enJOY it

an archived personal and craft blog from Elise Blaha Cripe.

  • chateau montelena.

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    Yesterday we drove into Calistoga, California (right next door to Napa) to taste wine at the Chateau Montelena. This is an old winery with such a cool history. Paul and I recently watched Bottle Shock which features the winery in 1976 when their California wine beat the French in a blind taste test. A pretty good day for Napa and a pretty great story. 

    The place was beautiful. Today we are heading a bit further to the coast to spend a few days at Sea Ranch before coming back and celebrating Christmas with my family.

  • my favorite.

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  • on labels.

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    I was asked a while ago in the comments where I buy the labels that I use in my projects. I want to share a few links and tips for finding labels.

    First, my favorite labels are by Paper Source, but sadly they have been discontinued. What is left can be found here. They are the notched corner labels that come two per sheet. The good news is they are on sale, the bad news is they can only be bought online. I use these for my shop goods all the time and am not sure what I'll do when my stock runs out.

    Online is a good place to find unique labels but the tough part is paying for shipping. I recommend buying a lot when you do buy online to help make the cost worthwhile. Actually, I recommend buying a lot WHENEVER you buy them. Chances are you will start to write on one and mess up. And if that doesn't happen, chances are you will be scared to "waste" the good labels so you'll never use them. BUY A LOT so you are not tempted to hoard and are not afraid to mess up.

    Check out Papier Valise, TwoGirlzStuff, or search etsy for "framed labels" to see what pops up. Sycamore Street Press also has fun letterpressed gift tags that I use as labels.

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    I have also found bulk packs of inexpensive labels at Michael's (there was not a brand on the package) – check your local craft store to see what they have. Scrapbook companies like Jenni Bowlin and Martha Stewart Crafts produce cool labels too.

    And last, consider downloading some online and printing at home. You can print onto adhesive paper or just on to cardstock. Check out these posts from iDiY for free label resources. Creature Comforts always has great label downloads. (Remember, free labels shared online are almost always just for personal use.) Whenever I find free labels to download, I download them and save to a "free label" folder on my computer. Later, I can go back and print the sheets to use.

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    I keep a few small boxes on my work table filled with labels and other small embellishments. Keeping them in sight helps me use them more frequently.

    Do you have any great label resources? Please share!

  • thanks for the well wishes.

    to sum up, just a tad :

     + Paul will be doing his internship (first year of being a real doctor) with the transitional program at the Naval Medical Center, San Diego in Balboa.

     + We will be leaving MD at the end of March and then will relocate to
    San Diego at the middle of May, after the wedding and Paul's graduation.

     + Neither of us have lived in San Diego (except for a fabulous one-month stint I did with a friend during college) but we are both from Sacramento, California so we are considering this a trip home.

     + This is a one year for sure move – which is as good as it gets in the military.

     + I fully intend on making some sort of "We've Moved!" postcards out of the graphic below.

    Again – thank you! We are excited to have a plan, and even more excited that this plan is taking us somewhere new. I have LOVED my experience on the east coast, which is great, as I am sure P's military career will take us back here at some point.

  • the email we’ve been waiting for.

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  • paul is 27 today.

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  • december week three.

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    The little book is getting bigger. I started with 25 pages + cover and am currently on page 10 of the original book. (I have added 10 additional pages into the bookrings so far.) I am not jotting something for everyday of December, but just sticking holiday thoughts, photos and stuff into the book rings.

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    IMG_4072 When I don't have photos, I use a label and a brief sentence to say what we did. Little tree punches from Craftlove's holiday tag kit. "Peace + Love" postcard by Kal. Little ornament cut from my Starbucks cup. Wood grain paper by Elum. Calendar page by SureAsBlue.

    On Thursday, Paul and I are flying California to spend Christmas and New Years with the fam. It will be a bit of a struggle to keep the book up but I'm bringing a few labels, a hole punch and a tape runner and will hope for the best. I will continue to share my progress on Mondays.

    Look for another giveaway this week and a post about shopping for labels. And of course, on Wednesday we get the big news about where we are moving. I'll be sure to share that. Only 52 hours until we know.

  • dreaming about…

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    …Christmas plaid, sunflares, photoshoots, new bedding, clusters of ornaments, warm colors, candlelight & marrying Paul.

    Photos are my current flickr faves. Credits : 1. Untitled, 2. Retro Love, 3. Serene, 4. is it?, 5. Wallpaper Snowflakes, 6. holiday scarves, 7. holiday scarves, 8. cozy holiday stuff, 9. a start, 10. they're back!, 11. zinnia collage print, 12. Making Another, 13. Untitled, 14. quirk*2, 15. Untitled, 16. scarf for the holiday sale, 17. Untitled, 18. Untitled, 19. lovely package exchange, 20. happy canadian thanksgiving!, 21. these boots., 22. The Lost Boys, 23. a 'cluster of glee'…, 24. Polaroid=Forever, 25. practicing, 26. ., 27. i love orange, 28. Untitled, 29. Bakklandet, 30. Job Cases, 31. ., 32. *, 33. Untitled, 34. Untitled, 35. seriously, 36. window shopping

  • sweet holiday project.

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    Visit CafeMom today for a slideshow tutorial from me on how to make ribbon trees for your table top. Easy and a perfect way to get rid of a pile of ribbon.

  • our new cookbook.

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    On our flight home from Thanksgiving, Paul and I both felt a little blah. Paul did because he was heading into three weeks of sitting in lecture and I did because I am tired of the limbo feeling of not knowing where we are headed and what we'll do when we get there.

    We made a few lists of things to do to help erase the blah's. Some of my suggestions were "rock-climbing" and "dog-walking." (Paul's were "veto" and "veto.") But one of the ones that stuck was "buy a new cookbook."

    We cook at home about six out of seven nights and after two and a half years have fallen into quite a cooking rut. When we have some extra time and are totally bored with food, we usually turn to google, but following an online recipe is not very exciting. We wanted the glossy images and page turning energy that come with a real book.

    I went to Williams-Sonoma the Monday after our decision to branch out and picked up the Barefoot Contessa Family Style cookbook. It's been two weeks and we have attacked just two recipes, but the ones we have tried have been fabulous. We're going to keep working our way through it and meanwhile, I am on the hunt for more great cookbooks. Do you have any favorites? Something you go back to again and again?

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    PS : Today is the last day to order custom journals for delivery by Christmas.