My World This Week


I've kind of taken this week off for a wee bit of "me" time. Of course it didn't help that things were so busy in my etsy shop last weekend, and here I am fulfilling all kinds of custom orders. (Girl, it's a good thing!) Thanks to some prodding from my bloggie friend (and awesome journal artist), Junelle, here I am taking my very first online class (yea!), and I'm loving it! The Three Hearts Workshop is an art journaling workshop taught by Christy Tomlinson, and it's kind of like going back to art school for all these crazy new art products I'm not even aware of! In the first week, there were about 28 videos to watch alone. Wow, my head was spinning, and I seriously needed to take a Motrin!

So, I've been trying to spend some time learning new techniques, pushing my boundries, and plunging myself into the unknown. For me, it's kind of like standing at the edge of the high dive and willing myself to "jump, just JUMP!" It's so funny that I did just that the first week, but this week, I seem to be back to my little safe place with watercolor, pens, and colored pencil (the page pictured at the top of this post)... come on, Val! You can totally do this!

Yes, I'm creative, but a bit of a stick in the mud, careful sort... not too big on making messes. I've seriously got to lighten UP!

In other news this week, my younger son, Kyle, graduated from 7th grade, yea! Here is Kyle on the last day of school. He and his friends decided to get "all dolled up" (not sure how to say that in 'guy' terms!) for the big yearbook signing and walk around "lookin' good" after school. Coronado is a small town with a big main street, and all the kids are walkin' talkin' Orange Ave fools on the main street!

The other thing that has been keeping me seriously busy, with a joyful heart, can be seen in the video below... Puppies!!! Oh my golly!! I am so in love with these 9 wiggling bundles of love! My friends Bob and Adina own Mia, a Portie (like our lovie Lola), and she just had 9 puppies! Every so often, Bob asks me to come and watch the pups so he and Adina can get out together for a while. They are 2 1/2 weeks old now, and are just starting to get social... I took this video yesterday right after they fed. They are good for about 5 minutes before they fall into a milk induced coma. They were all sitting at the edge of their pen imploring me to pick them up and give them some kisses... No! Me! Wait, pick ME! Me...wei wei... MEEE!


Enjoy!
x, Val