enJOY it

an archived personal and craft blog from Elise Blaha Cripe.

  • washi tape gift tags.

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    I was working on something completely different this afternoon when I came up with an idea for our presents this year. Super simple gift tags – and best ever, I had everything on hand. I choose colors that match the wrapping paper I am going to use.

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    I wrapped strips of washi tape around a plain manila tag (from Office Depot) then trimmed the corners and punched a new hole for a piece of string. A letter sticker (also from Office Depot) denotes who the gift is for.

    My tape is from happy tape, this etsy shop & the bird and flower designs are Martha Stewart's line for Michael's.

  • from the weekend.

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    Happy Monday.

    This past weekend stretched on for so long. It might have been because Paul was home. He just finished his internal medicine rotation and started dermatology. Which means his work weeks dropped from 80 hours to about 40 hours. It goes without saying that 40 hours makes a big difference. Especially if you've gotten used to such little time together. I'm loving the extra hours.

    And it was so warm. Like in the 80s. I wore shorts and flip-flops Christmas shopping. That's nuts. The sunshine and the heat made the days seem to pass slower still. I'm a fan. To sneak in a little holiday spirit, I made paper snowflakes and played Christmas music.

    We cooked a big breakfast and took our time drinking coffee on Sunday. I caved and gave Paul his birthday gift early. It's a guitar. Suddenly, he's all about the guitar. It must be all the extra time on his hands. We bought gifts for others and chose our new year's resolutions. And made wish lists. Topping mine : a couple of books, my first pair of nice sunglasses & a new camera lens.

    Last but not least, I tried a new clarifying shampoo that I am pretty sure saved my hair's life.

    If all weekends rolled like last weekend, I wouldn't mind a bit.

  • shop sale!

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  • garland wall.

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    I've shared pieces of this wall as it's come together, but I'm pretty sure it's finished now. I wanted to hang different strands of red handmade garland around our window. Festive enough, but super simple. And I will probably save these to string around a tree the next time we get one. The sun made it a bit tricky to photograph, but hopefully you get the idea …

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    For the strands on top of the window, I made a slip-knot rope with three strings of yarn and strung small squares of red felt on baker's twine.

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    Down below the window sill, I added another yarn rope and a long piece of baker's twine with red and white felt balls from Ornamentea strung on it. I didn't have enough felt balls to fill up a long chain so I spaced them on the string in small groups which worked out well enough. I pinned all four garlands into place with clear pushpins.

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    Since the last time I shared my window sill decorations, I have added a few more candlesticks. The red ones are from Crate & Barrel and were too cute to pass up. I'm planning on visiting the store again the day after Christmas to hopefully score a great deal on a few more.

    ps … a little birdie giant hot pink flamingo told me there is a shop sale announcment happening here bright & early tomorrow morning …

  • 2010 favorites.

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    original Falling Whistle necklace $34, Michael Kors rose gold watch $250, Lotta Jansdotter's Handmade Living $20, Peter Reinhart's Artisan Breads Every Day $20, Ikea mini planters $2, Helena de Natalio envelope clutch $152, j.crew silk-cashmere wrap $75, Moleskine Color a Month 2011 planner $36, Claudia Pearson buy local calendar $24

    These are a few of my favorite things that I was gifted or picked up this year. I thought you and the people on your list might like them too.

  • holiday book update #3.

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    I am continuing to make progress on my holiday book. So far it's been easy to find holiday items & photos to add. Below are the next few pages. Click to enlarge.

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    I cut the cover of the December j.crew catalog into two 4×6 pieces…

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    and mounted them back to back with a tape runner to serve as their own page. (I love the neon fonts and forest green background.) I machine-stitched a rectangle in red thread on the file tabbed page and stapled a tag with text right on to it.

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    To make a two page photo spread, I re-sized my photo (taken with a self timer) in photoshop to 6×8. Then I cut the photo in half to make two 4x6s. The left side got adhered right to the tabbed page.

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    And the right side became another new page when it was backed with another 4×6 photo of our wreath. I added a sticker label to the red card with text about the wreath.

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    I adhered a flyer from the holiday pop up shop to the back of the red card and flipped the silver patterned paper so I had the plain side to work with. I printed a few strips of photos (using the contact sheet printing option in iPhoto) of the event. The label on that page is discontinued from Paper Source, but two come with the holiday book.

    See more pages from this book here and here.

  • ideas.

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    I've got a plan for the tabletop of my next craft show. I need to find or build an apartatus with strings (or wire?) running between posts. I could clip prints & cards to the wire. And then I thought it would also be cool to paint (fancier than what is shown) frames onto kraft paper (or something), tack it to the wall behind the booth and "hang" prints & posters in the frames. I'm inspired.

    And I cannot thank you enough for your sweet words on my last post. I love hearing your stories and experiences too. Someone should write a book on the art of participating in a craft show.

  • my first craft fair.

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    This weekend was my first attempt at hosting a table at a craft fair.

    After 24 hours, I feel like I have started to figure out what I loved about it and what I did completely wrong. While it would be easy to share a few photos and say "it was great!", I would like to lift the curtain a bit. Please understand I am not asking for love, pity or advice, I just want to share my honest realizations.

    The event was held at Space 4 Art in downtown San Diego. They were hosting an open gallery event, three live bands and plenty of food and drink. A group of fourteen local crafters, led by Susie of Boygirlparty and Dain of Dainty Handcrafted, jumped in on the excitement and held a craft show in one of the classrooms.

    From 6-10 PM the center was open and it was packed. I was shocked at the amount of people and the good energy. ART IS GOOD. This I know. It was so exciting to be able to be a part of it. I really loved meeting the other vendors. (Long live handmade.) And enjoyed seeing and meeting so many people who came out to support.

    That's the good stuff. Seriously, it was a lot of good stuff and it out weighed what's coming which I would like to call… LEARNING OPPORTUNITIES.

    To start, Paul was on call Saturday which meant he spent the night at the hospital and couldn't make the set up, the actual event or the take down. I knew this going into it. I was bummed, he was bummed, but there was nothing to be done. I figured I would go it alone.

    LAME PLAN.

    I should have asked for help. I needed a real life teammate. Like my mom. Or one of my girlfriends from LA. Someone who I could have been honest with and who would have been honest with me. Someone to help carry bags and boxes. Someone to guard my table while I escaped to the bathroom or wandered the gallery.

    LESSON ONE : You need a teammate, a backup, a shoulder, a friend.

    Secondly, I needed a much better display plan. One reason I have been hesitant to sell at craft shows is #1 : I didn't have enough inventory and #2 : I sell to a niche. Mixed paper books are a niche. They are awesome and perfect on the internet where I can show samples to people who love little books like I do. But in a small booth of a crowed room in front of a non-niche customer it's so much more difficult to get the idea across.

    BUT I KNEW THIS.

    So I thought since I have added prints and posters I would be able to cast a wider net. And that was true. The prints and posters are better sellers in a non-niche market. But I failed to make them FRONT AND CENTER of the booth. I had my prints in trays that had to be flipped through to see the options. I had a chart for the posters so people could see what was available but very few actual posters visible.

    LESSON TWO : Every print (or close to it) should be faced. The wall space should be used to showcase as many poster options as possible.

    THE GOOD NEWS : This show cost $20 to enter. I could have spent a lot of money to get into a larger show and have come out way behind. Here, I came out with evidence of areas to improve. I think I will try one more show with my adjustments and see how things go before I become an all-internet-all-the-time girl. Because, bottom line, I did make a little money. And I met really cool people. And it was important that I got out of my comfort zone.

    THE BEST NEWS : I am beginning to think it was neccesary to get a bit knocked down too. Today, I have felt a completely different fire under me to make this small business of mine stronger. That is exciting. And seriously … LONG LIVE HANDMADE.

    If you are newly visiting and we met at the show, Hi! Thank you for stopping by. I hope you'll stay and read awhile. If you are a regular visitor, Hi! Thank you for continuing to come back. I am glad I have a place to share the ups and downs.

  • sunday random.

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    This is our second year without a Christmas tree. Yesterday morning I picked up a small but real wreath to bring some green into our apartment. I had forgotten the power of that real pine smell. WOW. We'll be getting wreaths every year now, that's for sure.

    I am going to be updating my shop this afternoon with new mixed paper books. Keep an eye out. And I'll be sharing more about last night's Handmade Pop-up shop too. I have a lot to say. It just needs to be processed.

    Hope you are having a nice weekend. I'm counting the minutes until Paul's last call shift ends. After today, he'll have eight weeks of no overnight call. How strange it will be to have him home again!

    AND A TIP – I didn't want to put a nail in our door (the wreath is hanging inside our front door) so I wrapped a long piece of ribbon through it and staple gunned both ends of the ribbon into the top side of the door. No visible permanent marks and it's very sturdy.

  • go.

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    I've had a good week of workdays. Books were made (they'll be listed online on Monday after the pop-up shop). Inventory was sorted & counted. Bread was baked. Blog posts were written. Signs were made. Holiday decorations were hung. Holiday cards were ordered. Envelopes were addressed. Calendar pages were flipped.

    And during all that, I listened to lots of good TED TALKS. Some of my favorites were from J.J. Abrams, Jason Fried, Ken Robinson (thanks, Kal) & Elizabeth Gilbert. Creativity was the buzzword for sure. I love the idea that the more you excercise creativity the more you have. It doesn't run out with use. It grows. So awesome.

    Happy, happy weekend. See you Monday. Unless you're local. Then I'll maybe see you here?