Organizing My Idea Journal

First things first - took some time out to whip up a little pincushion - based on this blog post by Spun Sugar Quilts.  It was a fun project since I rarely get to work with purple and pinks.

Back side:

Now I have some happy pins sitting next to my machine!

On to the main heading of the blog post - organizing my Idea Journal.  Today I took some time to get my ideas organized.  Was very tired of having to flip back through magazines or blog posts/tutorials, my projects saved on the hard drive, etc to remember my ideas.  Plus, after writing my zillionth list of people and their Christmas gift ideas I decided I needed one location for everything.

So, I went through my on-line and hard drive saved/flagged projects and printed off what I needed; found my magazines & catalogs with project/gift ideas and sorted them out.  Pulled out a really cute journal that I bought for just such an occasion.

Tore out the project inspirations from catalogs and clipped them to the appropriate person's page in my journal.

See - tucked beneath all those catalog clippings is a person's name with gift ideas (to make and/or purchase) along with notes about where to find something, what is still needed to complete the gift and other ideas to enhance the inspiration.  For the boys I also jotted down ideas of items they might like so that when grandparents ask I have actual ideas!

I don't like tearing up my magazines and I didn't want to take the time or spend the money on ink to scan and print the projects I wanted so I came up with this idea.  Took these cute little sticky tabs (yes, I'm an admitted office supply junkie) and came up with a cross-reference system.  The green tabs went in the magazines with a number - the corresponding number is in the journal on the blue tabs (OK - I also color code anything I can - you should see my work files).  When I need to find the project I just need to look up the number.   I'm only using a couple of magazines so this is pretty manageable.

In the front of the book I have my entire list of everyone that is on the family gift giving list - to ensure I don't forget anyone.

Also put together my thrifting list so I can do some upcycling when making some gifts.

There - now I should be set.  Plus, I no longer feel so disorganized.  I have a clear plan, a set of priorities and  an easy way to find what I need!  Now to find little snippets (and a few big ones) of time to complete some of them.

Finally, a little cuteness - Grant wanted to help mommy with some computer stuff and we ended up playing with the camera.  He was a happy camper!