enJOY it by Elise Blaha Cripe

around here.

work related : I'm always happy to get new stamps listed in the shop.

play related : My little girl is growing. Oh, how she is growing. Tummy time, which used to involve us watching her rub her face on the blanket, is now an exciting affair with a lifted head, flexing arm muscles, so many coos and a decent puddle of drool. It's unreal watching her learn new tricks. I had no idea it could be this good.

work related : I will be participating in the Queen Bee Market again this year. It's going to be the biggest one yet and will be hosted in Oceanside, CA the first weekend of November. If you're local... come! If your a local handmade vendor... apply! This is a fantastically well-organized market and always fun.

play related : I've got quilting craft plans for DAYS. Tuesday, I had a wild idea to spend the next month developing a quilting e-course. Eight projects. All new and all exciting. It's been awhile since I have wrote a class of my own and I have never ventured out of the scrapbooking, blog-related world. So this is pretty different. I need to work out some details and finish sketching some project ideas but I have a feeling my sewing machine is going to get a work out in September. Plus an excuse to buy gorgeous fabrics sounds amazing.

work related : Project Life Lessons starts next week! I'm looking forward to this class and chatting Project Life for three weeks. There is still time to enter the giveaway. For more information and to sign up, go here.

play related : My friend Melanie was in town this past week and we had such a good time doing nothing and talking about everything. I am so grateful for friends who want to just come and sit (and who are awesome enough to watch the baby while I go out for a much needed haircut). This evening we are off to meet a few other girlfriends for a quick trip. I'll be away from the baby for less than 24 hours, but it still feels like a very. Big. Deal. I'm excited to get away, but I am already excited to get back too.

Have a wonderful weekend. Happy end of August.

new stamps!

I'm excited about getting some new designs up for sale. Click here to visit the stamp shop!

making me happy.

photo by Tara Whitney

This is an exercise that I started doing after a bummer of a week last May. It's a great way to focus on the good. Hoping to bring it back once a month or so to share the things that are making life easier and keeping me happy.

stamps.com. This site was recommended to me after I complained for the 50th time about having to go to the post office to ship first-class international packages. I can now fill out customs forms and print postage without leaving my desk and my friendly mailman picks them up at my doorstep. I think the fee per month is about $16 but it's totally worth the time and energy saved by making trips to stand in line (especially now that the tellers have to type everything in!). I found the system easy to use and their customer service outstanding. Thanks for the tip, Tiffany!

new projects. I am so happy with how my floor pillows turned out and am excited to share our new shelving unit next week. (There's a fun video that goes along with it!) I am so glad we took the summer break (and obviously, I needed it) but I am ready to get rolling again. For the first time in a long time, I have more projects on my list than time in my day. I've also got Ellerie, who is thankfully game to wander the fabric store and Paul who is usually up for heavy lifting.

e & p date night. We were fortunate last weekend to get out just the two of us again because my parents were here to watch Ellerie. Although they usually involve running errands before dinner, I am enjoying our date nights so much. I recently wrote about having a baby in an email and I mentioned that my marriage has been better since E arrived. I wrote that life feels more romantic. It feels (much) more hilarious. And somehow it's more exciting - we get to figure out how to raise this real-live person together. As I was writing, it triggered a memory... I remember being newly pregnant and receiving an email from a blog reader. She had written to share that post-kiddos her marriage became more romantic. I didn't get it then (how could that be possible?!), but now I know what she was saying. It seems like we have reached a new level in our relationship. (There are approximately 56 levels to marriage and I think we're on level 4 right now.)

fresh figs. I had never tried a fig until last summer and this month have eaten my fill. We stuck them on a pizza a few weeks ago but usually they are just a snack (just cut the stem off and slice in half). I'm a little obsessed.

newborn essentials.

I wanted to share some of the things that we used nearly every day these past two months. It's so easy to get overwhelmed with options pre-baby and you have no idea what will really work and what is a waste of money**. I pretty much just bought what looked good and had great reviews before Ellerie came and then was pleasantly surprised with the stuff below. Everything here I would highly recommend. I starred the items that would be a great gift for a new mama.

*aden & anais swaddle blankets - we have eight of these. They are super lightweight and perfect for wrapping Ellerie up, throwing over her in the carseat, laying down on a public restroom changing table, etc. Love the cute animals and the lightweight texture. We also use Aden & Anais changing pad covers (and have this changing pad).

*summer infant swaddleme blankets - Ellerie sleeps swaddled at night (and has been sleeping through since seven weeks old). We love the velcro on these and the size S-M are still holding her tightly all night long. (She is currently almost 13lbs.) As long as she continues to sleep well in the swaddle, we'll continue to use them but will upgrade to the large size.

*gerber flatfold diapers - I have twenty of these and use them as burb clothes. They are a good size, inexpensive, soft and super absorbent.

badger baby balm - we used this to fight cradle cap and to keep diaper rash from appearing when she was wearing disposable diapers. I love that it's natural and safe for baby.

bumGenius elemental one-size cloth diapers - we transitioned to cloth diapers during the days at around six weeks. She is still in a disposable at night. Paul and I have both been impressed with how easy they are to use and wash. We have 19 (and I am thrilled with that number). So far I have found that that sun bleaches any stains and we plan on using this diaper sprayer down the line when we transition to solid foods and have more waste to get rid of. Obviously we've got years to go, but I am happy we started using these. Huge up-front expense, but worth it in the long run.

charlie's soap laundry powder - this is safe for cloth diaper laundry and I use it for everything now.

BabyGanics wipes - we have been using these since she came home from the hospital and we're diaper rash free. Love that I can use them on her hands and face too without worrying about harsh chemicals.

*mustela newborn baby wash - soap free, smells amazing, safe for newborns. We use this and the PUJ tub for bathing Ellerie in the kitchen sink. I totally recommend the PUJ tub.

*bowron BabyCare shorn lambskin - we put Ellerie down on this so she is part of the action without needing to be held (it's often laid on top of a coffee table). It's plush, comfy and she seems to like it.

fisher price bouncer chair - like idiots, we waited almost a month to see if we'd need a chair. I should have bought this so much earlier. Ellerie likes the vibration and is content to stay awake or fall asleep in this. We often sit her up in this while we're making or eating dinner. I usually have her in it when I am working in my office (like right now as I type this post).

medela pump in style advanced breast pump - I have ended up using this so much more than expected since we have had some trouble with breastfeeding. I'm totally pleased with it and use it multiple times a day. I also have the manual pump for easy travel or on the go use and I recommend that too.

boon lawn countertop drying rack - I didn't know that we would need this so early but since I am pumping and bottle feeding often, this has come in handy for us.

gilligan & o'malley nursing bras - I have four of these in different patterns and have lived in them. I recommend buying two sizes up from your normal bra size. At least. Whoever said your boobs are at their final size the last week of pregnancy and to buy bras then is out of their mind.

**newborn thru at least 6 month size pjs and dresses were a waste for us. Ellerie sleeps swaddled and so underneath the swaddle she wears just a onesie. And she was a long baby - 21 inches - so dresses look like shirts on her these days. She wears a lot of rompers which is rad because I love a cute romper.

heads up - links throughout are referral links. If you purchase through them, I recieve a small commission.

 

Other posts you might enjoy:

• how I am learning to "balance" work & mamahood.
• 34 gift ideas for the brand new mama.
• 9 books our toddler loves.
• our favorite toddler art supplies.
• gearing up for baby #2. literally.
• FAQs / baby edition.
• new mama care package

 

quilted floor pillows.

So, I think it's seeing Ellerie on her quilt all the time, but all I want to do craft related these days is pull a bunch of patterned fabrics and make another triangle quilt. I am finding myself so excited for fall and winter where having piles of blankets everywhere is a good thing. But right now - we don't need another blanket so I am turning my quilting energy into other sewing projects.

First up were a pair of quilted floor pillows. I am quickly learning that having a little one equals extra time on the floor and so I decided to go with large 24x24 pillow covers. I wanted these to "match" the TV room without coordinating exactly. I looked around and realized that was going to mean tan, light teal, black and white and coral. Those colors were not quite enough so I pulled the purple and turquoise inspiration from the pinwheel painting that also hangs in the room.

I wandered Jo-anns until I had found the right set of fabrics. I ended up going with flannel because it had a better heft to it and I love the texture. Unlike the triangle quilts I love to make, this project involved no measuring and free-hand cutting. I cut my flannel into strips and sewed the strips together so I had two full pieces.

Then I cut the pieces into triangles and sewed them together on the diagonal. Thanks to my lack of measuring, I ended up with not quite enough fabric to cover the front of the pillow so I used some remnants to add the extra diagonal on the corner. Turns out that part is my favorite part.

I quilted them with batting so there was even more weight and cushion to the tops. I didn't have a plan for the backsides, but always figured I could go with a black canvas... until I was at Ikea and saw their black striped fabric. It's heavy-weight like most Ikea fabric and the colors were almost perfect with that I had going on the front. I added zippers to both covers because I am also learning that everything we own needs to be washable these days.

There were probably 100 ways to make these easier (like measuring!), and they took me over a week from start to finish, but I am so happy with them. Ideally, I'll get a few more floor pillows sewn before Ellerie is up and toddling around. I have a feeling we'll need to cover the fireplace ledge.

And speaking of the fireplace, we took the grill off and it totally opened up the space. I added a bunch of pillar candles (also from Ikea) and love the look.