Valerie's Workshop

Mother Nature, herself ... Valerie S omething I'm not often able to share with the outside world is my love of the outdoors. Over the last few years, my love for nature has been allowed to blossom, mostly due to the fact that I live with hunting, fishing, mud tromping, gun slinging, manly-men twins, that inspire my almost five year old to tromp through mud, sling plastic guns and fish until he's on the verge of tears. (Please don't let them know I'm flattering them this much. It might go to their heads!)  And we do this all with two high energy dogs that love the woods more then we do. On an almost weekly basis we pack our backpacks with snacks, water, hats, sunglasses, and my camera gear, and head to the sight of that days adventure. This past week we went pheasant hunting in Spring Green, West of Madison, and despite all the times my little man asked 'are we to the farm yet?' , I was thrilled. Each week I am pleased to realize what an amazing family

The final step of prepping all of my artwork for sale was creating and attaching tags for everything. I designed, printed, cut, whole punched and tied bows all day for the last two days. What a process! I now have everything done and packed in a box waiting to take the journey to Mineral Point. In the meantime, I'm going to run to St. Vinnie's to try to find some display boxes of some kind and design an artist's statement to be displayed by the artwork. Maybe by the end of the week, my products will be in stores! Keep your fingers crossed, everybody. And, besides all my paper and wood crafts I've been creating lately, I've been a busy photographer, too. This past weekend we went hunting at a beautiful hunting preserve in Spring Green. To help this growing business, I'll be photographing hunts and events at their property over the next few weeks. I might even help with a bit of graphic and web design. I'm so happy my freelancing has been paying off latel

So my hands don't cramp, I thought I'd take a break to show you what I'm working on today. In order to look more official, and to carve yet another linoleum block, I decided I'd make a linocut stamp/block of my new logo for Valerie's Workshop. Nothing huge, the block itself is only 2"x3", but super detailed. As I sat there carving, I wondered to myself about how my style has become too intricate. My next block is going to be something simple. Geometric shapes, here I come!

I have been hard at work, folks! In the last week I have put countless hours in creating art in the workshop, kitchen and garage, and I am proud to say I feel like I'm actually getting something accomplished. Colorful card sets have been compiled, 8"x10" prints have been photographed, and the Etsy store is being refilled piece by piece. And, with any luck, I will even have my products for sale at the Mineral Point Artist Annex in the next week or so. Before I get back to work, here's a peak at what I've been working on and what will be available for purchase sometime soon.

My blog has almost had 3000 visits! I can hardly believe it. In honor of the occasion, I've decided to spruce things up around here. Don't be surprised if there's a new look, shortly. And please, share my blog with your friends. Monthly reader give-aways to start in October! I know, you can hardly contain yourselves ... On a completely separate note, here are a few things that have me smiling this afternoon: - It's sixty degrees, overcast and drizzly. Autumn is arriving and today is the first day it has really felt nice in a while. Jeans, wool sweaters and boots, here I come! Not to mention our fall mushroom hunting season is here, grouse hunting is just about to begin up North (and I can legally hunt now!) and  our cabin is getting an addition. Just a few more weeks and I'll be lost in the north woods.  - I have a crock of pumpkin chili with rib eye steak simmering away in the kitchen. When my other half gets home, I'll heat up the cast i

A s this summer comes to a close, the sun setting earlier, the days cooler and refreshing, I find myself busy with all sorts of projects. Whether inside or outside, brief or time consuming, these tasks have been satisfying. For the first time in what feels like years, though is actually months, I'm taking time to do things I enjoy and that make our home feel more ... home-y . The kick-off project was overhauling the back yard. I spent three days pulling, digging up and all together obliterating the weeds from the gardens, and gave them a satisfying kick to the curb with what used to be a patch of overgrown hedges. Once the back yard was complete, I turned inwards, to the house, that is. I put away all the flip flops and Chacos that littered the floors and then corralled all the army men, cowboys and action figures back to their baskets. As the house returned to it's organized state, a sense of calm settled over everything. (Or maybe that was just the breeze coming in

As I sit here typing, I can't help but gasp as I think how fast time flies. It feels like just a short while ago I was changing my son's diapers and taking him for walks in the stroller on crisp fall afternoons. But just like that ... poof ... five years fly by, and, boy, how things have changed! Yesterday, I dropped my son off at his first day of four-year-old kindergarten. To say I was having a mommy moment is an understatement. I have never felt more proud of being a mother and have never been more proud of my little man. I am so happy he has reached this milestone in his life. I feel like the entire universe is at his fingertips now, and I cannot wait to see how he grows. And as I realize all of the other things he has experienced in his short life, I cannot help smiling. We have shared so many incredible things as a family. From bike rides to the park on sunny spring days, camping trips on the Wisconsin River in the summer and sledding trips in the winter, w