Stuff I use on my Layouts

Here is a review of a pen I use often on my layouts, the Stablio Point 88.  Can an $.88 pen be a useful crafting tool? Here are some projects I have done with the point 88.

Journaling Prompt: Summer days make me...

It's time for another journaling prompt. Today is a beautiful almost summer day.  Here's my go at the prompt.

Summer days make me...

Crazy.  Something about the heat and sun in downtown Olympia fills the streets with oddities, curios, and the buzz of a burgeoning freak show.  Don't get me wrong, something about the brightness and the heat bring out the need of the street goers to celebrate their inner selves. Among the many amazing things I have seen in Olympia, here are my favorites:

• Numerous shoulder cat walkers.
• Camouflage outfit guy with a tail
• Tutu guy who dances in the park
• Hula hoops girl (many hoops at once)
• Solo kung foo fighter, who sadly, loses every time.
• Street kids, so hipster it hurts
• Homeless guy yard sale
• Pro-Pot advocates passed out with their signs in the park

When the scales tip, and the streets become a festival of strange, I find it fascinating and maddening, but mostly confusing.  I ponder the larger questions. How does one train a cat to sit on your shoulder? Why does camo guy have a tail, and what would happen if I pulled it? Why are you dancing in the park with a tutu? How can you have 4 hula hoops going and still walk? Who are you fighting with, and why do you always lose? Street kids, why do you think I am dumb enough to believe you live on the streets? I come here every day for work, and I am quite familiar with who spends their time on the streets, the real homeless are outside no matter what the weather. Is it cool to pretend to be homeless? Where did the homeless guy get the stuff for the yard sale, and why was I so impressed with this venture? Really potheads? Standing up with your signs was too much?

I love Olympia, but some days it is just crazy.

Journaling prompt- today I'd rather

Today I'd Rather

Thinking about what you would rather do allows you to explore.  Would you rather be somewhere else? What would you rather be doing? Something you do normally, or some grand adventure you have been planning?  Would you rather be working toward a goal? What is difficult about now? Why would you rather be doing something other than what you are doing?  Why are you wasting time on something you don’t want to do?

I’m sharing my go on this journaling prompt here… please share yours!

Today I’d rather take a nap.  I am not usually a huge nap person, but last night I awoke just after 2am and was unable to drift back to sleep.  My restlessness woke my husband, which lead to a lovely late night conversation that reminded me of our days dating.  I always enjoy talking to him, and it seems we rarely get an opportunity to just talk.  Daily life gets bogged down in stress, children, chores, and to-dos.  The beauty of a late night chat is there is very little one can do without disrupting the household, and it is rare to have a partner in the wee hours of the morning with which to converse. It was a glorious gift, and I am gracious for the time with my husband, however today… I’d rather nap.

Journaling Prompt: Grey is my favorite color

Sometimes, coming up with the inspiration for a page can be extremely difficult.  Whether it is an artist's journal, a scrapbook page, or a diary, just starting the writing can be a challenge.  Today, I am beginning a weekly feature to help you jump start your creative process. 
What is your favorite color?
What is a title you can use with that color?
Ticked Pink
It was all Yellow
Orange you glad?
Why is this your favorite color?
What memories do you have of the color?
What does the color make you feel?

So here's my go at this week's Journaling Prompt:

Grey is my favorite color.
I felt so symbolic, yesterday (Counting Crows, Mr. Jones). Living in Western Washington you must embrace the grey, or surrender to the gloom that the filtered light brings in the long fall and winter months. My favorite grey is the sky in a deep steel, where the trees and the buildings look striking against the angry air. 

My favorite sweaters have always been grey.  I love the nip of cool air against a warm sweater and a well-loved pair of jeans.  The outfit is perfect for a fall walk where the wet trees drip in the breeze and shower the ground with crimson leaves.  A cup of hot coffee or tea is a welcome treat during an urban stroll along the avenue or after a trail exploration.

The Pacific Ocean flows in the full range of grey, and the foggy mist dulls the landscape into muted greens and browns.  I adore how the waves crash unforgivingly on the rocks, and how the sound of the ocean is enough to drown out the thoughts of my ever busy mind.  There is rarely release from the racing of my thoughts, so the ocean is a welcome harbor of peace.

So much beauty lies in grey.  Grey brings the beauty out of so much.  I hope that I am like grey.