"WHAT A GREAT WEEK IT HAS BEEN"

It has been an absolutely wonderful week  in ValleLand,

well except for the weather here in ole Spokane Washington.

A couple of days ago felt more like February than June, with snow coming down at the base of Mt Spokane,

and it isn't even that tall of a mountain!

But, yesterday the sun was out, and high 60's,

cheerfully I welcomed whatever sun and warmth we can get!
Alas today it is back to rainy and chilly..
Can I just say that these slow to start summers are rather annoying!!!!!!

Now back to my wonderful week, so far!!

It started here last Sunday past with my most dearest friend Cami at the..

Here are a couple of pics my beautiful daughter Erika of
www.2eesphotography.com
snapped at the show when she went the day before..

Be sure to check out the 2ees site and down in the bottom right hand corner you will find her my precious blog...!! My thoughts about my daughter and her work is a whole nother blog post for me..another day another time, gotta contain my proud Mama tears and gather my thoughts on that one...


I divert as usual...LOL

Back to "Farm Girls"
In remembering our little trip there,
the thought that immediately comes to mind for me is I felt as if I had
"Stepped Back In Time", which for me is always a most comfortable
step to take...so much history in all those pretty things!

While there I had the most exciting experience..
I got to meet the adorable 
Cori Dantani
in person no less

I mean really, how cute is this girl!!!
of http://coridantinimakes.blogspot.com
It was so incredibly fun to meet her, see her work up close and personal
and subsequently to bestow upon myself the gift of one of these.

I wasn't able to get all three of these just yet anyway, but I did snag me
that precious little cutie on the far left here...it is entitled
"The World Is Waiting For You"..
It truly spoke to me as I have been of late, grappling with the idea of actually
putting my art out there by way of an Etsy Shop!
Huge, scary step for me to take, but after seeing her and talking with her
for but a bit, I found her just incredibly inspiring.  She would probably not even know that, especially with the huge crowds, but it
was just the mere fact that here was this sweet girl, sitting there with a darling smile on her face, very quiet and serene and all around her were precious pieces of herself!
Such a heartfelt experience for me...
I subsequently sent her an e-mail and hopefully we might be able to meet someday, over a nice cup of coffee or tea or water or maybe a sandwich...dreaming of that day!!!

If that wasn't enough...
"Brave Girls Club"
www.bravegirlsclub.com
opened their new online "shoppe"

I have visited on several occasions now and all I can say is:
 where to begin, where to begin!!!

Then as the week progressed I continued on with a new class I am taking online from the beloved
Christy Tomlinson

It is entitled "Your Living Canvas" and it is filled with introspection, journaling, art and very special honest, open and personal videos..

Of course I have taken each and every one of Christy's online classes, so to say that I am a huge fan would probably be a bit of an understatement..
I hear tell that she is thinking of quite possibly doing some kind of "retreats" in the future!!!
I am so there where that happens...


Ok I think I have covered most everything now..
Oh wait...this afternoon I am off on a road trip to Seattle with my
"Sweet Spitfire Mama"
We are off to visit my wonderful brother, his wife and my sister..
Family time...love, love, love it!

Now seriously, how much better can a week be!
Kind of a dark photo, but in my searching I could only find this one...
Computers ugh sometimes...I know there are more hidden in you somewhere!!

Many blessings as always...
Val

"I Think I'm Back"

Oh my gosh I took it upon myself to start tinkering around with my blog..

Maybe re-design it a little

Add a little here and a little there

Take away a few things that I wasn't in love with

Basically re-decorate a bit...

What a overwhelming mess of things I made!!!

But this morning with coffee in hand, I was bound and determined to right the wrongs..

I don't know if I actually accomplished that, but needless to say at least I can function again..

Whew...

Sooooo, having said that, without further ado, I'm just going to dive in and go for it..

Lots to say in this little head of mine..

Some things to share

Some things to show

But for now I am heading for long overdue time on a massage table and then 

very, very long overdue time with good friends!!!

Back soon

 Me

"Kyrstyn Pixton"

Thank you Donna Downey for an incredible morning!!
http://donnadowney.typepad.com

"Out Of The Dark"

I think its time...a long winter of silence, contemplation, self discovery...new beginnings...
Slowly, but surely!

and so it goes!

New thoughts, ideas, musings..

Its a new day!

"In the Quiet"

Lately, honestly, I have found I haven't had much to say..but a great deal of thinking has been going on in this little (well not little, but you know what I mean) brain of mine..

Situations have presented themselves that have caused me to be quiet, to be still, to seek out the solace of my God and his words...

Reflecting

Pondering

Embracing

Learning from the lessons presented everyday..

Being purposeful in my words, my movements..

Then this morning I read a poignant blog post from the most beautiful Christy Tomlinson

www.christytomlinson.typepad.com

entitled "Beautiful Heartbreaks"..

within her writing I was inspired, brought back to center, you know what I mean..

She finished her post with the beautiful video below and the words came...

Blessings and lessons to all..

Me

"Beautiful Heartbreak-Hilary Weeks"

**A Few Little Goodies I spotted and Love"

Have been admittedly rather absent from my blog of late,

mainly because my Mr has had weddings the last couple of weekends and has been crazy busy on the post editing..

Beings we just share our one computer, it makes it a tad difficult to get a moment for posting when there are deadlines to be met on the photography front..

So I awoke early this morning to carve out a bit of time for a little "Fav Love" this morning...

Here we go!!

I am currently in the midst of crocheting an afghan and loving, loving, loving every minute of it..

But once I have completed this one, I do believe I will move on to this!!

I think it is just beautiful and I even love this mixture of colors..reminds me of a sweater I once had..

I found the tutorial here

http://attic24.typepad.com/weblog/neat-ripple-pattern.html

Still puttering about my little art space in my world..

re-organizing galore and I came across this idea and I do believe I am going to use it indeed!!

How cute are these..oh I can think of a million ways to use these and a million designs to make when hanging on the wall..

I have always thought it quite a waste to dispose of all those toilet paper cardboard tubey things and the paper towel ones too..

And then I saw this...

Hmmmmmm...I do believe this must hit my project list..

I found the instructions here, look for the date listing of September 27th, 2011

http://themayberryhomejournal.blogspot.com

How darn ingenius is this!!

I came across this idea and thought it such a great texture and background for my mixed media canvases

you can see it up close and personal here

http://whipup.net

Once at the site search "yarn prints" dated October 27th, 2011..

I am always looking for ways to use up scraps of anything, but I have to admit I have tons of scrapbooking paper scraps..I think these are soooooo darn cute and would be darling on my mantle..

Ohhhhh so many projects, so little time :-)

And lastly...I totally need a few new beauties for my closet...

I would be happy to start here..

Adorable, especially when someone else puts the outfit together..

Now I just have to hunt for this on a bargain budget..

Happy Friday

Me