enJOY it by Elise Blaha Cripe

weekend links / 07.

As part of my word WHOLE this year, I want celebrate the work of others by sharing links to my friends, possible friends and complete strangers who are doing great things on the Internet. This is some of the rad stuff I recently saw online...

practical tips on caring for a variety of indoor plants...

and helpful tips for airplant care.

best use of the Instagram video feature I have seen yet.

the Modern Seinfeld twitter feed still makes me laugh out loud.

Chris, from Parks & Rec, on parenting.

have you seen this rabbit stampede? I couldn't wipe the grin off my face.

super cool yarn.

"Success is a process, not an event or state of being." Well said, and huge congrats, ABM.

hooray! the first make29 product is now available!

...and since today is my birthday, the coolest cake decorating idea.

around here.

Paul has next week off from work so we are adventure bound starting tomorrow. I am pretty thrilled about it. These past few days have been a whirlwind of work to get ahead so I can properly shut down the computer. I can't believe I'm 29 tomorrow. This past year was the most jam-packed it's ever going to get (I hope!) and a few days off sounds pretty amazing.

Have a good one.

28 favorite moments.

On Monday I shared the things that made the past year great. Today I want to share the moments (in pretty much chronological order).

signing our final escrow paperwork on my birthday.

moving into our magic house.

that first weekend my parents were here and massive progress was made.

witnessing four of my best friends get married in Scottsdale, Carmel, Catalina Island and Napa.

having friends here for a "last" girls night sleepover before the baby came.

walking around and around Lake Murray with my mom, trying to start labor (spoiler alert, it failed).

watching my belly change shape as Ellerie ran out of room on the inside.

picking Paul up from the airport and those last four days we were able to spend in our new home as two.

heading to the hospital to have a baby...

and 27 hours later, when that baby was pulled out from my stomach and I heard her cry...

and then that moment when they brought her over all wrapped up and I saw her...

and then that moment when I was finally out of surgery and got to hold her.

and then for about four weeks, things were hard. Really Really Hard. Those were the most trans-formative weeks of my life though and I am grateful and thrilled to have made it through them. Those weeks were made up of blissful moments and difficult moments and lovely moments and painful moments and collectively they all make this list.

writing the Dear Ellerie letters; I needed the normalcy that came from getting my thoughts onto the computer screen.

when Paul got home from deployment and I got to see him settle into his role as Dad.

when Ellerie smiled at us during her bath in the kitchen sink.

the day Paul went back to work and it was just Ellerie and I on our own and I realized we could totally do this (oh what a weight was lifted that day!).

that morning we made pancakes (and later I yammered on about perspective).

working on the get quilty eCourse for three days straight while my mom was in town and feeling the creative juices flowing again.

dancing with Paul at our friends' wedding and feeling completely blissed out.

Ellerie's first real giggles.

dreaming up make29 and filling a notebook of ideas.

having our house full at Thanksgiving.

the morning my jeans fit again.

walking up the hill for a beer on the first Sunday afternoon in January when the weather was perfection.

all those evenings when it's the three of us in kitchen and work is done and the baby is happy and dinner is cooking.

yesterday, when I went in to pick Ellerie up from her nap and she grinned at me with recognition, "it's you!" her eyes sparkled, "and, once again, you found me!"

ps. 26 moments and 27 moments.

watercolor baby shower invites.

One of my bestfriends, Erin, is having a baby girl in April. I'm so excited to be co-hosting her shower at my house in the beginning of March. Early in the process, when we asked Erin what she wanted the shower to be like she responded, "I'm feeling earthtones." So "earthtones" it is.

We're going to throw a candlelit dinner/backyard picnic with s'mores and twinkle lights then spend the night on air mattresses in my living room watching movies. There are just six of us girls so it's a small group and perfect for this sort of party.

At the end of last month, I wanted to get the invitations out the door and decided instead of messing around with graphics in Photoshop, I'd work up something super simple (black text on white paper) and then add color embellishment with watercolors. I always love the look of a simple font (this is Gotham) paired with script. I used my tablet to handwrite her name (though you could totally handwrite the name after printing too).

I left plenty of space on the top of the invite to add the watercolor though I wasn't sure exactly what it would be. I "practiced" my colors with some lines on scratch paper and decided simple lines were perfect.

A little bit of paint mixing and I had four "earthtone" colors from my cheap watercolor set. These were crazy simple to make but so fun. I forget how much I enjoy these sorts of projects and man do I love "designing" with no agenda at all. I am so looking forward to throwing this party.

make29 / february / letterpress prints.

The first product in my MAKE29 adventure is now available for preview. Learn more about this product and the story behind it here. This edition of 290 will be available for purchase at 12:01 EST on 02/22/14. Please note, while new products will always be released on the 22nd of the month, the time of release will vary. It will always be clearly noted with the product preview a few days in advance.