I am Chrissy, AKA “Queen Chrissy”, a moniker that was lovingly and playfully bestowed upon me by my family! I am a wife, daughter, sister, auntie, mama of a long-haired Chihuahua, a photographer, author, mixed media artist, a perpetual seeker of beauty, and Patron Saint of ALL THINGS SPARKLY! Welcome to my blog, where I shamelessly gush over all things FABULOUS and share snippets of life with my husband and our four-legged little girl. My faith and family are most important to me and all else comes second. We live a not-so average life in a small condo in the city, but dream of some day owning our own little farm out in the country. That being said, I’ll confess to a healthy dependence on books, glitter, and all things beautiful and homey.
I am a bit of a rule breaker, love finding a good 
bargain and I see the world in colors,
textures, sounds, smells, and can see the potential of beauty in almost ANYTHING!
With memories of childhood days all over the Pacific Northwest and a growing passion for getting back to the finer things in life such as spending time with the people we love, home cooked dinners, and barefoot walks in the park, you could say I’m a city girl who appreciates the simple beauty found in the day to day.
My creative roots sprouted from the moment I could hold a crayon in my hand, growing up watching my grandfather, in awe, while he drew AMAZING portraits in his art studio, and later at my mama’s side as she created ANYTHING out of EVERYTHING. Art has been a constant and ever-growing source of enjoyment and comfort to me as I have gotten older, and it has only been recently that I have realized how much art is really a part of the fabric of WHO I AM.
My professional career began, at a very young age, working with low-income youth for a non-profit organization. This eventually morphed into the very non-creative, analytical world of healthcare information technology as a data programmer. I have never been able to stop flirting with the idea of becoming a full time artist/designer, making a living doing what comes naturally to me – being creative. So, in 2011 I decided to stop fighting what I was sure was my life’s calling and started taking as many art classes as I could fit into my schedule, dabbling in every kind of artistic medium I could think of to see if I could find where it was that I naturally “fit”. In August of that year, I stumbled upon an online e-course, taught by one of my FAVORITE authors, Kelly Rae Roberts, and it LITERALLY changed my life. This class opened the door of possibilities for me, and I haven’t looked back since!
In 1994, I met the love of my life, and in the blink of an eye, at the very young age of nineteen, we were declaring our marriage vows in an intimate wedding ceremony at the church where my husband and I had serendipitously met, only 8 months prior. Eighteen years later, and with two four-legged ‘children’ in tow, our lively gang has settled down in the Willamette Valley of the Pacific Northwest, to focus on our careers and to play out a few of our dreams. Life has never been better.
In the Spring of 2010, I started blogging as a way to share inspiration for simplified living, quality and richness of life through relationships with people, and as a catalyst for
designing a beautiful life. I don’t always have it together but I certainly have fun laughing at 
myself along the way. These days I spend my personal time keeping up with family and friends, creating art, belly dancing, enjoying a good book, and living life in the beautifully green Pacific Northwest. One moment at a time, one jewel at a time strung together to make a lovely necklace, that is the story of my life
I am delighted to have you join me, as I playfully try to live up to the title of “Queen Chrissy”, while I share my musings about my adventure in living, loving, and creating the life of my dreams!
Yours in all things sparkly,
If you want to have a different life, you have to live differently!!
haha, love you sparkly blog
Why thank you very much, you are making me blush!! 😉
-Christina
I love your blog! Just what I need to help me wait and wait… & wait for old man winter to leave 🙂
LOL! Thank you, and I totally understand!! 😉
-Christina
Hey there! I’m nominating you for the Sunshine award for being such an awesomely inspiring blogger on this post right here:
http://amuseless.wordpress.com/2013/03/24/sunshine-on-a-cloudy-day-sunshine-award/
If you choose to accept it, here a lil’ bit about the award and the rules: “The Sunshine Award is an award given by bloggers to other bloggers. The recipients of the Sunshine Award are: Bloggers who positively and creatively inspire others in the blogosphere. The way the award works is this: Thank the person who gave you the award and link back to them. Answer questions about yourself. Select 10 of your favorite bloggers, link their blogs to your post and let them know they have been awarded the Sunshine Award!””
JUST FOUND YOUR VLOG/BLOGS AND I REALLY(sorry for the caps) love your 8 layer journaling. I want to start a You tube channel/blog but I’m completely frightened. I am a social worker with my masters, a wife, a mom of 2 girls and 2 labs and am an artist so I have a lot of insight and experience. Anyway maybe I’ll get the nerve. Question. Does your soulbook referencing come from Brave Girls Club?If not check it out it’s awesome.
Beth, I say go for it!!! There is a learning curve in creating a blog and a YT channel, but there are plenty of use out in the world, not to mention oodles of YouTube videos to help you whenever you need it!!! So yes, go for it!!
That is funny that you ask about Brave Girls Club!! I LOVE LOVE LOOOOVE Melody and Kathy!! They are amaze-balls!!! I saw that Brave Girls Club recently came out with a Soul Book too, and I really LOVE what they are doing!! Let me tell you how I came up with the Soul Books as I do them…
My Soul Book came about because of something that was given to me at a Brave Girls Camp, back in 2013. They had given us a sketch book that we could art in, Melody had called it the bad day book…something that you could look at when you were having a bad day to help brighten up your day. Well, that didn’t really sit well with me – I didn’t want a “Bad Day Book” because I figured if that is what I called it, all I would do is gripe in it, and then it would have bad ju-ju, which is no bueno!!! Anyway, I started to put little things inside of my book (which as of yet had no name), as a way to say “hey, this is what you look like when you are really really happy…don’t forget”. Etc. Well, about 6 or 8 months into playing and creating in this art journal/diary/pinterest board/note keeper, my hubby was looking at my book and told me, “you know what, if you ever died I am getting rid of everything else, but I am keeping this book”. I asked him why and he told me because he could see my soul in it…so from that day on, it was called my soul book. A way to remind myself of who I am and what is most important to me when life gets chaotically busy!! I started teaching a small group of friends, once a month, how to create their own soul books, and I have been creating one every year for the past 4 years. I am on my 5th soul book now, and I can’t imagine every stopping!
I hope that answers your question, miss Beth! If you have any questions on either blogging or YT channel, let me know! I am not an expert, but am always happy to help with what I do know!! Until then, Hugs!!!! ~Chrissie 😉
Hi, just discovered this blog. Read about your weekend with dyan. I know it is old news, but it flipped my whole day to good. Was having a rough one and you made me smile. You are such a creative positive person. Thank you for sharing your experiences and creativity with us. I hope you know you ate appreciated!
WOW! I also live in the Pacific Northwest, and It’s very far and few between that I find others ON YOUTUBE as well! I have seen many artist at Saturday Market, and I know Portland & Seattle and everywhere in between have artists but I rarely find connections here! I came across your craft room tour – and found my way here to your blog. I have been a photographer all my life, and after I got sick about 6 years ago I discovered ALL MY other creative talents! When I was in physical therapy, my therapist told me about art journaling, I haven’t stopped since! For a long time it was hard for me to hold my camera & equipment, I learned to paint my pictures! I am SO GRATEFUL I have this talent and love. I honestly believe God does not give us more than we can handle, and many people wonder HOW I can be so positive with my illnesses.. I tell them everyday I still wake up, I can still do what I love, but now I can even more.
Glad I came across your blog and channel!