It's the simple things in life......

Most of the time I am not a hard person to please, but the lack of counterspace in my kitchen has been a problem since I moved into the house almost 2 years ago.

This is how my kitchen looked when I first looked at the house: white walls, tan carpet, lots of knick knacks, etc.

This is what it looked like after some renovations...new tile on the floor, a nice sage green paint with orange accents.

Notice there is very LITTLE counterspace. Just the space between the fridge and the sink, most of which was being used for the microwave. There is also a little space on top the dishwasher, but it is too far from the sink and fridge to be efficient. Earlier this summer, I got the bright idea to take the doors off above the oven and put the microwave in that space. This was a job I needed help, and it was mom to the rescue. There was one small problem....the nearest power outlet was behind the fridge. After a little discussion, we decided that was a relatively easy fix. I already had the microwave plugged in with a heavy guage extension cord. We ended up drilling a hole in between the cabinet and the pantry and another hole in between the pantry and the wall where the fridge is and running the extension cord through the pantry. Also, we put a couple 1x12 shelved above the microwave for a a little added storage. Here is the final result:

 

 



It isn't much, but I thought it turned out great!

 

 

And look at all the counterspace (sarcasm)!!!!! BUT is it more than I had when the microwave was there!

 

About a month after getting that done, I was cleaning behind my fridge and noticed my beast of an old fridge was leaking coolant and stained my grout. I started the search for a new fridge. I wanted a french door fridge with the drawer on the bottom. Boy was I in for a good lesson on wants vs need/afford. My first hurdle was finding a fridge that was skinny enough to fit in my opening. I found a few but not too many. My next hurdle was finding one that was not too tall. IMPOSSIBLE!!! I ended up having to bust out cabinet above for a new fridge to fit. I moved the new fridge in, but missed the storage above and the big gaping hole bugged me. I did some measuring and figured out if I cut about an inch off the bottom of the cabinet door, I could hang them back up :) Shout-out to Harold for helping me trim the doors! So the bf helped me install shelves like above the microwave and hang the doors. TADA! It looks like a normal cabinet again. Here is a shot of the kitchen as it is now!

 

 

 

 

 While this might not be the most exciting post I have ever written, it is the small things in life that make me happy!

 

Later Alligator!

ji

Personalized Wall Hangings

I have only a small addition to Pinterest.....maybe a little more than small, but that is beside the point :)

One day while scanning Pinterest, I found a cute wall hanging with vinyl that I thought would be a great gift idea.

Since pinning this, I have made 2 of these wall hangings. I created the image in Adobe Illustrator and cut them out on a vinyl machine.

This is the first one I made. I forgot to take pics of the final product so blame Moo for the bad photo quality!

 

Next, I made one for one of my all-time favorite people, Jennifer (and Doug, too!)

 

These are super fun to make and I'm sure I will make more of these in the future!

 

ji

 

I like a challenge!

I have been creating and making vinyl projects for some time now, and it is always fun when someone wants something created that I've never made before. Miss Metissa (sweetest girl ever!), a part-timer at work, had to buy an iPad for college. She wanted something pretty and to make hers stand out from the sea of other iPads on campus.

She found an image of a skyline on etsy that she loved and asked if I could make her something similar for cheaper than the $35 online price. Seeing how I tend to work for free, it was definitely cheaper! It seemed easy enough! Boy was I wrong!!! I naively thought getting the correct dimensions and navigating around the speakers and earphone plugin would be the hardest. Little did I know there are VERY few hi res images of sylines out on the net. I finally found something I could work with and started cleaning up the image and shaping it so it would go around the speakers and such. Here is what I came up with:

 

Luckily, she loved it!! Here is the final product, I even included free installation!

 

Seeing how I don't have an iPad, I would have never gotten the opportunity to create one of these myself. I loved the challenge and know that doing unique projects, such as this one, just strengthen my graphic design skills!

 

Later,

ji

Happy Birthday B! (Or shall I say BELATED birthday?)

Miss B's birthday was in July. I asked and asked and asked what she wanted :) I was happy to hear she wanted me to do a crafty project. She texted me this:

And THIS is what I created. Selfishly, I thought mine was cuter :)

Even more exciting was that I put everything together on a removeable metal plate so she can change out the flowers for the seasons. A shout out to my daddy for helping me cut and drill holes in the metal plate.

It was only a month late, but happy belated birthday B!

Hasta luego,
ji

Flashback

Sorry for the long absence, but work has been keeping me on my toes.

Remember this? http://oklahomacountrygirl.blogspot.com/2011/12/dedicated-to-jennifer-co-worker.html I made this for my co-worker Jennifer a couple months back.

Another one of my co-workers saw it and requested one for her nephew's wedding gift. It turned out just as cute!

We originally wanted "holding hands, but because I had to etch it, it just looked like a big blob. I thought this was a nice alternative.

Ive got a lot more exciting projects coming up! Stay tuned.

ji

Once Upon a Time.....

there were two cousins, Moo and Jelly Bean. Moo had lots of ideas, but Jelly Bean was the creative crafter.

One early winter morning, Moo emailed Jelly Bean a photo of a craft she wanted for her office desk.

Being the crafty person she is, Jelly Bean was intrigued by the prospect of handpainting. Her previous attempts at handpainting hadn't gone so well. But that didn't deter her one bit. A coworker generously supplied Jelly Bean with a Starbucks Frapaccino botttle. After spray painting the bottle white, it was days and days before Jelly Bean got the nerve to start handpainting the zebra stripes. She was suprised to find out that it was rather simple.

Here is her creation:

Now that Jelly Bean earned her confidence, Moo has requested a Giraffe print with orange flowers.

And as soon as Moo has her giraffe and orange creation, they will live happily ever after......until the next project.

ji

New Addition

Back in early December, it was just a normal day at the office. That is until this little girl came along.....

The boss and his executive secretary found her wondering around on a COLD day in our parking lot. She almost got hit by a car. Somehow, (still really not sure how) I got talked into taking her home for the weekend so she didn't have to go to the pound.

I ended up taking her out to the bf's farm (he honestly had said that he would like a dog!!) and the rest is history. Her name is Izzy and she LOOOOOVE'S her Freddy (and he LOOOVE's her)!

She is a great dog, but has one really BAD habit. She chases tumbleweeds.....and ends up miles away. Last time it took Freddy 6 days to find her. We sure thought she was a goner.