enJOY it

an archived personal and craft blog from Elise Blaha Cripe.

introducing summer books!

May 10, 2011

I have been thinking a lot about what would be a "new" product to release that fits with my current inventory but I haven't tried before. Sometimes what works best is to think about what I want. What do I think would look good in my house? What project would I want to work on next?

When I answered the second question, I came up with the summer books. I have struggled with completing my own seasonal minibook kits in the past but have had great success with pre-made holiday books the last two years. (You can see my complete 2010 album here.) I am hoping that if the project was fun and interesting in December, it will translate well for memory keeping over the summer.

The summer mini books are 25 pages thick in a teal, green, orange and yellow color scheme. The front and back covers are chipboard and the front has been stamped and embossed to create a raised & glossy title. These are books that don't have to be updated daily but would be a good place to jot details and events, save photos and collect your summer months.

I am going to be keeping my own book as a more casual and in-the-moment companion to my 2011 album. I will be sharing my updates to it here on the blog every week or so. Summer has always been my favorite season and I am excited about saving it in this method. If you are interested in doing the same, books will be available for sale in the shop tomorrow (Wednesday) morning at 8am Pacific time.
40 loaves / crescent rolls.

May 10, 2011

Bread no. 11 : crescent rolls

Adjustments : I used just 3 tbsp of butter in the dough and the 4th to butter them before baking.

Notes : we've always just bought the crescent rolls that you pop out of a can – I never really thought they were something you could make from scratch, but turns out there are a million recipes. Pretty easy & much cheaper than store bought. Next time I'll sprinkle them with parmesan cheese the towards the last two minutes of baking.

Review : fantastic, though I would probably add a bit more salt.
queen bee market / craft fair recap.

May 9, 2011

Last Friday and Saturday I participated in the Queen Bee Market. If you have been following this blog for the past few months you already know that my excitement level for this event was through the roof. I put a lot of time and energy into coming up with new displays and creating new product. I loved the experience.

This show, hosted by sisters Mique & Jessica, was adorable and very well organized. It consisted of about 50 handmade vendors and a steady flow of customers over two days. It was a shared check out which for me is great. While I like to meet people, standing in front of a booth and playing the roll of salesman is not my mode of operation (and I am realizing that is okay). I was so happy for the relaxed environment and for the opportunity to sit and chat with my parents who came into town and Michelle of Lovely Junque whom I adore.

What worked :

The overall display / it fit in but stood out just enough. That was my one main goal for this craft fair – to build something substantial that I was proud to say was mine. As always though, adapting is important and the wheels are already turning for what I could change.

The transfer & set up process / all of my risers for the books and posters were fabric covered boxes that I used to transfer all the product from my house to the market. I liked that my display was my storage – less stuff to haul in and out which made set up and take down quick and painless.

The 5×7 print display / overall, I have to say this worked well because my 5×7 prints sold better than anything else. Part of that, of course, is the price – at $5, they are the least expensive thing that I offer. For the most part, it stayed organized, even with people checking out different colors and putting them back. I loved that each color and design could be faced and it was fairly clear what was available. I only had to straighten up this board a few times but probably could have checked in on it more frequently.

The flower print display / this was an interesting one – I originally created the canvas board as a sample display piece only, but late in the game decided to turn it into product storage as well. I painted a stretched canvas teal and freehand painted six frames in white. Then I stapled a 5×7 piece of chipboard inside the frames and used binder clips to secure five of each of the six prints to the board. I didn't know how well these flower prints would sell but they did much better than I expected which means the display worked on some level.

What I'd change :

More signage / I didn't get around to labeling each "section" of the table or creating price signs for items. I would have liked to have a "5×7 prints – $5" sign and something for the flower prints & posters as well. It's hard to say if it would have helped – but I doubt it would have hurt.

Bigger tablecloth / no excuse. This was a simple case of "I got lazy." I needed something that generously covered all sides of the table.

Maybe forget about the mixed paper books / while they have done really well online, the point just doesn't seem to translate as well in real life where it's unclear how they can be used. I had a sample book this time and still sales of books were low. Part of me thinks I scrap (no pun intended) them at craft fairs and either expand the print/poster line OR think of something new to sell. Maybe something that is bigger and more difficult to ship? Something that would fit with my brand but would be unique for craft fairs? I don't know. Something to think about.

Creativity prints in a wider range of colors / by far, the creativity prints were my best sellers and oddly, I offer them in the least amount of colors. It's not a big deal to expand colors so I will definitely do that. I think the "creativity" theme is something that does well in a craft fair setting and I might have to think about having more prints of the same theme.

No car rental / Paul and I share just one car. With some planning, this usually works out great. But on the market day, he had to work and I had to work and we really needed a second car. I ended up renting a big SUV that could easily fit all of my displays and product plus me and my parents, but that cost really cut into my profit. We will not be purchasing a second car for awhile and so this was a good lesson that I need to only participate in markets/fairs where it will work for me to use our car.

In general :

Events like this help me remember that I am so not alone in this DIY/small business/handmade/get crafty land. Thanks to twitter & blogs, I never really feel alone, but there is something about being surrounded by other women who do what I do that makes the whole thing feel more legit. I am so grateful that my parents and Paul could see me in what really is my element, because more than any job I have ever had this feels like me.

It is also such a reality check in the best of ways. What am I doing? What should I be doing? What can I be doing? What is the plan? Seriously, Elise, what's the plan? How can you make this bigger and better and more real? Get to work.

Dude. Typing all of this out is so helpful. I am processing things now. Feels good. Again, I am reminded why I need this blog. Thanks for hanging with me these past few weeks. Right now, the plan is to list something new along with all of the mixed books that didn't sell on Wednesday morning. I will post here when everything is updated.

photos : 1. badges at checkout 2. my completed booth 3. the badge I wore during the show.
2011 album update : april.

May 9, 2011

Same song, different verse.

Lots of projects made the pages this month! Am loving, loving, loving this book. Updates take about two hours a month from start to finish. Check plus.

See January, February & March.
May 6, 2011

I'm setting up shop at the Queen Bee Market today and tomorrow and then playing host to my family the rest of the weekend. If you're local, come shop handmade! (just a heads up : admission to the craft fair is $5.)

Check back here next week for a craft fair wrap up (photos + what worked and what flopped), the new living room reveal (that I may have hyped too much), last month's album update & information about some new shop products.

Have a great weekend.
40 loaves / pizza crust.

May 5, 2011

Bread no. 10 : pizza crust (here's our recipe)

Adjustments : zip, we've perfected this one for us.

Notes : I'm racing through these bread posts because I have been making bread faster than I have been blogging it. We make pizza about once a week so I figured at least one of these crusts should count in my 40 loaves mission. This particular time that I took photos was our first ever homemade pepperoni pizza. Super good.

Review : This is our never fail pizza recipe. I've been making it for so long that I just sort of wing it now, but it always turns out fantastic.
40 loaves / pita bread

May 5, 2011

Bread no. 9 : pita bread

Adjustments : I cut the recipe in half.

Notes : Paul has been on a hummus making kick and we needed something for dipping. Turns out baking pita is practically easier than buying it.

Review : good with hummus and good with peanut butter and seriously so easy. I cooked mine on a pizza stone for about 4 minutes. I might extend that a bit longer next time.
project 6 of 26 : “new” chairs.

May 4, 2011

I'm rolling with the green. There are some things that we can do in this apartment (like build a new coffee table) and somethings that we can't (like build a new dining table). I've got a plan for what I would like our new one to look like, but with the small space we have, it's impractical for now. So instead I am throwing a table cloth over our current one and repainting and recovering our dining chairs to bring a bit more life into them. The plan is to eventually sell the old table and save the redone chairs.

To show you the progression, I took a photo of three of our chairs in all of their states. The far left is what we had in Maryland. The recovered blue is what we have had for the last year or so. And the right is the redo.

Much like the wall painting, this is turning into a much larger project than anticipated. Step one is to remove the cushioned seat. Step two is to sand the wood as much as possible. Step three is two coats of primer. Step four is THREE coats of paint. Step five is recover and reattach the cushion.

And you might notice… only one chair is shown. Yes, I have three more to do. But at the moment, time is free and new chairs are not. So on we go. And the best news is : I love them.

DETAILS : Paint is Behr Thyme Green in semi-gloss. Fabric is this home decor pattern that I ordered online for half off.

This is project 6 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, on pinterest or on flickr.

See project 1, 2, 3, 4 & 5
love & thanks.

May 3, 2011

As always, I appreciate your support, stories and encouragement – especially on my last post which was a tricky one to write. love, elise.
on military life.

May 3, 2011

first : Thank you so much for the encouragement and thoughts on "making a home feel like home" on my wall painting post. It was so nice that so many can relate and I was happy to hear how many military people read this blog. It's something I don't talk about a lot, but something I want to share some thoughts on today.

+

So to begin, I feel like a fraud writing this post. We don't really know too much about military life yet. But this is the story of our (well, mostly my) relationship with the military so far.

Paul joined the US Navy after college. He applied to the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences (say that 5 times fast) for medical school and got in. This program offers med school "for free" and pays you while you attend for four years. Afterwards, you do a one year internship at a military hospital and then do a two to three year General Medical Officer tour (this is what we are about to start). After that, you complete a four to five year residency program and then you owe at least four to six additional years of service as a military doctor.

Did you follow that? No? Welcome to the club!

After his commitment is over, Paul can get out of the military and become a civilian doctor. Or he can continue for about 8 more years, retire with military benefits and then be a doctor in the civilian world. We have no idea what we plan on doing. It will depend on the health care climate and how much control we feel we have over our lives.

Paul and I started dating after he had already committed to the military medical school program, but before he had left for Maryland to actually start. At the time, I had just finished up my junior year of college. I was a business major and very excited about becoming a high powered person for a major company. (Feel free to laugh out loud – though at the moment I am exceptionally high powered in my company of one.)

Even during those first couple days, both Paul and I knew we were never going to just be a fling. I remember a conversation at 11'o clock at night on the sidewalk in front of my parents house before we even started dating. I told Paul I didn't know if I could commit to a life where we were not in control of where we lived or what we did. I told him I wasn't sure I could be married to someone who didn't have weekends off or had to go to war zones for eight months every couple years.

What can I say? I was only twenty-one. I didn't know anyone who was in the military. I wanted my future job to be important too.

Paul totally understood. On the sidewalk, in the dark, he told me that he had already committed to this path. He was on it for good. He thought we could be something amazing, but if I didn't want the life he had already signed up for, that was fine. There was someone out there who would.

Obviously, I decided to roll with it.

Paul moved to Maryland that fall and I went back to USC for my senior year. My senior year was awesome social-wise, but sucked career-plan-wise. I didn't get any of the random corporate jobs I applied for. Around February, I decided to take the show to Paul and look for work in Maryland. In August, I moved in with Paul. We had been dating for a year and had never lived in the same city. Some people thought I was crazy. Fortunately, I didn't care. SIDENOTE : people sometimes ask how we dealt with the long-distance. The answer is, we didn't. We (mostly me) were not very good at maintaining a new relationship from across the country. I moved to shorten the distance and really make the relationship work.

We spent almost three years in Maryland. We were 3000 miles away from our families and best friends. We had each other, but that was it. Other than the fact that Paul wore a uniform to work and had to get permission to travel, our lives didn't feel very affected by the military. I told people Paul was in med school. I never said he was in the Navy. I certainly wasn't ashamed, that just didn't factor in when I thought about him or our lives.

We moved out to San Diego after our wedding and Paul's graduation so Paul could start his intern year at the Naval Hospital at Balboa. We were married now, so I got a military ID and health insurance that paid for doctors appointments, not just catastrophes. We started grocery shopping on the military base. That is the extent of how our military lives changed. Soon after we moved, I went to a military spouses event. I left in tears. I hated (and still hate) being lumped into a group just because my husband does something. If I made a list of things I am, military spouse would not make the top twenty. (Though wife would be up there, along with really organized.) Plus it was all so intense. Paul had never made the military a big part of our lives and so strangers trying to do it stressed me out.

So fast-forward another year to TODAY. In some ways, things are still the same. We still go on base for groceries. Paul still wears his uniform to work. But things are also totally different. At the end of June, Paul will graduate from the intern program and begin his two year stint as a General Medical Officer (GMO). He is leaving for four weeks of training in Mississippi in early July and then will deploy towards the beginning of August. We are not sure yet where he is going (though it looks like Afghanistan) and don't expect him to return until mid-February.

Nothing sounds more "military spouse" than "My husband is being deployed to Afghanistan."

Obviously, I am terrified for Paul to deploy. I have a hard time not knowing what the "mood" will be over there. My biggest fear is obvious : that he will not come back. I know that at the very least, he will come back changed in a way that I can't understand. He will have experiences I will never be able to relate to. I am frustrated that him being gone puts part of our lives here (like starting a family) on hold. It is difficult to be committed to a man that is committed to the military and all the fear for me starts and ends with deployment.

And yet :

I am so glad that because of the military, we spent three years as an island of just us. It formed our relationship uniquely and made a bond that I doubt a deployment or five can break. I am glad our kids will have the opportunity to live in different states (and hopefully countries). I moved twice during my school years because of my dad's job. It improved my social skills and made my family of four very close. We relied only on each other during those years and I am so grateful for that.

I am glad that because of the military we do not have any debt. Paul built up savings during med school and not many people can say that. I am glad Paul will always have a job, even in a changing medical world. Because of Paul's job and its stability, I am able slowly carve out a path that I love without worrying about bringing in big paychecks (…yet. I fully intend on one day bringing in the big bucks.). And mostly, I am so glad Paul enjoys his job. I find strength in the fact that he is looking forward to his first deployment.

I know we will get through those long months apart. I know we will get through all the moves we have coming. I know I am strong enough to be there for Paul. I know I am strong enough to be on my own sometimes and raise our kids solo for months at a time. And I know he is more than strong enough to be there for me and all the little ones we will have.

We're blessed. A little scared, but blessed.

(PS – Paul read this before I posted it. I don't do that a lot but it was important to me that this post had his stamp of approval and that it came from both of us, not just me.)