Office/craft room inspiration

I'm getting fed up with how my side of the office looks. It's messy and unorganized and not at all how I want it to look. I'm collecting inspirational photos and websites and to more easily keep them in one place I'm going to keep them here. First up, is this one.

Paper Owl Mobile

Look what I found! This is an inspiring website full of things I'd like to make. First off, I think I need an owl mobile! The other day I bought some poster board with gold on one side and silver on the other just because I loved it. I think I've found its purpose.

Made by Joel: Paper Owl Mobile

I think I'm being followed

I'm not saying I'm any kind of trendsetter because it can't possibly be true that people are looking at me for inspiration. How much of a coincidence is it that I find myself liking certain things then suddenly I see it everywhere? Am I just subconsciously picking up on trends in the early days and liking it because it's different and something I haven't yet seen? Then it explodes and EVERYONE likes it and I assume people are copying me? That's more likely. Whatever it is, it keeps happening! (And I'm sure I'm not the only one who thinks this.) I think I should start paying attention and flood my wardrobe with things I love before they get too popular.

Part of me is excited when I finally see something I like in the stores but then I quickly become annoyed that I look like everyone else. I don't want to be trendy. It seems to me that people keep taking my unique finds and making it the thing.

I have a thing for owls, especially the 1970s style figurines. I scour thrift stores but never quite find what I'm looking for. At a garage sale a couple years ago I bought a figurine of 3 owls. Not quite from the 70s but it's a stylized soapstone carving from the Eskimo village of Nuvuk Canada. After I bought a little Mexican black pottery owl I started seeing owls everywhere. Home decor, clothing, journals... I still like owls but it annoys me that everyone else does too. I think it's a fading trend.

Recently I found myself oddly attracted to pink. I like wearing that "feminine" color because I often feel like an outdoorsy tomboy and I like the juxtaposition. I think it's surprising to see me wear it. Well, look what I saw today. Apparently Pantone calls it honeysuckle and it matches the pink nail polish I'm wearing in my efforts to be unique.

You know what else I like? Sparkles! and Glitter! and Iridescent Colors! especially in nail polish. That's a little harder to find... Or so I thought. I guess I know what I'll be seeing all over the place.

I'm just going to say right here that I bet we'll be seeing a lot of gold lamé soon because I've been having an inexplicable urge to wear that tacky stuff.

Hey you!

Does it feel weird to anyone else to address envelopes to your parents using their first names? Using "mom and dad Haley" doesn't feel quite right either. I ended up addressing the envelope to M & J Haley. I'm on a bit of a kick calling people by the letter of their first name right now, so that's what felt most right.

This would be solved if I could send them an email instead, but they are not Internetting people. That's ok. Sometimes I just want to sit down and write a letter anyhow.

Is Kathy Hilton your friend?

I saw an interview once with Kathy Hilton. She was asked if she would tell another woman if she had that dreaded foundation line at her jaw. I don't remember anything else about the interview or who was interviewing her, but I remember Kathy's answer. She acted indecisive and said, "Well...I suppose if she was a friend I would."

I think of that nearly every time I'm putting make up on! I rub in my foundation and hope I don't have The Line because if I did, Kathy Hilton wouldn't tell me. I'm writing this down in hopes that some other thoughts will take over now.

Thinking happy thoughts

Riding my bicycle makes me happy. I ride so that I know how the trees smell after a rain, so that I know when the leaves erupt in fall color, so that I see the first tiny blooms of spring, so that I know the moon’s cycle, so that I can hear the whispers of Mother Nature.

What are you proud of?

Sometimes when I'm feeling low and am not happy about the way I handle things, I like to think about what I've accomplished.

I am most proud of faking it until I believed it myself. Not THAT kind of faking it! ;) I am an introvert and once upon a time so shy that I would burst out crying if asked a question in elementary school. The thought of speaking out loud in FRONT of people horrified me. It’s taken 38 years, but gradually I have learned to break out of my shell. It still feels fake sometimes and my back gets drenched with sweat, but I can talk to strangers in small groups and smile, and actually enjoy it now. A little. I am married to a gregarious extrovert and at parties I try to keep up with him (at my own pace of course) and I can do it! Maybe everyone outgrows painful shyness and this is nothing unique. Either way, I am proud of myself because I never thought it would be possible to do anything other than hide in the corners.