Hey Team Daisy! Arleigh here with a little peek behind the scenes at the Cocoa Daisy Factory. Just kidding, it’s not a factory. Actually, I work out of my home office in Colorado, and Christine and Cocoa Daisy HQ are in Michigan.

This month I wanted to tell you something about the October theme. You’ve already seen it by the time this gets posted on the blog, so I don’t need to tell you that it’s mushrooms and dragonflies and foxes.

Fun fact: Did you know the difference between “Toadstool” and “Mushroom” is that a mushroom is edible and a toadstool is inedible or poisonous?

The mood we were trying to capture with the swirling polka dots and the little groupings of mushrooms falls into the category of “I wish there was a name for this.” Turns out the Japanese language is way ahead of us. Let’s see, maybe shinrin-yoku, “a visit to the forest for relaxation.” Image courtesy of Pinterest, I can’t find the original.

As long as we’re on Pinterest, here is another Japanese word that fits the October planner. Komorebi, “sunlight that filters through the leaves of trees.”

You can find this word as a 3×4” card on the last page of our free printable.

We are always trying to figure out how to include Simon into the planner. And when we started working on the October themes, the colors and subject were reminiscent of the Wil Huygen Gnomes book, illustrated by Rien Poortvliet. So we added a Simon gnome to the planner stickers,

And at the very last minute, we added a Simon gnome notecard too. His ears fit perfectly into a gnome cap. Here is the image I used for inspiration, next to the notecard.

Did you see that the CD store had dragonfly and mushroom charms made by our own Mary Kay (who also lives in Colorado)?At the time I am writing this post, they are sold out of the dragonfly charms. I’m tempted to pull out my beads to make a dragonfly charm for my October Dori. Try looking up “beaded dragonfly” on Pinterest. So many great ideas!

And last, but not least, have you found the hidden Simon in the October Dori or Planner yet?

He’s hiding behind the bushes on the forward planning year page in the Planner, and in the Dori, he’s on the last spread, under a mushroom. Yes, he did change his tie and shirt color to match the page. Because that’s the kind of guy he is.

Thanks for reading, see you next month!