One day, a needle, some thread, and a Rolodex walked into a fabric store to get all creative… Wait, what?

That’s exactly how I feel about creativity and inspiration sometimes.

I’ve always been a creative girl, and even embarked into the world of interior design as my career, so I’m used to all that can bring. Those nights that you just can’t put the pen, brush, or needle down – because you “just have to see how this idea looks”. Those nights when you wake up with all kinds of ideas, only to wake up the next morning trying to remember what that was. You know that feeling, right? It’s not just me?

But, when I began wanting to make a business of designing needlework, I began noticing how crazy creativity can be. Now, I don’t want to lose even one idea – as you never know what that one idea could become. All those REALLY random ideas are REALLY important.

When designing in thread, I’m constantly finding myself wanting / needing to stitch tiny samples of raw ideas, just to see how they translate into fiber. In the past 11 years I’ve been designing, I cannot even begin to tell you how many of those little pieces I’ve done. Some I finished, and some have been shared with family or friends. But most, over time, have been lost in boxes, notebooks, or folders.

So, let me introduce you to something that is going to help me keep these little pieces out to play and inspire! A brand new (old-fashioned) big Rolodex. Yes, they still make them – who knew!

Anyways, I’m now stitching those little tidbits of ideas and testing onto what I’m calling my “doodle cards”. I’m keeping little business card-size pieces of fabric in a baggie in my stitching bag and next to my desk. All that random testing will be stitched on that small piece. I’ll then make notes on a card what I was thinking about, what thread I used, and any other pertinent info. And voila, that little package can all slip right into a sleeve on this massive rolodex for future dreaming or reference. For my purposes, it’s SIMPLE-SIMPLE-SIMPLE! I tend to overthink things, and this is keeping me from doing so.

So, you’ll begin to probably begin to see me reference to my “doodle cards” or stitchin’doodles, and now you know! They are all neatly coming to you from a 1970’s-style Rolodex! How about that?

Now that you’ve heard my random idea – share what you do to keep hold of all your creative thoughts. How do you treat them, and what do you do with them?

Happy stitchin’!

Sally