May 13.... Happy Mother's Day!!

Happy Mother's Day!!! I hope all the moms out there had as beautiful of a day as I did!
I was woken up at 6 because the kids couldn't wait to see me! Pretty cute! We had brunch at Faith, Hope & Charity vineyards - named after the three sisters mountains. It is a young vineyard but such a beautiful setting. I am hoping that next summer I can have my 40th birthday there. Anyway, the day continued in the back yard getting everything ready for planting. The kids played in the pool! It turned into a nudest colony.... The kids love to be naked and gardening topless is a great way to keep the tan lines away! We are very comfortable in our own bodies..... To end the evening we had dinner at the brewery! What a great day!

XO
Valori

May 12.....

Happy Saturday!!! It is a awesome day in Sisters, OR!!! The Kennedy house or should I say garden was full of life today... We did a ton of clean up, all the kids helped, the cats were out playing in the dirt. Complete happiness! I have never had the garden ready for planting before market. I am so happy! After we were done in the garden, Ross went to town the little ones took a nap and Olivia and I went into the studio and made her dress.

My pic for today.....

XO
Valori

Now we are enjoying a BBQ at friends house! What a great day!!!!!

May 11....Vivi's Dress

Vivi came into my studio this afternoon after her nap and said to me, "mama when are you going to make my dress?" she has been asking me for a dress for weeks, a long dress. So, rather than putting her off, again, I stopped drawing and helped her pick fabric. My mind was in, "what is the quickest way to make her a dress and still be cute!" I cut a large rectangle and put some elastic in my bobbin and started gathering the top. Within an hour and a half the dress was done.
Here is my sweet Vivi in her new dress.... Once Olivia was home from school she immediately wanted one. Tomorrows project!
XO
Valori

May 10.....

Last night Olivia helped me package my treats for market.....M&M's with my "V" printed on them.....too cool! She was awesome a filling the bags and even the little ones helped!

My pic from today....and last night!

XO

Valori

May 9th.....In Thanks

Living is Sisters has its perks.... One being the amazing teachers in our schools. Even with all the budget cuts and CRAP they have to deal with they want the BEST for our kids. This year our Elementry school went to combined classes.... First and Second grade classes and Third and Fourth grade classes. They are mixed for home room but go to grade level reading and math classes. I wasn't too sure about this arrangement but it has been amazing. Olivia has three teachers that she gets to know and learn from as well as the music, art and PE teachers. She has been able to grow so much with the help of all the teachers. We had a conference with her home room teacher and two of the reading teachers this week to find the best class for her in reading. They were so amazing, they want her to succeed and be confident and were willing to listen to our concerns. I was just so happy to know that these are the people that Olivia is spending so much of her young life with. I think the best reward is that in a couple of days I see a change in my little girl. In gratitude I made them little journals......
My pic of the day.....

XO
Valori

May 8th......pic(s)

Mom and I headed out this morning to meet up with the ladies - very talented ladies - that participated in The Quilt For Two Rivers. This project is a collaboration of quilt artists and the forest service..... I don't have the best words to describe it so here is what is on the blog....

Quilt for Two Rivers celebrates the outdoors in a classic American art form

 By Maret Pajutee, Ecologist, Sisters Ranger District, U.S.ForestService

To date, the Tale of Two Rivers conservation campaign has generated an original microbrew, an annual cycling event, a plein air paint-a-thon and a movie screening.

Now up: a modern quilting bee.

A collaboration between the Sisters Outdoor Quilt Show, the National Forest Foundation and the U.S. Forest Service, Quilt for Two Rivers brings together 20 leading Pacific Northwest fiber artists who are combining talents on a single work; a 40-foot quilt with Whychus Creek running through each individual segment.

Fulfilling one aim of the Treasured Landscapes program, the project is strengthening community connections to the outdoors, specifically to two Wild & Scenic-designated Oregon rivers, Whychus and the Metolius River.

“These are not your grandma’s quilts, they are works of modern art,” notes Ann Richardson, Executive Director of the Sisters Outdoor Quilt Show, a co-sponsor of Quilt for Two Rivers.  “And this is a unique, inspiring way to tell the story of how salmon and steelhead are making a comeback in these important waterways.”

Jean Wells, founder of the Sisters Outdoor Quilt Show (the world’s largest outdoor quilting festival), named her segment of the quilt “Coming Home,” honoring restoration work that is bringing back native fish to Whychus Creek.  Her project is a family endeavor:

“My son Jason took me to the magical place on Whychus that you mostly see in the piece.  Other elements come from a hike to waterfalls in the upper reach I took with my six-year-old granddaughter, Livy, who took some of the photos I used in conceptualizing the work.  My daughter Valori is going to paint steelhead in the water section of the quilt.  My dream is to see them coming home to Whychus, and having Jason be able to go fishing there.”

The 17-panel final masterpiece will be sold either as a complete installation or as individual quilts.  A second, smaller quilt (four panels, seven feet long) along the same theme is also in development.  Half the proceeds from sales of the quilts will go to restoration projects on the two rivers, with the other half going to the quilters.  Both quilts will be unveiled June 1, with the large work exhibited at the Sisters quilt show as well as in Portland and Tacoma.

One goal has already been met: encouraging people from different walks of life to visit outstanding natural areas they may not know about in their own back yards.

Stay tuned for the upcoming “name the quilt” contest, blog posts and a short video by Liking the Quilt for Two Rivers Facebook page.

I was lucky enough to be a part of this awesome project.....I wanted to make one of the panels myself but it just wasn't douable so I got to be a part of moms....I painted the steelhead.

Today we took a picture of all of the quilts and some of the artists.... I had Ann take a quick pick for me for my pic of the day....well there are four.

This is how the quilt will hang ..... If you put the two together you would see the river flow....isn't that cool!!!

We are so blessed to live in such a beautiful area.

XO

Val

May 7th photo.....

Hello - Feeling so much better today....weaning myself off the pain meds. Drawing is so much better with out the narcotics! 

Here is the proof......

May 7, 2012

A new drawing.....soon to be fabric - I hope!

and since I had not been outside for a few days and it is REALLY BEAUTIFUL here is one more pic....

My volunteer sunflowers.....so exciting! I do have to separate them and replant but it is wonderful that so many have come back from seeds of last years blooms.

XO

Valori

A photo a day in May.....

I am a big fan of Instagram and while I was looking through it this weekend I saw a friend of mine - HappyZombie - was doing A photo a day in May..... I figured I can do that. Especially since I take at least one photo a day... SO here is my start....

May 1, 2012

Ross and I were celebrating sending off the crate for market...... and look we found a wine called Novella. Which happens to be the name of my fall collection of fabric. Yummy!

May 2, 2012

My new belt buckles.....yeah!

May 3, 2012

New purse that I knitted and am putting handles on....

May 4, 2012

A pretty tree beginning to bloom....on my way to surgery.

May 5, 2012

Knitting while on pain killers....not too bad.

May 6, 2012

After Teagues escape from his nap yesterday we modified the crib to a big boy bed. He fell out this morning but should get the hang of it soon.

Today the photo has not been taken..... will come later.

XO

Valori

The other two....

Here are the other two buckles.... My computer is at the Doc! It wouldn't start yesterday - PANIC!!! But luckily I have a Mac Guy to help save my ass!
So when blogging on my iPad I can't attach as many photos..... Hence the second post.

XO
Valori

PS here is Twigs website www.twigs-sisters.com

All belted up....

I am very lucky to be a part of the shop, along with a place to buy fabric and yarn our gift shop provides for all sorts of good finds. In January we were at gift show buying for Twigs and came across these awesome belt buckles..... Besides the fact that the designs were really cool the company did custom buckles! Oh lala!!!
Yesterday our six custom Valori Wells Designs buckles arrived! Thought I would share.... Hopefully we will have them up on the Twigs web site this week.

XO
Valori

Our Beautiful Community....

We live in such an amazing, giving community! Every year there is a fundraiser for the music and arts in our schools called My Own Two Hands. They have a theme each year that is sent out to local artists and all the school kids. The theme is the inspiration for the art work. On a Friday night in April the town and local businesses come together and have an art stroll showing off the art work and the musicians of our town. All of the school kids get together and have a parade with their creations.
I have been a part of the fund raiser since the beginning. And now with my kids becoming more and more involved I find myself taking part in all the activities. This was my first year at the parade..... So fun to see the kids and teachers out celebrating our community and "Looking Up". (the theme of the year)

Here are a few pics I took at the parade....

XO
Valori

Saying Goodbye....

My parents recently sold the house I grew up in....

They moved into their new house about 3 years ago and I had not been back to the old house since.

I grew up in this house. We moved in when I was 6. I came home A LOT during college and after I moved into the little studio apartment above the garage while I saved money to build the house we live in now. Ross proposed to me in that little apartment and a little late we were married in the yard. I watched my girls play in the creek and have family dinners on the deck. So many memories and so many stories....

Before the keys were handed over I went back to the house. I couldn't go in - it was completely empty and it would of been creepy. So I said good-bye by exploring the property and some of my favorite places....

An address that will be embedding in my brain forever!

My mom and I planted this Crab-apple tree when we moved in. It was so tiny and now big and beautiful, right outside my childhood bedroom window. I still have dreams about that room. I only tried to sneak out once from those windows and got caught. Teenagers are so stupid!

Apple trees don't grow that great around here but my mom didn't care she planted this tree when my brother returned from Desert Storm. I wonder if it will ever have apples.....

I spent A LOT of time outside as a kid and we had 8 acres to play on. These rocks were close enough to the house but just far enough away, I used to have forts in the rocks finding pieces of plywood to put over the top. There were enough groupings that is was like a little village.

This was my tree fort.....the Juniper has gotten so big all that is left is the few rungs of wood. The only problem with this fort was all the pitch. But I remember fond times up there.....

Then there was my brother and the neighbor boy's tree house. I was NEVER allowed up there. They had a bit more complexity to their fort, I had a piece of wood rested between branches. I was tempted to go up there but not sure after all of these years how stable it is....

When my real dad was around we had horses....I loved my horse Dixie. The neighborhood girls and I would take our horses out bareback and race in the meadow after we got home from school.

I can still smell the hay and see my horse when I am in the barn.

The back side of the house by the yard.....I spent a lot of time photographing the flowers in my mom's yard when I was in college. I was the artist that did the pretty work not the social or political work....got a lot of grief on that. I loved discovering what was blooming when I took my time to just be in the yard...I always found things mom didn't see.

This rose bush was from my Great Grandma's yard.....it is like a weed with these beautiful little yellow roses..... Some of it came home with me and I hope will take root and grow in my garden. Ross thought I was crazy when I came home with garden trellises that were left behind and part of a rose bush. Mom was happy that I thought about it....she has put that house out of her mind.

She did SO much in that garden and it was becoming way too much work. After three years it is really run down with grass it almost doesn't look the same....it definately doesn't have mom's touch!

Her greenhouse.....

Ross and got married in the gazebo....the there was a beautiful slate walkway that is now overgrown with grass.....we planted wildflowers all along the edges and placed the chairs in the flowers for our guests....it was so beautiful....

Well enough of memory lane.....reality I have a meeting at 2:00pm....

Have a great day!

XO

Valori

Purging....

Purging..... As a VERY sentimental person and avid collector purging is hard! Ross and I have been working on the house. Just feeling like less is more! It is a process especially for me. The house is starting to feel so good, so light.

I felt like my studio has been weighting me down. I keep having dreams about packing and cleaning. It is amazing all of the anxiety I feel in the dream and then when I wake up. Conclusion..... I am purging my studio. Trying to get rid of things I don't need and packing up some of the sentimental objects the are cluttering my space. It is a process and I have such a short attention span (no wonder my kids are that way) that I get bored easy.... Find myself doing other things. Like blogging! I look around and even the places that I have purged and cleaned still feel full. Frustrating! I am just trying to work my way through the space then go back if I need to. Oy Vey!

Now back to cleaning.... And PURGING!!! That needs to be the key word!
XO
Valori

Cocoon Sample yardage....

My huge box of Cocoon cotton and voile arrived.... Lilly has decided that it is her fabric. I can't wait to get my hands on it....
XO
Valori

A New Purse..........

This is a little purse that I have been working on.....I don't get much time to knit these days. To actually finish a knitting project is amazing...I have SO many in progress projects.  I love the chevron pattern so I thought that I could use it to make a cool purse.  For the yarn I used Koigu  (LOVE) and Cashshoft from Rowan. Then I lined it with some of my new collection Cocoon....

Wouldn't this be so cool as a bigger bag, one that could hold more especially since I carry so much in my bag. I will just have to find some different handles. 

Anyway.......My brain is a bit fried from sitting in front of the computer today working on fabric. I need to do something with my hands other than moving a mouse around. Maybe play with some fabric, or quilt or silk screen....hhuuummmmm! 

Off to make something......

XO

Valori

In the studio.....

I am back in the studio today. Always feels good to have a quiet day with the kitties. As I walk around my space I realize how many projects I have in progress. Some for personal satisfaction and others for work. Besides my looming fabric deadline here are a few others that I have calling to me.

This is a quilt that I started a long time ago...I embroidered one of my favorite quotes on it......

" I tell you, the more I think, the more I feel that there is nothing more truly artistic than to love people" - Vincent van Gogh

Now if I can only get Sophie off of it I could quilt it.....on my new Bernina 550 QE. Oh my, it is so amazing to sew on....its like butter! Quiet, smooth, and the stitches are perfect. I am in love!  Totally excited to quilt with it...which is one of the reasons that I haven't started quilting my "quote" quilt. Maybe tonight.....

These are two paintings that I started when Ross and I were in the City. He is so awesome about letting me have personal creative time when we are on a trip. I am very lucky! I do hope to finish these soon. It had been months since I had painted, felt so good!

And now for my beautiful Cocoon Linen all folded nice and sitting on my table waiting for me to make skirts and pillows and bags.....OH MY!  Cocoon is my spring collection of fabric, inspired by butterflies and my daughters. They love to watch the butterflies on our wild flowers and chase them around, laughing! Just makes me smile thinking of it. The rest of my sample yardage should be here soon.... yummy cottons and voile. I am planning lots of fun projects for a Cocoon Simply Made Summer.

The projects are endless....I have several more in progress. Can't seem to do just one thing at a time - I float around my studio sometimes getting bored with one project and starting another then going back to the first one. Is that normal? I wonder if it is not the best use of my time be so scattered but I am not sure how to change it.

Well, I must focus.....back to the fall collection....feeling a little stuck at this time but it will all come together, doesn't it always!

Have a great day!

XO

Valori

Tomorrow Morning.....

I am up in Portland today staying at my brothers house because tomorrow I get to be a guest judge on a Portland tv station - KATU -  that is doing a "Project Runway" type of show.

The Design Challenge is going to be a 6 week long competition between four designers from the Art Institute of Portland. This week is the first week and Westminster / Free Spirit is the featured fabric company and they asked me to be a guest judge! HEHE.....I think it will be so fun!

On Monday they introduced the designers and had a HUGE stack of my Karavan Knits on the table....I feel a little giddy when I see that...makes me feel like a kid that just got an A on a spelling test!

In case you were wondering we do have the knits in the shop....we are hoping the patterns for the Isabelle skirt and Sondy top will be done soon.....patterns can take longer than you think sometimes. Totally annoying but a fact that I just have to get used to. Try to get used to!

Well, I'm off to hang out with my family...don't get to see them much so it is fun to chat!

Have a great night!

XO

Valori

January 20, 2012....

I find that when I go through change I retreat, into myself, into my studio, but that is when my best growth comes out of me. I can honestly say I have changed so much over my 38 years. Or maybe change is not all that has gone on, I have discovered so much about myself, who I am and who I want to be. Not always an easy road for me.

Recently I have been wanting to get my tattoo for Teague. And the only person I want to do it is a old college friend, Cheyenne Sawyer. He gave me my arm band in college…. I love that piece no matter how simple it is. I think about who I was in college….I was….uummm, in my 20’s and still trying to find myself. I was a bit of a basket case at times and I really went through a ton of growth in college. But I am so different now than then.  Really only recently can I say I have  truly found myself….REALLY….38 and finally feeling secure in who I am, loving who I am. Finding my balance and feeling grounded. And with this new found confidence my creativity has soared.

I have been in a “retreat” mode for several months…..thinking…….but still trying to get work done. As I come out of my cave I realize how much I have neglected my blog and my photography, my art, painting etc….just been off. Time to rectify that….

Step One - start blogging again rather than just thinking about blogging and then not making the time for it just do it!

Step Two - Find your love of Photography and Painting again.

To accomplish both of these Ross and I have gone away for the weekend....we find ourselves in Portland. We are sitting 7 stories up at the Vintage Plaza on the corner of Washington and Broadway. Working….Yes, working. I have a fabric deadline and worked this morning on them but this afternoon feel the need to blog. Show some of the cool city shots I have taken with the new addition to my family….the PEN.

My new camera.....LOVE!! It is compact but packs a punch - the Oympus Pen E-P3.

Our drive over Mount Hood. We traveled over this pass because there was a landslide on Hwy 20 - Santiam Pass.  Nice to have a change of scenery.

Yep - THE STAG.....we were so tempted to stop!

Of course there are some Hipstamatic images included...just can't help myself!!!

Foggy, rainy, beautiful Portland! I really do love this city!

Mother's Cafe is one our favorite places to eat. We decided we would sit in the bar because we don't get to do that much...I didn't have to ask for a booster seat and I got to enjoy my meal with out scolding a child. We are on vacation!!! WOO HOO!

My beautiful, wonderful sister-in-law, Stephanie got us a suite at the Vintage Plaza downtown. WOW! Love!

Our View.....

I love the grey light of the city in the winter...sounds funny but the color is amazing and the rain can be great to shoot in. I don't miss living in the rain but LOVE to visit.

I find the city to be a new source of inspiration one that I haven't explored in a long time.

See Ross worked! I swear he is not on Facebook!

This is what I worked on......

Then we had afternoon cocktails.....

So I will leave you heading up the spiral staircase to get dressed for dinner in the city.....

with thoughts of water named FRED......and....

little metal moose on the wall......

Sweet Dreams!

XOXO
Valori

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year my friends! I wish you all the best 2012!
XO
Valori

Silk Screening again.....

With the girls over the other day I had the silk screening bug.....and a TON of blank shirts just waiting for me.

A new birdy....she might be showing up in some fabric in the future. Well, being beckoned away to work.....

XXOO

Valori

PS if you really want to have a shirt you can always email me or we carry them in our gift shop Twigs.... they don't have them on line yet but they have them in the shop.