Saturday Spotlight: Revi from Revisionary Life

Hi, everyone!  I and Kris from Junk Chic Cottage wanted to do a regular feature on our blogs, something unique that hasn't been done before.   So we came up with an idea to 'spotlight the real life behind the blogger' in a more personal way.

There is so much talent and inspiration in blogland, and we thought it would be fun to bring you a closer look at the person behind the blog.

Every week on Saturday we will spotlight a blogger and have them tell us a little bit about themselves and their blogs.  You will be able to see and read about each of the bloggers on both Kris's and my blog. 

                                                                          

Today my guest is Revi from Revisionary Life. Revi is a doll and has become a sweet blogging friend. She has a fun vintage style, and I enjoy seeing her latest vignettes or room changes.  She also has an Etsy shop, and has recently started a linky party where you can link up your thrifty vintage finds!
Please sit back, relax, and enjoy getting to know Revi better.

Hello, everyone, and thank you Susan, for inviting me to participate in the Saturday Spotlight series! I have certainly enjoyed getting to know many of you by reading it, and I am honored to be asked to share about my life as it is currently and will most likely continue to be a work in progress!

I suppose I should start at the beginning...life before blogging. Of course I had heard of blogs, but I suppose I thought they were where interesting people put interesting ideas out there for all the world to see - mostly words - sort of like an online diary.  Since that was not my thing, I never delved into blogs...until my daughter decided to move from her furnished college apartment into an unfurnished house, 

and a year later, an unfurnished apartment. 

Hannah and I have always loved making our environments into places we enjoy - extensions of our personal style. We've always been on pretty tight budgets. 

But, wait. Let me back up a bit even further... I am the daughter of two creative souls - my dad worked in the construction business - so he taught me practical things like how to patch sheet rock, how to mix colors, how to prep a surface to paint, etc.

I sometimes worked for him - priming doors, spotting nail holes, etc. I treasure the memories and the experience. Below is a childhood photo of my Dad on the right, Mom in the center and me on the left. 

Below is a favorite photo of them from 1983. They were both very young when they married and had me, and both are still with me. :)

My mom grew up with a mom who was a child of the depression-era. She made her own curtains, recovered furniture, built book shelves, whatever it took to make a nice home on a budget. Mom often took me with her to thrift stores and garage sales in search of bargains. At one point in my childhood, I was embarrassed by shopping for pre-owned items - I would have preferred everything new and matchy-matchy from a "name brand" store. 

Above, everything except, the tall skinny birdhouse bottom right, is from a thrift store, or it was free. I could not love it more! Of course, much of it was painted white by me. :) My mom is a visionary, and determined to see her ideas through to fruition. She recently published a book - one of several publishing endeavors in the past few decades.

In college, my friend, Vivian and I were looking for vintage clothing to wear to a Halloween party. We went to a local Goodwill, and found the coolest things imaginable for pennies! We bought preppy button downs, which were all the rage then, lamps, decorative items for our apartment, etc. I was hooked. Vivian and I STILL love to go to thrift stores together when possible. She lives in NYC now, so it does not happen often. Below is a photo from my Freshman year at Texas Tech University!

I studied Design Communication - otherwise known as graphic design or advertising art - through the art department at my university. I learned all about Gestalt, Color Theory and basic design concepts. I use many of the principles every single day of my life! 

I still enjoy painting, making jewelry and other creative pursuits I began during this time, and have supported my family in the past by doing them.

I was once married, and have three beautiful, smart children for whom I am thankful. Ethan, Mason and Hannah. 

None of them live near me currently, but I pray that will not always be the case. I have been single for 15 years, and live on a tight budget. I work as an Administrative Assistant at a church - primarily in Children's Ministry. I get to use my creative skills, which I love, and my organizational skills, which I also love. (I supplement my income doing a little painting here and there...

...and with an Etsy shop where I sell items I find at thrift stores. Some are sold as-is, others are up-cycled.) 

My faith is the most important part of my life, and I feel privileged to be able to share a Bible verse in my blog posts. I know God uses His Word to speak to us, and have received emails confirming that a certain scripture had ministered to someone at the perfect time. Email like that is always exciting!   God blessed me with a home in 2003 - a "fixer-upper" in a great neighborhood. 

Much of the work I did 11 years ago is now being re-done, which brings us back to the present, and how I began blogging two and a half years ago. Hannah sent me links to rooms and furnishings she liked, and styles in which she hoped to furnish her living room. Many of them were from blogs. It was like opening up a doorway into a place that was both new and familiar!  I began visiting blogs and finally decided I needed to begin my own blog. My reasons were: accountability, sharing skills and information, and possible income potential.  The accountability has been great, as has the skills-sharing and learning from others. The income potential has not and may not ever happen, but that is fine. 

While I don't have the time or budget many of my favorite bloggers have, I have developed relationships with bloggers who live far away from me, and still I think of them as friends. That part of blogging was an unexpected blessing!  When I began blogging, I wanted a name that spoke to where I was in life, and it took a while. I set up the Blogger account, and when it was time to enter my name, I froze. As a single woman who lives alone, I didn't want anyone in the world knowing my identity. So, Revi became my "pen name." I have shared my real name with a few of you, but most continue to call me Revi anyway!  My experience with Blogger has been a good one, all in all. It was easy to begin, and free. Free is good! However, I am planning a move to Word Press soon. Blogger has had technical difficulties (like my posts not updating on anyone's dashboards) and I have not been successful in getting them resolved.  I purchased revisionarylife.com during my first year blogging, but let it lapse, since the world was not knocking down my door, and I didn't think anyone else would care about the name. Well, I was wrong, and some bright young blogger purchased the name.  So, when I move to Word Press, my name will change... There should not be two Revisionary Life's out there, right?  I have decided on a new name: Plain Jane Lane.  I have also purchased www.plainjanelane.com. Blogging has helped me refine my personal style, and realize how much I appreciate simplicity in design.  While I will never be a minimalist, I am working on simplifying my life, and being true to my personal style. (I'm still keeping a neutral environment, thrifty finds and faith component in this blog!)  I plan to keep Revisionary Life going for a while during the transition. I will let you know when www.plainjanelane.com goes live!  Meanwhile, thank you all who stop by to visit, who join my Thursday "Thrifty Life Thursday" link party, who leave encouraging comments and who miss me when I have not posted for a while. Your friendship is sweet, and I treasure it. Thank you, Kris and Susan, for allowing me to share a bit of my life with my blog friends.

Thank you so much for sharing with us, Revi! (I know her real name, but she'll always be Revi to me! ;)
I learned many new and interesting things about you!  Please visit her blog Revisionary Life, then head over to Kris's blog to read about Kathleen from Musings from a French Cottage.
Have a wonderful day!