Projects galore!!!

Some of the projects I've been working on (obsessing about) (like a mad woman driven by the need to work on projects)..... are listed below.

 

I have not included any pictures of the following items that are done but not photographed:

 

Finished painting bedroom - that wall was a BEAST!  *I am still shuddering*

Arranging artwork utilizing some of my layouts in craft room - a work in progress

Gallery wall in bedroom - work in progress

Outside gardening stuff - work in progress

Never ending garage projects - both cars can park in there but I do have a ways to go but its been too hot

Craft closet phase 1 complete, phase 2 is in the garage so it's a work in progress too

Made 2 front door wreaths

 

I think that's it.  So below is what I did take pictures of.

 

Project #1

 

Here are the craft closet contents...  The goal - organize, purge, hang shelving to accommodate and make more room.  (I forgot to take the before picture -oops)

 

 

 

Progress.  I installed the shelves to be L shaped for a more complete function/usable space.  This is what would traditionally be a coat closet - being we live in Texas and it's still 100 degrees out, we don't need coats often enough to justify a closet (precious real estate) for them.

 

AHHH just about done.

I got it all in there, everything has a spot...then realized I had to take it ALL out again to put the shelving up above that I wanted to put up there (utilizing the 15 foot ceiling space that is wasted in the top of the closet, I wanted to add more vertical storage).  So I had to completely un do it - to put the shelving up on top of the top shelf (speak in riddle much) so then I redid it.... do - redo.... how typical.

I love my ribbon storage, it's a curtain rod.... I popped the end off and put my spools on it, put the end back on and they won't go anywhere - totally portable and organized!  yay!



I took ribbon remnants and a clothes pin - wrapped them up to make a pretty bowl - o - ribbon :)

 

 

 

 

CHECK - My area is 100% functional and organized now - yay!

 

 

 

Next project - totally easy but I just wanted to make it a bit nicer - the medicine cabinet.... bowl - o - boring below....

 

 

dressed up a little bit with paper :)

 

Yay!!

 

 

CHECK - project done

 

Next project - I have been aching to find a tired worn out mostly ugly chair to redo it but I never ever find a chair that needs me - so finally I found this gem at the goodwill store for $6.77  yay!!! 

 

 

 

I am practically a chair addict - I MUST REDO A CHAIR... so yay, project underway!

 

I spray primed it (2 coats) and painted it white (three coats).  Below is an "in progress" picture.

The finished product!  the harps are singing- I did buy new foam for the chair too, she's so comfortable.  This chair is the new sewing chair (that area is a work in progress...well it's on the list anyway).

 

 

 

Next project, with it being fall now, I made some comfy porch pillows.  I did not want to spend a ton of $ on pillows (they are SO expensive), so I bought 2 yards of fabric, spent about an hour - maybe a little more.  and BAM new porch pillow covers - I see a holiday trend starting...2 yards...1 hour... new covers  HECK YES!!!  Obsession number 2,583.

 

 

 

Scrappy Projects

 

I have to admit, we have been in the new house for just over a year now.... and until three weeks ago, I hadn't scrapped at all in my new area.  Well that is different now!  I have paper crafted something every weekend for the last three weeks in a row!  YAY YAY YAY!!! 

 

I made the hanging below to go in the bedroom gallery (yes gallery...meaning I'm tackling another *gasp* gallery wall...scary stuff!!

 

 

My partner in crime!  She LOVES working in the craft room!  (here you can see some of my unframed layouts that may or may not get framed and hung in their respective places on the wall behind her)

 

 

 

Another project - I got this kit at the convention.... it is SO fun.  I haven't done any of the interior projects that go along with this kit but I'm thrilled at the exterior!!

 

Master closet project

Now I don't have any pictures of this but I was able to come up with a better way to have the closet that includes the big ol jewelery box that I'm not using because it's in the bedroom instead of the closet and I get ready in the closet.

Well I have 100% started and finished that project too, there are stations for everyone (meaning Michael, Mikayla and me), dresser, jewelery, shoes... you name it, there's a spot - nicely organized for it!  YAY

I think (actually I know) my drive for projects is driving Michael nuts..... last night - about 10:15 pm.... I was hanging a shelf in the bedroom for part of my gallery wall, hammering to my hearts content...Micahel saw me go flying by and he says "PUT THE HAMMER DOWN" oh I laughed so hard...even hearing him say that now really cracks me up!!!  *chuckles*  another one I've been hearing lately "just stop...." I say "I will after I finish...whatever"

I will say that the lack of commute sure leaves me with a LOT more energy than I had before.  Phew, that is about 8 weeks worth of projects.... I guess looking back I have been busy LOL

(wow, I guess I'm getting pretty wordy too - I'll tone it down again after I catch up LOL)  I feel like I'm missing a few things but who knows, I have been running like a chicken with my head cut off for awhile now).

WHEW!!!! I am so behind!!

I am just so behind on my updates but I am making a point to get back to blogging!!!  Have to keep up with my bad self...LOL!!!!

 

So LOTS of things have been going on so I'll just have to group the next few posts by category in order to get caught up.  Ever since I switched and left the position I was in for over 12 1/2 years...I have had a hard time keeping my head on straight.

 

So I guess I'll start there, here is my last day at my previous place of employment.  Mikayla came with me for 1/2 day on my last day there because she wanted the chance to say good bye to everyone there.  She was quite nervous for me to switch because it's all she's ever known.

 

 

 

 

Lovin the balloons!!

 

 

 

 

So then began my new quest!!

 

My new place is literally three right turns from home.... versus 1 full hour PLUS - each way - daily commute.

 

-three right turns

-1.2 miles

-4.75 minutes with traffic.... 5 min if I miss the light....

 

Any of those descriptions work. 

 

I think I finally feel like I might be getting a handle back on life - wow I had NO idea it was going to be so dramatic.  I mean yes I thought I would have a clue because well...going from commercial real estate to commercial real estate - I should know a thing or two, right?  WRONG!!!!!!

 

and that has thrown me for a loop.  MAJOR loop!!!!!!  I went from being very comfortable in my knowledge base to a darn dummy!!  WOW!! 

 

So I am slowly recovering, I am sort of starting to remember how to cook again, keep up with cleaning and laundry and 2nd grade homework!!  WOW!!!!  Huge shocker.... 

 

My first day - Katie came over and we had coffee and carpool.  What that means is that she and I have driven together for the last 7+ years and needed to keep up our carpool, the big difference is that we had coffee at home instead of the hour commute in to work.  This was so weird!!!  Oh yea, did I forget to mention that Katie works here too?  We were apart for 5 weeks and that was a LONG 5 weeks!!!

 

 

Here is my desk area - see that TWO monitors - holy moly I can see everything from this command station!  I moved right in complete with pictures :)

 

 

Our carpool ride!!  ahhhhhh  yea, this is SO weird.

 

 

 I think we're still chanting that exact phrase. It has been a huge challenge to make such a drastic change but once the dust settles...I am SOOOOOO excited, I'm so happy to be learning new work and programs and SOOOOOOO happy to be close to home and SOOOOOOO happy to have gained more than two full hours a day! A DAY!!!! **giddy**

I've been Pinspired :)

I have a built in bookshelf/cabinet area in the master bedroom and I didn't really know what to do with it, the obvious answer - books...duh!  But soooo many of my books are on kindle now that I don't buy regular books anymore.  I do have my trunk full o books from when I was much much younger - but I didn't really want to break those out either.  So hello Pinterest - best.website.ever for ideas.  I was able to find an idea....

like this.

And the picture below is what I actually have in house and now it looks like this.

Liked the placement well enough but needed to do one more thing to make it more of what I wanted.  Paint!!  I love paint (when it's done) (whole side note, I used to love painting because I could transform an entire room in one day - but these days - not so much because of the tall ceilings, it is a HUGE job now, no longer a simple oh I can whip that out on a Saturday kind of job - but that's ok....) so back to my shelf.  I had a helper.... 

And our transformation was complete, now I just need to find a blue "hello" and I'll really be pinspired!!!

So there's my before and after for the cabinet :)  I'm so happy!!!!  I'm sure things will change on there, actually they already have which is good!!!  

I have another before/after... I am soooo happy on one hand...but on the other hand...oh shoot what did we do!!!

We started with the look below.

These poor trees

The things I don't like:

they're crooked, that really bothers me

they're spindly - I want a nice full ROUND tree

the branches were breaking, last week we had to cut them higher up because I couldn't even pull my car in the garage because they were hanging sooooo low

another thing, a 4 inch in diameter branch broke off during a very mild storm, the branches are weak/brittle and we can pull them down with very little effort.  Also, an entire section is dropping low again and will need to be trimmed up....

those things added up = scary trees in hurricane season....one big storm and they are either in Mikayla's bedroom or the neighbors house.....

Did I mention they're CROOKED.... oh and at the highest point one of the branches is completely and entirely resting on the roof of the house. Yes...the whole thing.... and that's the only branch on that side of the crooked tree.

So we made the painful decision to take them down and start over.  I can't say I'm a big fan of cutting down a tree that has hope to kind of be something pretty special, but in this case even the tree doctor recommended taking them down.

and while yes we did this, my goodness what a SHOCK at the difference!  We can't get over how different it really is....

So now we start our quest for a good tree, big but not too big, round but not too round, shade but not too shady, it needs to be ok within about 15-20 feet of house foundation without impacting it and obviously it needs to be heat tolerant.  Would love it to color through the seasons but not drop nuts/balls/junk all over yard/driveway.  Birds are optional but would be preferred to poo in the grass and not make such a mess on the driveway. 

Suggestions??

(wish list is totally realistic, right?)

Oh and we do have plans for that whole area too - we are thinking, additional parking, one big tree (vs two), shrubs/bushes and overall gorgeousness. 

Awwwww 2nd Grade!!

Well it is here already.  Mikayla is officially in 2nd grade!!!  I can't even believe how fast the time is going.  Of course we took time for some pictures this morning, naturally my camera lens fogged up when we went outside - steamy before 7:00 am HA!

 

 

Isn't she a gem!! She is the most darling little girl. She comes up with some seriously wonderful and witty commentary!!

 

 

She says her favorite subject is reading... and yet...we struggled to read what we were supposed to over the summer break.  She loved being in AR (advanced reading) last year but doesn't like all the reading except reading is her favorite subject... or is it??  I'm really not sure after that conversation.  I decided that I just needed more coffee to try to keep up with this gal!

 

 

She was a bit nervous, a bit excited and a bit ready but incredibly happy to be going back to her friends, she spent the last few days wondering if her friends would be there and who was going to be in her class.

 

 

She's grown up so much since the end of last year.... it's so strange how that happens.

 

 

I am so proud of the little girl she is.  She truly has a heart of gold!

 

 

Here she is with some friends - she looks like she was really waiting for an answer.

 

 

She was so excited and nervous in the picture below, she walked right up to me for another hug and kiss and well wishes for her first day.

 

 

and off they go :)  Have a great day babe!

 

 

I am so excited and scared all at the same time to see how much she grows and changes this year.  It is going so fast, I don't want to miss any of it! 

 

Good times ahead!! 

 

I can't wait for school programs and dance recitals. 

 

I can't wait for stories of the kids at school (I'm pretty sure only 1/2 of it is completely true) but I enjoy the stories anyway.

 

I can't wait for her to read more books to me.

 

I can't wait to celebrate her achievements from a great spelling test grade to learning fractions.

 

I can't wait for the end of each day as she still runs into my arms screaming MOMMY at the end of our work/school day and we drive home and discuss all the happenings of the day and head in for homework/quizzing/dinner and fun.

 

I LOVE this!!!

Our little seamstress

Mikayla has been really showing interest in sewing so the other day I was doing something with the sewing machine so I had her get some fabric, she learned how to iron and sew!

She ended up making three pillow covers that day - they're on the small side but heck, have to start somewhere.

I was able to sign her up for official sewing lessons, her first one is on August 17.  I hope she continues to enjoy it. I love that she's into this.

Here's a quick video I took of her on her first experience on the sewing machine!  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eMIEqqn1A-U