I keep a 3.5 x 5.5 sketch book in my purse, maybe the only reason I break down and carry one.  The tiny sketch book works great  while waiting for dentist and medical appointments etc.

i have been keeping a sketch book of ideas for some time now.  i am no artist, but needed a way to save "finds" of designs that I had seen or inspirations for new designs.  

most of my  sketches have evolved from jewelry I've seen on tv shows.  at the very moment i see a piece that has captured my attention, i make a rough sketch, on cocktail napkin, paper towel, or the grocery list from my handbag..   I also immediately jot down any pertinent notes of color, texture, drape, size..  then as soon as i can i transfer it to my sketch book, along with those notes..  i also take note of where the inspiration originated, the name of the tv show/ or the person's name if not a name where i had seen the piece, or store front... etc. , along with a date.

It's been a lot of fun developing my collection,  excites me when i've seem to run dry.  It is also a great way to firm a design in your mind... seeing it down on paper, and making necessary adjustments.  

Also, encourage employing those colored pencils your kids never seem to use..   it makes everything pop.  

The smaller note pads are easier to carry, and can be taped to a standard piece of paper along with other ideas/notes and organized into my 3-ring binder.  

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Making jewelry is more than stringing beads.  A string of beads may be bought anywhere.  If one wants to create wearable art, then your magazine and the myriad of other resources available thru Beading Daily is a DEFINITE must to the jeweler.

My sketchbook for my beaded jewelry design is my faithful companion: it goes with me everywhere.

New ideas come to my mind at the most unusual times and places,  something strucks my eye and turns me into creative mode.

It is also useful to track down supplies and new display or shows ideas.

Maria

www.thetreasurechest.ca

You know, this makes a perfect New Year resolution, too: Make more effort to carry notebook around, and make a better habit of using it.

I tend to get so busy that I let my notebook sit idle way too often. Thanks for the motivation, Jen! :)

I have always kept a sketchbook handy for both my jewelry designs and general artwork.  It's indispensable!  For jewelry, I doodle with designs and let them evolve.  When I decide on a design, I draw it as meticulously as possible.   I also draw the steps involved and some possible variations.  The designs all have tiny labels identifying the different beads, etc.   I go through many sketch pads this way.  

Zoraida

I don't keep a formal folder or sketch book, but when ever I see something that inspires me, I job it down on whatever is at hand, such as my pocket calendar, a napkin, etc.  At a recent exhibit at the Milwaukee Art Museum on Impressionist on Paper, I found patterns on the very old carved frames, that would work for my bead embroidery projects.  My eyes are constantly looking at patterns.  I think that the most important thing any one should do is improve their prowers of observations.

I have a large D=ring binder. I keep dividers in it, and also some pocket 3 ring pages for clippings. I paste some things to inexpensive paper, and then I bought loose leaf square grid paper to sketch my designs to a scale.  I then keep another large album with removable pages with photos of finished items in it.  If it relates to the idea binder, I make a note so they can be compared,

I also believe it is very wrong to make it exactly like the picture I see - I always change it so that it is not copied.

Finally I am getting organized.

ps at this time of year beg for empty divided cocolate boxes - great for sorting, or crystals by colours

I keep a sketchbook and carry it with me all the time. I never know when inspiration will strike! I usually make a sketch of the design with notes about colors, metals, beads, etc.

I also put pictures, quotes, poems, fabric scraps, pictures from magazines, thoughts, doodles, sketches from odd bits of paper when I did not have the book right in front me.... really whatever catches my eye and spirit!!

Pamela

fishwisdom.com

I keep a sketchbook and carry it with me all the time. I never know when inspiration will strike! I usually make a sketch of the design with notes about colors, metals, beads, etc.

I also put pictures, quotes, poems, fabric scraps, pictures from magazines, thoughts, doodles, sketches from odd bits of paper when I did not have the book right in front me.... really whatever catches my eye and spirit!!

Pamela

fishwisdom.com

I only keep a sketchbook for my maddest ideas and for commissioned work. My maddest ideas come few and far between as I am still not trained as an independent thinker. I do mostly loom work, so very organized and linear. But I am working on having "moments" and this is by learning all the stitches I could at my LBS. Helps a lot.

For commissions though, I must remember what is wanted. I do sketches, pull colors of beads in tubes and send these off to the buyer. Once given the go ahead, I do add the color numbers of the beads to the sketchbook page. On my first project I didn't do that and spend a heck of a long time trying to find "that" color in my delica stash, which is all the colors, but not all the finishes in each. I truly admire some of the ladies and their sketchbook habits, I do carry a smaller book in my purse, and have a full sized spiral book at home right on my bead desk.........close at hand. Donna

I end up sketching on envelopes or whathaveyou whenever I have an inspired thought.  These get transfered to a divided binder (rings, bracelets, ect.), colored with pencil crayons, drawn to scale, extra ideas jotted down.  Pictures from magazines, catalogues and the like go in there too.  Some times it is just a color combination that is unusual and I want to replicate it in stones.   I do some beaded (seed bead) jewelry but also wire wrapping, stringing and silversmithing.  

When I can't go to sleep I imagine intricate pieces of jewelry and if they don't get recorded by morning they vanish like the wind.

On the front page is my motto?/mission statement which a quote that I saw somewhere and I am unsure of the author.  This inspires me, makes me look back at how much I have learned and how much more I want to learn.

"She wasn't where she was going, and she wasn't where she had been,

But she was on her way"

I have two sketchbooks! My first one is for very rough sketches of jewelry designs that I might have when something interesting catches my eye.  I always make sure to include color, beads, length, and where I saw it (so I can reference back to it if possible).  My second sketchbook is for the actual finished piece.  In this one, I make sure to do draw it as neat as possible, as well as, including all the pertinent information needed for anyone to make it on their own.  Just like in the books and magazines!

I collect sketchbooks almost as avidly as I collect beads, and tend to have several sketchbooks going at any one time.  But one of my favorites is a slim, pocket-sized moleskin notebook with blank pages.  With the sketchbook, I carry several different pens and a watercolor box I put together in an Altoids tin, with 24 half-pan watercolors.  It's all incredibly compact and ready for inspiration to strike!

My set up is featured in this post:

baublicious.blogspot.com/.../protection-from-being-bored.html