time.

The blurred out photo on the right page is a picture of our new house number. I'll be sharing the recipe for that bread in the photo tomorrow.

I do like the idea of doing a simple "round-up" of the week's details. I doubt they will always fit onto a 4×3 card and I think I'll run out of those arrow stickers (part of the Clementine kit) before the end of the year. But part of the "no-rules" theme is it doesn't have to match exactly from week to week.

I painted stripes on a piece of kraft cardstock and added some more personal journaling in addition to the list of details. I know some weeks I'll have more text and others I'll have more photos, or more paper or more stuff and that's okay too. I included that photo of Paul (which he was sweet to email me). It's actually from December, but it had to go in the book. I know I'll love having much more than I will care that it's not from 2012. I added the journaling right onto the photo in PSE. The "P" is a letter sticker from Office Depot.

I wanted to include fabric scraps from our built-couch cushions and it made me awkwardly happy that there was a "12" on one of the scraps. Total luck. I think I'll be using the smaller pockets for all sorts of scraps – collecting them is probably going to be my favorite part of putting together this album. I also love that the 3×4 pockets hold a vertical iPhone photo without any cropping.

I included that Jack Kerouac quote because I heard it this week and ties into the theme of the album and "matches" the quote on the title page. It would be awesome if I kept up with the quote collecting and continued to add them. I printed out my January goals photo from last week and stuck that into a pocket. It would rad to have that each month too. But again, I am staying relaxed on the rule setting and trying to focus on the big picture.

Overall, successful week one! I was so excited to get started on this project and played around with it all week. I am always like this at the beginning of something new. The challenge is going to come the first week of February and every week after that. I am so committed to making this work for me though. I already love it.

supplies / Hambly transparency, Paper Source ribbon & labels, American Crafts Amy Tangerine chevron paper, Design A page protectors (which I hear will be restocked in Feb), Clementine core kit, that quote font is Bebas. Confused by Project Life? Start here.

ps / a great drinking game : drink every time you see the word "week" in this post. but not really, because it's 8am Sunday morning. 😉
project 19 of 26 / recovering the built-in couches.

January 6, 2012

Remember how I didn't see our townhouse until move in day? I signed a lease based on photos and videos and then was thrilled the day I moved and realized it was 10x better than I imagined. Seriously. I'm obsessed.

But one thing I knew right from the beginning that I would want to change is the fireplace area. The cushions on the built-in couches were old and faded. The lights above them were outdated. They were some of the first things on my list to switch up.

So let's refresh :

Hooray!

Color! Clean fabric! The lights are down and art is up!

It's shaped up into a pretty sweet little nook. I still have to figure out how to get the fireplace working, make and hang a big driftwood wreath over the mirror, get a standing floor lamp and sew up some little poufs as foot stools (or maybe make these), but I am pleased with the improvement.

I sewed new cases for the eight pillows out of Joel Dewberry herringbone fabric that I bought on etsy. The orange piping came from Joann's. For the cushions, I carefully took off the fabric of one and used it as a template for the new covers which were made out of indoor/outdoor teal fabric from Joann's.

The pillows are from Home Goods (arrow), Crate & Barrel (black and white) and the cute pink ikat one is from Moxie Mandie.

Above the left went our favorite photo ever. That striped rug is 5×8 and came from Crate & Barrel.

And above the right is the start of a gallery wall which I feel like will always be changing. From left to right : 5×7 print from For Me, For You in a C&B frame / art I made after taking Kal Barteski's script school workshop in a West Elm frame / a canvas I designed and had printed by CanvasPop* / a print by Austin Kleon from 20×200.

On the mantle is a lot of DIY art (copper & ampersand) that I have hung all over the place since our first apartment, a few Ikea vases, a pot from Anthropologie and a wooden love cutout from this etsy shop. That photobooth strip was from our trip to Palm Springs last summer. I just taped to a piece of thick white cardstock and stuck in an 11×14 frame. I LOVE big mats with little art.

Little by little the downstairs has took shape (see the rest of it here). Upstairs is still a bit of a disaster and I am trying to decide if I want to get it all set or if I'd rather wait for Paul to be home and be a part of it…

*that palm tree canvas was designed by me and provided by CanvasPop. I am happy to say the quality is fantastic and the site could not be easier to use. CanvasPop is currently offering a 20% discount on orders over $99 with promo code "ELISE20".

This is project 19 of 26.

I am attempting to tackle 26 personal craft projects before I turn 27 on 02.22.12. You can follow my progress here on the blog or on pinterest.

See project 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17 & 18.
january goals.

January 5, 2012

I realized last fall that year long goals are not my favorite. While I adore to-do lists and find that writing goals down helps me get stuff done, it's hard to figure out at the beginning of the year what is still going to be relevant by the end of the year.

So this year, instead of ambitious year long plans, I am going to set manageable goals at the beginning of each month and do my best to get through them in 30 days. This is what I am choosing to commit to in January. My new oven was installed and I finished the last few couch cushions yesterday, so that's a start…
why i am choosing to do “project life” in 2012.

January 5, 2012

I thought for sure I would be doing another round of the album I completed in 2011. Monthly sections. Four photo spreads of 4×8 photos. I even have the albums purchased and ready to go. But I'm changing things up because although I loved it, that was such an "Elise-focused" project. I have a book about me and the projects I completed because it was a pretty "Elise-focused" year.

But 2012 will hopefully be the complete opposite.

Which means, I want a bigger album that can reflect me, but also Paul and our life as a family. I am totally intrigued by the Project Life format and I want more space to spread out and save photos and thoughts and stuff. It's too early to say how I am going to make this project fit into our life yet, but 2012 is going to be a hell of year and one I will be so happy to have saved in this format.

supplies used : PL Clementine paper (black dot & graph), Hambly transparency, Staples letter stickers & manila tag, gold star from Christmas clearance at Target, American Crafts herringbone paper, label unknown.

A few days ago I created the title page and realized this project appeals to my minibook making side. I gave up traditional scrapbooking (like full page layouts) about four years ago. While technically this is a full page format (the pocket dividers are 12×12), the pockets each feel like they hold a different page of a mini album. I love working in 4×6 and 3×4 sections and combining them all together to create something bigger. I can only imagine how rad the entire book will be once each spread is complete.

So welcome to Operation Document 2012. I am so hopeful that I will keep up with this project and am setting a goal to not just phone it in. I am not sure how often I will share it here, we'll see what makes the most sense. Maybe it will be something I post about on weekends, since I don't usually blog then?

Fun facts about the title page : Both of those photos were taken on December 31st. We were able to video chat before the NYE celebrations got started and I took a screenshot to capture Paul. That choose quote is going to be a guiding force this year. I typed it up in PSE and printed on white cardstock. Then I trimmed and added the word "choose" with pen. I printed some blog text on the manila tag following the same steps as this tutorial on Ali's blog. I so rarely use our last initial – but I think I'll start the habit in this book.

Details : Project Life is a product and documenting system created by Becky Higgins. You can learn more about Project Life here. I have the clementine kit and will be using some pieces from that in addition to other patterned papers and embellishments. Right now, I have a bunch of design A page protectors. Currently, I am using the clementine album which is great quality but something I may recover in colored bookcloth to make it feel more like my style. I will be printing all my photos at home on my HP PhotoSmart printer (which reviewers hate but I love) and Office Depot brand semi-gloss photo paper.

I am so excited for this project.
i ran a mile a day from thanksgiving to new years & it was good.

January 4, 2012

I am not going to do a big post rehashing all my personal goals from 2011, because they can all be summed up by this statement : I made progress.

But the running goal actually made a big difference in my life. I wanted to run 365 miles in 2011 and I ended up running 435. (For more info on why I obsessively track all this stuff, read the end of this post.) I started 2011 as a "runner" that pounded a treadmill. I was heavy on my feet. I was prone to injury. I was scared of running outside where I couldn't control the environment. I would frequently make Paul next to me stop running and say, "Babe, you are so loud."

Then, in February, I got on board with forefoot running. I bought fancy minimalist shoes. I read a book about running. I started running outdoors. I signed up for a half marathon. I finished a half marathon. I fell off the running wagon. I bought new minimus shoes that didn't give me blisters and neon laces that made me smile. I signed up for a second half marathon. I cried in panic that I couldn't run another half. But I did and it was one of the best experiences of my life. Then, once again, I fell off the wagon. Until I read an article online about setting a challenge to run a mile a day from Thanksgiving to New Years. That's it, just a mile. Of course you could run more. But you couldn't run less.

I got on board with that plan.

And with one exception (December 2nd, when my movers dropped off all my boxes) I ran every single day. I ran around my parents' block in Sacramento. I ran twice on the treadmill before I moved out of San Diego. I ran on the beach. I ran around my new neighborhood. I took a picture of my running shoes in all different locations and shared them on instagram.

I ran happy. I ran sad. I ran when I was exhausted. I ran when I was hungover (oof-ta). I ran angry. I ran so fast I couldn't breath and so slow I could hardly tell I was moving. I ran and ran and ran. No matter what, I felt better when I was done.

I usually ran for about 1-1.4 miles. The most I ever ran was about 1.7. That was it. Just a short 10-16 minute burst. Usually a chance to get some fresh air, listen to Lady Gaga, Bruce Springsteen or the FNL soundtrack. It was enough to get my heart rate up, but not enough that I had to eat something and shower the exact second I got home.

Some days it was a struggle to slog through. Other days I literally bounded the entire mile. But by the end, I looked forward to my quick runs.

It was a killer way to finish off the year. And much like when I vowed to stop my addictive blog statistic checking behavior, a habit was born. They say 30 days is all it takes. And I agree. I didn't finish my 40 loaves (yet), use all my washi tape or learn to do the splits, but I broke a bad habit and set a good one (plus got a rad photo collage) in 2011.

That's good stuff.
instaLOVE.

January 3, 2012

I'm still obsessed with Instagram as both an editing & photo sharing app. I had some of my favorite photos from the past few months turned into magnets by stickygram.com. I received them yesterday and they're awesome. I want to cover my entire fridge.