enJOY it

an archived personal and craft blog from Elise Blaha Cripe.

  • on blogging.

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    I often get emails or have conversations in real life about how to make a "successful" blog. Here are a few tips that I often share:

    • Post often.
    • Spread the word.
    • Determine your audience.
    • Do not publish every post you start to type.
    • Spell-check.
    • Comment on other blogs.
    • Be yourself.

    I would also add stay positive to that list, but there are undoubtably exceptions where negative, angry blogs have thrived. Again, determine your audience.

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    Tomorrow I will be printing the 3rd edition I posted about last week. If you have ordered and paid via paypal, thank you, thank you. Look for them in your mailbox next week. If you are interested, I can take pre-orders (elise.blaha at gmail) and I am hoping to run some extras for my shop.

    Also, look for a long and fun post about my letterpress printing process on Thursday or Friday of this week.

  • yesterday it was 65 degrees out and i almost hopped on the next u-haul to california.

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    Not really. Really what I did was put on a skirt and flip flops and went to Eastern Market in downtown DC. We got lost and then got scones and then tracked down the mythical Letterpress Man that I had heard so much about. (Julie, get a blog.)
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    He had type upon type upon type. All very old. Some wood, mostly lead. All very cool. I bought more EE's and B's to improve on my alphabet. And an "&" because I love them. And a "C" because it's the start of Paul's last name. The Letterpress Man is going to try to track down a working Chandler & Price letterpress for me from a guy in Ohio. I am not going to hold my breath but I will cross my fingers.
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    Oh, FEBRUARY. Thank you for this unexpected beautiful weather. Oh, DC. Thank you for having cool enough areas and fantastic enough buildings to keep me off the next flight home to Cali. Oh, Paul. Thank you for driving me on wild goose chases.

    Good day, yesterday. Good day.

  • repaint.

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    I like to think I am a color girl. That I like the bright and the bold. But as it turns out, I am much happier with a layer of white and gray. More to come on this project next week.

  • for now they will hang.

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    Eventually I will panic because of the clutter and stick them on a bookring – but for now the tags will hang over my desk.

  • art tags.

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    I took some time last night to start tags for Emily’s 52 Question challenge. For me, these tags will be little art journal pages – inspired by, but not necessarily answers to, the questions she asks each week.

    The wishes one is a big one for me. I believe that for our wishes to be “granted” we have to ask for them. Only by saying them out loud and working towards them can they be realized.

    Thank you Emily, for the inspiration – this is going to be fun.

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    Unrelated but wonderful: Welcome Baby Penn!

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    & just a note: If you would like to guarantee your valentines by February 14, Saturday is the last day to order them. I will keep them in the shop as a everyday love note until they sell out – but if you would like them for Valentine’s, act quick!

  • tales from the vault.

    In my internet wandering this morning, I found this post with a quote from Erin that said, ""Feb 15th is the #1 day that most people are broken up with."

    Interesting. I was actually broken up with ON Valentine's Day.

    February 14, 2001. In the high school parking lot. While I was holding about seven mylar balloons (from him) that proclaimed "I love you!" and "Happy Valentine's Day!", I got the "Elise, I can't do this anymore!" speech. It really was not much of a shock, as our relationship had become awkward and filled with silence (like many a high school romance) and truth be told, I couldn't do this anymore.

    But it did take the wind out of my sales until eight days later, on my 16th birthday, I failed my driver's test.

    And that, my friends, was ten times worse than a Valentine's Day break up.

  • wednesday.

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    Quiet day : Sore throat, xrays for a retainer (hooray! no braces needed!), valentine crafting, envelope sorting, grocery shopping and letterpress purchasing contemplation (on the one hand there would be an actual! letterpress! in! my! house! but on the other hand, that is a lot of money to spend.)

  • too good to pass up.

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    I bake quite often. Too often. It is likely that I when I go to make cookies I will have to wash the baking tray because it was just used…yesterday. Because of this, I have adopted some healthier substitutes and bake with Splenda, light butter and egg beaters. The cookies always turn out to be edible but sometimes the color/texture will be off. I am lucky Paul loves me because he eats them with appropriate ''yummmm" sounds.

    Anyway.

    On the Super Bowl night, after 8 pieces of pizza and during our second bottle of wine, Paul turned to me and said, "Cookies?" I agreed.

    The closest thing to chocolate chips in the house was Nutella. So I altered this PB cookie recipe and made the softest, tastiest, and not quite so bad for you cookies to date.

    Nutella + Peanut Butter Cookies

    • 1 cup butter (I used Smart Balance so you can use anything)
    • 1/2 cup Nutella
    • 1/2 cup creamy peanut butter
    • 1 1/2 cup Splenda
    • 1/2 cup packed brown sugar
    • 1/2 cup egg beaters (or 2 eggs)
    • 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
    • 1 teaspoon baking powder
    • 1/2 teaspoon salt
    • 1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda

    + Cream together butter, peanut butter, Nutella and sugars. Beat in eggs

    + Add in dry ingredients (I don't believe in sifting – too many dirty dishes. If you are a baking purist, please sift. I also do not agree with refrigerating batter. Takes too long.) and mix together well.

    + Pinch together cookie size chunks of batter and drop on cookie sheets.

    + Bake in a preheated 375 degrees F oven for 12 minutes.

    + Eat three while they are still warm.

  • art wall – heart love.

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    From January to December 2008, the wall behind our kitchen table held calendar posters in black frames. In December, I used the same frames to display my various Christmas wreaths. I had a great idea to hang my eight little calendars in 2009, but when I tried our apartment looked like a freshman dorm-room.

    My new solution, at least until February 15, are these heart paintings. Find out more about this project here.

    And see what Molly created with potato art around Christmas time.

  • giveaway winner.

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    Wiiiiiiiiiiiiinner: #173 picked by http://www.random.paul.

    That's Jana.

    Email me with your address and the flat envelope will be on its way to you.