Friday mornings

For several months, my six year old daughter and I have been starting our Fridays together with a violin lesson. The sunshine was so beautiful today and the instruments so lovely, I thought I'd take a quick photo to show you. Happy Friday!

Work in progress

I've been writing journal prompts today, which generally starts off quite slowly. But when I really get down to it, when I sit down (or pace the hallways or wander the sidewalks, as I sometimes do) and really think about all of the possibilities in life and all of the good questions there are to be asked, it always leaves me . . .

Wishing you lots of inspiration, too!

On my desk

Dreaming up lightning round questions today and drawing some windows, too. What are you up to?

On my desktop

Working on some days-of-the-week hand lettering for a new set of journal pages.

I've been reading about the practice of journaling and thinking a lot about the ways that we make (and perhaps discover) meaning in our lives. The next set of journal pages will be slightly different from previous sets. I'm adding one new element. Can't wait to show it to you!

On my desk

Drawing some wildflowers, thinking through a new set of journal pages.

What are you up to?

Journal pages for kids - part 3

Today, I'm posting the last of my three new journal pages for kids.

The colour-free page looks like this:

The colourful version looks like this:

If you'd like to download today's page, you'll find it here (colour-free) and here (colourful). Once you've had a chance to take a peek, I'd love to know what you think!

Happy Friday, friends!

Journal pages for kids - part 2

Thanks so much for your feedback on my first journal page for kids! I've replied to each comment, here and on Facebook, and I'm delighted that we're off to such a good start.

As I mentioned yesterday, I'm posting page number two today, which looks a little like this:

Here, too, is the colourful version:

If you'd like to download today's page, you'll find the colour-free version here and the colourful one here. Once you've had a chance to take a peek, I'd love to know what you think! Your comments are much appreciated and really helpful as I try to decide whether to offer more pages for kids.

Thanks so much and see you tomorrow!

Journal pages for kids

One of the projects I've been working on in recent weeks is a set of journal pages for kids. It's been an interesting process -- writing with younger readers in mind -- as I've generally tended to think about journal prompts in terms of my current experience, as an adult. It's something I've really had to think about and I've wondered a lot lately whether I've gotten it right.

So, what I'd like to do this week is post the first three pages in my set as free printables -- one today, one tomorrow, and one on Friday. If journal pages for kids are of interest to you, I'd love to have your feedback on today's page and the next two, too.

In these pages you'll find a format similar to my original journal pages, except:

1. I've made the lines a little thicker and the outer border wider for colouring,
2. I've added a place for the child's name beside the date,
3. I've reduced the number of prompts per page to make it easier to complete a page in one or a few sittings,
4. I've simplified the prompts slightly to make them more suitable for younger journal keepers.
5. In terms of age range, I'm thinking grades three to six.

The first page looks a little something like this:

As always, I've also created a colourful version, which looks a lot like this:

If you would like to download today's journal page, you'll find the colour-free file here and the colourful file here. I hope you'll stop by tomorrow and Friday, too!