an archived personal and craft blog from Elise Blaha Cripe.
I am currently up in Sacramento with my parents and was so excited to see the change in seasons has started in Northern California. It's so different than what "outside" looks like in our beach town 400 miles south.
It's pretty pretty this November. And this was one of my favorite photo walks.
all photos this time around were taken with my iPhone. Feel free to play along with this topic or any other. See all photo walk posts here.
Annnnnd, we're through the week.
Pretty quiet around here work-wise and that has been really nice. I'm spending a lot of time dreaming up holiday projects, our 2012 holiday cards and blog posts. Trader Joe's had tiny Christmas trees and I almost bought six to create a forest on my mantle before I realized I need to wait until December. I am doing a lot of knitting because the best part of knitting is I can move it around the house. If you've read this blog for more than three days, you know I tend to jump on a crafting method, forsake all other activities, and camp out there for awhile. Right now, I'm hooked on knitting again. This shall last about one more week. And then it will be ___________. We'll have to see.
I made a cowl on election day and it's awesome. Both MSNBC and Fox News would have been so impressed. I'm headed up to Sacramento to visit the parents for a few days and rumor has it they have some actual fall-ish weather up there so it might actually get some use. I'll share more photos and a quick tutorial (spoiler alert, it's easy!) if yes.
Holiday books! Thank you for your orders so far! I have plenty left...shop them here.
And last thing, I was contacted by Heather from 3 Scrappy Boys about a 10% off sale she is running in her shop in honor of Veteran's Day. 20% of all sales through the end of November will be donated the Wounded Warrior Project. Obviously, with Paul in the Navy, this is something close to my heart and I wanted to share with you all. Learn more here.
Have a great weekend.
This November, I am playing along with the hastag #thirtydaysofthanksgiving on Instagram. It's super easy: every day for 30 days you post a photo of something you're thankful for. My Instagram stream is more or less a gratitude list anyway, but it's been fun so far to make a conscious effort to take a picture of something I am grateful for and share it everyday.
For the remaining Thursdays of this month, I'll be sharing these photos and gratitudes here. This is the past week :
It's so the little things. Happy Thursday. Happy November. Happy Thanksgiving (two weeks early).
ps. yep, I have a slight self-portrait addiction and I highly recommend the TimerCam app.
I plan on sharing a few posts before the end of the year about how the Seafoam kit came to life. It's tricky to try and remember all this stuff and it's a bit nerve-wracking to share details of my good and bad decisions, but someday, surely, I'll find this interesting and the hope is that you enjoy hearing about the process now.
When Becky called back in February, she mentioned how important it was that I had a lot of time early on to think about the kit and play around with color and designs. I love that, especially now, when I look back, because some of my early ideas were crap and really needed those months to be flushed out.
But immediately after that phone call, before I had even sat down to brainstorm, I knew four things:
I wanted this kit to be simple. I'm a simple girl. My clothing style is simple. My home decor is simple. My documentation style is simple. Anything else, flourishes, creatures, distressing, cutesy, floral, themey or rainbows of color would be outside my "zone" and not wouldn't feel right.
I wanted to really use this kit. I already knew from two months of Project Life spreads that I wasn't a big "kit user." If I was going to do this, I was passionate about creating something that I would be able to incorporate into my own album each week. I think the kits are fantastic because they simplify this process. Especially now, 45 weeks into the year, I see great value in working from a kit; it keeps you going when the creative energy starts to run thin. At this point, the less paper I have to cut, corners I have to round and stuff I have to buy, the better. I can't wait to start fresh in 2013 and although I will definitely be working additional stuff in, I know I'll be more kit focused from the start this time.
I wanted this kit to be something that my girlfriends – who are totally awesome and take tons of photos, but have never considered scrapbooking before – would be interested in using. I hoped that the kit would be able to reach a different market of people who considered memory-keeping too cutesy or over-whelming. I wanted it to feel modern but not complicated. It had to be something that would work with anyone's photos and not pull focus from them.
I was (and still am) obsessed with the phrase "THIS IS WHAT LIFE LOOKS LIKE." I used a similar phrase years ago when I sold my first summer minibook kit. The covers said "This is what Summer Looks Like" and the idea was that you'd fill book rings with photos and stuff from your summer. I couldn't get the idea out of my head back then and I couldn't get it out this past year as I worked on Seafoam. Project Life, before anything else, is a visual representation of every day life, and I can't think of a better phrase that states that.
So that, for better or worse, was the start. I had a goal. A bigger, but less complex goal than "design a kit" and that goal was to make something versatile and inspiring that you and I would want to use and Becky would love. No pressure. 🙂
…in the next installment, picking (and re-picking and crying a bit over) a color scheme!
Oh man, I am so addicted to making quilts. I have more quilt ideas than there are days in the year. Every single one I make is my favorite. But this one. THIS ONE. This one is the magic one. The favorite that might last forever.
That color scheme? It was totally inspired by a photo of an outfit. A watermelon colored top and an eggplant colored bottom. I was SOLD. Totally sold. I went to Jo-anns and they didn't have any fabrics that came close to the "right" colors that I was looking for. So I stopped by my local quilt store and almost died at their gorgeous solid color cottons. Seriously, so pretty. It took me about five minutes to find the six shades that I knew would capture the magic I was looking for.
I turned my fabric into equilateral triangles that were six inches tall and then sewed and sewed until I had strips and sewed some more until I had a 44×60 rectangle. And then, this quilt top sat for over a month as I looked for a back and binding fabric that did it justice. It was tricky work to try and match the perfection of the top colors.
But on Friday, I headed back to the quilt store, this time determined not to leave until I found something that made sense. And really, what made the most sense was keeping it simple. I feared a patterned back or binding might ruin it so I went with a coral and dark red. I think the stitching adds enough pattern and I am happy with the diamond effect.
This weekend was a flurry of activity until finally, a quilt, a gorgeous triangle quilt was born. This quilt will always and forever remind me of autumn 2012. And the circus. Something about the stacked triangles gives off a circus-y vibe to me.
I have just one more "gift quilt" to complete by Christmas and then I can figure out what's next for my little sewing machine. Questions about this quilt? Ask in the comments and I'll answer them there. And be sure to check out this tutorial for a similar quilting how-to.
I was so excited a few weeks ago to remember that hosting Thanksgiving means I get to send out Thanksgiving invitations. We are just celebrating with our immediate families this year (same as two years ago) and so it's only four invites that have to be made and mailed.
Four invites is nothing, so I always figure I might as well fancy them up (plus this paper adventure is just for fun, everyone already knows they are coming down to visit). This year I kept the leaf theme (see our 2010 invites here), but decided to paint them on instead of use felt. I stuck with handwriting the text because it's more personal and (more importantly) easier than worrying about formatting on the computer.
The paper is some heavy textured cardstock I have had on hand for ages and I used acrylic paint mixed with a bit of water. I practiced a bit to get a look I liked and then painted the leaf shape & added the handwriting then stared at them out of the corner of my eye for about an hour while watching TV before deciding they needed the yellow/orange paint around the border. Because I think the best part of autumn is the "rich" feeling (which I translate to extra layers and texture), I added machine stitching in the shape of the leaf a few times to "fill-out" the sides.
For envelopes, I used paper bags! Just flat kraft 5×7 bags that fit the invitations. I painted extra leaves on the front and stitched the flap closed. I was a bit worried about how they'd fare in the mail, but I have heard that each one arrived safe and sound. Sweet.
Next up, planning the decorations (flowers and candles) and finalizing the menu.
Week 44 and I still love this project.
(click photo above to enlarge for a [somewhat] clearer image.)
Catching up this afternoon with last week – Halloween and the start of November. My schedule is easing up these next few weeks so hopefully I'll be able to get a bit more creative with spreads. We'll see though…
Photos and stuff, photos and stuff. Added lots of text right on top of the photos this week. I love Zig Millennium pens for writing on my semi-gloss photo paper.
Added a few details to this side, our finished crossword, the Halloween Netflix packaging and a trimmed down card from my Grandma (with her handwriting).
And then photos and photos on the right. Three different self-portraits this week which wasn't intentional but was all that I seemed to have when I looked back through my photos. I'll be sharing more about that knitting project in the next few weeks.
And that's it! On to the the next…
supplies / Paper Source
circle labels, Evalicious
journaling spot & recorded badge, Martha Stewart & Avery labels, Amy
Tangerine for American Crafts patterned paper (LOVE), Studio Calico patterned paper (alphabet), Office Depot date stamp, Design A page protectors, Clementine core kit, Bebas quote font. I use a Fiskars corner rounder (it's not amazing, but it's lasted the longest of any corner rounder I've ever had). I am using a Zig Millennium 0.1 pen
Confused by Project Life? Start here. Have a question about how I am tackling this project each week (including questions about the quotes & photo printing)? Check here. See all my Project Life posts here.
Week 43 and I still love this project.
(click photo above to enlarge for a [somewhat] clearer image.)
This is actually two weeks ago (hoping to have this past week up tomorrow morning) and was a pretty basic week for us. I didn't think I had done a very good job taking photos, but somehow (thanks to my phone) I found a few.
Lack of photos sometimes means extra "stuff." That blurred card is patterned paper with some private journaling. I also tucked a card from the Project Real Life course into a 3×4 pocket along with some fabric and the backside of a business card (the front showed the week prior).
And on the right I added pieces from my QBM name tag. The wooden part is just on a swatch of fabric and the "name" part is on a pattern sample from the Seafoam kit. I loved that it looked "bee-ish."
As always, with this album, sometimes it's complicated, sometimes it's just filling pockets and moving on to the next week. This was definitely the latter. 🙂
supplies / Paper Source
circle labels, Evalicious arrow tab and journaling spot, Martha Stewart & Avery labels, Amy Tangerine for American Crafts patterned paper, Seafoam kit patterned paper, Studio Calico wood "today" word, Office Depot date stamp, Design A page protectors, Clementine core kit, Bebas quote font. I use a Fiskars corner rounder (it's not amazing, but it's lasted the longest of any corner rounder I've ever had). I am using a Zig Millennium 0.1 pen
Confused by Project Life? Start here. Have a question about how I am tackling this project each week (including questions about the quotes & photo printing)? Check here. See all my Project Life posts here.
I spent much of this fall (and almost every minute of last few weeks!) collaborating on an e-course with Elsie Larson of A Beautiful Mess. I have been a fan of Elsie's for years. She inspires me as a blogger, crafter and small business owner. I was honored & excited when she asked me to help on the HTML coding portion of a blog design e-course she was developing.
This class was a labor of love and is an incredible deal if you are new to blogging or looking for some tips and tricks to fancy up your blog. Elsie teaches Photoshop skills needed for blogging and I teach basic HTML coding for incorporating your design on your blog. We break it down for Typepad, Blogger & WordPress.com users. Keep in mind, this IS NOT a "live" workshop and you'll have access to all the lessons immediately after sign up. There is no deadline and you can start at anytime.
You can read the full course description and sign up here!
Thanks so much for reading, have a fantastic weekend.
Super random work slash lay on the couch week. I caught a bug and have felt less like a human and more like a garbage can these past few days. But – good news – I think I saw a light at the end of the tunnel and I predict a better weekend and even better week to come.
I have started making holiday decorations. I have started planning our thanksgiving menu. I saw a peek from Becky on instagram of the new Project Life albums and I am sort of dying over how Seafoam is looking "in real life." Still no updates on kit launch dates, but I promise I will keep you updated when I know anything about when products will be available. I also hope to start telling the "Seafoam Story" starting next week.
Holiday books are set to launch 9am PST Monday. You can see a peek of the book insides here. It's 29 pages this year and will also be available with a plain cover and as a paper pack. I will be completing my own holiday album using the book and sharing my progress on the blog a few times in December. I do not treat the book as a "December Daily" album, but it would totally work in that way if you wanted it to.
And a note for my East Coast readers, I cannot believe the destruction Sandy left in her path early this week. I hope life is beginning to feel normal(er) for those that were affected. My heart goes out to you!
enJOY it 