My Bullet Journal goes with me almost everywhere….
Diaries work, computers work, notes on bits of paper work (sort of), and BULLET JOURNALS work too – but they’re different. Why? Because I like to use pen and paper to jot down ideas and inspirations. Does it lead to creativity? It does for me.
Ryder Carrol is the Author and Creator of The Bullet Journal Method, Track the Past, Order the Present, Design the Future, (Published by Penguin Random House) – the analog method for the digital age. Just what I need. Click here for a quick overview.
Life is about more than dates and appointments….
It’s more than a diary. It’s a storehouse of treasured information that makes up the many facets of my life. I can design it to suit almost everything I need and it’s small enough to carry with me. That’s important. For instance, if I’m at a Doctor/Dentist appointment, I can utilise waiting time to jot down ideas, sketch, make notes for a class, whatever. It’s there. I loathe wasting time.
Keeping quick jottings of ideas and inspiration can be a spring board to creating new work.
Drawing and doing, doing and drawing is essential to promoting my creativity. The quick sketches below were ideas for machine embroidered lace. I have lots of interests, all centred around machine stitch. You’ll notice all the lines are linked so when stitched on soluble fabric, the stitches remain linked after washing the soluble away. The beauty of this for me, is that I can start the ideas flowing here, then refine them later. It’s a beginning.
A page from the Pattern section from my Bullet Journal.
From quick sketch to finished work. That’s all it takes.
From one of those quick sketches above, I was able to refine and translate that idea into the pieces stitched out below. One large beetle with and nine smaller ones. The nine are linked and could be used to decorate a collar or cuffs on a shirt, or joined to make a neckpiece, the large piece would look fantastic on a pocket or a bag. The ideas are endless. It’s a starting point and that’s important to me.
Finished work using an idea from jotting down a quick drawing. The inspiration is in the quick sketches above.
My Journal comes with 249 pages of quality paper. That’s necessary when you want to draw or colour a page. So far, I have 17 different headings including artists to research, words and phrases, ideas for blog posts, recipes, pattern, authors plus my monthly log. All the things that interest me as well as what I need to organise my work and personal life, is integrated in one place. Each page is numbered so referencing is simple.
Customise your Bullet Journal to suit you.
I tried a few things Ryder suggested such as a daily log, but that quickly fell by the board. I just don’t need it. But I do like to track statistics plus keep a monthly log so I can see what I have coming up at a glance. There’s also a page devoted to commitments made for next year.
If you have the time and inclination, why not personalise your BULLET JOURNAL and make it beautiful? Click here to see a sample of great Bullet Journal lay-outs on Pinterest. Anything that keeps creativity flowing is important to my work as a textile artist.
‘Creativity is just connecting things’. Steve Jobs
What do you use to foster your creativity?
