Month: April 2013

Random Post Kind of Tuesday!

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 

Inspirational Thought for Your Monday!

Inspirational Thought for Your Monday!

Good morning!! I ran across this quote and just knew that I wanted to share this with you: “Dreams are illustrations from the book your soul is writing about you.” ~Marsha Norman See what I mean?? I am sure there are a few of you 

Looking for Beauty at Aunt Bee’s House!

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 HouseAunt 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!! 🙂

Aunt Bee's House

Aunt Bee's 1

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??? 😉

Aunt Bee's 3

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

Aunt Bee's 7

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

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

Aunt Bee's 10

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!!! 🙂

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

Aunt Bee's 6

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

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

Aunt Bee's 17

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!! 😉

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I LOVE this LOVE sign!! 😉

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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!!

Aunt Bee's 15

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

Aunt Bee's 19

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

Aunt Bee's 14

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!!

Aunt Bee's 23

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

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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!! 😉

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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!! 😉

Aunt Bee's

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

Aunt Bee's 22

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

Aunt Bee's 28

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!!! 🙂

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

Aunt Bee's 26

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!!  ;-)

Signature Line

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

Bliss List Friday!

Bliss List Friday!

Good afternoon! I realize it has been a while since I have last posted, but mama has been soooo busy this past week! I had a HUGE test today, that I had been seriously cramming for!! Some of you may not know this, but it 

Artist Date Nights and Paris!

Artist Date Nights and Paris!

Good evening! Thursday nights in our house is artist date night, which means my sweetie goes out to spend some times with the guys, and I squirrel away doing something creative, like maybe some arting, or watching a fabulous movie, or taking myself out to 

A Day of Movement!

A Day of Movement!

CrownGood evening!
Today has been almost a picture perfect, albeit a bit chilly Spring day here in Oregon!!!

I have been in a go-go-go-I’m-on-a-roll-crossing-off-all-sorts-of-stuff-off-my-to-do-list-kind-of-mode all day!! and even though I have a tendency to be a bit manic while I am in this mode, just ask my sweetie, it is really awesome to get to the end of the day and realize that because of all the work you did today, your life may be just a little bit better tomorrow!!

Tonight, my sweetie and I, and our three four-legged girls are hanging out, watching the tele, and just enjoying being quiet while hanging out at our little bitty home!! Ok, so truth be told, my sweetie and I are watching the tele and the girls are actually sleeping, one of them is even snoring!! Nice, right??? That is how we roll!!! 🙂

I tried something new dinner-wise tonight, and let’s just say, it didn’t turn out exactly as I had planned! It was a breakfast skillet kind of concoction that may have been a bit of a let down! I was sure that it would be fool-proof, I mean seriously??? Eggs, bacon, peppers, onion, hash browns, salsa, cheese???? There is no way that could possibly fail, right??? Yeah, well, that is what I was thinking BEFORE I tasted it!! LOL!! 😉 God bless my sweetie, he ate it like a trooper and never said a peep, but I am telling you – that recipe is not gonna be written down for posterity sake!! Matter of fact, I am sure that humanity will thank me for letting that one go out into the ether!! 😉 Oh well, no one ever said that having an Artsy Life was going to be an easy thing!!!

I am still working on my  The Right Brain Business Plan, and I have made some process, and will be happy to show you some pictures tomorrow of how that is going!! The hard part now is trying to decide where I want to start. There are so many baby steps that I can take right now, from where I stand, utilizing what I have on hand, and that it is almost paralyzing me with fear in making a decision and just taking action!!! As the lovely Melody Ross says, ” She was __________ but she did it anyway!” For me, this sentence might look like one of these:

  • She was overwhelmed, but she did it anyway!
  • She was scared, but she did it anyway!
  • She was unsure, but she did it anyway!
  • There were people out there who do it better than she does, but she did it anyway!

But, that is the clincher, ins’t it??? “She did it anyway!!!” I will be able to say the same thing about myself too – hopefully VERY soon!! 😉

What else??? Oh, gosh!! My sweetie and I have been following Dave Ramsey‘s Financial Peace University plan to take control of our finances and get out of debt. We have been actively working on this goal since September 2012, and since then we have managed to pay off about $7000 in debt so far!! YEAH!!! We have a little more than $11000 to go – WHEW!!! 😉 I know we can do it, it has just been a lot of hard work so far, and I know we have a lot more hard work to do in the near future!!! I will keep you posted on our progress!!

I realize that what I thought was going to be a short and sweet kind of post has actually just become a brain-dump of all sorts of my random thoughts as they are falling out of my brain, but that is alright with me! Sometimes us girls just need to let it all out, and then get back to the business of breathing again!! 😉

Life is good – my weeds are being dealt with – life is good!!!
(I will explain the “weeds” thing tomorrow!!!)

In the meantime…

Here is to a FABULOUSLY ARTSY evening!! ;-)

Signature Line

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

Gaining a New Life with Gastric Bypass Surgery!

Gaining a New Life with Gastric Bypass Surgery!

Good evening! I have had so much going on the past week, that I really had no idea where to start. .. So, to keep things simple, I have decided to share my weight loss update this evening!! But, I realized that since I changed 

Just Stopping In!

Just Stopping In!

Good evening! I know it has been a few days since I’ve stopped by, but I have been crazy busy working through the The Right Brain Business Plan by Jennifer Lee! I have gotten my vision board done, and this evening I will have my value 

Right Brain Business Plan!

Right Brain Business Plan!

Right Brain Business Plan BookGood morning!

I have had in my hot little hands an awesome resource that for some reason I have only now have just started to go through. That awesome resource would be my copy of the book by Jennifer Lee, The Right Brain Business Plan! I would imagine that a lot of your have heard about this book, it is quite popular after all!! If not, let me tell you a little bit about it. 😉

The Right Brain Business Plan is a guide to help you walk through all of the details of your business, just like you would do when writing a business plan. What makes this little gem of a book different is that what is often a daunting task for us right brain creative types – the writing of a business plan – is that Jennifer Lee walks your through how to come up with and compile all of the same information in a non-scary, creative, right brain friendly kind of way!! This book is full of GREAT information!! Information that every business owner or, in my case, would be business owner should have at their fingertips on how to get focused on oftentimes scary details about starting your own business!

Blank Accordian Book

However, I am just now getting the bravery muscles to go through this book. I have created my accordion book, which will become my The Right Brain Business Plan, and I am working on gathering all of my images that will blanket one side of my accordion book for a portable visibility board! As I work through this ingenious little resource, I will do my best to keep you posted on my progress, but I can already tell that this is going to be essential to the success of my business! Focus, focus is good!! 😉

Vision Board Dream Clippings

I also wanted to share with you the Right Brain Business Plan Summit Diagram that Jennifer Lee had walked us through creating this past Tuesday at her Right Brain Business Plan Summit Recap webinar.  Jennifer has a formula for business success, and this diagram is Jennifer’s way of helping us better understand how this formula works in relation to our real world actions and goals. Her formula for success is:

Inspired Action + Authentic Impact = Increased Income!

Here is the diagram from the summit recap:

RBBP Summit Diagram

The way this diagram works is that the middle circle of the flower is the space where you write three words to describe your core values. The petals are where you write down purposeful actions that you have taken to grow your business, one action per petal. You can also write future actions here as well! The stem is where you write how much money you want to make in an allotted time, in your business. The leaves off of the stem are where you itemize products and/or services that you are offering to your customers. Finally the ground is your businesses foundation – basically what tools you are using to keep you business up/running/organized/on track, etc!!

The idea is that your actions should directly honor your core values, and contribute to the goal you have established of how much money you want to make. If you are needing to make more money to hit your financial goal, then you will need to create more opportunities for making that money through products and services. I have only had this tool under my belt for a few days, but it has already been such a helpful resource to help me see how my thoughts and actions are all intertwined, and it is up to me to make my business dreams come to fruition!!

Anyway, if you are thinking about starting your own business, or you already have a business that might need a little bit of refocusing! I would highly recommend going out and picking up this great book, The Right Brain Business Plan! Just so you know, I have no financial involvement with Jennifer Lee or the Right Brain Business Plan, these are all my own thoughts!! From one reader to another!! 🙂

Here is to a FABULOUSLY ARTSY day!! 😉

Signature Line

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

Good Morning!

Good Morning!

Good morning! I just wanted to stop by and say GOOD MORNING!!! 😉 Life is a little hectic right now, but I am feeling pretty darned blessed!! 😉 I am on day 10 of having family visiting, which I am really loving, but it is