"AH-HAH!!!!!"

I get asked quite often where my ideas come from. That's an interesting question because my ideas come from all over. There isn't a "go-to" place where I can randomly pick an idea and run with it. Sometimes my ideas are a random incomplete concept and sometimes I can see the finished piece clear as day before I have even started. Then there are the projects I start thinking one thing and it turns in completely different direction and looks nothing like the original idea. Once in awhile I will be working on one piece and the mess on the bench will suggest another piece to me. I am always working amongst these huge messes. I try to kep it looking neat and tidy- huge fail.
I don't keep a formal sketch book. I mean not like what I had to keep in school- I don't draw everything out. What I do have are several blank books. Some are small and thin enough to slip into my pocket and some are purse sized. At last count there are 21 of them.  I always have one of these on hand because I never know when an idea may hit me-especially when I am traveling. I might see something someone is wearing or a combination of colors I find striking that I never would have thought to put together. I make notes and little sketches in my books. Sometimes I tear a picture out of a magazine or catalog and that goes into the books too. Maybe I read something funny or came across a word that for some reason I needed to remember- yep- in the books.

When I find that I am blocked or uninspired I will flip through the books hoping something will jump out at me. I have found that I will consult these books when working on a project looking for that one thing that I know the current project needs.

So last night I am in bed, letting my mind wander as I try to get to sleep and all of sudden  it hits me. I have to make this bracelet. I cold not sleep now- this bracelet was shouting at me to be made. I was just about ready to get up and get dressed and head to the studio at 11:00 at night. So I grabbed the book by my bed and made a little sketch. I have had these amber beads for a long time and I like working with them on gloomy days because the color reminds me of warm summer days soaking up the sun. I also like pairing amber with sterling silver and I had ordered these tube beads several years ago thinking I would make a choker with them and never got around to doing that. While looking for something else on the bench I came across those beads and filed it in the back of my head to do something with them sometime. And I did. And this is what I came up with. Amber and sterling silver- my little bit of sunshine today because it is drizzling and cold and just plain icky outside.