enJOY it

an archived personal and craft blog from Elise Blaha Cripe.

  • jet lag.

    IMG_2830 IMG_2831 Whew, home in the homeland. The land of the inexpensive produce. The land of the funny and supportive parents. Land of the old VHS home movies that we felt like watching last night. Feels very good to be back.

    Sadly though, I have a severe case of jet lag which I think has a lot to do with the fact that I slept only a few hours on Saturday night after that crazy football game. Trying to get back in tip top shape and get some stuff done and taken care of today. Buying a new camera is for sure on the list. I think I have it narrowed down and will share when it arrives. I have taken Molly's advice to heart : "it's a big purchase, but rest assured either way you go there's no wrong decision." Yes, Molly, I think you are right.

  • thanks!

    Thanks I really appreciate the camera advice. The suggestions were all over the board but I guess that means I really can't go wrong. I'll do a bit more research and then hopefully have the new camera before I am down visiting Paul in San Diego.

    I started reading Thinking with Type
    last night. I have had the book for a few years but for the first time I actually read the words. It is (literally) a text book. A text book of how to use fonts which is very unlike all the books I read in college. Surprise, surprise, I found myself wishing I was back in school taking some design courses. So now I am trying to figure out if in the morning light that is still something that appeals to me. I am considering maybe something online. Maybe just buying 4 or 5 great books. I don't know if the whole "sit in a classroom and have to do group projects" is the right idea but learning more really sounds good right now.

    Today and tomorrow will be a bit of a whirlwind, I am packing up and heading home to California. Five weeks feels like forever to be gone. So much could happen in five weeks. The shop will stay open and of course the workshop will continue in that time. I am hoping to crank out some new projects so keep an eye on this space.

    Have a great weekend and thanks again for the camera insight.

  • Septfaves

    Video chat. We both downloaded video chat for gmail and it's been pretty fantastic. The time difference really works in our favor because he gets up so early to get to the hospital and I go to sleep to late watching reality TV marathons. We are actually video chatting right now and the only way it could be cooler is if he could make coffee in San Diego and then teleport it to me. Sadly, no button yet for that in gmail.

    New Fall Book. I'll share more soon, but I decided to remake the book I shared yesterday. I liked it, but I didn't LOVE IT and if I don't love it, there's no way I would make an effort to fill it for three months. Might as well just toss it in the garbage. So I started from scratch and am much happier.

    GLEE. Oh jeez. I watched this online last May after the folks on twitter nearly exploded with excitement over the first episode. It's funny. And terribly awkward. And the songs make you want to dance and sing.

    It's a 10. It's a hair product. (Kristen, I bought it!) This is the best leave in conditioner I have ever found and over the past few weeks has made my hair STOP being a rat's nest and start being … well, maybe a mouse nest? Definitely softer and healthier. Can't say enough good stuff. I bought it on Amazon because I couldn't find it in any local stores.

    +++

    I am hoping to add another favorite to the list this month : A new camera. A big one. I am going to go Canon but I am at a loss for which model to buy. I really do not have oodles of funds and I know that I will be investing in a 50mm lens in addition to the camera. Any recommendations? Favorites? Has anyone bought through amazon? That seems to be where the lowest prices are… I would love to hear what you think.

    Have a great Thursday. We've got sunshine here.

  • 09.09.09

    IMG_2764 IMG_2765 IMG_2766 IMG_2767 A new book to fill. Last fall was a big transition and a lot of inspiration. Anxious to see what this fall season will bring.

  • on mini book making.

    LANDS

    I have gotten emails with this question enough times that I thought it might be worth a blog post. "What's the best way to incorporate both landscape and portrait photos into a minibook?"

    Graphic2  

    I have a few ideas.

    Kauai Option one : Don't worry about the direction. Make a book that's a square shape and crop all your photos to 4×4 (or 5×5, 6×6 etc). The orientation of your photos becomes irrelevant and you can pick your favorite part of the photo to fill the whole page. I love these books by Maya Road.

    Changed Option two : Edit your photos prior to printing and crop to appropriate orientation. Works perfectly to cut out background noise as well. I use iPhoto or photoshop elements to make edits but most online photo ordering places will let you adjust and make crop changes prior to purchase. (Sidenote : get 25 free 4×6 photos from Color Inc with promo code eb09)

    IMG_1738 Option three : Think ahead and only take photos with a certain orientation. I made the skeleton of my NYC book prior to leaving so I knew the photos would have to be landscape to fit the book. I kept this in mind while taking pictures and even took my polaroids sideways so I could punch holes later through the white part and not the photo.

    Option four: Make the book just a little bit larger, like 6×8. Use
    pieces of patterned paper or cardstock as the base of the book and
    mount the photos on the paper leaving a white space around the 4×6
    landscape photos.  Two horizontal 4×6 photos will sit snugly right next
    to each other.

    IMG_2775 Option five : Turn the photos and let it go. Often, it's more important to get the photos and memories in the book than to worry about the fact that they are not going the correct orientation. I think this technique is the best one if you already have the photos printed and they are going all sorts of directions.

    I hope these suggestions are helpful! Mini books are really the best way that I have found to get stuff documented and thoughts on to paper.

    Have a happy Tuesday.

  • bye to p.

    IMG_2611 I dropped Paul off at the airport yesterday. Tucked in his suitcase is a bundle of ten cards to be opened on set days. Little bits of encouragement and love until I see him again in San Diego in late September. You know, in case the phone, email and video chat isn't enough togetherness.

    Miss you already Paul.

  • progress.

    IMG_2709 Savethedates

  • my life on the AAA list.

    So, funny story.

    I should keep a whole blog about my funny car stories. It would be called "I don't enJOY it" and the posts would be few and far between but the ones that were there would be real gems. (In case you are interested : the one where I tried to get my Maryland drivers license and MD plates, the one where I tried again to get my drivers license, the one where I actually succeeded in getting a MD driver's license and also my car battery died, the one where my car got towed, the other one where my car got towed, and the one where I ran over a parking cone.)

    Because I am just bad at cars. But that's a story for another day.

    Today's story starts when I walk down the stairs to get in my car and go to out of the house work. I haven't driven my car since Tuesday. I stand in front of it, push the automatic unlock, and…nothing. I've been in this position before. I know that lack of automatic unlock means lack of battery power. So I open the door manually and sure enough, my lights are in the on position.

    Excellent.

    So I call my good friends at AAA, and like always they are beyond friendly and concerned. The lady promises a guy will be out to jump the car in 40 minutes. Because my normal horrible commute involving planes, trains and automobiles takes 1.5 hours, I am not too worried, I'll just drive in to Georgetown and be a few minutes late. I decide to sit and wait for the AAA man.

    Within 20 minutes he pulls up. (You see, AAA has mastered the "under-promise/over-deliver" technique that so few companies take advantage of. If they had told me he'd be there in 10 minutes, I would have been mad it took 20. If they had told me he'd be there in 20, "Who cares? Anyone can be on time." But say forty, and show up in 20 and TA-DA, I haven't even met you yet but I already trust you.)

    This guy made quick work of evaluating my battery and checking under my car engine. As he worked, I filled him in on the fact that LAST TIME a guy from AAA jumped my car my radio stopped working. I explained I have been driving around the past 18 months without a radio and his eyes nearly popped out of his head. "You could have just taken it to the dealership" he said. "Yeeeaaah" I responded.

    "Oh, you're lazy." he said.

    Well, yes. That's true. But the real reason I didn't go to get it fixed is WHO KNOWS how much it would cost? And besides that, whenever I go to fix something car related or change my oil, I always end up spending an extra $100. Apparently, I just look like the sort of person who would buy seven windshield wipers and eight tires. My response to everything is "Will my car crash without it?" but somehow, I still end up buying stuff. I just prefer to stay far away from the car-fixers.

    Of course, I don't tell him this. I may offend him.

    He jumps the car, I turn the key and just like that, the battery turns over and all is well. Just to be funny, I turn on the radio. There was a pregnant pause and suddenly : Music! Coming though the speakers! The AAA guy almost fell over from laughing.

    I should have left my lights on 17 months ago.

  • thursday happenings.

    I have a long day of out of the house work ahead, but wanted to leave you with some great links from around the world. And by world I mean web which is very close to the same thing.

    I love the internet. I also love my new dipytch photo project. It's been two days and I have taken 2 photo pairs. Right now, I have lots of ideas, the problem is once September 5th rolls around.

    Have a great day.

  • 5 handstands a day.

    Jcrewscans Yesterday the j.crew accessories catalog landed in my mailbox. I devoured it. Sadly, I don't have loads of discretionary cash to send to j.crew. But I am still so inspired by their use of color, texture and pattern. By black text on white paper. By silhouettes of people and items. Well played, j.crew. Well played.

    It was chilly when I woke up this morning. SWEATER CHILLY. How odd. How circa March 2009. But, sweater or not, I am going to tackle some projects, make some stuff, AVOID THE JCREW WEBSITE, and host a shop update at 3pm.

    Freegift Free little folded map book (with fun paper inside) for purchases of $20 or more before shipping.

    Have a great Wednesday. Welcome fall.