Valerie's Workshop

Friday started normally for many of us. We woke up early, went through our normal routine of breakfasting, dressing and beginning our day. Some of us went to work, some of us stayed home, but for many, we went to school. My son and I arrived early, as we normally do after a long commute from Madison to Ixonia. I walked with him to the doorstep of the school, where I left him while I signed myself in as I do every Friday. I chatted with the school secretary, wishing her a happy holiday as I admired how festive the school looked. I said hello to the nurse and gave her an update on my sons condition, as he had been home sick with the flu for the last three days. After a quick pitstop, I returned to the entrance of the school, where I met up with the 4-k class on our walk into the classroom. We walked down the steps single file, hung our coats up in the appropriate cubby and made our way into Mrs. R's cozy classroom. Just like children all across the country, we gathered toget...

Well, it's official folks. Not only is my artwork for sale at the Mineral Point Artist's Annex, but it is now available on Etsy! Check out my shop here to see my first few listings. More to come in the future. You can search for my shop by looking up @ValeriesWorkshop. Just in time for the holidays, I've listed Christmas postcards and framable prints. I even listed my beanstalks, for those of you who have friends or family with growing children. Please feel free to share this page with friends. And make sure to check back often for additional listings.

Did you vote yet? I did at 8 o'clock this morning and was voter number 185 at my local polling place. Please take some time today to make your voice heard and your vote count.

A s I was serving coffee to the residents at work last Saturday, a woman who is commonly quite grumpy stopped me in my tracks and asked me if I always smile. I filled her mug, smiled back and told her that I try to smile as often as possible. As I worked my way around the table, I explained to her that if I wasn't able to do anything else all day, all I wanted to do was make at least one person smile. I looked up from the last mug I filled and turned to her, inquisitively. Low and behold, a smile crept across her face and my heart filled with appreciation. Her rigidity melted away and for the rest of the day, I could tell he mood was a little more lighthearted than previous days. Each time I walked by throughout my busy day, a little chuckle would escape and she would shake he head in confusion. Why would little Miss Valerie keep smiling all day? From a very young age I've been an uncontrollably optimistic person. I always try to make the best of every situation, find the go...

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!