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!

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!

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

September breeze

I'm on vacation. It's a lovely September weather, and it feels like there it's June, not September. I can hear children screaming on the beach, the waves slowly hitting the shore, the sun is terribly shining on the sky, and I'm having a frappuccino in my hotel room.

It's too hot to stay on the beach, and I'm not allowed to stay in the sun when is that hot and burning. In fact, none of us should stay out in the sun at the evening hot hours, although many are looking to get as much sun as they can get, forgetting that a nice healthy tan can be achieved only at the early hours of the morning and right before the sun sets in the evening. No need to burn your skin, ladies!

On the other hand, here are some vacation photos I did till now. ;) and there are many more, but it's hard to post them from my phone! :) Enjoy!

a sketch after a photo <3 p="">

the perfect sunset ;)

an a view from the hotel room

...and me!

Another week begins

It's 11.11.2013 and it's the first day of November when there is actually cloudy outside. We got used very quick with high temperatures for November and the shining sun feeling like 27 degree in the air! No more of that now! We'll have to bear with this till Christmas. Or maybe not. Maybe the sun is planing otherwise. Either way, I have prepared myself for winter: have been taking lots of sun for Vit. D and lots of happy from the kids running and laughing around me when I was out for a walk.

With all of that said, I cannot help feeling dreamy. If it's the monotone November or the waiting for Christmas, I cannot tell. I think is a little bit from both of them. Knowing that another year is close to an ending and that Christmas is so close that I can even hear the carols. Maybe that's why we have Christmas at the end of the year, after November, so everybody can chill and sing to the joy of life. 

Happy Birthday to me!

Happy Birthday to me! 

No candles allowed at the coffee shop (no smoking cafeteria) 

Days go by, months go by, years go by and life goes on. Another year begins for me. With a magic number. 

This tart was actually mine, the cheese cake was my husband's. But we've shared both anyway. 

I am so thankful for everything in my life and I want to thank my husband for being so wonderful every day.

YES.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME!

A little bit of this, a little bit of that...

We have good days, and we have bad days. This is one of those you feel like it will never end. I think I should learn some stress management lessons in order to calm down and relax in every given situation. And most of all, to learn how NOT to worry even when others next to you do. Luckily, I have my positive thoughts with me and I´m playing positive affirmations, too.
Meanwhile, I did some faces just to forget all about it and I want to share them with you. If you already follow my Instagram, Pinterest, Fashiolista or Facebook, you probably saw these posted in there.
I did the red hair today, but as you can see I like to work with many different girls at the same time and then come back and finish them. Some of them have to wait longer than the others, but in the end I manage somehow to finish them all. I guess it's because I don't have too many. ;)

This one is from early today, she on a small paper card, measuring 8,5cmX14,3cm Still needs a lot of work.

Just a sketch, but I'm pretty happy with the result

This one is just sketch with color pencils, but I love how it turned after all. 

I'll leave you with this whimsy girl I just love, with that purple hair with golden accents, looking straight at you. 

What do you think of them all? 

Hugs,

Cristinaღ

Happy independence day!

Happy independence day to all Americans out there! I have to tell you I have many American friends and I'm always celebrating along this beautiful special day!
Also today, it is my great pleasure to announce that starting today you can buy my art prints from Fine Art America web page.

You can find all my work following this link. I will add more and more work at least once a week, so you  can choose from a variety of prints and dimensions. If you don't want to miss any of my art, please subscribe to my mailing list.

Give 'pause'

“You see, my friends, when you give ‘pause’, you ‘allow’ the Indwelling Spirit a chance to help you through suggestions and options on how to think and feel about a particular situation, event, or circumstance. By allowing this space, you are in essence saying, ‘Father, let your Will be done.’ When you do this, your spiritual vibration is elevated to allow the Father’s Will to pass through you and into the world. Many of you do this unknowingly and this is how love and light is transmuted from the Parent to the child. - The 11:11 progress group messages

 Believe it or not, this is a matter of how you perceive the world. It is how you see it and how I see it. You may believe in such things as prompts or not, I guess they exist for those who can see them. For those who are open enough to 'read' them. I don't always seem to know what they are 'saying', but they kinda offer me some kind of mind peace. Or maybe it is me who want to associate them with the calm, with the peace, with positive situations. I keep seeing 12:34 or 1:23 or 11:23 and that to me means that things are going to be more than just fine and that I have to continue doing whatever I am doing at the moment.
If you ever feel you don't know what to do next, just sit back and relax. "Pause" yourself. Things will settle down one way or another. I believe for every situation there is a solution, and even when writing this right now I don't have some clear situation in mind, just the feeling and the certitude that for every "problem" {like to call it "situation" rather then 'problem'}there is a waiting answer, staying still undiscovered. If you haven't read it by now, I kindly recommend you to get your hands on Angels Number 101: the meaning of 111, 123, 444, and other number sequences, by Doreen Virtue. (Hay House, 2008, USA), along with other books she wrote.I also like to visit angel 11:11 message board, where you can read about the 11:11 phenomena and other related.

In the end I'll leave you with a short story:

/...The other day I was out to pay some bills when I saw a woman craving for some food goodies. She was looking at the food-windows and then looking at her hand holding a few coins. Looking back at the window, and back to her hand. Near by there was a bus station and she was more likely waiting for the buss. I approached her and kindly ask if she wants some of that food she was craving for. She looked at me kinda surprised and speechless, being unable to understand what I am saying. I told her I saw her earlier looking into the show-windows and handle her 5 rons (about 1 dollar and a half). She looked back to be even more surprised than before. Some people feel offended and they don't want pitty money, some are just happy, but most of them don't think through this aspect and take the money in a blink. I left her decide whether it is going to be spend on that food she was craving for or on something else. This happened in Romania. This can happen anywhere around the globe. Be there and help if you can. The smile you'll receive in return is priceless. I just can't help doing this almost every time I get out, and most of the time I just help them with directions and that counts enormous when highly needed.

Pink-o-red

This is my vibration today. I just sit at my table and put some watercolor pencil to work, guided by my own hands. It's curious how mind can be so still when creativity takes over! It felt so right to paint and so relaxing and eliberating! ;) I'm happy I could catch my emotion and transform it.
If you have a moment, stop. Observe the world and observe your feelings and soul states. Observe. Be quiet and listen. Just listen. It's the sound of a new beginnig. (March 1st, 2013)

We can heal ourselves! {mind over body}

Hi everybody! I just have to share this with you guys. I know we have the power to heal ourselves, our mind is capable of doing great things, having an enormous power over our body! So, if you think you're getting better, this is what is going to happen to you! Be careful what you set your mind to!

Watch the video below and tell me your impressions.

Happy New year everyone!

Happy New Year! 

And hope you all have a great magnificent year! 

We have enjoyed a super new year's party with lots of laugh and delicious food, and I only went to bed at 6AM, when I was more than exhausted! 

I love this pinky

After 6 hours, I was on my feet again and thought ...why not start 2013 doing something that I truly love and enjoy? So I took my sewing tool and started to sew on this new collar I'm working at these days: a soft pink with silver inserts, gorgeous to wear when spring comes in town. ;)

sewing and sewing

And because the New Year's Eve we have to shine, I've wore my nails in glitter! 

I love this manicure!

And we've enjoyed our xbox by playing bowling and other games.

This is me looking for the ball...

Celebrating happiness - letter of the week 13

Photo source
{this is Bucharest, Romania by night}

Christmas is gone! flew away! Vanish! I can't imagine how this time flies and another year is just about to end. I don't want to get melodramatic, but the truth is that I have o idea how a single day goes by, what's to say about a whole year?!

I wanted to do so much, I've done so little. I've always wanted more and more and in return I only got what I've deserved: a little bit of this, a little bit of that and most important, the feeling that I am love. Had to deal with 2 accidents, both domestic, one fall and another one collapse. The feeling that I am not myself anymore.  The fact that I had my smile with me all the time {except the moments when I really felt I had to cry} helped me to see the bright side of every situation. And I say I am a positive thinker, but most of a time I'm pretty much a pessimistic one. Not helpless, not without dreams. I am a believer. I believe in truth and in good deeds. They will come in return one day, so do no harm. Love the others like you love yourself. Help people discover the beauty of life, coz life is really truly beautiful. It's magnificent! In every way! Life is a gift we should treasure.

2012. I grew up. Grow stronger. Learned many lessons, but the most important of all is to love. And when I say to love I mean not to love only your lover, wife/husband, kid/s, friends and family,  but to love ALL human beings. All beings. I've learned that happiness is a journey, not a destination. I've learned that happiness is a matter of perspective and not a given conjuncture.

After 7 years with my lover, friend, husband, my everything as the saying, I've finally embraced happiness and its sweet taste. And is nothing how I imagined. Has nothing to do with money. Nothing to do with material goods or possessions. Happiness lays inside every one of us. We just have to look closer and open our hearts. If not to others, at least be straight to ourselves. And then the happiness will bloom. Your heart will sing, your legs will dance, your body will find its balance. 

We are going to step in 2013 in a few hours. I wish you all have the strength to find your your way in 2013 if you're still in the mist or to follow it on if you know the road!

***Happy new year!