alley art

A couple weeks ago I found this painting in my boyfriends alley. Sure, it's not the most attractive painting ever, but I was loving the frame. It looks and feels rich to me. So I grabbed it and put it in my work dungeon. Well I finally had time to re-do it and this is what I came up with.

I painting it all white and kept it simple with peace & heart graphics. It was strictly black and white, but it was Mike's idea to fill in the heart with spray paint to give that cool effect.

He also contributed the perfect name: "My heart bleeds for peace".

*Post Update*
I was just informed this is the Mercedes logo....whoops!
I'll fix it and repost soon ;) 

kitchen decor

I thought I would post some of the pictures I took of the whole desk process seen here. 

 Since I don't own saw horses (yet) I cut the desktop on some stools. I really don't recommend this, don't do it kids! It was hard, and I really had to hold down the wood to make sure it didn't fly and kill Mike.

Us posing happily with the new bare countertop :)

And now for the after pictures!!!

I added a Bygel rail to hang my cooking utensils, switched out my light bookshelf for a darker one to match the counter top and hung my adorable oven mitt.

Now it will be easier to cook, if I ever decide to ;)

I found this shopping list, and it matches the kitchen perfectly.

Mike bought me this oven mitt. I think he's trying to tell me something :D

Thanks for taking a tour of my kitchen!

breast cancer t-shirt design

This is another quick little graphic design update. I was hired by one of my good friends to design a t-shirt for her breast cancer fundraiser bar crawl. I happily accepted and came up with this little design.

(Erica & I)

I design stuff all the time, but this is the 1st time (well 2nd time if you count the t-shirt art contest in high school) that something has been made into an actual shirt. It felt awesome seeing everyone in their pink shirts. I'll never forget that feeling :)

butcher block counter top love

Back on June 22^nd when I was feeling all sorts of optimistic I made a to-do  list…to do. Unfortunately, I didn’t really finish it.  My boyfriend’s bedroom is still in limbo. He still has paper work everywhere and that hideous thing of a desk in there. I won’t touch it until he fixes that problem lol. My 2^nd bedroom turned closet/office is pretty much done. I painted the wall black, cleaned it up and fixed my art corner. I should probably take some pictures of it, huh?

I didn’t turn my coffee table into a bench, I tried to sell it in a garage sale but to my surprise no one took it. It doesn’t have 1 scratch on it; I really thought it was going to be one of the first things I sold. I also didn’t paint my paint can planters.  *sigh*

BUT I did get to do something else that wasn’t even on my list.

1. I painted the concrete exterior blocks in the front. Nice and white, looks nice and brighter. I still have some parts to finish…I think I’ll do it on the weekend.

2. I added another cabinet to my kitchen. I had a gap there before and had a wire bookcase holding my plates (pics seen here). I never really liked how it looked, but I stayed with that for so long because 1. I didn’t want to buy another cabinet 2. I didn’t know how to install another cabinet.

But guess what? My bestie for life, Jennifer gave me a $50 gift card to my favorite store Lowes, so I used it towards the purchase. It actually looks and feels like a complete kitchen now.

Everything was fine and dandy until I realized that the cabinets didn’t match up. My kitchen floor is 100% uneven so that’s how my cabinets were going to be.  Yes, my heart ached for a minute or so, but then I thought, “who cares?” Who cares if my cabinets aren’t completely straight?? I don’t, just as long as I have something there right?

I painted my unfinished cabinet to match its counterpart and it looks lovely. But once again, I ran into a bump on the road. The base cabinet is only 30 inches wide, and the countertop I needed doesn’t sell that size. They don’t even sell anything close to it!  But as usual Ikea saved the day.  Instead of having the same countertop, why not add some butcher block?

I know what you’re thinking, “why is she mixing tops?” but I know it will work! Last Sunday I helped out at an Open House for a million dollar home. The homeowner had a butcher-block countertop next to her oven where she said it was easier to prepare meals. That way, she didn’t have to ruin her granite countertops. It’s genius if you think about it.

I found LAGAN at Ikea, it’s the very cheap version of their butcher block, and at $39 it’s the perfect price for me :). The best part is, it can be cut and sanded down. It’s like music to my ears.

Well I went to lowes to buy the butcher block and guess what? They were SOLD OUT of it!  I was heartbroken until my shopping angel boyfriend spotted out a pine wooden desktop. It was $40 and beautiful. I took it in a heart beat!

I went home, cut it down with my boo (which was quite the experience). Side note: NEVER saw anything indoors, the dust literally took over my entire apartment and it took a couple hours to get the woodshop class smell out of it. Blah! But I learned better and decided to stain the block outside. Yes, I stained it a beautiful dark walnut brown. It’s gorgeoussss! !

I brought it inside, set it up and you know what? I like it. It looks funky at first but then you warm up to it. Plus I’ve never been one to be cookie cutter so what would you expect from me? ;)  

Full beautiful pics will be up soon.  Until then, look at my awesome cell phone pictures :P

It's fits! Well, kinda :P

I had a whoopsie while sawing, but this wood filler is AWESOME! 

I thought I would add in a little detail.

Hey, it's better than what I had before! ;)