Start Here

New to Valpo Studio? Welcome! If this were a physical place, I'd offer you some cookies and milk and we'd chat until we were blue in the face, but since it is not, this will have to do :)

I'm Valerie, the all-over-the-place mind behind Valpo Studio. Old followers may remember this blog when it was "Taking a Bite out of Life." but as times change, and people grow, this blog did as well.

I chose to change my blogs name to make it more centralized with my other business. Valpo Studio (the blog) is a personal blog sprinkled with DIY crafts, Recipes, Artwork and more, whereas Valpo Studio (the business) is a portraiture business run by, you guessed it, this girl! Though different in nature, they are brought together by the sometimes insane driving force behind them, the twenty-something, newlywed student finding her place in this huge and beautiful world.

I'm pretty open, and with that comes the raw truth. If I'm happy, you'll know. If things are rough, you'll know. But most importantly, I hope that somehow, somewhere you will find something you can relate to, and that invites you to stay a while.

We'll have so much fun :)

And since I am just as much of a narcissist as the next person, here's a little bit that you simply must know about me if we are going to be awkward internet friends who stalk, love, and adore each other online but will probably never meet in person:

 I'm a Mormon, a student, a firecracker, a artist, and a blogger.

I'm obsessed with DIY crafts.

I attend BYU-Idaho and am majoring in Art education and
I love the gospel of Jesus Christ.

I loooove  popcorn and Icee's (Coca Cola flavored of course)

I have a guilty pleasure of "that's what she said jokes" and watching extreme couponers. I will be one someday. 

I'm an emotional roller coaster, and think rodents are the cutest things ever.

I've been told more times than I can counts that I look like this chica from the show "glee"

I can't sing to save my life though.

I have the greatest family. 

I have a bad habit of pulling out my eyelashes and chipping off my nail polish. I wish I had a bad habit of eating health food and running... but what can you do?

 I love cooking pretty and tasty things.

I talk in different accents, and don't really notice until someone mentions how weird I am.

Like every other blogger in the world, I wanna be like Sydney Poulten (The Daybook). She was in my Art History class while she was pregnant and I made it a goal to get a picture with her... I chickened out. haha

My blog is a combination of everything I think about, crafts, tips, recipes, and humor. But mostly, it's just about my life. It's often far more revealing than it should be, but the writings are truthful and the feelings are real, and I'd like to believe that with every post I write, there's at least one person out there that needs to hear it. So be wary, I don't mince words.

I'm in love with this boy:

When I'm sad, he makes sock puppets to cheer me up. I never have to ask for massages and he is and INCREDIBLE guitar player. He may love his "gooter" more than he loves me actually...

He's determined, hardworking, and incredibly thoughtful and patient.

He's an accounting fiend.

Together we like going out to eat, watch The Walking Dead and Suits (and little does he know, I WILL hook him on the Bachelorette!), and listening to Bon Iver. He likes walks in the park, and I prefer snuggling. He's more like a really good (and hott) babysitter for my immature self, but he sure is a keeper.

To get to know me better, here are my favorite...

Songs: Landslide by Fleetwood mac or the Dixie Chicks version, Civilian by Wye Oak, Basically any Civil Wars, Iron and Wine or Bon Iver song.

Foods: Popcorn, Nacho Cheese Doritos, Pizza Lean Pockets, and just about any junk food. (Yea, fat kid status right there baby!)

Movies: Coraline (Claymation movies just capture me!), Pearl Harbor (because who can resist the looove and the action, and the looove...), and basically any Ben Affleck or Will Smith movie.

Books: The Hunger Games, The City of Ember ( I read it in like... eighth grade.), Heaven is Here.

Youtube videos:

If you have any questions, feel free to contact me at wowieb@earthlink.net.  I promise I won't bite!

You can learn a little more about me through the following posts:
Baking
Crafting
Love
Marriage


FAQ's

-Where does the name Valpo Studio come from?

I'm glad you asked. I have a wide range of interests from fine art, to writing, to sewing... the list goes on. Rather than identify one particular skill set, I decided to invite them all home with the all-encompassing "Studio" title. "Valpo" has many roots. First and foremost, it is a appreviation. "Portraits by Valerie" is a bit of a mouthful don't you think? Therefore "Valpo" seemed to sum that up just fine. Valpo also happens the be the nickname of the most beautiful city in Chile, where my husband lived while serving a mission for our church. The city is made of stairs and building pieced together like legos and is known for its gorgeous bright colors.

Stunning, no?

It also has street art like you wouldn't believe!
It's vibrance and disorganized harmony summed up my own view of self quite perfectly, therefore Valpo just seemed to stick.

-Do you do sponsored posts?

I do indeed. I do not charge for 200X100 ads or buttons on my blog because we've all been in a place where we have wanted to get the word out that we have something awesome to share, but simply are not in the place to pay for it. I do however do sponsored ads for compensation, and in the past have really enjoyed doing so.

Where do you show how many followers you have?

It's pretty simple. I don't. I have no problem sharing that I have hundreds of followers, however I feel like too often in the blogging world, that number acts as a status quo or popularity symbol, and I don't think that is how it should be. Blogging isn't a popularity contest, it's so much more :)