You’re very welcome, Cat! And thanks for sharing your steno pad system. I like stenos too. 🙂

But i do like your idea of having a separate one for different things. I need one that I can grab and jot down those fleeting creative ideas.

Thanks ideas!

Keep the great videos coming!

Syl

I agree, Patti, it helps to have some way of organizing all the ideas from the various journals. Also, after finding that some of my older sketches / notes are too mysterious for me to figure out now, I try to jot more detailed notes around the ideas I put in my journals now!

Rena – those of us reading your blogs and watching your videos are always very grateful for the information shared with us that ultimately helps get our inspirations into reality. And also thanks to those who reply in Rena’s blogs — always good content!

It was lovely listening to you on your coffee break. You inspire me all the time and I am a journal collector too. Some are too good to write on and stays blank;(

I usually use normal copy book journal or whatever I find on sale but what is working with me is – I write the date on top. Like June 2012 when I start. Here there is everything that I find, starting from good recipe links, weight watcher inspirations to jewelry ideas and sketches. But I disciplined myself to write the date on top each day. That way everything is kind of documented.

I have seen me going to my archives of past year diaries to get information.
When there is no room I write the finishing date too on the top front cover. Usually one journal takes me through a couple of months or so and these books needs to be saved for future references

But I like your idea of organizing them and may be I’ll try that.

Thanks Rena. Dita.

I seem to gravitate to jotting everything down on sticky notes or small note paper then folding it and throwing it into a decorative jar that I love. At the end of the month or whenever I take them out and properly organize my thoughts. So appreciate your little videos.

Fair Winds and Calm Seas,
Deborah Leon

I recently went to Michaels and got a “Smash” book. It is a journal (about $10) and comes with a pen on one side and a glue stick on the other. You can easily jot your ideas and glue in scraps of paper, fabric and all sorts of things. It has many accessories they sell separately like little pockets or tags to glue in and fill out. Really cute stuff!

I also use a 3 ring binder to organize my ideas, drawings and magazine projects. Those really expensive beading magazines can pile up quick. So I rip out the projects I want to do, and file them in clear page protectors that fit into the 3 ring binder from Staples. It’s fun to see projects I picked to do years ago and finally get around to making them.

Thank you, Ann! 🙂 I’ve heard a lot of interesting things about Evernote but haven’t used it. It sounds perfect for idea journaling on the go.

I agree, I really don’t carry my journals around with me either – and I don’t really have a good on-the-go system. If I have an inspiration when I’m out and about, it usually gets scribbled on something like a napkin, road map, or store receipt (I do always have a pen with me!). That isn’t very handy though, and all these odds and ends of loose paper can easily get lost before I get them home.

Miranda, very cool ideas! First, the photo album as an idea capture; and then letting customers see the “artist sketches” of your design process!

I’m sure they LOVE that and feel more appreciative of your creation process as well as more like “insiders” thanks to that behind-the-scenes unveiling.

I also really like your decorating the pages with physical elements too!

Mairby, you are very welcome! I’m so glad you’re finding value in it, and we’re glad to have you here! 🙂

Zoraida, you might want to experiment with Evernote as Ann described above here – it sounds like that could be a good tool for you, especially if you’re already capturing ideas and inspirations on your computer.

And I totally understand how notebooks can get confusing and hard to find something you know you wrote down in them awhile back! For me having each journal be about just one thing (jewelry design ideas; calendar/planning; etc.) helps narrow down my search tremendously. Still, I do have to look through the designated journal to find the info I want.

(On the upside, though, that browse through the journal often connects me with other neat stuff I’ve written down in it but had forgotten about!)

Thank you, Barbara! And that’s a good idea to have a notebook with suppliers!

I also lay the book out with my jewelry because if I have sold a piece people can order from the album. People love seeing the notes I have written and they like to see what has inspired my pieces. And when the book album runs out of pages I can just put more in. I have also decorated some of the pages with scrapbook paper and ribbons and sometimes beads especially if they were materials from a piece I made from that page.

And Everything inspires me. For instance I went to the park with my children last spring where there was a little river. It was so breezy and cool and the sun was shining into the river and ther reflection of the sky was bouncing off the water. For the rest of the day all I could think about was “How can i make something that looks like that?” So I made a bracelet out of turquoise colored cats eye beads and a mixture of seed beads. It turned out beautiful and looked exactly how I wanted it to. And that bracelet sells so often because people love the story behind it and they can go home and tell all their friends and family how their bracelet represents a river at the park…lol

So eventually I started putting my ideas on my smart phone using Evernote. I can access it from any computer or my Smart phone, and it is working perfect for me. It is free, but I use it so much, I decided to upgrade to the paid version.

I also store on Evernote my customers and info about them, photos of all my jewelry with descriptions and prices, and of course tons of design ideas. If I see a great idea in a store, I can write a quick note, or even take a photo with my phone and add it to Evernote.

So not as pretty as your journals, but keeps me organized and happy.

Arbie, I bet you’ll find some really cool ones on Etsy. I got a rustic handmade leather journal there about a year ago for my Mom.

I agree – picking out a new journal and then writing in it for the first time is something to be savored!

Tamara, your journals sound lovely! I think having something really appealing to write in is part of the magic of journaling. Your son gives wonderful gifts!

Also I’m fascinated with your idea of 3D journaling by gathering things physically together. That’s a really interesting perspective. I guess it doesn’t really matter how you capture your ideas and creative inspirations – paper isn’t necessary when you’re capturing live in the wild! 🙂

Tammie – It was a pleasure to co-star with your jewelry in this video! I wear my “Dragon Fly Flight” pendant and earrings often – the minute I first saw them online they resonated as very deeply “me”!

And I think that for capturing ideas in the presence of a bit of ADD, a journal is an especially good idea because at least you always know where you wrote / sketched your ideas and can go back to that source.

Thank you so much for your kind words about my newsletter – that means the world to me!

Tammie – I forgot to say of course you’re welcome to share a link to the video – thank you! 🙂

I have always loved journals as well. I have two on the go. One is my personal journal that I write in to process my life, or to record things I don’t want to forget. Because my jewellery, and the resulting business, is an intimate part of me, I journal about that in there. For instance, the process I have gone through in the last several months in learning my “brand” and my new company name are recorded there. Last Mother’s Day (a year ago) I got to pick out a gift for myself from my son in a little gift shop, and I chose a beautiful spiral journal with a hummingbird on it (I have been likened to a hummingbird so they are extra special to me). That is the book I have been using as my personal journal.

I also have another journal, strictly for my jewellery, again thanks to my son. He gave me a gift certificate to Chapters for my last birthday, and I headed straight to the jewellery books. I got a large spiral book entitled “my beading journal”. In it there are beautiful pictures, tutorials and tips, but also space to record things – I have quotes and little notes written in there, and there are pouches for pieces of paper. I also have a list of the posts I have written for this web site, and what projects they were (I don’t have my own website, blog, or even an online store at this point). There’s also a place to list favourite suppliers, etc.

As far as ideas for projects, for me the idea usually happens when I find an inspiring element, bead or colour. So I gather up what I know I want to put together as far as I can see it in the moment, and it sits in a little pile in my “jewellery and art room” (which used to be my son’s bedroom until he grew up and moved out and I painted it orange!) I have little piles all over a few surfaces (although I refuse to let the bed get taken over with them). When it’s time to do the project I gather up my little pile, maybe scan other little piles for elements or colours I want to steal, and then I create. With the way I design, that seems to be the way it has to be, and I’ve come to a place of peace with that. I guess those little piles are my 3D journalings! I never actually write any notes down for projects.