enJOY it

an archived personal and craft blog from Elise Blaha Cripe.

our new year.

January 3, 2011

We drove up to LA to celebrate 2011 with some of my college girlfriends and their boys. My photos are lame and I failed to capture many people…but if you need about 30 photos of sequins covering a table, I've got you covered. And to the sequin twins, I love you both.

And then bright and early on January 1st, we drove a bit further north to Ventura to check out our next home town. After a lot of driving in different neighborhoods, we got a handle on the area and started to see ourselves finding a place there. It's tough because we are obsessed with Little Italy in San Diego where we live now. It's a dream town and we're in a dream apartment. We are realizing that what is next might not be quite as perfect. But as Paul says, "Babe, we'll make any place awesome."

I love him. He's was the best part of 2010 and I'm sure he'll be my favorite part of 2011.
just start : original art.

January 2, 2011

A few weeks ago, I shared an image of my blank bulletin boards and the message that if there is something you are thinking about doing it’s best to just start. Shortly after posting that, I stumbled the above quote by Walt Disney that is along similar lines. And then I started thinking and thinking about the best way to make prints or art to share the message.

I ended up creating some simple text original paintings in different colors. My little reminder for you. These pieces will not change your life, but they might help change your attitude. I have six that will go on sale Monday, January 3rd at 10am PST and after that, maybe more. We’ll see how they do. Also coming to the shop then : goodness books in metallic & gray.

Happy, happy new year.
happy new year.

January 1, 2011

…my favorite holiday card message this year. thanks Nina!
2010 holiday book.

December 31, 2010
best of 2010.

December 31, 2010

I went through my iPhoto again (2009 is here) and gave awards to some of my favorites. I tried to pull photos that I haven't posted yet on the blog (with a few exceptions). What a rad year. 2010 was one of the greatest I've ever had. But while doing it again would be fun, I'm glad we get to give 2011 a try.

Have a wonderful weekend, I'll see you next year. Cheers.

and p.s. the wedding photos were taken by our amazing photographers, now known as The Goodness.
four business goals for 2011.

December 30, 2010

This is my first full year where the shop and business is my main job. My only job. That's so exciting and also overwhelming. I need to kick things into gear. I thought a lot about what my sales goal should be and how much money I should try to earn but then realized that the number is not really as important as what I do to work towards the number. Setting a financial goal is lame if I don't figure out what goes into making the money.

And so I have four business goals that will hopefully keep me productive and make this a positive year with growth over last year.

That sounds like a lot right now. I figure I released about 25 in 2010 if you don't count the different colors of items. So that means double the ideas have to happen in 2011. On the bright side though – I don't have a wedding to plan or a cross country move to make. It still should be interesting though. Get thinking, elise.

This just has to happen. I need to find one another one and see how it goes.

Obviously one way to make more money is to spend less money. I need to do giant orders for things like packaging supplies and paper so I don't end up dashing to Office Depot a few times a month. I got a resale license to purchase wholesale in July so this entire year I will be able to save on raw materials. I really need to do more research and make a few large investments at once.

Of all the online workshops I have run, last fall's BIG mini felt the most solid and content rich. I think there is good stuff there that would make a good e-book. My dream though is to have it printed in a glossy real book. So internet – I am throwing this out there : Anyone want to help me publish a book? I don't know where to start so I am starting with the intent. I am considering using Blurb, but I think I need guidance from a real publisher, editor and author. This is a big goal, I know, but I would just love to see it happen.

And that's it. Four goals for the year. I am planning on setting smaller monthly goals in addition to these starting in February.

Happy almost 2011. I need to get to work. And good news for the first goal : two new products will be in the shop Monday morning.
four personal goals for 2011.

December 29, 2010

I love goals and resolutions. I've been thinking about these for about a month and finally, I got them nailed down. I am focusing on things that will take the whole year to accomplish and have divided them into two categories : personal and business. Today, I want to share the personal ones.

It's a mile a day or three miles every three days. I reached my goal weight for my wedding last April and am just hoping to maintain where I am at in 2011.

This sounds funny, I know. But it's part of my plan to get more flexible and bring a bit more yoga back into my life. I have never been able to do them although I came close one summer when I was going to yoga classes everyday.

This also sounds so random. The main idea is to not hoard products and make the packages and letters I send more exciting. I hope my stash is down to zilch by the end of 2011 – and then I'll restock with more colors and patterns.

Paul and I decided that of all my goals, this is the hardest one. It's more than three loaves a month which is far more than I am currently baking. But soft pretzels & rolls count. I have two beautiful bread books and I want to try so many of the recipes. Hopefully this is the push I need.

Overall, pretty simple and enjoyable goals. I am not trying to quit anything or really start anything – I am just trying to improve and make more of an effort in a few different areas. The main plan is to create more and move more. That doesn't sound too daunting.

+++

Aside, I made these tags as a way to share on the blog what my goals were. And then became obsessed with tag making. I love the small space to work with. Trying to figure out what to do with them and how to make more of them to document stuff I do this year… I'll keep you posted.

how tos for the tags : 2011/ I painted the tag lime green, let it dry and then and adhered handcut numbers out of contact paper. I painted over that with gold paint, let it dry again and pulled up the contact paper. #1/ I rubbed a colored pencil on a piece of computer paper on the bottom tread of my running shoe then trimmed the paper to tag size and stitched into place with my sewing machine. #2/ I took a photo of how far I can currently do the splits (most awkward photo ever), printed it and then cut a silhouette around it and a piece of black paper. I added that to a tag that had been covered with woodgrain contact paper. #3/ I wrapped the tag completely with different washi tapes. #4/ I printed a 4×6 photo of a loaf of bread, adhered it to the tag and trimmed around it.
holiday book complete.

December 28, 2010

It was very important to me that I got my holiday book wrapped up as soon as possible before I lost steam and interest. This afternoon, I printed a bunch of photos from our weekend in Sacramento and added them plus simple handwritten text about what we did. And then I called it done.

I'm happy with the way it turned out – this was definitely the most successful I have been with this project. I'll be selling books again and completing my own for 2011 for sure.

See more pages from this month here, here, here, here and here. Questions about this book? Please ask in the comments and I'll follow up there.
from the Christmas weekend.

December 28, 2010

We spent Friday night through Monday evening up in Sacramento with our families for a whirlwind of a trip. For Christmas, I got a new camera lens and it seems like I spent the rest of the weekend taking photos of cats and Christmas trees. It's a pretty cool lens, that's for sure.

I hope you had a merry weekend and holiday. I am so looking forward to ringing in 2011 and settling back into a normal routinue (with a fabulous new camera lens).
5.

December 26, 2010

Yesterday, my blog turned five.

I started a free trial with typepad on Christmas Day in 2005. I was 20 and home from college for Christmas break. I had just finished my year-long term as president of my sorority and was so excited about going back to school without the monkey on my back of being in charge of 150 college girls.

I was a junior at USC and I lived in a house with my best friends. I was majoring in Business with an emphasis in marketing. I combed internship websites looking for a job everyday. My career goals changed with the wind. I was the most single I'd ever been – meaning I had been out of a relationship for almost a year and didn't have a boy I was interested in. Marriage was something I had decided to consider when I was twenty-eight.

I was 20! So young and new. I wrote about my girlfriends and our adventures to the neighborhood bar. I wrote about my classes, homework assignments and favorite lectures. I wrote about books I was reading and ideas I was having.

Five years later – I've graduated college. I've fallen in love with the boy next door. I've moved across the country and back. I've started a business. I've gotten married and contemplated having little ones. This blog has played witness to the most life changing moments I've had.

This blog has become such a big part of me. It is my resume much more than a black and white word document could ever be. Other than eating, putting on sunscreen and watching TV on DVD, it's only hobby I have stuck with consistently.

Blogging has helped me make friends with people all over the world. It has helped me keep in touch with people I already knew in real life. Without this blog there is no way I would have an online business. There is no way I would be able to work from home and do what I love. The best thing I ever did for my career was decide to start typing. (How odd is that?)

I am honored that so many people have stumbled on to this blog and were interested enough in what I had to say to come back again. I put a lot of time and energy into this space but it never feels like work.

Thank you for reading. And happy birthday, little blog. You're a keeper.