A Creative Mind, a Million Ideas and a Pinterest Rabbit Hole

Are you a Pinterest person? I most definitely am, and I can happily lose an hour or two wandering through its endless collection of beautiful images, fascinating people and creative ideas. I might start out looking for one particular thing, but goodness knows where I'll end up!

If you've never discovered Pinterest, it's rather like having an enormous digital scrapbook. You can search for anything that interests you and save the images and ideas you love into collections called boards. Over time, you build up a wonderful library of inspiration that you can dip into whenever you fancy.

My own Pinterest world is a rather eclectic mixture of things I love. There are beautiful images of Italy, Art Deco architecture, fonts and jewellery, the jewellery worn by suffragettes, Maria Callas, Bridgerton and fascinating people from history whose stories send me off on another voyage of discovery. Then there are gardens I'd love to create, houses I'd love to decorate, books I'd like to read and more creative projects than I could possibly complete in one lifetime.

Knitting, sewing, crochet, Zentangle doodling, beautiful artwork... the list goes on. My creative brain has a habit of darting from one thing to another, and quite often I find myself wondering what on earth I was originally looking for. It's a glorious rabbit hole to disappear down, particularly when I should probably be doing something else!

Sue's box of forgotten treasures

My friend Sue Welfare is one of the most creative people I know. She has an insatiable appetite for learning, exploring and trying new things, and once told me something that has stayed with me ever since.

Sometimes she'll open a drawer or a box in her workspace and discover a whole collection of materials she'd gathered for a particular project. Everything is there, ready and waiting, except she can no longer remember exactly what she was planning to make or how she was going to make it!

I think Pinterest is my version of Sue's box.

It's full of ideas I've collected because something caught my eye, sparked my curiosity or simply made me feel happy. Some might eventually become a project, while others will probably sit there forever, waiting patiently for their moment. I rather like that, not every idea has to become something, and sometimes the pleasure is simply in discovering it. If I ever find myself with a little spare time and can't quite decide what to do, Pinterest is my box of ideas, ready to be opened and rummaged through.

Where inspiration finds its way into my jewellery

I suppose it isn't surprising that someone who makes jewellery for a living should have such a fascination with collecting beautiful things and interesting stories.

History, old objects, textures, architecture and the natural world have always interested me, and they all find their way into my jewellery making in one form or another. Sometimes inspiration comes from something very obvious, like a shell discovered on a Norfolk beach, while at other times it's a tiny detail in an old building, a piece of antique jewellery or a story about someone who lived long before us.

I'm not necessarily looking for ideas for jewellery when I'm browsing Pinterest, but I think all those images, stories and discoveries become part of the wonderful jumble of things that influence what I make. Quite how my brain sorts through them all is another matter entirely!

Come and have a rummage through my Pinterest boards

I've been giving my own Pinterest profile a little attention, organising boards for my handmade silver jewellery, collections and jewellery making workshops. There are also some more personal boards tucked in amongst them, so it's a bit of a window into the things that interest and inspire me.

If you fancy having a nose around, you're very welcome to explore my Pinterest boards. Perhaps you'll discover a piece of jewellery you love, a workshop you'd like to try or simply something beautiful that catches your eye. Click on the link here and take a look

www.uk.pinterest.com/clairehjewel

One word of warning, though. If you've never discovered Pinterest before, please don't blame me when you create an account and suddenly find eleventy million things you love and want to make, read, visit or try. I take absolutely no responsibility for the hours you might lose!

Do you have carefully organised boards full of beautiful ideas, or are yours a glorious jumble of everything that catches your imagination? Perhaps, like Sue, you have a drawer or two of forgotten projects waiting to be rediscovered.

There's something rather comforting about knowing we'll never run out of things to be curious about.

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