7 Days to Dream


A new mixed media painting called "7 Days to Dream"

What a day to dream,
What a day to inspire,
What a day to live,
A day to be alive...

We are taking a few (7) days, and then some... we are taking a family road trip up the California coast. Seeing my niece graduate high school, visiting with family and friends in the Bay area, a trip up to Napa, then into the mountains to explore Kings Canyon area, finally dropping our boys off in central CA at Jameson Ranch sustainable farm camp. They will be there for 2 weeks, and hopefully getting a taste of what it means to organically farm everything you eat, along with a dose of animal husbandry. I wish I was going to that camp!

We'll be taking a very rare break, my husband and I, and so, I'll be back in a couple of weeks. Hopefully refreshed and rejuvenated by some much needed "time away", and artistically invigorated too :o)

I hope you are enjoying a wonderful start to your summer. How will you reinvigorate yourself this summer? I hope you have some dream days planned in the very near future!
I'll see you soon!
x, Val

Peace and Love... and time to Party!

Make Good is celebrating their One Year Anniversary with a Party! Tomorrow evening from 7-10... come out and party with the artists who like to make some happy handmade goodness... and their clients too :o)

In an effort to have my Friends there in full force, I am creating a batch of my Handmade Friendlys, and am scrambling to get them completed in time for the festivities. Yes, these Guys are pretty happy to be involved with the "goings-on", and are hurrying me towards the sewing machine (no time to stop for photos!!)

Mr. Peace and Mr. Love are ready for the next step in the completion process... they are on the Left...


... and here are Belly and Button (hee hee!)

OK! Off to the sewing machine now. Hope to see you tomorrow night in the hubbub of Artistic Goodness over at Make Good. Cheers!!
~x, Val

We're In Puppy Love


Awww! We are having some serious puppy love happening over here. But, we do have one slight problem. That would be Mr. Greg, who has declared he needs a new computer, not a puppy. What? Really??? Greg!!! Who can resist a puppy?? I for one, cannot! and, I'm so happy to witness that my boys are following right along in my footsteps. Good puppies! Good!!! :o)

If you are in the market for a puppy, I seriously recommend a Portuguese Water Dog. They do not shed, they make the most incredible, lovable companions, they are incredibly smart, and a dog you will treasure every moment. Well, except for some sure-to-be-bad-puppy-moments! Our friends, Bob and Adina have 9 wonderful puppies that will be looking for new homes. You can check their web page out here.

Perfect Together


Do you remember this post, when a sweet look-alike dolly was ordered for a very special birthday girl? Well, they are together now, and I must say, they look perfect together. Don't you agree?! Best friends... makes my heart happy :o)

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