Category Archives: Creativity

Sharing Your True Colors!

Good evening!

As promised during this previous post. I have finally completed my journal project that was inspired by Dyan Reaveley’s YouTube video ‘Creating a Patchwork Quilt with Diane Reavely.’

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As I was painstakingly blacking out all of the work that had taken me literally hours to complete, I just kept asking myself over and over, what am I going to write on this? What does this mean to me? Is there anything more to what I am seeing that what I am seeing? I actually had gotten the black completed, and stared at it for another day before my answer finally came to me.

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This piece, for me, became about my tendency to hide my true colors, my true self, my authenticity, the things about me that make me uniquely me. I have a tendency to hide parts of myself for all sorts of reasons, fear of being unloved, fear of being unaccepted, fear of being left alone. This is something that I am actively working on. Even as I type this evening!

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So the message that I decided to write on these pages became this:

“You were not uniquely and wonderfully made so that you can hide your uniquenesses.
You were not made to blend in.
Your uniquenesses are what make you special.
They give you immense value.
Be brave.
Stand up for who you are.
I promise, your truth will set you free.”

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I may not know who you are, or what your story is, but I know that there is someone reading this right now that needs to hear these words, so I pass this message on to you. Your were not meant to blend in. You were a uniquely made one-of-a-kind special-to-the-core person on purpose. Cherish your uniquenesses, whatever they are, because they are your truth, YOURS ALONE, and your truth shall set you free!

Here is to a FABULOUSLY artsy evening! 😉

If you want to have a different life, you have to live differently!!

Getting Back Into the Art Studio!

Good evening!

I have discovered my new favorite art supply shop, Runaway. It is a cool little place that is located in downtown Salem. I have been down there a few times this past week, and after spending waaaay too much money on some much wanted, but not really needed art supplies, my sweetie and I agreed that I really had to commit to getting back into the art studio. So, for the past few days, I have made it a point to spend a little time in my art studio every day!

When I first got got back in there, I was overwhelmed by a blank journal page, and an overwhelming amount of art supplies, go figure! So, to break the ice, I decided to hop on to YouTube, and see if I could find some inspiration from some other fellow creatives. Thankfully, I happened to stumble upon this video:

Dyan Reaveley.

Yep, I said her name.

She is my new artsy hero!

I love her style, he sass, her creativity, and her can do attitude!!

Her patchwork quilt design had me inspired to give this project a try, and tonight I thought I would share with you my project in progress! 🙂

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I was actually surprised how long it took to do just this step! It took me a little more than 3 evenings to get this completed, but I am pretty happy with how it turned out. If you watched the above video, you know that my next step is to black a lot of this out. I have a feeling that THAT is going to be harder to do, since it took me so much time to get this step done, but I am going to take a leap of faith and do it anyway! I can’t wait to see how it turns out!! 🙂

Here are some closer pics of each of the two pages.

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This is basically like a giant Zentangle, and even though it took me a long time to draw and then color in, this part of the project was actually quite peaceful! I just turned on some inspiring music and just went for it! 🙂

I will make sure to share with you how it turns out in a couple of days!

Here is to an FABULOUSLY arsty evening!! 😉

If you want to have a different life, you have to live differently!!

The Barn House Show 2013

Good evening!

This past Saturday, I got to spend the day on my own with no responsibilities. With my camera in hand, and I headed out to Turner, Oregon to spend some time down at The yearly Barn House Show! I like to try and get out there every year, get inspired, and see if I can find any treasures to take home with me.

The Barn House show is held every year at the Turner Memorial Tabernacle! This building is HUGE, and I often dream about purchasing it and turning it into my sweetie and my dream home!! AAAAAAAAAAAAAW!! That would be AWESOME!! 😉 and check out how BLUE that sky was!! 😉

I love this chippy little sign, and I saw it as soon as I walked in – how fitting!! 😉

I think these bottles were faux mercury glass! I had just stumbled onto some instructions on how to do this, and I may have to give this technique a try. So pretty!!

Who knew that an old painted, rusty ceiling tiling could be so beautiful??? I LOVE this!!;-)

This chair is JUST SO ME!!! I love the sexy, curvy shape, and I simply ADORE the zebra stripes!!! 😉

Being a bibliophile, I just LOVE finding unique bookends, and these ones are so industrial-chic!!! BRAVO!! 😉

I just LOVE this oversized wall clock!!

This bag is tres cute! I need to learn how to sew me some ruffles!! 😉

I love these signs!! I dream that one day my sweetie and I will be able to say, “Welcome to our farmhouse!!” 😉

My sweetie thought this marionette was creepy, but I have ALWAYS LOVED harlequin clowns, and I just FELL IN LOVE WITH HIM as soon as I saw him (that applies to both my sweetie and this cute little clown)!!! 😉

Every single one of these items could EASILY find a place in my home!! 😉

I really never knew I was such a industrial-chic kind of girl, but I really just LOVE the mix of architectural details, rust, and a bit of chippy paint!!

Who couldn’t use more glittered feathers in their life??? I know I could!! 😉

I LOVE these brooches!! 😉

AIEEEEE!!! I LOVE these ones too!!! 😉

These last three pics are all from one of my FAVORITE vendors down at Aunt Bee’s House – you might recognize a couple of these quilts from my post on Aunt Bee’s House a couple of weeks ago!! To see more of that, click Here!

Who knew that metal siding could double as art?? I need to get me some of this!! 😉

I love this vintage button bracelet!! I could use this in my accessory wardrobe!! 😉

I have always wanted an oversized mirrored armoir like this!! It always reminds me of the book, The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe!

I had such a great time at The Barn House Show, spending the day seeing all of the vendors’ booths, and all of the treasures for sale, and the weather truly could NOT have been more perfect!! I ended up taking a few vintage magazines home, as well as a stack of vintage crochet books!! SCORE!!! 😉 I really do look forward to going every year, so if any of you are in the area, and would like to go with me I think that would be a BLAST!!! Don’t you??? THE MORE THE MERRIER!!! 😉

With that said…

Here is to a FABULOUS evening!! ;-)

If you want to have a different life, you have to live differently!!

Random Post Kind of Tuesday!

Good evening!

This has been a bit of a rough day. I think maybe the problem is that I am not doing a good job of taking care of myself like I should, and my body is trying to let me know that it is serious need of a break! I can always tell when I am not taking care of myself. I can feel it to depth of my soul. I am tired, my eyes are bloodshot, I have a headache that only seems to go away when I close my eyes – proof of just how tired I am, and I don’t seem to have the same ability to handle stress and pressure in the office when I am not taking care of myself. I really do have to get on that; make healthy, fresh food choices, get enough daily exercise, get my 8 cups of water in every day, take my entire slew of daily supplements and medications (being a post gastric bypass surgical patient you REALLY NEED the extra help nutrient-wise!!), and I need to make sure that I am making enough time for quality, uninterrupted sleep!!

I realize that was some weird kind of tangent, sorry about that!! 🙂

Anyway, I only had one small errand to run this evening, which didn’t take me too long. So I thankfully headed home and here I am!!! WHEW!!! 🙂 My sweetie is working until really late tonight, which means I get the house to myself this evening, and I have taken advantage of that by getting some laundry folded, cleaning the kitchen, and making myself a nice healthy dinner with enough leftover for both of our lunches tomorrow!!

My sweetie has been working so many hours, which I am extremely grateful for, but I really miss our time together, which has been very far and in-between lately! No worries!! I plan on just being as productive as I can this evening; turning some peppy music on, do a couple more house chores, catch up on a movie, and then either spend some time reading or cross stitching before I hop my tired self right into bed!!

Doesn’t that just sound dreamy??

It sure does to me!! I can’t wait – maybe I will skip all of that, and just call it an early night now??? Yeah, I wish!!!! 😉

Onto something a bit more Artsy…

I wanted to share a picture with you of a little project that I have been working on (pictured at the top of this post). This is what I am calling my cross stitch doodle sampler! Cross stitch is one of the many hobbies that I have taken up with the goal of having a more Artsy Life, and surrounding myself with creativity and beauty in even the littlest things in my life!! Cross stitch, at least the way I do it, is so portable (I carry everything I need in a small tin gift card holder), and I can pull it out and work on it wherever I am, whenever! I don’t use any kind of patterns – that would drive me BANANAS!! I am basically just doodling with string, using whatever patterns I come up with. I kept this project simple and only used one color of DNC floss, which I LOVE, because it was very easy to stay relaxed and not worry about what color goes with what, or did I get the right shade, or anything like that. It has almost become kind of a meditative practice for me, even if the project doesn’t come out exactly perfect! I am still LOVING the practice of it!

I haven’t decided for sure yet, but I think this little guy is going to be a pillow-ey door hanger. Something simple, and really easy to make!! I will share pics of the finished project when I am done!! I haven’t decided what my next project will be, but so far I am leaning towards a larger cross-stitch sampler, a colorful granny square crocheted blanket, a ruffle bed comforter, or a loopy summer scarf using a new yarn and technique that looks pretty easy to do that I found online. Whatever project I choose, I will make sure to keep you posted!!

In the meantime…

Here is to a FABULOUS evening!! ;-)

If you want to have a different life, you have to live differently!!

Looking for Beauty at Aunt Bee’s House!

Good evening!

I am so very excited to share this post with you this evening, but before I get too ahead of myself, I wanted to tell you a little bit of back story on this post! Last week, I went to one of my FAVORITE shops here in town, Aunt Bee’s House! Aunt Bee’s House is a large marketplace for people to rent space to sell their home furnishings, decorative items, gifts, and other beautiful treasures!! When I find that I am needing to get some retail therapy, some inspiration for doing some decorating in my little condo, find a new color combination ideas for my next arting project, or if I am need of a unique and perfect gift for a friend or family member – Aunt Bee’s House is my go-to place of choice!!

Well, anyway I had gathered up the nerve to introduce myself to the staff, and ask if I could take some pictures so that I could post them on blog, This Artsy Life. That may not sound like a big deal, but me being eternally shy and having a tendency to want to remain invisible when I am out on the town by myself, I was pretty dang proud of myself!! Well, of course the staff of Aunt Bee’s House being SO AMAZING, welcoming and friendly, they said “yes” immediately, and off I went – snapping away!!! I was such a happy girl, and I think I came home with something like 200 pictures!!

Needless to say, it was a GREAT day!! 🙂

Well, long story short, I got home placed my camera card in my computer, and my computer essentially ate all of my pictures!! UGH!!

I would love to tell you that me being the new brave and outgoing Christina, I turned around went right back and started the process all over again, but alas that is not how it went down! 🙂 It literally took me another week to gather up my courage again to go back and ask if I might take those pictures again!! The FABULOUS staff so graciously said “yes” again, and again I spent a lovely afternoon just snapping away!! Finding all sorts of treasures and beautiful items to delight the senses. I can’t believe it had taken me so long to get back there!! I REALLY LOVE THIS PLACE!!! 😉

Soooo…

Tonight I am very happy to share with you some of the pictures that I took while at Aunt Bee’s House.

Here we go!! 🙂

This is what you see when you first walk in to the shop! The colors of these quilts are so happy and joyful, that I think that quilting may become my next hobby/passion!! Oh man, what is my sweetie going to think about that??? 😉

I am really loving teal painted furniture!! Hmmmm…I wonder how my sweetie would feel about having his dresser painted teal?

I love this little vignette! 🙂 The lamps, the bowl of green apples, the books, the horse, everything!! LOVE! LOVE! LOVE!!

I love the juxtaposition of this stripped wooden vessel and the red vintage books.

and how about these two large gears??? Aren’t they just AMAZING???? I am SERIOUSLY thinking about going back and bringing these two manly studs home!!! 🙂

Who knew that oil can could be chic? Well, apparently they can be!!! 🙂

I am LOVING this headboard! The colors, the restic-ness of it, and maybe just the ingeniousness use of recycled fence posts!!

These are decorative storage boxes that looks like books with tapestry covers! VERY SPRINGY!! 😉

I love this vignette too! The books, plant pot, bird, and yes even the doily!! Who knew that I was going to have to start thinking about getting a doily?? My mama would be very proud!! 😉

I LOVE this LOVE sign!! 😉

Aren’t these just the cutest?? They are weighted pillows! I could see myself using these as a door stop for my front door!! SO SWEET!!

This is SUCH an INGENIOUS way to display simple ribbon roses!! I may have to give this project a try!! 😉

I am a SUCKER for colored glass vessels, and this BLUE is just STUNNING!!! 😉

I may need a whole slew of these to decorate all over our place!! I just LOVE rustic stars, and the glitter really adds a but of glam!!

This mannequin FASCINATES me!! Whoever gets to take this love figure home is my hero!! I LOVE THIS!!!

This little lady was kind of tucked in the back of this display, and as soon as I saw her, I knew she just needed to be brought forward and with a little bit of rearranging she is now the ROCK STAR of this vignette!! 😉

Here is another vignette that makes me happy to look at! I am really digging the message of this teal sign. “Thank God for blessing me much more than I deserve!” This has become my motto on almost a daily basis!! 😉

I am just CRAZY about this white chippy dresser!! TRES CHIC!!! 😉

I am so impressed by this paper wreath!! Someone has some SERIOUS patience!! 😉

I love this rack!! I could see this in my place being used as our mail rack…or maybe a medicine rack…or maybe a spice rack…or maybe as an organizer in my art studio…or maybe as a…or as a…!! I KNOW, IT IS A SICKNESS!!! 🙂

This is a message that I am going to try and apply to my life this week!! Enjoy the Little Things!! 🙂

Here is another one of those FABULOUS quilts!! See what I mean?? I love this design and the colors!! I would LOVE to have a new, homemade quilt for our bedroom!!! Sooooo cheery!!!

Well, there you have it!!! I hope you have enjoyed all of these pictures, as much as I had taking them!!! If you happen to be in the Salem area, I would highly recommend visiting Aunt Bee’s House!! I KNOW there will be THE PERFECT treasure waiting there JUST FOR YOU!!!

Thank you to the INCREDIBLE staff at Aunt Bee’s House for letting me share your lovely shop with my readers. I am greatly impressed by everything about your shop, there is such a welcoming, homey feeling that is evident as soon as you walk in the door!!!! I will most DEFINITELY be back in again!! 😉

To my readers, I want to make sure you know that I am in no way compensated by Aunt Bee’s House, and all of the opinions expressed are solely my own!! I hope you enjoyed all of these pictures!! 😉

Here is to a FABULOUS evening!! ;-)

If you want to have a different life, you have to live differently!!

Time for a Change!

Good morning!

I am not sure if you have noticed, maybe you have, but I really haven’t been blogging here as much as I used to.

I started ChristinaVille on April 4th, 2010, can you believe it has really been that long? My intention for starting ChristinaVille was to have an outlet to share my day-to-day ramblings with whomever would listen. I didn’t really have any other goal outside of my own personal wishes, and in the last few months, I have been really convicted that I need to be blogging, not just for myself, but for others. I am a firm believer that we are here to learn from each others experiences. I have been having a hard time with the fact that my blog name is ChristinaVille. I know, silly right? but hear me out – ChristinaVille is a monicker my family gave to me a long time ago because I always want things done my way; I guess it is the plight of being born the oldest to 5 girls. Evens though I still struggle with wanting things done my way a lot of the time, I want my message to encompass more than me.

More than anything I want to help women realize that their wildest dreams can come true, and they can truly have the life that they desire. To help make that happen, I have decided that I will no longer be updating ChristinaVille, and have started a new blog called This Artsy Life. I will however, keep ChristinaVille up on the internet so all of the many hundreds of posts that I have written thus far will continue to be available to anyone interested in reading them.

My goal at This Artsy Life is to create a space where women can find resources, and encouragement to go after their dreams, while living a creative, art-filled life. It will be an evolving process, and even as I speak about it now, I am not sure how I will make it happen, but I know in my soul that this is the next step in my evolution. It is my job to be brave and take it.

Starting over is scary, but I think that having a clean slate is going to be exactly what I need to get from where I am to where I want to be.

I would be so honored if you would join me there, and subscribe to This Artsy Life. I know that I still have a lot more to share in my life, and I would LOVE for you to be a part of my journey!

Thank you so much for so many FABULOUS days! Here is to many, many more!! 😉

If you want to have a different life, you have to live differently!!

Playing in the Art Studio!

Good evening!

I have spent a good portion of my day today playing in my art studio, and wanted to share the two pieces that I have created today!

I am still trying to discover “my style”, and I am busy practicing drawing faces, and hair, and who am I kidding, just drawing in general! 🙂 I am really having so much fun arting! mixed media just seems to be something that feeds my need for various techniques, mediums, and textures! I really am loving it!!

As for these two pieces, they were made using old book pages, tissue paper, ink, stamps, acrylic paints, gel medium, and lots of found items to make all of the different textures on the page, not to mention an ink pen – because I really LOVE adding my own little doodles to each piece!!

Talking about doodling, I am finding that doodling is really good for me! It keeps the creativity muscles warm! Doodling is almost zen-like as I get still, slip into quiet mode, only focus on me and my pen, as I let my mind wander. It really is such a sweet place for me!! I really want to make sure that I incorporate doodling into every one of my pieces!

So, anyway, as always, I would love to hear your thoughts! 🙂

Here’s to a FABULOUS evening!

If you want to have a different life, you have to live differently!

Here I Am!

Good morning!

I know it has been a while since I have last posted, but here I am!

Things have been moving vey quickly around here, and we have been very busy!! Right now my husband and I are over on the Oregon coast. We have been here for the past 2 days. We have been visiting with our adopted grandparents before they go out of town for a couple of weeks. I the meantime, my hubby and I Are going to take their 3 dogs and babysit, while they are out of town! All 5 of us, my sweetie, the three dogs and myself are all heading back home today, as I have to be back at work tomorrow.

I said things have been moving rather quickly around here, and they really have! My hubby and I had made the decision to have Bariatric gastric bypass surgery, but we needed to wait to get everything rolling until we were able to pre-pay for the surgeries. Well, we did that earlier this month and my sweetie has had a bug-a-jillion appointments to get anything and everything scanned, measured, checked, swabbed, scoped, etc, etc, etc. The way that we have this worked out is that my sweetie will have his surgery first, July 3rd, and then I will have my surgery about a month later. So, my crazy schedule won’t start until after the 23rd of this month, which is when my initial appointment is.

Right now, we are both early excited, and I can’t speak for him, but I am also really scared. The funny thing is, is that I am not scared for the surgery, I am scared to meet the skinny me! I have no idea what she looks like, how she will feel, what she does, or if I am even going to get along with her. In all honesty, I am sooooooo excited to meet her!! I know she has been in here forever!!! I also realize that the is going to be a kind of mourning period for my old self. Crazy right? This fat suit that I have been wearing (figuratively) has really been a protective barrier that has given me all sorts of excuses why I didn’t have to do something’s, and it really has been a way for me to hide behind a lot of things in my life. Even talking about it right now, I really can’t wait to meet the new me!!!

Anyway, I have also been keeping very busy with my Brave Girls’ Club Soul Restoration I class. Matter of fact, I am just in the final week of class I, and will be starting class II next week. I am so thankful that I have stumbled across this life-changing class, and I am so excited to see what more I learn during class II.

Just to keep things interesting, we have also had a bunch of company! My sister, and her husband spent the week with us last week, which was a lot of fun, and then another one of sisters and her family are coming up for part of the weekend, tomorrow!! I can’ wait to see them!!!! Yeah!

Well, I am going to grab my camera and head out to go get some pics of the coast on this lovely spring day, here in Oregon!

Here’s too a FABULOUS day!!!
~Christina 😉

If you want to have a different life, you have to live differently!

Finding My Creative Stride!

Good evening!

I have been busy in my art studio, practicing various mixed media techniques, trying to figure out what my art style looks like. I am very happy to be sharing with you my latest two pieces.

Art #1:

I love incorporating positive thoughts into my pieces. I feel like in some small way, I am able to help encourage other women, possibly, just like myself.

There is something in the way that these womens’ eyes have turned out, thoughtful, withholding some secret, and just a hint of sadness. I didn’t realize that would show up in these paintings.

Art #2:

I just LOVE the texture that the joint compound created when I used it with my doily stencil.

This is a thought that I am learning is really true. Miracles really do happen everyday!

Both of these pieces were adapted from a couple of doodles that I had drawn a few weeks ago. I was playing with the idea of learning how to draw women’s faces. I figured if I could doodle it small, maybe I can doodle it larger as well. They turned out just like my doodles! I used book pages, acrylic paints, markers, stamps, ink, joint compound, gel medium, and a stampinella, and doily stencil to accomplish both of these pieces. I also incorporated a lot of smaller doodles in these pieces. I am finding that doodling has really helped me stay loose, and relaxed when trying to come up with something to fill my blank white canvas.

Well, I hope you enjoyed these two pieces, I know I have really enjoyed creating these and hope to have a lot of art studio time in the next few days to create some more! I would love to hear your thoughts in the comments section. 😉

Here’s to a FABULOUS evening!

If you want to have a different life, you have to live differently

Beautiful Creatives

Empowering your juicy life!

Category Archives: Creativity

Sharing Your True Colors!

Getting Back Into the Art Studio!

The Barn House Show 2013

Random Post Kind of Tuesday!

Looking for Beauty at Aunt Bee’s House!

Time for a Change!

Playing in the Art Studio!

Here I Am!

Finding My Creative Stride!