Saturday 26 January 2013

Getting Organised

I was listening to this interview with craft blogger Haley Pierson-Cox a few weeks ago and among lots of other very interesting discussions about blogging, Haley talked about how she organises her tutorial ideas. Apparently she writes every idea she gets down onto an index card and then files it by season or type of material so she always has a file full of project ideas ready to go. Such a simple idea but so brilliant!

I am forever scribbling down ideas for possible tutorials on scraps of paper which get a bit lost in my studio, or thinking up a great idea for a project out of season and forgetting about it by the time the right season rolls round... so I find the idea of a neatly organised box full of project ideas very appealing.

Index cards are so perfect as you can re-organise them as you like (unlike a notebook, or a long list that becomes a bit useless when you've done some of the projects but not others) and they cards are just the right size for a quick sketch and a few scribbled notes about the tutorial. Plus filing them neatly appeals to the side of me that likes nice storage boxes and a place for everything & everything in its place (I don't always succeed in keeping things tidy... but I do dream of tidiness!).

Basically, I love this idea, can you tell? :)

I immediately wrote down "buy index cards" on my to do list before I'd even finished listening to the interview and then last week I bought myself some blank cards and a box to store them in from Ryman's:

(Click on the images for the individual product links)

So my tutorial ideas will go on index cards... and any random doodles I do will get stuck in my  "ideas scrapbook". No more messy piles of paper for me, hurrah! Hopefully this new "system" will lead to lots more crafty goodness here on my blog :)

6 comments:

lisa b. said...

So your next project really must be to do something to decorate your new file box! You are way too creative to just leave it like it is! Great idea!

Verónica said...

It seems a great idea! It's difficult not to be messy when ideas start pouring, and this cards method sounds great also to keep and plan blog posts or contents in general, for the reasons you state about list, etc... Thank you!

Alex - The Interior DIYer said...

I only just bought my first little scribble book for my blog ideas - this is SO much better. Appealing to my inner OCD monster ;)

xx A

Papercraft Post said...

Yes, sounds like a good system. I use the fake Post-It notes on my comp desktop to keep "hot lists" of ideas... but sometimes they disappear. So it is good to have back-up!

thezenofmaking said...

Thanks for mention. :) I'm glad you liked the podcast and I hope you enjoy the notecard system--it definitely keeps me organized!

Bugs and Fishes said...

lisa - I actually quite like the simple look of it... but the scribblings that go inside it will no doubt be very colourful!

VSC - Yes, this would be a great way to organise ideas for blog posts!

Alex - I have one of those too, it loves a nice storage/organisational solution :)

SNJ - I use the "drafts" folder in my email inbox for some things, but it becomes cluttered very quickly.

thezenofmaking - no problem, it's a fab idea! x