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About Me

Welcome to my blog! I am Lisa Christensen, and I love to save money! I like to think of it as stretching your dollar as far as possible. You came to the right spot to learn ways to stretch your money further, through living life to its fullest. For me living my life to the fullest means using what I have, My time, resources, and my God-given talents!

I have been a stay at home mom since my daughter was born. I now have three kids and love the life of a stay at home mom. 

I have a photography and graphic design background and I enjoy the fine arts side of things, and saving money!

I started couponing to "save money" so I had more money for my art addiction, Check out my artsy blog here that is where it all started for me so I can splurge on art materials. 


Welcome to my life, here’s me:


What’s my favorite thing as a parent? The big smiles and the " I love you, mom!" Seriously it’s also when you are teaching, they love what they are learning and you can see the spark of accomplishment in their eyes!


What favorite memories do you have as a mom? Meeting my kids for the first time, and as much as I HATE nursing at the time (I love my sleep,) I loved the memories of nursing my kids and feeling amazed at them!



What’s your favorite thing to do when you are alone? I love watching Craftsy and Creativebug classes and watching art tutorials on youtube while playing in my studio to create some art! I also really love to make paper flowers and plan our next trip to Disney World. ( I have Disney on the brain all the time!)


What is your favorite thing to do with your Husband without kids?
WE love going to Iowa Hawkey football games. Is it tailgate season yet?

What is your favorite thing to do with your family:
I love weekend getaways. We recently went to Disney World, that was a blast, I loved it! But really I just love when we can spend the whole day together doing something fun and I don’t have to clean or cook that day… That is like a little piece of heaven!


What’s your SuperPower? I don’t know yet, I am still working that part out! But I do know that My Patronus is Figment.


Do you really feed your kids just Doritos or just a DQ Blizzard for lunch?
UMMM… Yes, and I ate that too with them.






What struggles do I have? I have always struggled with self-esteem and negative thinking. I am learning to have my thoughts change by positive thinking. However some days I really have to try hard to combat those negative feelings on a minute to minute basis.


What keeps me up at night? I am too tiered at night to think... but on the off chance that does happen it's always the next creative thing I am working on.

Are you an early bird or a night owl? TOTAL MORNING BIRD. I love waking up at 4:30am to play in my studio! (crazy I know.)


What is your favorite Magazine? I LOVE COOKING MAGAZINES I don't have a favorite one.


What is your favorite parenting book? Parenting with Love and Logic, it changed my perspective of what a good parent really is… Spoiler:, it’s a parent that lets natural consequences happen.


Favorite book that has inspired you? The Artist’s Way by Julia Cameron This book CHANGED My LIFE! The exercises that are in the book helped me become a better mother, artist, wife, you name it, it changed my life one page, one artist date, one session of morning pages at a time.


Who inspires you? My kids inspire me way more than I ever expected!  The more I play with my kids the more I am truly inspired by them.
It's usually is the colors of the toys they are playing with or how they are playing,

The imagination they have when they are playing fuels my creativity.  As far as classic artists that inspire me they are Ansel Adams, Vincent Van Gogh, and Claude Monet, Jean Haines, Angela Fehr, Kateri Ewing.


If you had more free time what would you do?
I would do more art projects with my kids and lounge at the beach.



Did you really tell your BFF that you were pregnant before you told your husband?
OK let me explain… He is a Pharmacist in a small rural agriculture town… which means if I thought I was pregnant I would have to get a pregnancy test from oh yeah the pharmacy he was working at… and I didn’t want to tell him when he was at work. So… I had to tell someone! I never did buy a pregnancy test, but after doing the math I was 9 weeks along!



What is your favorite Scripture? Matthew 13-16 You are the salt of the world... The light of the world Lets your light so shine before men that they may see your good works and glorify your Father which is in heaven.










Favorite Quote to get me creative and my mojo back:
In order to do something well, we must be willing to do it badly Julie Cameron ~The Artist’s Way


This is a blog of my adventures of raising a family with my creativity shining through. It's a process and that is what I hope to share with you. The everyday craziness that comes with the job title is just a way to take you on the journey with me!





























































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































Hello, a little about me, I love being a stay at home mom! I love everything Artsy, especially in the kitchen and in my studio where I make paper crafts and paint.

My story: I remember in high school wanting to be a Stay At Home Mom (SAHM) but didn't think that was possible for a girl like me... ten years later I became a stay at home mom, and haven't looked back.

Being a Stay at Home Mother was nothing like I thought it was going to be, and this is where I blog about my happenings. I enjoy the little things, the simplicity of things and all the "Art" of creating and nurturing my family and home. And staying sane while doing it!

When I started staying home we had our budget meeting, yuck! and we had $300 to spend per month on groceries, clothes, art supplies, and entertainment...YIKES! So I started small and did what I thought was research how to live a bit more simply and effectively.

Although couponing helped me to look at things in a different light, it really helped me to utilize what I already had, my kitchen! So a bit of learning and trial and error I started to save lots of money... I mean like $21,000  a year "couponing." when I added up all the receipts I have saved for a whole year, it's like me getting paid that much in a year! I was hooked, we as a family could not afford not couponing.

Now lets talk about this Art part of my life: I love it! paper crafting, photography and watercolor, I love it all! I went to school for Graphic arts and Photography, have a wonderful office/studio that I can play in and create. So to be clear any thing left over in our grocery budget totally goes towards art and paper supplies. (Hobby Lobby loves me!) I use The Artist's Way to help me stay more productive in my Art, and have learned how to be a happier healthy artist living creatively.

My Kids are just as much part of this blog, if it works for my kids, you will find it here. I have a Daughter and two boys, they keep it real and fun for for us!

Enjoy reading about my journey! I can't wait to hear from you!


















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