enJOY it

an archived personal and craft blog from Elise Blaha Cripe.

  • our go to people-are-coming-to-dinner dinner.

    IMG_0909 We are having our friends John and Lauren (HI!!) over tonight for pizza. This is the first pizza before entering the oven. It's my favorite to make and favorite to eat. Recipe here on this lovely blog.

  • housekeeping.

    Just a few quick things :

    + This is the recipe I used for that amazing looking salad in Wednesday's post. We used frozen corn and just let it sit out on a plate for about half an hour before adding it to the mix. It kept everything nice and cool. Paul also transformed the dressing and added sugar + a million other things. He is all about the taste test, not following the recipe.

    + I have had a lot of requests to share the text on the cards I made for my bridesmaids' invites. If that interests you, I have added the text to the original post.

    + Lots of cool stuff in store for the blog next week. Results of my photo project plus a big shop update.

  • thursday.

    I am off to real work this morning. Just wanted to share some fun links from this past week (if you follow my twitter, they're old news – sorry about that.)

    Operation time suck. Or is that "Operaion"? Cakewrecks

    A very pretty bridal shower

    Letterpress swap giveaway (you have until the end of today to enter) on Poppytalk

    Coolest button mosaic ever via No Biggie

    See the fun short that ran before UP

    Ooh la la etsy find via littlebrownpen

    Such a cool website : I am totally excited to get going on my own. Next week?

    Happy Thursday!

  • i just developed some photos and when i opened the envelope, they actually smelled like summer.

    IMG_0440 IMG_0415 IMG_0477 IMG_0475 IMG_0524 IMG_0684 IMG_0695

  • slowly but surely.

    IMG_0802
    One of my goals for this year is to expand the frame wall over our living room couch. Why is this such a hard task? I HAVE NO IDEA. But it is taking forever and then some. I am quite concerned we will be moving out of this apartment (March 2010) before I am happy with it. (Which, truth be told, I am excited about. I cannot wait to start over and redecorate a new place. Ideally a new house/apartment back in California.)
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    This week I added a gallery wrapped canvas from ColorInc. I love it. The photo is an older one that I took of our coffees when we were out to breakfast one morning. It's represents us without our faces and was an instant fave. The folks at ColorInc. did an amazing job keeping the colors of the photo bright and true. AND one more plug : if you are looking for printing services (or you are a photographer who needs printing services) you get 50% off your first order and 20% off all orders after that. Steal of a deal.
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    I can't wait until the day when I have a whole wall covered with mis-matched frames and art. I also can't wait until I can add e+p wedding photos into the mix.

  • polaroids + balloons.

    Balloons Balloons2 Balloons 1 Equals pure color magic. This was yesterday's photo project. Today's has been the opposite of successful. More to come on this photo adventure next week.

  • custom journals.

    Customjournals Covers In February, I blogged about a journal I had made. I still love mine and have decided to start taking orders for custom journals.

    These books are 144 pages thick and measure 4.75×6.5 inches. I can incorporate up to 24 of your own photos on the covers of the book (as you can see above, some photos will be cropped and folded over the edges.) My book has a square of text on the front cover, if that interests you, I am happy to create one (of whatever you want it to say) and include it on the cover. The photos for the covers are printed on lightly textured white card stock. They will hold up well to normal use. Mine was trapped in a bag with a loosely capped water bottle and now sports blurry stains, but I consider it part of the charm. It means you are using a journal correctly if it starts to look a little worn.

    The price for these books is $24 USD plus $5 for US shipping. If you are out of the states, I will calcuate the shipping prior to payment. The books will take about one week for to produce and ship out.
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    The inside of the book is only available in the cream grid as shown in the first photo. Currently, I can make the spine in white, red, light gray or dark brown (it looks black, but I promise it is brown.) I have limited quantities at the moment but if there is a lot of interest, I will be working through a waiting list.

    Please email me at elise.blaha[at]gmail[dot]com if you would like to purchase a book. I will send you further instructions for photos and payment information. Questions? Please ask them in the comments and I will answer them there as well.

  • project monday : folded binding.

    June8 I made this on Friday, during a lot of rain, hence the somewhat sad content. Later that day, I saw UP which was fabulous and made me happier. But I am glad to have got these thoughts down.
    Inspofound1 This book was inspired by two minibooks that I saw around the web last week. This one by Mandi and this one by Rhi. I adore them both. The messy, the random, the sewing, the mix of papers – I love.

    IMG_0679 I held the book together by folding pieces of paper and gluing them into each other. Each paper was about 5.25 inches by 6 inches.IMG_0656 I creased about 3/4 inches on each paper and nestled them into each other. I smeared a gluestick all over the small folded section and then wrapped that around the page next to it. Difficult to explain, but easy to do.
    IMG_0663 IMG_0665 IMG_0666 IMG_0667 IMG_0669 IMG_0670 IMG_0671 IMG_0672 IMG_0674 My favorite part of minibooks is the gathering. First I collect the papers. I have a drawer of assorted stuff, maps, scraps, calendar pages, photos that didn't work out, magazine tears and etc. I also keep a few bins on my desk of labels and smaller paper embellishments. I purge often, but always hold on to the random patterns that I know will eventually make it into a project.

    Next, I assemble the book and get all the pages bound in their places.

    Last, I gather my thoughts. For this book it was pretty easy. The rain took care of it for me.

    I take a lot of photos, but few are the sorts of pictures I would want to create a layout or book around. Because of this, I get a lot of thought based books – just paper. No photos. Here is a complete list of my minibooks if you are interested.

    Credits : the red label is from Poppytalk. The blue oval label on the second to last page is from Creature Comforts via iDiY. The stamps ("you are here" & the pointing finger) are by Purple Onion.

    ++

    Reminder : There are still summer minibook kits for sale.

  • up.

    Up3 We saw UP last night for date night. It made me want to paint my house, take photos of balloons and treasure the moment. Because, true story, moments are adventures.

  • catalog victory.

    IMG_0655 I visited one more Anthropologie yesterday and TA-DA! they had catalogs. (They also had a pair of cute shoes on sale, so both the store and I came away victorious.) If you offered to send me yours – THANK YOU – but I am all set now.

    I am a little slow to get moving this morning – we have yet another day of completely gray skies and rain upon us. I know it seems like I spend a lot of time complaining about the weather. I apologize. The weather effects my mood so drastically that I feel like I should see a doctor. Though Paul would say, "I know, babe. But you're fine."

    But regardless, I am just going to turn on extra lights in the house so at least it feels like day time and GET THROUGH IT. I have a list of fun things to do and come rain, sleet or, heaven forbid, snow, I will get them done.

    Happy, happy Friday.