Life and its ever changing patterns

I don't know about you, but I feel like a child each year during holiday season. I can see smiles everywhere I look, I can smell the tree scent, feel the winter in the air and if I were to sum it up, there is one color resonating with all this, and that is...golden!

👼👼👼👼👼👼👼👼👼👼👼👼👼👼

I know it's been a looooong time since my last post here, and dear reader, I have been busy since then. Life has changed. I am a new self, in a new body, with a new mind and surely improved (or the elevated) soul.

I'm now a mother to a beautiful and gorgeous healthy boy, with sparkling eyes and a hearth-melting smile, and a wife to my sexy and handsome lover, best friend and husband. Life is good to me. Life is wonderful to me.

🎅🎅🎅🎅🎅🎅🎅🎅🎅🎅🎅🎅🎅🎅

A lot of time has passed away since I woke up. I can say it was a long walk, but once you wake up, you can never go back to what you were. I only now realize that many things were meant to be just the way they are right now, and that all the people in my life were simply showing me the way on my path. Some of them simply disappeared from my life, very few are still with me, and some of them were sharing other belifs that I was sharing, so they were meant to just vanish and I'm better off without them.

💮💮💮💮💮💮💮💮💮💮💮💮💮💮

There is for sure no coincidence. Nothing happens just to be happening, they all are related and blended together so beautifully, that it's hard sometimes (many times!) to see the meaning behind the happenings. But there is a time and a place for everything, and life has its clever, intuitive way of showing that you can't go against it. You can very well go along with it. Life is simply beautiful. And full of meaning. Life is more than being born, grown up and getting old, it goes beyond what we call death. Its endless.

Wet and Cold Autumn

Long days of summer are long gone now. The wet and cold autumn is finally almost settled in and we are expecting cold temperatures. In fact, wet and cold are two best describing words right now. And colds are in, too.
It's been two weeks since a cold is haunting me, and somehow has put its dirty hands on me four days ago. And since I'm expecting, I can only rely on natural medicine and other not so harmful remedies.


But even with this cold in my given situation, I still can be grateful for all that I have in my life right now. It's easy to forget the good stuff once you've facing obstacles in your life. I don't want to lose gratitude, though.
At the moment I'm fighting with mucus and it gets pretty hard to breath without coughing all the tine. My nose is full with mucus and I thought this is getting better, but what do I know?! I can only hope it will pass soon, coz I have another two missing sleep hours this night, too! And I really need sleep this period of my life...


I'll try to get some sleep and tomorrow I might be back with some art I've done lately.


much love,

Letter of the week 16

It's raining like crazy. There are less than 12 degrees Celcius outside and the sky looks pretty mad for this hour. It is June. Really?

This weather is nothing common for June, and it's affecting us all. Headaches, general ill feeling, bone pains, etc. are what I"ve heard my friends complaining - and we are not elderly people!

Anyways, what's worse is that after all these really cold days of June, July is ready to break in with dog days and all that...we are expecting up to 40 degrees and to tell you the truth, I think they are not giving us the real temperature because people would freak out. Temperatures like that in central Europe were not common in the past. But as the years pass, the global heating temperatures go off the edge here, too.

I used to love summers. Really. They were my best friend when I was a teenager and in my very young adult life. What they've become...I can't say I love that much.

To sweeten up a little bit the evening, after we came back from down town, we have some amazing cocas, a Spanish disk we "faked" in our own style: took slices of homemade cheese rolled pie, covered them with a slice of pressed cheese, placed them into the oven tray after preheating, and took them out after 12 minutes. Can't say how amazing they taste! Water-mouthing bits of happiness on a plate! We served them with tomatoes slices and a little bit of dill and oregano on top!

I hope you all will have a wonderful week!

Daler Rowney Sketchbook? Half way done!

Here is a flip through my mini Daler Rowney Sketchbook. This is half way completed, and I'll probably do another flip through when it's done completely. There are mostly watercolors washes because the paper is so thin, but all in all, it's a great sketchbook to carry around wherever you go to grab it and quickly sketch something. I would love to hear from you in the comment section. And if you love this video, give thumbs up and subscribe to my channel! See you soon!

Mixed Media Portraits with Pam Carriker video book review

Hello dear ones! Mixed Media Portraits with Pam Carriker book just arriver yesterday and I thought it would be nice to make a short video flip though so you can see what's inside. In the video below I'll show you some of the art materials I use to create my portraits and art journal pages! Enjoy it! And don't forget to tell me what you think about it in the comments below.

  

VLOG May 30, 2015 - Canvas |Meditation|

Hey there creative souls! This is what's new around here lately and I found that it's way better to record video blogs rather than to write them down. This is my first vlog (or at least the first first I get to publish), so be patient with it! ;) 

So what's new? Well, I know I haven't posted here in a month, but you know where I post at least twice a week, on creativemag.ro! 

This month flew by and I feel so happy with summer approaching so fast! I wouldn't mind this weather all year long, but I know that's not possible, at least not where I live. 

So this is it...jump in and enjoy!

Brown paper bag April Community Thrive Art journaling challenge {video}

Brown paper bag April Community Thrive Art journaling challenge {video}

I've been inspired by Heather Santos to create this brown paper bag video where I've used the brown paper bag to create art envelopes. Heather created five cute & sweet hearts! Yay! How cool is that? I've always wanted to use my brown paper to create some art, so I thought now it's the moment to try my hand.

Want to see how I've made these envelopes? Here is the video I've created. Enjoy!

Now I'm curious what's ahead for May art journaling challenge!



See you soon,

Cristina

Derwent Art Journal Flip through - creativemag.ro

Flipping through one of my most loved art journals - Derwent Classic Book are perfect alternative to more expensive ones. They don't have super high quality paper, but they are great for mixed media, especially if you gesso the pages first. I seldom did that in this journal, and even so, the pages take water pretty well for a journal that claims to be intended for pencils only.

*****************MAKE SURE to turn on the English subtitle/CC!*******************

Shades of blue

"Shades of Blue" - acrylic on canvas

Soft Pastel Portrait

Yesterday I went back to graphite pencils and drew this girly-face in my Derwent Art Journal. It was pretty ugly with that neglectful look when I finished the pencil sketch, so I thought adding soft pastels will make her look much better...

Alternative art journal paper + soft pastel portrait

Alternative art journal paper soft pastel portrait - Creativemag.ro



What to do with the packaging left overs? If you are like me, first thing that comes thru your mind is ‘how can I use that?’ Maybe an art journal out of packaging paper? Yeah, why not? I have this paper from an online order that came last week. What to do with it? I thought a journal will work very well, as I’ve seen this kind of journal sometime when I first started with art journaling, only that I never had the chance to create one.

Click on the post title to read more on how I made this handmade journal!

You have wings to FLY!

You have wings to FLY! | Creative Mag

I have to admit that not having a face on the page is definitely not my style. But that doesn’t mean this is the last time I’m going to try this paper overlapping art journal kind of page. After all, it was fun trying to arrange the paper bits in such a way to visually look better.
Of course, there’s plenty of room for something better than the page today, but for the moment I am happy with it as it’s the first time when trying this kind of art journal page, leaving outside the usual faces my journal hosted until today.


Click to read more! 


#artjournal
#mixedmedia
#collage

See you soon,
Cristina

CreativeMag.ro plus some insights!

Sit back and have a cup of coffee with me...

As I'm getting ready for summer... (or mostly dreaming about summer days on a rainy-snowing day)

What's new on the blog...

Want to know how I made this art journal page? Click Here!

My Dear Ones,

It's been a crazy busy-ness in the past couple of months and I tried to keep up with the flow. But having two blogs I need to constantly update it's been really really crazy for me. That's one of the reasons you haven't seen too many blog posts around here. Actually, I only posted one at the beginning of the year.

So I decided to simplify the process and write bilingual English-Romania posts on my self-hosted blog at creativemag.ro 

From now on, I'll be posting my art journal pages mostly on creativemag.ro and keep you updated with my latest art journaling pages. However, this blog here hosted on blogger will continue going as a place of sharing my personal thoughts and stories as they come and go. So stick around and come visit from time to time, because I'll be posting about my life and occasionally about the process of creating my art journal pages :) 

Hugs & Love,

Cristina

PS. Have you seen this art journal page? Click HERE to open the box! 

Welcome, 2015!

This year has started with a very cold weather and we decided to stay indoors rather than going out to celebrate, like we use to do every New Year's Eve. But that wasn't really a problem, because we had fireworks in the neighbourhood and champagne was delicious, served with a piece of pineapple cake.

2015 is here already! And we have to make it worth in every second! I can tell you that 2014 was a great year for me, but 2015 is going to be magnificent! I know that for a fact, because I have a strong feeling about it!

A sip of espresso + why I believe in angels

Yesterday I was out downtown and we thought we could have a cappuccino. We got out and it was pretty amazing for December: 8-9C' and almost a clear, blue sky. Of course, if you ask me, that's not normal and something 's  going on, but that's another story.


As we were hitting the coffee shop , I thought to change cappuccino and try an espresso instead. I knew it was stronger, and although diluted with water, it was still strong, but very tasty. I drank about half of the cup, while my husband was having a cappuccino. We hit back our home and I didn't felt the espresso effects until very late in the night: I wasn't feeling agitated in any way, but hour after hour have passed until I noticed it's 4:52AM! While still having an hour of sleep between midnight and 1 o'clock, at 5:50 I've manage to fall asleep again, this time thinking in my mind that I'm going to sleep until 9 AM...at least.


But no. At 6:40AM I woke up again, this time feeling more agitated than before. I already knew the reason for not being able to sleep, but I was totally blown by the fact that my pulse was slightly accelerated after abruptly waking up, as if I was having a nightmare. I know what I was dreaming, and it wasn't something scary. I then remembered that I recently {like yesterday!} saw a tv show where they were talking about angels and how angels can help us. (If you read my Romanian blog, you probably know that recently I've painted an angel in my art journal).
In the tv show, one of the people invited in the show was talking about connecting with our angels. He said that each and everyone of us have an guardian angel and we should first try to connect to our angel instead of praying directly to God. Not that praying to God is something wrong, but angels can bring our souls closer to the divine understanding.


I put my hands closer and begin to talk to my angel. It didn't last long, because my throat was hurting, so I decided to "speak" with my thoughts. I continued talking to my angel and asking to show me what is to be done in this situation, how can I calm my pulse and get rid of the  bacterial infection I believe is causing my pain in the throat, and in less than 10 minutes my pulse went down to normal and I felt so relaxed. Of course, I set myself to relax my muscles and my whole body. Of course, you may say it's a coincidence , and that you don't believe in angels. That is totally up to you. But I know that with angels or without angels, we can control the body processes, like body temperature, pulse and getting rid of light headaches. I know that because I did it only by thinking I am doing this and my body reacted accordingly to what my mind dictated. If you don't believe that, then look for the book "Mind over body" and you will see what the recent discoveries are saying. Oh, and by the way, the book was written by a Ph. Doctor in medicine.

Planning the magical 2015

As I said before, I don't make plans. At least, not BIG plans. But from time to time, especially at the end of the year (or the beginning of it, how you want to put it), I love to take some time to think ahead of what could be happening in the year to come. As you can see in the short {Instagram} video above, 2014 has been a wonderful year. Now let's take a look forward into 2015.

Aside from wanting to be healthy {an important wish, though, that many forget about}, on my wish list there are several goals I want to accomplish in 2015. The list is not long at all, but this are very dear wishes.

On the top of the list is ...learning a new language. If you know me, the Linguist inside is screaming for more languages all the time. This year I'm all about German, a language that I don't understand almost at all and that was spoken by my gran-granmother and grand-granfather. So it is something coming from my family origins. Also, my husband is speaking pretty well the language and understands it even better, so I want to be able to at least understand it and be able to have a conversation in German.

Next on my list would be rearranging my working space. I need more room for my crafts and art supplies and I'm going to do something about it. I need a new sideboard and new shelves for storage.

Third, I want to take more time to create ART and posting about it. It/s pretty hard to find time to make art, and sometimes seems impossible to write about it, even if at the moment I take step-by-step photos with the process of creating a page or another.

What are your resolutions for 2015?

No Christmas Tree This Year

The end of 2014 is just around the corner, and we are getting ready to finish our projects the best way we can, while having some time to think and consider the year that have passed by. Making plans for the next year was never my thing, I usually don't make BIG plans. I know they can change in a blink and I run the risk to be disappointed. Instead of that, I like to make plans as I go, according to the situation.

This year, for the very first time in a life time, we decided it's time to make a change. We don't welcome a Christmas tree in our living room anymore. The main reason is that we want to make our friends aware that our resources are not unlimited at all. Earth as we know it will soon change for ever. I don't want to seem cynical or hypocrite. I know that we are far from recycling the way we should to make a difference, but that is precisely the reason I want to start with this little step. I see cut trees all over the place, in all markets and at the hypermarkets entrances. They are cutting so much for the profit, without thinking that one day there will be nothing left. And we keep hearing this every year, but we never take measures. We say - if the trees are already cut, why not buy?

And there is another problem: Many families with children taught them that Christmas means having a Christmas tree, how to change that? Well, when very little, children don't know what a Christmas tree really is. My niece, who's only 5 months old, doesn't know it for sure. When children are growing a little bit, they can be explained why there shouldn't be a Christmas tree in the house.

But where all this Christmas tree tradition? After all, Christmas trees were not so popular until 1848 when Queen Victoria convinced her husband to have a Christmas tree as he had in his childhood. This tree was featured in an illustrated magazine at that time and suddenly the Christmas tree became very popular. People felt an incredible urge to copy the queen, so the demand for Christmas trees, as well as Christmas decorations grow incredible large.

I grew up having a Christmas tree every year. I can't remember not having one. But after the last two years when we had a Christmas tree in a pot {we lost one and the other is beautifully in our country yard}, this year we are going to say "No" to having a Christmas tree.

Pears and Apples - Art journal page {video}

As the fall steps in and we are getting closer and closer to Christmas, all I want is to draw and paint every golden-red leaf and red-orange-green items, like trees, pumpkins and....apples!

These days my art journal asked for watercolor play! And what better way to practice your bliss if not drawing and painting some apples?

I also did this with six pears and got the same stunning effect. You can choose whatever item you like, just start drawing and illustrate that item in as many angles as possible.

Choose something simple, so you won't have to elaborate the drawings too much.

You are going to love the result, no matter how bad or good you think the drawing has come out..

And you know why you're going to love it? Because you created the page!

To see the making of these apples, I uploaded a video on YouTube:

Enjoy!

Hasta pronto,
Cristina

Creating with unconventional materials

For an art journal maker like I am, it's great to have all the materials you need to create at your finger. But that's not always the case, because where I live, they are hard to find.

Only in the past few months I have come to discover several online stores with art supplies that I can actually use for art journaling. Of course, I had paints and colored pencils, watercolor pencils, oil and soft pastels, etc., but so little few stamps and stencils! And when i did find some interesting stamps in physic stores, they were sooo expensive that I wonder if somebody ever buys them! Not to mention the ink pads!

Even worse when it comes to stencils. I could barely manage to find 2 or 3 a year ago at a local store when I was looking for something totally different. I'm glad that I can now say that stencils are very much getting on the shelves and many of them can serve perfect for creating art journal pages! 

But even if I have about 20 stencils or so, I always want more. And I found this sink plastic protection when I was just "browsing" a dollar store shelf. I thought I would be a great stencil and I was right! Look at the result:

Gorgeous, isn/t it?

What's on your art table?

Following the example of Roben Marie, here is what's on my table today:

I've started with a simple drawing...

Intended to use only watercolor, but I cannot help adding acrylics...

And working on the background with stencils...

Here is the final result ;) 

Her torso as well as the other page will serve as space for journaling!

See you soon!