Stepping Sideways into Creative Problem Solving

Have you ever imagined something creatively but the practical challenges of bringing it to life felt like hitting a brick wall?

I have a design that stumped me several years ago when the physical challenge of getting the needle through the last few steps was insurmountable. There are two prototypes that quite literally have needles stuck in them! I've loved the prototype earrings - as have many of you who've seen them out in the wild. But I just could not replicate the structure successfully.

This spring, I pulled out those original prototype earrings for the first time in years and wore them to run errands. I got compliments at every stop. And as I told someone their origin story, I suddenly got an idea. I hurried home, pulled out parts, and it worked! And a second pair worked too! 

So, what changed? 

I stepped away from the problem. 

I experimented with stitching things that were not beads but challenged my pattern-making skills and stubbornness getting needles to do what I wanted by taking basketweaving and sashiko classes.

I let myself feel wistful about the unfinished prototypes and curious about the problem, hopeful for a solution.

And finally, I re-prioritized where my problem-solving energy was going outside of my studio and home, letting go of some activities that seemed to suck my energy. 

Looking at them with hopeful curiosity about the possibility from the periphery of the challenge took the pressure off. Prying a needle and thread through a pine needle basket reminded me that I literally have tough fingers and am stubborn as can be. Attempting sashiko stitching made me revisit how I anchor thread, where tension needs to go, and how I plan the route and order of the sections of a beaded structure. With new space in my brain freed up, things began to come together and I could see a different, simpler way of doing things... 

And that is how the Paladin earrings were (re)born!