an archived personal and craft blog from Elise Blaha Cripe.
Oh Monday. You came quickly. I don't have a Project Monday to share – but hopefully next week will be a big one. I think my website will finally be ready for it's big reveal. (I better be carefully not to hype it up too much.)
We are nearly at the half way point for the year 2009. So far, so good. I am keeping busy and for that I am glad.
…wearing my swimsuit…eating cherries…and turning a stack of mixed paper into little books.
I wanted to share what I have started to make with my new art journal kit. I have decided to use it as a little photo journal for Paul and I this summer. I loved in UP when Ellie thanked Carl for the adventure. Eighty years from now, I will say the same to Paul.
Just one photo in there for now. We have started taking walks at night and on Tuesday I set my camera on the curb, started the timer and ran. Which would have been fine once. But we did it five times. Paul's middle name is "Good Sport."
I glued my map pages back to back to get map on each side. And I trimmed around the red frames. Soon they will hold photos and journaling.
I stitched the book together with the string from the packaging. I used a regular sewing needled to poke through all the pages and stitched in and out along the fold. I tied it off with a small knot.
The crosshatch pattern on the red paper makes perfect frames. I will be adding photos in the boxes as we take them.
So that's my take. I'm excited to get more photos of THE TWO OF US so I can add more embellishments and adventures to this little book.
Treading water.
It's like staying afloat. I think of treading water as what you do to keep going. Like drinking coffee. Or praying. Or making friends. Or working at a job. It seems like you tread water temporarily, but really, it's ongoing. You are always treading water. Moving and working. Fighting and keeping your head up.
I tread water by making stuff. And I kept afloat for this prompt by making a journal out of everything I could find that was blue. With a little bit of khaki and white thrown in. Why a journal? Why not? For writing. For treading. For thinking and growing.
At first it was going to be for me, but then I realized I have 700 projects and another journal is not necessary. So now it can be yours. It's thicker and larger than most of my paper books and the $25 price tag reflects that.
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Thank you, Kal for this challenge. This was a good first GOventure for us, no? I have to say, I have a lot more time and a lot less little ones that need to be cared for so triple arm pump to YOU for making it through. Let's do it again.
And thank you, Blogland for reading and playing along. Such cool stuff. It helps to have a little challenge and project to get you going.
My GOventure art pieces from Monday, Tuesday & Wednesday are available for purchase. ($40). Please email me if you are interested. And thanks for the suggestion of letterpressing the song + dance print. I LOVE THAT IDEA.
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And more thanks for your support in my UPdate on Wednesday. My next shop update is tentatively scheduled for July 22. There will be many more mixed paper books as those are quite the hot sellers. Also maybe more big handbound journals. [there is another one still available.] And all the rest. I would love to have 1000 sales on etsy by November. That means I have 374 to go. I better start thinking.
Look for another post later today for how I used my art journal kit.
This one. Oh this one. It was a challenge. But yesterday morning, I started thinking of song lyrics about dancing. Or singing worked too. And I typed them up. The result is a random mash-up that reads a bit like a strange poem. And that works for me. And I threw some of the Journey song they sing in Glee up there. Because nothing says song + dance like glee.
Go see what Kal made. And thank you for playing along this week. Tomorrow, Friday, it's all about treading water.
+ mixed paper books
+ balloon postcards
+ handbound journals
+ new prints
+ adventure art journal kit (I will be sharing my samples of how I used this kit tomorrow.)
From now until Friday [11:59 PM EST] – all purchases over $15 will receive a free balloon postcard with their order.
Pocket. Pocket. When we were tossing phrases and challenges around it was like a quest to see who could be more random. Pockets are random. They are not really something you think about, but something you are happy to have. They are a feat of engineering really. They are the only thing that would make my wedding dress even more perfect.
As I turned this one over and over, I thought a lot about making pockets on a piece of paper. Each one would hold something different. I have a bunch of small glassine envelopes that seemed perfect for the task. The pockets on the paper remind me a bit of a quilt. All unique, but coming together to form something cohesive.
The pocket art needed a word. I thought about the expression "in my back pocket." What does that mean? The thing in your back pocket is your go to. Something to rely on. Something you can keep hidden from view until the right moment. It is your secret weapon. What's in my back pocket? Love? Faith? Art? Glee? Chance? I couldn't settle on a term that seemed right until : GO. I have GO in my pocket. It's my make it work, my get it done. My drive. My GO. Kal also has a lot of GO. That might be why we get along and it is certainly why she is so inspiring.
Tomorrow we are going to get rolling on song + dance. I have to spin in circles and come up with an idea for this one. Please continue to join in if you would like!
I am loving the custom book plan. It might be the best one yet.
Last week, Vivianna of Polka Dot Robot emailed to say she wanted a journal. She also said she couldn't pick photos so I could just go through her flickr and use what I wanted. Her photostream was fantastic and I am sort of obsessed with how her book turned out. And also her.
Custom books are still for sale. Still $24 plus shipping ($5 US or $13 international). I am waiting for more book supplies, so if you order now you will be waiting a little bit too, but you'll be near the top of the list. You'll be happy you got one. And your favorite friend, brother, sister, husband, wife, dad, mom, kid, dog will be happy you gave them one. Please email me (elise.blaha[at]gmail[dot]com if you are interested.
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AND shop UPdate tomorrow! Lots of stuff hopping around here. Feels great.
Type is my favorite part of design. I love fonts. I love combining text. I love using typefaces to tell stories and make art. So for me, this prompt was all about actual type.
My favorite key on the keyboard is the ampersand. It's simple, yet sophisticated. It is the glue that holds words & thoughts together. I love how with each typeface, the shape of the ampersand changes.
So I knew my piece for this challenge would revolve around the "&". Then I just needed something to go with it. Forever & Ever made sense. Especially because the opposite of someone who is not your type is someone who is yours forever and ever.
To make this piece, I printed an ampersand (the font is Century) and then used it as a template to cut out pieces of text from magazines. I trimmed the magazine sections to fit around the shape of the ampersand and mounted them down on gray cardstock so the ampersand would appear in the negative space.
The "forever" and "ever" are the font Minstral and I used detail scissors to trim them out of black cardstock.
Be sure to go see what sort of wonder Kal cooked up today! And if you are playing along, our prompt for tomorrow is pocket.
New stuff will go live in my etsy shop at 1pm EST on Wednesday, June 24. Included in this UPdate – art journal kits, mixed paper books, letterpress prints, handmade journals and photo postcards. Everything is inspired by brightly colored balloons & adventuring. Visit the shop here.
Thank you for your support. I hope to see you there.
enJOY it 