enJOY it by Elise Blaha Cripe

checking in... 2014 goals.

At the beginning of the year I shared nine goals for 2014.

It's been three months and here's where I stand :

take a pottery class / still need to sign up for this one. I'm thinking maybe the fall? When things slow down (is that a joke?).

launch a shop newsletter / DONE (and this was much easier than I expected). Sign up here.

take a trip as a family / we went to Sacramento in February which was awesome, but last week we booked a vacation to Houston in late May which we are really looking forward to.

grow a decent vegetable garden / started but at this point the word "decent" is very much a stretch. Looking forward to getting more dirt and more plants going this April.

finish decorating the house / have not made one stitch of progress on this except to find a vintage dresser that is actually going to be in the bedroom as soon as I find a bench for the entry.

capture one photo of the three of us each month / I'm three for three with this project and it's the most fun ever.

start a podcast / DONE. hooray! My podcast officially launches Wednesday and full details will be up on the blog then.

finish off the backyard / calling this DONE although I'd still like to hang some lights.

launch the big new venture / DONE. This is, of course, MAKE29 which I have been planning since last fall. So far (two months in) I am blown away by the success and very inspired. More thoughts and musings to be shared in a future post. Obviously there is a lot of work to still go into this but it's out there which is awesome.

Success so far and lots to do (mostly in the house finish up arena which has taken a backseat while I work on a few business things). Because goals keep me going, I would like to add two more projects to my list...

• sign up for a mama & baby music class (Ellerie loves to dance!)
• release my stamps as a digital stamp set (ideally in June...)

weekend links / 12.

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...

see the coolest table be built in 15 seconds.

did you hear TOMS is getting into coffee?

Ali's popular class, Hello Story, is starting again April 3rd. See a preview of what you can expect from the weekly lessons here.

creating & blogging while on the move.

I was shocked to try these on and find them so flattering (and obviously comfy).

surely at some point I'll have time to make bread again, right?

13 more reasons to love Amy Poehler.

very curious to look through this book.

and friendly reminder, if you're interested in ordering a photo book from Pinhole Press use code "lovephotobooks" to save 10% through Monday March 31.

 

project life 2014 : march.

As mentioned at the end of 2013, I am no longer completing my Project Life album on a weekly basis. I did that for two years. I enjoyed the process and I love my albums. This year I am taking a much more relaxed approach and playing more with this project. I don't have much of a plan other than to complete at least one (and sometimes many more) spread a month.

The big win is that I can never be "behind" on this album. I also like that I don't have to worry about having seven horizontal 4x6 photos each week and can group photos by subject instead of date. I love that I will be under no "weekly deadlines" and will be blogging just once a month about my album.

There is so much going on right now in REAL life that isn't making it into our ALBUM life. I think back to the Elise of last spring or the Elise of the spring before that and I cannot believe how much free time she had. WHAT WAS SHE DOING?!?! I wish I could go back in time, grab her, and pull her into the present to help me out. I'm 99% sure she's bored and totally willing.

All of that to say: I am learning that Project Life is taking a backseat while real life is so awesome and full. And I cannot express how OKAY I am with this. So this month it's a ton of photos of my cute kiddo and a ton of photos of my garden. This is not the entire story of March. Not even a fraction of the story. But it's some of it and for me, that's a great win.

click to enlarge.

February ended with a 12x12 photo, so March starts with one. (Honestly this is just a mock up, I need to get the photo printed still.) Next to it is my Studio Calico creative team spread using the triangle stamp from the main Bluegrass Farm PL kit and embellishments from the add-ons.

Super cute embellishments that I just stuck together with a staple and then adhered to the outside of the pockets with glue dots. I love that I got so many great 4x6 photos on a page and still was able to add a few extras.

click to enlarge.

The next layout is my favorite of the year so far. I took three photos of the three of us, cropped them to 6x12 and printed them as 3 4x6s. Then I just cropped them into the pockets.

I am only planning on filling ONE album this year and so it might seem nutty to include three of nearly the same photo but I think these photos are the sort of thing I'll actually care to look back on in 40 years.

This was another layout created for the SC creative team, this time using just the Bluegrass Farm main kit. I cut up a bunch of cards to fit my color scheme (LOVE that cloud one and the house is awesome too).

click to enlarge.

And then it's garden time.

I used a few assorted journaling cards and seed packets to fill the 3x4 pockets.

And then played with some wood veneer embellishments (from past Studio Calico kits) mixed with 4x6 photos.

I love the look of floating embellishments so that HERE COMES THE SUN got it's own 4x6 pocket.

And that's March! No stress, just simple. Thank you so much for following along. See my title page for this album here and 2014 album progress here.

product sources: Studio Calico Bluegrass PL kit, Seafoam core kit, Amy Tangerine mini kit, Studio Calico past project life kit pieces, We R Memory keepers 6 pocket page, Design A pocket page, staz-on ink, Pigma Micro 01 pen.

all photos were printed at home on my Epson PictureMate Show.

our favorite baby books

We were very lucky: my mom saved my entire baby book collection and we were gifted many beautiful books so when Ellerie was born she had a full library at her disposal.

For this post, I wanted to share some of the non-classics that were totally new to me and we are loving. I've starred the ones that Ellerie (at 9 months) actually engages in and listens to (that I don't mind reading 14 times in a row). The others are ones that I personally love because they are gorgeous/fun/sweet and have an awesome message. I know she'll grow into these in time.

Ten Little Ladybugs*

Giraffes Can't Dance*

I Had a Favorite Dress

Snuggle Puppy*

Beautiful Oops!

One

Press Here

On the Night You Were Born

Sylvie

Any other new favorites I have to add to our collection? I would love your suggestions.

*links throughout are affiliate.

headed out.

I'm headed up north today to teach at the Your Story Retreat.

This is my first multi-night adventure away from the bug and I have a feeling she'll be crawling and saying "Da-Da" before I return Sunday afternoon. I think (hope?!) I've made peace with that.

And overall I am looking forward to getting away for a few days. Even the plane ride (three un-interrupted hours?!!?!!) sounds like a total vacation (if vacation means a chance to plan and write and think).

I'll be officially back at my desk Monday but there are posts (like my March Project Life update) scheduled to run while I'm away. I'm sure I'll be over-sharing here too.

Have a good one.